//------------------------------//
// The Cruelest Caution 
// Story: Hecate's Orphanage 
// by BlackRoseRaven 
//------------------------------//

Chapter Thirty One: The Cruelest Caution
~BlackRoseRaven

Freya had adjusted all the cannons herself after they had taken aim with them, while Cadence kept uneasy watch, expecting to be spotted at any moment. It had struck her as very strange that apparently the enemy hadn't realized they had taken over this battleship yet, even if they were protected under the cover of darkness, and they had been swift and silent. Someone had to check on these puppets eventually, didn't they?
Still, they didn't stick around long enough to find out. They had fired the first volley of artillery, and most of the rounds had struck the target. Cadence didn't think they had done a lot of damage to the enemy ship, but she could at least hope that La Croix would be able to keep up enough fire that when the pirate ship joined them – hopefully taking the cannonfire as a signal to move in – they would be able to bring down the remaining battleship.
Of course, they were all well aware that there could be – and likely would be – more battleships to fortify the barricade, especially since La Croix wouldn't be able to stay on board very long without putting himself at risk. And ships weren't the only threat, either: there was whatever was in the roiling clouds above, and likely Drowned and who knew what else below...
But while the water here felt toxic, and almost painful to travel through, they hadn't seen much in the way of beasts or enemies under the sea, as the wooden serpent swam quickly through the waters, circling around towards the rear of the enormous rock pillar. Cadence grimaced a bit, shivering a little as they hurtled through the murky waters, trying to keep her focus on the mission at hoof, but she couldn't help but look uncomfortably over her shoulder at Jeanne, who seemed to be growing more and more agitated the closer they got to raiding Salazar's lair.
It wasn't the kind of anxious or worried that Cadence had expected: ever since the battleship, Jeanne seemed more and more like she was scared they were going to find out something about her, like maybe... no, she can't be. She hates Salazar, whatever she had to do with him in the past. Even if...
She looked back at Jeanne again, frowning uneasily: Freya had adjusted every cannon the ship, except the ones Jeanne had aimed. In fact, hadn't Freya checked Jeanne's first, as if she was going to use them to check her aim? But of course Jeanne might be familiar with cannons at sea, and aiming them, since she had obviously spent at least a bit of time as a pirate... except well... how would she know how to aim those cannons? That's Decretum technology, not bags of gunpowder and big chunks of metal...
Cadence didn't want to think about it. She would just try and trust in Freya, since the Swan told her that Freya would never abide a traitor in their midst, and that was one of the few things Cadence felt she could really put her faith in.
She looked back ahead, and then yelped in shock as the serpent suddenly dove downward, the others clinging to the wood-beast for dear life as some kind of massive, hideous sea-snake whipped suddenly past them, biting savagely at the wood-beast as it passed, but apparently not interested enough in them to try and give chase as the snake zipped deeper through the murky water.
“That's a good sign!” Freya called over her shoulder, and even as Jeanne and Moonflower both sounded less-than-convinced in their yelled replies, Cadence grimaced in unfortunate agreement: oversized mutant beasts meant the Clay of Prometheus was leaking into the water somewhere, which meant a vent, which meant they might have found a way inside, or at least signs that this facility was active.
They twisted onward, and Cadence looked over her shoulder again, past Jeanne, towards her father. Sombra only smiled at her reassuringly, though: he was still in control, even if the corruption in the water was beginning to make his coat darken visibly. 
Cadence looked down at her own foreleg, and she shivered a bit at the visible bruising spreading through the white. It was much more obvious on her because of her ivory body, but she knew this toxic environment had to be taking its toll on the others, too... although Jeanne...
Leave Jeanne alone. Cadence reprimanded herself, and the Swan, since the Swan didn't seem to be exactly fond of the mare, either. Which was ironic, given the fact that the Swan also had been the one to say that Freya would never trust a traitor, and that if Freya trusted Jeanne, they should as well.
Of course, Cadence could almost hear the Swan retort that even if they should trust her, they didn't have to like her: she was still a... vulnerability, the Swan thought of her as. A liar, an outlaw, a parasite who had attached herself to them and only added further unnecessary difficulties and dangers to the mission.
Horses of Heaven you're so pleasant. Cadence thought moodily, shaking her head briefly as she forced her eyes to look ahead, past Freya and into the swirling black-and-blue of the poisonous waters around them. I... and why am I trying to have a conversation with you? You've never been anything but... emotions and... feelings, more than coherent thoughts. You make my stomach feel weird, you make my head hurt, you show me things, but you never actually... talk to me.
Her only answer from the Swan was a shift, but Cadence felt herself shift with it, uneasy and yet curious. Was the Swan trying to actually speak? Could it speak?
And if she started hearing the Swan's voice in her head, what did that mean? Did that mean it was growing smarter, stronger, or just that the Swan was taking her over completely?
She didn't want to think about that. There was so much she didn't want to think about, and yet she just kept coming right back to. What was wrong with her?
Cadence tried to cast all those feelings away, forcing her eyes to look ahead before she grimaced as she realized there was some large, dark shape ahead. As they drew closer through the murky waters, Cadence realized the large, rectangular shape was the bottom of some kind of dock, as Freya ordered over her shoulder: “Ready yourselves.”
The serpent slowed, and Cadence shivered a bit as they drifted to a halt near the structure: she had never seen any dock like this before, and Cadence looked uneasily over it before Freya released the serpent and carefully floated up to the surface of the water. 
She peered carefully over the structure ahead, and scowled at what she saw: they were in front of a walkway that was brightly lit up by crystal lanterns along its length and guarded by patrols of what she guessed were more Drowned, thanks to their slouching stride and heavy armor. The walkway connected to a large, circular island of cement that several small craft were docked at on one side, while the other end of the walkway fed to what looked like a massive loading platform, which was covered in rotting cargo.
In the distance, she could see the actual docks, and the massive warships that rested there, all of them bustling with activity. She wasn't sure if that meant the enemy was getting ready to move out again on another excursion, or if the crews just preferred to stay aboard the ships, in case of emergency, or because she imagined that if the outside of the facility looked like this, the inside wasn't going to be much more pleasant.
Freya sank back beneath the water, turning her attention towards Cadence and her team to say calmly: “I do not think we can enter quietly. Quickly, perhaps, but not quietly. Prepare for a fight, all of you: I have no doubt the enemy will be seeing us shortly either way.
“What do you want us to do?” Cadence asked, even if she was already starting to feel like things were going to end badly. Freya smiled slightly at her, and admittedly, that didn't make the mare feel a whole lot better. “I don't want us being used as a battering ram...”
“Brynhild always loved her 'battering ram,' as she called it. It's a good thing she was never a shapeshifter when she was a woman. She would have abused the Valkyries more than I did.” Freya remarked, and then she clicked her tongue as Cadence closed her eyes as if pained. “We should be able to clear the walkway easily enough. It looks as if there are only two carcasses patrolling it. After that, we make a dash for the entrance. It seems as if most of the living crew are occupied on the ships: if we're lucky, we won't meet much in the way of resistance apart from more of these slovenly undead.”
“Are you sure we should not try a stealthier approach? There must be other ways into the facility.” Sombra suggested, and Freya looked meditative before she shook her head quickly.
“Believe me, my thirst for battle is not so great I wish to run headlong into the bear in its own cave. But in this case, we may not have much of a choice.” Freya replied, meeting Sombra's gaze evenly. “I am more concerned that the enemy already knows we are here, and is preparing for us above. If we bide our time, then we may only give our opponent that much more time to ready himself to deal with us.”
Cadence grimaced at this, before Jeanne blurted: “Ducts!”
Freya turned an inquisitive look towards Jeanne, who blushed and looked awkwardly away before she mumbled: “The... there will be bilge vents beneath the facility, not very far from here. It will not be very comfortable because they were used to expel waste matter from the labs, but... we might be able to sneak inside through them.”
“I like my idea better.” Freya said mildly, but when Cadence scowled at her, the Valkyrie shrugged and said wryly: “Well, if you're all convinced it's better to trust in Jeanne's wild prediction...”
“It is not a prediction! I... I know about it because I used to work here.” Jeanne said after a moment, dropping her head shamefully as she trembled a little. “But it was all-”
“I don't care.” Freya said simply, and yet there was almost a kindness in her voice, even as Jeanne looked up in disbelief at the Valkyrie. “This is not the time for a heartfelt discussion on the subject, nor do I care that you once served with the enemy. Outlaw, betrayer, traitor, or whatever you are, what matters to me is that you pull your weight and you do not do anything stupid. Which I don't believe you will, if not for the fact that your hatred for Salazar seems honest – and I know well how a woman's scorn is the sharpest of knives and the surest of promises – then because you are aware of the fact that should you betray us, I will gut you and leave you for dead.” 
Jeanne swallowed thickly, her gaze locked with the Valkyrie's sole steely eye, and the pirate captain hesitantly nodded. Freya smiled slightly at this, then she leaned down and asked: “Where are these vents, then?”
“This uh... this way.” Jeanne nervously pointed downward, and Freya gestured for the mare to take point and lead them onward, which Jeanne hesitantly did. 
The group fell into natural pairs: Freya and Cadence, followed by Sombra and Moonflower, while La Croix was nowhere in sight, although if Cadence had to guess, she figured that he was probably scouting ahead for them, to make sure that Jeanne wasn't leading them into a trap. But while Cadence was a little suspicious of Jeanne, she didn't think that the mare wanted to hurt them or anything like that.
She did think that Jeanne was trying desperately to hide something, even now, and while Freya seemed to think that Jeanne's desire for revenge against Salazar would eventually lead her to spilling all her secrets out to them, Cadence thought that Freya was underestimating the power of shame; probably because Freya didn't exactly seem to know the meaning of that word, Cadence reflected moodily, even as the Swan twisted inside of her at this thought. 
They descended into the depths, passing a school of alien-looking eels that thankfully didn't seem very interested in them, and a few other macabre fish-mutants that were driven away when Jeanne lit up her horn with radiance. The others quickly mimicked this, Cadence hoping they were deep enough now that the enemies wouldn't be able to see the glow through the waters, but when she looked up, there was only murk and darkness, making her feel strangely... claustrophobic, as they drew nearer and nearer to where the rocky pillar met the ocean floor.
Something large and ugly burst out of the wall in a rush of steam and bubbles, and Cadence readied herself, but Freya caught her by the shoulder, shaking her head and pointing silently. The beast, whatever it was, was rushing over the ocean floor, and Cadence winced as she saw it tackle some other underwater beast, viciously biting into it and beginning to devour its fellow monster even before it had finished writhing and dying.
Jeanne nervously led the way down to the cavern the monster had emerged from, keeping close to the stone ceiling, and the others followed even as Cadence shivered: the poison was growing more intense here, and the exposure to it was making her... angry. She thought maybe that was why the Swan was getting so upset, too, with the slightest nasty thought she had about Freya, although the Valkyrie herself seemed to be handling the toxins in the water surprisingly well, showing that maybe she had more discipline than Cadence had given her credit for.
She checked over her shoulder: her father looked healthy, but the purifier on his back was whirring loudly away still, starting to sound a little strained, she thought, and Moonflower looked sick to his stomach, even as he paddled gamely onward. She smiled encouragingly at the two, then turned her eyes back ahead, following Jeanne as the mare curved around a corner, then halted and floated upside down in the grimy water, pointing upward and whispering: “Here, this is the drainage chute we can use to get access to the... the... bad place.”
Freya and Cadence both studied Jeanne for a moment, but Jeanne only shook her head before she began to swim upward, whimpering as she passed between the broken, rusted-apart iron bars and into the shaft beyond.
The Valkyrie and the Irregulars followed after her, and Cadence grimaced in disgust as they passed organic matter, garbage and... body parts, she thought with revulsion. There were a few mutant fish here and there, too, but they were mostly scavengers, ignoring the ponies as long as the ponies ignored them. 
It was a long swim up, and the waste only grew thicker the higher they went up the shaft. And Jeanne, who had always been so clean, always seemed so pristine, Cadence had thought, didn't seem to care as she pushed through sludge and muck and slime, shivering and staring like a frightened animal straight up the passage... yet never slowing, never stopping, even as the walls around them turned to hard cement instead of jagged rock, and they passed from murky water into what felt like slime and oil mixed with gore and viscera.
Jeanne surfaced with a gasp, in spite of the protective bubble still around her head, and she whimpered loudly, treading water as Cadence and Freya surfaced beside her a moment later in the crimson and black muck. The warrior mares both looked up at the rusted jaws of some kind of grinder maybe a foot or so above them, Cadence noting the fresh blood dripping from the blades... I guess that explains the... goop.
Freya shook her head, then swam to the side of the pool they had emerged into, reaching up and grasping the edge before carefully wiggling herself out of the muck. She sighed in relief as she was able to stand up, looking uneasily back and forth through what seemed like some kind of... “Is this a torture chamber?”
“Must... must have gone up the wrong p-passage...” Jeanne whispered, as she slowly, nervously crawled out of the pool, and yet she seemed almost relieved, Cadence thought, which just made the mare wonder uneasily what horrors the laboratories must hold if that was what Jeanne was afraid of. “We... Salazar is... somewhere above... we're still in the pillar. The pillar is for the workers and the fortress is above and the fortress is for Salazar.”
Freya turned towards Jeanne, then, as Moonflower and Sombra both emerged from the muck and La Croix appeared, the Valkyrie approached the pirate and slapped her roughly across the face, Jeanne blinking a few times before Freya said quietly but firmly: “Do not go losing your mind now, d'you hear? You show us through here, and we'll do the rest. Now, enough lies, Jeanne. What did you do for this Salazar?”
Jeanne looked up silently, trembling a little, before Moonflower suddenly stepped in quietly: “If you don't mind, Freya, I'd like a chance to clean up before we go interrogating this silly mare. We're all covered in poison and it's going to do absolutely atrocious things to my mane.”
Freya looked meditatively at Moonflower, who shrank a bit under her gaze, but to his credit, also didn't back down, and after a moment, the Valkyrie gave a wry smile and rose a hoof that was dripping with blood and muck, saying dryly: “You may have a point, handsome. Alright. Let's clean up first. Our hosts don't seem to mind us taking a moment to ourselves, after all.”
Cadence grunted, looking uneasily over at several large torture racks: two of these were occupied by corpses, while the last looked as if it had been shattered by some tremendous force, and she just hoped that whatever had torn itself free wasn't still wandering these halls, looking for someone to take out its pain on...
Cadence was brought back to reality by the bubble of magic popping around her head, the mare blinking a few times before a warmth spread over her body, cleaning it of slime and malice. She smiled in embarrassment at her father, who was already clean, as he said softly: “I know how difficult it is, mi amore. But you cannot let it chew into your mind. You are stronger than that.”
“I'll... I'll try.” Cadence murmured, nodding hesitantly before she uneasily looked over at Jeanne, but she felt oddly reassured by the fact that Moonflower was there with her, smiling at her, showing that odd kindness of his that was usually hidden under all his layers of arrogance and bluster. “What do you think of Jeanne?”
Sombra only smiled, then he looked up curiously as Cadence blushed deeply when Jeanne said grouchily: “I can hear you, you know.”
There was an awkward silence for a moment, and then the winged unicorn glanced down and mumbled: “And my name isn't Jeanne, anyway. Freya is right. That's a name I borrowed from the history books, to try and make myself... better. To give myself a story so I could... convince people to follow me, and...”
She laughed faintly, shaking her head before she trembled a little, looking down at her hoof and whispering: “It was all for nothing, wasn't it? I just wanted to be special. I wanted to be strong. I wanted to protect the ponies important to me, and instead... I... I lost them all. I led them right to Salazar, and all his promises... were lies.”
She halted, looking down silently before Moonflower said softly: “Now, hey. We all make mistakes. I've certainly made more than most myself... and just like you, Jeanne or... whatever your name is, I made up a strong name for myself and tried very hard to impress someone who just... hurt me, and turned out to be...”
He chuckled quietly. “Well, I guess she was the real evil between us. But I always boasted I was evil and... I never really have been. I'm not evil, I'm not cruel, I'm no god or monster. I'm just a pony.”
The two looked at each other for a few moments, and then Moonflower smiled and said quietly: “But very few ponies will gain wings, you know. But it's not your wings that make you special, Jeanne. It's... it's this.”
He reached up and firmly poked her breast, and Jeanne blinked in surprise as she touched herself before Moonflower said quietly: “I think, out of everyone here, I respect most what you must be going through. And even I don't wholly understand it, because I was fortunate enough to make some very good friends along the way who I never... really treated quite the way they deserved. But you and I are different there. I ruled an army, like an idiot. I've seen the way you talk to your crew, and treat other ponies. You're a much better person than me.”
He smiled, and Jeanne smiled faintly back before she lowered her head and then said, almost shyly: “My name is Aster.” 
The two smiled at each other, and then Freya said mildly: “Well, Aster, keep your hooves off that handsome stallion, because if anyone is going to show him the pleasures of a mare it's going to be me.”
Both Moonflower and Jeanne – Aster, Cadence reminded herself – winced away from Freya, and Sombra chuckled and shook her head before the Valkyrie asked in a more serious voice: “Now, how do you know this place? Were you a slaver?”
“No! No, no, nothing like that!” Aster almost shouted, and then she took a breath, calming herself as Moonflower hesitantly reached up and touched her shoulder. She calmed visibly, lowering her head a little before she shook herself out and murmured: “No. At first... Salazar just...”
She swallowed thickly, then looked up and said quietly: “I am skilled in sea magic and night magic. Where I lived with my family, I was... I was just a witch, and treated as such. Revered when they needed my aid, shunned when they did not. When Salazar came and found me, he told me that he was... gathering others liked me. The... misunderstood. And at first, I believed him.
“He brought me and my family here, along with Blood Mages, and necromancers, and magicians and witches and warlocks of every order.” The mare licked her lips uneasily, shaking her head slowly as she stared at the ground, caught in her own web of memories. “He said there were great treasures in the ocean, but it was too dangerous for the living. Some magicians he put to work trying to reconstitute the constructs scattered throughout the facility... others, well, he gave us corpses and told us to animate them. He did not want to bring the dead to life. He just wanted servants.
“It made me feel... unclean, but it was sound reasoning. A corpse is just raw materials, no more than a stack of wood or iron.” All the same, Aster looked nervously around at the group, shifting in visible discomfort as if she expected some retribution, but Freya only gestured impatiently at her to go on, and Aster nodded quickly. “So we did it. And at first, they were used precisely for the reason that Salazar had told us they would be: to explore the ocean and dredge up treasures from the bottom of the sea.”
“Which he used to fund his operations, I take it.” Freya said, and Aster nodded and looked down quietly. “I expect things soon took a turn for worse.”
“Yes. He took our friends and family hostage with the constructs and puppets we had made for him, and announced that there had been a change of plans. He brought pirates, and new mages to this facility, and... someone else took over above. Someone that Salazar reports to...” Aster shook her head, and then she gritted her teeth, whispering: “But it was Salazar who did all this. Who killed my parents. I trusted him to give me a better life and instead he... made it so much worse.”
Cadence felt like a piece of the story was missing, but Freya only nodded and straightened, saying calmly: “Then you are welcome to your revenge, Aster. I am not one to stand in the way of that. But I hope your heart is made of sterner stuff than the rest of you, woman, because you do not walk an easy path.”
Aster only looked to the side silently, and the Valkyrie studied her for a few moments before she said softly: “Lead us onward. No time to dawdle, now.”
Aster looked up, and swallowed thickly before she nodded once, taking a shaky breath before she turned and headed towards the studded steel door that led out of the room. Cadence began to follow, but Freya reached up and caught her, saying quietly: “Back of the line, Swan.”
Cadence frowned uneasily, but she lingered all the same as the others followed after Freya, assembling according to the Valkyrie's silent instructions. As soon as they entered the musty rock corridors, however, Cadence understood: with the many niches and flaws in the twisting and turning stone walls, they could be attacked at any time, from any direction. They were going to have to move carefully.
It wasn't long before they ran into their first enemy ambush: their foes weren't subtle, the monsters screaming war cries as they charged straight down the hall at them, moving freakishly fast for half-rotted beasts. Aster fell backwards, screaming in terror, but Freya was in front of her in a moment, grinning and roaring: “Come on then!”
The creatures were all too eager to converge on her, and Freya's swords sang as they tore free from their sheaths in vicious slashes, rending flesh and hewing bone. Monsters howled in fury more than pain even as they were knocked around like dominoes, and Cadence swore as her instincts flared, spinning around and immediately throwing two knives out and into the face of another rotting corpse leading a pack of these hideous, malformed creatures from down the opposite end of the hall. “Back-to-back formation! Defensive positions!”
Sombra and La Croix both immediately spun around, the unicorn slamming his hooves down to send spikes of crystal jutting up from the rocky earth down the length of the hall, slowing the approach of the horde of screaming beasts. La Croix, meanwhile, dug quickly through his cape before he flung out a cloud of dark powder, and before it could settle, he tossed a glass bottle out as well, which shattered the moment it hit the ground with a flash-
The cloud of black dust erupted into a burst of flames, the roiling fog of hellfire spilling slowly down the hall. The howls of the rotten beasts rose in pitch and volume even as some of them struggled to stumble their way through the cloud and over the jagged spikes lining the floor, but these were quickly dispatched by Cadence's throwing knives. 
At the other end of the hall, Moonflower was blasting apart the few undead that weren't crushed or slashed apart by Freya's vicious swordplay. Aster, however, was only cowering and covering her head, tears running down her face as her wide eyes stared in terror through the mask of blood that had splattered over her features at the hideous, rotting undead surging towards them from all sides.
The fight was vicious, but short-lived: the horde of corpses fell within a minute thanks in part to their own crazed bloodlust and their apparent inability to retreat from the battle. But Aster was still shivering and whimpering on the ground, shaking her head back and forth, slowly rubbing at her bloody face before she shrieked when Freya grabbed her and pulled her up.
Freya slapped her firmly, and Aster gasped as her horn sparked, but her magic was quickly dispelled by the Valkyrie, who then shook her roughly before lifting her up and saying sharply: “Get yourself together, girl! We have no time for this!”
“M-My...” Aster trembled, and then she shivered before whimpering and nodding, pushing herself free from Freya and stumbling backwards as she stared over her shoulder at the fallen corpses. No, at one of the corpses in particular, Cadence thought: it was so mutilated it was hard to make out any of the details about it, but... at the same time...
Cadence's eyes widened slightly, and Moonflower winced a bit as Freya frowned before her own eye lit up with understanding. But Aster only swallowed thickly, breathing slowly in and out before she whispered: “The body... they were already... dead. The body doesn't matter. Seeing it... seeing... the body doesn't matter.”
“Nay, it does. It is another defilement, and another sin to heap upon Salazar's head.” Freya muttered, and then she hesitated before asking quietly: “Would you like to-”
“I would like to move on. Please. I... let's go. They're just... materials.” Aster told herself, more than them, and the mare unsteadily picked herself up before she looked ahead and whispered: “Salazar is waiting. He... he knows. I hope this wasn't all a terrible mistake, because he's waiting and he knows.”
“Then let's not keep our host.” Freya muttered, letting Aster take the lead again, but Cadence thought that even Freya felt sympathy for Aster's plight and misery, as the betrayed mare led them onward, not seeming to realize her face was still masked by the long-dead blood of her parents.

Drowned ambushed them several floors up: unlike the first attack, this one was far more coordinated and deadly, the walking corpses using cover and rolling shields to protect themselves while they bombarded the intruders with explosive bolts. They used the narrow halls to their advantage by sealing the group inside a tight bottleneck, but Freya simply had Moonflower raise a protective shield in front of them with no danger at their backs, then she had them pick off the Drowned one-by-one when they emerged from cover to fire on them, until they were left in silence apart from the faint crackling of flames over the remains of their wooden shields.
Cadence was surprised by how safely Freya played, as they cautiously advanced forward: Freya kept having La Croix scout short distances ahead, but never very far, warning him that the enemy might have spirit traps, among other dangers. Freya's sudden caution was well-founded, however: near the exit, La Croix reported back to them that there were several large turrets ahead, just waiting for them to round the corner to blast them into oblivion.
The turrets were guarded by several Drowned, and a sickly-looking unicorn with strange, writhing bruises all over his body, the stallion mage rasping for breath and seeming almost dazed. But the moment Moonflower trotted around the corner, he leapt to unnatural life, his horn lighting up with eldritch power as he roared: “Kill him!”
The Drowned opened fire with their crossbows as he lashed his horn out, shattering the illusion of Moonflower with a whip of snaking green flame, and the necromancer snarled in surprise before he looked twitchily back and forth, hissing: “I know you're there, ponies! Come out, come out and show your face, Aster! Alive or dead, you'll be dragged in front of Salazar for punishment!”
For a moment, there was silence... and then a strong mare's voice said calmly: “Here is my counteroffer, scavenger.”
A blade whickered out from behind the corner, spinning violently through the air, and the stallion didn't have enough time to react before it slammed home into his face, knocking him sprawling backwards in a dead heap. The necromancer gurgled weakly on the ground, his black, slimy blood leaking out of the deep wound through his head as the Drowned simply stood and waited silently with their crossbows raised.
The turrets remained impassive, even as another illusion of Moonflower hopped out into the hallway: the Drowned didn't hesitate to open fire, however, blowing it apart with explosive bolts. That meant the turrets had some kind of advanced targeting system, Cadence thought, as the group remained hidden behind the corner, and then she nodded briefly to La Croix, who vanished.
The turrets beeped and took aim at the Loa as he stepped around the corner, even though the spirit was ethereal and invisible: La Croix's eyes widened, and then he yelped silently and scrambled backwards as massive, enchanted bullets tore through the air around him, several tearing through his spirit as he leapt back to safety before he shivered as he reappeared, gasping and grasping at several ugly bruises that had appeared over his body. He groaned, shrugging off Cadence when she grasped at him worriedly, though, the Loa mumbling: “Nah, I got lucky there, Cygne. Drained me, more'n anything else.”
Freya scowled around her shoulder, and then Aster suddenly looked up and said quietly: “I... allow me to help. I... I should help.”
The others looked at the mare with surprise, but Aster only gave an uncomfortable smile before she closed her eyes and rose her hooves in front of herself. She took a slow breath, and there was a powerful thrum of magic before a sphere of water slowly coalesced into being between her hooves, before she grimaced as a charge of electricity shocked from her horn and into the ball of liquid.
She gently released the orb of almost-solid, sparking water, and it hummed quietly as it floated silently away from her, slowly turning the corner and gliding silently towards the Drowned and the turrets, neither of which paid any attention to the ball of water magic.
It floated for a moment in the middle of the group, then exploded in a shockwave of water and electricity, the turrets sparking and sizzling violently: one of them exploded in a brilliant blast of shrapnel and fire that knocked two Drowned to the ground, while the others shut down with much less fanfare.
Cadence leaned out around the corner, and then she winced as the Drowned fired at her, swearing under her breath as explosive bolts pounded into the wall and splattered her with gravel shrapnel. She shook her head quickly, then looked over at Freya, saying quietly: “Looks like the turrets are down, at least, and some of the Drowned were injured. The rest are still a problem, though.”
“Not for long.” Freya absently reached up and patted Aster on the back, which made the Swan shift strangely inside of Cadence: was that envy? Jealousy? “They're nothing but zombies with toys. I'm sure that you can figure out a way to take care of them.”
Moonflower nodded, smiling reassuringly at Aster when she looked up uneasily. “Of course! Leave it to me, I can't have this silly mare showing me up, can I?”
Aster only shrugged a little, but Moonflower did his best to strut his way forward all the same, keeping his head high as his horn glowed brightly and he created a barrier of energy in front of himself. He stepped out into the open, then grimaced only slightly when several explosive bolts immediately pounded into it, the stallion's horn glowing as he muttered: “Where are they... oh.”
The Drowned reloaded quickly, thanks in part to the belts of explosive arrows wrapped around their bodies, but Moonflower only narrowed his eyes before his horn glowed brightly as he said mildly: “That takes care of that.”
He flicked his horn forward, and a blast of flame shot out, slamming into one of the Drowned and washing over it: the moment the flames touched the explosive bolts around the zombie's waist, they exploded, shredding the animated carcass. And that wasn't all, the magical flames immediately leaping to the next zombie, spreading from walking corpse to corpse and detonating the explosives around their waists one after the other, until Moonflower was able to proudly raise his head and step backwards with a firm nod, declaring: “There! Simple!”
“Aye. Simple.” Freya remarked mildly, as she stepped out from around the corner, but she nodded in approval after a moment as she absently flicked her horn, yanking her sword free from where it was still buried in the necromancer's head. It floated above the bloody corpse for a moment, and Freya's eyes narrowed as she noted the black ooze that dripped from the silver blade before she suddenly slashed the sword down, burying it into the ground next to the necromancer and pressing dangerously into the back of his neck... and making the corpse twitch. “The battlefield is no place to sleep, my friend.”
The necromancer gave a raspy laugh, and then he looked slowly up, glaring defiantly at Freya as he hissed: “Go ahead and kill me. Salazar has control over the dead, as much as the living! Salazar makes the demons quake in fear... what about you, mare? You and your cohorts can't even control those worthless pirate scum!”
“If anything here is lacking in worth, I fear it's you, my friend. For what good is a scavenger when he's nothing but a corpse himself?” Freya smiled thinly as she approached, then she added easily: “But I suppose at least you can at least make a meal for the other rats, and that's more use than you've ever served your entire life, now isn't it, boy?”
The unicorn snarled, his horn beginning to glow with hellish light, and Freya slashed her floating blade down and yanked to the side, decapitating him in one fell swipe. The necromancer's eyes bulged in shock as his already-distorted features bounced along the ground, gurgling and choking uselessly for a moment, before he grinned widely, his corpse going still, but his head still twitching with undeath as his eyes glowed with hellish zeal. “No. I still live. Salazar is eternal! Salazar is unstoppable!”
“You live because of a curse, stupid fool, not because of any blessing.” Freya said contemptibly, and then she stepped forwards and stomped savagely downward, the head screaming in agony as Cadence and La Croix winced and Sombra looked away, but Aster and Moonflower both watched with horrified fascination.
Freya sharply kicked up her front hoof, and the necromancer's horn was knocked free from his skull, bouncing uselessly away down the hall as he gasped and gargled. He looked disbelievingly up at Freya, who looked coldly down at the head before she used her sword to hook one of his eyesockets, lifting him into the air by it as he screamed in agony before she slowly turned his head around to reveal the runic circle tattooed into the back of his skull. “What did he tell you? That this tattoo would give you eternal life? That this magic was a gift? It is neither, idiot. Your spirit is not even truly bound to your own body: rather, it is anchored to whatever part of your body is marked by this tattoo. If the sigil is destroyed, you are destroyed... but until then...”
Freya flicked her sword, throwing the head away, and the head gargled as it bounced down the hall before the Valkyrie approached the now-terrified necromancer, the mashed and broken head writhing uselessly in agony as the Valkyrie said coldly: “You will tell me what I wish to know, maggot, or I will not kill you. And I think you might now be coming to understand how that truly is the worst of all threats any warrior can utter.”
“P-Please... it hurts so much, w-why does it... hurt so much...” the necromancer whimpered, gasping and shivering as his remaining eye rolled in the socket, his mouth working wordlessly as he rasped: “Why can't I... I have no...”
“Because your master doesn't want his dogs turning on him. Why would he give you the strength he has undoubtedly spent his own entire life searching for? The cursed creature desires power over others, not to share that wealth with his underlings.” Freya snorted, and then she leaned down and asked sharply: “What is waiting for us up ahead? And who does this Salazar serve?”
The necromancer snarled, and most of the ponies had to shift their eyes away when Freya ruthlessly stepped on the head's mashed features, making him scream in agony before he howled uselessly around her hoof: “Stop! Stop it, please, I... I can't!”
“Oh, you certainly can. It's clear to me that an outlaw like you was only waiting for the right time to betray his master anyway, and now, boy, would be the right time to spill your guts.” Freya retorted, and she pressed down harder before adding over the necromancer's rising shrieks of agony: “Or should we instead test just how much pain I can inflict before you break apart like a piece of glass?”
“Freya, enough!” Cadence shouted, but the Valkyrie didn't look up, and only rose her other hoof to easily catch Cadence and stop her from interfering, the smaller mare swearing before snapping: “He's not worth it, we can-”
“Alright! Alright!” pleaded the head, tears of black blood running from his eyes before he howled, as Freya's hoof only twisted: “P-Please! The... we don't know who Salazar serves but Salazar himself is waiting for you, he wants to... to...”
Freya smiled thinly, then she stomped down on the head, smashing its features to bits and making the necromancer scream before she straightened and said coldly: “We move.”
Aster and Moonflower stared with horror at the Valkyrie, and Sombra looked silently down at the broken, crushed skull before he said quietly: “Show mercy, Freya. I do not ask this for him. I ask this for your own sake.”
The Valkyrie smiled thinly, and then she strode slowly onward, calling calmly: “Don't keep me waiting for long, ponies.”
“Go on, I'll deal with this.” Cadence said quietly, and Sombra reached up and touched his daughter's shoulder gently as La Croix gave a faint smile, then cleared his throat and gestured awkwardly to Moonflower and Aster. The winged unicorns hesitated only a moment before they turned and left, following after Freya and with the two stallions in tow; or perhaps rather, making sure they didn't look back.
Cadence lingered, looking down at the crying, broken head of the necromancer, and then she shook her head slowly before drawing one of her knives. She played for a moment with the blade before grasping it tightly, grimacing a bit, before she scowled a little as she felt the Swan shift inside her, as if asking how this was any different from the way they extracted information when it was necessary.
“Because... she's not.... 'extracting information' anymore, she just... realized he didn't have anything useful to say, so she left him like this. It's cruel. And worse, it's pointless.” Cadence muttered, and then she finally reached down and grasped the stallion's head, forcefully turning it before she drove the knife into the back of his skull, shattering the rune tattooed there, and the moment it was broken, the necromancer gasped before the life flared out of his eyes and his head went still and silent.
The Swan was silent, and that admittedly made Cadence feel strange as she shifted uncertainly, before she shook her head and quickly strode down the hall, catching up with the rest of her team near what looked like a massive freight elevator. Freya was frowning as she tinkered with the controls, before the mare scowled as she looked up and muttered: “They cut the power.”
“Alright. La Croix, scout above and let us know what you find.” Cadence said quickly, and the Loa nodded before he vanished from the spot, as the ivory mare quickly checked the area before she pointed at one of the rails on the wall. “Can we use that?”
Moonflower and Sombra both approached, the latter stallion reaching up and touching it before he said softly: “It seems to be magnetic. It should respond to magic.”
Freya only grunted, apparently uninterested in their conversation as Aster shivered a little, lowering her head and murmuring: “We have to be careful. The... the security above is much tighter, the constructs and golems and... and things up there are...”
“Salazar wants us to get to him. But he's underestimating what we're capable of. He wants us to arrive wounded and weak, but all I feel is frustrated that I've been denied a decent fight so far thanks to all these scum.” Freya replied moodily, shaking her head briefly before her eyes flicked to the side and she asked: “How much do you know about the fortress above?”
“Not much, it... it was always off-limits to us. He said at first it was too dangerous, and only the undead were used to excavate the ruins... but... after he...” Aster shook herself quickly out, then murmured: “It's where his master is, and where those evil mages were trained. The ones bound to him. He would also bring bandits up there... but they would never return. At least, not alive...”
“That mage I caught said something about a furnace, and machinery powered by souls...” Freya said thoughtfully, looking up towards the ceiling of the rocky shaft high above. “Perhaps Salazar is extracting souls above to power the machines, and then he uses the corpses as pawns. Surprisingly scrupulous of him, if so. Waste not want not, as they say. Even the squirrels know that.”
Cadence shivered a little at this thought, and thankfully, she was spared trying to answer by La Croix reappearing with a grimace, gesturing above with his head as he muttered: “Doors be open just enough for y'all to get through, but they got the exit chained up and locked down real tight. And something up there... ain't right. C'est mal. The energy of this place is gettin' real bad.” 
“That's the point. We're trying to find the source of this malignancy. And once we do, we crush it out of existence, and then we don't have to worry about it anymore, and we can go back to hunting down the creature I was looking for.” Freya said mildly, and something about the way the Valkyrie said this made Cadence frown, turning slowly towards the mare.
“You were the one who was convinced he was here. Why do you suddenly think he isn't?” she asked slowly.
Freya only looked at Cadence for a moment, and then she tipped her a wink before leaping into the air and flying up the shaft, which made Cadence groan loudly and slap her forehead before she muttered: “I am getting so tired of being jerked around.” 
Sombra only smiled and reached up to touch her shoulder reassuringly, and Cadence slumped a bit and nodded moodily, lowering her head slightly as she mumbled: “I know, I know. This is the mission and Freya knows what she's doing and hey, if she did divert us to go kill this asshole, that's a good thing, right?”
Her father smiled at her again, and then Freya called loudly from the top of the elevator shaft: “Enough dawdling! Don't keep me waiting, or I'll leave the rest of you saplings behind!”
Cadence sighed tiredly, rolling her eyes before she looked hesitantly over at Moonflower, but Sombra said softly: “I will stay and help him if he needs it, don't worry. You go ahead now: we don't want Freya leaving us here, after all.”
“Yeah. Alright, Daddy.” Cadence finally mumbled, nodding and smiling briefly to her father before she leapt into the air, quickly flying upward, and she glanced down in surprise as Aster followed her. She does have wings, right... I keep forgetting that.
Cadence landed at the top of the shaft, then hesitated for a moment before turning towards the pirate mare when Aster landed beside her, asking impulsively: “How'd you get your wings? Were you born with them?”
Aster blinked in surprise at this, and then she blushed deeply before lowering her head silently. Cadence frowned a little, but Freya only chuckled as she strode down the hall towards them, interrupting with a gesture backward: “I've already cut the locks on the doors. It should be easy enough for us to get out of here, now... but I did notice the chains had an alarm charm on them. Salazar knows we're here, and he knows where we are. He knows who you are, Aster, but he doesn't yet know us. I don't doubt he's trying to learn, though, so we have to move fast before he can see the forest for the trees.”
Aster only nodded to Freya, apparently not knowing what else to say or do, although Cadence couldn't really blame her for that. Half the time she didn't know what to say to Freya either, especially since she'd realized the Valkyrie seemed to pretend to have conversations with them only out of some weird form of politeness: Freya always seemed to know the answers or already have some scheme or plan in mind, and whether she convinced them to listen to her or not, she always followed through with her own ideas instead of listening to anyone else. 
Freya paused for a moment, studying Aster before she explained: “In the past, many a unicorn transfigured wings onto themselves by one method or another, particularly if they were a powerful mage. It was a sign of status, a sign of strength... maybe a bit of imitation, which I will not lie, flattered me. Even if I always cut their wings off before I removed their heads.” 
Freya smiled slightly, and Aster winced and shrank her head a bit before the Valkyrie chuckled and turned around, saying with a shrug: “The wings do not make you special, Moonflower was right about that. But if you'd stop whining and cowering, maybe you could indeed prove yourself a lioness.”
Aster only looked down quietly, lowering her head, and Cadence smiled faintly before she reached up and touched the mare's shoulder gently. The two looked at each other, and Cadence said softly: “We're almost there. What Freya means is keep your head up, and stay strong. We're going to get through this.”
The pirate mare smiled faintly back at her, nodding once and taking a deep breath before she looked up and murmured: “I... I will do my best. I came into this willingly... forced myself to join you, really. And I'll... do whatever it takes to get through this.
“I promise you, and I promise myself, and I promised my parents... I won't fail. I'll stop Salazar... whatever it takes.”
Aster looked down, whispering those words to herself again, and Cadence felt a strange chill run down her spine as she frowned uneasily at the mare, and how she didn't look hopeful, but haunted. As if she had gone from terrified of the danger, to resigned to her fate, and Cadence only hoped that Aster would realize the only pony who could stop that self-fulfilling prophecy was Aster herself.