Chapter Seventy Four: Heart Of The Heartless World
~BlackRoseRaven
After almost two hours spent checking over the wounds they still both had, a bit of quiet talk, and repairing the damages that had been done to their armor, Scrivener Blooms and Luna Brynhild slipped back into their gear, and then Scrivener sat back and began to reorganize their equipment bags again while Luna explored the rest of the train.
He paused in the middle of sorting to pick up the good luck charm that Rarity and Spike had given him, and he smiled as he looked over it, studying the silver disc quietly before reaching up and rubbing automatically at his platinum collar. Then he glanced back and forth before slipping the charm back beneath his armor, feeling it against his chest: it was strangely comforting, and he smiled despite himself: he'd never imagined that of all the people in the world, Rarity and Spike would be a pair he'd end up feeling so close to but... there you go. I guess it happens sometimes, huh?
He closed his eyes, thinking of the others he'd had the honor of meeting and spending time with, and quietly reaffirming his promise that one day, he and Luna would see them all again. And they would say all the things they had never said, and he would do all the goddamn things he'd promised to do from that stupid list Twilight had made him write, but welched out of most of.
Scrivener smiled as he rubbed slowly at his face, then hesitated before looking down at his hoof quietly, thinking of the poison flowing in his veins. The corruption, that had gone from killing him to... making him even stronger than he'd ever been. His wounds healed faster, his body felt more powerful, he knew that even if his brain was just as slow as it had always been, his reflexes were better and he wasn't tiring nearly as quickly as he'd used to. And even if the polymorph had hurt more than it had in the past, all the same... he had been able to freely use his wings much quicker than he usually had been able to after such a transformation.
For a moment, the earth pony looked down, rubbing slowly at his face before he closed his eyes and murmured to himself: “And the Black Verses... if this is the Tyrant Wyrm's... mire, corruption, blood... whatever you want to call it inside me... does that mean I can speak them on my own, just like I did when we fought the Norns?”
Scrivener shivered after a moment, thinking of all the implications this could mean... and then he closed his eyes and shook his head quickly, sitting back and muttering: “Get the feeling it would still screw me up though, somehow. Maybe I'll turn into a Tyrant Wyrm one day after all...”
“Oh, shut up, insufferable poet. And if thou does become a Tyrant Wyrm I shall ensure that unlike Evil Luna, I properly leash-train thee.” Luna said mildly as she reentered the car, and Scrivener smiled up at her despite himself before she strode over and nuzzled him gently, then nipped firmly at his features, making him wince as he staggered to his hooves. “There. Better. Up on thy hooves, there is... well... 'tis not a pleasant sight outside.”
Scrivener grimaced, meeting her eyes, and he clearly saw an image he direly didn't want to believe in his mind before he turned towards one of the narrow windows himself, unable to resist from standing up and staring out as Luna muttered: “This world may be in disrepair... but we must definitely not underestimate what resources it has, all the same.”
Scrivener grunted as he shivered, gazing down past the edge of the bridge that was rapidly passing by to the ground far below... perhaps three hundred feet, perhaps more. They were passing over a massive, black marsh, enormous steel pipes running back and forth through this, many slathered with corruption. Here and there were enormous hubs shaped like octagonal barrels, sizzling with electricity and attached to massive, rectangular engines on which huge pistons pumped and enormous gears turned, heedless of the black ooze splattered over them as they siphoned up corruption out of the earth and into the network of pipes.
These pipes went in all directions, but many of them seemed to feed in the same way they were traveling along the Vena Cava: towards the Atrium, towards Decretum's heart. And Scrivener was willing to bet any amount of bits – or anything else for that matter – that beneath this massive bridge itself was another system of pipes, ever pumping more corruption onwards to the same destination as their train had... but Scrivener was damned if he could guess what the hell they were doing with it.
What made the marshland below worse was the fact that it was far from uninhabited: not only were there what looked like deformed barracks buildings here and there, there was the distinct glimmer of what were likely Worker Drones crawling here and there over machinery, setting up new hubs, repairing damages to the pipeline and keeping everything in neat order. And worse by far than those, Scrivener could see a monstrous Tyrant Wyrm almost lounging amidst the muck, grinning cruelly as it relaxed in the hideous mire before its head turned towards him... and he could swear its grin stretched wider, that for a moment, its glowing, unholy eyes stared into his as a voice whispered in his mind: Welcome home, little brother.
Scrivener shivered and stepped hurriedly away from the window, and Luna frowned at him for a moment before the earth pony reached up and touched his own face, muttering: “Just... paranoia.” He took a slow breath, then smiled a little after a moment, tracing his hoof upwards to adjust the glasses on his features slowly, adding quietly: “I don't see why you made me wear these, by the way. They're just going to get broken. And they're just clear lenses, anyway. My eyes are stronger than they've ever been.”
“They're a reminder of who thou art. Of whom I fell in love with... damnable poet.” Luna replied quietly, leaning forwards with a faint smile before she reached up and stroked quietly beneath his chin. “Foolish beetle.”
“Arrogant Nightmare Moon.” Scrivener replied softly, and Luna smiled at him as their eyes locked for a few moments... before they both winced as the train jounced violently, and Scrivener cursed under his breath before he leaned up and looked out the window with a with a wince... that became a grimace as he stared down in shock and saw they were passing over some kind of enormous trench past the marshland, so deep and dark that Scrivener couldn't see the bottom of it, couldn't tell where the massive supports holding up the rail-bridge vanished into. “Oh not good.”
Then the train lurched again, and Scrivener hissed through his teeth in horror at the sight of the bridge swaying violently, staggering back from the window as he squawked: “Oh not good at all!”
“Get thyself together, Scrivener! I shall check what lays ahead, thou shall try and find wretched Gymbr!” Luna snapped, and Scrivener nodded hurriedly. The charcoal stallion turned to head down the car as Luna ran to the cabin, and the sapphire mare winced as she felt and heard the stallion flinch behind her when Gymbr appeared out of thin air in front of him.
She kept her focus forwards, however, leaning up to look out the windshield... and staring in shock to see they were not only nearing their destination, something was terribly wrong with the tracks ahead. The enormous bridge was rocking violently back and forth for some reason that was only growing worse, and Luna cursed under her breath at the sight of this before she looked sharply up, judging the distance to their goal beyond: a massive structure of steel, inset into the side of a a cliff, it looked like, leaning out of monolithic stone and resting in the support of heavy chains, countless pipes feeding into massive hubs set in the cliff face around it and down into the darkness of the trench beneath...
And beyond that, there was something else. Some other structure, half-hidden from sight by what looked like some kind of massive field of electricity. Luna gritted her teeth, beginning to turn away as a plan began to form in her mind... and then the bridge in the rapidly-narrowing distance snapped and toppled into darkness as a massive, horrific shape began to drag itself up onto the wide set of tracks.
She stared in horror at the sight of the monstrous, massive Tyrant Wyrm that had apparently crawled out of the depths of the trench, enormous pistons of steel firing on its back, sending up bursts of steam as massive black tubes standing out of its spine and limbs sizzled with electricity, like it was more machine than monster. It had scarred, mottled golden scales and terrible sapphire eyes, blue mist steaming up from its jaws as it roared furiously at the oncoming train... a train that was shooting forwards at breakneck speeds straight for the massive monstrosity as it hauled itself slowly, carefully up further onto the bridge.
Luna snarled, cursing as she looked back and forth before her eyes locked on the control panel, and she leapt forwards to shove two levers all the way forwards, the engines giving a scream of protest even as the train's acceleration picked even further up, before she shouted over her shoulder: “I have a plan!”
“Oh hell, Luna, I don't like this plan!” Scrivener shouted back with a wince as he looked up in surprise when her thoughts entered his mind. He scrambled backwards as Gymbr looked back and forth between them, then it simply vanished. Luna winced... before there was a loud banging on the roof above, followed by a screech of metal being bent and torn, and the sapphire mare looked up with surprise before shaking her head and turning her eyes to instead to help Scrivener.
The earth pony had already smashed the emergency release button in the narrow, covered 'hall' between passenger and engine car, however, and he had tossed the loose steel paneling that formed a sort of bridge over the coupling hidden below aside. Now the earth pony had his teeth grit, slowly yanking back a lever as his muscles bulged before Luna's horn glowed, and the coupling glowed with the same sapphire aura before a stream of sparks burst up as it came unhooked, the front engine car jerked forwards and the passenger car began to fall backwards, the cloth 'walls' of the short hall between cars ripping loudly as a few loose pieces of flooring flew loose and were sucked out into the jetstream alongside the train.
Scrivener winced, still standing in the passenger car, and when Luna looked at him insistently, he gritted his teeth before spreading his leather wings and leaping outwards, flapping them hard: thankfully he only had to reach the top of the car, and even as the wind threatened to suck him backwards, he reached out and seized the natural handle formed by the underside of the engine roof, wincing as the passenger cars fell further back behind them and the effects of the wind tunnel worsened. “Luna, are you sure about this?”
There was no way she could hear him, but all the same, Luna replied as she flew upwards and into place beside him, gritting her teeth and glaring forwards at the Tyrant Wyrm that was leaning onto the bridge, snarling and waiting for them: “No, I am not, poet!”
Near the front of the engine, Gymbr had its claws buried into the roof, its wings spread and eyes closed as its horn glowed faintly... and then it suddenly snapped its head upwards, eyes giving a flash, and Luna and Scrivener both felt the sizzle that shot through them, both looked up and saw how close they were to the massive, looming monster at the end of the broken bridge, and all three ponies flapped their wings and hauled upwards as Luna and Gymbr's horns both glowed to add telekinetic lift as the train engine crackled with energy.
The train's own momentum added to their efforts as they simply hauled upwards, didn't attempt to slow it down at all, Luna and Scrivener snarling in exertion and Gymbr calm as ever as the massive Tyrant Wyrm began to lean forwards... just as the train engine finally tore free from the tracks, lifting into the air some thirty feet away from the Wyrm, arching into the crimson sky even as it continued to accelerate. And the ponies released it at almost the last moment, all three zipping quickly upwards as Scrivener felt his black blood thinning in his veins, straining to bleed through his flesh at the speed they were moving at... but the pain was well worth it as the train engine smashed directly into the Tyrant Wyrm's face before it could react, knocking it backwards and off-balance as its head snapped to the side in a blast of black mire blood.
A moment later, the rest of the train sailed down the leaning tracks, putting too much weight on the breaking supports and causing the bridge to list and snap even as the row of cars slammed like a battering ram into the Tyrant Wyrm's chest, and the monster was knocked loose to fall into the trench below with a howl of fury, followed down by countless tons of train car and collapsing rail-bridge.
For a few moments, Luna, Scrivener, and Gymbr only glided through the air, watching the monster vanish into the darkness and listening to its fading roar of frustration, Luna and Scrivener breathing hard before Gymbr called quietly to them: “It is time to move, friends.”
Scrivener and Luna both looked towards the creature... and then they both nodded slowly before following as Gymbr's strong wings flapped and propelled the creature onwards, towards the massive, alien facility. The two ponies naturally found themselves falling side-by-side, both looking back and forth nervously, but the strange entity leading them had eyes only for what laid ahead, drawing over the magnificent, massive structure as it said in a soft voice that all the same carried easily through the once-more still air: “It is beautiful... and it is terrible...”
As they began to descend towards the enormous structure, Scrivener realized that the atrium was more than aptly named; the massive building leaning out of the strangely-flat, almost-carved cliff-side was shaped like a gargantuan heart, with its large, domed walls and sections. It was silver and spotless and polished, with the one visible entrance that Gymbr was leading them towards at the broken end of the bridge, and a large, open shutter that looked as if it led into some kind of deep train tunnel.
Scrivener's eyes roved to one of the octagonal hubs, shivering as he looked over the piping and tubing feeding into it, the massive bolts that helped keep it fastened into its recess in the cliffs, the enormous vents that belched steam and smoke. Over the pistons that pumped steadily but slowly, regulating the flow of the poisons... hubs, valves, veins, feeding black blood forever into the heart of Clockwork World.
And as Scrivener looked back towards the Atrium, he felt a twist of fear, almost panic, and his mind locking onto the building. He felt like there was something inside... something he... he almost desired, and it made him tremble. Just as did the knowledge that if they wanted to get through to the Prophet and the Clockwork King... they had to pass through the heart.
His eyes roved up, confirming this automatically: only a hundred feet away, atop the plateau that ended with these dusty cliffs, there were tall, ivory pillars shaped almost like curving white teeth. Electricity and raw sapphire energy sparked between them, forming an almost opaque blue shield around the building beyond... the Cortex, where the Clockwork King and the Prophet both rested. Where they had to go if they wanted to end all this...
The trio touched down on the tracks in front of the train tunnel as Scrivener shivered, reaching up to touch his forehead, and Luna looked at him worriedly. Before she could ask, however, Gymbr looked calmly into the darkness of the tunnel, saying calmly: “Enemy forces are arriving. We shall hold them back... besides, this is not our story; it is yours.”
The creature looked over at them, studying them for a few moments before it pointed towards a heavy hatch door in the wall of the enormous, silver structure. “Go. Scrivener Blooms must find the way. Luna Brynhild must carve the path. Apart you would fail, but together... we will succeed. We shall rejoin you on the approach towards Cortex.”
Scrivener and Luna both hesitated, but not even the sapphire mare had any words to tease or reprimand or even simply speak to the creature, and it smiled at them after a moment, leaning forwards and saying gently: “We wish you luck.”
With that, Gymbr vanished from sight... and Scrivener and Luna both traded a look before the winged unicorn gritted her teeth and glanced towards the hatch door, flicking her horn to spin the valve handle before it snapped open, and she sprinted forwards and inside as Scrivener followed quickly after her.
They entered into polished, sterile halls, and Scrivener and Luna traded a look before the winged unicorn nodded at the silent mental directions the charcoal stallion's instincts gave her, hurrying forwards to an intersection and turning quickly to the right. And immediately, two Hoplites looked up from the door they were standing guard at, both of these griffins equipped not just with their wicked hook-claws, but long, thin spears.
The emotionless soldiers leapt into combat as if they'd been expecting them, and Luna snarled as she flicked her horn forwards to launch her spear from her sheath, the weapon springing to full length and swinging out to parry a stab as one griffin tried to fly in from above, and she used her horn to block a thrust from the second griffin as well. Then, before it could react, her horn glowed and she lashed it forwards, sending a powerful blast of lightning down the spear to electrocute the unfortunate Hoplite, and the griffin on the ground spasmed as it staggered backwards, banded armor popping loudly and smoke pouring up from the creature.
The first Hoplite began to reposition itself in midair, trying to fly forwards to flank Luna... and without hesitation, Scrivener leapt up, using Luna as a step before he slammed both hooves down into the griffin's skull before the charcoal stallion shoved savagely downwards, dragging the griffin through the air and smashing it beak-first into the ground beneath his hooves. There was a sickening crack as the helmet caved in and the neck twisted awkwardly, and Scrivener winced in surprise at his own strength.
Luna glanced at him, and he looked back, then shrugged awkwardly before the winged unicorn smiled faintly and shook her head, muttering as her spear collapsed and slid itself smoothly back into her holster: “'Tis no time to worry. Come, let us hope that we do not have an army to deal with ourselves.”
Scrivener grunted and nodded in agreement, and he let Luna take the lead, pushing through the security door and into another long, winding passage. Scrivener's instincts led them out into a massive generator hall of some kind, and for a moment, the two paused on the wide, steel balcony that looked over a floor below, and the double-row of evenly-spaced, enormous pillars that ran down the center of the massive passage: some were covered by sliding, cylindrical armor, but on others the round shutters had drawn back, uncovering glass tubes filled with corruption and sizzling cables.
They looked important: what clearly added to this sense was the fact that there were Worker Drones all over the floor below, along with six-legged, enormous metallic insects. They seemed almost like steel ants with gemstone eyes, large tubes standing out of their upper backs in pairs. As Scrivener watched, one of these ant-like drones approached one of the open tubes, slipping the needle-like end of a foreleg into the base of the sinister pillar... and a moment later, one of the tubes on its back began to fill with corruption.
Luna made a face of disgust... and then she winced when four Hoplites seemed to come out of nowhere, crashing down on all around them on the wide balcony. Scrivener and Luna both winced, then leapt quickly over the railing when the griffins lunged for them, the two ponies landing heavily on the floor below before they shot forwards as a klaxon blared and a voice announced coldly: “Intruders detected in Hall A1. Deploy and engage.”
“Crap!” Scrivener winced, then he cursed under his breath as his eyes locked on a set of red doors at the far end of the hall: the one bright side was, even as the Hoplites chased him, even as security shutters opened and griffins and Soldier Drones began to pour into the hall, the Worker Drones and the mechanical ants were only continuing about their business, uninterested in the ponies or the security forces pursuing them.
Luna's horn glowed as she locked on the red doors, and she lashed out with telekinesis, smashing a dent in them with a raw, psychic blast before she snarled and flicked her horn backwards, and the heavy, now-warped doors were yanked open as whatever locking system held them closed snapped. A moment later, Scrivener dove through the narrow space and then cursed as he hit stairs beyond, eyes widening in alarm as he tried to stop a little too late before he shouted in pain and frustration as he began to violently roll down them.
The sapphire mare, meanwhile, leapt to the air and spun around, hovering for a moment as she ignored the spastic pains bouncing through her body from Scrivener's fall, and her horn glowed brightly as she flicked it backwards. The doors were yanked shut, before Luna flicked her horn forwards, and ice rapidly spread over the warped metal, thickening and growing quickly into a solid, crystalline barrier.
But at the sound of something banging on the other side, Luna winced, the glow fading from around her horn as she turned around and dove quickly down the stairway, gliding smoothly to the narrow hall at the bottom of the steps. Scrivener was picking himself up with a grimace, looking pained before they both gazed up towards the door at the end of the short, narrow corridor, the only way they had forwards.
The two slowly strode towards this, Scrivener feeling a strange shiver run through him at the sight of it, not knowing why, before they carefully pushed through and stepped out onto a steel, spiraling walkway beyond. For a moment, they could only stare, and then both ponies forced their minds to begin processing the little things first as they looked around the unbelievable, enormous room.
The sloped walkway went around the entire room, wide enough for four ponies to walk comfortably side-by-side, beginning where they stood and ending at the floor maybe fifty feet below. The ceiling was at least sixty, seventy feet above where they stood now, however... and the circular, massive room was perhaps just as wide, with a slightly-domed floor and ceiling that gave the illusion of standing inside an enormous sphere. There were doors, here and there, along the walkway, and at the bottom floor; these were all the little details that the ponies could understand.
The ceiling was covered in massive pipes and black cables that sizzled with electricity, and enormous gears could be heard clanking as upside-down pistons rumbled sluggishly, keeping something above stirring, keeping the blood of this terrible heart pumping. Because this was the heart: the heart inside the heart, made clear by the fact that in the center of the room was a massive, translucent cone feeding down into some kind of enormous metal ring, like a tornado turned to glass.
Inside it was swirling corruption: black, dark corruption, spinning endlessly downwards into a vent, a valve, whatever lay in that tube, glowing darkly with energy. Scrivener stared at this, breathing hard as he felt a strange tremble run through his body before Luna's roved upwards incredulously, past what looked like enormous, hanging mechanical arms extending down from the cable-covered ceiling and towards the wall...
And she saw that the walls above their heads were covered in what looked like... pods. Like enormous metal cocoons with glass fronts, each hooked into a steel cradle, each with a pony inside, floating amidst murky liquid. Luna stared in horror as Scrivener stumbled around, breathing harder as he whispered: “Horses of Heaven...”
Some of the closest were almost-completely formed, completely recognizable, and Scrivener could see that each of the pods was marked as well with a serial number and a letter. The one just above them was marked “V1561122;” its occupant was a perfect match for Valor, her eyes closed, her body almost floating silently in the ooze...
Scrivener stumbled back into the railing, gasping for breath as Luna shook her head, staring wildly back and forth: others were half-formed, but slowly, little-by-little, seemed to be building themselves in the ooze. It filled the sapphire mare with a horror she couldn't quite describe, as Scrivener trembled before he spun around as a whizzing filled the air. A moment later, a green orb floated up in front of them, sparking before it projected an illusion of Valthrudnir's upper body. It floated eerily in the air, large and grinning as he mocked: “What's wrong, little ponies? Are you t-t-terrified, or l-left in awe of the level of my s-superior genius?”
“Monster!” Luna shouted, spinning around and snarling, and Valthrudnir only gave his keening, repetitive laugh in response. “What madness is this? What hast thou done?”
“Simple...” Valthrudnir answered with a cold smile, his eyes flashing. “You see, t-the problem with making a s-superior soldier is the knowledge that in-in-inevitably, it will b-be destroyed. To c-circumvent this p-problem... I began experimenting w-with homunculi. Kvasir was the r-r-result of one such experiment.
“To make a homunculi, I required t-two things. A g-genetic base, and the m-memories and data of the c-creature I wished to design it f-from. The m-materials I chose to make these s-special homunculi from are w-well known to you, S-Scrivener Blooms: what you c-call 'corruption,' and I call the Clay of Prometheus.” Valthrudnir grinned darkly at them, the image stuttering for a moment. “Of course, m-mixing these materials to-together would still not create a-anything more than a golem of f-flesh, with the basic in-instincts of the creature it was m-modeled from. That is why I c-created Kvasir. The perfect homunculus, with the p-perfect blood. Blood... of in-inspiration.”
Scrivener's eyes widened as Luna snarled, leaning forwards and snapping: “Foolish monster! We destroyed the Hexad, and thou no longer-”
“Y-You destroyed the a-active homunculi, t-that is all.” Valthrudnir said dismissively, shaking his head with a cold smile. “The real Hexad... were d-dismissed from d-duty a long time ago. Now they s-serve me in a different c-capacity... as brain-dead bodies s-safely locked away in the d-depths of the Atrium, five corpses f-from which I can constantly harvest b-blood, spiritual e-energy, and the memories that remain in t-t-their hollow minds. I wonder sometimes if they can d-dream, or live these m-memories over and over again... but they can no l-longer see, touch, t-taste, feel, or e-experience. They are... an e-endless, bountiful harvest. And they s-should thank me. Once the homunculi are brought to s-sentience from their mindlessness by Kvasir's blood, it is as if they get to l-live again, is it not? And I don't even f-force them to experience their p-previous deaths!”
Then he paused as the two looked at him with horror, before smiling coldly, leaning forwards a bit and adding reflectively: “A-Although Wisdom... was r-r-real, even if powered and filled with the same corruption as her l-lessers. Her c-c-composition meant I could not r-replicate her as easily as these other p-puppets. Losing her means the Hexad w-will now only be five m-members... at least until I find a suitable r-replacement.”
Valthrudnir threw his head back and laughed, and Scrivener and Luna both snarled furiously at the illusion before both ponies leapt forwards, and the hologram of Valthrudnir leaned back in surprise as the two sailed down to the floor below, crashing into it as they ran towards the central, tornado-shaped structure. The image of Valthrudnir stared after them, then sparked out of existence as the green orb shot forwards to float beside the base of the conical tube, sparking before once more projecting the illusion of the Jötnar. “W-What are you doing?”
“Shutting you down.” Scrivener muttered, and he shivered before reaching a hoof up to touch the glass wall... and he gritted his teeth as he shook his head quickly, whispering: “I can feel it resonating with me for some reason... Luna, I... I think I just need to touch it-”
“D-Don't you dare! Fools, a-all you will succeed in doing is k-killing yourselves from the c-concentration of the corruption!” Valthrudnir snarled, and then he leaned back when Scrivener grinned at him through grit teeth.
“Funny. If that was true, I think you'd be way less worried.” Scrivener retorted, and the Valthrudnir illusion opened its mouth, but then sparked out of existence when Luna's spear swung suddenly, sharply out and scored a hit against the green glass orb hidden in the illusion, knocking it sailing backwards before it hit the ground and shattered loudly, sparing Scrivener the need to argue with the hologram.
Then Luna flicked her horn to the side, and her spear glowed before thrusting forwards, tearing through the foot-thick glass. A moment later, it yanked backwards, both ponies wincing... but instead of being followed by any pressurized spray, there was only a thin spurt of black ooze: the tornado of corruption inside the glass was moving with such speed and strength, was being guided with such force on its course, that the shield of glass around it was less necessary and more a precaution than anything else.
Luna grimaced... but Scrivener reached slowly up, touching the dark ooze, and he shivered at the feeling of warmth in it, and the feeling of energy that surged through him at just the contact. He felt his own corruption reacting, his own blood boiling, as whispers spilled through his mind... and he realized that was why the Clockwork Ponies had given him the visions. Why he had been able to see the memories of the homunculi... why they had rotted away instead of leaving corpses when they died. The corruption, exhaling into the air, was pulled into Scrivener's mind, mixed into him... perhaps... became part of him...
He shivered, and then he pulled his hoof back... and stared as the corruption tried to follow him, sloppy black strings stretching weakly for him. Scrivener breathed hard... and then he looked towards Luna as he stepped backwards, saying quietly: “Get behind me. And keep a barrier spell ready, just... just in case.”
Luna nodded slowly, not arguing as she strode to Scrivener's back, then reached up and touched him reassuringly... and he looked over his shoulder at her for a moment, hesitating, before he swallowed thickly and faced forwards, rearing back and raising both hooves upwards. He grit his teeth, felt his body flex, reached out with his mind as the black blood surged through his veins, sang to the corruption that was roaring through the core of Atrium...
He yanked backwards with his mind, with his instincts, bowing his head forwards as he pulled his hooves towards his chest and felt like he was hauling some immense, physical weight... and then he looked up in shock as the tornado twisted inside the glass cone, smashing like a living thing into the wall of the tube and sending a blast of black ooze squirting out as cracks spread from the thin hole. Then Scrivener's eyes widened as he realized the stream of ooze had become like a rope, clinging to him, connecting him to the tornado both physically and with a deeper, darker link...
He stared in horror, and to him, the roar of the corruption sounded almost like a living, terrible thing before Scrivener gritted his teeth and yelled back, swinging his hooves outwards, yanking on instinct and desperation... and there was a massive, terrible crack before the entire side of the enormous glass tornado-tube shattered, sending an immense tidal wave down as Scrivener staggered backwards, then dropped to all fours and winced away, forming a wall with his body in front of Luna.
The black wave smashed into him, made him wince... and then he stared up in shock as it ripped apart into three rivers that tore to either side past him, and twisted up through the air, leaving him and Luna standing in an impossible space where she was untouched by the concentrated black ooze. Even as it surged over him, Luna could only stare as not a drop reached her, and Scrivener gasped as he felt it burning against him, filling him with energy, with thoughts, with visions and knowledge, speaking to him, unlocking memories before he screamed as his eyes glowed with hellish sapphire
light. It streamed in through the frost-covered windows, as the unicorn lay back, looking exhausted but smiling weakly up at the doctor as he gently lifted her newborn baby.
Beside her was another unicorn: her husband, who was frowning moodily instead of looking happy about what had come to pass. Not that the doctor cared: instead, he calmly surveyed the foal in his limbs – gray, still smeared with a bit of blood, silent and shivering a little – and then he looked up and said calmly: “Congratulations, it's a colt. Give me just a minute to make sure he's okay, and then I'll bring him right back and we'll go over the paperwork.”
“Thank you.” the mare smiled weakly, looking up as she breathed quietly in and out, and the male only grunted and nodded, sitting back as he crossed his forelegs.
The doctor smiled, then placed the foal down in a padded incubator cradle before grasping the sides of this and pushing it easily out into the hall. He strode calmly past several nurses and other doctors, then glanced back and forth before pushing into a private room.
He carefully shut the door behind him before pushing the open-top incubator over to rest beside a second identical one... and then he flinched as a shape stepped forwards from the wall. It stood on its hind hooves and wore a thick, stained coat over its body, one sleeve hanging limp. Its features were bruised, and covered with both raw flesh and dripping mire as faded blue eyes surveyed the baby. After a few moments, it rasped quietly: “Is this the one?”
“Y-Yes. Yes, the only birth this week. Room 403, Tia Belle and Bramblethorn. Male, unicorn, good respiration and I'd estimate weighs in at a little over average, probably-” The doctor's words were cut off as the pony shape reached down and snapped the foal's neck in a single vicious movement.
The doctor's breath caught in his throat, slowly looking up and swallowing thickly as he whispered, rubbing slowly at his throat: “You d-didn't say...”
“It is all part of the process.” the Clockwork Pony replied with distaste, and then it grunted as something clanked loudly inside its chest, its legs whirring weakly when it stepped backwards and reached down to lean on the other incubator. “Get a needle.”
For a moment, the doctor trembled, looking up at the dying Clockwork Pony... and then Beauty leaned forwards and snarled, rasping: “I have nothing left to lose, do you understand me? I am dying, the world I come from was shut down long ago, and my master desires this one final experiment be carried out or... or...”
Beauty began to cough violently, leaning to the side, and the doctor stumbled backwards before he hurriedly turned towards a supply shelf, rushing over to it and digging out a needle. As Beauty slowly recovered, she straightened, breathing hard in and out before pointing with a trembling claw and whispering: “Fill it up from this... inject the blood into the infant's corpse...”
Slowly, the doctor looked into the second incubator, at the covered lump that he had brought in. Tucked under the blankets, it looked harmless, like a sleeping newborn with the rise and fall of the cloth... but when he reached forwards and slowly pulled the blankets back, he revealed an enormous, pulsating black heart.
For a moment, he hesitated... and then Beauty reached out, yanking the needle away and stabbing it fiercely down into the beating, black heart, and it gave an extra pulse of pain before Beauty leaned down and used her teeth to yank up the plunger, filling it with dark, liquid corruption. Then her eyes flicked to the dead newborn, and she leaned forwards, stabbing the needle down into the corpse's neck.
It spasmed when she depressed the plunger with her thumb, before the baby began to tremble violently and seize, eyes suddenly opening as life returned to the dead child and its broken neck visibly snapped back into place. The doctor started to lean forwards, but Beauty threw the now-empty needle aside and shoved him back, saying disgustedly: “The experiment will either succeed or fail. That's all there is to it. Let it happen.”
The doctor trembled, then nodded slowly as the newborn whimpered and gargled, shivering and shaking violently before its eyes slipped back closed... but it settled into unconsciousness, not death, and Beauty smiled after a moment, whispering: “Valthrudnir was right... the process... works b-better when...”
Beauty coughed hard, turning her head away and sending out a splatter of blood from her jaws before she reached up and slowly wiped at her mouth, the doctor trembling as he stared up at her. She ignored him, however, frowning slowly before she turned her eyes forwards, reaching down and probing carefully over the unicorn foal's forehead with a rusted claw before muttering: “He has no horn.”
“What?” the doctor leaned forwards in surprise, touching the newborn's forehead as well, before he flushed and looked slowly up, whispering: “I... I didn't know he was deformed, please...”
“No. If anything, this makes the experiment even more interesting...” Beauty whispered, shaking her head slowly before she reached down and touched the newborn's chest, feeling his heartbeat and closing her eyes: it was steady and strong, as if it had never died. “Yes. Valthrudnir will be pleased to... to h-hear...”
Then Beauty trembled, staggering backwards and grasping at her chest, cursing before she leaned forwards and coughed blood again. Her eyes widened as something inside her snapped loudly, and then she looked up with a snarl, beginning to rasp: “T-T-Tell the Blood Seer the cuckoo is in place! Tell him, Valthrudnir must... he...”
But then Beauty simply fell backwards, whimpering, bloody tears spilling from her eyes before she gargled and convulsed for a few moments, electricity sparking over her body as she began to rot quickly away into nothingness. The doctor shouted in horror at this, and a moment later, there was a hurried knock at the door, a voice calling: “Are you okay in there?”
“I... I'm fine, I'm sorry.” The doctor was still staring weakly, watching Beauty's remains bubbling away to nothing before another knock came at the door, and the doctor hurriedly reached down, covering the now-shriveled heart on the other incubator before he quickly pulled the other with the silent foal on it over to the door, opening it and looking out at a Pegasus nurse. “I... I need to schedule a plastic surgeon. This unicorn foal was born without a horn.”
“Oh no.” the Pegasus reached up, staring at him with shock, and then she nodded hurriedly before racing away down the hall.
With that, the doctor trembled and hurried back to the incubator cart, pushing it quickly to the door and out, closing the door of the room behind him and locking it with trembling hooves. Later, he would return, scrape up everything he could, toss it all into the incinerator downstairs... and then he would simply run.
For now, he returned the cart to the room with the news, and Bramblethorn looked up in horror as Tia Belle trembled and shook her head in disbelief. He began to talk about the plastic surgeon, but Bramblethorn snapped furiously that it would change nothing, and Tia Belle only continued to shake her head mutely.
When they calmed down, more than a day later, they named the newborn: Tia Belle chose Scrivener Blooms, because Bramblethorn would have nothing to do with the baby. And then she lay with him in her forelegs, looking down miserably at her child, staring at the spot on his forehead that would never grow a horn... unaware that in his veins, corruption rushed and pulsed, and was slowly but steadily absorbed into his mind and body and spirit. That her son had been infected with something deep and sinister and evil...
And Scrivener never would have known. The poisons, the corruption, would have stayed dormant in him forever, until the day he died. But his mind had met the Tyrant Wyrm's, and it had awakened the corruption already there when it had lashed out at him with all its power. It was how Scrivener had survived the vicious psychic attack: it was what had started Scrivener's dark evolution. It was what had let Valthrudnir slip traces of himself so easily into his mind, and it was why he had almost become a Tyrant Wyrm.
He was a cuckoo: a taxidermy imitation, made from the real thing. He had been part of Valthrudnir's plans to poison and destroy Equestria... and the only reason Valthrudnir hadn't known about him, hadn't used him, hadn't found and poisoned him further to turn him into whatever monstrosity he had been hoping to build was because the homunculus of Beauty had died then and there. The gears in Valthrudnir's machinery had stripped and failed to work together by sheer dumb luck... and everything made sense. Everything locked into place as Scrivener Blooms stood in his own memories, black tears rolling down his cheeks as he shook his head mutely and stared silently at the sight of Tia Belle, his mother, cradling him as a baby, as through the snow and frost and dusty glass poured the sun's gorgeous
radiance.
And then Scrivener threw his head back and howled his misery, his pain, his despair to the ceiling, and the mire surged violently upwards all around them as Luna staggered back in shock, watching as the black murk spilled backwards and solidified into brittle clay walls before Scrivener collapsed forwards, curled up, and began to cry quietly.
Luna leapt over him and hugged him tightly, covered him with her body as she felt his memories and frazzled emotions sparking into her mind, and she trembled hard as she clung to him, pulled him up against her body and whispered harshly: “Thou art still thou, Scrivener Blooms. This changes nothing... listen to me, I love thee, I still love thee, I shall always and forever love thee, no matter what...”
“I'm... I'm...” Scrivener laughed weakly, jaggedly, trembling as black tears poured down his cheeks and sobs ripped up from his chest between words. “I'm a Clockwork Pony... I'm the very thing we always fought a-against, Luna... I'm...”
“Thou art Scrivener Blooms, my soulmate, and I love thee!” Luna almost shouted, rolling him onto his back and gazing down into his eyes, trembling hard as she pinned him, and their eyes locked, emotions rollicking violently between them, sharing thoughts and memories and emotions back and forth, laughing together, fighting side-by-side, living for each other... dying for one another.
Countless images flashed through Scrivener's mind, of faces, places, friends, and everything they had seen and experienced... before his eyes closed, and his head fell back as he breathed hard, trembling weakly as Luna stayed over him, looking down at him and swallowing thickly. For a few moments, there was only silence, except for the sound of black sludge dripping down from the ceiling and the sparking of electricity across the cabling and tubes above... and then he shivered once before looking slowly up, meeting her eyes as he asked quietly: “Can we choose our own destiny? Can we defy... everything?”
“We can. Together.” Luna replied quietly, then she slowly stood back and stretched a hoof down to him, and Scrivener nodded slowly before he reached up and took it, letting her haul him up to stand as he breathed slowly through his mouth. He closed his eyes, then shook himself out before laughing faintly when Luna reached up and brushed away his black tears, murmuring quietly: “Enough crying and whimpering, poet. Thou can do that after we are done here... for now, we must make haste.”
“Yes. Yes, yes, you're right.” Scrivener shook his head out, then he flapped his wings once before grimacing and touching his chest, feeling a warmth pulse through him. He guessed it was from contact with the corruption... and then he frowned and glanced down before quietly sweeping up his glasses from the floor, studying them for a moment to make sure the lenses weren't cracked before he slipped them on and smiled a bit, and Luna back approvingly, nodding slowly once as she picked up and tucked away her spear.
She felt it too: the strength, the energy flowing through him and thus into her as well by virtue of their linked soul and spirit. Something that neither could complain about, despite its source... and then he shivered once before leaping to the air, and Luna followed after him as he let his instincts guide him, flying up through the shattered core and towards an enormous, open tunnel that was only thinly dripping with the mire now.
They flew steadily upwards, past stained walls and several enormous, shutter-sealed pipes until they came in sight of a vent at the top of the shaft, and Luna automatically took the lead before she flicked her horn out, sending a blue fireball rocketing upwards to smash into this and explode with more than enough force to knock the vent cover rocketing skywards in a hail of shrapnel. A moment later, the two ponies shot out out and into the crimson sky before letting themselves drop as they realized they were standing on the enormous cliff from which Atrium jutted, and that only fifty feet away were the massive pillars that powered the electrical field.
But now, they were were only steaming faintly, and the energy barrier was gone: whatever else, destroying the core had stopped Atrium's heart, had knocked out power to the shields... and hopefully stalled whatever other grisly operations the Clockwork King had here. And Scrivener and Luna traded a grim look before they both ran forwards over the smooth plateau, hurrying past one of the fang-shaped monoliths and running onwards until they both skidded to a halt at the edge of a deep, enormous pit.
It was miles wide and almost perfectly circular, and in the center of it was an immense, solid and spherical structure held in place by massive metal chains and several long support bars that stretched all the way out to the walls of the pit, with a single, gargantuan bridge leading from a tunnel in the cliff all the way to the round, ring-shaped base that cradled the bottom of the sphere. Enormous pipes and angular supports fed up into this ring from below, and Scrivener and Luna both gritted their teeth: this had to be Cortex. This had to be the Clockwork King's sanctuary... and no doubt, he and the Prophet were both waiting somewhere inside the massive steel globe.
Both Scrivener and Luna leapt down, wings spreading and flapping hard as they shot down through the air before they landed about halfway across the enormous bridge, both of the ponies running forwards... before Gymbr appeared in mid-gallop behind them in a spark of energy, Scrivener and Luna looking over their shoulders in surprise as the creature said softly: “Good. You know the truth. You know how the story begins... now, we shall help you bring this story to an end.”
The two nodded quickly, both looking ahead towards the enormous, black metal double doors leading into Cortex... and then they staggered as a terrible roar ripped through the air, and Gymbr looked sharply over its own shoulder, eyes cold as all three ponies skidded to a halt and spun around.
An enormous, golden-scaled claw seized the edge of the immense bridge, and then the Tyrant Wyrm they had forced past earlier snarled furiously as its head rose in the air, bringing the other claw up to seize higher up the wall of the pit as its rear legs scrabbled along the stone. Slowly, it hauled itself up onto the bridge that was barely wide enough to accommodate the goliath, and Gymbr shook its head in contempt before it began to calmly walk towards the hundred foot monstrosity, Luna and Scrivener both staring before the creature said quietly to them: “Keep going. Destroy the Prophet and the Clockwork King. We shall deal with this.”
The Tyrant Wyrm roared, its eyes glowing, the massive pistons on its back pumping as it began to crawl slowly forwards across the bridge, and Scrivener and Luna only stood, both wanting to question, to argue, to understand why this thing was willing to go so far for them before Gymbr smiled and rose its head, saying quietly: “Our answer is simple. Knowing we are past redemption is not an excuse for us to continue being evil. If anything, it is all the more reason to not pile on further sins... because continuing down the path of evil is no longer just foolishness and folly, it is weakness and a failing, as well. We have learned much from you and Antares... and we shall not disappoint our beloved Polaris. We do not expect anyone to forgive us, or to ever be redeemed... but we can aspire to do at least one right thing before we die.
“Now go!” Gymbr shouted over its shoulder, its mane and tail of black fire flaring violently before it turned forwards and launched itself into the air, and Scrivener and Luna both could only stare after the creature, thanking it silently before they both spun and ran for the entrance to the Clockwork King's lair.
The Tyrant Wyrm snarled at this, leaning forwards and roaring furiously, unleashing a blast of raw sound and toxic blue mist that spread rapidly up the bridge... before Gymbr dropped down in the path of the attack and flicked its horn to the side, a blast of raw force ripping through the air to interrupt the soundwave and blow apart the toxic smog. “We are your opponent, parasite... now let us prove that a pathetic monster is no match for the might of a god!”
Gymbr flapped its wings once, then shot forwards, and the Tyrant Wyrm snarled before the pistons on its back sparked violently, steam bursting up from them as it leaned forwards and roared, sending out a concentrated blast of electrified blue mist. Gymbr only swayed to the side, however, avoiding the blast with ease before it spun in and smashed viciously into the monster's forehead with its front hooves, striking just in front of its mighty crown of horns.
The Tyrant Wyrm roared, dropping its head forwards before trying to butt into Gymbr, and the creature flapped its wings hard, throwing itself backwards before its hooves clicked and snapped apart into claws. It dove back down to the creature, seizing one of the Tyrant Wyrm's horns, and then it twisted savagely and yanked upwards, and the monster snarled in fury as its horn snapped off, shaking its head wildly back and forth.
Gymbr threw the horn into the air, catching it with telekinesis and spinning it around before it flicked its own horn forwards, and the massive, broken chunk of Tyrant Wyrm crown was sent plunging down into the creature's own skull, knocking it staggering backwards and slumping slightly... but its eyes only glowed with fury, not pain, before it arched its back and roared, a blast of electricity and anti-magic ripping out of its body in a tremendous shockwave. Gymbr was knocked backwards with a cry of pain in mixed voices, static ripping across the creature's frame before it righted itself and glared, eyes blazing. “What insult!”
It shot forwards, smashing into the Tyrant Wyrm's features, knocking the beast's head back and forth as the alien winged unicorn's body crackled with electricity. The Tyrant Wyrm snarled, biting at its foe and vomiting out blasts of toxic blue mist as it howled loudly enough to vibrate the air around it, but Gymbr was unfettered, pressing its attacks savagely. But every wound it ripped healed in moments, black mire splattering out of the cuts before they closed and dark smears turned back into mottled gold scale.
The Tyrant Wyrm swung a claw up as Gymbr tore down across the creature's features, and the beast managed to snag the strange winged unicorn out of the air, slamming it down into the bridge hard enough to crack the thick, solid stone. Gymbr gritted its teeth, then vanished the moment the Tyrant Wyrm rose its claw, and it stomped only on solid rock before Gymbr reappeared on the monstrosity's back, reaching out to seize one of the pumping pistons, hissing in pain at the immense heat the metal was radiating and as electricity tore over its body.
The Wyrm howled however, arching its back and shaking itself wildly, but too late: a moment later, Gymbr yanked backwards, ripping the piston up out of place and tearing it free... along with several thick roots of flesh and cable, black mire bursting out of the gaping wound. The creature threw the piston away before it leapt backwards and shot into the air when the Tyrant Wyrm twisted around, hissing as pain turned to rage, clawing savagely after Gymbr as the winged unicorn shot upwards, then spun around high in the air, a grin spreading over the creature's features as it shouted: “Come creature! We demand you give us glory!”
With that, Gymbr dove suddenly downwards as the Tyrant Wyrm lunged upwards, smashing into the beast's breast and knocking the gigantic monster backwards into the bridge... which under all the weight and stress, finally shattered, massive chunks of stone and rock and steel hailing down into the pit. The Wyrm howled as it fell, clawing outwards, ripping through Gymbr's wing and flaying it... but as Gymbr fell after the Tyrant Wyrm, it streamlined its body, crashing into the beast's face, to rip, tear and gouge as it grinned, emerald eyes glowing as fiercely as the sapphire glare of the beast as the monsters ripped and clawed and slaughtered each other even as they fell together into oblivion.