Hecate's Orphanage

by BlackRoseRaven


The World That Ended

Chapter Ninety: The World That Ended
~BlackRoseRaven

Thorn sat silently with Moonflower's head cradled in his lap, the unicorn unconscious and twitching fitfully every now and then as he murmured conversation to... someone. Thorn wasn't sure who, exactly. Maybe it was Stronghold, maybe it was Throna, maybe it was Luna, but none of them were listening: Stronghold was gone, Throna wasn't here, Luna was lost in her own world, shellshocked and blind to everything around her as she sat apart from them all, alone and afraid.
Cadence sat on the edge of the island with her father and La Croix, all of them staring out at the enormous black hole that was thrumming in the center of the... well, it's not a planet anymore...
Loki had destroyed this world. He had opened holes to the Void throughout reality and torn it apart, devouring who knew how much of the planet and permanently scarring the fabric of reality. Moonflower had managed to temporarily create a new core for what little was left of the world with a massive black hole, catching the shattered remains of the planet and pulling it all into a cluster of broken islands orbiting the pulsing singularity.
But it wouldn't last much longer. Maybe a few hours, if they were lucky; and who knew how many ponies had already died? The entire world had been destroyed, and Cadence could see ruined chunks of planet floating helplessly away in the distance, glowing in the eternal not-day as the sun shone through the debris field of stone that surrounded them.
Cadence opened her mouth, before she sighed and closed it slowly, lowering her head as she whispered: “We failed. Miserably.”
“What could we do?” Sombra asked, and Cadence hated the hopelessness she heard in her father's voice. More than anything else, that assured her that yes. Yes, they had failed. “If Loki can simply... erase worlds...”
“Ain't no way to stop that. Don't know why he hasn't just done that already.” La Croix muttered, before he bit his lip, then shook his head vehemently, leaping up to his hooves and snapping: “No! No, alors pas! I might be a capon but I ain't givin' up! He ain't won yet, he... he ain't won. He ain't.”
La Croix quieted as he lowered his head, and Cadence gazed silently down into the darkness, studying the swirling black hole in the center of all the chaos before she closed her eyes tightly and shook her head, muttering: “I don't know if there's anything we can do. I don't... know. I just... I just need to...”
She quieted, chewing on her lip, before she glanced up in surprise at the thrum of magic she felt and heard, spinning around just in time to watch as a vortex spun open in reality.
Dogmatists strode quickly through the rift, followed by Hecate herself, the Jötnar mare looking sharply back and forth before she frowned when Cadence stumbled towards her, half-saluting before she staggered to a halt, then dropped her head and whispered: “I'm... I apologize for my failure. I take full responsibility for-”
Hecate reached down and grasped Cadence firmly under the muzzle, tilting her head up to look into her eyes before she shook her own shortly, replying quietly: “Do not apologize and do not insult me or your team again by trying to take responsibility for what is not your fault. Things happen. Defeat is not failure. Not when... this happens.”
Hecate looked up, and then she grimaced for a moment before she turned to approach Thorn, her eyes lingering on him for a few long, painful moments, before she asked in a voice that was almost entirely steady: “Status?”
“Catastrophe.” Thorn murmured, as he silently stroked through Moonflower's mane, lowering his eyes as he shook his head slowly. “We successfully retrieved the Architect. We defeated several Voidborn, but found that Melinda had already destroyed the Tablet of Dreams by the time we reached Canterlot. We defeated her, but then... catastrophe.”
“I see. Loki is getting frustrated.” Hecate said in a low voice, studying the ruins of the world before she shook her head slowly, then asked abruptly: “Your injuries?”
“A Primordial was assisting Queen Veliuona in an attack on Tartarus and I incurred the injury during the battle. We defeated it and successfully stopped Loki's forces from opening the Gates of Pandemonium and retrieving the Architect.” Thorn answered, and Hecate smiled faintly at her son before she reached up and gently grasped his chin, tilting his head to the side.
“You are not a failure, Thorn Blackfeather. You have done more than I ever could have asked.” she murmured, before she straightened and turned towards Cadence, continuing: “That goes for all of you. Return to Endworld. I will debrief you personally after I finish operations here.”
“It's unsafe. Loki has demonstrated a power that-” Thorn began to get up, but then he grimaced as Hecate caught him by the shoulder and gently pushed him back down.
“No matter how powerful Loki is, he can't jump to Endworld. He has to go through Decretum or one of our own portals. And he's not brave enough for that.” Hecate answered calmly as she met her son's... eye. “And you know as well as I do he can't simply start ripping holes in reality.”
“Yes. Yes. If he could, he would have already done it. There wouldn't be any need for these Primordials or... everything else he's doing. But what is he trying to achieve?” Thorn murmured, before he sighed a little as Moonflower stirred, the sapphire stallion reaching down to gently help the black unicorn dazedly stand. “I... don't want to leave you here alone.”
“She's not alone, kiddo. I'll look out for Mom.” answered another voice, and Cadence gave the faintest of smiles as she looked up and saw Thesis was now standing in front of the portal, a grin on his face in spite of the worry in his eyes as he approached his little brother. “What, Thorn, you afraid that the robot arm didn't make you cool enough already, you had to lose an eye, too?”
“Yes. The loss of depth perception is well worth it.” Thorn said acidly, and Thesis smiled slightly before the sapphire unicorn lowered his head, mumbling: “I apologize. It's been... it's been a long day.”
“Yeah. Looks like it. Look, take your boy and go home. I'll keep an eye on Mom and do cleanup here. Don't worry. We're going to save as many people as we can. And that includes you, kiddo, so get your ass moving.” Thesis said gently, and Thorn gave a brief smile before he nodded once, then sighed a little as he half-lifted Moonflower, who still looked disconnected from reality.
Then again, he had used a massive amount of magic power to create that black hole, and this was his world... had been his world. Cadence watched silently as Moonflower was half-carried to the portal, and she hated how as they began to enter the rift, he cried out, tried to pull back, but Thorn only gently but firmly turned him back towards the portal, and after a moment, Moonflower lowered his head and allowed himself to be guided into the vortex, Toad silently hopping along at their side.
Thesis lingered for a moment, then he turned towards Cadence with a smile, striding towards her and asking quietly: “Are you okay?”
Cadence opened her mouth, and she surprised everyone present – including herself – by saying simply: “No.”
Thesis nodded a few times, studying her with his eyes before Hecate ordered suddenly: “Make yourselves useful. Sombra, your purifier is damaged, I'll recalibrate it for you. Cadence, La Croix, go with Thesis. Find survivors and...” Hecate paused, then glanced over her shoulder and shouted: “Ad Hoc, give Thesis your beacon pack!”
A Dogmatist with a heavy steel exoskeleton approached, offering the pack on its side to Thesis, who quickly unclipped the satchel and then threw it over his own shoulder as he and Cadence both turned their attention back to Hecate, as she instructed: “All available units are mobilizing and scrambling to respond to this catastrophe. If you want to help, then get as many survivors as possible into groups and place a tracking beacon beside them. It will help us expedite rescue operations.”
“I... yes. It's hard to fly, though, I'm not sure...” Cadence started, before she stared as a grappling hook simply appeared in Hecate's hoof before she shoved this into Cadence's face, and the ivory mare scrambled to take it and the fifty foot coil of rope that had appeared with it, giving a lame smile as she said awkwardly: “Thank you.”
“Don't screw up.” Hecate said shortly, and Cadence winced a bit before the Jötnar mare turned away, gesturing at Sombra to join her as she headed towards Princess Luna.
“Good luck, mi amore.” Sombra said gently, and Cadence smiled faintly at her father before she sighed a little and turned her eyes towards Thesis.
“So... is there a plan for every contingency, or did Hecate just make this up on the fly?” Cadence asked, and Thesis gave a slight smile.
“Catastrophe protocol is pretty old, actually: don't forget that my dad used to be pretty big on the whole 'destroy all worlds' thing.” Thesis replied with a shrug and a small laugh. “Had to have protocols in place for quick extraction. Mom just modified them to encompass a larger range of people.”
Cadence nodded after a moment, although she didn't really understand what was going on. But right now, she couldn't really comprehend... anything. Her mind was still reeling from the fact that Loki had just erased an entire world because... because why? Because he hadn't gotten his way? Because...
Thesis gently grasped her shoulder and shook her once, and Cadence blushed a bit as she looked up before she shook her head and mumbled: “Sorry. I think I'm going to be zoning out a lot for the next while. It's all just... it really... sucks.”
“It really sucks.” Thesis agreed, nodding slowly before he patted Cadence gently on the shoulder, then turned his eyes to La Croix. “Can you use your powers at all?”
“Sorta. It be on the in and out... ain't workin' quite right, probably because of all that bad mojo.” La Croix said finally, before he grimaced a bit. “Sure you want me comin' with you two lovebirds?”
Cadence scowled, but Thesis nodded, saying quietly: “There could be quite a lot of angry spirits. I don't want to hurt anyone.”
“Real sweet of you.” La Croix sighed a little, and then he said finally: “I know it ain't like me to be the professional one, but... we should go check on Moony's friends. Y'know, the mission and all.”
“Yeah. The mission.” Cadence echoed, although she understood the real reason well enough as she looked uneasily in the direction where... well, where she thought the Black Fortress might stand, assuming it had survived.
But she wasn't kidding herself: as powerful as the black hole was, they were lucky that even half of Canterlot was able to orbit around it, let alone the other chunks of world here and there. She looked up silently through the starfield of broken stone above their heads, and then she sighed and shook her head before murmuring: “We might as well try.”
“You always gotta try.” Thesis agreed, and then he turned to lead the way along the edge of the island, saying quietly: “Keep positive. We can save a few lives yet.”
Cadence nodded, taking a slow breath before she straightened and followed quickly after Thesis, La Croix loitering behind them to give them a bit of space and privacy. Cadence appreciated it, smiling a little over at the Replicant before she turned her eyes ahead as they fell into pace together, side-by-side.
They traveled slowly and carefully through the wreckage of the world, leaping from island-to-island, making makeshift bridges where they could across the nothingness. Here and there they found groups of ponies hiding out in broken buildings or clinging fearfully to debris or what few valuables they had left: Thesis would always reassure them with kind words and often a joke, making light of even the apocalypse as he tossed tracking beacons on top of rooftops or landmarks, where they would be easiest to pick up by Hecate's machinery.
Eventually, massive machines began to zoom by overhead: Kirin air transports and larger Clockwork Empire ships that made the ground vibrate as they passed. Cadence wondered silently just how much Hecate had prepared for, or how far she was pushing herself to get all this done... and coldly, logically, whether or not they had the resources to afford all this. They couldn't save a dead world... why even bother trying?
Horses of Heaven, was that really her talking?
She couldn't pass the blame for that off on the Swan anymore, could she, as much as she wanted to. That part had always been there, hadn't it?
Right from the beginning. Even when she did good things, like how she'd been willing to go in alone to save her husband, it hadn't simply been 'I'll do what it takes to save Shining,' it had been...
I will kill them all.
Cadence shivered and shook her head briefly, and Thesis frowned a bit as he looked back over his shoulder at her. But he was saved having to ask and Cadence was spared having to fumble for an excuse by La Croix pointing ahead, saying quietly: “That looks a little like that forest we had to pass through, oui?”
“Yeah. Yeah, it does, but it's all been crushed and piled on top of each other.” Cadence said after a moment with a frown, before she leaned up, her eyes widening slightly as she said quickly: “Look! There it is, the fortress!”
Thesis craned his head up, then he nodded quickly as he saw the unnatural regularity of several towers, before he grimaced a little as his eyes noted that there was something visibly wrong with the front of the building. He couldn't tell precisely what at this distance, only that the way it was humped up and distorted meant it was likely it had taken damage.
They made their way through the broken forest, pushing past broken trees that had been piled on top of each other, as if the entire forest had been uprooted and then simply poured back on top of itself by the hands of a careless god-child. There were broken and dead bodies here and there among the ravaged forest, mostly diamond dogs and goblins, with a few ponies here and there, and a smattering of shattered skeleton-construct.
Eventually, they made their way through the tinder and broken lumber of the forest to the wall of the fortress. It looked like an avalanche of trees had poured into it, and Cadence grimaced as she and Thesis slowly clambered up the pile of sticks and trees and shattered wood towards a window in the broken front wall of the fortress, Cadence's eyes roving over the structure as she muttered: “Looks like they were hit by the entire forest.”
Thesis grunted as they clambered in through a window, and then both ponies stared in disbelief as they found themselves gazing out into an open, broken chasm. It looked like most of the inner fortress had simply shattered away and imploded into the earth, leaving only a few rickety, broken rooms floating eerily above the deep abyss, and towers that hovered in plain defiance of gravity.
“Oh no.” Cadence whispered, as La Croix wiggled through the window before he grimaced at the sight of the ruins of the abyss only a few feet away. “What happened?”
“From the feel of it, one of those holes in reality must've torn open right here.” La Croix murmured, pointing down into the abyss before he scowled as he flickered in and out of reality, hammering grumpily on the side of his own head. “Oui. Reality be real thin here, 'smakin' it hard for me to stay ici. We... uh... we better be quick.”
“Yeah. For more than one reason.” Cadence said after a moment, shaking her head slowly before she gave a quiet sigh, her eyes roving towards the open, gaping bottom of a tower, the end of a staircase protruding from it like a broken bone. “I want to check that tower. I should be able to use it to reach the other towers from up top, too.”
“I'll come with you. La Croix, there's not much left here, but maybe you can check around the crater and... as low as you can go.” Thesis said, and La Croix gave a wry smile as Cadence pulled out her grappling hook.
“You two just... don't fall.” he said finally, and Cadence smiled despite herself before she flung the grapple outward, catching it on the end of the steps before she leaned back and anchored herself, Thesis automatically grabbing the rope and quickly starting to hoof-over-hoof towards the staircase.
The Replicant grunted as he pulled himself quickly up onto the steps, then he turned around and gestured at Cadence: without letting herself hesitate, she stepped forward over the abyss and let herself swing beneath the tower, the stairs creaking under the combined weight of her and Thesis.
Cadence dragged herself up the rope, grunting as she clambered her way up as Thesis grasped the other end of the line, reeling her in at the same time. It only took a few seconds of the two working together before Cadence was able to haul herself onto the staircase, which creaked grudgingly under her weight, but thankfully held.
Thesis wound the grapple quickly back up before he held it out to Cadence, and she slung it around her shoulder with a small smile before she said finally: “I wish that my wings were working.”
“Believe harder.” Thesis said mildly, then he winced when Cadence smacked him before the mare sighed and nodded grudgingly. “Yeah, see? You know what I mean. Now come on. Let's head upstairs and find some living people.”
Cadence nodded with a grimace, letting Thesis lead the way up the stairs before she frowned a bit as she heard a thumping above, and Thesis grinned slightly as he said: “See? It's never hopeless. Never give up, never surrender.”
“That sounds retarded.” Cadence said dryly, and Thesis huffed loudly at her as they hurried up the spiraling staircase to the top of the tower, the mare all the same feeling hope undeniably building in her body.
They reached the top of the steps, Cadence almost bodychecking Thesis aside to kick open the door and stride into the tower room, and  then she stared in disbelief at the sight of the old Nibelung Architect standing alone at the window of the tower, giving them a grisly grin as he rasped: “There. Took you long enough.”
“I... what the hell are you doing here?” Cadence blurted out, before she looked around and asked almost desperately: “No, wait, where are the others, where-”
“Gone. Dead.” dismissed the Architect with an absent wave of a hand, and Cadence stared, stunned, before Eridu carelessly explained: “The skeleton and his cohorts went down to try and save the lives of the refuse the Void-mare locked away in the dungeons. They were not fast enough. They are dead, all gone, all dead.”
Cadence slowly gritted her teeth, but Thesis caught her by the shoulder before she could do anything stupid, the Replicant asking shortly: “How do you know for sure?”
“I cannot smell them. I cannot see them. They are gone. Gone, forever.” replied the Architect with a smile and a shrug, before his eyes locked on Cadence almost eagerly, whispering: “Show me, Cygnet. Show me what you have been taught. Show me how much you remember. Shower me with your false promises: I know you won't hurt me. Neither of you will. I have answers.”
“Yeah. Okay.” Thesis said blandly, and then he calmly strode over to the Architect, looking up at him mildly for a few moments as the Architect scowled down at the Replicant, before Thesis simply reached up and shoved the Nibelung hard, sending the old dwarf stumbling backwards before he tripped and fell through the window.
Cadence's eyes widened in shock, but Thesis was fast, leaping forward and catching Eridu by one ankle, leaving him dangling above the abyss as the old dwarf howled in horror: “What are you doing? What do you think you are doing?”
“Getting a point across.” Thesis answered almost pleasantly, as he dropped the dwarf's ankle, making him screech before the Replicant caught his leg quickly in his other hoof, scolding: “Don't squirm. And don't say something dumb like 'let me go' because I just might let you go, and then I'll have to try and lie to Mom about what happened, which never ever works, and-”
“What are you doing?” howled Eridu, and then he gasped in pain as Thesis suddenly swung him against the wall of the tower, glaring down at him.
“Making a point.” Thesis's voice was suddenly cold and hard, his eyes focused on the Nibelung as Eridu stared up at him helplessly. “We do not operate on the laws of the Nibelung and we do not operate by the morals and ethics of ponies. We do whatever must be done, whatever must be done, but we always do it with the intent to protect others. If you become a threat in any way, shape, or form, we will eliminate or imprison you, Architect, because neither I nor any of the other officers in charge of Decretum will stand for seeing our people put in danger. And furthermore, if you refuse to cooperate, we will extract the information from you however it is necessary to do so. Such as like this.”
Thesis let Eridu fall a few inches again, the Architect covering his face in terror before the Replicant caught him by the ankles, and this time he dragged the old dwarf into the room, flinging him down to the ground before he pinned him against the floor, Eridu staring up at him with a tremble of fear and disbelief as Thesis promised quietly: “Work with us, and we will take care of you as one of our own. If you ever, ever do anything that puts friends, family, or innocent lives in danger, however, don't expect me to drag you back in through the window next time. And yes. That includes lying through omission. Now tell me what the hell happened here.”
Eridu snarled, but he looked shaken, and Cadence admittedly felt a bit of a nasty pleasure at seeing the cruel dwarf put off balance. But after a few moments, Eridu settled before he snorted in contempt, slowly sitting himself up next to the window and rasping: “I should have recognized that you were a Void-pony.”
“I'm a gigantic awesome asshole, actually. Now hurry up and talk or I'll pretend you're a kite and throw you out that window on that rope there.” Thesis said irritably with a jerk of his head towards the grapple Cadence was carrying, and the dwarf winced back slightly.
But after a moment, Eridu pushed himself slowly up to his paws, saying contemptibly: “The Void ripped through reality below. You have all felt it: the Void first ate away the laws that govern reality, then reality itself. That is why even now this tower floats, although there is nothing to support it, and yet all the same things fall.”
The dwarf swept a book off a nearby table, knocking it to the floor, and then he turned to look out the window, saying in a calmer voice as his eyes wandered, as if he was becoming lost in whatever strange worlds he saw out there again: “This was inevitable. Can't you see? History repeats, that is all. I saw it: that was why they banished me, exiled me... hid me, from him, and from the Jötnar. Because I saw it. I saw all of it. Just as I see the dying of the world, just as I see the stars, singing...”
“He's insane.” Cadence said moodily, and Thesis gave a grim smile.
“That's the easy explanation.” he muttered, then he shook his head and said finally: “He's a clairvoyant, likely of fifth or sixth degree. Meaning, well, he probably actually is crazy, yes, but he's also able to see... a mix of the future and the fabric of our reality itself.”
Cadence frowned, before she grimaced as Eridu turned towards her and smiled, saying softly: “Your future? Death, of course. You will die. You will die twice before all the worlds as you know them end. Before the end of everything. And after that...”
The Nibelung smiled at her eerily, and the ivory mare winced and leaned away before Thesis said mildly: “I can hang him out the window for you again if you want, but I don't think it'll make much of a difference. He's just... not entirely in this reality, I guess is the easiest way to put it.”
Thesis paused, then he sighed as he reached into the satchel, pulling out a beacon and tossing it quickly onto one of the dusty shelves that surrounded the room, muttering: “Well, we can leave him here anyway. Do you want to check the other towers, or head down below?”
Cadence hesitated, then she headed to the window, judging the distance: she only let herself hesitate a moment before she leapt back, then sprung forward and through the window, kicking off the sill with enough force to crack it as she flung herself through the air, then swore as she just narrowly caught the edge of the balcony opposite before her eyes bulged as the railing snapped beneath her hooves.
She began to plummet, except then something above banged down, the balcony screeching as it was torn loose from the wall of the tower, Thesis wheezing as he narrowly managed to catch the end of her hooves before he shouted: “Are you crazy?”
“You're crazy! I had it!” Cadence shouted back even as she turned beet-red in embarrassment, and then she winced at the creaking of the balcony as it tipped further away from the wall, hurriedly scrambling up and making Thesis swear as she clambered over him like a ladder before she grabbed him and half-dragged him off the tottering balcony.
They both stumbled into the abandoned tower, and Thesis winced as the balcony gave away outside, the stallion rubbing the back of his head before he said awkwardly: “Hey, well. We made it, anyway, huh?”
“Yeah. Great. But there's nothing here. Just... old crates.” Cadence said after a moment, scowling around the room before she looked up towards the roof, muttering: “Looks like there's a trapdoor there. I can probably climb up these boxes and get to it. Just don't be a hero again or your fat ass will bring the whole tower down.”
“The only thing fat about my ass is... that... it's not fat. Shut up.” Thesis defended lamely, before he asked in a quieter voice: “Do you need a minute?”
“No. No, I'm fine. I just... when we go back to Moonflower, what the hell am I going to say?” Cadence mumbled, shaking her head and closing her eyes tightly. “And if... Loki wants to hurt us, then he can hurt us, and... what about...”
“Your homeworld?” Thesis asked gently, and Cadence laughed a little, the stallion smiling faintly at her before he murmured: “It's not bad at all. Selfish, sure. But we're all a little selfish. And it's not like your selfishness isn't somehow still putting other people first, Cadence. Most people would be pretty happy to see their exes go down in a ball of burning fire.”
“Shining doesn't deserve that. And there's a lot of other people on that world I care about, too.” Cadence said softly, shaking her head slowly before she sighed quietly as she lowered her head, murmuring: “I guess all we can really do is keep... moving forward. Hope for the best, like you said. Maybe... I hope that bastard is wrong.”
“You don't like him, huh? And it's not just because he's a weird old Nibelung, or so callous. You believe him when he says he knows something about the Swans.” Thesis said, and Cadence hated and loved how he could get into her head so easily, as she smiled wryly over at the stallion, who smiled back before he flexed one foreleg, asking: “Do you want me to go beat him up for you?”
Cadence snorted, then she shook her head with a sigh as she began to climb up the crates, muttering: “I'm perfectly capable of beating up my own people, thanks.”
“Yeah, we all know that. You tend to maim and-slash-or kill them, though, and that's bad for the whole getting information thing.” Thesis said helpfully, and Cadence stopped on the highest crate to glare down at him as he gestured at himself. “Me? I've got all kinds of years of experience of not killing people and just scaring them into cooperating with me.”
Cadence looked at the stallion for a moment, and then she firmly booted one of the crates, sending it crashing down towards the stallion, who yelped and narrowly avoided being crushed before the ivory mare turned and punched the trapdoor to the roof open, grimacing as she hauled herself out. She scowled at the last remaining tower, before glancing down in surprise as Thesis poked his head out of the trapdoor, asking mildly: “So what are you thinking?”
The mare was silent for a moment, and then she unshouldered her grappling hook, saying finally: “I'll anchor it here, we slide across and take a quick look, and if there's no one there, we'll rejoin La Croix. I'm sure the Clockwork troops can handle getting that Nibelung onto one of those ships.”
“Yeah.” Thesis paused, then he murmured: “Funny how it's still so instinctive to say 'Decretum.' That's only one place in the whole Clockwork Empire, but I guess it's always been the heart of everything. I'm really happy to see my own homeworld, you know, coming together and all, but I just... don't think I'm ready, yet, to think of that as anything but... home.”
“Yeah. I know what you mean.” Cadence said after a moment, then she sighed and shook her head briefly before she glanced quickly over the floating tower in the distance, finally pointing at a window below and muttering: “There. Stone windowsill.”
Thesis nodded, then he sauntered over and asked seriously: “Do you need me to throw it for you? Mares shouldn't hurt themselves throwing stallion toys.”
Cadence responded by beginning to spin the grapnel beside her, making the stallion wince away and complain: “Hey, you nearly gave me a boo-boo!”
“I'll kiss it better later.” Cadence said ironically, and then she snapped the grapnel out, the hook clanking loudly as it locked into place, and the mare tested it with a few tugs before she leaned back, gesturing quickly at Thesis to go ahead.
The Replicant grinned as he leapt onto the taut cable, and Cadence scowled at him horribly as he gracefully strutted along the tight rope. “Looks safe, don't worry. But even if there's something dangerous, I'll-”
Cadence let the rope go slack as Thesis reached the end of the line, and he flailed wildly before sprawling forwards through the window, crashing loudly into the tower to land with a groan. He scowled for a moment, then blinked in surprise and sat up as he realized he wasn't alone, calling quickly: “Cadence, hey! I found some people!”
Thesis turned with a smile towards the group: two scared-looking ponies, and a cluster of goblins and diamond dogs who looked even more frightened, likely convinced that they weren't going to be rescued. “Hey, guys. Good to finally see someone. Can you tell me how you got here?”
The ponies trembled, one of them shyly trying to hide behind the other as he shook his head meekly, and Thesis frowned a little before one of the goblins stepped forwards and said anxiously: “We didn't hurt anyone! Honest!”
“I believe you. Just tell me how you ended up here, okay?” Thesis said gently, smiling reassuringly as Cadence came quickly down the rope to join them. The general reaction to the ivory mare's entrance was fear, Thesis noted, so he quickly gestured towards her and added: “This is Lieutenant Cadence. She's here, with me, to help rescue you all, okay? All of you. I really mean that.”
The diamond dogs still looked uncomfortable and worried, but the goblins, at least, seemed relieved, and the one standing in front of the group gave a beaming smile before he clapped his hands together, blurting: “I knew Lord Morpheus wouldn't let us down! Oh thank you, thank you, sirs! I mean, sir and madam!”
Thesis smiled back, and after a moment, the goblin wiped at his brow before he explained: “When everything started to shake, we all just... ran. We ran, because we were all scared.” The goblin shifted in embarrassment, looking ashamed of himself: not exactly something Cadence had ever expected to see on a goblin's face, admittedly. “We hid up in the tower together, since they're supposed to be safe, but... then everything started falling apart!”
“We couldn't stop her. She leapt out the window!” suddenly shouted the pony who was trying to hide, and his friend turned and shushed him quickly, but the pony shook his head vehemently before he dropped it and whispered: “We just couldn't stop her. She just... fell. She wasn't supposed to fall but she just... fell.”
Cadence nodded slowly, figuring she knew what had happened: a Pegasus had tried to take to the air, and instead ended up going for a long dive straight down into the abyss. She glanced over at Thesis, but since he was setting up a beacon, she instead turned her eyes back to the goblin in the front and asked: “Do you know Antecedes?”
“Yes! Is he okay? We've been worried about him!” said the goblin earnestly, and Cadence shifted awkwardly, which was enough to make the goblin cover his mouth as his eyes widened, but then he suddenly shook his head vehemently and said: “No no no! He and Mr. Burrito and Ms. Pie are great ponies, the best, the very best of ponies, sir! They'll be just fine, just you wait and see!”
“I hope so. Where did they go? We heard they were trying to get people to safety when this happened.” Cadence said, and the goblin nodded quickly.
“Yes, of course. They care very much, very deeply for us. Oh, I know, we're not supposed to talk about that, evil rules and all, but...  I guess this is an exceptional circumstance.” The goblin smiled, then he added as he hammered on his own chest: “Me supposed to talk like this, real smart dumb goblin, but... well, it's not really the time for that, either.”
The goblin laughed a little, and Cadence smiled faintly despite herself: there was a whistling past the graveyard feel to things at the moment, but...hell, that's a lot better than the alternative right now. “Yeah. We're going to go try and find them, okay? Just wait here for now. A transport should be along shortly to pick you up and... uh...”
“It'll take you someplace safe for now, until we can figure out the best place to put you all.” Thesis finished with a smile, and Cadence didn't want to admit how relieved she was that the stallion had known to slide in and take over. “Just relax for now. You're all safe.”
The group nodded, and while some of them looked uncertain, for the most part they seemed relieved; then again, Cadence supposed that really, all anyone here wanted was for someone to tell them the nightmare was over. She could understand that. She envied, really, that they were able to believe that, as she turned to Thesis and asked: “Do you want to head back across the line?”
Thesis hesitated for a moment, and then he gestured towards the door and asked quickly: “Hey, guys, is the staircase still intact?”
“Yes...” The goblin didn't sound entirely sure despite his answer, and when Thesis cocked an eyebrow, the little creature smiled awkwardly and shrugged a bit. “It was the last time I checked. But that uh... last step is a doozy. So you might want to be careful.”
Thesis smiled and winked, replying easily: “Hey, don't worry, I've got a lot of experience with long falls and landing on my head. Between the two of us we should be okay. Cadence, you want to grab the grapple, or do you need a hoof with it?”
“I got it. Magic still works.” Cadence answered, focusing, and hating just how much focus it took her to untie a simple knot. Distance be damned, she had a crystal-clear visualization of it in her head and it should have been nothing more than a twist and a flick, but instead it took her painstaking seconds to pop the rope loose and reel it quickly in.
She turned to find Thesis smiling that goddamn smile at her, and she resisted the urge to club him over the head before she said sourly: “Let's get going, asshole.”
“What? I didn't say anything!” Thesis said in a falsely-wounded voice, and Cadence rolled her eyes before she shoved past him, heading to the doorway leading down to the stairs and ignoring the stallion and not smiling at all when he said loudly to the group of people, even as he hurried after her: “She's my marefriend!”
Cadence descended the stairs quickly until she reached the gaping hole in the bottom of the tower, scowling a little as she leaned out before she narrowed her eyes slightly and murmuring: “It looks like there might still be a bit of ground down there... maybe the lower levels weren't entirely destroyed after all.”
“It depends on where the rift was created.” Thesis said, becoming serious as he took a quick look around before he tapped quickly on the Mission Drive on his leg, frowning slightly at the projection that appeared before he muttered: “Okay, I'm not as good at this as Thorn, but... from the data I've gathered so far, I think that uh...”
He hesitated, then muttered: “No. Sonar scan of the area says that's impossible... unless... someone was down there, shielding themselves, maybe others, from the implosion. We should go down and check it out.”
“Alright. I'll meet you down there.” Cadence said, and before she could hesitate, she tossed the grapple to Thesis before simply leaping off the steps, streamlining her body and letting herself freefall towards that barren patch of ground below.
She felt energy rush through her before the Swan suddenly seized her, almost scolding her as a wave of power emitted from her body, Cadence's eyes widening in surprise as her fall slowed until she touched down with surprising gentility. She looked for a moment at her glowing body, then her eyes shifted up quickly as she caught movement.
“Oh, thank the Dragon! You're alive!” shouted a voice, and Cadence looked up with a smile of relief at Throna, who was peeking out of a half-collapsed doorway, standing protectively over a group of foals. “We need help!”
“Thesis, I found Throna and some kids down here! Hurry up, we need to set a beacon!” Cadence called, before she winced in surprise when Thesis landed with a thump next to her on the rickety island of floor, the ground cracking beneath him but the Replicant grinning even as his exoskeleton hissed loudly.
“Who's... oh, uh. Hey.” Thesis said in surprise as he looked up at the Draekin mare, and the Draekin stared back at him in surprise.
But then Throna shook her head vehemently before she pulled the foals back, gesturing with her head into the room as she pleaded: “Please. It's Antecedes.”
Cadence frowned as she leapt across the narrow gap between the little island of flooring and the broken doorway of the room: it was some sort of museum exhibit, she thought. Or it had been: it was all in shambles, torn apart, the walls crumbled inward from some massive force pulling on them, what looked like a model of the castle shattered in a corner and the table it had lad on occupied by the cube Trixie had given them, and... Antecedes...
Cadence approached quickly, studying the skeleton before she grimaced as the Swan took over for a moment, using its ability to see to gaze over the badly-broken body of the skeleton. Danzsöngr frowned slightly, then she murmured quietly: “The problem is not the damage to the body. He has burnt out the pathways that carry his life. He has made... sacrifices. Why, Lich?”
“Because I suppose... my heart still beats. No matter how hard I've tried to get rid of the damned thing.” Antecedes murmured after a moment, a faint red light flickering to life in one eyesocket, and his head rolled towards Cadence before he asked quietly: “Is Moonflower alright? Did he survive?”
“Yeah.” Cadence said after a moment, as the Swan smoothly passed control back to her. “We... did our best to save everyone, and we're going through the world now, rescuing the survivors, but Loki... he destroyed just about everything. The Tablet of Dreams was destroyed, but we saved Princess Luna...”
“That's good. That's good...” Antecedes murmured, shaking his head slowly before he whispered: “You can only do so much with a single life, you know. No matter how long it is, no matter how short it is... you only have one chance, and you're only one person. So the best thing you can do with your life is giving to others. That is true immortality. That way... your life goes on through all of them. That was the answer I found, Cadence. After a life lived... full of mistakes.”
He lowered his head for a moment, then chuckled quietly before he said softly: “Take care of Moonflower, please. He's always been my best student, and my best friend. He has... so much left to learn...”
Antecedes breathed slowly out, the red light growing brighter in his socket for a moment before it dimmed out, and the last of the dull red veins crawling over his bones decayed away into dust that floated away into the windless air. For a brief moment, Cadence saw the spirit of a unicorn, smiling through stern features as he bowed his head towards her politely, trusting her... and then, he was gone.
“Goddammit.” whispered Cadence, and then she shook her head slowly before she turned towards Throna, who was standing silently over the foals with her head bowed, as the ponies clung to the Draekin fearfully. “Throna... I'm sorry.”
“Aye. I know. I know, there's nothing that could be done, nothing that can be done. I just thought... these days were done with, that's all.” Throna smiled faintly, before she took a slow breath and asked: “Can you bring me to Princess Luna? We must... keep going, I know. It sounds as if there are still lives to be saved.”
“I'll set up a beacon. Then uh... Cadence, we should keep moving, see if we can join back up with La Croix and if he's found any other survivors.” Thesis said gently, and Cadence nodded after a moment, taking a slow breath and steadying herself.
“Yeah. That's right. Throna, uh, Luna by now has probably been escorted back to Decretum... I mean, Endworld.” Cadence shook her head quickly, then she said almost abruptly: “I'm sorry.”
Throna frowned, and then the Draekin snorted and shook her head, saying firmly: “Don't. This is not your fault. Whoever the tyrant is, he might have you in his sights, but he would have attacked our world anyway for the Tablet, it seems. But now he can't claim the Tablet and... all I can focus on is protecting the people who have been hurt for now. That is what matters.”
“You're right.” Cadence said in a murmur, nodding once before she turned towards Thesis, asking finally: “Are you ready to move, then? And Throna, we'll... make sure Loki pays for this.”
“I've seen payment taken and given, Cadence, and I know from experience that what we have to focus on here and now are the lives suffering, not the lives we want to suffer.” Throna responded, and Cadence smiled briefly before the Draekin gestured at her quickly. “Go, go. Get out of here. You can do better out there than in here.”
Cadence nodded, before she smiled briefly as Thesis tossed her the grappling hook. “We should be able to swing back out to that outer rim. Let's keep moving around the edge of the fortress, that's where we're likeliest to find any survivors. Don't worry, when the ships get here they'll deep-scan the whole area.”
The ivory mare followed Thesis' gesture, noting the damaged support he was indicating, and she spun the hook for a moment indecisively, muttering: “This had better work.”
“When have I ever led you wrong?” Thesis asked cheerfully, and Cadence scowled at him before she snapped the hook out, aiming away from the support and instead hitting a broken outcrop of stone, Thesis huffing at her grouchily. “Real nice.”
Cadence only grunted, shoving the rope into his hooves and making him anchor for her before she grabbed the rope and pulled herself across, hoof-over-hoof. The grapple strained against the stone she had hooked, but it stayed more than firm enough for her to reach the other side safely and drop down.
She turned around, then rolled her eyes when Thesis made a running jump off the edge of the platform, reeling himself in before he swung forwards, the rope snapping taut before she heard Thesis hit the wall of the cavern, then the thudding of his rear hooves as he all-but-ran up the side wall while hauling himself upward with his hooves. He leapt over the edge with a grin, but then squawked when Cadence caught him like a child, the stallion looking at her dumbly as she asked mildly: “You have your fun?”
“Yep.” Thesis said lamely, and Cadence sighed and rolled her eyes before she dropped him on his rump, then she turned around and glanced back and forth down the bisected hall they had landed in, grimacing a bit as she touched the half-collapsed wall opposite the chasm. It feels like the earth was pulled in here, too. The force of the Void rift... I can't imagine that anyone... “Do you really think we'll find anyone, Thesis?”
“Hey, the only way to know is to look.” Thesis replied with a smile, and Cadence nodded after a moment with a sigh before the Replicant said gently: “Don't give up yet, huh? You're better than that, Sazerac.”
“Shut up.” Cadence smiled a bit despite herself all the same, her eyes lingering for a moment on Thesis before she shook her head and instead turned her eyes towards a broken set of doors down the hall. “Let's try and get through there. We want to move away from the epicenter of the rift, right?”
“Yeah. That's where the survivors would have fled. Anywhere but here.” Thesis said, gesturing widely with one hoof. “I think we should try and head to the opposite end of the structure. We can treat where we found Throna as sort of a 'furthest point,' so if there's any other survivors-”
“They'll probably be at the opposite end, yeah. I get it.” Cadence said after a moment, as she headed towards the blocked doors. She shouldered into them, then scowled before leaning forwards and pushing harder, the door creaking and groaning as rubble shifted on the other side, before Cadence finally managed to ram through in a burst of dust and broken stone.
Thesis smiled a little despite himself as he followed after the mare, reminding her: “Hey, try and be gentle, huh? You don't want to scare them off before we can rescue them.”
Cadence grumbled, but nodded, and the two spent the next forty minutes digging through rubble and feeling their way carefully through the shattered underside of the fortress, until La Croix rejoined them. Cadence looked up hopefully, but La Croix only smiled faintly and shook his head once, and the mare sighed a little before she turned her eyes upward as the roaring of engines filled her ears.
She watched as two Kirin transports circled slowly above, before two Kirin leapt down from the open door of the transport, skating through the air towards one of the towers with a harness of some kind and entering through the window. Then Cadence couldn't help but grimace in amusement as she watched Eridu being hauled up through the window, the Nibelung looking less-than-pleased even from where Cadence was watching.
She sighed a little, then glanced over at Thesis as his Mission Drive beeped before a static-riddled screen projected in front of them, Hecate ordering: “Report.”
“We've set beacons up all the way to Moonflower's fortress. Not much beyond here survived. The fort itself was hit by a rift, I think... we located all survivors, and the Kirin are rescuing them now.” Thesis said quietly, giving an apologetic glance to Cadence, but she only smiled faintly. How the hell was she going to explain this to Moonflower?
La Croix reached up and squeezed her shoulder gently, and Hecate sighed before she said finally: “We're losing stability. Get on board that transport and return here, you've done all you can. The rest is up to the scanners.”
Cadence sighed a little, but she nodded after a moment, murmuring: “Yep. I mean, yes, Queen Hecate. We'll be back soon.”
Thesis cut the connection before he dug out a beacon to turn it on, and La Croix said softly: “Y'can't blame yourself, Cygne. There ain't nothing more we can do. We just...”
“Gotta move forward. I know. We have to stop Loki. We have to.” Cadence said quietly, looking down into the dark abyss below, before she closed her eyes tightly as she promised mentally: And we have to make him pay for everything he's done.
And inside her, the Swan agreed.