Chapter Two: User-Unfriendly Interfaces
~BlackRoseRaven
Thorn looked uncomfortably up at Hecate as she tossed a pillow down on the floor, next to where she had already thrown a bedroll and a blanket. She scowled down at him, and he automatically shrank down under her intimidating gaze before she said distastefully: “I cannot afford doing this with you again, colt. Two hours is an extremely long time. I hope you are aware of that.”
“Yes Miss Hecate.” Thorn whispered, nodding quickly. He had been told by his parents to be on his very best behavior for Hecate, to be respectful and polite and do everything she asked him to do, and he planned to do absolutely that.
He didn't really know quite yet what to make of her: she was big and mean and strict, but that didn't necessarily mean she was a bad person. He had learned lots about good people and bad people from living in Helheim: he'd learned that sometimes it was the really nice people who you had to be afraid of, and it was the really mean people who would do anything to protect you. You just had to learn to look past how scary and loud they could often be.
Hecate was certainly mean. She was also very loud and ordered him around a lot. She blamed a lot of things on him and made him feel pretty bad. Thorn was honestly doing his very best, but it was hard to live up to Hecate's expectations when he didn't even know what she really expected of him. She just kept telling him that he was useless... although he guessed that to her, he kind of was.
But his parents had said that Hecate was a very good person, who was doing a very good thing for the worlds. She was also just very serious, and needed somepony in her life to help make her smile, and remind her that she was a good pony and that she didn't have to pretend to be so nasty all the time.
Thorn wished that he could have gone with his parents off on their adventure, but his parents had told him that he was doing a really important job here, too. And while he wasn't so young to believe that he really did have some super important job... all the same, it felt really really important to try and get through to Hecate. Or at the very least, to be there for her, and to make sure she knew that he was going to do everything he could for her, and she could trust him.
It was what the colt clung on to even when she upset him or scared him... and even though they had known each other for less than a day, he had spent pretty much all that time scared and upset. Hecate was bossy and seemed angry a lot, but she also seemed worried a lot, too, and he knew that when you were worried about something you always acted a little meaner, even if you didn't mean to.
And even if she wasn't being really nice about it, Hecate was still trying to make him more comfortable. She had been really mad about him not getting the sleeping stuff for his room, and she had spent all this time with him, making sure he was a little more comfortable. Sure, it wasn't much, but... even if Thorn had grown up in a mansion, he had also grown up in Helheim. He had spent some scary days learning... well... all kinds of things.
He lowered his head for a moment, then he looked quickly up as Hecate turned away, the colt blurting: “Thank you!”
Hecate paused in the doorway, then scowled over her shoulder at him before Thorn sat up and promised: “I'm not going to get in your way. I'll be good.”
The mechanical mare measured him with her eyes, and then she shook her head briefly before she said moodily: “Tell me that again after you get a job and start contributing to society, Thorn. Right now you are nothing but a drain on my resources.”
Thorn ducked his head, and then he trembled before saying suddenly: “I can work!”
Hecate laughed sourly at this, looking moodily at the colt before she asked contemptibly: “Really? I only accept the best of the best here, Thorn, while all the menial tasks are performed by machines. Machines do not tire and machines do not make mistakes, unlike little colts. Why should I trust you to do anything for me?”
Thorn ducked his head, trembling a little and looking back and forth, and Hecate simply looked down at him with derision before she started to turn... then halted as Thorn blurted: “I can be your assistant, though!”
“My assistant.” Hecate turned slowly around, looking down at Thorn with disgust. “Perhaps you fail to realize this, but this is not preschool or kindergarten. I am not your teacher or your friend or your mother. I do not have the time to indulge-”
“Nanny Hel made me do work for the Archives, though!” Thorn interrupted, and then he blushed deeply and dropped his head when Hecate frowned, cocking her head and looking down at him with surprise. “S-Sorry, Miss Hecate, I didn't mean to-”
“Enough apologizing. What do you mean, Hel had you work for the Archives?” Hecate asked slowly, and then she narrowed her eyes slightly. “You do understand that is very serious, correct, Thorn? I am somehow certain that-”
Thorn reached up and pointed at his ring, replying quickly: “But this is an Archive ring, see! Hel gave it to me because she said I was really good at helping keep things organized for her... why, she even brought me to Underdark and everything and gave it to me right in person, although...” Thorn blushed deeply, lowering his head. “Although I'm not supposed to talk about that.”
Hecate scowled at this, then she leaned forwards and asked cynically, putting her hands on her hips: “Oh, really? And tell me, what does Underdark look like? Where did you meet Hel?”
The colt shifted nervously, biting his lip for a moment, and Hecate began to smile thinly: she knew it. The colt was either lying or Hel had just played some stupid game with the colt's mind, there was no possible way- “It... it was white. White and very clean and there were all kinds of fancy screens, like you have here. Nanny Hel met me there... she didn't look much like her puppet, and she was really nice. She had a cane because she had trouble walking, and... and that's where I met the Lady of the Moon, too!”
Hecate stared in disbelief, her eyes widening as she mouthed wordlessly, as Thorn simply looked up at her with his innocent eyes. She didn't even know what to say as she stared down at the colt, who looked back up at her before he blushed and mumbled: “I... I don't know if I was supposed to tell you about that or not, though. But my parents... they said to trust you, Miss Hecate, so I... I think that means I should trust you with everything, right?”
The mechanical mare looked down silently at Thorn for a few moments, and then she shook her head shortly, quickly regaining her composure before she replied shortly: “No.”
Thorn dropped his head again, and Hecate reached up and rubbed slowly at her temple before she decided that the best thing she could do was simply... move forwards. If he really had helped out with the Archives in Helheim... “What were you trained to do?”
“I um... I fetched scrolls and stuff, and I made sure all the receipts were organized, and Mommy and Daddy taught me all about how to keep books in order in the library. And I checked dates and stuff too.” Thorn said, blushing a little and nodding quickly. “Nanny Hel asked me to do it a few years ago. She said it was a safe place for a little colt like me to go while Mommy and Móðer and Daddy all go to work.”
Hecate grunted, looking moodily at the colt: it was hard for her to fathom. Of all the things that they could have taught this little colt, apparently his parents had decided to make him a bookkeeper. Of course, he was particularly unexceptional from what she'd seen and detected so far: the most amazing thing about him was that he could be so boring and normal, considering both his heritage and the fact he had been raised in Helheim.
Maybe she wasn't being entirely fair, though: a colt handling duties in Helheim... well, it did have the ring of some twisted joke of Hel's. But at the same time, while Hel loved a good joke, she also wasn't the kind of person to risk allowing her Archives even a moment of respite or weakness...
So far, she also hadn't witnessed Thorn doing more than whimper and follow after her, either; while he had failed her impromptu test with the berserk cleaning drone, he also had still picked himself up, she supposed, and continued on his way with only a minimum of whining...
But Thesis had been sensitive, too, even if...
Hecate shook herself out shortly, then she turned her eyes back towards Thorn, studying him silently. He looked uncomfortably back at her, until Hecate finally said in a moody voice: “I don't just give out jobs, Thorn. I'll run an assessment on you. Come with me.”
Thorn blinked in surprise, and then he blushed and nodded hurriedly, scrambling up to his hooves and following the mare out the door. It almost slid closed on him, the colt squeaking as his long tail was nipped by the sliding door on the way out, and Hecate sighed tiredly as she looked over her shoulder, saying irritably: “Well, at least now I can already see that your reflexes and situational awareness both need work...”
The young colt whimpered a little and dropped his head, flushing in embarrassment, but Hecate simply turned her gaze back ahead, ignoring him as she walked onwards. Thorn followed quickly, not speaking, keeping his head down awkwardly, and Hecate snuck a glance over her shoulder at him before she forced herself to look ahead, asking for purely logistical reasons: “What do you know about your family, Thorn Blackfeather?”
Thorn looked uncomfortably up at Hecate, and then he bit his lip before he lowered his eyes and murmured: “I know I'm not supposed to talk about them, but... um... I guess it's okay if I talk to you, Miss Hecate, you're-”
“I see you're as naive as the rest of your family is.” Hecate said coldly, and Thorn winced a bit at this, looking uncomfortably up as Hecate shook her head in distaste. “No, you should not trust me out of hoof, Thorn. You should come to that decision on your own: whatever you might believe, your parents are not infallible. Your parents have made many mistakes. And one of their mistakes is that they left you here in my care, when I do not care about you at all.”
Thorn shrank a little more, trembling a bit, and they were silent as they made their way through the halls of the facility. Hecate paid little attention to Thorn: the only reason she looked back every now and then was to make sure that the little colt was following her still. He was quiet, whimpery... humiliated, but also... humble.
Hecate shifted as she felt a stripped gear catch in her steel breast, scowling as she absently flicked her mechanical fingers a few times until the sensation of imperfect parts interrupting precise rhythm faded. She would have to send this body in for repairs later: she didn't want her concentration and productivity hampered any further than it had already was.
The initiation room was empty, at least: not a surprise, since most of the Enlisted Outworlders were already all on duties around Decretum, and she hadn't sent out any recruiters for several months now. That was something else she would have to deal with at some point...
Thorn peeked out nervously from behind her, uncomfortably surveying the room: it looked like a massive gymnasium, where several sections of floor had raised to form a simple obstacle course. It was clean, but had an air of disuse about it, and Thorn bit his lip before he said apprehensively: “Miss Hecate, I... um, I don't know if...”
“Quiet.” Hecate said curtly, and Thorn dropped his head as the mechanical mare brought up a hand and gestured sharply to the side, calling up a holographic screen. Her eyes locked on this as a schematic appeared over the faint blue imaging, and then she tapped quickly across it before ordering: “Load new parameters.”
There were several loud clanks as several parts of the floor descended while other hidden panels opened and sections of flooring rose up and transformed. Thorn stared with amazement as the obstacle course quickly and smoothly changed, a slowly-revolving cylinder appearing here, a set of spinning platforms there, narrow bridges and even a large cable suspended between platforms...
“Go to the red line and wait for me to tell you to start. Then run this course. The par time is one minute for two laps.” Hecate said shortly, and Thorn stared at her in surprise before Hecate glared down at him. “Thorn, what have I said about repeating myself?”
“Y-Yes Miss Hecate!” Thorn nodded and hurried off to the starting line, trembling a bit as he looked out over the obstacle course: to him, it looked impossible to do even one lap in one minute...
Hecate, meanwhile, only scowled: Thorn hadn't even bothered to ask why she'd given the par time for two laps instead of just one. She was a little disappointed by that. But all the same, after a moment she gestured shortly to the colt, ordering: “Begin.”
Thorn made two mistakes immediately: first, he hesitated. Second, he scrambled, tripping all over his own hooves before he bolted down the track... and then he made his third error, underestimating his jump and tripping over the first hurdle to slam with a loud thunk face-first into the plate floor.
Thorn whimpered, and Hecate dropped her face in one claw with a tired sigh. Then she frowned as she heard another thunk, and she looked up with surprise to see Thorn, in spite of the fact that tears were flowing down his cheeks and he was whimpering steadily, he was all the same already scrambling up the steep incline past the second hurdle.
One of Hecate's eyes flashed as the biometric lens implanted over it activated, scanning Thorn sharply: she detected an elevated heartrate, emotional disturbance, minor injuries in the form of scrapes, a nosebleed, and he had bruised the bone in his muzzle... but he was still moving forwards.
Hecate watched, frowning deeper and crossing her arms and studying him intently. Thorn hit the spinning cylinder... and after about two steps, he was flung off it, landing with a loud thunk headfirst on the metal plates. He yelped and grabbed at his skull, rolling back and forth, whimpering, and Hecate was sure that the colt was going to burst into tears... but after only a few moments, he crawled to his hooves and staggered onwards, his gait smoothing out after a few moments to a ladder that led up to the other side of the cylinder, crawling his way back onto the obstacle course.
He stumbled at the edge of the platform and almost went off again, but managed to get himself onto the narrow balance beam and crawl his way carefully along it. By now, more than a minute had passed, and he wasn't half done the first lap of the obstacle course, Hecate's scowl still on her face... but watching intently as the little colt approached the spinning platforms that formed a set of steps leading to the zipline.
He crawled onto one, then whimpered as it dragged him slowly around in a circle, the revolutions not enough to fling him off, but more than enough to disorient him. Hecate watched as Thorn barely managed to drag himself on top of the next platform without being flung off, before he jumped up onto the last... and then Hecate winced ever so slightly as her scans picked up a new reading a moment before Thorn leaned forwards and vomited loudly.
The colt stumbled, slipped in his own throw-up, and Hecate tensed slightly... but then the the colt flung himself sideways and landed with a thunk on the top platform, beneath the rope. Thorn gasped for breath, then coughed several times and whimpered in his throat before he picked himself up with shaky legs and crawled towards the line, staring up at it.
It was too high for him to reach, so Thorn turned his eyes towards the pole that supported it and grabbed on to this, crawling up it. He slipped and trembled, but all the same, he managed to climb it... it was just a long, arduous climb for him.
Thorn took to the rope, hanging upside down from it with a whimper by all four hooves as he coughed and spat several times, then he hurriedly crossed it. This, at least, he managed well... except just before he reached the other side, he trembled before vomiting again, and Hecate sighed tiredly as she rubbed slowly at her face... then she tensed again as Thorn lost his grip with his rear hooves.
Her eyes widened and her horn sparked as one of Thorn's front hooves slipped off the line, the colt gasping and whimpering before he looked ahead... and Hecate watched with surprise as the colt flung himself forwards towards the edge of the platform-
He missed landing on it by an inch, slamming into the side of it and scrabbling wildly at the edge of the platform, Thorn's eyes bulging before his hooves lost their purchase and he fell backwards-
A bubble appeared around the colt a moment before he hit the ground, leaving him suspended harmlessly above the steel floor, and Thorn blinked a few times before he looked back and forth in surprise. And Hecate sighed tiredly, shaking her head slowly before she crossed her mechanical arms as her vision returned to normal and the screen vanished from in front of her.
The bubble floated across the obstacle course and came to a halt in front of the Empress of Decretum, who looked moodily down at Thorn as he rasped quietly for breath, then gave her a shaky smile, whispering: “I'm... I'm sorry.”
“I hate repeating myself, Thorn.” Hecate said contemptibly, but her eyes flicked to the side: sorry... he was sorry? Stupid colt... “Well, you left the course incomplete after a running time of more than three minutes. Furthermore, you damaged the equipment and even managed to injure yourself. Needless to say, I am left... unimpressed.”
Thorn lowered his head in shame, and there was silence for a few moments before Hecate said abruptly: “We will come back tomorrow.”
The colt looked up at her in surprise, and Hecate looked fearlessly down at him before she said shortly: “You are useless to me like this. I don't know what kind of spoiled, special life you led in Helheim, but it ends here and now. You are going to run this obstacle course every single day, again and again, until you can complete it in par time. I only hope for your sake, Thorn, you weren't lying to me about your other training.”
Thorn nodded hurriedly, then he said quickly: “I... I wasn't! I can show you right now, I'll-”
“Shut up.” Hecate said shortly, and Thorn whimpered and shrank back in the telekinetic bubble before Hecate sighed and flicked her hand. The colt yelped as the bubble vanished and he was rudely dropped with a thump on his stomach before the mare said moodily: “Your second assessment can wait. For now, let's take you to the medical bay. You're... you are not at standard operating capacity.”
Hecate turned, scowling and flexing a hand as she resisted the urge to rub at her face. What the hell was she doing? Why was she wasting her time with this colt? He wasn't anything special, and she was wasting her time. He had mangled the obstacle course he'd just run, proving that his parents had barely trained him: why, when he had been a foal, Thesis had set the record for a course just like this...
Thesis is dead. Leave him in the past.
Hecate strode towards the door, scowling darkly as she hammered the button to open it. She didn't look back over her shoulder as she strode quickly out into the hallway... but she had to admit, she was a little surprised that Thorn was stumbling along right at her heels. He was tenacious... she could at least give him credit for that.
There was a medical station located right around the corner from the obstacle course: Hecate somehow had no doubt that they were going to be seeing a lot of this place. She shoved the sliding door open, then reached down and picked Thorn up by the scruff of the neck, the colt yelping as he was carried inside.
A pale gold unicorn looked up in surprise, then stared as Hecate simply thrust Thorn towards her, the mechanical mare saying irritably: “Fix him.”
“Uh...” The unicorn awkwardly put the clipboard she had been levitating beside her aside, then gently scooped up Thorn in her magic, Hecate crossing her arms and glowering down at the unicorn. Thorn smiled meekly up at the new pony, studying her nervously: her mane was a mix of browns and drawn back in a ponytail, and her eyes were a gentle hazel, studying the colt with gentle interest before she said softly: “Hello there. You are a little beaten up, huh? Well, my name is-”
“Peridot Glimmer, former second-class healer for the Equestrian National Army, fled into exile after being targeted for assassination. We aren't here to hear your life story.” Hecate said moodily, and Peridot winced and shrank her head a bit before the mechanical mare pointed at Thorn. “Repair him.”
The unicorn sighed a little, and then she turned her eyes towards Thorn, studying the colt as she gently turned him back and forth in her telekinetic hold before she closed her eyes. Soft light spilled over his body, and Thorn squirmed before he winced a little as he felt first stinging pain... then a pleasant warmth and a funny itchiness as his wounds slowly but steadily healed.
He smiled brightly up at her as she set him gently down after a moment, the mare smiling tenderly before Hecate said shortly: “Thorn. Enough wasting time.”
Thorn dropped his head immediately, wincing and turning around, and Peridot frowned a little as she looked up at Hecate. But before she could speak, Hecate glared at her and said shortly: “You were enlisted because of your talents as a healer, not for any other purpose. Before you speak, I recommend you bear that in mind.”
Peridot winced and lowered her head, then she sighed and nodded. Hecate scowled... then frowned as Thorn rose a hoof, staring up at her imploringly.
Hecate looked moodily back, then rubbed slowly at her face before asking tiredly: “What?”
Thorn smiled up at her, then he turned around and bowed his head to Peridot, saying shyly: “Thank you for helping me. Miss Hecate is testing me right now, that's all. She's just trying to make sure she treats me like everyone else.”
Peridot looked with surprise at Thorn, and for a moment, Hecate felt her face blank in disbelief: but just as Thorn started to turn around, she hurriedly recomposed herself before saying irritably: “Thorn, I do not need a little colt running to my defense. If you ever overstep your bounds like this again, I will have you locked in your room for a full month. Do you understand?”
Thorn blushed as he turned around and nodded, blurting: “S-Sorry! But if I'm going to be your assistant-”
“You are not going to be my assistant!” snapped Hecate, glaring down at the colt, and he winced... before Hecate looked up sourly as Peridot giggled behind a hoof, the mechanical mare saying disgustedly: “Enough. Get back to work, I want a full inventory of your station and operations report done within forty hours.”
“I'll give it to your assistant.” Peridot said mischievously, winking at Thorn, and he giggled a little from behind one of Hecate's legs as Hecate rolled her eyes. “Don't worry, Lady Hecate. It'll be done, I promise.”
Hecate only grunted, then she turned around and booted Thorn out into the hall, the colt yelping and skidding along on his rump before the mechanical mare stomped out after him, gesturing sharply to the colt. “Come.”
Thorn nodded hurriedly, then he blushed and skittered quickly after her as Peridot stepped out into the hall, smiling amusedly as she leaned out and gazed with interest after the two. They certainly made an odd pair... but it was hard to miss the way that Hecate slowed her pace to let Thorn hurry along at her heel, even if the mechanical mare herself hardly seemed aware of it.
But then again, everyone knew that under her steel shell, there was still the heart of a princess in there somewhere.
Hecate stood calmly in Central Processing, her hands behind her back as she stood on the Overseer's Platform: designed much like the bridge of a warship, this platform allowed Hecate to look down over her soldiers and see everything that was going on at once. Right now, it was only crewed by Worker Drones, who were assembling some of the computer banks and raising monitors into place.
But that wasn't to say there wasn't still plenty to be done. Hecate watched as Thorn bolted from place-to-place, the mechanical mare tapping her fingers meditatively against the glass control panel in front of her as he sorted computer cards between racks. Right now, most of these cards were just placeholders: blank data chips and empty storage units.
Still, Thorn was doing well. And while his magic was weak... it was very steady. He was putting out a very precise, and very controlled amount of energy... not just for a colt, but even were he an adult it would have been impressive.
He was a lot different than... any colt she could think of. Mature, responsible, and very organized. She imagined that came from his mother... and maybe a little bit from his father, too. His father had always liked a peculiar organization: she remembered seeing their kitchen, how everything had its own cluttered arrangement.
She smiled briefly as Thorn yanked out another card, darting back to a shelf. She had given him complex instructions: every second letter belonged on shelf B, unless it had a serial number that ended in an odd digit: then it went on shelf A. However, if it had an equal value to another card when the letter and the serial number were added together – such as A1001 and B1000 – then they remained on shelf B, but were sorted backwards.
Since they were all blank cards, their sorted order didn't actually matter all that much. But Hecate figured she would let Thorn continue to scuttle around for now while she monitored how he did. So far, he had only misplaced two cards: considering there were more than five hundred and he had sorted about a fifth of them, that wasn't bad at all.
The mechanical mare let her features soften a little: up here, she could gaze down at him, but he would have to crane his head all the way back to look up at her, and the colt was far too engrossed in his work to pay her any attention. He was doing his hardest to prove himself to her... she supposed she could appreciate that.
Thesis... never would have been able to do this.
Hecate was tempted to shove the thought away... but after a moment of quiet and a short glance away, she instead sighed softly and shook her head, looking silently down at the colt as she examined the thought in her mind instead of pushing it away. No, Thesis had been exceptional in just about every way: handsome, strong, incredibly intelligent... but he'd also been a complete idiot.
She pictured her son in her mind, closing her eyes, studying the mental image as carefully and hesitantly as she'd study a piece of jagged glass, or a bird that at any moment might peck, or claw, or try to fly away. Yes, she could remember every detail of him, so clearly: his lineless, smooth coat, and his perfectly-kept mane, and his ivory eyes... eyes that had once been so expressive, so warm and emotional, so... happy...
She had been so stupid. The dragon had just been observing them, watching the way they lived and died, the way they played, and the way they fought. The war with the griffins had just given the dragon something else to observe, amuse himself with... and of course, Thesis growing up during a time of war, that had turned out to be optimal for the dragon's sick plans...
She remembered her son: Thesis, a Prince, and an earth pony... and yet the first chance he'd gotten, he'd joined the Royal Guard. He had started as a knight, but soon become a commander of his own forces. How the soldiers had praised him, cheered him on, she remembered...
Hecate smiled faintly and closed her eyes... and Princess Celestia opened them in the past, gazing at her son. A grinning teenager, handsome and excitable, amiable and charming. He had plenty of friends, but he was shy around mares, even if as Prince and recently-dubbed Commander of the 732nd Brigade, he certainly had no shortage of suitors.
“So I heard they're calling you Lightning Hoof now.” Celestia remarked, stepping down from her throne and striding across the room towards her son. They traded a tight hug, and she nuzzled him affectionately, making Thesis grumble a little... but he didn't pull away at her motherly affection, either. Not even when she began to absently brush out his mane. “Look at you. You haven't showered yet, have you?”
“Well, I did, but then the colts were running some training drills, so I decided to join them,” Thesis replied with a shrug, smiling lamely up at his mother before he winced when she licked a hoof and carefully scrubbed a bit of dirt from his cheek, the stallion blushing deeply as one of the Dervishes guarding the throne room snickered. “Mom...”
Princess Celestia only gave him an amused look, saying mildly: “Now if you didn't want to be reminded that you're always going to be my little colt, Thesis, you would have showered again before coming to meet me. Now, let's take a look at you.”
She stepped back, studying the stallion thoughtfully even as Thesis awkwardly squirmed away from her, saying lamely: “Actually, I only came here because you asked for my presence. Something about a diplomatic mission...”
“We'll get to that in a moment, Thesis, I'm looking at you.” Celestia said mildly, leaning forwards and gazing pointedly at him, and Thesis sighed before he straightened and smiled wryly. After a moment, he did a little spin for her, and Celestia smiled and nodded at him, satisfied.
He was strong, tall, and handsome. He was a champion athlete, well-respected by the nation, charismatic and good with ponies. He was friendly, and she could be proud of him: not just because he had grown into such a strong stallion, but because he was loyal, and he was compassionate, and he was everything she had ever hoped to see in her child... and more.
He had no cutie mark, and sure, there were plenty of rumors always flying around about him... but Thesis only smiled at the harsh words and the gossip, and courteously bowed his head to the dissenters and the critics. He was confident, without arrogance; he was proud, without being prideful. He didn't focus on his past, or on the dark clouds or the negative attention: he had his eyes locked firmly on the future and what he wanted from life, and nothing was going to distract him from that.
“Would you be willing to undertake a diplomatic mission for me to the griffin nation?” Celestia asked softly, and Thesis' eyes widened in surprise before the ivory mare smiled. “You're young, and yes, you're an earth pony, and the griffins still think of earth ponies as 'slave hoofs.' But you are also Prince, and a hero to Equestria. The griffins will be rude, of course, but they respect you.”
Thesis bit his lip for a moment, studying his mother silently, the Princess meeting his eyes before she gave another brief smile. “You won't go alone. We may have a tenuous ceasefire right now, but I'm very well aware this could be another griffin ambush... which is another part of why I would like you to go, Thesis. I'm confident that you can take care of yourself in the event of a fight. And you know that I... find fighting difficult.”
“Of course, Mom... I mean, Princess Celestia.” Thesis saluted, smiling briefly before he asked hesitantly: “What about... you know, going together? I don't think the griffins would dare attack us if we were both present...”
“Unfortunately, I think the opposite would be true. They're already scared of us, Thesis: it's out of fear of our growing strength that the griffins felt they had to attack us, after all.” Celestia replied gently, gesturing towards him. “That's what drove the griffins to attacking us, and to trying to develop their own super-weapons, while they made treaties with the dragons and other ancient enemies of our nation. If we both were present...”
“They would be afraid that we were there to attack them. They would want to strike first.” Thesis finished, and Celestia nodded. The earth pony bit his lip, and then he frowned a little, and Celestia waited for him to work out the rest of the riddle before he said slowly: “You're worried that if you went, they would attack you. You're concerned that they might attack me, too, but the chances are much lower, because I would be an envoy. There's a much costlier risk-reward ratio.”
Celestia smiled and nodded, silently congratulating her child with her gaze as she said: “And while my every instinct says to keep my son safe, I also know that I can trust you with this. I can trust you to lead ponies into possible danger, and then escape alive, with as many lives as possible intact. Besides... I know that I should trust you with this. I've been promising to try and give you more duties for years now, haven't I?”
Thesis smiled after a moment at this, bowing his head forwards and replying softly: “You have, Mother. And I would... I would be honored to carry this out with you, even if I'm... more than a little nervous, too.”
Celestia smiled again, reaching up to touch his shoulder gently before she said softly: “No one can blame you for that, Thesis. And I'm honestly glad to hear that you are: if you weren't, well... it might mean that you didn't understand the gravity of this task.”
Thesis laughed softly, then he bowed his head forwards. Celestia saw something, a subtle shift, a change... and when Thesis rose his head, it was the hollow-eyed puppet her son had become who looked back at her, the stallion saying coldly: “You have been given an order, Queen Celestia. Do not make me repeat myself.”
Thesis slapped her hoof away as he stood up, memory twisting on itself as the pistons emerged from his back, as the world around them darkened... and Celestia gritted her teeth, caught in the strings of memory and helpless to do anything but take a step back, then raise her head and rasp: “Enough, Thesis! I don't care what his orders are! I will not hand over the crown of Equestria to him without a fight, do you understand?”
“Parameters accepted.” Thesis replied coldly, and then he reached up and seized Celestia by the throat, choking her, pushing her backwards as his eyes flashed and the pistons on his back began to pump. “You are not a military unit, Celestia, you are-”
“Enough!” Celestia roared, seizing Thesis' forelegs with steel hooves and wrenching them loose. Thesis' eyes widened in shock, and then he cried out as metal foreleg slammed into his face, knocking him down on his side and sending him skidding across the room with a scream of steel-on-steel. “I am still your mother, Thesis, and I am more than a match for you!”
Celestia leaned forwards and snarled, her ragged mane hanging around her face, her eyes glowing with fury as she felt the machinery over her body sizzling and crackling, rubbery flesh flexing, chemicals pumping through her veins and insulated tubing and feeding her rage and strength as poisonous steam vented out of her mutilated body. She was a monster, an experiment gone wild and wrong... but even if Thesis was supposed to be some perfect 'Replicant,' she knew she was more powerful than he was.
And in some deep, hidden away part of her psyche, some piece of the old Princess Celestia pleaded with the hatred and the anger and the contempt that made up the rest of her tortured existence to save Thesis. To grant him the mercy he had been denied so many times by the dragon and others; that if she couldn't get through to his fractured mind, she could at least give him the merciful death that he deserved...
Thesis began to get up, his features losing their emotion, his eyes narrowing... but was there something more in them? Was that a tremble in his otherwise perfect body, his mechanical stance? Celestia didn't know, and at this point, she didn't care, either: Thesis had gone through so many brainwashing and reprogramming sequences by this point that she knew he was insane, he was lost, that even if there were still remnants of his old self somewhere inside his mind... the only true mercy she could give him was a quick death.
She began to open her mouth... and she was cut off by laughter, both of the Clockwork Ponies freezing up and looking sharply towards the open doors as a figure strode down the hall towards them, calling mockingly: “Now, what's this? Another mother-son quarrel? But I suppose animals will always struggle for dominance against one another when left to their own devices...”
Celestia's eyes blazed even as Thesis only dropped his head, glaring furiously at the dragon. His perfect suit a perfect fit, perfect teeth in a perfect smile, perfect scales with their perfect luster... and his childish amber eyes that were filled with spite, and meanness, and pure and simple cowardice...
There were a hundred thousand things she wanted to say to this monster who had strolled into their world in the guise of a friend, but all Celestia could do was roar his name and let her tone speak for her...
“Valthrudnir...” Hecate whispered, and then she shook her head shortly before she glanced down... and sighed softly as she saw she'd crushed part of the steel railing around the Overseer's Platform in one steel hand.
She was silent for a moment, then she carefully released this... then she flinched in surprise as Thorn said quietly: “Mutt and Dad told me a lot about him.”
Hecate almost spun around, but caught herself even as she turned, making surprise into a glare as she asked shortly: “Are you done?”
Thorn winced a bit, but to her surprise, he then hurriedly nodded: “Yes, Miss Hecate! It should all be organized!”
The mechanical mare scowled moodily, then she turned back around and tapped on the glass panel, bringing the readout screen back up... and after a moment, she frowned in surprise. Five cards were misplaced... but the rest were in the correct rack. The order was a little skewed here and there thanks to the misplaced cards, but otherwise...
Hecate turned back around, scowling down at Thorn, who smiled lamely back up at her before he winced when Hecate said moodily: “You misplaced five cards. Go and find them, and put them in their correct positions. Rearrange the racks perfectly. You have fifteen minutes.”
Thorn winced, then he turned and scurried off, and Hecate watched the colt bolt away before she gave a thin smile. Well, he was getting better at listening, at least...
It took Thorn a little over twenty minutes to rearrange the cards properly, but Hecate decided it was... adequate. He'd done better than she'd expected, in any event, and she supposed there was some merit in that alone.
Thorn looked lamely up at her as he trotted back in front of her, lowering his head a little and clearly aware that he'd taken more time than he'd been given... which meant he was at least decent at processing the flow of time. Then again, Helheim ran on a very set schedule, which meant he should be able to... “Thorn, tell me how long you took.”
“Twenty-one minutes and thirty-two seconds.” Thorn replied immediately, looking up with a blush before he dropped his head. “Sorry.”
“Twenty-one two, actually.” Hecate said dryly, and Thorn blushed a little.
“Sorry.” he apologized again. “I forgot, we always add thirty seconds in Helheim to any job we do. Nanny Hel always says that time is punishment.”
Hecate smiled wryly at this, then she shook her head slowly before muttering: “Something that Hel and I can actually agree on. I suppose wonders will never cease.”
She paused, then scowled down at Thorn as he looked uncomfortably up at her, before the mechanical mare added grouchily: “And what have I told you about apologizing? Stop wasting both our time with that. If you're really sorry, Thorn, then you'll do better next time. Understood?”
“Yes, Miss Hecate.” Thorn nodded quickly, blushing and saluting the mechanical mare awkwardly before he dropped his head a little and murmured: “It's just that... I was taught you should always try and take responsibility for your mistakes. And you should always... try and make it up to someone. I know I can't make it up to you with an apology alone, Miss Hecate, but I want you to know when I know I did something wrong and... I'm gonna do better.”
Hecate looked down at Thorn for a few moments, and then she sighed a little before saying with a surprising gentility: “I don't need to hear that you're sorry to know that, Thorn.”
Thorn looked up at her with a blush and a smile... and then he winced when the mare said moodily: “But enough. It's growing late. It's time for sleep. We'll start again tomorrow.”
“Yes, Miss Hecate.” Thorn said quickly, nodding to her respectfully, and Hecate looked at the colt moodily before she finally shrugged and turned, striding away. Maybe he wasn't going to be the most useful asset in the world... but at least it seemed like maybe, just maybe, this colt wouldn't be entirely a liability after all.