//------------------------------// // Into The Abyss: Core // Story: Imbalanced // by Nameless Narrator //------------------------------// [Blazing's Entry] Any chance of defeating Applejack is officially gone. I can't use my weapons anymore. At least I have a future now. Unfortunately it involves me waiting until AJ decides to have fun with me few more times and leave me a lot shinier and more metallic. [End Entry] Showering time is over and I limp back to my cell and slump down on the hay. Big Mac just shakes his head at the sight of me. I feel empty. I fought Applejack in my best shape and lost miserably. What's the plan? Don't know. Don't care. Then all hope for Equestria is lost. Nonsense. Without Spike obeying Sombra and Rainbow Dash the enemy is significantly weaker than before. Will it be enough? Does it matter? I can't do anything anymore. If it's not enough then the invasion will succeed and I will die here eventually and if it's enough then the invasion will fail and guess what - I'll die here eventually. So you don't care about Equestria enough to give everything for it. I never did. The last thing binding me to it was my promise to help Scream with whatever her mission would be which is impossible for me to fulfill right now. Family, oops sorry. Friends? I gave every little bit I could for all of them. I dealt with two Elements instead of just one like I was supposed to. Scream will eventually find out in the same way she's been using all the time and plan her next step. There are four alicorns and six Elements on our side. The enemy has got two unicorn archmages and three Elements, one of which is useless for combat. Alright. What do you want to do? I don't understand. It's simple. You can't deal with the big things right now. What do you want to do from the set of possible things? Hmmmm. Sleep. What's stopping you? Aside from the sound of balls slapping somepony's flank in the distance? To get some semblance of privacy I throw some hay over my head. It's not much but it's enough to make me drift off. I must admit that waking up next to somepony is a feeling I like despite the situation being less than normal. The size of the pony behind me proves it's Big Mac and not some genius locksmith who managed to get into the arena to cuddle a changeling. Not hurting anymore but with the empty feeling remaining I get summoned to the arena again, fortunately against a normal fighter and not against the champion. Unarmed, I wipe the floor with him easily and leave the arena with him coughing up on the ground. The overcharge from yesterday is gone but the love of the crowd is enough to keep my changeling side filled and the brown stew is nutritious enough to fill the rest. "Hey, Crunchy! Sorry for the last time," says the happy cheating bastard from the next cell. I ignore him. "I mean it. I really know something on AJ but last time I thought you were just some newb who deserved a lesson but then you left me alive," he continues. "Are you trying to make me change my mind about that?" "No no no. I just want to pay you back a bit." "Fiiine. What have you got?" "You know what you have to do." "You're kidding, right?" "A bit but this time I can really pay you back." An idea comes to mind. If he likes the changeling tongue so much then he will agree to my terms. It's not as if I didn't enjoy it as well... a bit. "I'll do it BUT you have to tell me what you know first and I'll take care of you right before I go for AJ." "Can I trust you?" "I promise. That's the highest guarantee I can give you." "Okay. I don't know if you noticed but her main strength isn't in her arms but in her hind legs. She's actually pretty clumsy with augments." Thinking back, it makes sense. Her punches were strong but not really refined. Her overall speed was still crazy though. And speed comes from? Stance, balance and leg strength. Damn... I was trying to deal with her as a swordspony over and over but not for a single moment did I try to... ... I was so focused on the damn swords I forgot that I'm a martial artist and now I have the perfect grabbing tool at my disposal. The swords should protect me from the power of the Element even while sheathed. "Thanks," I mumble. "Hey that's not all. If you want to go for her again then go for Big Mac first and beat him up really bad. Firstly, he's almost as good with his legs as her and she'll be really pissed about it and might make a mistake." If I do that then there won't be another chance. If I hurt Mac really badly then she'll kill me next time for sure. And no, I'm not killing Big Mac even if it would make her go berserk and lose control completely. "Hey, Big Mac. I challenge you. This evening in a closing match." That should give me enough time to evaluate the difference between the two and plan for tomorrow. It might also make AJ stew overnight and go absolutely livid later. "Eeyup," agrees Mac to the challenge and keeps reading his book. I spend the time left by doing the practice sets I've been doing since the time I needed to warm up during the first days of me hauling coal in Canterlot. The sun is close to setting when I face off against the red earthpony with the crowd watching. I wouldn't have guessed that Ponyville would be enough to make the place full all the time but it seems this is a place for all of Equestria to enjoy. "THE STRONGEST STALLION IN ALL EQUESTRIA WILL FACE A VOLUNTEERING CHALLENGER TODAY FOR A CHANGE. THREE CHEERS FOR THE APPLECRUSHER BIG MACINTOSH!" yells the announcer. "AND THREE CHEERS FOR FOR THE APPLE ABOUT TO BE MADE INTO APPLE FAMILY RECIPE CIDER - A CHANGELING WHOSE NAME WE'LL WONDER ABOUT ONLY AFTER WE FIND ALL HIS REMAINS TOMORROW," he continues when the crowd stops. In contrast to all gladiators with the exception AJ, Big Mac doesn't watch my every move but just keeps me in his line of sight. Hind legs. Yeah. How should I attack though? Punching sounds like a great idea. It can't be easy to block the claws. True. I completely forgot that even short, sharp punches are deadly with steel razors on my arm. With me closing in, Mac takes a swing at me but as fast as the punch is due to his muscle power it's still easy to predict and he has to jump away from the stab of my talon. When I close in again he sharply half-turns his back to me and I dodge what I thought would be a double kick but is only a one-leg one, weaker but much faster to execute. I repeat the process over and over and with each of Mac's failures I inflict a small wound - a cut here, a bruise there. The goal isn't to demolish him, it's to find out as much as I can for tomorrow because, to be honest, the fight was over after few of the earliest exchanges. Eventually Mac's legs fail him accompanied by the astonished silence of the crowd and I leave the arena sweating and shaking from nervous exhaustion but completely untouched. "Sorry, Mac," I tell my cellmate after basically making him a laughing stock when we get ready to end the day. He just drops down on the hay, completely spent. I tell one of the Husks that I want to fight Applejack in the morning, turn off the light and get ready to sleep. Then I get a better idea and this time it's me who pushes his back towards the red earthpony for warmth and company. In the morning I borrow a double sheath from one of the gladiators, fulfill my promise to the changeling lover which leaves him unconscious on the floor with smile wide enough to threaten the top of his head falling off and go up to meet freedom from my promise, either by its fulfillment or death. "You're gonna die today for making the Apple family look bad," is another one of Applejack's greetings. She looks calm but her not showing off to the crowd speaks volumes. In comparison to Mac she's going to be able to block the claws with her arms, too bad she got her broken one repaired. This time I'm not going to give her a chance at directing the fight though. She's incredibly fast in turning around but she can't get a good swing off when I stay at close range almost touching her body. It also makes it impossible to block sharp stabs and scratches from my claws. The situation works both ways but I don't need to finish her off with one blow which is a win condition for her. Scratches and small bleeding is something I can easily deal with thanks to overcharge from draining a pony and the positive energy from the crowd. Suddenly she jumps into the air and I can feel magic at work but in the same way as it was with Rainbow Dash the shockwave caused by the physics-defying jump sends the sand flying in every direction aside from mine which leaves my vision free of obstructions and lets me swipe upwards with talons. Applejack's shocked expression at the lack of height the jump gave her is second only to the horror which comes when my claws rip her belly to shreds. Few weak gusts of magical waves are what comes before the brown body stops moving altogether. A wave of echoing laughter comes from one figure among the silent audience and a puff of black smoke appears in front of me but still in safe distance. It slowly forms into something which resembles a unicorn in about the same way as I do. It is definitely a pony, a grey one with black mane which is half-unreal much like an alicorn one but his horn is razor-sharp and slightly curved backwards. "CRYSTALS!" the creature rasps. The unicorn-ish creature is the only being I've ever seen which is surrounded by a physically percievable aura aside from the alicorns. Not even queen Chrysalis' presence was this menacing. Damn... if only I realized my mistake in using the swords earlier I could have dealt with Applejack and avoided this. "CRYSTALS!" it growls again and with its few steps towards me I finally acknowledge that it's almost as big as princess Celestia. I facehoof when my next words leave my mouth: "I don't have any?"