Imbalanced: New Age

by Nameless Narrator

Love and Hatred: Power

[Blazing’s Entry]

I spent hours searching Pine Hills for survivors, yet I found none. Out of the fifty-ish ponies I knew moved there including amazons and some Ponyville braves, I counted twenty dead. Others were nowhere to be found. Whether they managed to evacuate during or before the attack or they scattered into the surrounding woods in hopes that Corrupted would be a lesser threat than the attacker I don’t know, and I didn’t have the time or desire to find out.

I went through all the rebuilt houses and their cellars. I used a cut log as a makeshift battering ram to get into the few locked ones, and I found nothing but supplies. I rummaged through the tent camp in search for clues about possible survivors, but there was nothing other than stomped marks, broken equipment, corpses, and blood. There was nopony left alive anywhere I could find. My final hope were the dreamling tunnels under the city, but my progress was blocked by a cave-in a short way into the hive. I tried calling for somepony, but there was no answer. If some residents escaped in there, they were now dead or found some alternate exit into the forest.

Evening crept in, and I gave up, my last hope being that those whose bodies I didn’t find got to Ponyville. I didn’t find Crimson Heart, and I didn’t find the last dreamling, but in all honesty, I didn’t care. Guiding is dead. I took a shovel from the tool supplies and dug a shallow grave for her remains, if only so that I could tell myself I did all I could.

As I was leaving, I realized that what I was afraid of for a while already came true. I didn’t feel pain, everything was just dull and empty. Was it shock? I don’t think so. I’m just… burned out like an overloaded device. After all that’s happened, I can’t feel anything anymore. I felt hollow like this before, it bothered me when I thought about not being able to show Cromach my love in case I succeeded with him, or that I would be too detached to care for Guiding. Now I know I was right. All the death which would have normally left me crying in a corner somewhere barely dented me. I methodically searched the town, I dug Guiding’s grave, I examined what evidence there was, I came to a conclusion, and then I left.

With west being my destination, Ponyville was on the way. I had enough gold to buy long-lasting supplies, and enough time to inform the guards about the massacre. Considering the few I talked to didn’t know what happened and haven’t heard about any wave of ponies reaching Ponyville from the east, I didn’t bother them any further afterwards. Pine Hills has been wiped from the map again, and this time for good.

I had a good night’s sleep, to my utter amazement. I’m finishing my last real, warm meal here in some Ponyville tavern the name of which I don’t care to remember. Afterwards, I’ll be leaving on one long ass trip.

The message in Pine Hills wasn’t exactly clear, but the damage and combat marks were. There were no slash or bite marks, only crushed limbs and bones, bodies ripped in pieces, and long thick scars on the ground. Someone absurdly strong caused all the damage using hooves and enormous tentacles which grew from the earth itself. Considering the place wasn’t overrun by Corrupted afterwards, it was clear whose work it was.

Harmony’s fucking avatar, the huge overmuscled mare I hoped I somehow killed with my explosion in the desert. And of course I know where she’ll be waiting. I thought my fight with Harmony over two centuries ago stopped the god, then I believed Twilight’s expedition wiped the final traces, but killing a god clearly isn’t possible without proper means, such as the ability to drain or disperse its divinity.

It’s up to me, and this time it ends for real. I don’t care in which way, I just need to make sure it does.

Blazing Light, the Godslayer, though...

...definitely sounds better than Blazing Light, the Giant Red Splatter On The Ground Slowly Drying Out.

[End Entry]

Leaving Ponyville behind me, I look into the distance across the fields of wheat sharply contrasting with the black tainted vegetation on the horizon. Several farmers and Corrupted patrols are moving around, I can hear dog barking and muffled noises of the waking town, and the morning sun is warming the fresh air up.

All in all, everything promises a beautiful day.

Strange, I wasn’t expecting myself to be able to appreciate it at this point. Maybe it’s the simple things. No matter the reason, I allow myself a smile, brush a strand of mane away from my face, and set out on my new journey. I kind of wish I could fight Harmony right here and now and spare myself the weeks worth of walking, but I guess the god has been preparing some trap or other back at the sacrificial valley, and I’m about to spring it.

I soon leave even the farmland behind. From what I heard, Nightshade’s territory reaches into the outlying forests as well, but the pony-Corrupted patrols don’t bother venturing deep unless it’s necessary. When I’m some twenty pony lengths away from the treeline, I feel a surge of power from…

...underneath?

“I knew I saw something… familiar,” says a deep, seductive female voice somehow filled with barely civil and contained fury, “Alicorn.”

The words seemingly coming from all around are followed by strands of black biomass shooting out of the ground ahead, melding together, and eventually forming a Corrupted mare I was hoping never to see again.

Scales or not, Nightshade is freaking HOT. And yet, I don’t feel any desire to ogle her, or actually even bother with her in any capacity. I look at the bright sky, smile to myself, and let out a resigned sigh.

“So this is how it’s going to be, eh?” I mutter, “On top of everything else… you.”

She circles around me, fangs bared. I close my eyes to shut out any distractions to my tracing spell, and focus my divinity. I’ll need to react fast, or I’ll need her to slow down if she does something stupid.

“I thought we reached an agreement last time,” she growls, “I don’t make you my first Corrupted alicorn, and you don’t go around trying to ‘purge’ us.”

Although I can’t deny I’m rather curious about what my power would do to somepony of her caliber, this is a waste of time. She might prove to be a decent benchmark against Harmony’s avatar though.

“Funny, that time when I transformed into an alicorn Corruptor must have been a bad dream then,” I bark at her, “Or that time when I used the last of my ORIGINAL divinity to fight you just because you were CURIOUS and then I had no way to get into Drachenberg in fucking time to do anything! I might have gotten there earlier if I didn’t have to FUCKING CONTROL MY EVERY THOUGHT TO STOP MYSELF FROM TURNING INTO A BRAINLESS BEAST! YOU WASTED SO MUCH OF MY TIME, YOU BITCH! YOU FUCKED EVERYTHING UP! IT’S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!”

I apparently have much less control over my emotions than I thought, and by the time my rambling turns into screaming, I find myself spinning around while telekinetically undoing the buckles of the belts holding my saddlebags and tossing it all away. Nightshade isn’t surprised when my spin on one hind leg ends with the hoof of my other one connecting with her neck.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrgh?!” she howls, however, when my hoof digs deep into her neck as if I kicked just a normal pony, and shatters the protective scales, making the shards fly away and revealing a softer neck. Slamming into the ground, she paws her forelegs against the hole in her armor, wheezing in pain.

I wonder, has it been so long since somepony or something was able to harm her? Heh, must be similar to when I got so used to having absurd amount of divine power that I couldn’t really fight anymore when I lost most of it.

I pounce on her, kicking her hind legs away with mine mid-jump as she frantically scrambles to fight both me and her shock. Straddling her barrel, I put my forelegs together, and slam them down onto her muzzle.

*Crack!*

“Aaaaaah?!”

“I could have made it in time to Manehattan!”

*Crack!*

“Arrgh!”

“I might have had the power to purify Guiding the first time!”

*Riiiiip!*

“...grrrhg...”

“She wouldn’t be dead now!”

*Crack!*

“...”

“Crom wouldn’t be a monster!”

*Crack!*

“...”

“I WOULD HAVE A FUCKING LIFE AGAIN!”

I stop, hooves raised yet again. Nightshade is quietly gurgling, black blood splattered all over the place. One of her eyes is gouged out, and I realize that in this short moment I ripped her ear off, ground her protective scales away, and shredded her skin underneath. Broken bones of her unnaturally bent muzzle are spearing her flesh through, and she’s twitching with every wheezy breath.

She deserved the lesson, she definitely did. I needed an outlet, and I feel my frustration from everything that has happened until now flowing away.

On the other hoof, considering how my new power works, I just beat up a normal mare. Under any other circumstances, she would be the most powerful being on the planet, but to me she’s just a normal mare who once, long time ago, used to be a guard.

I guess I should step off and allow her to heal.

Now focusing again, I realize my tracing spell has been picking up dozens of silhouettes noiselessly rushing towards use, BIG ones.

Ooookay, how do I explain pounding their queen’s head to jello to a pack of doubtlessly shocked and increasingly furious Corrupted?

Alright, I need some one on one time with Nightshade, this time thinking clearly.

A shimmering wall of white fire cuts us off from the approaching Corrupted, who immediately start beating their hooves and tentacles against it. Just like with bullets, I don’t feel the impacts like unicorns are supposed to feel their shield spells being attacked. The barrier is just… there.

Amidst the howling, hissing, and growling I suddenly hear a coherent voice:

“Let me in, Blazing Light. I want to talk.”

The grey Corrupted unicorn sheathes his sword as he sees me look at him and waves his foreleg. It’s Twilight’s son -what was the name?- Mana Burn, right.

So, how does this power work? Do I just wish for Mana Burn to enter?

The unicorn pushes through the wall with no harmful result and with utmost care walks towards me.

“You don’t have to tiphoof around me, Mana Burn. I’m currently trying really hard to find a way out of this which leaves me unstomped and, which I am sure is hard to believe, allows me to keep Nightshade alive. She’s kinda important for the continued survival of pony race I heard.”

Mana Burn blinks, clearly taken aback.

“You AREN’T here for revenge for her corrupting you?”

“Granted, I lost it a little for a moment, but she started it. If she didn’t show up, you wouldn’t even know I’ve ever been here again. As for the corruption… Mana Burn… I won’t bore you with all her meddling caused, and she would deserve me crushing her skull in the slowest and most painful way I can, but… too many lives depend on her. Far too many for me to put my anger in the first place. I think that a lesson like this might teach her not to screw around with ponies just for fun.”

“Blazing, I talked to her after we met last time. Nightshade didn’t do it for fun or some sadistic enjoyment. She presents herself like that a lot, but everything she does is to protect Corrupted. An alicorn in her territory could have meant terrible things, so she went to check up on you, and when you showed you could remove corruption from yourself… she was terrified of you. She was dreading the idea that you could try to go around ‘curing’ tainted ponies and possibly Corrupted themselves. She didn’t… and indeed still doesn’t trust ponies not to use a weapon which could destroy corruption against her given the chance. You see… Corrupted aren’t smart.”

I raise an eyebrow. He continues.

“Those like me or the Queen, we used to be ponies and we… accepted our new existence. In general, though, Corrupted minds are too simple at this point. They can learn some basic rules, they possess some emotions, but without a strong leader they can’t work together effectively. If ponies had a good weapon against us and used it, they could organize into effective groups, but our guys would be just wil packs. You were the biggest threat she’s faced since Harmony.”

“I was never a threat, Mana Burn.”

“Potential threat. So, what happens now?”

“Can you call them off?” I nod towards the horde of Corrupted now patiently waiting behind the see-through flames.

“If their instincts aren’t roused too much, yes. That means if their Queen isn’t in mortal danger.”

“I’m kind of surprised you haven’t attacked me on sight, to be honest.”

“I prefer to be a Corrupted of words rather than outright action. Unfortunately, Nightshade prefers not giving problems the time to grow. Anyway, I wasn’t too keen on trying to fight somepony who locked out a group of Corrupted out of an area after beating the most powerful one with his bare hooves. So, will you let Nightshade go? I suppose her still being wounded and, in fact, still here is caused by your power as well.”

“Look, before she does something stupid again, have you heard about any survivors from Pine Hills?”

Mana Burn blinks repeatedly.

“Survivors? Survivors of what?” he shakes his head, “No, nopony arrived from Pine Hills in several days.”

“Days? Yeah, that would fit,” I stand up from Nightshade who immediately with the cracking of regenerating bones starts rebuilding. It’s pretty slow, likely due to the remaining effects of my power, “Pine Hills was attacked some time ago. Few days would be pretty accurate. Out of all the residents, I found less than half of the corpses including Guiding, and I hoped some survivors made it here. Clearly not…”

“But the amazons, and the dreamlings… who could have done such a thing, wild Corrupted?”

“No, Mana Burn. Harmony’s avatar.”

“What? No! We stopped… it, didn’t we?”

“I heard the story about what you did in the sacrificial valley,” I shake my head, “You did a good job, trust me, but none of you had the power which could deal with divinity. You slowed Harmony’s plans down, but… the time you bought has apparently passed. It’s up to me to finish this.”

“Let me help,” he says with no hesitation in his voice.

Why did the immediate offer warm me up so much inside?

“No, but thank you, really thank you. You won’t be of any help when the fighting starts.”

“And before?”

“What do you mean?”

“I know the best way through the wildlands, I’ve been to the Barrier multiple times.”

“I thought you destroyed the Barrier?”

“The Corrupted living there call their city that. It’s kind of a word that stayed with them. I can guide you there and help in case of any Corrupted trouble.”

“Look, as you can see you’re not that much of a threat-”

“I’ll stay back and watch the big fight, I promise! Nopony has seen a divine battle, other than when Cromach sparred with Nightshade. I need to know what forces we are against.”

“I can kick your ass right here and now. That way you won’t have to go all the way there.”

“Blazing. Harmony targeted because you stopped him… it’s a he, right?”

“It’s an IT, but I doubt it cares how you call it.”

“Alright. Harmony went after you and your close ones. What’s stopping him to go after us in case you fail? In case the worst happens, I’ll need to mobilize the princesses and give them as much information as possible. I just need knowledge-”

“FINE, GEEZ! You’re like your mother,” I roll my eyes. Funnily enough, it seems he took it as a compliment.

“Perfect. I’ll sort everything out and find you. It shouldn’t take more than few hours.”

“I’m not waiting.”

“Keep going straight west and I will find you. You won’t make it out of the territory before I’m ready.”

I guess a bit of additional protection while I’m asleep won’t hurt, and I don’t think Mana Burn has it in him to be underhooved.

“Just make sure Nightshade doesn’t do something stupid.”

“I’ll arrange a search party around Pine Hills.”

I just shrug.

“Guiding is dead. I don’t care about anypony else.”

He freezes, his expression carefully flat.

I shrug again.

“I’m not a hero, Mana Burn. I never was and I never will be.”

He sighs.

“I understand, Blazing,” a tentacle grows from the ground, wraps itself around Nightshade, and slings her over the smaller stallion’s back, “I’ll sort things out and find you.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I turn away, shaking my head, and start walking. He can’t know my tracing spell sees him watch me leave. The Corrupted surrounding the fire barrier gradually disperse while I’m ready to draw my sword. However, it looks like Mana Burn’s control is more than sufficient, and no one bothers me anymore.

It doesn’t take long before I’m thankfully alone again.

Unfortunately, it also doesn’t take too much longer before I’m NOT alone again.

Mana Burn sprouts out of the dark grass ahead, spitting dirt.

“Phew! I never tried this trick before, glad it works,” he says as if he just didn’t grow from the soil like a carrot on steroids.

“You really didn’t need to rush. I’m not exactly a quick walker.”

“I couldn’t wait, I just have so much to ask. About my mother, about old Equestria, about the gods, about-”

He’s practically jumping around. Me damn it, just like his mother.

“I’m not a historian, Mana Burn, and I have a crappy memory.”

“Come oooon!”

My sudden evil grin should be illegal.

“Alright, but you have to answer one rather annoying question yourself.”

“Anything!” his smile grows far too wide, which proves that despite his civility he’s definitely a very toothy Corrupted. He can’t beat mine, though.

“Are we there yet?”

It’s going to be a long trip, and I need some way to amuse myself.

Comments

[Two_Madmans]

but in all honesty, I didn’t care. Guiding is dead.

I'm just back and already regret.

I methodically searched the town, I dug Guiding's grave, I examined what evidence there was, I came to a conclusion, and then I left.

Changelings... are tough... They can back after deadly wounds...
But... But there isn't this situation... Right? There... no hope...

“No, Mana Burn. Harmony’s avatar.”

You know... in one time i was thinking it was Joy. Or Redtalons, but the situation showed the opposite.

Harmony targeted because you stopped him… it's a he, right?”

Why was I think it's a she?

[Blewfire]

Read foward and found out that Guiding Light does come back. thank goodness, because I do really enjoy reading these stories.

[Nameless Narrator]

9897855
Powering through misery is the only way.

[Shadowshame]

9898542
You know by now I know how these stories work and the unreliable narrator writing trope doesn’t work when readers have already experienced Blazing several times over

[Nameless Narrator]

11299050
Yep. Plot armor too stronk. If I ever figure out how to keep things interesting when a main character has stuff to do and can't get offed for the plot to continue, I'll immediately call every famous writer in the universe and tell them, because everything suffers from it.