Imbalanced: New Age

by Nameless Narrator

Balance of Power: Three

The two Silver Sun recruits guarding the main gate jump to the side as a towering fiery tentacle grows in front of them and slams down, turning the gate into mesh of molten steel and fading protection spells.

“Blazing, stop for a moment!” pleads Heavy as I ignore the guards and walk onto the now baked gravel marking the road leading from the main gate towards the mansion, “Come on! You’ve slept ONCE during the trip here. You’re in no shape to start breaking stuff… or break the right kind of stuff if necessary.”

“What’s going-” an armed unicorn vastly more courageous than the others on the early morning watch rushes over, gets grabbed by a new tentacle and tossed aside. With no other interruption, I enter the mansion with Heavy in tow.

“Nightshade is down there,” I growl, nodding towards the cellar stairs. I don’t have any proof of that, I just know it’s true.

Downstairs, my worst fears come true because the first pony I see isn’t a real pony at all, it’s Mana Burn.

“Oh dear,” he starts, “You got here quick...”

Wrong. Thing. To. Say.

“Where is Nightshade?” I give the Corrupted blocking my way a bloodshot stare.

“Blazing, she’s with Cromach. She’s trying to help.”

“Help WHOM?!” I burst out, “Help herself? Like she did when she turned me into a Corrupted? Like she tried to do when I was on my way to the sacrificial valley to SAVE THE BUCKING WORLD?!”

“Blazing, at least listen to what they have to say before you do something stupid,” Heavy’s tentacles grab my head and turn it towards himself. He retracts them as they catch on fire, “Ouch! Geez...”

From behind, metallic hoofsteps clink down the staircase. Bucket, apparently alerted by the guards outside, approaches.

“I see what they meant,” he lets out a distorted sigh, “This bad?”

“Bucket… how could you?” I give him a bitter stare.

“I have a good explanation, but you need to think clearly to understand and accept it,” says the robot calmly, ”Which means I must ask you to stop scorching the floor at least for now.”

“Huh?” looking down, I see hoofsteps burned into the stones underneath, “Well… I’m mad!”

“Forgive him,” Heavy chuckles, “he hasn’t slept in three days. Don’t expect any eloquence, and you might need to repeat the difficult words twice.”

“Alright, Blazing, you listening?” Bucket stops a short distance away from me.

“...everyone is against me...”

“Of course, when you’re being stupid.”

“Stop making the delirious pony even angrier, Bucket,” Heavy facehoofs.

“I had to make my position clear.”

“Why would you want to harm Crom?” I blink. Why are there two robots now? Am I really that sleepy? No! Nightshade is doing something to Cromach and Bucket is helping her. Why is Heavy on their side too then?

“I don’t, Blazing. Just come with me and I’ll explain-”

“I’m not going anywhere, Bucket...”

The robot plops his metal backside on the floor and smiles.

“Perfect! Now listen, after you told me about the amazon potion, I dug through some old database entries and contacted princess Luna.”

“What?” I wave my hooves, “Whoah...” I sit down, suddenly feeling a bit unsteady, “Y-You can’t just… I can’t deal with alicorns on top of everything else… damn it, now I have to avoid them too...” I end up muttering. How could he screw up so much?

“I didn’t tell her about you. I’m pretty sure the only princess who knows about you is Twilight,” he nods to Mana Burn who whistles innocently.

“Can’t keep important things like that hidden from my mother,” the dastardly Corrupted shrugs.

Villains! They are all the real villains.

“Anyway,” Bucket returns to his explaining voice, “What I discovered was that the Castle of Two Sisters was a first contact research lab. Strange equipment smuggled through the mirror world portal was taken there for examination and reverse engineering. When Corrupted first appeared, all the scarce body remains and the few captured creatures were sent there for research. Some of the best zebra alchemists and pony scientists worked there under the protection of both Royal Guard and the Nightguard to find an effective weapon or at least some protection or a proper cure to conditions Corrupted inflicted on ponies. Namely Horn Rot and the spread of corruption through eating food grown from tainted ground.”

“Didn’t work...” I mumble.

“Some research and observations were crucial to pony survival during the enclave years. However you are correct, a proper cure was never found. Not even by these ‘amazons’, who are none other than the descendants of the guards and scientists who survived within the castle. They had to rely on the original prototypes of the chemical extract which hadn’t been refined properly, and since it’s made from poison joke… some results weren’t exactly positive.”

“Poison joke, the crazy plant?”

“It’s a plant which causes unpredictable temporary mutations to any living tissue. From what little the agents I sent out to contact Nightshade and scour the Castle of Two Sisters brought back, it looks like the scientists were able to make an extract which makes poison joke target corrupted tissue specifically to a certain degree of success.”

“But nothing helped.”

Bucket shakes his head.

“No, corruption first afflicts the mind, and the extract simply changed the infected parts of the brain into something else, causing the amazon… simplicity. There used to be over two hundred castle inhabitants who shrunk into the twelve surviving amazons today. I am certain the original potion’s side-effects killed more of them than the Corrupted. However, as the amazon knowledge over time turned to shamanism and rituals, they bred with Corrupted under the potion’s effects and kept studying and refining the extract. From the last written documents and drawings I gathered they dropped the mortality rate to near-zero and made the potion not destroy the infested tissue, but rather rebuild it from the closest original materials. Do you understand where I’m going with this?”

“With what?” I blink out of sync.

“They succeeded in making the potion marginally usable only after they got real Corrupted samples. What I did was ask a Corrupted who can manipulate her own body in a way no one else ever will, unless we can find an intelligent and cooperative Corruptor Queen which would be a miracle in itself. Nightshade agreed to test the potion on herself and change it in a way that would help Cromach the most. She gave us a new sample which our chemists used to produce more.”

“If Nightshade allowed you to create more of it, then it’s not a cure, Bucket. Don’t you see? She doesn’t want to cure corruption.”

“All I’m asking is that you don’t blow up and give her a chance.”

“A chance to do what?”

Bucket sighs.

“She wanted to have complete control over the few days of research. There are no copies of any related documents, only the originals which I agreed to destroy after she’s done. No matter if it works or not.”

“Good. No reason to willingly make more of her poison.”

“BLAZING! I trust her.”

“Yeah, because she can’t corrupt a robot. That makes it easy.”

“No, you idiot! it’s because she spent a lot of time with Cromach while you were gone. They know each other. Rather intimately, if you know what I mean.”

I made Bucket mad? Is that even possible? And why is everything spinning?

Not sleeping and walking all the time fueled by pure rage would do that to a pony.

Noooooo…

I mean you’re right, Mistake!

I am? Why do I get the feeling I’m not gonna like it?

No, I can’t be falling asleep here! I must get up and stop her.

Whoah, that’s kinda difficult. Meh, having eight legs would do that to a pony.

“Where are you going?” Bucket comes closer.

“...Nightshade...” I mutter.

Stop trying to stop me. I can’t let her take away any chance I have at helping him.

“Okay, let’s go,” says Bucket simply, “I know I’m going to have to explain everything again tomorrow.”

I follow the two wobbly robots through the swirling corridor. There’s another silhouette on the way.

“Good morning, Blazing.”

“...ning… Cross...”

I finally make it past the door, this time not melting my way through.

It’s quiet. No gurgling, no scratching of claws and talons, no whipping of tentacles, or growling. Just a big Corrupted griffon quietly sitting with his eyes closed, tubes leading from a pumping machine outside the holding cage to needles jabbed in various places over Cromach’s body. The reason for his docility must be Nightshade sitting in the cage with him, eyes closed as well. Only her tentacles wobble as Bucket and I enter.

“Nightshade,” I manage to raise my voice and focus enough to stop seeing double, “What are you doing?”

“You were correct in your idea that Cromach would need mental reconstruction. Nightshade found fragments of his mind imprinted in his divinity, but he’s been too long in a Corrupted body. He isn’t Celestia,” says Bucket.

Is she… actually helping? Me?

Not you. Cromach. That’s why she wants to keep tabs on the cure. After her experiment on him is done, she’ll have Bucket destroy everything. Weren’t you listening?

Huh…? What? Sorry, I’m kinda tired, Mistake.

No… really?

“He’s waited this long for me. He can make it,” I mumble, sitting down and propping my back against the wall.

“Do you want me to help you upstairs?” asks Bucket carefully.

“...no… I can wait...” I breathe out.

“Come on, who knows how long-”

“Hrrrgh!”

A loud ‘thud!’ echoes through the room.

“Wh- What?” I shake my head, looking into the cage. Cromach is lying on the floor, tubes spewing their contents all over him. Nightshade is rubbing her temples and unsteadily getting up, “What did you do?”

I get on all fours, stumbling towards the prison.

She DID hurt him. I was right all along. He’s just lying there, not even breathing.

Blazing-

He’s not breathing, Mistake. SHE KILLED HIM! HE’S NOT BREATHING!

Nightshade spits on the floor, then unceremoniously throws up a wad of black goo which dissolves into water.

“Damn plant… I haven’t felt this sick since I spawned my first Corruptor,” she’s clearly hurt. Good.

Kill her, kill her, kill her, kill kill kill kill-

“Hraaaaaaagh!” Cromach suddenly chokes, coughs, and gasps for breath, “Owwwww...” he clutches his head, “What did I… how much did I drink last night?” he croaks.

-hug her, hug her, hug her, hug her, hug hug hug hug.

“Cro…?” I whisper. This can’t be real. The Blades, Guiding, Joy, and now Crom. This can’t be real. Harmony killed me and this is just my last dream. Nothing can ever go my way this much… ever...

He looks at me, eyes going wide.

“I drank myself to death, didn’t I?”

“Good... morning,” I smile at him, feeling darkness coupled with both physical and mental exhaustion creep all over me, “and... goodnight.”

Happy, my little villain?

Happy. Just make sure… this wasn’t a dream… when I wake up again.

***

[Blazing’s Entry]

Alright, it’s day two after my justifiably cautious stupid return to Manehattan, and I’m still waiting for the comet which must right now be barrelling towards me at an ever increasing speed.

Why? Because it wasn’t a delirious hopeful dream.

Nightshade said she put together everything she could find. She’d been working on it for nearly a week. Bucket’s agents must have gone to Pine Hills and back at a breakneck pace to gain so much time on me and Heavy, but they did it. They did it without my involvement. Even more, my involvement would have been directly detrimental. What’s even worse… everypony else knew I would be the problem, not Nightshade. I had a valid logic, right? I was the one she attacked multiple times. I was the one who had to resist corruption. I was the one who DID resist. ON MY OWN. They all needed help, but I did it ON MY OWN.

So why was I wrong? I don’t know…

Anyway, that doesn’t matter in the end. Their meddling led to a result no amount of my effort would achieve. Cromach is taking a lazy stroll through the mansion, fighting off yet another headache, and watching me scribble as I walk along. Nightshade made Bucket gather all materials related to the antidote as per their agreement, which he gladly did. What he didn’t tell Nightshade and what I had to pry out of him was that he has all the details already in his database, and can recreate the antidote whenever with the help of proper equipment and staff. Our current agreement is to keep the secret absolutely safe, because Nightshade is not an enemy ponies can afford, and there are always those who would try to profit from the antidote as a weapon. Nightshade’s current standpoint is that whoever falls into her domain, stays in her domain… with certain exceptions.

So, Cro is taking it easy, which is the best I can hope for, and can now process more than few words without getting a crippling migraine. He’s slowly piecing together lost and fractured memories, but it seems his core personality is at least partially what I remember. What is certainly different is how calm he is. Whether it’s just the age, the time spent around calculating pony like Bucket or even far older and more experienced one like Cross, or just his own life lessons gained I don’t know. It’s just there. I’m kinda disappointed there isn’t much of the white griffon left physically, only the bright green eyes. The rest being swallowed by corruption, tentacles, and everything included in the package.

Anyway, I’m going to have to say goodbye for now. I hate to do so, but that’s just how it is. My presence seems to be helping his recovery, that’s given. The problem is that any time I spend here gives Harmony more time to recover, and Nightmare more time to scheme. What Discord is doing is anyone’s guess, but as soon as he recognizes me as a threat, it’s not going to be good. I hate it, but I have to find out more about Starswirl’s research into the Blades. If there’s a pony to know the theory pertaining the third one then it’s the Blades’ creator himself.

Now, I faintly recall Desert Shade saying something about her friend in Canterlot being responsible for the library and creating a spell capable of talking to characters within a book. That makes my next goal rather clear - I need to find Des, gain access to the Royal Library without crossing the path of either Luna or Celestia (or even Twilight. Not because she’d try to stop me, but because she’d try to help me which in her zealous obsession with books, lists, and rules might be even worse), and find Starswirl’s latest journal. If my guess is correct, then his final literary form might know all he did before he died, or at least a good clue where to look next.

I’d try to look elsewhere, but as Corrupted originally spread throughout Equestria all the really important knowledge got concentrated in Canterlot or in Twilight’s Ponyville library.

Damn, I hate to go. I just don’t have any other good option.

[End Entry]

“Why do you even bother with me?” I sigh, “I nearly messed everything up.”

Cromach chuckles quietly.

“From what little I heard, everything you did led to this point, buddy. A little misstep right in the end is forgivable. Nopony is perfect, which goes triple for you. You’ve got to tell me the whole story, though. Bucket tried to brief me on the important bits, and I got a migraine literally shooting up from my hind paws.”

“Nightshade DID say you really had copies of memories stored even in your talons. But hey, that’s being a Corrupted for you. The perfection of the body comes with the screwed up mind.”

“You… know how it feels?”

“Oh yeah, I was one for some time.”

“How did you get getter?”

“Died. Exploded myself into sheer true death.”

“Wait, isn’t that supposed to be final? Like ultimate final, not like your usual dead final. Owww,” he clutches his head again, “Damn it, I can’t focus at all.”

“Nightshade said it should get better soon. She rebuilt you on basically molecular level by sheer force of will, and it was the first time she did something like that. She said she did protect others like Knowledge and Mana Burn from the mental decay, but restoring someone from scratch was something new. However, your Corrupted body should now be far more receptive to what you want to do, and eventually your instincts and the corruption will come together to form a new you.”

“Then I suppose the… cravings are normal.”

“Cravings?”

He looks meaningfully at my backside, grinning. For the first time, his back tentacles sprout out and wobble slightly.

“Oh yes… something I’ve missed for far too long.”

Am I the voice of reason here? Is this how far we’ve sunk?

“Get better first, lovebird.”

“Can I kiss your plot to make it all feel better?”

“That’s not how it works.”

“Give me a minute and we’ll BOTH feel as if the last months were only a bad dream.”

“Cro!”

“Alright, two minutes. I’m not in my best shape right now. Although,” he opens his beak, letting the three tongues flop out one by one, “de phings I’ll be awle to do to yoo wif dese… ons Ah get d hang oph dem,” he shakes his head, the tongues still lolling out, barely twitching. In the end he simply sucks them back in like spaghetti, “Just needs some practice. Will you be my target dummy?”

“Your pick-up lines are horrible,” I can’t help snorting in laughter.

“Considering what I was a short time ago, I think the fact that I can say more than ‘gurgle hiss gurgle gurgle roar’ deserves a reward.”

Geez Cro, stop wiggling those eyebrows…

“Such aaaaaas?” I raise my own eyebrow in response.

“You, me, and a bathtub full of jello. I can reach anywhere on you now. Bleeeegh-” his tongues limply flop out again, “Aww damn it!”

I nuzzle his cheek.

Oh what the hay am I playing at.

I kiss his cheek, then his forehead, and finally his beak.

“This is all you’re getting until you’re better. There is so much I want to tell you. The stuff I’ve been through, what bad guy is on my back now, everything… but I can’t. All it would do now is make you feel a pounding in your head comparable only to the pounding you’re imagining doing to me right now,” I smile as he finally slurps his tongues again, “Don’t give me that innocent look, I can see into your head despite not being Nightshade. The thing is that I don’t have the luxury of resting, Cro, if I ever want to feel safe enough to lower my guard even with you or Joy around.”

“Joy? The name… I think I heard it before...”

“The alicorn of Lust.”

“You mean Scream? Wait, no… she’s gone, right? Joy… Joy...”

“Just like I’m technically an heir to Void’s power and affinity, Choking Darkness took over for Scream, went completely crazy, tried to kill me and our daughter, but it’s somewhat cool now.”

Crom’s jaw- beak- whatever drops.

“She’s alive? Wait, daughter? What the fuuuuuuuuuu- OW, MY HEAD!” he claws at his temples as he sits down.

I just pat his head until he’s able to stand up straight again.

“See? A ton of stuff happened, but I have to go away again. I need to make sure there’s a tomorrow in which we can talk again. I’m sorry, Cro. I really am, but-”

He puts his talon on my muzzle.

“Buddy, I know you. I dare say I know you better than anypony else alive, maybe with the exception of Heavy Hoof. Yes, you’ll have to explain why that guy is around as well AND is a Corrupted, although the stuff I heard yesterday from Cross’ room reassured me there’s no problem at all. Damn, I need to get the hang of all the transformations and tentacles. I’ve got some ideas you might like,” he winks at me.

“I know you do, Cro, and if I don’t screw up then you’ll have all the time in the world to try them all out.”

“I really want to be out there with you, guarding your back.”

“You’re in no shape to do so, Cro. This time… this time it’s more than just Harmony, I can feel it. Well, I’m planning on it not being only him. I’ll kill all three of them.”

“That’s… quite the goal. I mean, not even Void could do that, and he had power to actually kill them.”

I shake my head.

“That’s the point. I thought about it long and hard- DON’T YOU DARE CHUCKLE. THIS IS SERIOUS-”

“Heh heh heh...”

“I love and hate you so much, Cro.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way, buddy.”

“So, I thought about it, and Void had the power to damage or even destroy the gods’ physical forms, but that’s all there is to it. I don’t have his sheer destructive potential, but that’s not what my divinity is all about.”

“I recall that thing being all about self-hatred and stuff.”

“Gone too.”

“I love you so much more, buddy.”

“I’ll find a lube that can make a log fit into a pinhole, but only after we’re at least somewhat safe.”

“Safe sex, I like that. We’re an example to young generations.”

“Definitely. Only they just need a condom. We need to kill three gods ruling the reality as we know it.”

Crom waves his talons.

“You always get hung up on the technicalities, buddy.”

“Well, I wouldn’t call- mmph?!” a beak pressed against my muzzle shuts me up. Cro’s tongue in my mouth finishes me off completely. He breaks the kiss soon, allowing me to gasp for breath.

“Do what you need to do, buddy. I’ll be back in few days at most, protecting your sweet ass and a ready to axe some serious questions.”

I love both you and Joy, but after past few days it’s clear even to me. YOU are my number one. I thought there was enough room for three in my heart, and there is, but you’re getting the bed with me while Joy gets the couch.

It’s not fair. I really DO love you both...

...but that’s just how it is.