//------------------------------//
// Sting Of The Scorpion 
// Story: Hecate's Orphanage 
// by BlackRoseRaven 
//------------------------------//

Chapter Nine: The Sting Of The Scorpion
~BlackRoseRaven

They were starting to run out of time, and several of their probes had broken: one hadn't returned from the portal after more than an hour, so Dawn Sorrow had suggested one of them go take a look through the portal to see if they could find anything, and Moonflower had volunteered in his bold, stalliony way, strutting into the vortex. Then he had come hurtling back out less than a minute later, screaming and with his mane and tail on fire, howling for them to close it behind him.
Cadence had overreacted and smashed the portal ring while Moonflower had rolled wildly around on the floor, La Croix and Sombra both struggling to put the fire out as Dawn Sorrow had only watched curiously. It was only after Moonflower had calmed down that he was able to reveal it wasn't monsters or demons that had set his head and rump on fire, but instead, the portal had come out inside some kind of volcanic area. Moonflower was only fortunate he hadn't been burned completely to a crisp.
The ivory mare sincerely hoped that their target hadn't tried to go through that portal: the ring was broken beyond repair, and even if they could still open the portal, she wasn't stupid enough to think that her team would survive for very long in that kind of world. Even if it meant failure, she wouldn't put them through that kind of risk.
Another probe had come back badly damaged. It had fizzled a few times, vomited up enough data to show that it hadn't found any of the signals they were looking for, and then shut down. And a last one had come back through the portal, produced a holographic map... and then promptly died in her hoof, like something had sucked all the energy out of it.
This was only their fifth portal, but with the setbacks they had faced, they had already used up eight hours of time. On the plus side, Kiev and Brazen had returned with some kind of Benevolent-detection device. It looked almost like an altar, covered in Nibelung runes and with a simple dome of crystal in the middle that would light up if it detected any Benevolent within a ten mile radius once it was turned on. Obviously they would have to carry it through themselves – and whether or not it detected anything, carry the heavy goddamn thing back – but that was really the only positive.
Moonflower was sulking, his once-beautiful mane and tail both frazzled, reeking of burnt hair and burn ointment. La Croix was sorting through his herbs and ingredients, trying to find what he needed to replace the salves he had used to help Moonflower heal. Kiev and Brazen were already rolling another portal ring out, while Sombra read over the analysis of the next world on their schedule, trying to deduce whether or not it was a portal ring they could afford to skip.
Cadence was only waiting impatiently, hoping beyond hope, but when the probe zipped through the portal and returned to float in front of her, she could already tell that it was only going to give her the same report. And, to her lack of surprise, it beeped before dropping into her hoof when she reached up and producing a simple diagram that told her what she was starting to afraid would be the same report from every ring: nothing. “Great.”
The portal ring crackled, and then the vortex slowly swirled closed as it lost its energy, Cadence scowling towards the booth. Not that she could really say anything, but just out of reflex and the fact that the Nosfertau was so damn sure of everything she did.
Dawn Sorrow emerged from the booth, and she gave a thin smile before saying calmly: “Ten minutes to let the ring cool down, and then we'll place the new one in.”
Cadence only grunted moodily, half-wanting to argue, but then she was distracted as Sombra said thoughtfully: “I think we should skip ahead to seventeen.”
All eyes looked up in surprise, and Brazen Bold frowned before the Benevolent snorted and said flatly: “That's one of the least likely rings on the list, if I remember right! Seventeen, what was that, that was-”
“Crude, quickly built out of scrap metal, may not hold for the full hour we need. The runes had odd scratches on them and we have some data on that world: Midgard Layer 25, if I remember right.” Kiev said softly, looking with interest at Sombra. “Civilized world, fairly similar to the core in all known regards, no major technologies present. Why this one?”
“Something interesting was noted here, that in spite of the fact it was made from scrap, the integrity of the ring was surprisingly solid: all the metals were portal-conductive.” Sombra explained. “Rustproof, from what we know, is supposed to be an engineer with experience in handling enchantments and magic.”
“You're saying that would have known to use these materials, but your average person would not have, and it's unlikely that it's a coincidence only these particular metals were used.” Kiev guessed, rubbing at his chin thoughtfully, and Sombra nodded. “In part, the rings we chose as most-likely were because they were made out of the highest-quality materials. But you may be on to something. If he was in a hurry, or didn't want to be followed...”
“Then he would have set the portal to shatter or overheat, like some of the ones we found. I lean towards the portal ring we found in pieces myself, lucky number seven.” Brazen said mildly, and he shrugged a bit when Kiev looked at him curiously. “Well, it's what I would do. It's what any half-decent engineer would do, as a matter of fact.”
Sombra nodded, and then he said: “Precisely. And Rustproof knew that there was a chance they would be followed. Likely more so if he created a red flag such as that: from what we know, the creatures following them had their own portals, didn't they?”
“They even designed the advanced hub system we have in Valhalla, yes.” Kiev replied, looking over at Brazen thoughtfully. “He's right, isn't he? All they would need would be to copy the runes and coordinates onto those cards to insert into the machine.”
“I... technically, yes.” Brazen relented after a moment, biting his lip. “It's a little more complicated than that, but I suppose in simple terms, yes, that's a possibility.”
Cadence couldn't help but wonder moodily why they weren't using a portal like that, even though she figured there were probably a lot of reasons. Instead of thinking about that, however, she tried to focus on her father, asking: “Is there anything else?”
Sombra hesitate, and then he gave a slow nod before saying finally: “I can't be sure, but... if I remember correctly, A-25 was the layer that Teflon and his team were dispatched to a few weeks ago. Do you remember, mi amore?”
“I do, yeah. Standard seek-and-destroy mission, Class A world, minimal threat of overlap but they had detected a hostile demonic presence attacking ponies in the oceanic region.” Cadence said slowly, frowning uneasily. “It was using a weapon they thought was demonic in origin, but Thorn couldn't identify it or match it to any known weapons...”
“I think it may have attacked our target and taken that from him. It would explain why Teflon reported that the demon looked as if it had already been injured in a previous encounter, as well.” Sombra hesitated, then he smiled briefly. “But this is all conjecture as well, and I'm not certain it's even the same world.”
“Brazen?” Kiev looked at the Pegasus, who sighed tiredly but then gave a grumpy nod, and the two rolled the ring back towards the rack to switch it out for the one Sombra had suggested.
Cadence gave her father a smile before she turned towards the anchors that held the portal ring in place: with Dawn Sorrow's help, she disassembled it quickly and rolled it towards the rack, shooting a glare towards Moonflower and La Croix as they passed. La Croix ignored her and continued to work calmly away at his potions, while Moonflower looked insulted, gesturing madly at the 'work' he had accomplished in the last half-hour: he had crushed half a fruit into juice.
The ivory mare helped Brazen Bold roll the crappy, damaged-looking portal ring towards the anchor, giving old Kiev a bit of a break as she tried her best to be positive, but the state of the thing worried the hell out of her. While every other portal ring was made of silvery metal, this one was a multitude of rusty colors from the different metals that had been welded and simply mashed together, and the runes scratched into it looked like deep gouges instead of carefully-cut shapes. She was worried that they weren't even going to get it to the anchor, or that once they tightened the grips, it would just shatter or bend in the vises...
But, no: to her surprise, the ring fit perfectly into the anchors, in spite of how crumbly and rotten the outside of the portal ring looked. The clamps also didn't so much as make the metal groan, even when Dawn Sorrow and Sombra tightened them as far as they would go, which Cadence also hadn't expected. So the ugly-looking thing was a lot more solid than she'd expected, which was a great start.
They powered up the portal, and Cadence was surprised when it seemed to light up almost immediately. Kiev's eyes widened slightly as he studied the ring intently, and Brazen frowned deeply, as if he was looking for something, Cadence asking the two uncertainly: “What is it?”
“There.” Kiev said, pointing, and Brazen stomped a hoof in agreement as he gave a short, disbelieving laugh. Cadence looked dumbly at the ring, but she didn't see anything: fortunately, Kiev was kind enough to explain: “Some of those scratches in the metal aren't scratches at all. They're connexion runes. Rare to see because they're very difficult to implement successfully: you need still hands and sharp eyes.”
“They decrease the amount of time it takes energy to transfer between runes and increase the total transferred. The portal thus requires much less power to work, and also charges faster.” Brazen said, gesturing towards the portal as a vortex swirled open inside it. “There, see what I mean? Not even two minutes, and it's already charged.”
“This is your portal.” Dawn Sorrow said calmly and confidently, and Cadence looked up in surprise even as she rose the probe in her hoof. “You don't need to use that. This is the correct portal.”
“I... should probably check, anyway.” Cadence said finally, and Dawn Sorrow only smiled at her indulgently, as Brazen grunted and Kiev nodded in agreement.
Cadence scowled a little at the Nosferatu, but then turned her eyes forwards and squeezed the probe: it lit up, and she flung it at the portal as it took off, the little sphere shooting through the vortex.
Moonflower was nervously standing up now, and La Croix was quickly cleaning up his materials. Sombra strode forwards to stand beside Cadence, and as the minutes passed, the mare felt herself becoming more and more anxious, chewing on her lip as they all simply stood and watched the vortex swirl, the portal thrumming quietly away.
At the ten minute mark, Cadence was about to snap when the probe suddenly shot back through the portal, beeping loudly. It dropped into Cadence's hoof when she held it out, before glowing brightly and creating a holographic map, Cadence reading quickly over this as she murmured: “Looks like... six miles.”
“That's within the radius of our machine.” Kiev said, and Cadence smiled briefly before the Architect began to turn, saying: “I'll go get Airid-”
“Nonsense!” Moonflower huffed, and then the black stallion shook himself roughly out before he grabbed his helm and slammed it down over his own head, ignoring the fuzzy, charred bits of his mane sticking out here and there as his horn glowed brightly. The altar-shaped device rumbled on the spot, then lifted into the air as Moonflower showed only the slightest strain, keeping his head proudly raised. “There, see! Not... no difficulty at all!”
Kiev only cocked an eyebrow, and Brazen sighed before he held up a hoof, saying sourly: “Don't even bother trying to convince him otherwise, I can already tell it's a losing battle. You go through. I'll wait here. But tell me if it works or not, alright?”
Kiev nodded with a smile to his Pegasus friend, and then he strode towards Cadence, bowing to her politely. She hesitated, but then nodded at the silent request: they would need someone to get the machine working, anyway. “Just... be careful. We don't know what's on the other side.”
“We should go first, then.” Sombra advised, and Cadence nodded in agreement before she looked at La Croix, who groaned loudly, but then scooped up the rest of his potions into his hat as he approached, giving a wry smile.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Let's go then, dans les portes de l'enfer.” La Croix said wryly, and then he shrugged and added mildly: “Well, laissez les bons temps rouler, am I right?”
“I still don't know what that means and I wish you would stop saying it.” Moonflower grumbled, and La Croix huffed at him.
“It means somethin' you still don't understand, rein de la nuit, that's what it means.” he retorted, and then he winced when Cadence cleared her throat loudly and glared at them both. “Okay, okay. Pardonnez-moi, Cygne.”
Cadence only shook her head, and then she looked forwards and took a breath before levitating the probe beside her. “Alright. Sombra, La Croix, keep in escort position. Kiev, please follow after us and let Moonflower bring up the rear.”
“Let's go, please!” Moonflower said with perhaps a little bit of desperation seeping into his voice, as he struggled to keep the machine afloat beside him.
Cadence smiled wryly, but then nodded firmly, starting quickly forwards. It was always best to take the portals at a bit of a trot, and this was no exception as they passed into the swirl, and that feeling of colors and momentum tore through reality around her, her every nerve coming alight, her body shivering in a mix of pleasure and what was almost fear as they ran down the tunnel...
They burst out the other side of the portal, and Cadence had to force herself to stumble to a halt before she sighed in relief as she looked around: they had emerged into a pine forest, and there was not another soul in sight. She could already feel the cold air on her body, but there wasn't a speckling of dust on the trees and the sun was bright overhead: summer or spring, she guessed, but somewhere further north.
Kiev emerged from the portal a moment later, only to quickly step aside when Moonflower staggered out after him, wheezing loudly before he all-but-flung down the device, his body spasming and twitching. Cadence glared over her shoulder at him, but Kiev only smiled before remarking: “Considering how portals negate magic and this device is thickly layered in magic-resistant plating, I'm surprised you could lift it at all.”
Moonflower stared in disbelief, mouthing slowly and wordlessly as Cadence sighed and shook her head, but Sombra only smiled before he said: “Moonflower is a very talented young stallion. He's not always as serious as he could be about developing his skills, but when he puts his abilities to work, he's second to none.”
The amount Moonflower puffed up made Cadence wonder if he was going to either explode or float away, but instead of focusing on this, the mare asked Kiev: “Can you get the machine working?”
“Don't know if he have to, Cygne. This thing be goin' crazy.” La Croix muttered as he held up his foreleg, where the bracer was already glowing brightly. “You think it's supposed to be doing that?”
“I hope so.” Cadence replied after a moment with a grimace, and then she shook her head before turning towards Kiev, asking: “Well?”
The Nibelung only continued to calmly run his fingers along the runes on top of the altar, and Cadence shifted almost anxiously back and forth before the crystalline dome suddenly lit up intensely. The Architect frowned in surprise at this, and then he reached a hand forwards to rest on the dome, closing his eyes before he said thoughtfully: “There must be some quite close by. This warmth indicates a distance of no more than a mile or so away.”
“Thank you. We'll take a look for them on the way, but I think that pretty much confirms it.” Cadence smiled up at the Nibelung, who nodded politely in return before the mare added: “Okay Moonflower, you can take that device back through the portal now.”
Moonflower stared in disbelief at Cadence, opening his mouth to argue, and the mare simply glared at him. He attempted to glare back for a moment, then groaned and dropped his head, mumbling under his breath as he nodded sulkily and flicked his horn, grimacing a little more visibly as he lifted the machine again and sighed loudly, heading back towards the portal.
He vanished into it, and Kiev paused only long enough to bow, saying softly: “Good luck, Swan Maiden. May we meet again under more pleasant circumstances.”
“I hope so too. Thank you, and everyone else, for everything.” Cadence replied with a smile, and the Architect smiled back before vanishing into the portal. The ivory mare bit her lip, looking at the swirl of light and darkness, thinking about how easy it would be to jump in, return to Valhalla, where she belonged... and hell, it wouldn't be that hard to find a way, a reason, to stay there, would it? She was a Swan Maiden. That was where she belonged. That was the job she had been made for.
Cadence shivered a bit and shook herself out briskly, then looked up almost in relief when Moonflower reemerged from the portal, shaking himself out and grumbling: “Atrocious. Absolutely atrocious. Why do I always end up doing all the work? I was a king, a king! A mighty prince of darkness!”
The ivory mare sighed, then looked pointedly over at La Croix as the zebra opened his mouth, cutting him off before he could start his usual argument with Moonflower over whatever words happened to fall out of his mouth that day. Thankfully, La Croix complied, and Moonflower was distracted from his diatribe when the portal behind him suddenly burst out of existence with a thrum of magic, leaving only still air in its wake.
For a few moments, Cadence gazed almost longingly into the space the portal had left, and then she sighed and shook herself quickly before saying finally: “Alright, let's form up and uh... prepare to head out. I think...”
Cadence looked up at the probe, which she had almost forgotten she had levitated beside her.: with only the faintest effort on her part, she was able to activate it with a thrum of magic, and the mare studied the map for a few moments before she tucked it away to safety under one wing, muttering: “Okay, pretty much due southwest.”
“Which means that way, I'm guessin'.” La Croix said mildly, pointing his foreleg and making the bracer around it thrum almost violently.
“That way.” Cadence confirmed, although she felt a little surprised by how strong the reaction was already. Sure, the artifact seemed sensitive, and she had no doubt that Hecate or Thorn or whoever had made it had put their full effort into making sure it was as effective as possible, but still...
She didn't know why, but this all gave her a bad feeling. She knew she should be excited: she felt like they were one step ahead of Brynhild, and nothing should have made her more pleased than that, except maybe the fact they might actually get praise from Hecate if they finished this mission properly. But as they headed southwest through the tall, rickety pines, with the cold air nipping at them and the sun shining and the silence in the air...
That was it. That was what was wrong. Cadence halted, looking at her father for confirmation, and Sombra nodded slowly as Moonflower and La Croix only looked at them quizzically, until Cadence murmured: “Stay on guard.”
La Croix winced, but immediately shifted backwards slightly to a following position. Moonflower fell into his position of rear guard even though he still looked confused, but he knew the rest of the team well enough to trust in them even as he scoffed quietly: “I don't think there's anything wrong.”
The faint quaver and how low he pitched his voice were the best arguments against Moonflower's own words. Cadence smiled wryly, and then she replied in a mutter: “Well, just stay focused, Moonflower. We'll find out soon enough whether I'm right or wrong.”
Moonflower grimaced a little, but then he nodded uneasily. For a few more minutes, they walked on in silence, before the mare suddenly came to a halt and frowned up at the sky through the narrow branches of the trees, her eyes searching quickly back and forth before she suddenly said curtly: “Camouflage.”
Thankfully, Moonflower reacted quickly, his horn glowing brightly before the group of four seemed to simply vanish from sight; not a moment later, there was a strange vibrating sound before something passed by through the air above with a loud whoosh, moving so quickly that Cadence couldn't get a glimpse of what it was. She had seen very few things that moved that fast, and almost all of them had been back in Decretum.
She bit her lip, continuing to look worriedly up into the sky: not that she could move much anyway without distorting the cloaking spell. But whatever it was, it was gone already, and her weird instincts weren't telling her anything else...
No, that wasn't true. They were telling her to hurry.
Cadence grimaced, then looked over her shoulder, saying quickly as Moonflower let the illusion drop: “We need to follow that thing, whatever it was. I'm starting to think there might be more than just us and Brynhild looking for this target.”
La Croix groaned at this, rubbing at his face before he mumbled: “Why does everything always have to end up gettin' complicated?”
“Because we're the people who fix complications. We can do this, Irregulars, it doesn't change the mission.” Cadence said with a calm that surprised even herself, and then she smiled slightly as her father nodded to her approvingly. “Alright, let's keep moving. Moonflower, keep your magic ready, you might need to cloak us again.”
Cadence turned forwards, picking up the pace as she hurried through the trees: she was glad for the cover they provided, although she had a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach, like she knew that a few illusion spells and a few tall pines weren't going to keep them hidden for very long.
Eventually, they stumbled across a dirt path that seemed to head in the direction they were going: Moonflower, of course, was very eager to jump onto this, but Cadence yanked him back into the woods, muttering: “For one thing, we need to avoid contact. For another, your cloaking spell doesn't work as well when we're in the open like that. Let's keep to the woods for now, just in case.”
Moonflower groaned, but then he nodded sulkily even as La Croix asked almost pleadingly: “Can't one of us point-guard, Cygne? This forest hike is gettin' worse and worse, I swear these brambles be comin' alive.”
Cadence bit her lip, but then she shook her head: she would have to slow her pace a little, though, since they were both looking a bit disheveled. Sometimes she forget they weren't as agile or used to a quick march as she was. “No, but we'll move a little... safer. Just follow my lead.”
They both grumbled, but agreed, and Sombra gestured politely ahead for them to go first so he could follow behind and keep an eye on things for her. The ivory mare appreciated it, especially as they began to push into rougher forest. Unnaturally rough, just as La Croix had pointed out.
Soon, they lost sight of the path through the trees: one moment it had been there, the next, it was simply nothing but wild woodland again. Woodland that was getting fiercer and more vicious around them, almost as if it had developed some ill-tempered life of its own.
Cadence heard her father say her name, her ears twitching as she came to a halt immediately. She looked over her shoulder and found Moonflower looking confused as usual, while La Croix and Sombra were examining a patch of something near a tree. The mare frowned as she approached, and the black unicorn looked up to explain quietly: “This isn't moss. This is a creature known as an Illrhapp, created by magical residue.”
“We just call 'em magic slimes, down in the bayou.” La Croix said moodily, as he poked the weird mass, and Cadence winced as it jiggled strangely, twitching back and forth. “They tend to form when you get a little messy and forget to clean up your powders and your crystals and junk. Feed off magical energies. This one be real small because he wandered too far from his source of energy.”
The slime gurgled strangely, and La Croix poked it again before he carefully picked it up. Moonflower leaned back with a revolted look as the little slime wriggled around, but La Croix only grinned, asking mildly: “Hear it's real good for you to eat, mon ami.”
“Oh ha ha, La Croix! Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, shame on you. But fool me four times? Oh, I shall not be made a fool of!” Moonflower retorted imperiously, raising his head high, and La Croix only gave him an amused look.
“Yeah, shame on me, rein de la nuit.” La Croix agreed with a shake of his head, and then he dropped the slime on the ground, where it wriggled around pointlessly in the dirt. Then the zebra reached into his coat and pulled out a sealable baggy, picking the Illrhapp back up to carefully drop it into this before he closed the baggy tightly, then tucked it away beneath his cloak.
“What... what are you going to do with that?” Moonflower asked uneasily, while Cadence was watching her father, who had moved away from the tree, his eyes studying the ground and grasses as if he was looking for something.
“Oh, lots of things. Don't you worry your pretty little head.” La Croix retorted, and the two glowered at each other before Cadence whistled at them, making both stallions wince and turn towards her.
She only glared at them for a moment, and then Sombra looked up and said quietly: “It looks like this creature was trying to go in the same direction we're heading in ourselves. La Croix, can you tell me what species the Illrhapp was?”
The zebra grunted, patting his cape as he answered: “Easy. It didn't try and bite me when I touched it, and it don't seem to suck up much energy by itself. So it's gotta be a sponge.”
Cadence looked over at her father questioningly, and Sombra explained: “Different environments create different types of Illrhapp. What La Croix is saying is that this kind of creature was created in a place where the air is filled with energy... but how did it wander away, then?”
“It didn't. It must have been carried here or fallen off something.” Cadence said instinctively. Sombra smiled at her, and Cadence said slowly: “And now it's trying to crawl home.”
La Croix grimaced, holding up his bracer-covered foreleg, and it beeped loudly several times as Cadence levitated the probe sphere beside her with a squeeze to check the map again. Everything pointed in that direction.
“Okay.” Cadence closed her eyes, frowning as she tucked the probe back away for safekeeping. “We move in low and slow. We make no assumptions about the target or what we're getting ourselves into, alright?”
The three nodded, and Cadence gestured at her father, making herself remain professional and serious. “Sombra, take point. La Croix, you follow. Moonflower, you and I will follow at a few paces behind. Everyone understand?”
The others nodded, and Sombra turned to quickly lead the way ahead, effortlessly finding a path through the hoary trees and brambles. La Croix scowled as he trailed after the unicorn, but it seemed to be less in discomfort at their surroundings and more the sense of impending doom and almost alien hostility that was starting to engulf them.
Cadence and Moonflower came last, and as a bit of distance formed between the pairs, Moonflower leaned in and asked nervously: “Are you sure about this? That thing that passed by above us, and now this... this was just supposed to be a retrieval, wasn't it?”
The ivory mare only smiled briefly, and then she said finally: “We don't know anything yet, Moonflower. For all we know, maybe it means that... the target's been hard at work, building things so the Benevolents he traveled with can defend themselves.”
There was silence for a few moments, and then Moonflower said dryly: “I know you and La Croix think I'm an idiot, but I'm not stupid enough to believe that.”
Cadence sighed a little, but she nodded after a moment and muttered: “Well, I wish I was. It would make this trip a whole hell of a lot easier. I hate that I... I do nothing but lead you guys into trouble and get you all beaten up.”
“Well... it's what we signed up for. Most of us. Not me, I was forced to be here, but... I suppose there's no other place I'd rather be.” Moonflower paused, then reflected: “That's a terrible lie. There's a hundred other places I'd rather be. The gym. Bed. My couch. The park. Home. Do you think Thorn likes me? I hope he likes me. I'd like to spend time with him, too.”
The ivory mare was a little surprised by Moonflower's plaintiveness, but after a moment she simply shook her head and muttered: “Keep it down. We'll talk about it later.”
Moonflower smiled at her briefly, nodding a little, and they continued on in quiet for a little while. Soon, however, the four slowed to a halt, lining up on a ridge beneath the last of the pine trees as they gazed down a long, broken slope, and Cadence grimaced uneasily at what she saw.
They were looking down into some kind of deep, wide, bowl-shaped canyon: the sloped walls leading down to the floor were rocky and uneven, but there was another stretch of forest that rambled along the bottom of the gulf, although these trees were almost unidentifiable to Cadence. They looked like tall, skeletal birches, but had too many branches and twisted and turned themselves in all directions, like they were made of rubber and not wood.
It was the object in the center of this crater that had caught their eye, however: a massive tower loomed ominously, stretching towards the cold blue skies, listing slightly to one side. It was covered in massive cables and pipes, what looked like immense spikes sticking out of it here and there, all of it made of rusting, dark metal. And just above this leaning, ominous tower was an even stranger shape: it looked almost like a small island that was eerily floating, electricity crackling around it as it shivered in the air, like it recognized the impossibility of such a large structure remaining airborne, and yet all the same it refused to fall...
“What the hell...” whispered Cadence, and then she shook her head slowly in disbelief before she looked uneasily at her father as he narrowed his eyes, studying the tower intently.
“It looks almost like a Decretum structure. But there was nothing in the file about Rustproof spending any time in Decretum...” Sombra said slowly, and Cadence hated the sound of uncertainty in his voice, the stallion frowning deeply before he finally shook his head and murmured: “We'll have to very careful. Something here is very wrong, mi amore.”
Cadence nodded slowly as La Croix and Moonflower traded uneasy looks, and then the ivory mare cleared her throat as she decided as quickly as she could on a course of action. “Moonflower, keep us as cloaked as you can while we get down this slope, then drop it once we enter those woods. There's not going to be much cover in that forest, so you'll have to keep your magic at the ready, but I'm more worried about magic sensors than I am about being seen.”
“We've likely already been noticed. Something about that tower is very familiar to me.” Sombra said in a low voice, and Cadence frowned worriedly, but the stallion only shook his head slowly. “No, I don't think it's an amplifier tower, mi amore. But I may have seen the designs for this before.”
Cadence nodded again, studying her father quietly: in the past, when he had done his dealings with Valthrudnir, the Jötnar had abused her father's kindness to build a massive manufacturing plant beneath his kingdom. A facility that Sombra had been forced to guard after Valthrudnir had transformed him into a monster...
The ivory mare shook her head quickly as her father gave her a brief smile, and she took a breath before turning her eyes ahead. “Either way, I'm sure we're going to find out. Let's get going.”
The stallions nodded, and Moonflower's horn thrummed before the four faded from sight, Cadence smiling briefly: when they moved, they created distortions in the air, but hopefully it would at least make it harder for them to be spotted as they made their way carefully down the uneven slope.
They entered the forest, and as Moonflower let the illusion drop, Cadence scowled uneasily at the trees. They had been poisoned by something, and they were emitting a sickening energy that made Cadence feel uneasy.
La Croix paused at one of the trees long enough to touch it; he almost immediately recoiled, shaking his hoof violently before he shivered as the others looked at him with surprise. “Morte. These trees be feedin' off death and destruction. Ain't felt anything like it since I was in Helheim...”
La Croix shook himself out, and Cadence frowned before she looked ahead towards the tower in the distance. “Alright, then let's just focus on...”
Her eyes flicked to the side as she sensed something. She quieted as she looked back and forth, and Sombra frowned as he looked around as well, but there was nothing. Nothing but a faint crackling hum in the distance, a machine-sound they had gotten far too used to in Decretum.
There was nothing here. But Cadence felt like they were being watched, and that there was someone very close by doing it.
“Let's keep going.” the ivory mare finally muttered, even as she shifted nervously. Sombra nodded slowly, but he automatically shifted to fall back to rear guard, and Cadence gestured at Moonflower to join her in the front position: chances were, if they were ambushed, it was going to be from the sides or rear.
They trudged for a few long minutes through the forest of white, warped trees, Cadence looking everywhere at once and feeling that strange sensation only getting worse and worse. At the back of the line, Sombra had his eyes forwards, but his ears were perked, swiveling at every sound in the trees, his body unnaturally tense as the purifier on his back hummed quietly: something it only did when the corruption in the stallion's system started to boil from excitement and adrenaline.
Cadence hesitated, and then she looked over her shoulder at La Croix, giving him a distinct look and a slight nod. La Croix grimaced, but a moment later, simply vanished, even as the rest of the group continued to keep their pace.
As a Loa, La Croix had access to some interesting magic that even Moonflower didn't: he could turn himself completely invisible and ephemeral for short periods of time, for example, allowing him to swiftly spy out areas ahead of them; or in this case, sweep the area in search of whatever might be watching them.
But La Croix returned after a few minutes fruitless, shaking his head as he reappeared in line. Cadence frowned nervously, but then looked ahead: they were nearing the base of the tower now, which meant they would have to focus on infiltration and hope that whatever was waiting for them inside wasn't already alerted to their presence.
Cadence slowed to a stop, studying the listing tower nervously: the skeletal black tower rumbled darkly at them, with machine-sounds that were both similar to and completely different from the roars of technology they had all gotten used to in Decretum. The sounds these machines made were... dirtier, rawer...
The ivory mare shook her head, then began to turn before she glanced almost absently up at the two Pegasi that were standing nearby-
Cadence froze, and a moment later, the rest of her team followed her gaze, La Croix flinching, Moonflower giving a girlish little squeak, and Sombra immediately readying himself. But the two Pegasi only continued to look at them, to look down on them, with unhidden contempt, with... disgust, Cadence thought, as she forced out: “Who the hell are you?”
“Pathetic. Lower life forms, all of them.” said one of them: he was a stallion, older, his beard and mane and tail all faded to a steely silver, his coat white-gold. His cruel features were accented by the black eye patch he wore, and his body was protected by form-fitting fiberglass armor, pouches and pockets strapped seamlessly over his tall, looming form.
“Not even prey.” agreed the mare softly: she was a sharper gold than the stallion, with a red mane and matching scarlet eyes. Her mane was tied tightly back, but a large bang still fell naturally over one eye: she would have been beautiful, but seemed almost emotionless, the thin smile that spread across her lips plastic and mask-like.
She wore the same type of armor, had the same kind of stance, and Cadence realized they had to be father and daughter. Were they Benevolent? No, they couldn't be: they didn't have that faint aura, nor did it feel like either of these ponies had ever been touched by Valhalla...
“Who are you” Cadence repeated, as she stepped forwards, her eyes locked on the two. “We don't want to fight, we-”         
“There will be no fight.” The elder Pegasus snorted in contempt, and the younger calmly reached up, flicking her hoof to make a cigarette seem to appear from thin air before she put this in her muzzle. But without looking, her father swung a hoof out and slapped her roughly across the face, almost knocking the cigarette out of her mouth as he growled: “You're pathetic.”
“And my 'weakness' was what killed you, Father. So what does that make you?” inquired the female Pegasus calmly, and the stallion narrowed his eyes at her dangerously as Cadence shifted uneasily, her eyes sizing up these two quickly: they just looked like Pegasi but... what the hell were they? Why the hell was she getting such a bad feeling-
The Pegasus stallion moved so fast that Cadence could barely register it. One moment, he was glaring at his daughter: the next, he was standing with his foreleg extended, and there was a knife floating in front of Cadence's eye, the ivory mare trembling as Sombra said quietly: “There is no need to fight. And even if there is, let us be civilized, not cowards.”
The white-metal knife trembled in the magical grip of the black unicorn, and the elder Pegasus gave a cruel smile. Cadence saw a gleam of silver, and then the knife was yanked firmly out of Sombra's grip on a thin, nearly invisible string of metal that seemed to reel itself in, the knife vanishing under the Pegasus' hoof as he said coldly: “It would have been more of a mercy to let your daughter die. She is clearly weak.”
“I will handle her.” the Pegasus mare said softly, and Cadence narrowed her eyes, setting herself as Moonflower and La Croix both leaned forwards, glaring at the two strange ponies.
“Fine. I'll kill the rest once you're done playing, daughter.” the stallion said contemptibly, stepping backwards with a snort.
The Pegasus mare gave her thin, empty smile before her eyes turned to Cadence, and Cadence saw a hatred, and determination, and a level of cruelty she had never before imagined existed all captured in that gaze, as the mare said softly: “I have wanted to kill one of your kind for a long time. I will relish this chance. Please prove yourself more worthy than my last adversary. She was weak. She was pathetic.”
“And you were not even killed by her, but by your own worthless slave hoof daughter.” reprimanded the stallion behind her, and the Pegasus mare closed her eyes before she reached into one of her packs and pulled out a lighter.
Flame was applied to cigarette, and the stallion shook his head in contempt before he said coldly: “But it's no wonder, considering the failure you chose for a husband.”
“Please do not speak of Ardor, Father. Do not make me point out the weakness that infested the entire Order, even though you were Praetor.” the Pegasus said quietly, and the Praetor snorted in derision, giving a contemptible smile to his daughter's back.
“A weakness that we culled before you murdered me, daughter.” he retorted, and then he gestured flippantly at her back, although the mare still seemed to sense it, with how her eyes narrowed in irritation. “While you still can't help but poison yourself constantly.”
Cadence gritted her teeth: it wasn't just the fact these Pegasi were so hostile that was getting to her. She didn't care about how rude they were to each other, and she had already accepted long ago that they were probably going to end up fighting their way through Horses-of-Heaven-knew-what to get to their target.
But being ignored? These two carrying on a conversation, constantly deriding, underestimating, talking down about them, and yet not even acknowledging the fact there were four ponies right here in front of their faces? The narcissism, the ego, the ridiculous of it all just made Cadence want to snap.
“Who the hell are you assholes?” Cadence shouted, spreading her wings and raising her head high. “Because my name is Cadenza Danzsöngr of Decretum, leader of the Irregular Hunters, and if you don't get out of our way right goddamn now I am going to shove your daughter's head up her ass, and then shove her whole body up your ass, you cocky son of a bitch!”
The Praetor only laughed harshly, and the Pegasus mare smiled indulgently, mocking Cadence with a little bow of her head before she replied calmly: “My name is Sol Seraph, if it is that important to you. I do not care about your name and I do not need to know it. What you are to me, is prey.”
Cadence began to open her mouth, and then her eyes widened as the Pegasus seemed to almost appear in front of her. She felt hooves on her throat a moment before she was on the ground on her side, staring in disbelief at this Pegasus who had just thrown her down into the dirt like she was tossing aside a sack of garbage, Sol Seraph smiling thinly before she explained in a patronizing, chilling voice: “There are two kinds of ponies in this world. You are either a predator, or you are prey. I think it is clear enough where you must fall.”
Cadence snarled, her whole body trembling with rage as the Swan roared inside of her, and then the mare leapt to her hooves as she slammed a vicious hoof up under the mare's jaw, striking Sol hard enough to send her flying bonelesly backwards into the sky. But in a flash, the Pegasus' wings spread and she easily flipped herself to land smoothly on her hooves.
Sol cracked her neck, then only smiled before she leapt forwards. But this time Cadence was prepared, and even if the Pegasus moved like liquid, Cadence was just as fast, blocking her attempted grab before she slammed a jab across Sol's face, then lashed her hoof to the side in a hammer blow that made spit and blood fly from the mare's jaw.
Cadence's other hoof slammed into Sol's chest, knocking her backwards and cracking her armor before she flapped her wings to launch herself at the Pegasus, tackling Sol and grabbing her around the neck before the winged unicorn flipped forwards, yanking the mare along with her and nearly snapping Sol's neck before the Pegasus was flung into a tree with a resounding crunch.
But Sol somehow landed on her hooves, only smiling calmly and looking unimpressed as she wiped slowly at her muzzle, before the Praetor snapped: “Stop playing with her! Kill her!”
“In time.” Sol said carelessly, her eyes locked on Cadence as Cadence glared back at her, unable to believe how undamaged Sol looked. She could feel Sombra's concern, just as she knew that by now even Moonflower was starting to get worried.
Sol was no match for her, though: she was sure of that. And no matter how many blows it took, Cadence knew that eventually she would wear the Pegasus down. Her hooves itched for that satisfaction, and the Swan was writhing inside her, furious, outraged, and eager.
The ivory mare leapt forwards, and she saw Sol's smile too late as she dove at her: with a blur of movement, Sol caught the winged unicorn by one foreleg before she stepped to the side and slung Cadence into the tree behind her with enough force to rattle the rubbery wood, Cadence gasping before Sol caught her by the back of the head as she fell and shoved it forwards.
Cadence's eyes bulged as her horn pierced into the wood almost to the hilt of the spire, trying to yank her head back, but Sol simply held her head in place with one hoof as her other foreleg slammed in a quick series of elbows and jabs across Cadence's back, making her twitch and gasp before her eyes widened as she realized what the Pegasus was doing, quickly focusing magic through her horn and unleashing a blast of telekinesis power enough to shred the rubbery wood and knock herself free.
Sol leapt smoothly away, however, ripping most of Cadence's belts loose with her, and the ivory mare snarled in fury and humiliation. But Sol only held one of these up, smiling coldly before she said calmly: “You don't need these anymore. You are nothing but meat.”
She tossed these away, and Cadence growled before she ran forwards, and Sol waited for her to draw close before the Pegasus suddenly leapt up into the air. Cadence followed, her wings flapping powerfully as she unloaded a volley of blows at the Pegasus, but Sol dodged around them like liquid, her only expression that same empty smile, her eyes full of contempt and condescension as she moved back and forth just out of range, driving Cadence's anger higher.
Then, the ivory mare made a mistake: she lunged into a blow she thought was too fast for Sol to evade, and Sol proved her wrong by smoothly shifting to the side, redirecting her attack with an almost gentle touch of one hoof before a crushing elbow slammed straight down into Cadence's neck. The ivory mare dropped like a brick, crashing face-first into the ground, and then she screamed in agony when Sol dropped out of the air and landed on her back with a savage double-kick, her rear hooves precisely placed so that they both struck into the joints of her wings with tremendous cracks.
Sol flipped smoothly backwards, landing on all fours as Cadence shivered on the ground, her wings twitching uselessly before she snarled in fury and hauled herself to her hooves. And Sol was instantly there in front of her, slamming precise, focused blows back and forth across Cadence's face, always with just enough momentum to keep her off balance, never with enough force to seriously damage her: the Pegasus wanted to humiliate her.
Cadence gave a wordless roar of fury as she snapped her horn forwards in desperation, a white flash blinding everyone present and knocking Sol skidding backwards with the explosion of holy hellfire before the ivory mare shot in, smashing a cruel, ruthless elbow into Sol's neck. The Pegasus staggered, her eyes widening as she choked loudly, before Cadence drove a vicious dropping punch down into her skull, crushing her to the ground.
The ivory mare stomped on her once, twice, thrice, but before she could get another blow in, Sol shoved herself backwards and rolled smoothly around so she could kick out and drive both rear hooves hard into Cadence's face. Her head snapped back, but even through the spray of blood and shock, she saw a metal glimmer before she felt something wrap tightly around her neck.
Sol yanked her forelegs down, her expression cold and empty as hooks on the ends of the silver wires extending from hidden reels beneath the sleeves of her armor bit into Cadence's armor. The wire went taut around Cadence's neck before Sol yanked savagely, and Cadence choked as she was half-flung towards the Pegasus before a hoof slammed across her face.
Sol slammed hammer blow after hammer blow into Cadence's face, simultaneously driving her backwards while reeling her in as the wire corded itself around Sol's hooves. Cadence was reeled in tighter and tighter, unable to move and stunned by the force and precision until Sol shoved both hooves forwards, crushing into either side of the mare's face while simultaneously forcing the length of wire rolled around her hooves over Cadence's muzzle like a halter.
Cadence reached up, grabbing uselessly at Sol, but Sol ignored the wild grab, instead slamming her head cruelly into Cadence's. The ivory mare gurgled, her head reeling as she saw stars, and Sol slammed her skull forwards again, then again, then again into Cadence-
“That's enough!” Moonflower shouted suddenly, his eyes twitching as his horn glowed blackly before he stepped forwards, snapping it viciously out and sending a blast of energy at Sol, even as Sombra shouted a warning.
Sol easily yanked Cadence into the way of the blast, the ivory mare screaming in agony as her eyes snapped open before she snarled, her wings suddenly spreading in spite of the ghoulish breaks in them as they glowed white, and Sol had enough time to look surprised before a hail of feathers turned into white daggers by magic shot from them, ripping across Sol's body and driving her backwards enough for Cadence to yank her head loose from the halter and slash her glowing horn down, severing the silver wire.
Sol was forced to leap away as Cadence lashed her horn out at her, and the ivory mare took the brief reprieve to stagger backwards, coughing as she ripped the last of the broken wire free from herself. Blood flowed down her badly-bruised face from the cuts and crevices that had been torn into her flesh from the wires and relentless hooves of the Pegasus, and her breath rasped in and out of her aching throat.
Sombra began to move forwards, but before he could go more than a step, the Praetor seemed to appear out of thin air, dropping from the sky to slam a hoof down towards the unicorn. Sombra deflected the blow with his horn before he stepped backwards quickly as both La Croix and Moonflower readied themselves, and the Praetor grinned coldly at the three of them, asking contemptibly: “I'll give you one mercy. Stay still and watch your daughter die. Because I won't take nearly as long to kill you as my idiot filly is taking with your little whore.”
Sombra's eyes narrowed slightly, and Moonflower opened his mouth before Cadence half-turned, snapping: “Stay out of this, I-”
Sol saw her moment to strike and took it, shooting forwards and shouldering Cadence hard, knocking her rearing back before the ivory mare could only gargle in shock as a fierce staccato of punches slammed into her stomach with such force that she was lifted into the air by them and carried higher as Sol continued to punch her again and again with lightning speed and impossible strength.
Cadence tried to kick outwards, and Sol caught her by the hindlegs before she spun around in a circle, her own wings flapping easily to keep her aloft. Cadence was smashed cruelly through a thin tree like it was made of paper, the rubbery trunk collapsing to one side as the ivory mare cried out as she was flung to the side.
She hit the ground hard, rolling violently into the trunk of another tree before Sol shot forwards and slammed a hoof into her face, crunching her head back into the wood. Stunned and senseless and unable to comprehend what was going on, all Cadence could do was flail weakly at the Pegasus, who simply leaned out of the way before catching one of her hooves, almost tenderly squeezing into her foreleg before she said softly: “Your role is fulfilled.”
Sol turned and flung Cadence into the air, the ivory mare's broken wings trying uselessly to flap, her half-glazed eyes staring sightlessly at the world around her as it blurred by, before Sol crashed down on her from above like a wrecking ball, kicking her straight down. And Cadence couldn't even scream as she was impaled on the broken tree trunk, the grisly, rubbery wood sticking more than a foot out of her back through shredded armor, blood spilling from her slackly-working mouth and rolling down the broken wood as she remained suspended a few feet above the ground.
“Mi amore!” shouted Sombra, stepping forwards, and in the moment of shock and distraction, the Praetor stepped forwards and slammed a hoof cruelly into Sombra's face, knocking him crashing backwards before the ruthless Pegasus produced two knives from seemingly-nowhere, flinging them both: one crashed into La Croix's throat and knocked him staggering backwards as he choked loudly, and the other tore into Moonflower's breast, the black stallion gaping in shock as he tumbled to the side.
“You wasted enough time.” the Praetor said coldly, and Sol Seraph smiled thinly at her father's back as Sombra picked himself slowly up, baring his teeth as his body shivered in horror and anger. “This one we'll bring alive. It stinks like the Prince.”
Sol began to step forwards, and then she frowned before her eyes flicked back over her shoulder as Cadence's dead body twitched.