Imbalanced: Legacy of Light

by Nameless Narrator

10: A proper analysis

Target:

• Name: Nicolai Irongrip
• Species: Griffon/M
• Color: Sandy coat and feathers, grey beak
• Cutie mark: N/A
• Standing: Excellent
• Threat level: Average
• Damage type: Physical (sword, pistol), Thermal (beam rifle)
• Notes: Crucial contact, ally, friend

System status:

• Overload: 0%
• Damage: 0%
• Energy balance: +95%

Objectives:

• Retrieve artefact 33xb-3: “Herald’s Seal”

This night in Wyrmlure, one three days after Harriet’s unfortunate encounter with the dragonslayers, wouldn’t be anything special if it wasn’t for a triangular Black Ops airship hovering above the northern edge of the city, invisible to normal eyes and most measuring devices due to its cloaking system.

Sitting inside an ‘abandoned’ Black Ops warehouse underneath it masquerading as an unused place, quite the show was taking place. It wasn’t flashy or action-packed, but the meeting of Silver Sun leader Bucket and the head of the Imperial Intelligence Service as well as the second most powerful griffon in the Empire Nicolai Irongrip would make diplomats grit their teeth. What definitely wasn’t missing, though, were bodyguards. Behind every crate and lining catwalks near the warehouse roof sat Black Ops griffons wearing dark green suits, night vision goggles, and armed to their beaks.

When faced with the small army inside capable of ruining the day of any large army anywhere else in the world, the robot pony entering the the warehouse unescorted only grinned. Black Ops soldiers immediately surrounded Bucket, beam and normal rifles aimed at him, and from behind the nearest large wooden crate walked out a sand-coloured griffon wearing nothing but black jacket with silver rims.

“Long time no see, Bucket,” Nicolai and Bucket exchanged salutes. Technically, Nicolai would be equal in standing more with princess Luna as the leader of the Black Ops and Emperor Cassius’ brother, but from practical standpoint, the Black Ops had much warmer relationship with the Silver Sun thanks to the previous and now deceased Silver Sun leader and Black Ops envoy to Equestria Cromach, “Shiny as always,” Nicolai’s beak cracked a smile.

The blue circles in Bucket’s otherwise black eyes blinked out for a second in sync with the robot’s distorted chuckle.

“Nice to see you again too, I just wish it wasn’t under world-threatening circumstances as usual. Do you have it?”

Nicolai nodded and snapped his talons. A masked and suited griffon came over carrying a small box, and opened it. Inside was what looked like a necklace with hoof-sized cube covered in ancient alicorn writing. When Bucket reached for it, the griffon backed off.

“Nu uh,” Nicolai shook his talon in font of Bucket’s face, “I like to know what I’m dealing with first, Bucket. Flow, the writing, and the stolen artefacts.”

Bucket was far from questioning how Nicolai would know about the attacks on secret alpha and delta bases as well as the things stolen from there. Black Ops had their talons in events all over the world.

“As much as I’d like to explain everything and immediately enlist your help, that’s not possible,” Bucket frowned, “Twilight is working on translating the alicorn runes covering the artefacts we still have in our possession. What we do know is that they speak of something called the Herald, and that there’s supposed to be six of them. Two have already been stolen, one is here, one is in the Dragon Lands as part of dragon lord Ember’s hoard, one is in the Crystal Empire. We don’t know where the last one is. Our current guess is that these things are keys.”

“To this ‘herald’ thing or creature?”

“Likely. The problem is that none of the living alicorns aside from Magnus and Kronos are old enough to know.”

Nicolai furrows his brows.

“I’m afraid I don’t know much past the names.”

“I would be surprised if even you did. The information I have comes from Blazing Light who got it from absorbing Void’s divinity. Void was the second alicorn ever created, so his memories span most of this world’s history. Magnus was the third alicorn, and Kronos is the alicorn of Time who by definition can travel anywhere and to any period in existence, but is notoriously difficult to find. Twilight’s been busy with him since the attack on delta base.”

“Out of curiosity, can he see the future?”

Bucket wasn’t surprised by Nicolai’s question. The griffon had, after all, proven his intelligence again and again.

“Yes, he can. Unfortunately, that has its limits, and if he told us what exactly would happen, he could lock us into a bad result, or lock us out of a good result completely. Apparently, there are rules for that too. What he did tell us was that the bad end is really bad. Nothing survives.”

“We do have some blast proof underground vaults-”

“NOTHING, Nicolai. That doesn’t just mean living creatures. The planet is gone, the universe is gone, the reality is gone. If Flow succeeds, everything ends. Unless you can send someone into a different dimension of possibility so far away from ours that the ultimate end doesn’t reach it, then don’t bother with contingency plans whatsoever. We’re all in at this point.”

“Can we destroy the artefacts this Flow is looking for?”

“How do we know that isn’t exactly what he’s doing with them? The Herald thing might be our savior as well as our doom.”

“Crap...”

“Indeed.”

Nicolai sighed and sat down on a smaller crate nearby, looking at nothing, and tapping his talons against the wood.

“Can Silver Sun keep it safe?”

“No,” Bucket had to admit, “but I think we can keep it safe the longest.”

“Do you mean that all your experience, all your training, all the individuals capable of fighting the supernatural aren’t enough?”

“Remember the attack on the Silver Sun mansion four years ago? The still burning dead zone in Manehattan is a living monument to how meaningless we truly are. I don’t know what happened, I don’t know how Blades of Balance failed, and I don’t know how Blazing Light, Cromach, and Joy died. At this point, Nicolai, I have no illusions about our chances in case Nightmare decides to end us. However, Flow isn’t Nightmare. He isn’t a god. He’s simply using a weapon or tactic we don’t know how to deal with yet. For now, avoid fighting or you’ll die. We need time, and that’s what I intend to buy.”

“Do you need resources?”

Bucket shook his head.

“I need information, and unfortunately that’s something you don’t have. If we find a way to resist, I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks,” Nicolai jumped off of the crate, and nodded to the soldier holding the box with the necklace, who offered it to Bucket.

>Anomaly detected!
>Error DX406: Unstable reality.

A robed equine figure roughly the size of princess Luna appeared in front of the entrance, a strange headache-inducing portal closing behind it. Short, white robe and silvery grey, metal mask with a covering pattern of lines so thin they were invisible to naked eye were all Bucket needed to see before shouting:

“Get out, immediately! Hide it!”

Griffon soldiers opened covering fire as Nicolai grabbed the box with the necklace and darted to the back of the warehouse, bodyguards in tow.

“Need help?” called out Nicolai while running, sure that Bucket would hear it over the gunfire.

“Pointless,” came from the microphone in Nicolai’s ear, “We don’t know a method of harming him. Fighting here is a waste of life. I’ll contact you later.”

Nicolai didn’t question the robot’s certainty that there would be any ‘later’. Instead, he simply spoke to his own microphone:

“Were leaving, return to the Blackbird.”

His authority was absolute. Not a single soldier objected to the retreat despite an ally of Bucket’s standing being left here with the new, seemingly invulnerable enemy.

The final few rounds of rifle bullets disintegrated around Flow, leaving him alone with Bucket who grinned.

“Get out, Bucket,” said Flow firmly.

> Voice pattern not recognized.
> Objectives complete: Minimize collateral damage, get into scanning position.
> Defensive method: True death field, area <2m. Reportedly can grow larger. Overload doesn’t seem possible.

Testing time!

Flow merely looked at the robot who punched off a corner of the nearest crate, levitating a ball of splinters, red crystal embedded in his forehead glowing. As expected, when Bucket threw the debris, it turned into silvery dust like everything before. However, the final little piece of wood which Bucket carelessly kicked into Flow’s zone of influence stayed on the ground, untouched.

> Defensive method update: Not a persistent field. Requires conscious use, possibly concentration.

That meant the enemy could be vulnerable if distracted. A small compartment in the back of Bucket’s hoof opened, and the robot swung his foreleg while rushing forward. A capsule exploded right on the edge of Flow’s presumed defensive field, filling the warehouse with thick, black smoke which didn’t hinder Bucket in the slightest. The robot entered the danger zone, sharp claws extending from his hoof about to rend Flow.

Bucket’s foreleg suddenly separated from his body, making the robot’s unnatural reaction time and a quick push back with his remaining foreleg his only road to possible survival. Out of the ‘zone’ again, Bucket had to adjust his findings. However, that’s what experimentation was about after all.

> Defensive method update: Cannot be used offensively.
> Orientation method: Not reliant on traditional sight.
> Offensive method: No impact - no invisible weapon. No resistance - basic steel.

Bucket readjusted his recording and measuring devices to measure in microseconds. It would slow him down a little, but he would need it only for a short moment of real time. This could be his final opportunity to gain valuable information.

With a three-legged pounce, he threw himself at Flow hidden in smoke and turning his head as if looking around. As expected, his remaining foreleg ready to punch the enemy got cleanly separated from his body like before as well as a chunk of metal from his barrel. He quickly replayed the measurements gained from the ‘attack’.

> Offensive method update: Takes form of a directional slash. Minor flow of air into the ‘slash’. Minor flow of heat into the ‘slash’.
> Error DX406: Unstable reality.

Now Bucket finally understood. He wasn’t a threat anymore, but unlike the many dead in Flow’s wake, this 'disabled' condition wasn’t fatal for him. Thankfully, majority of his scanning devices still worked despite having lost both forelegs and approximately eighteen percent of his barrel, mostly armor.

As Flow stood in front of what looked to Bucket like a dark red wound as tall as the creature itself hovering in front him, the robot realized what he was looking at, something that untrained mortal eyes wouldn’t be able to comprehend.

> Reality damage. Target - the void.

A dimensional rift sapping all energy from the vicinity and annihilating any matter in close proximity… aside from Flow himself. There wasn’t any mark of protective magic on the ‘pony’ nor any divine signature, he simply… endured the effect.

Now there was a keyword Bucket wouldn’t have come up with in any measurement, but it was crucial. ‘Endured’ meant that Flow didn’t hide in the void, that he was from a real place, not the hungry emptiness between universes. Bucket’s best guess was that since rules of time and distance, as well as anything else really, didn’t apply in the void, Flow could open the rift into any place and possibly time.

> Alternate conclusion: Target location has to be identified in some way.

True, true. There wasn’t enough information to identify the transportation method yet. Time travel was possible but unlikely. Bucket was getting ahead of himself.

> Mask and robe are not affected by the annihilation effect of the void.
> Material analysis:
Robe - base Silver Sun issue, either the same manufacturer or straight up the robe.
Mask - purified and forged istrium.
Mask pattern - unidentified, similarity to artefacts 30bb-1, 30bb-2, 30bb-3

Bucket’s blue eyes suddenly glowed brighter. As always, the more intriguing the situation got, the more experiments Bucket wanted to perform. He was an inquisitive soul by design… and nature.

As Flow was about to enter the rift, Bucket rose on his hind legs and jumped onto his back.

***

Target update:

• Name: Flow
• Species: Unknown (Physical characteristics of a Corrupted earthpony)
• Color: Dark blue/black skin
• Cutie mark: N/A
• Standing: Hostile
• Threat level: Impossible
• Damage type: Unknown (irresistible)
• Notes: Threat to all existence

In the complete darkness underneath the Silver Sun mansion in Manehattan, two bright blue circles appeared, followed by lights gradually turning on all over a circular room with several more Buckets standing by its wall, clearly lifeless.

The Bucket in the center of the room looked different. His body was sleeker but bigger, more armored, and the shimmering white metal same as Flow’s mask showed his entire chassis was made of istrium as well. His horn wasn’t a single crystal anymore, but a polished metal cone with crystalline spiral engraved into it. Bucket’s main body had to cost a fortune enough to buy a small country or two.

He immediately estabilished a signal link via dozens of Silver Sun drones hovering above Equestria and the Griffon Empire using pegasi cloud magic and Black Ops technology, something only someone of his contacts had access to. Black Ops drones often flew above Equestria, but without proper cloud covering soon got eaten by corrupted flytraps, much like everything unusual attempting to fly over Equestrian landscape.

“Nicolai, how’s situation on your end?” Bucket’s slightly distorted and buzzing voice was still the same as ever, though.

“Bucket?” the Black Ops leader answered immediately, “Our recording devices showed you jumping on Flow’s back, and then both of you disappeared. Where are you?”

“Manehattan. I lost contact with that body, but I’ve got all the measurements I could gain in such short time from a personal encounter.”

A sigh came from the communication link.

“Alright, what do you want for those?”

Bucket grinned in response.

“A favor.”

***

Two days later, Bucket once again heard knocking on the door of his office. After the encounter with Flow, he’d decided to keep using his main body for a while to reset calibrations, find possible flaws, or spot any other irregularities - in short, to get used to it again. Bucket was good at recognizing patterns, and this knock was an unusual, but not unknown one.

“Come in!”

The expected midnight blue alicorn opened the door, her mane of the starry night sky flowing in nonexistent wind.

“Greetings, Bucket.”

“A rare visit from you to somepony who cannot dream, princess.”

Despite the pleasant greeting, Luna was on edge. The Black Ops recordings as well as the Equestrian Intelligence Service analysis had come yesterday, and everything pointed to a… problematic conclusion. She wasn’t sure how this encounter would end, but while Bucket was a formidable fighter with many tricks up his metal sleeve, Luna was a trained warrior and an immensely powerful mage.

“I’m here to talk to you about the fight in Wyrmlure, and about Flow’s identity.”

“Go on.”

Luna took a deep breath.

“Most of the signs point at... you.”

That actually made the robot lean backwards, smile growing on his muzzle.

“I beg your pardon?”

Luna often played poker with Celestia, and despite that, Bucket was a fine opponent indeed. She expected straight up denial, or possible admittance and battle, not genuinely amused snickering. Was she completely wrong?

“The information I possess points to you being Flow.”

“Please do share your logic, princess, and I will tell you where you made a mistake,” Bucket let out one final chuckle before sitting down behind his desk, and propping his chin with his forelegs.

Luna frowned.

“I recognized tears in reality Flow uses for combat, and the only thing capable of inflicting those are all three Blades of Balance. Only you know the blueprints for those. You are also capable of levitating three weapons effectively at once. Hide those behind some sort of a cloaking field, which might be a technology in your reach, and the attack method is clear. On top of that, you knew the location of both attacked secret bases. Flow wears a Silver Sun robe, always only slightly used. Either he’s got a housekeeper really good at cleaning blood, or he has access to a new one whenever. What I did notice was blue glow from the eyeholes of his mask,” she stared straight into Bucket’s shiny blue segmented circles on the black background of his eyes, “Plus, Flow is about the size of your main body, and you can control more of them so that you could have staged the attack on the Black Ops meeting yourself to cover tracks of you stealing and hiding the other seal keys.”

“Result-driven logic, your highness, and nothing more. Cloaking field would never work on a melee weapon, or at least for more than one impact. I do not have enough power output to control three swords as heavy as the Blades of Balance with as much speed as Flow showed. I definitely cannot use a protective shield against ranged attacks for as long and with as much effectiveness a Flow can, I doubt anyone can, and I cannot control more bodies at once. No, let me correct myself - I haven't experimented with such a thing yet. The Blades of Balance were destroyed by Nightmare, and after their failure I haven’t felt the need to reforge them. How to stitch Silver Sun robes isn’t exactly a trade secret. Good find with the eyes, though,” he quickly went through the recording of the fight, “I missed that. Plus,” he tapped his horn, “Flow doesn’t have this.”

Luna felt a little silly and a lot more unsure of herself. She still filed Bucket under ‘slightly suspicious’, but unless he lied about everything, his explanation was rather sensible.

“I’ll have to go through our findings once again,” she simply said.

“Now for the important thing,” said Bucket as if nothing happened, “You got the reality tearing attack right, which means you’ll need to find away to prevent reality from breaking if you want to fight Flow. My suggestion is to start looking at how reality heals in places where it had been drastically damaged before. The Barrier at the edge of Whitetail Woods, or the cave where the Tree of Harmony used to be come to mind.”

Luna had to admit defeat.

“Thanks, Bucket.”

“No problem,” Bucket tapped his hoof against the wooden desk, “Princess, mind if I enlist the help of your librarian?”

“Bound Tome? I’m sure he’ll be ecstatic to work with you. Why?”

“I need to find something about a topic I haven’t explored before.”

“And what would that topic be?”

“The empty void.”

Comments

[Two_Madmans]

Target:

• Name: Nicolai Irongrip
• Species: Griffon/M
• Color: Sandy coat and feathers, grey beak
• Cutie mark: N/A
• Standing: Excellent
• Threat level: Average
• Damage type: Physical (sword, pistol), Thermal (beam rifle)
• Notes: Crucial contact, ally, friend

System status:

• Overload: 0%
• Damage: 0%
• Energy balance: +95%

Objectives:

• Retrieve artefact 33xb-3: “Herald’s Seal”

Hi Bucket.
Hm... Such a little threatment, since he supposed to have magical time-screwing sword and be a Corrupted with Corrupted "bodysuit".

Defensive method: True death field

I thought you said in comment somewhere he can't use true death...

> Material analysis: Robe - base Silver Sun issue, either the same manufacturer or straight up the robe.

I was sure it will be it.

Species: Unknown (Physical characteristics of a Corrupted earthpony)

Heavy?

The Bucket in the center of the room looked different. His body was sleeker but bigger, more armored, and the shimmering white metal same as Flow’s mask showed his entire chassis was made of istrium as well. His horn wasn’t a single crystal anymore, but a polished metal cone with crystalline spiral engraved into it. Bucket’s main body had to cost a fortune enough to buy a small country or two.

Oh, so Buket can change his bodies platforms now? Kinda reminds me Ultron.