Imbalanced

by Nameless Narrator

Into The Abyss: Otherside

[Blazing's Entry]

As much as I enjoyed serving as Scream's pillow I decided to be on my way as soon as possible. In the end, her hugging me in sleep just reminded me of something I will never have.

On top of that I will actually have to kill somepony who has never harmed me in any way, somepony I've never even met... repeatedly.

It shouldn't bother me anymore though. After what I've done, there is nowhere to return.

[End Entry]

Standing on vibrantly green grass outside of Ponyville, I take a deep breath and enjoy the sweetness of the air. After travelling through the depths of the Everfree Forest this place seems free and full of life despite me not seeing a living soul around.

The panorama of the small village is exactly the same I remember from travelling through it twice with the only exception being what looks like a huge colloseum surrounded on all sides by apple orchards. Considering how everypony knows everypony in villages like these moving around unnoticed will be impossible so I have to act like I have a good reason for being here...

...while looking like an ancient changeling.

That might not be too bad.

Are you serious? We're talking pitchforks and torches at the first sight of my face.

Maybe, maybe not. If the evil in this world is so rampant then you might pass as a monstrosity created by the main bad guy... Sombra was it?

I like the way you think. Posing as an evil messenger might give me an upper hoof.

So... what now?

Scream's recon or not, I really don't want to gather too much attention in the arena. I think the pegasus might be a more reasonable target.

I'm not sure attacking an enemy with the power of flight and mostly unknown abilites is the best course.

I doubt she'll be able to outfly two razors in the air which deter her Element-enhanced skills.

"Buck," I curse as I notice my double sheath is missing and both swords are lying on the ground.

It's gonna be real simple asking locals questions while waving steel around.

It will. With two greatswords and damaged milky-white eye from Void's magic I really look like the bad guy here.

Making the swords follow me through the air for dramatic effect, I suppress my nervousness and enter the town while expecting the world to fall down on my head.

I'm wrong. While the town is emptier than I remember, there is still decent amount of ponies trotting around and vendors selling sweets and other things. The main threat here is my hunger for unicorn and changeling food. I approach a flower vendor - a reddish-pink maned earthpony specializing in roses as it seems from her cutie mark.

Damn, I have no money. Information will have to suffice then.

"Hello, miss. Mind if I ask where I could find a pegasus called Rainbow Dash?" I ask.

Where did the 'hello, I am the left hoof of the lord of all evil' attitude go?

I have to agree my question left a lot to be desired. Fortunately, the mare just gives me a look conveying a clear meaning of 'Are you a crazy pony? Nevermind, that is your problem'.

"I suppose she's either sleeping around, somewhere in the clouds, or eating at the Sugarcube Corner."

"Is that some kind of a restaurant?"

"It's the local bakery, they make great sweets for reasonable prices. A, erm, pony like you should go for a healthier snack though," she points in one direction and then gestures to her assortment.

"I'm not really hungry but thanks for the info," I lie, drooling at the sight of flowers presented on her counter.

"Glad to be of help."

I wave her goodbye and and leave in the direction she pointed. For an evil world full of evil and shaped by evil evil she seemed pretty evil... I mean nice.

What did you expect, a prison island filled with drooling maniacs throwing rocks at one another?

Yes?

That's a good point though. The world wouldn't work without normal ponies doing normal things which means that maybe only the ones touched by the evil I was warned about might be dangerous. Still, I expected a worse reaction to how I look.

These ponies look as if they've seen much worse things.

Yeeeea... that's what worries me.

Some differences are possible to notice eventually though. Ponies move around faster and don't dawdle in one spot for too long meaning there are either stricter work rules or that the locals aren't as friendly with each other as they were in my world. With no guards in sight I suspect secret police or some local militia is keeping an eye on the situation. Failing to spot the rainbow-maned pegasus I finally find what looks like a giant sundae in building form. I open the door and go inside causing the patrons to go silent for a second and then resume their conversations albeit at a slightly lower volume.

Good news, everypony! Nopony seems to be ordering a blood-caked icecream or a tentacled eldritch candy.

Grinning to myself for my lack of wit, I wait my turn in the queue while carefully watching the chubby blue earthpony mare working the counter. She's been looking at me since I came in and as the time of her serving me draws near she almost drops the orders of previous customers several times.

"What'll it be?" she asks with her professionalism trying to cover the apparent fear.

"Do you know where I can find a pegasus called Rainbow Dash?"

The 'crazy pony' look is about as familiar as annoying now.

It seems that the Elements aren't as liked as our ones are.

"She should be doing her weather duty over the east part of Ponyville," she says, clearly annoyed at someone mentioning the pegasus' name.

"Is she causing trouble or something?"

"You couldn't find somepony lazier or more cocky if you tried to. Ehm... don't tell her I said that. I don't have the bits to repair the place again."

"Don't worry, miss."

"So, are you ordering something?"

"I would but I'm out of cash at the moment. Thanks for your help."

As I turn to leave, somepony taps me on the back.

"Wait a second," says the blue mare.

Few seconds later a small bag is presented by the shopkeeper.

"Eeeh.. thanks?" I half-ask, hesitant to take the gift.

"It's fine. You look like you could use a bit more meat on those bones, young stallion."

She leans closer and whispers.

"And don't forget to keep what I said secret."

I just nod and sit down to one of the tables to explore the bag. There are two donuts, just donuts with strawberry glaze, inside.

Poisoned?

Possibly but I seriously doubt it.

Was Scream overreacting with the evil world full of evil ruled by pure evil.

That's a lot of evil...

Yea and the first two ponies I met were the nicest ones in existence.

Perhaps it's going to go downhill from now? Just to make you happy.

I sigh and take a bite of the teeth-rotting donut. I'm usually right about terrible things going my way but the nagging feeling is slowly melting along with my teeth. The donuts are overly sweet and the excess energy from sugar will be useful.

How are you going to kill a pegasus and can you actually do it?

As I said, she shouldn't have that much advantage over me, she can't be faster than a levitating weapon and if I can get a first strike then she shouldn't be able to fly away either.

I mean can you kill a mare?

This again? I have to, I suppose don't have much choice.

How do you know you can trust Scream?

At the time I didn't really care. All I wanted was somepony to point me in some direction and tell me what to do.

And she wants you to become a mass-murderer.

I did promise her to do it. And it's not so mass.

Without knowing anything about this world. For all you know, you might be destroying the only defense against Scream's army of lust-crazed zombie ponies bent on bucking and then devouring the entire civilization.

If you put it that way I would actually do it just to see what would happen. Thanks for distracting me though... I just have to hope I'll find the right thing to do when push comes to shove.

After asking few more ponies about my target and finding out which way east is, I walk through Ponyville and keep an eye on the sky. The clouds are still hanging low over the town meaning Rainbow Dash still isn't done working or that she hasn't even started yet. The latter proves to be true when a snore, loud enough to rattle windows, rumbles through my ears and leaves no doubt about my target's location along with a rainbow colored tail hanging from one of the clouds.

I lick my lips and take few deep breaths to stop the sudden shaking of my legs.

Showtime.

Comments

[Anonymous Critic]

Well, here's to hoping this isn't all a trap.