//------------------------------// // Episode VIII: A Hollow Symphony // Story: The Rhythm Of The Dance // by BlackRoseRaven //------------------------------// Episode VIII: A Hollow Symphony ~BlackRoseRaven Shining Armor and Miss Take slowly limped out of the ruins of an old watchtower, a third form bundled and shivering on the stallion's back as the Crystal Heart gleamed on the Changeling's. They both halted, looking silently over their shoulders into the gaping, dark maw that led down into the honeycombed passages where they had lost... The stallion shook his head as he clenched his eyes shut, and then Miss Take said gently: “Come along, Shining. Look, the sky is darkening, and we have to get to help as soon as possible.” “I'll... I'll send up a flare, that way the Royal Guard will meet us halfway.” Shining murmured, and Miss Take smiled at him encouragingly before the stallion flicked his horn sharply, a bolt of magic shooting high into the air and then lazily turning over, floating and marking their position. It wouldn't take the Royal Guard long to home in on their position... but that was no reason to stop moving, either. He began forwards, and Miss Take followed him, both ponies looking uneasily back and forth at this eerie and desolate section of the Crystal Kingdom they had emerged into. The twilit air felt so cold against their skin, and it didn't help either of them feel like they were nearly safe yet... or like they hadn't failed almost every step of the way. Cadence was gone. She'd locked herself up with Sombra, and... Shining clenched his teeth. He wanted to say it wasn't fair, but who the hell was he to decide that? He was angry at her for what she'd done... he was ashamed of himself for not trying to stop her, and not giving her more to fight for. For being a failure as a husband and a partner and a friend. He lowered his head, but Miss Take only smiled at him quietly, the Changeling saying softly: “Now don't be like that, Shine. Cherish her gift, her blessing... even though it hurts. But she was brave, and she was strong, and... she did what she felt was right, Shining Armor. We couldn't have stopped her. Furthermore, we had no right to stop her from making her own decisions, even if... we don't agree with her. Even when it hurts.” Shining Armor only shook his head, then whispered: “How can you see this as anything but a colossal failure? I know you're not so callous that you're thankful she's gone, just so you and I...” “Don't go flinging stones just because you're hurt, Shining Armor.” Miss Take said softly but sternly, and Shining sighed a little but nodded a bit, dropping his head. Miss Take was always a lot faster to reprimand him when he started going down that stupid passive-aggressive road that Cadence had always hated too... He swore under his breath, but then Miss Take interrupted his thoughts, saying emphatically: “You can still believe in her, darling. I know what she did, it was for herself... but it was also for her father, and it was also for us. Is that not noble, something to appreciate and be thankful for, my dearest? Of course it is. And you know that. And you also know that she was and is strong, and brave, and determined. I believe, my sweet, that she will save her father. You should too.” Shining Armor looked silently over at the mare for a few moments, and then he bit his lip before nodding slowly and murmuring: “I... I do. Or at least, I hope she will...” “She will.” croaked the voice of the pony bundled up on his back, and Shining Armor looked over his shoulder with surprise as Miss Take smiled warmly. The bundle shifted... and then General Archon managed to push his badly-burned, blinded face free from beneath the cloth, breathing slowly before he whispered: “I can't see... but I can tell you're dragging your hooves, Captain Armor.” “Sir, not to be rude... but you should be dead. I've never seen a pony in as bad a condition as you are. So could you please... not insult me for once and just rest until we get to a medic?” Shining Armor asked awkwardly, and Archon grunted quietly, dropping his head and closing his eyes as the ivory unicorn sighed in relief. “It's good to see you, Amadeus. I knew you were alive.” Miss Take said softly, and then she hesitated before adding quietly: “If the pain is too intense, I would be glad to... help you sleep...” “No. There's... little pain. I think it's because I died.” Archon fell silent for a moment as Shining Armor frowned and Miss Take looked uneasily up at the unicorn, but the old stallion chuckled quietly before saying quietly: “I'll... debrief you both later. But off the record... I think... I remember my wife telling me I still... have a debt to repay before I can rest. And I promised my grandson I'd come home.” Miss Take smiled faintly, and Shining Armor gave a quiet laugh before he looked up, swallowing thickly as he tried to fight back the tears that suddenly pricked at his vision, whispering: “Goddammit. I should have made Cadence promise, too.” Archon only lowered his head, and Miss Take silently reached up to squeeze Shining's shoulder, half-resting against him as they walked onwards, the stallion leaving a trail of tears in his wake as wished that everything had been different... and yet all the same, thanked Cadence from the bottom of his heart for everything she had done, for all of them, and promised that he would never forget her. Cadence silently wandered the massive facility, countless feet beneath the Crystal Kingdom, sealed beneath earth and darkness. She had spent quite a long time blindly trying to find her way through the shadowy halls, until she had finally wandered her way into some kind of generator room and discovered that the ancient, moldering machines still worked. Once she had managed to turn the generators on with a few thrown switches and a lucky kick, the rest of the facility had started to wake up from its slumber and emerged into a rusted half-life. The lights were dim but lit her way well enough, and several mechanical doors had come unlocked, giving her more space to wander. So wander she did. That was about all she could do, really, and it seemed like there were quite a few floors to the facility to look through, and she had yet to come across anything dangerous, much less alive. Oh, sure, she had come across a few awful, mechanical pony-things, but they had been broken and long-dead... or as dead as machines could be, anyway. She paused on one of the lower levels, then glanced up at a bridge above she had just passed over a few minutes ago. Sombra was there, glaring down at her, leaning over the rails, but she only smiled at him faintly: and, after only a moment, Sombra vanished in a burst of darkness. He had attacked her twice, but she hadn't fought back. There was no point to it: he was her father, and he was... he was sick, and not in control of himself. Furthermore, he hadn't actually hurt her: startled her the first time, sure, but the second time she had just looked up at him even as he'd pinned her down, snarling, baring his teeth... but then vanished as quickly as he'd come. She knew her father was in there, somewhere. And she knew that she could save him, even if she wasn't entirely sure of how. The mare sighed softly as she strode silently through what was almost some kind of underground, steel plaza, looking back and forth at these stalls that could almost be shops... what purpose had this all served? There was much more to this place than just some lab, or storage warehouse... had this place meant to be some kind of underground city? Cadence paused, then approached one of the little, shop-like stalls built into the wall and slipped inside. The front area was empty, but when she slipped into the back, she found boxes upon boxes, most of them unopened but a few eviscerated, with their contents spilling out over the floor and along the rotted-out shelves they had fallen down. She saw nuts and bolts and other little pieces for assembling... things. She didn't really want to guess what: the thought that things like those metal ponies might need them brought ghoulish images to mind of metal ponies walking around this mall-like structure, picking up some oil here, some new screws there, then meticulously repairing themselves back at home or some other booth... Cadence shivered a little, then she turned around and muttered: “Brings a whole new meaning to what a spa day would mean, too...” She walked out of the shop, then frowned and glanced down the wide hall to see Sombra standing there. For a moment, they only looked at each other, and then Cadence bit her cheek before she called hesitantly: “Why don't you come and walk with me for a little while, Daddy? Or... or maybe I could follow you. You must know this place-” Sombra growled at her, then turned and leapt into the air, vanishing into a dark streak that took flight to the floor above. He dropped out of sight, and Cadence sighed quietly before smiling faintly at the ground, murmuring: “It's... it's okay. It really is okay. Because no matter what happens, I'm still going to be here. I'm not going to leave you. And I know... you're not going to leave me.” Cadence stopped, then she sighed and looked back and forth before turning around and muttering: “Although I'd really like something to eat. Or at least a drink of water... but I guess I might have to get used to not having a lot of either.” She stopped, then hesitated before looking up and asking after a moment: “Dad? If I left here and promised to come back... would you wait here for me, or would you go outside to look for me? It's just... I know that when I'm here, you'll be here. Every instinct tells me that... I don't want you... following me outside and hurting ponies because you think I'm trying to leave though. I won't. You're not alone anymore, Dad...” The only reply she heard came in the faint echo of her own voice, and she sighed softly before murmuring: “Well... either way, I still have a lot to explore first before I even think about trying to find... a way in and out. I... hey, maybe one day you and I...” Cadence stopped, biting her lip, before she gave a faint smile. No, it felt good to talk as she walked through this deserted place... she felt like her father was listening to her when she did. Even if maybe he didn't quite understand, he was still hearing, getting used to her voice again: it was something to help him know he wasn't alone. “Maybe one day, Daddy, you'll start feeling better... and then we can leave here, and... live somewhere nice and quiet, away from everyone.” Cadence tried to make her words as positive as possible, even if part of her was well aware it was unlikely that day would ever come. But she knew what she had gotten herself into and... she was willing to do whatever it took to be with her father. To give up what she'd had, just to have her father back, even like this... But it didn't stop her from dreaming, and hoping, as she continued in a murmur: “Yeah... we'll have a little farm, Daddy. In Equestria... I think you'll like Equestria. It'll probably take you a little while to get used to, because it's such a warm, happy place, and I know that you're... that can scare you a little. That you're not used to that anymore, but... I'll be there beside you and even you deserve a little happiness, you know. “No, you... you especially deserve a little happiness, Daddy... I wish you would remember that.” Cadence said softly, shaking her head briefly and smiling faintly as she strode out of the mall area, and into a long, concrete passage. She glanced back and forth, but there were no real distinct features to it: it was just a large tube, dimly lit by the hanging lights above. She paused, then looked over her shoulder, eyes drawing to the roof as she heard a clicking sound... and then she sighed a little, saying wryly: “Daddy... I can still see you up there. Don't be silly.” Sombra only glowered at her from where he was curled on the roof, looking at her moodily from the shadows above one of the hanging lamps. She looked up at him for a moment, then invited softly: “Come on, come down from there. I know it's hard for you to believe but... I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to leave you.” Sombra only continued to look at her, cat-like as he lay against the roof, the darkness swirling around him and his ragged red cape floating eerily around his body in plain defiance of gravity. After a moment, Cadence smiled faintly, then she shook her head and murmured: “You really are being a big baby right now. But okay, Daddy. I'll... just remember that you can come down any time you want.” Cadence turned, walking onwards down the tunnel, trying to focus on what was ahead as she reminded herself not to rush her father, to give him time, a chance to adjust. But as she stepped out of the other side of the tunnel, she couldn't help but shiver a bit as she stared back and forth and realized... there really was a lot to adjust to. She was in some kind of massive stone cavern, huge supports towering along the length of this carved corridor she was in. They both braced the ceiling countless feet above as well as acted as supports for the system of pipes and wires that crossed the underground hall in all directions. But most of this network seemed to feed into the opposite end of the corridor, where what looked almost like a small, purposefully-detached fortress loomed. It was all strangely unsettling. The winged unicorn looked uneasily back and forth before she shook her head quickly, then began to step into the corridor... before wincing when Sombra suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and yanked her backwards. He growled at her, pinning her against the wall, but the look in his eyes was almost one of worry as he gestured sharply at the fortress and rasped a single word: “No.” Cadence's eyes widened, opening her mouth... but then Sombra all-but-vanished. Yet all the same, he had tried to communicate with her... maybe even tried to warn her about something. And the mare bit her lip before she looked in the direction of the small fortress, wondering uneasily why Sombra would want her to avoid it, and feeling strangely certain that whatever was there... it was important for her to find. But that would mean going against her father's warning... and more than that, she was well-aware it was an incredibly stupid idea. Considering that Sombra was nearly indestructible and unkillable, something that might worry him, hidden away in a place that had been put together by some kind of world-destroying giant... she should probably do her best to give it a wide berth. And yet... what if it wasn't something bad? What if Sombra was afraid because there was something there that threatened the darkness, or brought back memories? He seemed to fear being reminded of his past, after all... maybe he was even afraid of being healed. There was no real reason to assume that it had to be something terrible... Well, okay, maybe that was a little bit naïve. There were plenty of reasons to assume it was something horrible. But still... she could at least take a look, right? What would be the harm in that? Cadence started down the corridor of stone, then stopped and frowned over her shoulder when she heard a growl. She saw a flash of movement, and the mare sighed quietly before looking back and forth uneasily... but with the niches in the rocky wall, the pillars and the network of pipes above, there were too many places for Sombra to hide for her to lock on to his position. All the same, she drew her eyes slowly along the darkest corners before she sighed softly and said quietly: “Sombra... Daddy... why don't you come down here and tell me what's bothering you? I want to help you and... well... if there's something there that scares you, let's face it together, okay?” A growl from the darkness, a shift above, and Cadence's eyes flicked up, just catching a glimpse of Sombra as he flitted over the pipes to a new hiding place. But he was fast, and she lost track of him again... until his voice whispered from a nearby clump of shadows: “No. No.” Cadence bit her lip, looking at the wall where her father was half-hidden in a furrow, before she turned her eyes towards the fortress in the distance, shifting on her hooves, thinking silently... and then she finally sighed softly. Maybe she was rushing a little, trying to speed up her father's recovery, but... that was only going to make things worse, wasn't it? She looked at him quietly as he rumbled in the shadows: she thought she was starting to see a little past that animal darkness, read his emotions a bit. Because there was so much more than a Brokenhearted or some wraith made of shadow and evil there: her father was in there, somewhere, and Sombra himself could think, and feel, and maybe even dream... The winged unicorn studied him quietly for the longest time in silence, and then she finally cleared her throat as he only stared back at her from where he was buried beneath the shadows, the mare saying softly: “Okay. Let's... let's talk about it later, okay? Besides, there's lots to explore down here. I should look at everything else I can first before I go wandering into danger.” Cadence smiled briefly, and Sombra only continued to look at her silently before the winged unicorn turned and walked back down the tunnel. She returned to the mall area, and felt Sombra's presence fade... but she knew he would be back. And in all likelihood, he was still keeping an eye on her, making sure she didn't go back towards that strange fortress or anywhere else he didn't want her to see, for whatever strange reasons he had. Exploring the rest of this massive underground facility would probably take a day, maybe even two, to really give her a grasp of where all the rooms were and what everything contained. Even just walking around, poking her head in where something caught her eye, she found immense warehouses, and ancient, strange machinery, and in one room what looked like some kind of old aqueduct sticking out of the wall over a deep cement pit. Cadence studied this curiously, then flapped her wings and propelled herself up to the mouth of it, landing and looking thoughtfully back and forth before she murmured: “It feels cold.” Cadence strode forwards... and then she heard a rushing sound a moment before Sombra seized her by the shoulders and flung her backwards. She barely caught herself with a flap of her wings, cursing and hovering above the pit before black gemstone tore up through the walls and floor of the tunnel, tearing the brittle stone apart and causing the lip of the passage to collapse. It likely destroyed most of the aqueduct as well, and Cadence grimaced a bit before Sombra shoved his way literally through the black gemstone, passing out of it like it was nothing but smoke as he snarled: “No escape!” “I'm not trying to escape!” Cadence said almost pleadingly, gesturing up at him before she added in a sharper voice as she settled to the cement floor on the other side of the pit: “Tell me! Talk to me! I'm not going to leave you, I just...” Cadence slumped, even as Sombra continued to snarl threateningly at her, and then she closed her eyes before murmuring: “Come on, Daddy... you... you can communicate. I know you must still be in there, somewhere... I know you're not entirely gone. At least, not yet...” The winged unicorn looked up, licking her lips slowly before she sighed softly as Sombra only growled at her again. But he was... settling, at least, as she murmured quietly: “No escape. I don't want to escape. I'm here, with you... do you understand? I'm not going to run away... I'm going to stay. Stay...” Cadence pointed at herself, then silently gestured to Sombra. “With you.” Sombra rumbled, but it was a less aggressive noise, his eyes losing some of their maleficence as he shifted on his hooves... then bared his teeth suddenly before vanishing back into the dark gemstone. Cadence did her best to remind herself that it was going to be slow and difficult, that really, the fact that Sombra was putting up with her presence at all was a good sign... but still, it hurt, and it made her... sad. Nothing else could really describe how she felt, apart from that one little word: sad. Her eyes lowered as she pawed at the floor with one hoof for a moment, and then she shook her head quickly before muttering: “Dammit, Daddy. I wish you would talk to me...” She looked up again at the sealed mouth of the tunnel that presumably led outside, and then she shook her head quickly before turning away, heading back through this strange facility. But on the way out, something caught her eye, and Cadence curiously made her way over to an enormous, surprisingly-whole metal tank that seemed to be steaming faintly. Except it wasn't steam coming off it: it was very cold, she found, and the mist flowing off it was icy. It was hooked up to some kind of barrel-like contraption with a tube sticking out of it, and Cadence curiously twisted the handle on this: nothing happened, but that didn't deter her. She instead poked her way around the keg-like machine until she found another set of switches at the side of it, playing with these until the ancient machinery finally rumbled to life. She thought it was strange: while a lot of the stuff she'd come across in this facility was garbage, some of this machinery had been fortified with magic and was made of different materials, seemingly designed to last forever. The mare curiously inspected the key, wondering what precisely it did before she walked back around to the front of it to twist that handle again... and then smile warmly as a bit of clear water splattered out of the tube. The mare stuck her hoof in the flow before letting go of the handle to cut it off: she splashed it curiously into her mouth, then smiled again at the taste: clean and pure and cold. Now she just needed a container or two... Cadence thought to herself, then turned around suddenly and retraced her steps back to the mall area. It took her all of twenty minutes to dig up a few large bottles and a weird little thing to carry them in: some kind of metal bin that hung off her side like a satchel, with flakes of what looked like ore still in the bottom of it. She wondered if there was a mine down here somewhere: maybe these tunnels had even originally been mining shafts, repurposed and expanded into this little underground city. She didn't remember a lot of the details, how her father and Valthrudnir had constructed this place... The mare shook her head as she headed back towards the facility with the water machine. She didn't want to think about it much, either: the idea that her father had been nothing but a pawn and a toy in some scheme of some world-destroying giant... She shivered a bit, then looked down and frowned as her mind insisted on trying to hash things out all the same. She had said herself that all the Jötnar were supposed to be dead... so what about Valthrudnir? And why had he played such a sick game with them? That part, at least, Cadence could make a few guesses at. Even from the little she'd seen of him in her own memories, Valthrudnir held himself as arrogant and superior, like they were nothing but playthings that existed for the sole purpose of his amusement. So he had amused himself, and by making his little deals and playing his little mind games, he had gotten her father to build this massive facility for him, that might still house some of his secrets... She also felt strangely sure that Valthrudnir had been destroyed. It was only a hunch, but she figured that his arrogance had likely led him to playing a game with the wrong people: just like she instinctively knew what he had been, she instinctively knew there were others out there who could kill him. People he'd probably make the mistake of taunting and mocking and lording over instead of just destroying out of hand... Or at least, she hoped his hubris had gotten to him. She wasn't sure that she was strong enough herself to fight something like that... even if that old, strange part of her said that it would fight all the same. It would do everything in its power to punish and kill him all the same, for the evils he had done, for his involvement in... Cadence shivered a bit, and then she closed her eyes and stumbled to a stop as she felt a pulse of pain in her head. She was getting tired, thinking too much, and every time these old memories came up, they hurt her. They made her want to run away and bury her head in the sand... She shook herself out briefly, then breathed slowly as she lowered her head, telling herself that she'd find a place to settle down after she picked up the water.. She focused on just making herself move forwards for now, on putting one hoof in front of the other as she made her way back to where the water machine sat in the odd duct-room. She filled up the water bottles, then drank a little bit from the tap and let some of the liquid splash out over her face. It almost immediately helped her feel better, and the mare sighed softly as she drew her head back and shook herself briskly out, giving a wan smile as she scrubbed absently at her features with one hoof. The mare sat back for a moment, just giving herself the space to breathe, lowering her head as memories tingled strangely through her mind. Her memories were demanding attention, and Cadence shifted uncomfortably before she sighed a little and lowered her head, rubbing slowly at her face as she murmured: “I'm scared. But I know that I can't just keep running away, can I?” Cadence shook her head briefly, then she shook her head slowly before looking around the room. Here wasn't really the best place to confront her memories, anyway. She might as well try and make herself comfortable before she went on some weird mystic journey into her own memories, or whatever the hell she was going to do. After a few more moments, she managed to pick herself up and get herself moving. She checked the machine over to make sure it wasn't leaking water or anything, then tossed the bottles in the carrier and made her way towards the nearest exit. She decided to explore a little further rather than head back to the mall: with everything else she was finding, she was sure there must be some kind of bunkhouse nearby. As she walked, she let her eyes wander... and frowned uneasily as she saw a few ghosts lingering along the hall she'd chosen to go down. They seemed to be clustered near certain sections of red piping, and Cadence made a note to track down where those pipes went when she was feeling a little more... intact. That nasty part of her didn't really care, but that nicer part of her felt like if there was something she could do to help these spirits, she should. And she was starting to get the feeling that these husks of ghosts were attracted to either very good or very bad things. Cadence turned her eyes back ahead: letting her instincts and curiosity guide her through the halls and rooms until she finally came upon the strangest thing she had ever seen. It was like a little row of tiny homes lining one wall, each with a simple door and tiny window looking in on some kind of sitting room. The mare let herself into the first apartment, curiously striding through to the back of the room and opening the sole door there to let herself into... a kitchen of sorts, although it was unfurnished and the cupboards hung in bare disarray. It was small, but there was enough room that one, maybe even two ponies could move around it comfortably enough... She smiled faintly, thinking of Shining Armor for a moment before heading to the back of the room, where there was another door: one that led into a small bedroom, she found. It wasn't much more than a moldy bed and a ragged pile of blankets, but the pillow looked like it might be okay... and from what she'd seen, there weren't a whole lot of vermin or pests down here. The mare poked her way through the blankets, grabbing the most-serviceable looking ones and the pillow before she turned and made her way back out of the little... house, really. It felt more private, more quiet than an apartment, and she liked that a whole lot. She wondered silently if these had ever really been meant to be used... or if her father had designed this section of the facility, and Valthrudnir had allowed it to be built only because it probably amused him to let her father think that he'd had any real say in his plans whatsoever... Cadence grimaced and shook these thoughts away, hating how fast they kept rising up to ruin any moment of happiness she might be having. She sighed quietly, rubbing at her face slowly before murmuring: “Just... come on, Cadence. Hold on a little bit longer, then you can have your nice little cry or... whatever it's going to take to get you back on your hooves.” She nodded to herself firmly, then did her best to follow her own advice as she searched the remainder of the little homes. She liberated blankets and pillows from most of them, then shook these all briskly out before using a few simple cleansing spells to get as much dust off them as possible... although this made her blankets smell a little less like clean laundry and a little more like she'd gone and burned them. Cadence made herself a little nest in the last apartment, preferring to set up on the floor of the front room rather than risk jumping into one of the beds and probably just breaking it. Besides, the blankets were thick enough she was able to lay one down under her and feel comfortable on it: she'd definitely slept in worse places. And with her metal bin and the bottles in front of the door, and one of the uglier blankets pinned up over the window, she felt strangely... safe. Her eyes slipped closed... and almost immediately, she felt herself falling into darkness and memory, the world in her mind leaping eagerly up to catch her and pull her down. Part of her was afraid of how easy it was to lose herself in this strange world of mind and memory; the rest of her was afraid of what was waiting for her here, in a place that was supposed to be her and yet... wasn't. She fell through the past, going beyond the life she remembered living with her father, and found herself in a place of both great light... and great darkness. She saw golden halls and golden armor, heard songs of battle and joy, felt the warmth of the fires and the cold air... no, it wasn't just the air that was cold... Cadence's eyes opened, and she looked uneasily back and forth. She was in a place made of ice and shadow, a stone ceiling high above in place of a sky, and a gaping black pit in front of her. Around this pit were metal totems shaped like terrifying monsters, chains and torture instruments hanging from these, and Cadence shivered a little as she walked forwards and uneasily looked along these ominous, ice-speckled statues. She stopped at the edge of the pit and looked down into it, gazing uneasily into the black water... before her eyes flicked up in surprise as a voice said softly: “Take the raw materials from Helheim. Form the flesh from the world of punishment and torment.” The black water rippled, and then Cadence gasped and staggered backwards as ice, and metal, and the flesh of the dead spilled down from the sky, splashing soundlessly into the pool. She looked sharply to the side, trembling violently as she stared at the hawk-masked thing that was standing calmly to her left, black robes flowing around it like smoke, its metal talons tented calmly in front of it. “Fill it with the blood of Asgard. Give it a spirit that will never crumble, that will never bow, that will never break. Make it loyal and proud.” said a second voice, and Cadence trembled as she looked to the right at a second, almost identical figure... but its mask was different, more bear than bird, and yet with the same skeletal design... “Teach it honor, and cruelty. Make one side augment the other: may it be as cruel and ruthless as it is honorable and loyal. May it destroy what it hates as mercilessly as it protects what it adores.” said a third voice, and Cadence looked straight ahead to see  a third figure in a wolfish mask, the mare trembling violently at the sight of these three things that radiated death, and control, and judgment. “And darlings, oh, my darlings... do try and make her pretty! So pretty, she'll sweep the men of Midgard off their feet with her looks alone! Gorgeous like the... swan, oh yes, a swan, perfect! All we have to do is add a few feathers, we'll make her perfect for the Alföður's designs!” This voice was completely different from the three terrible beings in front of her: it was female and giggly and full of life and energy and secret intentions. Cadence shivered violently before she tried to look over her shoulder, but that voice filled her with a terror she couldn't describe, that was part fealty, part awe, part raw hatred... And, just as she began to steel herself to look over her shoulder, there was another great splash from the pool before the mare looked quickly forwards, then trembled violently as she stared into the black water, shaking her head weakly as a shape slowly began to rise from it... It was wearing a mask, shaped like a bird's skull: it was dressed in a white cloak and dress, made of silk white as snow, gilded with gorgeous white feathers. And Cadence staggered backwards, her whimpers catching in her throat as she stared at this terrible and soulless thing, this cold and heartless doll, this homunculus; the Swan Maiden. Cadence staggered backwards... and cold hands caught her, icy fingers squeezing into her shoulders, but Cadence didn't dare look around, trembling violently and staring with terror at the emotionless golem across from her as that sly female voice whispered into her ear: “My darling, my darling... my dangerous little dear. You are Promethean, the bitter leaves before we learned how to make them into tea. The roots before we figured out how to turn them to medicine... or poison, I suppose, that works too... for someone like you.” The mare whimpered, shaking her head weakly, swallowing thickly before she tried to clench her eyes shut and jerk free from the cold hands and the colder memories... but the image of the Swan Maiden was burned into her mind, and those icy fingers felt as real to her as everything else she had experienced. Telling herself it wasn't real was just making the panic and the pain worse, because even if this was all in her mind... it made it no less as real as the floor she knew was under her body, or the great and empty facility she was trapped in, or her father, lost in the darkness... “No, no. Before the Valkyries, there were many prototypes... warrior maidens, guardians, monsters of all kinds of different designs... it took the All Daddy quite a while to figure out how to make all these different things he wanted to mesh together into one special cookie.” continued the frosty being gripping into her shoulders, her voice almost tender. “Some of these, oh darling, were ancient: before I was exiled from Asgard, as a matter of fact, and let me tell you, cupcake, that was a long time ago! Longer than you can count... longer than I can count, and I'm real smart! Real smart! “Some of these designs were lemons, wouldn't work, nope not-at-all; others were powerful and dangerous... but hideous. And I don't just mean outside: some were pretty gross inside, too.” the female voice continued informatively, and Cadence trembled at how... entertained it sounded. “Some were able to learn, others were just dumb brutes, and All Daddy threw most of them away... except the ones that turned out not quite right, but oh, were still so very useful...” The voice giggled, and those frosty claws massaged along her shoulders before Cadence slowly opened her eyes, staring weakly at the Swan Maiden before she whispered: “I'm just... I'm nothing but some kind of puppet... a... a failed experiment, a monster...” “Oh, darling...” purred the female voice, and Cadence trembled before whispering: “Some of my best friends are monsters... and look at you, Danzsöngr! Oh, aren't you just the sweetest of cupcakes these days? You got wrapped up in a package of flesh and blood when you fell, and you crashed down into the embrace of that stallion you came to call 'Daddy,' and now... look at you, sweetie! Taught to feel, taught to love, taught to be gentle and kind and good... even if it seems that just like a cat, when you lose one of nine lives, another layer of the new gets skinned away, like you're slowly but surely returning to what you once were...” Cadence whimpered and tried to shake herself free from that icy grip before she looked up in horror as the Swan Maiden seemed to lean towards her, staring at her with emotionless, cold eyes that glowed like spotlights through her mask, and the winged unicorn staggered backwards in terror before whirling around... and finding nothing at all behind her. Literally nothing: there was only darkness all around her, even as a cold claw seemed to draw teasingly down her side as that female voice sang almost lovingly: “Remember who you are... remember where you came from... and never forget the times we spent, together...” “Get out of my head!” Cadence shouted, grabbing at her face and trembling violently. She shivered, clenching her eyes shut, desperately trying to wake up, to wake up, to wake up... Something grasped her. Something warm, hooves that she recognized the touch of, and the mare's eyes snapped open before she looked up to see Sombra standing over her, looking down at her silently. She gazed back up at him, then trembled faintly before throwing herself forwards and hugging him tightly around the neck. Her father stiffened... then suddenly yanked away, and Cadence flopped stupidly forwards to the ground before there was a rush of shadow as Sombra hurriedly fled, tearing down the curtain as he leapt out of the room. Cadence shivered on the floor for a moment, gritting her teeth... before she frowned suddenly, looking back and forth as surprise outweighed her heartache. She was awake. It wasn't a dream, and her father had actually been here in this room. He'd actually made contact with her... and the mare looked down silently for a moment before she gave a faint smile, reaching up and brushing her mane carefully back. That meant her father really must be inside that shell... he really was responding to her, or at least trying to. Cadence sat up, then rested back in the mound of blankets and pillows she had made, breathing slowly before she shook herself out quickly. She honestly wasn't sure what to make of... anything, really. But now that she was waking up, shaking off what she was trying her hardest to think of only as 'bad dreams,' and there was the thought that her father had been here, watching over her, trying to soothe her when she was suffering... Something inside her asked almost coldly how she could be so sure that Sombra hadn't just been feeding off her pain... but Cadence remembered that warmth. More than that, there was the love of her father: her father, who had found a filly that had fallen from the sky and taught her love, and how to be good, and nurtured her into who she was today. No matter what she was... even if she had once been Danzsöngr, a Swan Maiden, before whatever had happened, had happened, and she'd been flung out of Valhalla and fallen to Midgard... she was also Cadence. She couldn't escape her past, perhaps, but that didn't change who she was in the present... and she was pretty damn sure she had emotions, thoughts, dreams, desires of her own. Whatever she'd once been, now she was... she was more. Cadence shifted a little, then nodded once to herself. Still, it took a few minutes for her to pick herself up and get herself going. She checked her armor, and smiled briefly as she drew one of her throwing knives out of her belt: great against most opponents, but... the Brokenhearted, Sombra, Pain... she wished a little she'd learned to specialize in something else. But then again, she'd made it through all the same, right? She'd never have to worry about fighting Sombra again, and Pain was gone, purged by fire. And as far as she knew, there were no other Brokenhearted that had been infected by the dark energies that Sombra radiated: she was sure there were still ponies out there with broken hearts, but nothing like Sinister or Dexter or Pain. Cadence sat back against the wall, looking down at her own hoof. She knew that Sombra spread his poison without meaning to. She knew that his presence itself was toxic, maligning whatever he spent too much time around. She knew that his dark magic and the negative energy he emitted affected unicorns the deepest... so did all that mean that one day, she would become like him? Or was the fact that she seemed to have gotten used to the poisonous atmosphere of this place actually a good thing? Cadence didn't know, either way. She shifted a little, then only smiled faintly before closing her eyes and bowing her head, murmuring: “You know what? Either way, it doesn't matter. Either way... I'm with my Father, and that's all that I care about. I'm here with you, Daddy. I won't abandon you, no matter what happens. And how can my heart break if I'm happy?” She looked up, then nodded once before finally picking herself up off the floor, deciding it was time to stop moping and continue exploring. She knew there was still plenty of the facility left to explore, after all... and she figured that Sombra must have a little nook of his own somewhere, too. Ten minutes later, Cadence was wandering through a section of the facility she hadn't been in yet, marveling over how... whole this part of the building looked. Pipes were still gleaming, the lights were bright, there was a lingering sensation of warmth... and the only thing that made her shiver was the fact there were quite a few phantasms silently standing around here and there, many of these spiritual husks frozen in strange and almost distorted poses. Cadence wished silently she could do something for them... or at least, that she could close her eyes to them. Maybe that was a little cruel to think, but there was nothing she could really do for most of them anyway: some of these spirits were nothing but... residual energy, memories that had been scarred into the very reality of this place, their souls long since moved on and leaving only these flickering shapes behind. She did her best not to walk through too many of the phantasms on her way through the hall, trying to focus mostly on that warmth herself: with a bit of effort, though, she was able to put the husks out of mind, treating them more like they were part of the scenery than the eerie shreds of spirits. Instead, she put her focus on checking out the rooms breaching off from this hall, and she was pleasantly surprised by a few of the things she found. She found special designing equipment in one room, and another was filled with textbooks on magic. Another looked like a personal office, although she was disappointed to find that most of the old parchments in here had either turned to dust or disintegrated at her touch. She found enough to know that this room hadn't belonged to her father, though, which admittedly made her lose some of the interest in it... although it left her wondering who else had been involved in this project. She wished back then she'd paid more attention to it... but she'd always avoided the facility, too afraid of running into Valthrudnir or Thesis. But as she continued through these rooms, she found one that was dominated by a strange, circular machine. It had little metal arms sticking out of it, meant to hold something in place, and there were various scrapers and special tools scattered over the floor, spilled from the guts of a large, overturned shelf on wheels. And there was a large rolling table on one side of the room, with raw crystal and half-formed gemstones covering it, and what looked like some kind of heart-shaped mold... Cadence realized that this was where her father had shaped the Crystal Heart, and she turned with amazement back towards the strange machine in the center of the room. She stroked silently along the device, studying it intently before she asked softly: “Is that why this all feels so good? You worked so hard to turn Valthrudnir's machines against him...” It made her admire her father all the further before she strode quietly around the machine, heading to the metal table and silently tracing over several of the imperfect crystals. Some were rough, others were smooth but broken, a few were nothing but raw materials that had been smashed or clearly used for practice. She wondered how long it must have taken for him to master this, all in secret, all while fighting the darkness slowly taking him over... Cadence turned around, and she was unsurprised to see Sombra was standing in the doorway, looking at her. She gazed back at him, and then she bit her lip for a moment before giving a brief smile and stepping slowly forwards. Sombra tensed, his eyes narrowing, but he allowed her to get a little closer: when she closed the distance to just a few feet, however, he dropped his head with a growl, body flexing. Immediately, Cadence stopped and sat back, smiling at him comfortingly: she knew he wasn't going to attack her, but she didn't want to drive him off, either. She just sat, and Sombra slowly relaxed even as he slid back an inch, scowling a little and returning his cat-like glare to her. She looked calmly back at him, and there was silence for the longest time before the mare finally cleared her throat, then asked quietly: “So how much... do you remember, Daddy? I... I think I'm starting to remember everything. Even all the little details...” Cadence glanced down, then she shook her head and closed her eyes, murmuring: “You really did save me... you know that, right? I came here a disoriented little filly and you picked me up and you taught me right from wrong, good from evil... you taught me love, and loyalty, and honor and compassion. No, even more than that, you taught me virtue.” She stopped, then looked down and laughed a little before her eyes flicked back up towards him, studying the stallion as he only continued to look at her, unmoving, silent. “I was just a young mare when all this happened, but... I can't help but feel all of it is my fault. I think Valthrudnir... came looking for me. I think he had some idea what I was... but he walked right past me, because he started playing that sick game with you and our kingdom and... he never expected a monster like me to have turned into who I am now.” “Monster...” Sombra echoed, and Cadence looked at him silently before the dark stallion furrowed his brow, then bared his teeth at her. “No.” But Cadence only gave a faint smile, lowering her head and reaching up to quietly touch her own breast. “Yes. I am, more than you are. Daddy, you're... you're sick. It's not your fault, everything you've done; you tried so hard to save everyone, in spite of... in spite of who they were, and what had happened to you.” “Me?” Cadence laughed faintly, whispering: “What those barbarians did to our people... how they... abused you in the past, how you died fighting to save them, and how now, their descendants call you a monster and a tyrant and...” She stopped, shaking her head slowly before murmuring: “You taught me to be good, and to be strong, and to fight to protect these ponies even if I couldn't... swallow my bitterness. You taught me never to kill unless necessary... and yet I have killed. I've killed dozens on my way to find you, even knowing they were being used by the Phoenix Guild and others. I made Sinister and Dexter suffer, and I... I enjoyed it. I... I'm not a good pony, Daddy. I'm sorry.” Sombra shifted back and forth... and then he suddenly turned and vanished through the door, and Cadence sighed softly before she murmured: “And somehow... I still feel better. I still feel like you listened, like you heard me, and... like one day, you'll just sweep in and make everything better when I least expect it.” Cadence glanced over her shoulder at the shaping machine one last time, and then she strode back out into the hall and pressed onwards. She just let herself wander, eyes roving back and forth silently as she slowly made her way through the facility, leaving the warm halls behind and entering some kind of massive storage warehouse... There were boxes upon boxes, many of them wrapped in plastic: Cadence stopped by one of these to curiously rip the thin material off, then poke along the cargo crate until she found two half-hidden handles on either side that she simply had to pull until there was a gasp of air and a clank. The top of the cargo box popped up, Cadence wincing away before she hesitantly yanked it the rest of the way open on the hidden hinge, then looked down with surprise at the countless unmarked cans inside. Cadence picked one up and stepped away, letting the lid slam back down. She flicked one of her knives out of her belt with telekinesis, then stabbed firmly into the top of it... and was rewarded with a gush of soupy liquid. She grimaced, then licked some of this stuff off her knife before looking moodily at the can. Beans, it tasted like. Not her favorite but... well... the pang of hunger she felt told her that it would do. Not that she really needed to eat or anything, but right now a bit of food would help her feel better. She'd always been an emotional eater... Shine had always hated that... She smiled faintly, wondering how he and Miss Take were doing. She had no idea how long it had been since they'd parted ways, though... this place seemed... timeless. The lights were always the same, there was no sound, no weather, no nothing but the endless stretches of concrete and metal, and occasionally her father... Cadence pried the top off the can with her throwing knife, then wiped it clean before tossing it back in her belt, drinking the cold, soggy beans from the can like soup. She grimaced a little at the sliminess and the taste, but... it was better than nothing. That was what she kept telling herself: that it was better than nothing, and she should be thankful for that. She ate most of the beans, then looked awkwardly at the can before shrugging a little and turning her eyes towards a moldy-looking metal box sitting nearby. It didn't seem to have anything useful in it, so she tossed the empty can inside, awkwardly looking back and forth and calling lamely: “I uh... it would help if you could tell me where everything is, Daddy! Then again, I guess... you probably don't care that much about litter down here...” Cadence shifted awkwardly... then sighed before looking moodily over the other cargo crates. She thought about trying to pry more of them open, maybe find something better to eat, but the beans had... well, made her not hungry, that was probably the best way to put it. Instead, she headed onwards, wandering into the halls again: she walked them for a few hours before finally succeeding in making a full circle of the facility, arriving back at the sealed entrance doors. The mare looked at these for the longest time, then smiled faintly as she looked to the side and said softly: “You didn't manage to sneak up on me this time.” Sombra looked at her quietly from where he was standing across the room, the dark stallion regarding her silently. He shifted back and forth, then suddenly narrowed his eyes at her before saying quietly: “Go.” Cadence frowned at him, and Sombra bared his fangs at her, then he stepped forwards, shouting furiously: “Go! Go! Go!” He stomped towards her, snarling furiously, and Cadence staggered backwards, shaking her head and trying to shout over his ranting, his chanting: “No, stop, I'm not going to go, I'm not going to leave you here-” Sombra grabbed her by the shoulders, then half-turned and flung her viciously into the doors, Cadence gasping in pain before Sombra pointed at her and shouted, in a voice that was raw with not just rage, but despair and pain and even fear: “Go!” And then, without another word, he turned into a streak of black smoke that shot backwards, and Cadence mouthed wordlessly at him before she trembled for a moment, then gritted her teeth and charged after him, yelling almost desperately: “I'm not leaving you, Daddy! I won't leave, and I won't abandon you! Come back!” She chased him through the facility, every now and then catching a glimpse of him ahead as he looked back at her with something like terror and pain in his glowing eyes. And as she started to close in on him down one long, sloping corridor, he suddenly spun around and roared, his horn glowing blackly before massive spikes of black crystal tore up through the floor and walls, barring her way. Cadence didn't stop, didn't slow: instead, she picked up speed before gritting her teeth and leaping upwards, flapping her wings sharply as her whole body glowed white, wings spreading wide before she smashed straight through the black stone like it was nothing but smoke. She dropped down on the other side of the barrier, and Sombra shook his head violently, spinning around and bursting apart into shadow that arced into the next room. “Go!” “No!” Cadence shouted back as she continued the chase: she smashed his way through the barriers and the traps he dropped as he tried to flee from her, slowly but steadily gaining until they crashed into the mall area, Sombra looking wildly back and forth before he tried to make a leap to the upper levels- And Cadence shot in front of him, forcing him to veer around in midair before he streaked towards the only exit he could see: the far tunnel on the bottom floor. Cadence chased him, and Sombra hissed almost desperately as he was forced into the stone passage, looking wildly back and forth before he started to leap up towards the network of pipes: but Cadence was still in the air, shooting forwards to intercept him, and the stallion dove back to the ground to narrowly avoid her grab, becoming shadow that streaked rapidly down the long corridor and towards that small, detached fortress in the distance. The winged unicorn followed, breathing hard as she struggled to keep up to him, but refusing to let him escape: one way or the other, she was going to make him understand that he couldn't drive her off, and she wasn't going to abandon him. Then she winced as her father, in the shape of almost-liquid darkness, simply slid under the sealed doors that barred the way into this desolate-looking fortress. Cadence dropped from the air and landed in front of the building, hesitating even though she knew every moment she lost was another chance for Sombra to find a way to outmaneuver her... and then she bit her lip, shifting nervously. Maybe she should go, wait for him to come to her again... except, well, he had been scared of this place, too, hadn't he? And she had to show him she wasn't afraid of him, or afraid of staying here with him. She needed to... to reach back to him, because in a weird way, his lashing out was an attempt to connect with her, to protect her. She breathed slowly in and out, then strode forwards and uneasily pushed against one of the doors. It gave a little, so she pushed harder, gritting her teeth and muscling the heavy, armored door slowly open to step past it and into a pristine white room that was also... terribly cold. She shivered, exhaling and scowling a little at the sight of her own breath as the door rumbled shut behind her. Cadence uneasily looked back and forth through the empty lobby she had entered, noting that the only decorations present were paired black statues of ponies standing lifelessly on either side of the two sets of double doors in the walls, facing each other... mirroring perfectly. She was starting to get the feeling that whoever had designed this place was a big fan of symmetry. And even after countless years of just sitting empty, there was surprisingly little damage. Stains of rot here, a few cracks there, but otherwise... cold, and flawless, and so... hollow. There was a large, tinted window in the far wall, but her view through the glass was obstructed by what looked like a metal shutter. Cadence approached the window all the same, striding along it as if she could magically see through the steel at the right angle, and then she shook her head quickly before grimacing and looking up at the ceiling... but it was flat, featureless, with no shadows for her father to hide in. After a moment, she closed her eyes and took a slow breath, her horn thrumming faintly... and then she frowned uncertainly, turning back towards the window. She could feel some powerful life force on the other side of this wall... was that her father? But it felt different somehow: there was certainly a hint of... poison, but... She shook her head briefly, shifting uncertainly before deciding to head to the left for now. She couldn't really feel anything apart from that presence, so she only shook her head briefly before pacing quietly towards the double doors she had chosen. They pushed open easily, and Cadence strode through into a curving corridor that was as sterile and empty as the first room. Again, only the black metal statues stood sentinel, and more windows faced in towards whatever room was in the center of this cold, soulless place, all of them shuttered and blocking the growing curiosity she felt, wanting to know what the hell was at the core of this place... Cadence felt herself almost drawn down the corridor, to another room that almost perfectly mirrored the lobby: the only differences were that there was no exit door here, and instead of a window into the center room, there was a massive, armored vault door. The winged unicorn looked over this for a few moments, then bit her lip before she reached up and grasped the valve handle on one side of it, spinning it rapidly until there was a loud hiss of air, and the huge door swung slowly open. The winged unicorn hesitantly stepped through the circular doorway, staring out with confusion at the room beyond. It looked... well... unimpressive to her. Sure, the floor was a little weird: it was arranged almost into circular slices that formed steps down to the center of the room, where there was some kind of dome-shaped machine humming pleasantly away. She looked up... and stared in disbelief at the sight of the massive pipes and cables that crisscrossed back and forth over the roof, all feeding into some kind of massive metal ring that was suspended on thin metal arms. The mare looked uneasily at this, her eyes drawing over the sinister runes carved over its face before she shivered a little as some old, ancient part of her mind whispered: It's a portal ring... Cadence hesitantly stepped forwards... then flinched in surprise as the dome in the center of the room suddenly slid apart,  revealing an unpleasant-looking, rectangular machine topped with a glowing  crimson sphere, a mechanical voice ordering: “Halt for inspection.” Cadence stopped and frowned... then winced when a bright red light shone out of the orb, scanning back and forth over her body before the machine beeped several times, then announced as the light vanished: “Foreign entity detected: analysis indicates moderate threat level. Commencing system lockdown.” The dome slammed closed, and Cadence grimaced as the vault door slammed shut behind her... before her eyes widened as she heard something gearing slowly up beneath her, her instincts howling- The mare leapt to the air only a moment before the entire floor crackled violently with electricity, Cadence swearing under her breath and hovering nervously before glaring down at the dome as the machine said in its calm, maddening voice: “Warning. Foreign entity still active. Reanalyzing and preparing to deploy security drones.” A pause, and then several clicks before sirens began to faintly blare throughout the halls, muffled by the thick walls and shutters over the windows. “Warning. Second foreign presence detected. Alert: analysis indicates second presence is of higher threat level. Recalculating and adapting for new parameters, please wait...” “Yeah, sure, I'll just sit here and wait for you to kill me.” Cadence muttered, then she shot quickly forwards and circled the dome before she quickly drew two of her knives from her belt with telekinesis, stabbing these sharply down into the narrow split where the dome could part. Immediately, the machine began to beep away, electricity sparking violently over the surface of the metal shell, but Cadence grimaced only a little when sparks shot past her face, her knives sizzling but refusing to slip away as she pried the shielding apart little by little. She gritted her teeth, then snorted as the crimson orb pulsed erratically, displaying the closest thing to fear some programmed piece of metal could as it warned: “Breach imminent. Be advised that in the event of Master Lobe damage, override will engage and CK-7 will be activated.” “Don't know what that means. Don't care.” Cadence growled as she managed to force the shell completely open, and then she simply slammed a hoof down into the crimson sphere, shattering it in a burst of electricity. She flinched away from the crackle of lightning, then flapped her wings hard as the machine exploded with enough force to send her knives and pieces of metal shielding flying in all directions, the mare wobbling backwards in the air before dropping to the floor as she lost her balance... and sighing in relief as she only felt a faint stinging beneath her hooves, the trap disabled. But she could still hear the alarms blaring outside, and what sounded faintly like fighting... was her father in trouble? Was there something else out there? Cadence began to turn... and then she staggered backwards in surprise as the broken ruins of the machine buzzed weakly, before a distorted, electronic voice echoed through the room: “Catastrophic damage detected... override en-engaged. CK-7... activated. Operational status: fifty percent... optimizing for current condition... attempting data download: f-failed.” There was a loud clanking, before Cadence looked back and forth in surprise as what looked to her like several long, thin shelves of metal slowly rose up around the center of the room. But they were filled with wires and microchips and things that Cadence didn't understand, the mare gritting her teeth and wondering if she should start attacking these while she had the chance before her attention was drawn again to the center of the room. The ruined machine was shivering... and then it slowly began to rise as a wide, circular section of flooring rose slowly up, revealing some kind of glassy capsule. And Cadence staggered backwards in horror at the sight of the thing inside, as that awful mechanical voice proclaimed: “A-All hail the Clockwork King!” The monster inside the glass tube was enormous and metal and shaped terribly like the dragon she had come to fear so much: it was some kind of mechanical, massive golem, with red glass eyes and thick plates of metal armoring its bipedal body. And whatever it was, it was far from complete: one arm was little more than a metal skeleton and thick cables that were bunched up like muscle, both its legs were incomplete, with some kind of exoskeletal braces locked around its limbs to keep it standing inside the tube. Wires fed down from the top of the tube into the back of its neck, and more cables came up from the floor, plugged into its incomplete legs and its spine. Cadence shivered as she stared at this horrible thing... and then she stumbled backwards in shock as it moved suddenly, electricity sparking over its body before  it announced in a cold, emotionless voice: “Assimilating and enslaving local systems... takeover complete. Unit CK-7 online. Pinging Decretum; awaiting response.” The machine's eyes flashed, then lit up with crimson, cruel light before it leaned forwards, its soulless glare locking on her as it ordered: “Surrender and submit to conversion, or be exterminated.” Cadence shivered, then gritted her teeth and shouted angrily: “If you can understand me, you oversized tin can, then listen up! I will never bow my head to any stupid metal doll of Valthrudnir's! I'm going to push every trace of him out of this place, and out of this world, and that starts with you!” The golem looked coldly at Cadence from inside its glass prison, and then it straightened before pushing its claws against the sides of the cylinder it was in, saying calmly: “Analysis complete. Targeting and defensive systems engaged.” Cadence swore under her breath, then drew one of her knives, deciding to attack before this thing could size her up any further... before staring in disbelief as several walls of thin metal rose out of the ground between her and the mechanical monstrosity. Then she winced as the thin steps of metal beneath her hooves began to move, as more of the narrow walls rose up from the segmented floor, sparking with electricity. The mare stumbled, then threw herself backwards, her sharp eyes sizing up what was going on: all those segmented rings in the floor that she had thought were just steps... they were all moving now, some clockwise, others counterclockwise, all at different speeds as thin metal walls rose up to various heights out of the floor. Some were even rising and falling to further confuse her... and even though the rotations left the occasional window or aisle she could see the golem controlling them through, there was no pattern to it she could discern. The mare looked up, then gritted her teeth before leaping into the air as she spread her wings... and then gasping as a massive weight seemed to grab her out of nowhere, slamming her cruelly to the ground. She struggled to stand up, baring her fangs before she looked down in horror as she heard machinery rumbling beneath the floor and she saw sparks of electricity travel along the ground... Cadence gritted her teeth and shoved herself off the floor as hard as she could: she barely managed to hop in what felt like incredibly-increased gravity her horn sparking violently before she almost crumpled to the ground. But beneath her, the floor now glowed bright pink... and she flinched only slightly backwards when electrical energy surged over the metal, the mare wheezing in relief and muttering: “Thank you for teaching me that, Shining...” There was a loud crackle and sizzle, and Cadence looked sharply up as she heard the ancient machinery losing power and gearing down, the metal walls grinding to a halt in their rotations. It left a narrow hall straight to the strange machine in the center of the room, as it announced coldly: “Overload detected. Recalibrating and rebooting systems now.” Cadence didn't understand its words, but she understood what the sudden lack of movement, electricity, and pressure against her meant: the golem was vulnerable. And Cadence gritted her teeth as she launched herself forwards through the opening between the shielding it had created, her horn glowing bright white before she threw herself into a lunge when she drew close. Her hooves and horn smashed viciously into the barrier, cracks ripping through the glass even as the mare flinched in pain as she rebounded. But she caught herself and quickly leapt up, flapping her wings hard and tracing vicious punches up along the front of the cracked tube, the front of the cylinder crumpling inwards further and further from the strength of her blows. The golem in the cylinder only watched her movements coldly, crimson eyes pulsing before it suddenly lashed a fist forwards, moving freakishly fast for its size and stature. A steel fist smashed through the safety glass, punching into Cadence with enough force to send her flying backwards with a gargle of shock before she cursed and flapped her wings hard as instinct screamed at her. She barely avoided being sliced in two by one of the metal walls as it sped towards her: instead, it only clipped her hind limb as she lurched backwards, knocking her off-balance. She spiraled wildly out of the air, then cried out in agony as she hit another thin metal framework stomach-first, bouncing off it and crashing to the ground on her back with a groan of pain. She shivered and shook herself fiercely out, then slowly began to force her way up to her hooves, breathing hard and glaring towards the center of the room as the golem said, voice uncaring and unchanged: “Containment field integrity at twenty-five percent. Overriding safety parameters.” “Now if only I knew what the hell he was saying.” Cadence muttered... and then she grimaced as the metal walls in front of her began to revolve again, electricity sparking along the sharp steel frames before she snapped: “You can't hide in there all day, I'll-” “Purging atmosphere.” announced the mechanical voice emotionlessly, and Cadence had a moment to frown before she looked back and forth in shock as several large vents clanked open, a horrible rushing sound filling the air... except a moment later, there was no air. Cadence gargled, then clutched at her throat, her eyes bulging, her body spasming violently before she looked desperately back and forth. But she couldn't hear, could barely see, and gravity was increasing again as she felt that distinct hum of electricity building up, up, up... The mare screamed silently, then suddenly twisted around as her horn sparked with energy, turning bright white before she shot into the air in defiance of the increased gravity, of the lack of atmosphere, of the mechanical world's attempts to bind her down. She transformed, becoming an ivory phoenix that streaked through the air to smash into one of the shuttered windows: she collided with enough force to tear a hole in the metal cover and bend it completely out of place, the glass beyond shattering as she turned back into a stupefied mare a moment before she was buffeted backwards by a gush of air as oxygen, precious oxygen, flooded back into the room. “Quarantine breached.” The synthetic voice almost sounded disgusted as Cadence flopped painfully down to the ground, gasping in pain as electricity sparked over her body... but the electrical charge was already fading rapidly as the framework shielding the golem ground slowly to a halt. “Recalibrating systems.” Cadence gritted her teeth, coughing before she staggered up to her hooves, then lunged forwards in spite of the fact it felt like every nerve in her body was on fire. She stumbled into a run, zigzagging through the metal shielding before charging towards the broken front of the capsule. She leapt towards the hole that the golem had punched in its own sanctuary, and as she'd half-expected, the machine moved with lightning speed and precision, slamming a punch towards her that shattered the face of the glass prison... but Cadence bared her teeth and streamlined her body, stretching her forelegs out to catch its limb and then yank herself forwards as her wings flapped hard. She almost slid up its incomplete arm, sending up sparks as her armor scraped against pieces of metal before she caught the beast around the neck and spun around it like an axle. Her horn slashed down, tearing through the cables feeding into the back of its neck, then through the wires feeding along its spine before she hit the ground, swinging a hoof out to twine into a mess of black cords connecting to one of its incomplete legs. Before she could tear them free, the golem spun around and kicked her viciously in the stomach, knocking her back into the glass wall with a gargle of pain. Cable tore and snapped, and Cadence brought up both forelegs, wincing in pain as the metal foot of the monster slammed cruelly into her bracers, then again and again, denting and warping steel as her body hit the curved glass behind her with enough force to send  a spiderweb of cracks through it. And just as she began to move to get out from under the kicks, one of its metal claws reached down and seized the mare by the mane. She cried out as she was yanked into the air and pinned cruelly by the skull to the wall behind her, then she cursed and forced herself to focus as it swung its other metal fist at her, gritting her teeth and swinging her own hooves out to deflect the blow to the side. Instead of crushing her, the golem punched a hole through the glass shielding, and Cadence hurriedly snapped her horn forwards as she flung herself backwards, wrenching loose from its grip as she shattered through the glass wall. She hit the ground and rolled backwards into the metal shielding, flinching in pain before scrabbling to her hooves... and the golem glared down at her with artificial scorn and hatred before it said coldly: “Warning. Hardware failure detected. Recalibrating. Threat level elevated.” Cadence grimaced as she shook herself out, looking uneasily over her shoulder at the framework behind her... before frowning uneasily as the tall, thin slices of metal all began to sink slowly back into the ground. She shifted nervously, looking back towards the golem in its glass cage... before her eyes widened as the machine calmly tore itself free of the remaining wires before stepping forwards and smashing through the wall of the capsule like it wasn't even there. Cadence hurriedly backpedaled, gritting her teeth before the golem's red eyes flashed, announcing coldly: “Initiating primary engagement. Systems optimized.” Moving almost casually, the machine reached back and grasped the top of the capsule, which still had the remains of the broken dome and destroyed machine on it. Then the golem ripped this loose before half-turning and flinging it at Cadence with ease, and the mare was barely able to leap out of the way with a curse before the machine stomped after her, raising one mechanical arm. Cadence's eyes widened as a section of plating slid open on its forearm and what looked like some kind of weapon emerged. The mare leapt to the side as it aimed at her, barely avoiding a blast from some kind of cannon: whatever it was, it cut cleanly through the metal floor where she had been standing a moment, leaving a distinct, circular wound. The cannon traced after her as Cadence bolted to the side, before leaping into the air with a wince when it fired again: the shot narrowly tore through her tail, sending down a chunk of burnt, blackened hairs as she cursed in surprise before she snapped her horn sharply towards the creature. An ivory fireball shot through the air and hit the golem... and it dissipated to nothing but embers on contact, the golem slowly turning towards her as it held up its other hand. Lightning surged between its fingers, and Cadence narrowly dodged to the side before a massive blast of electricity erupted through the space where she had been a moment before, the mare hissing in pain as the edge of the discharge managed to catch her all the same. Then she stared as the cannon pointed straight at her: she barely reacted in time, leaping straight up as it traced several shots after her. The bullets of energy tore through the floor and wall with ease, Cadence cursing under her breath before she quickly drew a throwing knife from her belt and flung it sharply at the golem. The knife bounced harmlessly off the machine's chest, not leaving so much as a scratch. It seemed to distract the golem, however, which allowed Cadence to hurry around towards its side, as the golem announced calmly: “Analyzing.” Cadence rushed towards its back... and even if it was ungainly, it managed to stomp around in a circle quickly enough to swing one arm backwards to intercept her wild dive, smashing her across the face and knocking her flying to the side. She hit the ground on her back, but then quickly rolled and shoved herself off the ground, springing into the air and flapping her wings once as the golem shot at her. The energy bullet narrowly whizzed by, punching through a shutter instead and shattering the glass on the other side. The mare dropped from the ceiling as the golem fired again... and then its arm suddenly spasmed, electricity sparking along the limb. Cadence's eyes widened as she saw the cannon had turned a bright orange from all the shots it had fired, and the mare made a wild run at the creature, hoping that meant what she thought it did. It stepped towards her, electricity sizzling over both arms as it slammed them savagely down to crush her, but Cadence dodged the attack before jumping forwards and smashing a hoof across its steel face. She barely dented the metal, however, the mare cursing before a steel claw lashed up and smashed her away, ripping through her breastplate and tearing deep wounds through her chest as she was knocked crashing painfully backwards. She skidded around in a circle... then stared in disbelief as the golem straightened, the mare feeling a powerful thrum of magic as several metal plates on its chest slid quickly out of place. It revealed what looked like an enormous, crimson gemstone in its breast, surrounded by bubbling tubes of black poison, all of it fused together by metal and wires and vicious alchemy... Two large, circular lenses swung out in front of the gemstone, and it glowed with hellish energy before releasing a powerful blast of red light that was focused into a ruby laser. Cadence narrowly avoided the beam, wincing in surprise as crimson lightning splashed up where the laser struck and traced slowly forwards, leaving a long trail of melted metal over the floor and up one wall. Then the golem twitched before the energy vanished, the lenses folding rapidly back into its body as the plates slid closed over its breast. Steam hissed up from its frame as Cadence gritted her teeth, realizing a little too late that it was vulnerable, going too slowly into a sprint... The golem recovered, its red eyes flashing before it stepped forwards and slammed a fist down, and Cadence narrowly dodged out of the way before she leapt forwards, running up along its arm and then leaping past its shoulder to drop to the ground- It swung one blocky heel backwards and smashed her away like she was nothing but a bean bag, the mare swearing in frustration and more stunned than she was hurt. She recovered quickly, but the golem was already turning, again forcing her to back quickly off and instead attempt to hurry behind its back. She looked sharply over it: it was missing a lot of its outer armor, but disabling its legs or naked arm would still be extremely difficult. It had strength and range advantages on her, and incredibly sharp senses: she didn't think it was possible to ambush this thing, and it was only growing more dangerous by the moment. She needed help. She needed a miracle. And then one of the broken shutters was torn completely loose from the shattered window, Sombra leaping into the room with a snarl. His shadow-body trembled, his eyes glowing with rage and hate before he roared furiously at the machine, and the golem's attention was drawn towards the dark stallion as it said coldly: “Warning. Anomaly detected. Reevaluating: recommencing engagement under new parameters.” “Daddy! We have to work together!” Cadence shouted, hopeful and desperate... and then she gritted her teeth as Sombra completely ignored her, simply barreling straight towards the golem. The machine only rose its cannon and fired, and Sombra howled in misery as the bullet of energy tore through his body and knocked him backwards with a tunnel torn through his body, the stallion falling limp and still as black smoke burned up from his prone form. Cadence's eyes widened as her mouth fell open, but she couldn't scream, couldn't speak, as the golem said coldly: “Hostile terminated. Moving to reengage previous target.” The golem slowly turned towards Cadence, and the pink mare swallowed back her tears as she gritted her teeth and set herself, waiting for the machine to begin targeting her before she leapt straight up and flapped her wings hard, launching almost to the ceiling. It fired at her, but Cadence zigzagged back and forth, the bullets of energy smashing through the wall, then tearing up through the mess of cables and pipes above, knocking chunks of ceiling loose to crash in a hail around the pink mare. She used the chaos to her advantage, dodging backwards into the mess of dust and swinging, torn cable and hanging pipes. The golem strode slowly after her, scanning back and forth through the confusion before it stopped and rose its other hand. Lightning crackled along its fingers for a moment, and then there was a tremendous, thunderous boom before the mare was violently ejected from her hiding spot with a cry of agony as the shockwave of electricity pounded against her. She hit the ground in a smoking heap, rolling backwards with a curse before hurriedly picking herself up and glaring up at the machine only a few feet away. Then her eyes widened in horror as the golem stepped forwards, slamming a steel stump of foot down on top of her as she desperately shoved both forelegs up, fighting to keep it from crushing the life out of her as the machine said coldly: “Determining required pressure. Applying at medium level: ten thousand pounds.” Cadence screamed, her body quaking, but the mare shoving roughly back, struggling against the metal foot bearing cruelly, remorselessly down against her before her eyes blazed as she began to slowly push it back... and then, as if the golem was toying with her, it announced: “Increasing pressure to eleven thousand pounds.” The metal foot began to crush down on her, the mare gasping in pain as she trembled, then clenched her eyes shut, refusing to let things end this way, fighting with all the strength she had to push back up against the golem... “Increasing pressure to-” And then a black shape leapt onto the machine's back, and the golem was knocked off balance, stomping past Cadence and pinwheeling its mechanical arms for balance as dark energies crackled over the machine's body. Cadence looked up with shock and amazement at the sight of her father as he snarled, pounding away at it with one hoof as his horn and eyes blazed with terrible, malignant energies as his magic melted and warped the armor of the golem. Then the machine managed to reach suddenly up, seizing her father by the face before flinging him away, even as it said in its emotionless, hostile voice: “Anomaly detected. Reclassifying and beginning analysis. Moving to engage and suppress.” The golem took aim at Sombra and fired as the dark stallion landed on his hooves, and Cadence stared in horror as her father spun around... and ended up right in the path of the bullet of energy, which tore through one of his front legs and knocked it flying off his body. Sombra staggered backwards with a snarl as his limb limply flew through the air, then dissolved into dark ashes before it could even start to fall... before the dark stallion grinned suddenly, baring his fangs as a new foreleg rapidly formed out of black fire and shadow. He flexed this slowly, and the golem slowly lowered its cannon as Cadence laughed weakly, staring past the machine at her father. She remembered fighting him, how limitless he'd seemed, how all the energy in the air had reinforced all his powers. But was he powerful enough that he could take on a machine that might be even more tireless, even more merciless than the darkness fueling him? Cadence gritted her teeth: maybe he couldn't alone, but her father wasn't alone. She leapt to the air, flapping her wings hard as Sombra roared and charged in from the other side, daughter and father both throwing themselves into the fight against the golem. But the golem barely twitched as electricity sparked over its body before it released the built-up charge in a massive shockwave, sending both Cadence and Sombra flying backwards. The winged unicorn gasped in pain, recovering faster as she dropped to her hooves and hit the ground in a sprint, determined to keep pushing, to keep fighting, until this mechanical doll was nothing but yet another broken pile of scrap metal like the rest of Valthrudnir's projects. Her rush was too fast, too direct, too driven by pride: she leapt, and the machine half-turned and caught her by the throat with its incomplete arm before Cadence screamed in agony as electricity sizzled violently along her body, making her muscles go numb, her whole form drop limp as she gargled weakly. She dangled helplessly as the golem rose its other arm, opening fire with the cannon at Sombra and driving him back with a barrage of shots. Sombra hissed, baring his fangs and flexing his body as a shallow trench one bullet had managed to scrape through his form slowly healed. He glared furiously at the golem, his eyes sparking with anger before the machine rose Cadence calmly in front of himself, then said coldly: “Assessing... situation deemed critical. Terminating.” The golem's hand clenched, and Cadence screamed again as lightning ripped over her body, her armor starting to smoke and fuse together, her flesh smoldering, her hair starting to burn... Sombra stared, his eyes glowing, and something inside him writhed, then twisted and screamed for release. He snarled, his eyes blazing with dark light, new and old mixing together before he roared and stomped forwards, and several massive spikes of black crystal tore suddenly free from the ground, spires and blades of dark stone hammering against the machine and knocking it off balance before he charged forwards. He leapt, his whole body glowing with dark, unholy energies as he streaked like a comet straight for the golem... then simply tore straight through its unfinished arm, chunks of cable flying in all directions as the machinery of the metallic monster ground and clanked in outrage. It staggered to the side as Cadence fell with the dismembered limb, her eyes drinking in every detail as she saw Sombra hit the ground only to spin around and unleash a tremendous surge of black flame and raw, dark force that knocked the golem off its feet, sending it crashing to the ground and skidding a short distance away along its stomach in a squeal of sparks. Cadence winced as she landed and bounced free, landing on broken metal and jagged black crystal, but she barely noticed the pain as Sombra leapt in front of her, snarling and glaring furiously... and then he leaned suddenly forwards, roaring angrily: “She is mine! Mine! You will not touch her!” The winged unicorn couldn't help but laugh weakly at this, and then she shook her head slowly, carefully picking herself up as she muttered: “Well, I guess that's... something anyway.” She stopped, then she carefully picked herself up, breathing quietly as she looked over at him and said quietly: “Daddy... I'm... your daughter. You know that, right?” Sombra shifted and growled, and Cadence shook her head quickly: no, she couldn't waste time being stupid right now. What was important was that she and Sombra figure out some way to coordinate their attacks so they could take this monster down. The golem was slowly pushing itself up to its feet, unsteady, the stump of arm sparking faintly. Cadence narrowed her eyes as Sombra snarled before starting forwards, and Cadence grimaced and stepped forwards, grabbing her shoulder. He growled and snapped at her at the contact, but Cadence only leaned forwards, glaring at him before she said sharply: “Daddy, listen! We need to work together if we want to bring it down, but I think that we can-” Sombra wrenched himself away, then ran straight for the fallen monster, his horn glowing with malignant energies as he bared his fangs in a cruel grin- The golem halted in a crouch, glass eyes glowing brightly as there was a distinct thrum of magic energies before a shockwave of electricity exploded out of its body, slamming Sombra backwards. Cadence winced and leapt forwards to catch him with a gasp, falling back to her hooves... and then almost collapsing herself with a gasp as a wave of lightheadedness and nausea spilled through her. Her muscles twitched, and her mind bubbled, and she felt... She shook her head back and forth, breathing slowly before gritting her teeth and straightening as Sombra yanked himself away, but at least this time only snarled. Then again, the machine was still surrounded by a very visible network of chain lightning that was jumping back and forth around it, bouncing off the floors and ceiling and crackling through the air as it carefully, slowly straightened. It turned slowly around, and the shield of lightning finally faded out from around it as it analyzed them in silence. They looked back, and then something inside the golem clanked before it said coldly: “Abandoning safety protocols. Overriding limiters.” There were several clanks before electricity sparked over the golem's body, and Cadence studied the machine intently... then grabbed her father when he tried to step forwards. He growled at her, but this time didn't try and shake her off, the two watching as the golem trembled strangely before its body began to glow faintly with energy. Its red eyes glared at them, and then it began to stomp forwards, moving faster, smoother than before in spite of the fact its legs were incomplete. It rose its remaining arm as it walked, opening fire at them with the cannon, and Cadence cursed and flung herself to the side as Sombra only growled and charged straight at the golem. Cadence winced as one of the bullets of energy shot past her... except it wasn't so much a bullet now as it was a fireball, which exploded in splatter of what looked almost like some kind of flaming slag wherever it hit. And its aim was much further off, even if it was firing far faster than it had been before as it concentrated its fire on her. She thought for a moment that her father had actually slipped in under its radar... but without even looking down, the golem punted the dark stallion backwards before the machine's chest plating clicked quickly apart. There was a tremendous boom and a flash of crimson light, and Cadence's eyes widened as Sombra screamed in agony. He crashed down to the metal floor and rolled backwards with a gasp, his whole body sizzling with crimson lightning as the golem paused to turn its eyes coldly towards him, the gemstone in its chest thrumming eerily. “Compiling data: complete. Targeting.” The lenses flicked down in front of the bared gemstone, and Cadence's eyes widened before she hurriedly drew a throwing knife from her belt. She could feel the magic gathering, the mare leaning forwards and slinging the knife with all her strength into the front lens. The knife buried halfway through the glass, and the golem looked down almost in surprise before the red crystal surged with energy. A moment later, a beam of red light tore through the lenses, concentrated by the first... but diffused by the second cracked lens, the knife warping and distorting under the concentrated energy as rays of light struck the walls, the floor, tore through the ceiling... and only scraped her father's body, letting Sombra recover his strength before he vanished into shadow that shot up and disappeared among the pipes and cables over the ceiling. The ray died out, and the golem looked down before reaching up and simply smashing the second lens, even as it announced coldly: “Warning. Significant damage detected to laser artillery array. Sealing core while repairs are completed. Updating data.” The remaining lens folded quickly away, the plates locking shut over the golem's breast before there was a faint hiss of steam: and this time, Cadence was rushing forwards even before she saw the moment of vulnerability, as the golem reset its mechanical body. She smashed into its breast, cursing in pain as energy sparked against her hooves: it had insulated itself with some kind of mechanical magic. But she only used its body to launch herself down, hitting one of its unarmored upper legs as her horn glowed brightly and her hooves burst into ivory flames, smashing viciously away at the cabling and metal framework. The golem swung at her as it came back to life, but Cadence kicked herself off its leg and shoved all four hooves into its limb, half-riding it up into the air before flinging herself backwards. But it reacted faster than she had expected, the cannon firing a single shot at point blank range that smashed into her shoulder. She was knocked flying backwards by the small explosion, her armor and shoulder both shredded, her body crashing painfully back to the ground before she rolled with a gasp to steady herself. But she barely had time to look up before she was forced to throw herself backwards again, boosting herself with her wings to narrowly escape a short volley of shots. Cadence flapped her wings and launched herself to the side, hitting the ground painfully on her bad shoulder and leaving a streak of blood behind her before she rolled out of her slide and snapped her horn out. A blast of white flame met a bullet of energy in midair, the explosion blinding both mechanical golem and winged unicorn for a moment. The machine was faster to recover and lock back on to Cadence, but before it could fire, Sombra dropped out of the air and smashed down into its face, pounding savagely on the dragon-shaped head of the machine with a roar. The machine staggered backwards, buzzing loudly before it reached up and seized the dark stallion, yanking him off before flinging him viciously to the ground and slamming a kick into his stomach to knock him crashing and rolling away with a hiss. But Sombra managed to jerk himself around, slamming his hooves into the floor, and dark spikes of crystal erupted upwards around the monstrosity, knocking it back and forth before a lucky blade jutted up through the leg that Cadence had already damaged. The golem sizzled and sparked violently as it staggered to the side, nearly falling over as cables tore and metal frame snapped, the machine looking down at its limb as it said coldly: “Warning. Mobility decreased due to structural comprise. Recalculating.” “Die!” Sombra ran forwards, and Cadence flinched as she began to scramble towards the machine herself: wasn't Sombra ever going to learn, or was the animal darkness in him just that strong? As expected, the golem moved fast, taking aim at her father with the cannon: but what she didn't expect was for her father to burst apart into a stream of shadows that almost-mockingly spun around the fireball that shot at him, before the smoky darkness twisted upwards and smashed into the side of the golem's face as the shadows reformed into her father. It staggered backwards, then reached up... but Sombra lashed a hoof down, driving it into the machine's eye before grinning savagely and yanking backwards. And the golem's gears clanked as its internal workings gave what almost sounded like a scream of pain, as glass and lightning exploded out of the golem's head, black twists of gemstone jutting up out of the ruined socket. The machine staggered, buzzing and grinding, its body jittering for a moment as Sombra growled down at it in triumph... and then the stallion was seized by the golem's steel claw before he was slung savagely down into the ground, stomped on viciously again and again and again as the golem almost snarled: “Eradicate all targets.” Cadence ran forwards, cursing, but forcing herself to focus and keep her head this time: if her father could do it, then goddammit, even now she could too. And as she drew close, she felt the pulse of energy, saw the faint thrum of electricity over the golem's body as it prepared to repulse her with a shockwave... Cadence dropped like a stone, anchoring herself against the ground and creating a pinkish barrier of energy in front of her a moment before there was a tremendous blast of lightning. It hurt to hear her father screaming in agony, and the lighting curled and lashed around the shield, still managing to strike her, to whip at her... but the moment the pulse ended, Cadence let the wall drop and flung herself forwards through the still-dissolving energy, kicking off the machine's leg and running up the length of its steel body before she yanked a knife free from her belt and slammed it down into the golem's remaining eye. Machinery screamed again as the golem staggered backwards, the crimson light whiffing out as glass shattered in a flare of electricity. The blinded thing stumbled back and forth, buzzing and crackling as it lashed its arm back and forth, but Cadence had already landed by her father and pulled him backwards, the two glaring as the machine staggered away. The winged unicorn breathed slowly in and out as the golem finally staggered to a halt, body sparking as it tried to look back and forth, remaining claw flexing. Slowly, it straightened, then said emotionlessly: “Visual sensors compromised. Systems rendered... ineffective. Activating emergency protocol. Temporary shutdown initiated to conserve energy...” Slowly, the machine lowered itself to a crouch, and Cadence frowned uneasily as Sombra growled darkly at the ruined thing. The mare shifted slowly, straightening and breathing quietly as Sombra shook himself off and straightened, and there was silence for a few moments before the mare asked uneasily: “Did we do it?” Sombra growled and paced slowly to the side, looking suspiciously at the monster, while Cadence only bit her lip before hesitantly starting forwards. She looked warily at the machine, stopping in front of it to study it intently before she poked it a few times... but the golem didn't move. She guessed that maybe they had done enough damage to stop it after all.. and then Cadence frowned uneasily as she heard a loud banging. Her ears and senses sharpened as Sombra looked up with a growl, before he suddenly looked at her and hissed: “Come here.” Cadence immediately leapt over to him, and Sombra stepped up beside her... possessively, but protectively, too. Or at least that was what she told herself, as she muttered: “You know, you could try saying 'please,' Daddy... we're going to have to work on your... everything.” Sombra only growled, then he hissed loudly as Cadence winced at a smashing sound that filled the air, hearing glass shattering and metal rupturing before she looked to the side in shock in time to see one of the black pony statues she had passed on her way inside was climbing calmly in through the smashed window. And her jaw dropped before she shook her head violently, asking in disbelief: “They're machines too?” The polished black golem faced them soullessly, and Sombra snarled before lunging forwards and striking it... to no effect whatsoever. He almost literally bounced off the metal pony, before the machine Cadence had first mistaken for a statue calmly reached up and grasped Sombra's head tightly between its front hooves before beginning to crush his skull. Sombra wrenched back and forth, his eyes widening before he started to howl in misery as smoke hissed up from his head as his skull cracked, his features began to horribly contort. And Cadence cursed as she ran forwards and snapped her horn down, a white blast of flame smashing into the pony-golem... And that did nothing either, not even distracting it. Cadence cursed, leaping forwards to grab it by a foreleg and try and pry it away from her father, but the thing was merciless, emotionless, and completely focused... and Cadence could hear more smashing sounds now, and more metal hooves calmly walking towards them, serving the final whim of their mechanical master. Then Sombra snarled and suddenly reached up, seizing the pony-golem by the head before his horn flashed... and Cadence stared in shock as the machine's metallic head transformed from metal to gemstone, the pony-golem losing its grip and almost falling over with a loud buzzing. And yet, all the same, it managed to start slowly straightening after a moment, even more hollow and relentless than the dragon-golem had been. Cadence stepped back from it, looking back and forth, but Sombra had already lunged over towards another of the pony-golems, as if he could fight it. Then her eyes flicked back towards this machine, with its crystalline head, and she reacted more out of wild hope than anything else, snapping her horn towards it and sending out a blast of pink light. Gray immediately spread along the black gemstone as the pony-golem staggered backwards... and then cracks ripped through the surface of the machine's head before it crumbled away to nothing but dust, revealing a fragile framework inside of thin rots and cables. Cadence stepped forwards and simply smashed one foreleg through this, and the golem staggered to the side, buzzing brokenly before it collapsed in a heap. The mare began to smile... and then she gasped as a cold metal hoof slammed into her side and knocked her sprawling. She winced over her shoulder as a golem reached down to grab her, but she quickly slammed both rear hooves into its face: less to try and hurt it, more to launch herself skidding away on her back before she rolled back up to a standing position, shouting: “Daddy! We have to work together!” “Kill them all.” rasped Sombra, and Cadence didn't know if it was a response or just coincidence. But he didn't seem to be paying attention to her as two more golems backed him slowly into a corner, the dark stallion uselessly splashing them with black flames and creating spikes of dark crystal that simply shattered where they hit. Cadence ran towards the two ponies, looking quickly around the room: there were at least three more statues, and only one or two of them looked like they weren't functioning properly: the rest moved slowly but surely, unhindered and unhurried. Either way, though, they weren't in a good position right now. She leapt onto the back of one of the golems, and it stopped and began to shake itself back and forth... although the movement was almost slow, making it easy for her to ride its bucking before she hopped off it and slammed down on the back of the second golem. It stopped and dropped onto its haunches, as if trying to toss her off, but the mare smoothly leapt over its head and seized it by the skull to slam it face-down into the steel floor. That didn't even seem to annoy it, however, the golem picking itself slowly up the moment Cadence leapt away, and the mare cursed... before Sombra stepped up beside her and shouted angrily: “Kill them!” “We need to work together!” Cadence replied almost desperately, and then she gestured at them and snapped, as they began to approach again: “Turn them to crystal! To crystal! We can't break their armor otherwise!” Sombra only snarled, then leapt forwards... and he was almost slapped aside by one of the golems, while the other reached for Cadence. The winged unicorn gritted her teeth as she leapt backwards, then swore under her breath when she hit the wall, leaning back against it and gritting her teeth as the two golems drew closer. She began to ready herself to lunge away... and then Sombra roared in fury before lashing his horn out, and a ray of black light washed over both golems. The soulless machines seemed to flinch as their metal bodies rapidly transformed to black crystal, and Cadence gritted her teeth before she snapped her own horn fiercely forwards, blasting the golems with a flash of pink magic.. It turned black, corrupt crystal to nothing but gray ash and dust, the two golems clanking and screeching before they both collapsed into wrecked hulks, wires sizzling and frames snapping without the support of their bodies. Cadence sighed in relief... then winced when Sombra leapt almost eagerly towards the remaining golems, the mare swearing under her breath as she whirled to leap after him. Sombra ran for a cluster in the distance, while Cadence's eyes locked on a damaged golem that was sloppily attempting to flank her father, going unnoticed by him likely because it wasn't challenging enough prey. Still, if he wasn't careful, it was going to box him in with the others... Cadence leapt onto the damaged golem's back, and it clanked as it staggered back and forth, the mare wincing as she clung to it with one hoof while yanking a knife free in the other, and then she stabbed this viciously down into a rusted gap in the machine's neck before punching the handle of the knife as hard as she could. The golem spasmed, then collapsed limply forwards, its head twisting back and forth helplessly on its shoulders before the mare leapt off the broken machine and ran towards where Sombra was pelting the remaining trio with magic. One of the golems had been partly crystallized: Cadence quickly splashed this with her magic, and a leg shattered beneath it as part of its body turned to gray stone, the golem falling and spasming uselessly against the ground with a series of grinding clanks. Then she grimaced as she staggered, her head swimming as she felt recoil burst through her body. She was starting to run out of energy... She needed a breather, but Sombra was aggressively attacking the two golems, even though his magic wasn't having any effect. She needed to wait for him to transmute them or figure out some way to get through to her father what they needed to do... And then Sombra suddenly went rigid, staring upwards as both golems halted and looked almost lifelessly upwards. Cadence looked between them with surprise before her own eyes were drawn upwards, her eyes widening in shock as she saw a crackle of electricity travel around the portal ring suspended above. The mare stared, watching as energy began to spill through the ring... and then her eyes snapped down as a cold mechanical voice announced: “Ping successful. Connection to Decretum has been established. All hail the Clockwork King.” “No...” Cadence whispered, staring with disbelief at the reanimated dragon-golem, and then she looked up in horror before snarling and leaping into the air, flapping her wings and shooting towards the portal. She had to disable it somehow, maybe... shatter the ring or- A fireball hammered into her, and the mare shrieked as she was knocked out of the air, crashing down on her back. Sombra roared as he whirled towards her... and then snarled as one of the golems seized him from behind before shoving him down and pinning him, the other striding calmly past towards Cadence as the dragon-golem slowly stood. It lowered its arm as electricity crackled over its mechanical body, red light flickering weakly out of one mostly-blind eye as it said calmly: “Master system files updated. Power rerouted from damaged sectors to environmental sensors. Evaluating...” Cadence looked up blearily as the golem in front of her began to lean down, and Sombra's eyes blazed with hellish light before he threw his head back and roared, a terrible, black shockwave erupting from his body that turned both his surroundings and the two pony-golems to nothing but black, jagged crystal. Cadence flinched back in shock at the power of it, seeing cracks already ripping through the dark stone as it twisted and distorted. She didn't hesitate more than a moment, snapping her head forwards and unleashing a beam of pink light that tore straight through the golem in front of her, then ripped through the pony-machine pinning Sombra. And both almost exploded from the force of the positive energy that ripped through them, letting Sombra lunge to his hooves and whirl around with a cruel grin even as the remaining machine looked down and said emotionlessly: “Suppression has failed. Reengaging.” “And this time we'll make sure you never stand up again.” Cadence growled, leaping up beside her father, and Sombra smiled coldly before the two set themselves, heads lowered, eyes blazing. The one-armed golem seemed to look coldly back, and for a moment there was silence before it suddenly rose its limb. But before it could take aim with its cannon, Sombra sharply lashed his horn out, blasting the arm with a wave of dark flame that transformed metal to black crystal before Cadence fired a ray of pink light through the limb. It exploded into chunks of dark shrapnel the cannon sparking before several more small explosions ripped up the length of the creature's arm, knocking metal plating out of place and the remains falling limp and useless: nothing but a broken stump was left behind. Electricity sparked over the golem as it looked at them coldly, and the two glared back before Sombra suddenly roared and then ran forwards, his battlelust getting the better of him. The machine golem only watched coldly before its chest plating clicked suddenly open, and the crimson gemstone inside gave a mighty, terrible flash. Sombra was knocked backwards by the burst of energy with a howl of pain before a lens clicked into place in front of the core of the creature... and then another, and then a third, Cadence's eyes widening in horror as the golem said pitilessly: “Rerouting all power to core. Overriding safety restrictions and maximizing focal power. Target locked. Core armed.” A pause, that lasted forever, even as Cadence tried to throw herself into a sprint... but it was like the air had turned to jelly, like gravity was crushing down on her again, like the world itself was holding her back before the golem said calmly: “Opening fire.” There was a tremendous crackle of magic, and Sombra looked weakly up, still stunned by the energy wave before a massive beam of light crashed through the lenses, focused into a crimson laser so concentrated it was almost a solid thing. It smashed into Sombra, and he screamed in agony as he was driven backwards by it, slammed bonelessly to the ground and flailing in misery. He scraped and bounced against the metal floor as the laser pushed him slowly across it, Cadence screaming a denial as she ran towards him... and then the ray of energy suddenly cut out, and Sombra was left in a smoking, smoldering heap, his body twitching weakly, his eyes rolling in his head as he gurgled brokenly. His body had become... pale. Smoke wafted up off his bruised frame, and his eyes had lost their glow. His horn was cracked, and there were terrible red veins pulsing through his flesh, like that evil light had crawled inside him and infected him. Cadence skidded to a halt beside her father, trembling violently... and then she looked up as the golem announced coldly: “Energy levels still optimal. Analyzing data and overriding procedural protocol. Preparing to exterminate.” Cadence snarled, stepping in front of her father before she shouted angrily: “If you want him, you have to go through me first! I will not let you hurt my Father!” Her body trembled as she anchored herself into place, and adrenaline surged through her tired, aching muscles, washing away the pain... even if she could feel a distinct crackling along her horn that told her no matter how much she talked tough, no matter how hard she kept fighting... she was out of magic, and out of energy. And then her eyes widened as that thrum of magic passed through the air, and her the core in the creature's chest glowed red before it said coldly: “Parameters accepted.” There was a pulse, and then a blast of crimson... and Cadence snapped her horn forwards on reflex more than anything else, putting the little magic energy she had left into a ray of pink light that crashed into the crimson. She poured all her reserves into the ray, and the lasers shoved against one-another, energy crackling around the two before Cadence's eyes widened as the red glow slowly began to crawl towards her. She could feel her father behind her: if she moved, she would save herself, but he would likely be destroyed. If she didn't move, then chances were they were both going to die here and now unless she could outlast this terrible machine... and Cadence trembled as she anchored herself, tears running from her eyes as she tried to press forwards, but there was no energy left for her to call upon, and now it was just willpower alone powering the failing ray of magic from her horn... And more and more, the crimson laser was pressing forwards, grinding down her magic, pushing closer, closer, closer, until Cadence was gasping, sweat rolling down her body, tears dripping from her eyes as she shivered in agony from the exertion... and then screamed in agony as the crimson laser smashed into her horn, dispelling her own ray of energy completely as crimson lightning crackled over her frame and the red hell engulfed her. It tore through her body, made her arch her back, tried to drive her backwards as waves of force and energy washed over her... but she forced herself to lean into it, pressing back against it with her body now instead of her magic. Oh, how it hurt though; every nerve of her body was glowing with agony, every muscle flexed and felt like it was tearing, her bones quaked beneath the burning insulation of her flesh. She gasped and looked over her shoulder, seeing her father staring up at her, his eyes wide, his mouth agape... she saw concern and surprise and disbelief, and the mare forced herself to smile at him, their eyes locking, conveying a thousand messages at once between each other. But loudest of all was Cadence's promise, the one she had made so many times: she wasn't going to abandon him. He had suffered too long for too much: now, she would suffer for him. And Cadence was reminded of everything she was fighting for, all the reason she was here. She was reminded that she had lived... and died... solely to be with her father, and now this machine, this soulless puppet, was trying to take all of that away... The mare gritted her teeth as she found the strength to turn her gaze back into the beam, gasping before she snarled and slowly tried to shove her front hooves down... and gradually, they lowered, slamming to the ground, tears and blood streaming from Cadence's eyes as she shoved herself into the beam. Her whole body was on fire with pain, but that pain was feeding her determination and her anger and her pride. There was both the growing need to protect inside her... and the need to destroy. Cadence stomped forwards into the red laser, then anchored herself, gritting her teeth as her body crackled with crimson energy. She glared forwards, refusing to turn away as the golem sparked with electricity, then said coldly: “Increasing output. Warning: exceeding maximum safe charge value. Core temperature rising...” “I'm not afraid... I am... not afraid!” Cadence shouted, even as her white wings began to char, and what pink coat remained began to boil and pale. “I won't let you hurt him, no matter what!” The machine sparked in response, and the red light seemed to intensify further as Sombra stared up at Cadence, watched as feathers were blown from her wings, as chunks of armor began to melt away and tear free from her body, and the dark stallion clawed his way up to his hooves with a snarl. He flinched as red lightning crackled over his body, but then clenched his eyes shut, his horn sparking painfully before he suddenly roared and stomped both hooves viciously down into the ground. Several massive spikes of black crystal exploded upwards, tearing out of the ground and smashing up through the open chest of the golem, as more dark stone washed up over its legs to pin it in place. The machine whirred violently as the lenses cracked, then shattered as there was a great burst of crimson energy, chunks of steel flying in all directions as Sombra leaned forwards and roared: “Mi amore! Do it now!” Cadence lunged forwards: she didn't even know where the strength came from as she charged across the room and up one long, ramp-like pillar of black stone that had pierced into the open chest cavity of the golem. She lunged forwards, through the smoke and the crackling electricity and the red flares of light, and for a single moment she saw everything, in perfect clarity: she saw herself, rushing forwards,  stained almost completely white now, and she saw the machine, suspended and helpless on black gemstone blades, a perfect machine that was now a victim of its master's hubris. Cadence's body glowed white, and then she smashed viciously into the core, driving into the red crystal... and ripping out the back of the golem in a great blast of red hellfire in the form of a glowing white bird, the phoenix shooting almost to the wall before veering sharply around and streaking back towards the golem. Electricity was already crackling over the machine as black blood leaked from shattered vials, corroding circuits and causing wires to burst into flames as the golem spasmed and blared feeble, useless alarms... and then the ivory phoenix smashed into the back of its head, ripping it loose from its shoulders and tossing the useless hunk of metal off to the side. There was a flash, and then the mare dropped to the ground in front of her father in her own form, breathing hard and trembling as she smiled faintly. Sombra looked at her for a moment, and then he gave a faint smile before whispering: “You saved me, mi amore. You saved us both.” Cadence began to open her mouth... and then her father crumpled forwards, and Cadence's eyes widened in horror before she leapt forwards, grabbing him around the neck and hugging him fiercely. She trembled violently, shaking her head as those awful red veins pulsed powerfully through his body, the mare whimpering before she whispered: “No, no, no... D-Daddy, no, we've come this far...” Sombra was silent, only breathing painfully in and out, and Cadence shook her head weakly again... before looking up in horror as there was a distinct buzzing sound before the portal ring swung slowly down, revolving so that the swirling vortex of energy faced Cadence and her father. The mare trembled violently, then gritted her teeth and staggered up to her hooves, not knowing if she was feeling strong or feeling numb, if she was alive or already dead on her hooves, if this was pure anger or pure fear twisting her stomach as a metal hoof pushed out of the portal. A massive, metallic shape slowly emerged from the vortex, and Cadence trembled violently, staring over it with horror. This was probably what the mechanical golem would have looked like if complete, a glorious steel construct that radiated a sense of invincibility, indestructibility... but this one was far more terrifying than the golem, because it wasn't a dragon's mechanical skull on its shoulders, but what looked like an actual pony's head. A mane of black cables and raw blue lightning sizzled around sallow features, with cold eyes that were rimmed with deep black, and Cadence felt a terrible sense of familiarity about this mare as the... the monster stepped forwards. “Get back! I destroyed one of Valthrudnir's toys already, and I'll... I'll kill you too if you take another step!” Cadence shouted furiously, stepping forwards and trembling hard. The mechanical mare looked down at her coldly for a moment, and then she gave a thin smile before saying contemptibly: “Valthrudnir is dead. And what you destroyed...” The mare reached up, and Cadence stared as some kind of strange, blue image appeared beside her, the mare tapping over this calmly before she said moodily: “Yes. You destroyed CK-7... an alpha-model prototype for the Clockwork King system that ran Decretum. Still... no normal pony could do that... but you're no normal pony, are you?” “Who... who are you?” Cadence whispered, trembling violently as the mare turned towards her... and then she flinched in surprise when she looked at that square of light floating beside the mechanical mare, seeing something on the translucent screen that she hadn't expected. “Why do you have a picture of me? What's-” “I'm assessing data. Shut up.” the strange creature said irritably, and Cadence gritted her teeth... before staring in shock as the golem-like pony muttered: “A remnant from Valhalla. I didn't think any of them were left...” “What... what are you talking about? I'm... how do you know...” Cadence trembled hard... then winced and looked over her shoulder, looking down at her father as Sombra gargled, then began to shiver violently, those awful red lines starting to spread further through his body. “D-Daddy, hold on, just hold on while-” Whatever else, this newcomer was surprisingly fast and silent. All Cadence saw was a shadow, and then she was seized by the skull, her head forcibly jerked back as the mechanical mare leaned over her, Cadence gritting her teeth but knowing there was nothing she could do as she felt a surge of magic... and then her eyes widened in shock as not pain, but warmth and energy spread through her body, the mechanical mare saying coldly: “I do not like pleasantries. I am Hecate, the new empress of Decretum. You are likely a Valkyrie or a demigoddess and therefore useful to me. Come with me.” Cadence mouthed wordlessly at this, and then she trembled before shaking her head violently, saying sharply: “I'm not going anywhere! Not without my father!” “Your father?” Hecate frowned at this, straightening and looking down at the dying stallion on the floor, and then she scowled before saying contemptibly: “No. That is not your father. That is nothing but a broken shell of a corrupted stallion, one that's already been incinerated from the inside out by a powerful charge of energy. He will die.” “No!” Cadence shouted, and Hecate looked at her with surprise before the winged unicorn leaned up and snapped: “I will not leave him behind! I don't care what you think, who you are, what you want or need... what I need is my father, the stallion who raised me, who Valthrudnir tried to turn into a monster but... he failed, because that is still my father, he is still inside him, and I won't leave him!” “I could take you by force.” Hecate said coldly, raising a claw as it sparked with electricity... but Cadence only grinned bitterly, setting herself and glaring challengingly up at the mare. “I'd like to see you try. You don't even know what I am... I came before the Valkyries. But my kind wasn't as pleasant to Odin's eyes.” Cadence almost spat, her horn sparking with energy even as part of her barely comprehended what she was saying, while the rest of her only knew it was true. There was silence for a few moments, and then Hecate gave a thin smile before nodding slowly and grudgingly. “Then we'll take him-” “And you'll help me save him. If you help me save him, I'll do anything you want.” Cadence said sharply, and Hecate glared at her before the winged unicorn said quietly: “You're very good at cloaking your emotions, but... I can feel them a little, all the same. For some reason... you want me. And I even get the feeling it's something I'd want to do... that I'd want to be a part of. You hate Valthrudnir and you want to protect the things that he tried to destroy-” “Don't presume to know me, or I'll leave you and your father here to die.” Hecate snapped, but there seemed to be a strange sort of appreciation in her eyes... maybe even an eagerness, as she nodded slowly and gestured to the thrumming portal ring behind her. “Pick him up and bring him with us. But I can already see you're as annoying as the Valkyries are. I just hope you're half as useful as well, or I might be tempted to kill you anyway.” “I've died at least four or five times now. I seem to have trouble staying dead.” Cadence muttered, but then she nodded quickly before turning and silently picking up her father, carefully shifting the stallion onto her back. Then she stopped and trembled as her mind settled, and instead of that old Swan Maiden, that vicious, cold warrior that rose up against anything that dared to threaten the people she cared for, the softer, gentler side of her silently took over, the winged unicorn looking up and asking quietly: “Can you really save him? Can you really...” Hecate only looked at her, and then she turned her eyes towards Sombra before giving a small, strange smile, reaching a single claw down to touch the stallion's cheek as she said quietly: “I'm sure it'll be a waste of my time and resources... but let's just say I take a certain pleasure in undoing Valthrudnir's plans. And I have yet to come across anything he's created that I could not destroy. “Now, enough dawdling, or your father will die and it will be your fault for wasting time. Let's go.” Hecate said contemptibly, suddenly cold again as she turned and strode towards the portal. As she vanished through, Cadence lingered for only a moment longer, swallowing thickly and tossing one last look over her shoulder... but she saw nothing here, except for ruins, and devastation, and the lonely head of the beaten golem, wreckage that laid upon wreckage. So, knowing no other choice, and that she didn't belong in the world above any more than she did in this world below, the mare strode forwards, hoping against hope that this new world would give both her and her father a place where they could finally belong, together.