Corrupted Lands

by Nameless Narrator

Heart of Old Equestria: Wrong decisions

Warning bells toll throughout the castle as we flee, tide of Hunters breathing down our necks. Our only saving grace is that the floors are high, and thus the long staircases connecting them cannot host the entire horde on our backs. Corrupted inside the castle, this has never happened before. The ancient magic, older than the Corrupted, older even than the ponies before held any enemy at bay in even the darkest of times.

I keep trying to think of something to do to help, but I can barely keep pace with the running guards. Breathing steadily becomes my most important concern.

"Screw this!" curses a Nightguard behind me, the commander of the squad assigned to assist me. I mean, officially Mana Burn is the leader, but he is a Hex Guard, or a Corrupted now, so rank does not really apply to him, "Whisper! Dusk Shield! STAND YOUR GROUND!"

Two Nightguards immediately stop, and join him in facing the incoming Hunters.

"We are retreating, that's an order!" Mana Burn yells.

"Go, evacuate the princess and the civilians. You'll need every second you can get!" the commander replies, "BOYS! GET THE SONS OF BITCHES!"

They get swarmed immediately, but the Hunters aren't able to resist their instinct to play with their prey, giving us precious time to get away.

There is only six of us as we reach the second floor. The sounds of panicking and quickly moving ponies from all around accompany us to the throne room.

"Your Highness," Mana Burn reports loudly from the entrance, "An entire hive must be attacking! You have to evacuate to Ponyville at once!"

"We are not letting Canterlot fall!" princess Luna objects, "How did you defeat the Ponyville attackers?"

"With way too much luck and them underestimating us severely!" Nightshade replies, "I don't have the strength to deal with a hive this big," she closes her eyes for a second, "and the Queen behind this knows about me. How, I have no idea, but we might have misunderstood the mentality of Queen-type Corrupted completely."

"YOU are one!"

"I wasn't born like this. Maybe if I had a month or two more to get over the hundreds of minds inside my head then I could do something, but we will lose if we fight straight up."

"Alright," princess Luna nods as the throne room fills with more and more ponies seeking refuge, "IS EVERYPONY LISTENING?"

The door to the throne room shakes.

There is only about a hundred ponies inside, barely half of the castle's population, but if the Corrupted are breaking in here then the rest are either hiding in their rooms and beyond help, or they are already a part of the attacking hive.

Black tendrils slip inbetween the door wings, and rip them open.

A tall mare similar to Nightshade, only completely black, and with a mass of tentacles on her back, is staring straight at Luna and smiling. Her mouth opens, and with her loud hiss the ranks of Corrupted behind her charge.

The first wave of attackers is sucked inside a black hole appearing on the floor with princess Luna roaring:

"THE HEART OF EQUESTRIA SHALL NEVER FALTER!"

Cosmic magic bending time and space like this makes my eyes go wide with wonder and admiration. This is the peak of wizardry, the power of an immortal archmage like princess Luna. The sort of magic every unicorn apprentice only dreams of. Frost so shattering that it is only found in the darkness between stars destroys Corrupted after Corrupted. The blazing plasma of distant suns melts others, but more and more come.

"What are you standing here with dropped jaw for? RUN!" a nearby Nightguard nudges me.

The princess covers our escape as best as she can, but the focus she needs to perform such spells prevents her from moving.

As the last of us, namely me, still in utter astonishment at the magic presented, leave the throne room through a secret exit behind the throne, we give one last look to the midnight-blue alicorn erecting a magical barrier around herself.

There is no time to rest, though. Hoofsteps are coming from all around us. It seems the castle is teeming with Corrupted.

With Nightshade and her entourage leading the way and taking down any solitary Corrupted blocking our progress, we successfully get into the dungeons where the entrance to the tunnel leading to Ponyville is. Black goo drips from the ceiling, giving away that Corruptors have found us. Some ponies are grabbed by tentacles coming from upwards and wrapping them instantly in black cocoons. I jump and roll on the floor to dodge two trying to snatch me. Complete panic of screaming servants breaks the little semblance of order we've had a second ago, and everpony starts running to what they believe to be a safe spot.

I, for one, would love to choose to stay with Nightshade, Mana Burn, Huntress, and Chilly, who are fairly successfully eliminating the Corruptors dropping through the ceiling, but a veil of tentacles between us makes me follow a bunch of Nightguards into a different hallway.

Nearly half of us disappeared during the surprise attack.

"The east wing armory!" I hear somepony yell nearby, "We can cut it off from the rest of the castle."

I've never heard of anything like isolating a wing of the castle being possible, but I'm not going to argue now.

We run and run, and while I want to be useful and come up with something to save us, I can barely keep myself from collapsing after today. A painful infinity of burning lungs and shaking legs later, I slump down on the floor of a large room in what has to be the east wing.

"Engage lockdown!" I hear nearby, and feel a massive magical charge build up all around.

I pass out. Through blurring vision I see that I'm not the only one.

Angry voices wake me up.

"We can't afford to wait here! We need to rescue princess Luna," a Nightguard with silver insignia on his armor is arguing with several civilians.

"How? We can't fight through that many of those things!" one of them complains.

"Yes, we can! They just took us by surprise. Anyway, it's either that, or waiting here for a rescue that might not even come. After all, how do we know that the Corrupted who ran towards the Ponyville tunnel weren't only playing with us, mapping the castle out for the rest? They are BEASTS! A century of safety and boom! We get a 'diplomatic' visit and this happens. A bit too much to be a coincidence, am I right?"

"That's dumb," I mutter. Sadly, batponies are known for their hearing.

"What did you say?" he turns to me, fuming. Everypony goes silent. I don't know where the others have gone off to, but the two dozen ponies staring at me make me want to implode and disappear.

"Ummm... I mean, I don't know who this Nightshade is, but Mana Burn used to be an elite Hex Guard, princess Twilight Sparkle's personal companion. I doubt he would-"

"Oh yes," the Nightguards rolls his eyes, "because ponies who lost it due to corruption are known for their ability to return to their previous life," he spits sarcastically, "Now shut up, kid. Adults are talking. If you really want to be useful, go grab a sword out of the armory and help us save your princess."

"Uhh..."

"Thought so," he scowls at me, "You're a disgrace, unicorn. You have no place in a city as sacred as Canterlot."

"I am a librarian, an unlike you I'm not suicid-"

His punch sends me to the floor. I may have hit a nerve, but I will be the one trying to get the horseshoe tattoo off my cheek for weeks. Well, so much for the just a little over-the-top loyalty, I mean fanaticism, of the Nightguard batponies.

Only about ten of us stayed behind when the expedition to rescue the princess left, and those were the guys too hurt to be of any use.

So, I'm the only semi-healthy pony who didn't volunteer.

"It's not that I don't want to help. I just think attacking a horde like that is beyond dumb," I complain to nopony listening, "And to think she even knows who I am..."

I shake my head.

"With all the attention on the throne room, I COULD try to get to the Ponyville tunnel myself," I keep mumbling, "I mean, who knows if Mana Burn got there safely to inform princess Twilight, right?"

While travelling to Ponyville through the tunnel on hoof would take one over a day of walking, there are teleportation spots used in case a quick visit is needed which transport the user towards the guard post on the other side.

Nopony objects to me leaving the safe room. Maybe they think I'm a coward and deserve whatever happens to me, or maybe they really are all unconscious. I think it's about fifty-fifty. As soon as I get to a staircase up, I take it to avoid the main force of Corrupted last seen on the first floor.

"Good choice," I force a weak smile as I hear the sounds of combat from downstairs, "Now to get to the other side, take the stairs down, and pray nothing is between me and the dungeons."

Sounds of whining and heavy breathing are coming from around a corner, so I sneak a peek before moving onwards.

Two Hunters are mating wildly, although it looks like a really pleasant combat. The stallion is on top for a moment, pounding away the sqealing mare, but soon after he groans in what presumably is an orgasm, she uses his moment of weakness to get on top and start riding him with no time to recover.

Before I even realize it, I'm breathing deep the scents of sex while running my telekinesis up and down my own member in sync with the Hunter mounting the mare again.

They stop, and I can see their nostrils flaring. Both heads turning to me, I get a glimpse of their hungry grins.

"Fuck..."

I'm not sure if it was an observation, a curse, or a vision of my immediate future, but I run with one more leg -Well, I wish I was that endowed. Sadly, not even close- back to the main staircase. The short rest must have cleared my head a little, so I scratch a symbol into the dust on the stairs up, and my horn flashes. I wait for the Hunters to walk up.

"Explosive runes," I smile smugly as the staircase goes up in flames and flying stones. My joy disappears quickly as I burst out in coughing from all the mess flying around, "Okay... maybe I've overdone... it a bit..."

After recovering my breath, I look at the collapsed stairs and the two Corrupted buried underneath, and head for the staircase on the other side of the castle.

"Alright, the plan still stands. I'm just on a third floor now. But hey, guess I was right! Only two Hunters in the way."

My head hurts again. The overuse of magic today is taking its toll. Trying to shake the headache off, I turn the corner again and trip over something.

"Owwwwww..."

A warm lick followed by a wet kiss makes my condition a lot better and my confusion go out of propotions. A chubby black mare is lying next to me, tentacles running along my coat, but not attempting to grab or anything. My gasp of breath is followed by another nuzzle and lick. I stumble up and aim my horn at the Corrupted mare just lying there, smiling, and watching me with the weird yellow eyes with no whites. Unlike the fit physique of most Corrupted, this one's wide hips, puckered mouth, and teats the size of balloons assure me this is a female Breeder.

So... why am I still thinking fairly clearly and not blindly rutting her to oblivion? Is she one of the good ones, maybe?

"Hello, ma'am. Can you talk?" I ask shyly, and once again feel super dumb. She just tilts her head.

Breathing in her sweet scent, I lean down to her. If I'm not losing it already, then I might be fine because Breeders aren't supposed to be too dangerous. Out of curiosity, I poke her soft belly.

Yeeeeah, I'm not too sure what to do around mares, much less Corrupted ones. My previous idea was that I would sort of be the bottom one if I ever decided to leave the castle for one final -and first, regrettably- romp.

My curiosity wins, and I run my hooves all over her body, careful not to offend her in any way. The six tentacles coming out of her back do the same to me. Perhaps I could...

Her teats feel almost boiling hot to touch, and the thick and heavy black milk that comes out as I suckle on them makes my body shiver from my hooves up. I don't know how long I just lie there and drink, but it doesn't seem to stop. When I wake up from my stupor, I feel a lot better. Still exhausted, but sort of invigorated at the same time. I quickly check myself in a conjured mirror for any unwanted changes associated with something I REALLY shoouldn't have done.

White coat - check! Although slight grey veins around my mouth portray the sign that I DID get touched by corruption a moment ago. Nothing even remotely serious, though.

Brown mane - check! Once again, black strands here and there, but nothing like what should have happened to somepony consorting with a Breeder.

Book and a magnifying glass cutie mark - check!

"Phew!" I wipe my forehead. Corrupted ponies lost their cutie mark along with their mind.

End result - I am completely fine, which, no matter any possible set of coincidences, should not be the case.

"Maybe I could do something more?" the blood currently residing in my fully prepared lower regions makes an interesting decision for me.

When the Breeder doesn't object as I press my muzzle against her marehood, I start licking.

Sadly, thinking with one's balls is always a bad idea.

Time loses its meaning with me drinking once again, this time the spicy liquid the Breeder releases with every few touches.

Hoofsteps make me snap back to reality.

Two more Hunters are approaching. On the positive side, this is about as close to getting laid as I'll ever get.

"Bye, ma'am!" I lunge back towards the staircase which, after my previous narrow escape, leads only up.

She hisses at me, but is silenced quickly by one of the Hunters jumping straight at her in a rutting frenzy.

"Okay okay okay," I mumble while galloping like a madpony, "This is impossible. It has never happened before, that a stallion would return to being normal after losing it with a Breeder. Am I resistant somehow, or does even corruption not want me?"

I bet it's the latter. A quick run by the window of the darkening day reveals my muzzle turned oily black, but aside from that there are no more changes. I guess I now have a permanent mark allowing everypony to see what a loser like me has to stoop to to get some.

There is no way for me to blow up another staircase, but after drinking the Breeder's milk I can focus enough to cast a brief invisibility spell and hide behind a pillar on the side of the hall. The Hunter runs by and disappears behind a corner.

So this is it... Breeders don't exist just for enjoyment and spreading of corruption, they can restore strength of a wounded or exhausted ones. I'm petty sure a dying Corrupted who would do the same thing I did would be fully healed after few minutes of drinking.

They seem solitary, or living in packs of strict ranking unless they are a part of a hive, but that is not the case. They are all connected, a complex ecosystem of living creatures providing for others. Just like the world itself.

A revelation hits me.

"Flies aren't gone, bugs aren't gone, birds aren't gone, otherwise all flora would die, but the corruption takes everything. It drastically changes only that which is not ruled straight by instinct anyway. It has no meaningful effect on those things. What is it, though? And WHY does it exist?"

I feel as if there is a little piece I am missing. One tiny bit of information which would make sense of everything that is happening.

A growl makes me freeze.

The Hunter previously chasing me is walking towards me. I foolishly believed a soundproofing spell would be enough to allow me to sneak through. Right here, at the only other staircase leading down, I get caught.

"A bad Hunter chases his prey. A good Hunter lies in wait where his prey has to go," I mutter, watching the Corrupted with newfound respect.

The Hunter smiles, takes a deep breath...

...and HOWLS.

Several howls answer.

None are coming from upstairs, so I go into full hunted mode and obey blind panic.

Fourth floor. Fifth floor. Library.

The Hunter is toying with me, swiping at my legs and sides. Easily running circles around, but while I offer him the thrill of the chase he doesn't kill me or mate with me.

Broken bathroom. Stairs up. Attic.

Tripping over the last small stair leading to a wooden attic, I brace myself against being dragged back down. My defiant stare at the small square of an open trap door leading up here in unanswered.

Nothing.

"Haaah haaah haaah," I wheeze, unable to do more, while waiting for claws to seize me.

Still nothing.

A floorboard creaks behind me.

"Fu-" I turn, expecting the Hunter.

I look up... and up... and more up...

Words elude me, and my mind goes completely blank.

The dark purple, alicorn-sized, bat-winged Protector is standing above me, staring at me firmly.

Comments

[funguy26]

this is aewsome! keep up the great work.

[Nameless Narrator]

6790295 Glad you're still enjoying it, although I think I'm overdoing it in the "action" aspect.

[funguy26]

I think is good but i would ask other readers and go from there.