Imbalanced: New Age

by Nameless Narrator

You Cannot Win: Disharmony

[Blazing’s Entry]

I didn’t tell anypony but Joy what happened yet. I don’t know why. After all, it’s a massive “victory”. One of the gods is gone, one is severely damaged, and one seems to be running the show.

I’m so tired of this. I thought all the fighting would make a difference, but we still have to live in fear all the time. I can’t rest, I can’t stop looking behind me, and I can’t shake off the feeling that I’m too weak to protect Joy and Cromach.

Fine, Mistake is telling me to focus on something good for now.

With Discord gone, I discovered that my power was sufficient enough to temporarily disperse the Badlands anomalies and allow me to walk through. Granted, I still followed Desert Shade’s steps, but at least I had a safety net in case they lost their way. Anyway, as soon as we entered the old hive we were safe… in a broad sense of the word.

As it turned out, the changeling hive had one annoying feature - the holes in the walls kept opening and closing at random, making getting up to Chrysalis’ old throne room a massive pain in the plot. On the other hoof, it only took time. Thankfully, Bucket had been right and we didn’t need any mining equipment or anything. Cromach just smacked a good chunk of the stone structure off with his mallet, and we were back on our way to Manehattan.

At the moment, Bucket is working on the final Blade, and I keep looking up at the sky. Not for a meteor falling on me anymore. Nightmare is the threat, and she seems to be in control of the situation. The only thing on my side is that she’s likely not counting on Starswirl switching the order of the crafted Blades up. To what effect, I have no idea, but anything Nightmare overlooked is a boon I so desperately need.

[End Entry]

Behind the Silver Sun mansion stands a wall made of clear, black marble… or some other rock, I’m not a geologist. It’s not there for protection or as an obstacle for some course, although Cross sometimes uses it as a hurdle to jump since it’s close to his personal training area.

The wall is full of names scratched into it, names of those who died because of me. It doesn’t matter if they were innocents who were a collateral casualties, or those who lost their lives in my service. They are my burden to bear, and I should never forget them.

I used to recognize all the names. From soldiers lost during the invasion from Zebrica Nightmare orchestrated, to all Silver Sun members who died while I was still alive. I added the list Cassius and Nicolai sent me, but there are still many more names of those who were lost under Cromach’s leadership.

Heh, two hundred years under him and it’s not even a third of who died during the few years under me.

“Flutter… shy,” I hear his voice from behind me after I’m done scorching in the two new names. Damn sneaky griffon, “Wait, Discord?! Did you sneak off to kill a god while I was asleep? If so, your ass is on the line.”

I turn my head with an apologetic smile, ears droopy.

“...maybe?”

He sits down next to me, wrapping his foreleg around my shoulders.

“Did something happen in the Badlands? You did seem… different after we had to rest. Quiet and… with this weird, sad look in your eyes. Not exhausted or depressed like you usually are, but deeply sad. I notice these things. I know you.”

I breathe out. He does.

“You really do,” I lean against him, “I… did find Discord while you, Des, and Joy were resting.”

“Hmm? I was expecting something along the lines of ‘I might be worse than you think’ and so on.”

“Nope. You can see through me at this point, and… I kinda like it. I can’t lie to myself anymore that I should be doing this on my own. It’s less… scary, and at the same time… far far worse because I’m now afraid for you and Joy too, and I can’t keep you out of this by any means.”

“Tsk tsk tsk, that won’t do,” I squeak as he picks me up, slings me over his back, and continues, “Now, your punishment.”

“What?”

“I told you your ass was on the line. I’m adding mouth and other bits for not telling me immediately.”

“Wait, I need to-”

“Bucket is working on the Blade, Heavy is setting an example for us with Cross, and Joy is tending to her dimension. All you need to do now is relax, unwind, and tell me exactly what happened. Well, the last part later, you’ll have your mouth full for a while. I might look like a plain old me, but I kept few… improvements from my corruption.”

I open my mouth and close it again. To be honest… I’ve been waiting for this for a long, long time.

***

It’s tomorrow, and I’m still walking funny. Well, standing funny, because I’m carefully watching Bucket unlocking a hidden shelf at the back of his office, and levitating a long bundle up onto his desk. He unrolls the simple cloth cover, definitely not fitting the importance of what is inside.

“Here it is,” he presents the third Blade. Unlike the two contrasting black and white ones, this one has a silvery edge speckled with black dots, and a polished brown handle. No guard, exactly like its predecessors.

I grab it with my telekinesis, and give it few practice swings, not feeling any different. With the two other in my room, the true test is still ahead.

“Alright, and the other thing I asked for?”

Bucket shakes his head.

“I’ve sent scouts all over Equestria. Silver Sun agents are checking every pony settlement we know of. At least that’s one thing corruption made easier - there aren’t many. Our current prime team is on its way to Barrier in case Harmony is looking for his old bases, and few more agents are already in Rift for the same reason. Considering how difficult transportation is these days, if anything happens, we’ll know in about a month at most.”

“Hmmm… I hate not knowing where Harmony or Nightmare will strike next.”

That’s not exactly true. I hate that I DO know where and when Nightmare will strike next. I am her target, and she’ll be on my back as soon as I destroy Harmony. Well, if I don’t succeed in that, Nightmare will be the last of my problems.

“If I may offer a suggestion,” Bucket hides his secret shelf behind one full of binders again, “You should use as much time as you can right now by learning how the Blades work in practice.”

“Me slice, they hurt?” I raise my eyebrow, “I mean, they are still swords, not Black Ops cloaked airships.”

“Can you wield all three of them without hacking your own leg off? Will your telekinesis even work with all three on your body? Will using all of them kill you straight up due to your divinity like the original two killed your brother due to his magic?”

Damn robot does have a lot of information about me. He’s right, however.

“To be frank, I was hoping I could be using two like I’ve been doing all the time, and have the third one sheathed on my back.”

“You HAVE TO know for sure. There is no room for error.”

I sigh.

“I know, I know, Bucket. You know what? I’ll go get the Blades, you tell Heavy to meet me behind the mansion for some basic practice.”

“Why not sir Cromach or Joy? Using the Blades against them would prove their anti-divine effects far more conclusively. I doubt they possess any effect inherently useful against Corrupted.”

“Two simple reasons. One, if the Blades work, I don’t want to accidentally cripple either of them in case I land a good hit. Two, if the Blades don’t work, I’d rather be smacked in the face by a tentacle than a battle axe as heavy as I am. Let’s save Joy and Crom for later.”

“Understood,” Bucket nods, “See you in ten minutes.”

I answer his gesture before leaving with the Blade sheathed on my back. I’ll have to ask Bucket to make one combined sheath for all three now, this is inconvenient to say the least.

Anyway, as I grab the other two and fasten them on my back as well, I don’t feel any different. Maybe a little heavier? That could be just going up and down the stairs repeatedly. Slower? Eeeh, nothing. Tentacles?

Alright, no matter how hard I focus as I walk down, no burning tendrils come out of the walls.

Mistake?

Still here, and so are the blank souls. It might be a good idea to learn how to use those as well.

Mistake not deleted by the Blades and accounted for. Good. As for the souls - first, learning my new weaknesses, if there are any. Abstract use of something even more mysterious than divinity later.

Point taken. I’ve got an idea, though.

Yes?

You used to be pretty good with two swords. Now that I’m here, I could control one, and you two. That could be nasty.

Doing that, running around kicking and punching, and using divinity on top of that was too much to concentrate on.

And if the Blades prevent you from using divine power…?

I guess I could get decent at dual wielding after some practice again. We’ll see what my first training session brings.

***

I don’t have the balls to use all three swords, so with one firmly held in my telekinesis, one resting sheathed on my back, and one floating around me controlled by Mistake, I face Heavy Hoof currently stretching his back tentacles. Bucket is watching the practice, measuring energy emissions, our endurance, skills, and remembering everything for later review.

Heavy and I begin circling around each other.

Alright, the Blades together like this should be able to cut through anything if their strikes really cause miniature tears in reality. Let’s take it slow.

The greatswords are a bit too heavy for quick slashes, and Heavy easily dodges my first wide sweep by pouncing backwards.

His hind legs bend, and propel him towards me-

No, dodge left!

He ends up to my right, and I blindly swing the Blade his way, quickly turning around while backing away.

Three of Heavy’s tentacles are gone, melting into the ground.

My tracing spell isn’t working. Damn, I feel as if I lost my eyes. Calm down, calm down, I used to be good even without it.

Heavy lunges at me, making me jump backwards and follow it with an upswing of my sword.

He’s fast, or he was expecting it, and the edge misses his head by an inch. He ducks under Mistake’s swing, cocks his foreleg for a punch, and-

“-healers! Where are the heal-”

“Oh stars! Is he-”

I writhe as burning blood fills my throat, gasping for breath and digging my forelegs into the ground. Ponies are milling around, but I can’t do anything other than cough with less and less air I’ve got. In the end, my chest fails to rise, and there’s only peace, silence, and warmth.

What a dumb way to die in the end… just a training accident.

***

“Urrrgh...” I groan, opening my eyes. It would be easier to stay asleep without the constant annoying beeping.

“Oh thank you… thank you thank you thank you...” the muffled mumbling is followed by sudden weight around my foreleg.

“Wh… what happened… where?” my voice is dry and croaky.

On reflex, my tracing spell flares up, revealing that the repeated praying to any nondescript force is indeed Heavy Hoof, his back tentacles swaying in excitement.

“What-” I repeat, but one tentacle softly lands on my lips, shushing me.

“Don’t talk, don’t strain yourself, just breathe and try to stay awake,” he whispers, “I’ll bring Bucket.”

“I’m not… sick...”

Heavy sniffles, resisting the grin spreading on his muzzle, wipes his eyes, and rushes off.

What the hay happened?

I remember training, first few strikes… then pain.

On the other hoof, I’m lying in a soft bed, nopony is yelling at me-

“BLAZING!”

Well, that didn’t last long.

Cromach’s grand entrance following his call is announced by crackling lightning spreading through the world of my tracing magic. Perhaps I should open my eyes.

“Ugh...” bad idea, my eyelids feel like sandpaper, and I didn’t even get drunk yesterday.

“Emperor damn it, buddy! I’ll rip Heavy’s head off for being so careless.”

Oh, now I remember. Heavy punched me. Once.

“Don’t… forget… to… buck his throat hole… afterwards...” spikes of sheer burning agony run through me, starting in my barrel, “Arrgh...” Cromach stops his doubtlessly careful hug, “Maybe your own… throat first… Cro...”

“I’m sorry, buddy. I’m so sorry.”

“Ah, the patient is awake and threatening others with agonizing death,” Bucket’s amused droning announces, “I call that a step towards full recovery.”

Heavy is hiding behind the robot, most likely from Cromach’s burning glare. Considering he’s almost double Bucket’s size, it’s not working.

“Explain… everything...”

Bucket, walking around the room and checking all the medical appliances while I’m trying to open my eyes again, obeys.

“You learned the hard way what happens when a normal mortal meets a feral Corrupted. You held your own for few moments, but Heavy was too fast, and clearly too strong. His single punch flattened your rib cage, shredding your lungs and rupturing your heart. To be frank, I thought you’d die within seconds. However, your weakness turned out to be your strength.”

“No… speaking in riddles… or I’m tying you to a pole outside… during a… storm.”

“The Blades worked, as far as I can tell, and completely robbed you of your divinity. However, that meant the healers I had on hoof just in case could stasis you and throw some healing magic your way after we took the Blades away from you. When your divinity kicked in again and started unraveling the stasis and healing, it also helped you regenerate far quicker than we could.”

“One… hit? I almost died to one hit?” I growl louder.

“Exactly. I assume you haven’t faced an angry Corrupted who didn’t want to simply breed with you without any divine power then. This is reality, Blazing. This is why there are still no trains running through Equestria. This is why every long distance transport needs a squad of armed and equipped guards. This is why ponies almost died out. This is Harmony’s legacy, whether you destroy the god in the end or not. And this is why we can’t afford to have Nightshade, Chilly, or Spring as enemies. Ponies lose when they try to fight Corrupted, either their minds, or their lives.”

Sighing, I sink lower into my pillow. I’m too detached from normal life at this point. Only now I realize how much my divinity was doing for me all this time, even when I thought I had none. It was still there, protecting me, giving me strength, and weakening my enemies.

With the Blades… I’ve got nothing. If there isn’t a squad of trained unicorn healers within reach next time something happens to me, I’ll die… and I won’t come back.

On the other hoof, this is it. The Blades are working. Starswirl didn’t lie to us.

“I understand...”

On the other other hoof, I mean ponies have four of those, the Blades seem to weaken the user only temporarily, or maybe it was only because I had them for a short while. Plus, the effect has shown to have a rather short range. I might not need to have the Blades on me the whole time, just somepony else to carry one of them until I need to use them.

Well, it looks like this is one mission I can’t choose to undergo alone.

“I’m really sorry, Blazing,” repeats Heavy.

“Oh shush,” I feel my strength returning quickly, “I’m glad I asked you and not Cromach. I’m not sure how I’d regenerate from being chopped in half. Perhaps there would be two Blazings… one for Cromach, and one for Joy. Maybe we could make spares just in case.”

“Are you sure the bloodloss didn’t cause some lasting brain damage?” the facetentacleing Corrupted turns his head towards Bucket.

“Brain damaged?” I chuckle, pointing a hoof at myself proudly, “My secret is that I was BORN brain damaged.”

“Alright, everyone out,” says Cromach in a loud, firm tone. When Bucket, Heavy, and one unicorn clad in white hesitate, he points at the door, “I said OUT!”

Bucket nods, taking the doctor with him. Heavy takes his time, though, shuffling away, head hung low.

“Cheer up, Heavy,” I call out to him, “I’ll make a copy for you to play with too!”

He shakes his head, but I can see the corners of his mouth curl up.

“Don’t encourage him,” Cromach frowns after we’re left alone.

“Cro, he couldn’t have known. I didn’t feel much different myself. It makes sense, though, that when I lost my divinity, everything that made me special, I became completely worthless. I became… myself. That’s the long and short of it.”

“You will always be special to me, buddy. Normal or divine.”

***

Left!

Darting to the right, I slash with one Blade against a floating silhouette of a pony while guarding with the other one. Behind me, I hear a loud ‘beep’ signalling that Mistake’s Blade hit its target as well.

Right, head. Left hind leg.

I’M NOT A PRETZEL!

And yet, on pure instinct, I manage to dodge the two wooden poles poking out at the same time from the surrounding dummies looking like angry cacti. Unfortunately, my quick look backwards means I manage to hit only one of the three appearing targets while Mistake gets one more.

Front, head height. Right, sweeping arc.

Luckily, two attacks I can duck underneath at the same time. One target flashes above me to the right, and one rings as I feel a strain on my telekinesis caused by Mistake using it, and I can’t see the third one, so I blindly strike with the third Blade in a sweep above my back.

*Beep!*

Phew.

The loud humming stops, and I realize how quiet it is all of a sudden here in Bucket’s mechanized training room. Well, aside from my ragged breathing, jackhammering of my heart, and blood rushing in my ears.

“Are you okay, buddy?” asks Cromach carefully as he walks towards me surrounded by a wall of aggressive training dummies.

I just raise my hoof, still trying to catch at least some breath.

“Bucket told me you’ve been here every day for past week, and whenever I came to your room you were already asleep.”

“I’m… pathetic,” I sheathe the Blades, and limp outside the circle of angry poles with more horizontal poles poking out of them. No, seriously, that’s what Bucket’s reaction training area looks like - a bunch of thick metal poles coming out of the floor with smaller rubber-covered wooden poles sticking out of them. They spin around and random ones stab at the target surrounded by them. The black bruises all over my body show how successful I’ve been over the… has it really been a week already?

“Come on, this again?” he grabs my chin with one foreleg, and scratches me behind my ear with the other. As his rough talons run up and down my sensitive skin, my hind leg starts kicking, “I thought we talked this through already. If you lost all your divinity, there was no way you could defeat Heavy. No pony or griffon without advanced weaponry, time to set up, and likely a tank could. Corrupted are like that. Heck, if I lost a good chunk of my strength and stamina, I’d fare the same.”

“You wouldn’t have gotten mortally wounded with a punch, Cro. You were strong and tough even before I sealed that little bit of Nightmare’s power in you, and you bade it grow,” I rub his neck feathers with my hoof, then kiss his beak, making him lean backwards, eyebrow raised, “I’m not depressed or hiding, although I don’t blame you for coming to that conclusion since I’m, well, me. I’m trying to get used to the Blades, and how to use them properly when my divinity is unavailable. Sorry, I didn’t make time for you, but it’s been tough.”

I hiss as he rubs my side.

“I can see the black bruises through that lovely bronze coat of yours, buddy. How about a massage tonight?”

“If I don’t pass out. Heh, I’m still in the middle of my training session.”

“Nope,” he shakes his head, “You’re done for today. Bucket’s agents returned, and there are weird spikes of divine power near Pine Hills, namely the Castle of Two Sisters. The unicorns discovered them, and Guiding Light confirmed it.”

“We’re leaving-”

He places a talon on my muzzle.

“Tomorrow. The unicorns brought tons of energy readings which only Bucket understands, and he’s going through them. He’ll be able to pinpoint the exact location of the divine source. On top of that, he wants to send a Silver Sun observer with us to measure the Blades, the divine threat, and you in action. He doesn’t want us to run around like headless chickens anymore, and rely on what little information we can bring and share. Bucket takes the Order seriously, and you yourself wanted it to be a group capable of fighting against darkness, not few powerful individuals like we are.”

“It failed every time, Cro. Face it. Without us, there is no hope against real gods.”

“Bucket wants to change that. Even if we succeed, there will be minor threats, and I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of this. I want to settle down with you, or with both you and Joy. Maybe we could kill a necromancer or two on weekends, but I’m ready for a nightly guard patrol in some backwater town, and then cuddling up with you.”

I’m feeling warmer already.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to try blacksmithing or some mechanical repairs...” I levitate one Blade to Cromach, “Take this, will you?”

As soon as he grabs it, I sigh in relief as I feel my divinity return like a stream of fresh cold water rushing through my veins. Within moments, I feel energized and less tense, although I’m down for the massage anyway.

“So, any plans for today now that your usual program of training ‘till you pass out is gone?”

“Well, you’re good with your talons and like groping me, so figure something out. Divinity or not, it’ll take some time to return fully and heal me up. I doubt a massage would hurt. Just give me few minutes to inform Joy that we’ll need transportation tomorrow.”

I towel myself off as well as I can. Cromach, of course helps.

“Won’t she complain she’s being used as taxi all the time? Especially now when we’ll be bringing another Silver Sun unicorn with us.”

I wave it off.

“She’s alright with it. Any new visitor to her place is just another soul whose wet dreams she can feed on. Who knows, maybe after some time here with the Order, said unicorn will want nothing more than her just based on that single memory, and she will devour him completely.”

“Eeehm, that’s kinda grim.”

“She only takes the willing ones. She’s not a monster. Too much of a monster, I mean. She’s not EVIL. Oh screw it, she can do whatever she wants. As long as she isn’t trying to take over the world or you away from me, I’m fine with whatever.”

“We’re a pretty weird group of lovers.”

“If we were normal, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“Aaah, the good old days,” Cromach nods, smiling, “When the only thing bothering us were mortal assassins and an evil warlock from another dimension. You know, simple stuff.”

I nuzzle his neck, and close the door behind us.

We leave Bucket’s gym, about to spend the rest of the day relaxing. Tomorrow, the nightmare starts over.

***

I blink, not surprised by my surroundings changing from Joy’s dimension to the refreshing cold of the dreamling throne room.

I mean, summer is summer.

“Whoah, that’s new!” I hear Guiding’s voice, “And after I even asked lord Heart to station somepony at the caravan stop in Ponyville,” she stops in front of us and bows, “I’m happy to see all of you.”

“Awww,” I pout, “I kinda miss the days when all you did was repeat ‘Daaahd! and jump at me.’”

“Your little girl’s all grown up again,” she laughs before nuzzling my neck, “Anyway, I doubt you’re in Pine Hills for sightseeing. Luckily, since you landed down here already, it’ll be a little easier.”

Her horn flashes, and the round stone table in the center of the room lights up, showing an aerial map of the Everfree similar to what griffon electronic maps can do. Near the image depicting the Castle of Two Sisters, in an adjacent gorge, glows a white wisp next to…

...that purple star symbol looks familiar.

“Wait, Twilight Sparkle is there?” asks Cromach, coming to the correct conclusion faster than me, “What’s going on? How can you do this with magic?”

Guiding grins, showing one fang.

“I’ve always been good at magic analysis, otherwise I wouldn’t have worked out the dimension jumping spell Blazing here used in the first place. On top of that, I’ve eaten my fair share of Corrupted over the past centuries, and while I’d love to believe I’m free from taint, I definitely am not. That, however, allowed me to use my magic to tap into corrupted soil, and based on what’s going on in the area show some picture manifestation here.”

“That’s pretty amazing,” comments Joy, watching the map. The Silver Sun observer nods, adding:

“You should visit some research facilities in Canterlot or Manehattan. Insight like this is real talent. As far as I know, the only mage able to integrate Corrupted abilities and standard magic is Bound Tome.”

“Thanks, both of you,” Guiding beckons at us to follow her through the dreamling hive tunnels, “but no. I’ve got far too much to do here in Pine Hills. Spending time in a lab would be a waste. Although...” she looks the unicorn up and down, “I might be willing to share my insight into magic and corruption if you saved me some time. Growing a fresh hive is rather difficult under current circumstances.”

“Uhh, what do you mean, queen Guiding Light?”

“Guiding?” I raise my eyebrow. Did she just…? Well, I mean… I know full well how changelings reproduce, it’s just… nevermind.

“I could use a broodmare, or a stallion in a pinch, and while ponies here in Pine Hills like me, they have families and can’t exactly spend time here, so full that they can barely walk.”

The unicorn’s head snaps forward, looking into the dimly lit tunnel.

“Umm, well, I… don’t...”

I can’t help giggling.

No, bad Blazing! No imagining Guiding stuffing the unicorn full of eggs.

Alright, official parental statement: I am very happy Guiding is in great shape and now has enough love so that she’s fed, has energy to use complex magic, and even enough to spawn more dreamlings.

Seriously, though, dreamlings and changelings can reproduce normally with ponies. However, Guiding as a queen needs faster growth so she’s offering this solution. She probably wouldn’t do it again after the first clutch, preferring instead to use all the love to grow her own power, or store it in case of trouble.

To my absolute horror, it’s not the unicorn who answers.

“You know-”
“I might-”

HAHAHAHAHAHA! If I ever get a real body, should I offer it too?

I’m giving you to NIGHTSHADE if you mention that idea again!

Joy and Cromach look at each other, eyes narrowing.

Technically, while Guiding used to call Choking her mom, they aren’t biologically related in any respect.

“Umm-” I try to get a word in. I don’t know what the word is yet, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

“I’m a mare, Cromach. I am made for that. As the alicorn of Lust, I mean it literally,” Joy gives him a confident smile, “Plus, it’ll doubtlessly feel unimaginably better.”

The griffon doesn’t give an inch, though.

“I can’t compete with that, but I’m sure even dreamling eggs absorb some of the host’s essence, and I’m strong, tough, and even have some divine power of my own.”

“Do I get to-” my voice is once again drowned out, so I give up, and just watch Guiding trying not to burst out laughing, and the absolutely horrified Silver Sun unicorn.

“You can’t outdivine an alicorn, Cromach. On top of that, dreamlings need to gather love or lust, and who can do that better than me?” she flashes him a victorious smile. To be honest, I myself don’t know how Cromach wants to top that.

He just growls.

“I. Wink. Mares. Gush.”

Joy turns her head to me.

“Bl-”

“NOPE! I’m not getting involved in this. If you want to seduce Guiding, go ahead. You have both my blessings as your lover and as Guiding’s father, but leave me out of the loop unless I one day ask about either of you suddenly getting a lot rounder.”

“But-”

“LALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALA! I can’t hear youuuuuuuu-”

You know you’d pay good money to see Guiding egg them both as roughly as possible.

…

…

…

Yes…

Hey, family that plays together, stays together.

That’s it! I won’t set Nightshade at you, I’ll ask NIGHTMARE.

Speaking of which, you can stop yelling. We’re finally out of the tunnels, and ponies are watching.

“-LALAlalala… la,” I finally breathe out, “Aaah, only noises of working and talking ponies. A god is nearby, we’re about to fight him, and nothing egg-related is going on. Life is good.”

“Are you done being crazy, dad?” asks Guiding, leading the way to the east gate… hole in the palisade.

“Yeah, it turns out I was actually imagining it and liking the result, so go for it. If it happens, it’s going to be AFTER I face Harmony and Nightmare, so at that point I doubt anything will freak me out again.”

“We were just trying to lighten the mood,” says Joy apologetically, “You were getting all grim and quiet again.”

“Yeah, it’s not like we would do it if you were this uncomfortable with it,” Cromach agrees, “I only thought getting your mind off of things for a moment would make you feel better.”

I sigh. Idiots. My idiots.

“Thanks. Guiding, are you coming?”

“With you? No. Inside Cromach and Joy later? Yes.”

I facehoof.

“In all seriousness, though, you have divinity and the Blades with you. I don’t want to get you into a position where you’d have to choose between me or success. It… hurts me, but you’re in this one on your own, dad, blushing unicorn, egg sacks.”

***

As we land on the bottom of a gorge, it’s immediately clear where Guiding was sending us. The massive cavern mouth is directly under the ruins of a bridge which used to secure the passage into the castle long time ago. Inside…

“Tree of Harmony,” whispers Cromach.

The silvery, crystal tree is shimmering with power. What grabs my attention, though, is the stone slab in front of it…

...with a limp purple alicorn lying on it, her legs hanging from its sides.

“Ah, crap!” I rush inside after my tracing spell reveals nothing threatening in the vicinity.

It has to be a trap, but if Twilight’s dead, then we must return her to Ponyville. Last thing I need is a powerful alicorn body Harmony can teleport away and then use.

At the altar, I put my ear to Twilight’s mouth.

“Still breathing, good.”

“Here they are!” a powerful, motherly voice proclaims, making me sick to my stomach, “Thankfully, we made it in time to save the princess. Use the power, girls! Use the Elements!”

Six young mares with necklaces around their necks practically blazing with divine power rush into the cave.

“LEAVE THE PRINCESS ALONE, EVILDOERS!” yells one who looks like their leader. Yep, definitely their leader, since she’s wearing a tiara with Twilight’s cutie mark.

“Wait, we didn’t-” calls out Cromach, waving his foreleg defensively.

Mistake, I don’t want to hear any back talk.

Why would I-

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” the mares start screaming.
“Blazing NO!” Cromach’s eyes bulge.

Joy vanishes.

I pull out the Blade lodged in the leading mare’s skull, and shake off her corpse from it.

“Starfall?! STARFALL! No… no no no… please no...” her friend’s legs give out, and she cradles the corpse in her forelegs, sobbing.

“Don’t get distracted!” Harmony’s angry voice grows louder, “USE THE ELEMENTS! STOP THEM! AVENGE YOUR FRIEND!”

“But they won’t work without St- grrrhg…” another mare’s panicked scream turns to gurgling as my Blade cleaves through half of her neck.

I’m already charging at the mares, my horn burning from the force needed to wave such a heavy weapon so fast.

“Blazing, what are you-”

I ignore Cromach.

“IT WILL WORK!” Harmony’s echoing roar makes me stumble from the sheer volume.

“Not anymore,” Joy’s seductive voice proclaims as she appears behind the mare hiding in the back who goes ‘Eep!’. The Blade held in Joy’s telekinesis buries itself into the mare’s back. She starts screaming as Joy hacks at her again and again like a butcher.

“What’s gotten into you?!” I hear Cromach, clearly torn between the slaughtering of innocents and following me, “BLAZE, JOY, LISTEN TO ME!”
No time.

“THEN USE THE ELEMENTS ON ME! IT MIGHT JUST GIVE ME ENOUGH STRENGTH TO HOLD THEM OFF!”

The three remaining mares running away from me after Joy is gone again aim their necklaces at a white wisp suddenly floating in through the entrance.

The Elements flare up, overwhelming divine power turning my tracing vision red for a moment. I turn it off, having to rely on my eyes, and what I see makes my stomach turn.

The mares can only gurgle as their bodies melt like wax, coat and skin liquifying, eyes popping and dripping from their sockets. Even the dead ones suffer the same fate, and I can feel their souls squirm as they’re torn to shreds and turned into pure energy, feeding the growing apparition within the cave.

As the girls dissipate, we back off, watching the pure light twist and turn, wriggle and squirm, darken and darken until it looks more like a black hole into the darkest void. As I peer into the rip in reality, I realize that what I’m seeing push through now, is what I lost my life stopping from coming centuries ago.

Tentacles, dark purple like unhealed bruises suddenly cover the walls of the enormous cavern as if growing from every square inch of the rock. In the middle of the ceiling, a giant yellow eye opens.

“Good to meet you again, alicorn. In. The. Flesh.”

“CROMACH, HIS PLAN NEVER WAS TO LET THE MARES LIVE! SNAP OUT OF IT!” I scream at the griffon still staring as if he didn’t recognize me.

“Of course, those imperfect vessels were to either destroy you, or feed me through the Elements. Although I admit your griffon pet is more loyal than I expected. No that it matters anymore.”

I feel a charge of purifying energy build up within Harmony’s eye.

“BLADES!” I scream, raising my foreleg and drawing several circles with my fetlock.

Harmony might hear or see everything, but he definitely won’t understand the signals we prepared beforehoof. Cromach snaps out of it, lobbing the sword from his back at me so hard my horn stings as I catch it. I unsheathe my own Blade, and-

“Here you go,” Joy flashes into reality by my side, the Blade she’s been holding immediately gripped by Mistake.

The now familiar feeling of my returning mortality is announced by my tracing spell fading. Fortunately, I don’t need it to sense Harmony’s power about to be unleashed from his eye which now looks like a pure white pool of doom.

Joy hides behind me while from the corner of my eye I can see that Cromach understood the hoof signal for ‘different objective’, and swept Twilight from the altar, trying to get as far from us as possible.

I cross all three Blades in front of myself.

The following beam of energy makes everything go white. I can barely feel a breeze from the amount of released energy enough to level a city.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha h… a…?” Harmony’s laughter fades when he realizes nothing has actually happened, and Joy as well as I are still standing at the same spot, untouched, “Hmph, inconvenient.”

One purple tentacle shoots out from the mass covering the whole cavern straight at me.

Slash at it!

It’s as thick as I am.

Clearly.

All three Blades strike the approaching appendage at the same time. Reality rips apart again, making the tentacle get swallowed into a black hole, and not only that single one.

It’s not affecting me, but Joy is backing away, and Harmony…

...chunks of Harmony are being ripped off of the cave ceiling and sucked into the open rift.

Press the attack! Do the same thing with that clump near the ground.

Rushing towards the side of the cave overgrown with Harmony’s mess, I avoid several smaller tendrils swiping at me.

“Take Twilight home!” I hear Cromach’s voice as he tosses the groaning princess to Joy. She telekinetically snatches Twilight from the air, and opens a shimmering red portal-

-from which more clumps of purple tentacles immediately reach out.

“Ewwww?!” Joy backs off, “I don’t think that’s gonna work.”

“Alright, then keep her safe!”

Another combined swing creates a new dark tear sucking in shredded pieces of Harmony’s body from the vicinity.

Then something grabs my barrel from boths sides. I successfully stop myself before I decapitate Cromach now dragging me upwards.

“Never heard about smacking the giant, glowing gooey bit first?” he grins as we do a barrel roll to avoid more swiping tendrils.

“You know… flying and I...”

“That’s why I’m here. You just concentrate on the slashing and poking!”

“Ungggh...” Cromach’s quick maneuvers are making me sick.

Focus!

And all three Blades pierce Harmony‘s iris, each one then cutting the divine tissue in a different direction.

Unlike the other rifts, this one keeps spreading as Harmony’s power drains away through it. Blackness surrounds us, making it clear we’re on the border of reality and the void.

“DOWN!” I scream.

Cromach’s beating wings fight against the pull, dragging us slowly back to our world.

Too slowly.

The rift is beginning to close.

It’s growing smaller and smaller.

I feel my carrier curl up, then the paws of Cromach’s hind legs on my back.

Without a word. He kicks out, launching me like a ball towards the light.

“-” I try to scream ‘I am not leaving you here!’, but my voice doesn’t exist.

So, as I feel real gravity get hold of me, I pull with all my negligible telekinetic might.

He hits me in the chest right as the rift closes behind him, spreading his wings to stop us from splattering all over the floor. It helps a little, I brace for impact, and land in something soft, red, and shimmering.

No, not land. Joy’s telekinesis gently puts us down.

There are still bits and pieces of Harmony around. A tentacle here, clump of purple goo there. Do we just clean up?

Mistake, analysis? Didn’t we just toss Harmony back into the void like when he was exiled before?

Not exactly. The rifts the Blades caused weren’t just holes. It was… imagine a meat grinder. You go in whole, and when you go out you’re TECHNICALLY still whole, but… you know.

So, no coming back?

Just like Discord, Harmony should have a soul now. While Discord gained it from love and playful interest, Harmony must have one grown from pure hatred and vindictiveness. Find it.

Comparing what I feel from Discord’s and Fluttershy’s now blank souls, I realize there IS something similar in the area.

The crystal tree, of course.

THAT is the final beacon leading Harmony from his exile here. The sacrificial valley was just a place where entering this reality was the easiest. He purposefully avoided using this place so that nopony would remember it and destroy Harmony’s last hope.

With one more swing of the Blades, a smaller rift opens at the base of the tree which begins crumbling. Chunks of crystals break off before being sucked inside.

In the end, only glowing white wisp remains, struggling against my… it can’t be telekinesis, because the soul isn’t material whatsoever, but it behaves the same.

I grit my teeth-

All the torture you’ve put us through, you bastard!

-and slowly rip a chunk off.

All the misery and insanity.

I twist the thing like a sponge, finally hearing an ethereal screech resonate through the cavern.

All the wasted time looking for each other AGAIN!

“Blazing, what’s happening?” asks Cromach, “What’s with the eldritch screaming.”

I slowly keep tearing strips of the thrashing soul off, flaying it layer by layer, and listening to the sweet cries of the purest agony.

Finally. FINALLY IT’S OVER.

The soul stops struggling, fading limply into nothingness along with the noise.

You could never physically feel pain even as we broke your divine body over and over, but your soul…

...I almost wish I could keep it. Rend you over and over again.

“Blazing, you’re growling, and that insane grin isn’t helping!”

But I am merciful. I ALLOW you to die now.

The broken shade of the wisp finally disappears completely.

Closing my eyes, I allow myself a real smile. After so long… a content, real, warm smile.

Maybe there is hope. With Discord gone, Harmony was likely more powerful than any time I faced him before.

So this is the power of the Blades. A god died with barely being able to do anything.

Incredible.

Twilight wakes up on Joy’s back, her eyes snapping open.

“Whuh? What? Who? Why is reality weakened everywhere around? Blazing Light? Mana Burn said… I remember the Elements calling. I wanted to investigate in case Harmony was coming back, then-” she clutches her head, “Owww...”

“That’s a long story,” I say, giving the Blades to Joy and Cromach which makes my tracing vision return and lets me see deep red scars hanging everywhere around invisible to normal eyes, “Whoa, that’ll need some duct tape.”

“What are you talking about?” asks Cromach, poking me in the chest and frowning.

“I’ll explain later. Let’s get Twilight to Ponyville and have a long, relaxing chat.”

“Is Harmony really gone?” asks Joy, turning her head to spot any more signs of tentacles or strange growth. There is nothing left, only a clean, empty cavern.

I nod.

“He is.”

Now, Nightmare. Was this your plan? There’s only you left. One true god, not suppressed by the others.

Was I just your toy all this time? What’s your next step? Is the world going to end now that your power is unchecked, or is there something more I don’t see? Did Starswirl really outsmart you? Did Void and Scream set things up much better than you expected them to?

Your pawn did everything you wanted, the ball is in your court.

Comments

[Shadowshame]

dun Dun DUUUUNNNN!

[Nameless Narrator]

11301190
OMINOUS NOISES!

[BurgerFanMan]

A moment of silence for the Misled Mares