//------------------------------//
// The Origin: Twilight's entry V 
// Story: Corrupted Lands 
// by Nameless Narrator 
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I'm a little distracted with everything that's happening these days. Taking care of two thousand ponies is different from having to organize and protect the citizens of a large city. 

Shocking, I know.

The griffon fleet arrived mere day after we took over the central fortress. They had serious trouble getting to the city through all the floating debris, so they anchored within sight of the harbor and sent griffons flying to scout ahead. Apparently, the Imperial army had little to no experience with the flora of a tainted territory. The flytraps sprouting over night in spots where the land wasn't paved over took care of the flying threat almost instantly. We will have to clear those out later and make sure they don't grow again like Nightshade did in Ponyville.

The scouts were let go with our message of willingness to negotiate with the Empire. After all, it has been much easier for them to supply Manehattan with food and other vital products than it would be for us from now on. The Imperial fleet threatened us over the radio and when we refused to leave Manehattan to them they forced their way through the harbor and deployed the ground forces. Yes, some of them were foolish enough to try to gain an aerial advantage again, but the army learned quickly. It was obvious they didn't want to destroy Manehattan. Ponies are a valuable resource, after all...

Faced with over thirty thousand Corrupted, the army was torn to pieces.

Not literally. Nightshade had no desire to increase her numbers and she was already getting confused from having too many minds inside her own head. Thus, she was willing to sacrifice some of her newly increased numbers by forcing them to only incapacitate the griffon soldiers. Of course, it didn't work out perfectly, but we prevented the shedding of blood and other bodily fluids. When the invasion was taken care of and we allowed the disarmed griffons to return to the fleet, they changed their tone and sent for a diplomat. Over the next week while the negotiations went on, the Empire agreed to sending a disaster relief again.

The final binding treaty wasn't all I wanted, but allowed us to partially keep Manehattan.

The city is ours, and the griffon army retreated in its entirety. The "partially" part came in the amount of their help. The food, clothing, and other supplies they agreed to send our way were barely sufficient for about quarter of the city population. With what little we could scrounge up from Ponyville and the Crystal Empire we would raise it up to half. That was not enough. The business treaty helped stabilize the situation a lot more than anything else. Griffons want spells, artefacts, anything running on magical sources of power. In order to at least temporarily be able to trade goods, we had to reopen Canterlot mountain mining operations.

The good thing was that a lot of ponies wanted to leave Manehattan, with the city bringing them only bad memories, and were content with starting over anywhere else. Strangely enough, same went for quite a lot of griffons. With these volunteers, we were able to decrease the population of Manehattan to a manageable level. Nightshade had two conditions, though. The city had to accommodate both Corrupted and only partially tainted ponies and griffons. The Manehattenites were, and still are, terrified, but they didn't have much of a choice. On the positive side, Nightshade scoured her ranks for those willing to change their view of the world, and ripped them away from the common consciousness of Corrupted. These new Separated required others to teach them about the world past mating and food, and the police forces took them in rather quickly. Why? Because the second of Nightshade's conditions was that she would not forcefully station any of her Corrupted in Manehattan or between Ponyville and the city.

The Manehattenites are going to have to defend their city and caravans on their own. Now that I know the surface a little better, I realize how impossible of a task that is without ponies and griffons becoming friends, or at least allies, with Separated and Corrupted. It's an interesting circle, or triangle. Ponies and griffons need Corrupted and Separated for protection. Corrupted need ponies and griffons to artificially increase the number of tainted berries growing in their territory, plus the help of harvesting them. Separated, alone and overflowing with curiosity, don't want to fall back into the state of wild animals and thus need teachers. The survival of the city will require the cooperation of all sides.

Engineers, both griffons and pony, from Manehattan who travelled to Ponyville immediately shared their knowledge with our best and brightest who quickly felt much less bright and best. The following reconstruction of the Ponyville enclave started within days of the relocation. Griffon designs are replacing our old devices as days pass, and ponies are learning to fit into a new community. Sadly, we had to turn away those who still had enough energy to travel and send them to the Crystal Empire. Under Chilly and Spring's watchful eyes, the caravans got up north with little to no trouble, and Cadance's letters still speak mostly positive things about the new arrivals.

Of course there are trouble. Crime was mostly unknown in the enclave - unecessary, considering ponies lived close enough to know each other well and trust one another. Plus, there was nothing to steal. With the growth of Ponyville and Canterlot population, there were hiccups, mostly thefts and some "accidental" attacks on Corrupted. Tension is tangible in the air, but the longer the new ponies and griffons stay here and learn new things the easier it's going to be to get used to the Corrupted around. Nightshade didn't make too much fuss about her attacked subjects, neither did the victims themselves. Mostly because they were more confused than hurt by a group of ponies attacking them with clubs. The offenders went on a trial as if they had attacked other ponies. I doubt the Corrupted understood what was going on, but Nightshade assured me they enjoyed watching their shaking attackers climbing high up some trees and feeding them fresh berries they had to bring back. 

Social issues are cropping up everywhere, especially due to the difference of world view between Enclave ponies and Manehattenites, but I believe both sides will get through this and emerge stronger, just like it was with Nightshade's hive at first.

While I was away in Manehattan, princess Luna, queen Chrysalis, and Bound Tome finished deciphering princess Celestia's journal. Bound Tome's cooperation was vital, because his connection with Corrupted allowed him to make sense of part of the magical cipher Celestia created via the use of her own corruption. Sadly, aside from one thing the journal yielded nothing new. The tracking of her journey, the improvised experiments on Corrupted they managed to catch, her and Frostbite's transformation into a Queen and King, everything ends with Bastion being sent back to Canterlot with the badly wounded the day before entering the Barrier. 

However, the final discovery is fenomenal. Princess Celestia's ruthless experiments allowed her legion to combat horn rot and eventually led to a method of becoming immune to its destructive effects. Considering my mentor's methods were never supposed to be gentle, the method requires absorbing the essence of a Corrupted and making it a part of oneself, very broadly similar to a vaccine although this way the corruption stays inside. The afflicted Corrupted is drastically weakened to the point of near death which spells its doom if encountered with either a pony or another hungry Corrupted.

What now?

To be honest, I'm lacking a clear direction at the moment. We still cannot return to sending patrols scouring the surface for pockets of survivors. Most of the Nightguard and the Hex Guard are protecting the caravans between Manehattan and Ponyville. Chilly's Separated, considering the route between Crystal Empire and Canterlot is their territory, are keeping the roads north clear and visiting both Canterlot and the Empire from time to time to see what the city ponies are doing. I really like them. Nightshade is resting. She would never admit it, but the liberation of Manehattan was too much for her. She collapsed when the negotiations were over and Mana Burn brought her back to Ponyville. Next week she was barely able to communicate and recall who or what she was. She took control over way too many minds for way too long, and pushed them way too hard.

I don't want to ask her, but eventually I'm going to need a Corrupted sacrifice to grant me resistance against horn rot. She protects her hive as much as I protect my subjects, but this is necessary. I pondered princess Celestia's mistake for long enough. Going to the Barrier with a legion of ponies is pointless. Even when Celestia went there the Corrupted were too strong for the best of the best, and now, when all the territory is tainted, an armed conflict is downright impossible. Nightshade can't send her hive marching as far as White Tail Woods, and spreading her territory that far by slow conquest would be too much for her and would take decades.

What I need is a group of experienced individuals, well-supplied and with a way to share information with our home. The communication part should be possible after rebuilding the entire radio system inside the enclave. Supplies should not be an issue either.

So, who should I ask to accompany me on this journey?