//------------------------------// // Making Things Right-ish: Elements // Story: Imbalanced // by Nameless Narrator //------------------------------// [Blazing's Entry] I somewhat misjudged the timing and arrived in the Everfree forest over a day earlier thanks to not going back to Manehatten or wasting time with Blueblood. In my situation, though, there was nothing like too much time and I kept going through every single thing I could still remember. The biggest problem was still in front of me. Dealing with the hydra was difficult but Chrysalis was powerful enough to keep burning it over and over while I held it off and eventually we won. The hard part was to stay hidden and make the hydra eat her guards first. My guess was that my queen wouldn't be as pleasant as she was with her subjects around. Fortunately, our extended fight with the monster left her severely tired and in having to survive her attacks without the Blades I found out she's as terrible mage as Celestia - an immense amount of power but almost no real skill. But what was I expecting? She's a changeling, not a unicorn scholar and I guess she didn't have time to practice while planning the survival of her nation. I stayed with her long enough for her to recover and fed her as much as my magical body allowed, knowing, well... hoping, I'd get a chance to rest at Scream's place. I can't lie, going through the forest was a lot of fun but I'm still disgusted at what I did. During one of our night breaks I asked Chrysalis to change into somepony but as soon as I saw the red and black color scheme I almost threw up. That was a feeling I can't understand even now but it still makes me sick. On the other hoof, she looked really hot with all the small, and BIG... very BIG, improvements the changeling queen could provide. Ah well, if I was a bit more practical then I might have experienced my wildest fantasy ever. I guess some dreams are just never meant to be. A good thing came out of all that though. If, by some incredible stroke of bad luck, I survive then I'll have a place to go and my short carreer as the changeling queen's egg sack might be worth it. Heh... I've been a broodfather so I may as well be a broodmother just for the heck of it. The really bad thing came when I got back to Scream's dimension. I, of course, didn't waste energy on asking Chokey out this time but I took some time to rest and get my strength back. That was a mistake, or would have been if I noticed the clues too late. I thought Scream's presence was addictive just thanks to her being so good in making me think with my lower parts but when I woke up after what was the best time of my life I remembered the time Nightmare Moon tried to make me her slave by using magic to scramble my head. I resisted then but, well, it still led to me creating Nightmare changelings and ruining the entire dimension. This time it was different and I had to fight myself every step of the way when I told Scream I had to leave for my mission. I still begin drooling every time I remember her and it keeps coming back. I have no doubt that if I stayed longer than I'd have become just a mindless puppet fulfilling every wish of his mistress. I might not recover from that. Somewhere deep down I know she's inside me and I'm terrified that I won't be able to break the Crystal Heart this time. I really REALLY hope Void gets there in good shape and does what will have to be done if I fail to. First things first though... if I'm correct then I have some three, four weeks before the invasion begins and I have to take care of the Elements. While my Element can disperse its physical form and improve my abilities, it can't protect me from the effect of other Elements like the Blades of Balance did and that's the thing. I could probably just bluff my way through and kill Rarity and Rainbow Dash again but that's the outcome I'm trying to avoid. Alright, there's nothing more I can do here so it's time to leave Sugarcube Corner and force Rainbow to take me to Spike's cave without being protected. [End Entry] The residents of Ponyville have no doubts that I'm Sombra's messenger this time. My arm draws the looks of everypony in the vicinity and because I lost my clothes due to teleportation I really look way too evil without even trying. This time I don't begin shaking when I hear the loud snoring I attribute to the blue pegasus and instead I just pick up a rock and throw it at her. "Hey! What's going on?" yells annoyed but still sleepy Rainbow Dash. I throw another pebble in the air and catch it with my arm. "Get down here, Betrayal. I have a mission for you." Me mentioning her Element seems to work wonders and she's standing in front of me in an instant. Too quickly in fact. Maybe getting the swords would have been a good idea. I'm beginning to think that. "Get me to Spike's cave," I command and my voice doesn't allow disobedience. "I- how? I mean yes, sir." Did I mention how much I HATE FLYING? I must admit you're getting better at bossing ponies around. That no-nonsense approach is working wonders. Well, my goal is pretty close and the meeting with Scream just made me think how thin is the line I'm walking here. I almost lost everything just so I could buck her and the scary thing is that I would do it again and again even after seeing what the successful invasion leads to. I can't let my stupid wishes get in the way anymore so if I have to kill all three Elements again I will do it and just die as a murderer in the Crystal Empire again. I really can't risk everything just to feel better inside. Don't you think she has got Void under her influence? No. I mean it must be an alicorn thing but Void is as solid as rock. And thanks for that... with how Scream sunk her hooks into me the expression solid as rock in conjunction with Void conjured some mental images that will take serious time to forget. Or fulfill. Shut up, seriously. Controlling myself after that isn't easy. I need to stay focused or I'll just spend my time sitting in a basement somewhere playing with Blazing Light junior until I faint. Fine. How are you planning to destroy the Heart and save Scream, then? You don't have the swords. Betty should be enough to break the Heart and there is literally nothing I can do about Scream, she's crazy. The only way for this to end the way Void wanted, correction - the way I thought Void wanted it to end, is for him to think of something. What about the way he really wanted this to end? You and Chokey. There is no me and Chokey. You might get lucky. If I get lucky then Scream blows up again and spends her last seconds blowing me. Then Void takes Chokey around the world, bucks her brains out and both of them live happily ever after. I'm not sure about that. Your speeding things up might have caused whatever happened between them last time to not happen. He might not want to be with her at all. That's impossible, she's perfect... ...there it is again. Damn! I'll just have to wait and see and, I don't know, think of something later. If you can even get that far. Did you notice how much faster we are flying compared to last time? Rainbow isn't even sweating which means the swords were probably necessary to go against her and AJ. I'll just have to improvise, think of something again, anything. Crap, I'm panicking. It's not like when I was younger, these aren't unreal scenarios that haunt me, these are all possible things that could cause a horrible disaster and all that thanks to me not wanting to go home and get the Blades of Balance. Why do I care? If I fail I'll be dead and nothing will matter anymore. It's just the knowledge that I caused this for selfish reasons that's unbearable. I should have done what was the safe thing and let things happen exactly the way they happened before, I had the resources. Instead I tried some stupid trick to make Void's wish come true which turned out to be a complete sack of bullcrap about me finding love and hope. Calm down! Calm down! There's nothing I can do about it right now, better focus on the next step. We finally land atop a mountain and I begin sneaking inside while Rainbow uses her free time to take a nap. I'm definitely getting better at sneaking though and I get to Rarity without making a sound. Not that it makes a lick of difference because she immediately focuses her attention at me. "Who are you?" she asks. "A bad guy, doing bad guy stuff," I wave and my Element materializes in the form of a sword. "You certainly look like it but something seems off. I've seen my share of villains before I ended here and you look more like one of those stone-cold mercenaries who spend their time drinking in a tavern and waiting for the evil guy to pay them to kidnap royal maidens." "You read fiction too much," I roll my eyes. "Oh really? Then let me guess - you are here to fight the big, bad dragon for treasure and to free me and ravage my body in the sweatiest and wildest way possible." I feel even my hooves blushing and ponder the possibility that the dragon might not be the only thing breathing fire here. "Wo-wa-what?" Rarity pokes my chest. "See? Bad guys' reactions are never that cute. Why are you here really?" I take a deep breath to calm down... what to do? "I'm here to kill you to frame Sombra and make Spike furious enough to go against him otherwise a different Equestria will end. Not end up as something... just end. Every living pony will die, horribly. Don't even try to make me tell you the details because they are worse than you can imagine." "I can imagine some pretty bad things," says Rarity, smiling sadly. "Seeing your situation and knowing that you read too much I see how you can think so but no... this will be worse." "Alright, how do we do this?" she asks and puts me to shame one more time with her determination. My sword flies towards her chest but stops. "Is this what you really want?" whispers the Element to me. "No. I wanted to save her this time but I can't afford to risk everthing." "YOU'VE GOT A TALKING SWORD?!" whispers Rarity loudly and opens her eyes. "That's a long story and we don't have the tim-" I begin but I'm rudely interrupted. "I was forged in the mists of time and served only the mightiest warriors of their age-" begins the Element with what I know is total nonsense. "Shut up, Betty!" I very rudely interrupt the interrupter. "Your sword's name is Betty?" asks Rarity over the Element's angry grumbling. "As I said, long story. Can we get on with the stabbing before I change my mind?" I ask half-heartedly. All my courage is gone, washed away by the sudden influx of liveliness from Rarity. Last time she was just a hopeless victim, now I see her as a pony and I just can't kill her. "I... I guess so. I don't want to stay here and I can't leave," deflates Rarity. "Oh shush," whispers the Element and turns into a pair of bolt cutters. "You've gotta be kidding me," I say as I use the weight of my hardened armor to get enough pressure to cut the chain holding Rarity down. "Now can we go?" asks the ancient and divine toolbox. "Wait! I still need to somehow enrage Spike. Last time it worked because nopony else had access to this place and Rarity was dead, ehm... sorry for that. I didn't have the Element of Multitoolitude at the time." "I've got an idea. How did you get here?" "Rainbow Dash brought me here." "Dashie is here?" her eyes water a bit but then she focuses again, "Let me talk to her!" We sneak out which is a bit harder for heavily pregnant Rarity but with my help she wobbles out of the cave successfully. The sight of Rainbow Dash flying happily around Rarity's neck like a fly around... nevermind, wrong metaphor. RD is really happy to see her friend again and if there was ever something I was sure was the right thing to do then freeing Rarity was it. Or maybe not... "What do we do about Spike then?" I ask. "Where did you get such a stupid idea?" I ask, standing on my hind legs with Rarity over my shoulder. "In a romance novel, of course." "I doubt the guy had to carry a pregnant pony," I grumble. "Are you saying I'm fat?" "No, sorry." "Good, get ready." This is going to suuuuuuck! Agreed. "Spiiiiiikey Wikey! Heeeelp, I'm being kidnaaaaapped!" yells Rarity in the most damsel-in-distress-y voice I could ever imagine. Time for my part. I grin evilly at the instantly awake and angry dragon. "Sombra sends his regards, harr harr!" I let out a second of evil laughter before a flame singes my mane upon which I immediately turn and run as fast as Rarity allows me. "Yarr harr is a pirate's evil laugh. You need to have an evil mercenary laugh, it suits you better," Rarity critiques my performance from my back. "I'll give you evil mercenary, I'll give you a pirate, I'll give you a raging and raping barbarian," I grumble to myself while running. Fortunately, the power of Rainbow's Element is enough to let her carry both me and my passenger much faster than a dragon can fly and we leave Canterlot mountains long way behind us in the blink of an eye. Looking at Rarity when we land, I wonder how a foal of a dragon and a pony will look like.