Corrupted Lands

by Nameless Narrator

The Origin: Departure

The tainted glade in the central park of Ponyville, my sanctuary completely cut off from the rest of the world by a circle of black trees and thick, impassable vegetation... my "throne room". Aside from grey spots of winter sky above, nothing from the outside world reaches here. That doesn't, of course, mean I am cut off from the rest of the world, but it leaves anyone attempting to approach me with only one way to do so. Deep down, I know of every scent, every touch, every worry or inquiry of the Corrupted outside.

Through them, through the soil they walk on, I know that there is an armored unicorn coming this way. I've met her before, but I can't really recall her name or rank. Just another Hex Guard serving Twilight and Ponyville. She is looking around as she passes through the only entrance my circle of trees offers, eyes never leaving Corrupted lying in the snow here and there. Ponies might be getting better at concealing their fear of us, but I can sense her every nervous twitch, her fast heartbeat, and her heavy breathing.

In a way, that is a good reaction. After all, she is facing me.

With a salute, the guardsmare stands at attention and calms down, ready to do the task she was sent to do.

"What does Twilight want?" I smirk and stand up. Hex Guards don't come to me unless there is a problem.

She clears her throat.

"Queen Nightshade, Her Highness Twilight Sparkle asks for your presence down in the enclave throne room."

"Yeah, that was obvious. Why, though?" I yawn, letting my jaw split and show the mare all three tongues I can wrap her with and make her never think of another pony again.

I've never been a prude even as a pegasus, but turning to a Corrupted Queen shot my libido through the roof. I am in complete control these days, mostly because my lack of control before nearly cost me everything, but I still love teasing ponies. Making my slim, scaly body with curves any mare would be jealous of stretch as I stand up, I whip my tail and flash her my dripping wet marehood with short tentacles darting back and forth from inside, hungry for a victim's mouth to invade.

It is just a game. I'm not going to seduce or attack her, but watching her breathing quicken and her mouth get dry is a victory in itself.

As I take my first step towards her and my black mane reflects the grey light from the sky, she gasps and recovers from my show.

"I... I..." she bites her lip and breathes out slowly, "Her Highness wishes to talk about an upcoming expedition and the final part of some decrypted journal. I don't know anything more, I'm afraid."

"Alright, I'll be going right away. Anything else?"

"Ummm," she turns to leave and stops. I pass her easily due to being much taller, not bothering with any sort of sexy walk or anything. Twilight wouldn't have sent for me if it wasn't important. The guardsmare trots to my side, "Thank you."

"What?" I raise an eyebrow. I don't remember doing anything for this mare in particular.

"For everything you are doing for Ponyville. I know a lot of ponies don't like you and are afraid of you, but I felt like I should say it. Thank you."

The corners of my mouth rise against my will and a drip of moisture mists my eyes for the tiniest fraction of a moment.

"Don't be silly. I was born here, I still have friends here, although much less of them after... this happened," my long, prehensile tail runs over my side, "I love this place as much as you do."

As we reach the main street of new Ponyville, she salutes again and walks off to continue her patrol. I... once again after a long time walk towards the Enclave without trying to avoid others or without having to look like an unapproachable predator. I smile at a passing farmer pulling a cart with his equipment. He nods back hesitantly.

I am not a Separated, I didn't run away from the darkness inside me. I am not a pony, I'm not weak and defenseless. I am not a simple Corrupted, a mindless beast drowning in someone else's distant hatred and rage.

I am Nightshade.

Shaking my head at the unnecessary drama, I smile to myself as I descend through the underground enclave. In the crystalline throne room similar to any other throughout the roots of the crystal tree castle thingy aside from size, Twilight and Mana Burn are waiting for me, sitting by a circular crystal table.

I can sense uncertainty in Mana's mind, and Twilight is fidgeting in her seat, trying unsuccessfully to hide it. This can't be good.

"So, what's the issue, Twilight?" I walk over and sit down a seat away from her. She looks at me from a stack of papers in front of her.

"How would you react if I told you we found a vaccine for horn rot?"

Stay... calm...

Don't let her know anything. Don't move a single muscle.

What does she think I'm going to say? Horn rot is the only thing keeping unicorns from starting wiping Corrupted out like they tried with all other races according to history. It probably wouldn't be enough, but this peace has worked only because until now I've been working from the position of strength. Spreading a way to fight us among common population can't end well. Somepony organizes a small separatist group and then 'whoosh!', we have a war. My Corrupted are easy to control for an ex-pony like me because they are content, well-fed, and satisfied with their company. I don't have the power to keep an entire hive in check in case they feel threatened.

Act like a responsible ruler!

"How did you find it? I thought we agreed you wouldn't conduct any experiments without my permission..."

"I didn't," Twilight taps her papers, "Princess Celestia did. It's all here, the entire process and everything."

"Mind if I have a look?"

"Of course not. Just ignore the gory details. My mentor didn't consider Corrupted... sapient."

At least that request is easy to fulfill. I didn't consider Corrupted too intelligent until about quarter a year ago. I was right, they are pretty dim without a guide.

I skim through the decryption report. I would pale, if it was possible, especially if Twilight actually thinks about requesting me to do this. In short, it forces a Corrupted to give up its essence until the point of crippling weakness to make a single unicorn resistant to the physical effects of horn rot. In my hive, in pure theory, it would be possible to do so without the Corrupted being killed by, well, anypony wanting to. Here in Ponyville I could protect the afflicted Corrupted until it recovers, but no. I'm not letting this happen anyway, definitely not on a larger scale.

"Twilight?"

The way she answers my unspoken question will reveal everything.

"If... if I could replicate the process without causing too much damage to a Corrupted, would you be against protecting all the remaining unicorns from you?"

Aaaand now it's on me. Thankfully, her answer was satisfactory.

"You are not doing... this," I let my front leg melt and absorb the papers, "this atrocity to any of my subjects," she opens her mouth and I raise my reforming claws, "But if you, through this research or any other means, find a less invasive way we can agree on then we can talk again. You're gonna have to keep your unicorns on a tight leash, because once they get a taste of power they're going to want more, and guess who is going to be the first target of the purists."

"Nightshade, I know more about unicorn supremacists than you ever will. I have already considered that side of things. The reason I am asking for your permission is to know if you are ready to keep your subjects on a leash in case accidents happen, which they inevitably will. I don't have supreme control over every single pony, but I don't want the actions of few idiots to ruin what we needed two centuries and a miracle to reconstruct."

"Find a reasonable way and then we'll talk again," I shrug. This is all just a hypothetical scenario anyway at this point.

"I'm happy to hear you're willing to at least consider it. Now for the more... difficult request."

I narrow my eyes at the word 'request'.

"I need you to allow me to perform the procedure on myself. For that, I need a Corrupted, preferrably a willing one. However, I need this to happen within few a week at most."

"Look, Twilight. I know you want to make sure you can take care of Ponyville with at least one less thing to worry about, but-"

"No. I can leave Ponyville in the hooves of Luna and Chrysalis. I need to be protected because I'm assembling an expedition west to the Barrier."

"Your 'ritual', at least from what I understand, has a miniscule survival rate. I'm not sending a member of my hive against those odds. Would you force your ponies to undergo such a thing, no matter the reason?"

"No, but I want to do this while the world isn't breaking down under my hooves again. That's why I want your oversight. I want you to make sure the procedure isn't fatal. I want the used subject to survive as much as you do, but I MUST have this if I want to get to the root of all this."

"Twilight, no. That's my final answer. Until you find a less threatening way, no. Not gonna happen. NO!" my claws score grooves into the crystal table.

"Ehm," Mana Burn coughs, "I volunteer."

"No," I shake my head.

"It is my choice, my Queen. I may be one of your hive, but my will is my own."

"It's amusing that you think so."

With no effort on my part whatsoever, he stands up from the table and his claws flick Twilight's horn. Then he jumps up and down like an excited dog, and sits back down on his chair. His body is mine. I can easily force him to rip Twilight's horn out and stab her in the throat with it. Mother or not, I own him.

He gives me a stern glare and says simply:

"I trust you enough to still believe my will is my own."

And now I'm the bad guy again. I let out a heavy sigh.

"Do what you want. If you want to end up a bowl of black pudding then so be it."

Twilight and Mana Burn exchange glances.

"Will you help?" Twilight asks.

"One thing, Twilight," I look her straight in the eyes, "I want you to promise me your resistance will never be used against my hive. I might be able to take you on, but to them an alicorn free to use her power..."

Why am I even asking this? It's not like she would answer honestly if she had an ulterior motive. Am I scared? Is it a Corrupted instinct or is it me? I've changed in past months more than I ever wanted to.

"Nightshade," she closes her eyes, "you have proven yourself to be stronger than almost anypony else I know. Princess Luna and queen Chrysalis know about you, and while they don't know you as well as I do, they accept your hive, Chilly's Separated, and everypony who wants to live with us in peace. Day after day, ponies are learning to live with your kind. I'm not talking about you being important because you keep us safe from wild Corrupted. I grew up in Ponyville that welcomed anypony with open hooves, I want such place to exist again. That is exactly why I need your help to get to the Barrier, discover what is turning Corrupted naturally rabid and stop it if possible. I'm not going to make it there with the threat of horn rot at every step."

"I, umm, ate your notes on the procedure."

Don't blush, don't blush, don't blush!

"That was a copy, of course. Plus, I remember the entire thing by heart. So...?"

"Yes, I will help you not kill your own son, happy?"

"Great!" the alicorn jumps, smiling from ear to ear, "Can we do it now?"

"What, here?" Mana Burn tilts his head.

"You want him to bend you over here on the table and ravage you? I like that," I smirk.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!" they both sqeal.

"Well, the notes mentioned the essence of a Corrupted. You know... essence," I keep going.

"Essence as in blood or flesh, although now that you mentioned this..." she winks at Mana Burn.

"You can't be serious, mom."

"What? Am I too old for you?" Twilight attemts a seductive wiggle which comes off like an earthworm trying to move. The alicorn isn't too used to what Manehattenites call 'club scene'.

"Come on," I join in, "I clearly remember you asking me to help you bang your mom. You wanted her so much you wanted to fight against my will."

"I... I thought... blood, I wanted..." Mana Burn's grey coat can't exactly blush, but his ears are turning dark pink.

"My own son telling my I'm ugly," Twilight shakes her head, "I have failed as a mother."

"Exactly! How do you think I feel?" I lament as well, "A Corrupted not wanting sex? I have failed as a Queen."

Mana Burn huffs, finally realizing both Twilight and I are having fun at his expense.

"Very funny, both of you. Can you just put me in a blender or whatever is the entire essence thing?"

"He would rather bleed to death than sleep with me! It's like Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns all over again!"

"MOM!"

"Alright, alright, I'm done. Got any ideas how to make it less lethal, Nightshade?"

"I think the butchery Celestia did was only to weaken a Corrupted's regeneration and magic resistance so that her ritual would work on them. With enough control and Mana Burn's cooperation, I think I should be able to force his body not to heal quickly. It's up to you to make the rest work out."

"Good, let's go to the hospital."

"Yeah, one last thing I got from the notes. You DO realize the only thing this procedure prevents is the destruction of your horn and magical veins, right? You will still nearly literally orgasm your entire being away if struck with horn rot. There will be no release when your horn shatters or melts, your nerves will be so overloaded that you will collapse."

She nods.

"Yes, if that happens I will need others to protect me, but it still gives me a chance to act without risking the entire future of ponykind by going outside."

In the hospital complex, Mana Burn lies down on the already prepared operating table, and Twilight, accompanied by a group of other unicorns, begins.

I don't understand much that's going on, I just prevent Mana Burn's body from causing trouble. It takes less than an hour, but in the end Mana Burn falls asleep and Twilight wipes her forehead.

"Did it work?" I ask.

"I've gone through all the stages I should have according to the journal as the stolen essence flowed through me. I don't really want to test it, though."

"Wouldn't it be better to test it here rather than have you collapse during a fight with a hostile Corrupted?"

"True..." Twilight bites her lip and instructs the assisting doctors to stay here a while, "Can you use the rot on me?"

I absorb a Hunter walking on the surface and respawn him here in the operating room. Horn rot is draining even for the user, so I'm not willing to do it myself unless necessary. The Hunter obeys me with only a little hesitation, and Twilight keels over, spasming and squirting her juices all over the crystal floor, much to the shocked staring of the doctors.

"From what I heard, it feels really good," I give them a wicked grin, and they all step away.

After about a minute, Twilight falls unconscious, but I feel no addition to my hive. It seems the alicorn is still herself AND she still has her horn. My work here is done.

"She is physically fine," I say and watch everyone flinch, "Get her somewhere comfortable and keep an eye on Mana Burn. Send for me if anything goes south, understood?"

They nod, eyes not really focused.

"Understood?" I repeat.

"Yes, miss!"

They finally start rushing around, and all that's left for me is to leave.

So, Twilight wants to go to the Barrier herself. Impressive. Hmmm, what should I do? Can I leave the Corrupted here in Ponyville without supervision? I think I can. The rules I've been ingraining into them since my taking over are in effect even without me forcing anything. I still need somepony with authority to keep a semblance of command structure around. Mind after mind, I flip through every single member of my hive and assess who could become Ponyville hive steward for a while.

An idea comes to mind, I should ask my favourite travelling companion to come with me. I order a Hunter near Canterlot to go a little further north and relay my message to the Separated.

"My Queen," a voice wakes me up. I must have been lost in though so much I didn't sense anypony coming.

The limping grey Corrupted, barely awake but smiling, walks over and sits down next to me.

"Huh? Mana Burn? Didn't we just finish the operation?"

"It's been two days, my Queen."

Whoah! Detailed search through a mind must take much longer than it feels like. Fortunately, the answer to my problem came here on its own.

"I'll be going with Twilight to the Barrier," I announce.

"I will-" he groans as he tries to stand back up.

"You will stay here," I shake my head and put a claw to his mouth, "Don't argue! You are in no shape to do anything, and I doubt you'll recover soon. You are staying here, and that's final."

"Okay," he hangs his head. I can sense a feeling of inadequacy growing inside him.

"You will take my place as the leader of the Ponyville hive."

"WHAT?" his ears perk up and he looks at me, blind panic growing.

"Temporarily, of course. If Twilight takes a squad of Hex Guards or something, they will all die or be transformed. No way around it. I've sent a Hunter to ask for Chilly's assistance. Considering how I lost track of time, he might be here already."

I quickly scan my Corrupted for any signs of somepony interesting entering my territory. I get way more answers than I expected. Among others, the King of Separated himself as well. It looks like Twilight was planning to go whether or not she achieved the horn rot resistance.

"To the Corruptedmobile!" I jump up and point towards the exit of my dark glade.

"What?" Mana Burn stands up much more slowly, and with a lot more creaking of bones and huffing.

"Get on my back. We've got visitors and I think it's Twilight's doing."

"I can walk."

"You can barely stand."

"Mind if I speak freely?"

"Don't ask stupid questions."

He chuckles.

"Alright. I don't need to be anywhere right now. It's not my place to question your orders, but I'd rather walk around Ponyville and get a good look at how ponies react to Corrupted. If I can't go with you on your journey or something then I want to fulfill the responsibility you put on my shoulders the best I can. To be honest, until now I've only looked at statistics or official complaints. I didn't have the time to see how things are up close. Who knows? Perhaps I might spot some issues you might have missed."

As expected of Twilight's son. No matter how weird a responsibility is thrust upon him, he will do anything to handle it well.

"I might not see eye to eye with your mother on many things, Mana Burn, but you make both me and her proud. Just don't forget... we might not be ponies, but-"

He walks over and hugs me.

"I don't think I've ever met you while you were still a pegasus, Nightshade, but no amount of physical and mental transformation will change the fact that you are from Ponyville. You have given other Corrupted the best of you, and I will protect them as my own, just like I would do for ponies. Trust me," he whispers in my ear, leans back, and boops my nose, "Anyway, it's not like you're not coming back, right?"

A great weight is lifted from my shoulders.

"Heh, of course not," I flex my muscles hidden under black scales that move as well, "I've got a ton of Queening in me still. Lot of ponies to tempt and taint and so on," I push Mana Burn away, "I've already instructed the entire hive about you. You won't have the same mental control that I do, but they understand words. Anything else?"

"Good luck?"

"Thanks," I nod, melt into the ground, and reform at the entrance to the underground enclave a moment later. Leave exhausting teleportation to the mages, this is the only right way to travel. Oh yeah, the surprised looks of ponies as I sprout from the ground in front of them are always chuckleworthy.

Down in the throne room, I am greeted with a group of visitors. I've seen most of them, but not all.

"Is there any trouble?" Twilight asks when she sees me stride in.

"For me? No. I'm here so there's a little less for you. Chilly and I are joining whatever expedition you're setting up."

"What about-"

"Mana Burn is taking my place, and I have no doubt Chilly has arranged things up north as well."

"Indeed," the throne room door opens again, and the white King enters as well. He nuzzles my neck as he walks by. I have no idea how he keeps himself so safe while still retaining his soft skin and coat, but I blush and requite the gesture, "Greetings, everypony."

The visitors are taken aback at his calm demeanor. I sort of miss the speechless confused Hunter, but Chilly is still Chilly, only with more responsibilities.

Just like me.

"Welcome, both of you," Twilight bows, and the others follow suit, "I guess we can push the departure date a little later. Your presence should be worth it thousandfold."

"I am ready to leave at any time," Chilly shrugs, "The Separated are in good... hooves."

"Same here," I join in, "Mana Burn's not gonna screw up."

"Alright," Twilight nods, "Let me give you a quick recap then. I've dug up some old maps, and in conjunction with princess Celestia's journal I have a very clear idea where the Barrier is. After consulting sir Cromach here," she gives a quick glance to one of the visitors, a tall white griffon, "I have an... idea what we might find there. I'll tell you more when we're on our way. I think princess Celestia's mistake lay in taking a whole legion of ponies. She couldn't move quickly, with so many ponies to transport, or even stay patient because she would run out of supplies. The ten of us here should have a much better chance of reaching the place quickly. Plus, in terms of raw power we might be pretty close now that I can use magic, sir Cromach is here, and both you and Chilly are joining in. We will be taking with us a griffon mobile radio station since magical communication won't reach back to Ponyville. With the upgraded transmission system here in Ponyville we should have a clear way to talk to anypony at home. So, the plan was to leave this afternoon so that we would reach the end of Ponyville territory and break camp for the first night. That way we can traverse hostile surface through the day."

"As I said," I wave my hoof, "I'm ready to go whenever."

"Well then," she coughs, "the second official expedition to the Barrier will commence in an hour. I'll meet all of you at the enclave entrance. We'll talk about any of your concerns on the way. Briefing over."

I watch everypony in our little group leave in pairs.

Twilight and Mana Burn's brother Knowledge.

The white griffon from Manehattan, Cromach, accompanied by a mechanical pony I've never seen before.

Bastion, the Corrupted Protector of Canterlot, and his walking fleshlight, the unicorn I met briefly called... a bondage magazine? Bound Tome, right, ehm...

A blonde, black female hippogriff followed by an another griffon, neither of whom I've ever seen before.

And last but definitely not least, Chilly and I.

Considering what history books said about princess Celestia taking the legion of the best soldiers from all guard branches on the first expedition...

...I think we can take on anything that stopped them.

Comments

[funguy26]

that was funny when Nightshade and Twilight are messing with Mana Burn.

[Anonymous Critic]

Why would it have to be from a single corrupted? To cure horn rot, I mean... who says they can't just take a tenth of the needed power from ten different corrupted? Seriously, that would certainly lower the risks, yet they aren't even thinking about it.

[Two_Madmans]

9394778
Reminds me Saw 5

[Teraunce]

Bastion, the Corrupted Protector of Canterlot, and his walking fleshlight, the unicorn I met briefly called... a bondage magazine? Bound Tome, right, ehm...

haha he wishes.

[ProjectRabbid]

I am back.
back again.
readinf the rest,
rest again.
yeah

[Nameless Narrator]

11532878
The real Slim Nightshady!