Heya, dad.

I’m hoping Eleven finds you alright again but I’ve geared him up for a long trip, since I’m guessing you’re far under Zebrica at this point. He doesn’t like being cooped up down here anyway.

So, it’s been a while since my last report and the reason is simple - so far, nothing has happened other than the dwarves you sent to us arriving. We have quite a big population now and everyone is settling down. I know, I know, it’s not like I need to send this message in Eleven’s head either but I’m curious as to how you are doing. You see, we’ve been working on repairing anything we can access and, to be frank, it’s been boring as hole. Neither me, nor Eleven or Cryo are too interested in maintenance work. The Hundreds we took with us are getting better at operating dwarven tech, though, so we’re gaining a lot of practical experience.

Now for the actual news - I know it’s risky but I ordered a tunnel dug northwest and connected it to the istrium-lined tunnel between Chrysalis’ old hive and Brauheim. Don’t worry, I’m not going to have the demolished part leading north rebuilt. We now have access to the old hive and to Pine Hills again, though. I’ve started sneaking out to gather some information about the surface but so far I’ve got nothing meaningful. Ponies are hunkered down, it’s freezing everywhere, and everyone is afraid. I don’t think any guards are even looking for us.

There is some good news, though, whatever little it means - wild Corrupted seem to be entering hibernation and are far more passive even if one ventures into their territory. Cryo has been working out some… frustration on them and despite punching the everliving hole out of Hunters for days, there has been no proper retribution, not even a single Protector. Granted, I heard in Pine Hills that the amazons and the weird changelings who used to live there made the town a zone that Corrupted fear to even approach.

Anyway, that’s pretty much all. We’re safe, we’re gathering information, and you have a good place to return. As for the fixed teleporter between Seven’s expedition and this city, I’m assuming you told him how to contact us because we sure have no idea where to even begin with that.

Safe travels.

Two (and of course Eleven who is carrying this as well as everyone else).

Twilight Sparkle sighs and slumps on her throne after yet another exhausting day of court business. Luna has been helping as much as she can but these days she’s busy at night fighting nightmares and horrors inside the minds of ponies terrified of the cold and dark future. Chrysalis has finally taken her role in the ruling of Equestria seriously but she’s not exactly the one for negotiating compromises. And as much as Twilight would like to involve Celestia deeper in the government work, generations of ponies grew up without ever knowing or seeing her and her recent return, coupled with her partial corruption, don’t show her in the most trustworthy light.

So, even with her working on the most important project of the present tirelessly during the nights, Twilight has had to remain the true ruler of Equestria and deal with its never-ending and soul-crushing bureaucracy as well.

Her custom, griffon-made throne is, thankfully, very comfortable, and contains vibrating and massaging functions. The best rulership decision she ever made was to get rid of the old thing and switch to this one. She closes her eyes and presses a button under the hoof-rest. With soft buzzing, the whole throne starts working its magic on her neck and Twilight moans as the stress of the day eases up a little.

Just fifteen minutes, that’s all she needs and then she’ll head back off to the underground lab and-

She’s brought out of her daze by the soft creaking of the throne room door opening and a tall, heavily bandaged “unicorn” limping inside, her usually lively fiery mane clinging flat to her head. Both her hind legs are supported by mechanical braces and her left foreleg is in a full plaster cast. Parts of her unbandaged coat are burnt off and deep scars are criss-crossing her entire body. Despite that, when she limps to Twilight’s throne, she tries to salute with her healthy foreleg.

“Don’t even think about it,” Twilight snickers when Prominence winces in pain as she tries to steady herself on her plastered foreleg, “I should be the one bowing to you.”

“Just doing my job, your Majesty.”

“Fighting an alicorn is not just a job, Prominence. When I fought an alicorn ages ago, I ended up much much worse and I was already an alicorn myself,” Twilight shakes her head, “I wish I could use my time to help you heal sooner but-”

“Your project is way more important, your Majesty.”

“What brings you here then? I don’t mind a little social call but I never pegged you for the type. Besides, you really should be in bed.”

“I do,” a guardsmare enters the throne room, one whom Twilight doesn’t recognize, “Glad to see you’re okay, princess noodle-neck.”

“Prominence?” Twilight raises an eyebrow. She can’t sense anything unusual about the guard but she definitely hasn’t seen her before.

“Your Majesty, all I’m asking for is that you listen to her. If there’s any reward for me stopping the blood mage then I wish to use it now,” Prominence can’t bow so she just lowers her head, “And if I’m committing high treason then I’m ready for my punishment.”

A green glimmer runs through the guardsmare’s coat, burning away the armor as well as the coat and leaving behind Gem who gives Twilight a short, courteous bow.

“I might call for some rough sentence if you call me noodle-neck again,” Twilight beckons Gem to come closer, “Otherwise, I’m listening.”

“Huh, I built this scenario up inside my head in a way worse fashion,” comments Gem.

“Prominence reported your version of events regarding the void swallowing the rest of the universe and I understand your hive might have been played like everyone else.”

“Blackmailed, more like. Dad knew big chunks of Flow’s- Blazing Light’s plan but didn’t know the ending,” says Gem, noting to herself that Twilight doesn’t seem to be surprised by anything she’s saying, “When we passed through Canterlot weeks ago we took a quick detour and visited Blazing Light in Tartarus to get his rationale. Well, Three wanted to ask him to bring the sun back but, you know...”

“Didn’t work?” Twilight smirks.

“Har har,” Gem rolls her eyes in fake annoyance. Inside, though, she’s happy that Twilight is taking her presence so well, “Anyway, I kept mulling over it all the way to Manehattan and I decided to return here and tell you the whole story.”

“And what are you hoping for? That I release Blazing?” Twilight shakes her head, “No matter what you have to say, that’s not going to happen.”

Gem tilts her head.

“Wanna bet? One, it might save you some trouble down the line with Silver Sun and two, I think princess Luna might have something to say if you call her here and she hears it. It concerns her time as Nightmare Moon as well.”

“Prominence, please tell the guards outside to fetch princess Luna,” orders Twilight and Prominence shuffles off.

“And one more thing, princess.”

“Yes?”

“I know about your secret project,” Gem lowers her voice, “I’ve been in Canterlot for a while and I did interrogate several mages you keep employed here. Don’t worry, they haven’t been hurt in any way and your security would work against anyone without my skills and knowledge of Canterlot. I want to help. You have all the wizards with magic shooting out of their asses but you’re missing three things - a proper physicist, particle-accelerator technology, and a god-tier chemist.”

“I have the best wizards and engineers at my disposal. Even some zebras are helping.”

“I am the best alchemist in the world, no contest,” says Gem with a shrug, “I have hive mind copies of dwarven and restored Silversmith technology you’re going to need if you want to start and control a fusion reactor of that size. Fine, my physics is a little rusty but I remember the principles Six has been working with and researching on a daily basis. With the right physicist who can admit everything they know is likely wrong or at best incomplete I think I can help you create the fusion reactor before the world freezes over completely. Without me you won’t make it in time, simple as that.”

“Is that all?”

“No, actually. That’s the easy part,” Gem shakes her head.

“Oh?”

“I need you to keep my presence secret from Celestia and I need you to help protect Promi’s head from her as well. I have a bad feeling about her. Destroying the sun… did something.”

Twilight remains silent for a while.

She knows! She’s been side by side with Celestia all this time and she knows EXACTLY what I’m talking about. Hole, I think she knows way more than I do about it.

“We will see,” says Twilight in the end, “First, Luna and I will hear your story and then I’ll decide what will be next for you… and your prison-breaking companions.”

“Don’t bother with them, they’re already far out of your reach,” Gem shakes her head and smiles, “and hopefully safe.”

A piercing screech cuts through the air, chilling Magpie down to his paws. The cone of his head lamp starts frantically scanning the surrounding area for the corrupted griffon doubtlessly responsible for the terrifying sound.

“Five of them!” even Harriet huddles closer to the rest of the group, surprised by herself about being able to distinguish the individual creatures she can feel.

“...five corrupted griffons...” Magpie croaks. He doesn’t need to add anything, the words have all the weight they need.

The message spells imminent death even with Harriet around. If he had his full gear, Magpie might be able to safely fight off a pony Corrupted Hunter. Keyword - might. Five griffons inside a corrupted territory, however, could cleave through an elite regiment of Imperial Guards.

“So this is how it ends, eh?” he says in resignation and drops his backpack. It will do him no good as far as protection goes and there’s no gear in it that could help.

“Can we run?” asks Thirteen, looking around to spot the imminent attack. No one even dignifies it with a response.

Harriet grits her teeth.

“I’ll take the fight to them, you run ahead.”

“You can’t-” objects Three.

She turns her head towards him with the sincerest smile she can fake.

“Magpie got it right that I had no idea how strong I really was. Well, here goes.”

She focuses on the strange feeling in her bones, if her body even still has them, and knows where all the griffons are in an instant.

“LIGHT THE BIG ONE, MAGPIE!” she yells as she charges towards the approaching enemies.

A twisted eagle’s screech pierces the air again in response. Magpie doesn’t freeze. He’s been in a life or death situation so many times there’s no way he would, and he pulls out a large lantern from the backpack lying on the ground by his talons. With a quick flap of his wings, he throws the hook atop the lantern over the lowest branches of the nearest tree. He doesn’t fly higher to avoid flytraps.

White light spreads through the forest and he spots shadows dancing where Harriet must be fighting an impossible fight.

“Fuck my life, backwards, sideways, and twice over,” he curses after a moment of staring, “Stay here!” he barks at the trembling changelings, grabs a rock, and throws it at the nearest winged shadow.

It breaks away from the fighting, screeches, and charges towards Magpie.

Okay, so he can hack my head off with a talon, break my ribs with a tentacle slap, and liquify my insides with a punch. Advantages? He’s huge and the trees are thick everywhere around.

The corrupted griffon rams into several trees on the way, wet splinters scattering everywhere. Magpie only spins around the nearest thick trunk and hears the whole tree shake as the Corrupted tries to keep up with his agility in such tight space and fails.

Great, now to keep it up for the few minutes before the other four kill Harriet and go for us.

“Thirteen, we must help!” says Three, his head snapping from the big battle to Magpie’s chaotic dodging around trees.

“...how…?” Thirteen breathes out, paralyzed with horror.

“Ttinkthinkthinkthinkthinkthinkthink!” Three mutters over and over, “Climb up a tree, now! Don’t fly, climb!” he points at the nearest one.

“Oh right, they don’t handle heights well!” Thirteen scrambles up with the help of her wings. She keeps slipping and hoofing against the wet bark and to her panicking mind it takes forever but she eventually makes it. When there, she looks down at-

Three’s not there.

With complete horror, she sees the small drone pick up a rock and throw it at one of the Corrupted just like Magpie did.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” her hive link scream makes Three wince.

“Helping,” he replies, closing the link.

“THREE!” Thirteen screams in the real world.

A shadow splits away from the big battle, approaching the retreating Three who shoves his foreleg into his beard now hanging by one ear, dislodged from the other stump by the frantic activity.

“Where is it, where is it? Ah-hah!” something clicks around his fetlock and he pulls out a strange black bracer along with his foreleg out of whatever the pocket dimension inside his beard is.

He points it at the Corrupted, whose back tentacles spread out menacingly, and clicks his fetlock downwards.

A small holographic image of Six waving at Three appears floating in the air.

“Oops, wrong setting!” Three waves the foreleg and starts poking the bracer with his other foreleg.

The griffon lunges, razor-sharp beak open, clearing the distance between the two in one jump.

A shimmering barrier of blue light appears in front of Three just in time, originating from the bracer. The sheer force of impact sends Three flying away and rolling across the forest floor.

Three himself is surprised at how clear his mind is and how quickly he gets back up until-

-a terrifyingly sharp spike of agony makes him cough after he tries to push himself forward with the foreleg wearing the dwarven shield generator. He raises the leg up a little before the agony shoots through it again. The entirety of the chitin is cracked and green flesh is clearly visible underneath, goo bleeding from the open wounds.

“Uh oh...” he looks up at the Corrupted now approaching with much more care as a good chunk of his face seems to have been scorched and disintegrated after hitting the energy field cast by the bracer at full force.

Three doesn’t know if it’s just the adrenaline but his brain is working faster than ever before in his life. He can’t take another hit. The barrier might stop the impact and dampen the force transferred into him but the Corrupted is clearly so strong that his body can’t take even that and he doesn’t have the love to go full brick mode.

Maybe he could float up to Thirteen? He did buy Miss Harriet nearly a minute already after all.

He recalls drinking all that alcohol in Wilbur’s Pass. A second of working with his internal plumbing later, he spits out a goo mixture.

It comes out as a small jawbreaker that drops harmlessly on the ground.

Aaaaaaah! Now’s not the time for candy! Plan B then.

He looks up at the lowest tree branches nearby and in the light of Magpie’s big lantern notices a corrupted berry further up in the canopy. He quickly opens his hive link and sends the location to Thirteen.

“I need you to get that berry.”

“Why?”

“I have an idea but I can’t get there with my leg in this shape. You have to jump between the trees and climb higher. I’ll buy you time!”

“Three, just come to where I am and I’ll pull you up!” she objects.

“I’M NOT LEAVING MISTER MAGPIE AND MISS HARRIET WITHOUT HELP!”

Three takes a deep breath. He might be small and, he has to admit, sheltered but you don’t live two and a half centuries among the most awesome changelings in the world without learning some tricks.

Okay, so Miss One did this a lot when she got into trouble.

With a flicker of green, his crippled foreleg goes completely numb, having its pain receptors turned off. He’s never done it before but he knows the theory. It’s going to hurt a lot more later and take longer to heal but if it increases the chance of there being any ‘later’ it’s worth it.

He points the foreleg at the Corrupted slowly circling around him which hisses when faced with the shimmering blue barrier directed his way again.

Thirteen, shaking like a particularly resilient leaf during a tornado, looks down and then at the nearest tree, then back down, grits her teeth, and jumps towards the first stable branch on her way to the corrupted berry.

She ignores the pained gasp followed by a thud coming from where Magpie is fighting his own opponent. She can’t help there. Hole, she’s pretty sure she can’t help here either but her head draws blanks regarding any way she can help so all she has to do is listen.

Maybe like being a warrior changeling who can only hit things really hard but needs someone else to make things better. Someone who might be weak but with dreams.

Magpie coughs, spikes of pain shooting through his entire body. He failed to dodge once and now he’s on the ground with his ribcage fractured and vision swimming. A black shadow he can’t see clearly through tears of pain rears over him and screeches in victory. Years of experience win and he pulls out a Guild pistol from his belt, quickly aiming forward and firing several shots.

The Corrupted only winces but seconds mean everything in a situation like this. Now, for example, it means that Magpie can roll to the side and pull a shotgun from his back. He didn’t want to use it because in the still, dark world, light and sound travel far and would likely draw even more enemies towards them but beggars can’t be choosers.

The Corrupted steps over him, and brings down his head to tear Magpie open.

“Eat lead, assbeak,” the griffon shoves the barrel of the shotgun into the approaching open beak and pulls the trigger.

Chunks of tainted flesh scatter everywhere as the Corrupted’s neck and the back of his head explode.

Magpie is about to breathe a sigh of relief just as the Corrupted’s beak bites down, bending the shotgun barrel.

“I didn’t mean it literally!” Magpie pushes the weapon forward, leaving the griffon flailing his head impaled halfway through with a shotgun, and scrambles to dodge his stomping legs as he rolls away.

Harriet punches a Corrupted pouncing at her straight in the neck, her clawed foreleg cleaving right through with its sheer brute force. The griffon still lands on her, though, and before she manages to punch him off with her other foreleg, she feels a sharp beak of one of the others close around the back of her neck in an attempt to sever her spine.

It slips on her back scales, resulting only in a scratch, and her back tentacles start whipping at the griffon’s eyes on their own, making him back off.

She’s managed to take care of one of the three fighting her but she doesn’t have the time to help the others with the two who split off. The griffons just take too long to kill as being inside their own territory is giving them durability and regeneration she can’t easily overcome. Thankfully, her own body and the combat experience she gained over the past half a year seem to be enough to keep her alive and slowly winning, mostly because the griffons keep getting into each other’s way.

They’re not too smart.

Short distance away, Thirteen has finally climbed up to the berry pointed out by Three.

“I got it!” she calls out, starting her descent, “Do you want me to give it to Miss Harriet?” she asks through the hive link.

“No, get it here!” replies Three, still backing off and leading the Corrupted around a tree just like he saw Magpie do. He’s sure the Corrupted’s fear of the energy barrier won’t last forever, though.

He takes an unexpected step forward, poking the griffon with the barrier.

A big mistake.

The Corrupted backs off but he also realizes that his disintegrated face hasn’t been damaged further. Three looks at the barrier and frowns.

“Welp, that was a bad idea. Why did it burn him before?” he asks and yelps as the griffon swings a back tentacle against the shield, punting the light changeling away again, this time thankfully without the chiting-shattering force.

“Hey!” Thirteen calls out from a branch nearby. She snaps off a long branch above her and starts smacking the griffon over the head.

He swings his forelegs against the branch with little to no effect and then one of his tentacles wraps around it and pulls.

Thirteen lets go in time but loses her balance. The best she can do is spin around mid-fall and land on her back, protecting the berry from being squished.

The griffon sniffs the air and his head snaps towards Thirteen.

Three shuts off the shield generator and limps towards dazed Thirteen just as the griffon rears for a jump. The drone snatches the berry with his mouth and shuffles away from Thirteen, luring the Corrupted to himself.

Okay, Miss Gem said those transformed into Corrupted can still understand Common. Wild Corrupted can supposedly understand a little too even if they never came into contact with talking creatures.

“Be nice! Get food!” Three calls out, holding out the berry.

The griffon screeches.

“Bad! No food!”

The griffon shuts up instantly.

Three bites a small piece of the hoof-sized berry and tosses it towards the griffon who snatches it before it even hits the ground.

Part of his disintegrated face heals instantly.

“Don’t help them!” hisses Thirteen, “Give it to Miss Harriet! She can get stronger and kill them all!”

Three ignores her and beckons the griffon to come closer with another, smaller piece of the berry.

Step by step, Three walks closer to the Corrupted who extends his back tentacles and keeps hissing.

“Bad, no food!” Three takes one step backwards. The griffon goes still.

“Nice. Food,” Three gives him another piece, fully aware he’s running out of tools quickly here.

As the griffon swallows the next piece, Three’s standing straight in front of him.

The griffon opens his beak wide.

“Nu-uh!” Three hides the berry under his belly.

The beak closes.

Three’s wings start buzzing as he gives the griffon another small piece and, while he’s swallowing, the drone flies up in its back.

The six back tentacles wrap around him instantly.

“No food!” Three calls out.

The tentacles let him go and Three hugs the back of the Corrupted’s neck with a wide grin.

“Good guy,” he pets the Corrupted’s head, unaware of Thirteen staring at him with her mouth wide open.

Magpie was right. He’s an idiot! He’s a complete and total idiot!

BUT IT WORKS FOR HIM!

Harriet is standing atop one of the two remaining griffons, trying to punch his head into mush to finally get rid of him while her back tentacles warn her of a rapid movement of air nearby. She jumps aside as the second griffon she’s fighting gets slammed into the nearest tree.

Through blood rushing in her ears she hears an excited:

“Yee-haw!”

Three is riding a griffon Corrupted who has just grabbed the dazed attacker’s head into his forelegs and ripped it off. She can feel that Three’s griffon is vastly stronger than the others and her silent question is answered when Three offers the griffon a smooshed chunk of a berry which the Corrupted licks off of Three’s healthy foreleg using all three of his tongues with utmost care.

“Miss Harriet, where’s Mister Magpie?”

“Aw crap!” she curses and, now without any distractions, rams her claws into the final griffon’s eyes.

Doing that, however, reveals the forest is silent again.

“Oh no...” Harriet breathes out, quickly looking around.

Three hops off of the Corrupted, gives him what little is left of the berry, smiles at him and says:

“Now shoo!”

The griffon runs off into the darkness. Three’s just about ready to collapse but the silence around only conjures up images of one dead Magpie and Miss Gem would be super sad if that was the case.

As Three limps after Harriet, Thirteen joins them between several shredded three trunks where Magpie is lying on his back next to a dead Corrupted slowly liquifying and draining into the soil, blood coming from his beak soaking the ground under his head.

“Magpie? Magpie!” Harriet leans closer, “He’s still breathing!”

“...did the… idiot really… feed and ride… a fucking griffon Corrupted…?” Magpie croaks.

“Yep!” Three leans into Magpie’s field of view and beams.

“...I hate you… so much...” the griffon’s eyes roll back and he passes out.

Three’s hind legs suddenly give out and he unceremoniously collapses on his butt.

“Oops...” he mumbles, his vision going hazy. With whatever little remains from his strength he raises his shredded foreleg and the shield generator covered in blood and shards of chitin, “Awww… I better.. clean it or boss… will get mad...”

He closes his eyes and Thirteen catches him keeling backwards before he hits the ground.

“Guess it’s just the two of us for now,” Harriet breathes out with a smile and looks down at Magpie, “You know? No one will ever believe me if I say I know a griffon who killed a griffon Corrupted Hunter on his own without specialized equipment and armor.”

Thirteen clears her throat.

“I’ve got a drone here who tamed one and rode him into battle,” Thirteen grins, “I win.”

As their adrenaline washes away, they can’t help but laugh like crazy even as they administer what little first aid they can. Clearly, Three is mostly exhausted but Magpie must have some internal injuries and a serious concussion. He’ll need a real doctor and, hopefully, there will still be one in Windy. After gathering all their gear and backpacks, Harriet’s back tentacles load him up onto her back and the soft ground under her hooves allows for smooth walking.

“Are you okay?” asks Thirteen as they walk along, guided east by Harriet’s compass, “You had the rough part.”

Harriet ponders her own situation for a moment and answers:

“Physically? I guess so. Those scratches sting a little but punches and blunt trauma do next to nothing to Corrupted. My dragon scales protected me from anything lethal. I’m way more terrified of what we’re going to see in Windy… and how they are going to see us.”

Thirteen sighs.

“I wish I could fight like you...”

“You don’t want to become a Corrupted, you really don’t,” Harriet shakes her head, “It might have its uses but the unbelievable series of fortunate events that had to happen for me not to go wild wasn’t much fun.”

“I’d still go for it… I think the end result might be worth it.”

“Didn’t Gem say that your mother put you through some crazy training until you gave up?”

“That’s different!” objects Thirteen, “That wasn’t going anywhere, I was just failing at anything she or Five wanted me to do. Your transformation works!”

“Thirteen,” Harriet shakes her head, “It’s a constant battle against my instincts, although it is getting easier. I never knew if I would go nuts every time a lewd thought crossed my mind. I never knew if I would wake up in the morning as a sane pony and not a wild Corrupted. I never knew Prominence’s method would work, I just kept going. Step by step, day by day. All I wanted was to not hurt anyone and to come back home.”

Thirteen lowers her head.

“I think I’m starting to understand mom a bit...”

“How come?”

“She wants to protect dad no matter what and tries to make sure there’s no weakness around to exploit. I was that weakness. She didn’t care about the Hundreds because while dad wouldn’t willingly sacrifice them in case of trouble, he might understand that there can be some greater good in that. She knew he would never leave me in trouble. He would jump into magma for me and mom wanted to make sure he’d never have to.”

“He did send you and Three to the Crystal Empire.”

“Three can explain dad’s reasoning better about that,” Thirteen shakes her head, “I just think I’m beginning to understand mom, that’s all… and it’s scary that I agree with her more and more because...”

“Because you’re starting to think about Three the same way she thinks about your dad,” Harriet finishes the thought and catches Thirteen’s surprised glance, “Don’t look so shocked. As much as I’d like to take credit for being able to see into others, I don’t. Gem told me on the way to Manehattan.”

“Yeah... who else would see it before I even admit it to myself, right?” Thirteen rolls her eyes.

“It’s not a bad thing, if you want my opinion.”

It IS. I’m a burden.

A tiny part of her mind, however, comes up with:

A burden that jumped between tree canopies in a corrupted territory in the middle of a battle without fear of flytraps and followed your… boss’ orders to the letter.

Huuuh...