Hecate's Orphanage

by BlackRoseRaven

Creating An Answer

Chapter Twelve: Creating An Answer
~BlackRoseRaven

“Again.”

Muse looked up tiredly, but the Replicant nodded gamely after a moment even as Necrophage bounced towards Thorn, saying worriedly: “I dunno, my big sister looks really worn out! Maybe you could give her a second to-”

“She has to go again.” Thorn said patiently but firmly, and Necrophage whined a little in her throat, dancing on the spot, but then she dropped her hooves flat and nodded, even as she lowered her head a little.

But Muse only smiled reassuringly at her sister before she looked up, taking a slow breath as she lifted the crystal orb beside her back into the air. It floated silently around her head as she closed her eyes, concentrating on it, and Thorn watched calmly from the side of the empty training room: normally it was used for sparring, but in this case, the break-proof walls and heavy matting served a better purpose.

The tall, gorgeous mare gritted her teeth as the runes engraved over the surface of the glassy orb began to glow faintly. It thrummed for a moment, and then the large, cube-shaped weight in front of the mare began to tremble as a ghostly aura surrounded it.

The cube slowly began to lift into the air, and Thorn watched intently. Muse was already sweating though, her eyes clenched shut, her whole body quaking with effort as he wheezed in and out, the runed sphere orbiting around her beginning to shake violently-

The cube and the glass orb both dropped, the cube shaking the entire room and sinking back into the mattress, the runed sphere bouncing away, harmless and unharmed. Muse herself only managed to stand for a moment longer before she collapsed forwards, breathing hard in and out.

Necrophage immediately bolted to her sister's side, while Thorn quickly jotted down several notes across his clipboard. He looked up at the sisters as Necrophage babbled both praises and concerns, and for a moment, Thorn considered having Muse run the exercise again: she was shaky, sure, but both her mental and physical recovery were quick, and it looked like she was already starting to come around...

“Muse, you're dismissed for today. Good work.” Thorn said after a moment, and Muse looked up with a small smile, looking at the stallion almost bashfully. “Necrophage, I'll need your help to move this block back.”

“No problem, Thorn!” Necrophage said happily, giving both the stallion and her sister bright smiles. “You okay to walk, sis?”

“I'm fine, thank you.” Muse said softly, nodding and giving a small smile. “And thank you as well, Thorn. It means a lot to be given this chance.”

The stallion simply shrugged before gesturing to dismiss her, and Muse bowed her head politely before she headed to the door. Thorn finished making his notes as the Replicant let herself out, before he sighed as he looked at Necrophage, who smiled happily up at him. “Thanks, Thorn!”

Thorn knew it was a bad idea to ask, but all the same he couldn't help but do so, regretful as his tone was: “For what?”

Necrophage giggled, then bounced on her hooves before exclaiming: “For being so good to my sister, silly!” She leaned forwards, winking slowly. “Don't worry, though, I won't tell anypony that you're a big softie!”

Thorn sighed in exasperation again, and then he pointed at the cube: although it wasn't that big, it was made of lodestone, a substance that both held incredible mass and was magic-resistant. “Do you need help moving that?”

The mare leapt over to the block, almost tackling it before she grunted and wheezed, barely managing to rock it back and forth. Then she stopped and cleared her throat before looking lamely over at Thorn. “Um. Yes please.”

The stallion sighed once more, and then he gestured at her to step away. Necrophage hopped backwards, then smiled when Thorn reached out and grasped the handle on top of the block of lodestone with his mechanical hoof, the pistons already beginning to pump to life on his shoulder as he muttered: “Alright. Get in position.”

Necrophage happily bounded around in a circle and dropped low, and Thorn took a breath before he gritted his teeth and slowly hefted the lodestone block up, his mechanical limb whirring loudly as he breathed slowly, carefully turning and setting it down on Necrophage's back as gently as he could.

The Replicant wheezed loudly under the weight, but then she grunted and straightened slowly, grinning over her shoulder at Thorn as he released it completely and looked at her apprehensively. Necrophage winked at him, however, then she proudly started to march towards the door, her stocky little legs trembling only slightly as she declared: “Up the hall and to the right!”

“Uh. Right.” Thorn said after a moment, following after the Replicant with a sigh as he quickly picked up the fallen glass sphere. He floated the augmentation charm beside him as he followed after Necrophage slowly: normally he wouldn't take his time with an equipment check and return like this, but in this case...

They made their way down the hall, and Thorn slipped ahead of the Replicant to open the door for her. Necrophage giggled and wheezed out what was probably a 'thank you' as she carried the lodestone block into the special equipment storage room.

Thorn followed her in, then he sighed as he saw Necrophage struggling to try and shrug the block back into its rack, the stallion shaking his head before he strode over and reached up to gently grasp the handle. His mechanical leg rumbled, the pistons on his shoulder hissing quietly as he carefully hefted it off the Replicant and placed it back down in the open slot.

Necrophage smiled at him happily, and Thorn looked at her for a moment before he gave a small smile in return. Then he headed over to another wall to replace the crystalline orb back in its own safe container, gently closing the wooden box it fit into before he turned-

Thorn winced backwards as Necrophage smiled up at him brightly, standing uncomfortably close to him. He frowned at her, but then the mare leaned forwards and asked excitedly: “Well? Are you going to come and see Cowlick too?”

“I don't think so. There's a lot of work to do, Necrophage. We have some strange reports coming in lately.” Thorn said finally, wedging his clipboard carefully between them as he grimaced down at the Replicant. “But you're right. You should go.”

Necrophage nodded a few times, but she only continued to stand in one place, looking up at him curiously. Thorn looked back at her for a few moments, and then he finally asked, even though he already knew he wasn't going to like the answer: “What is it?”

Necrophage smiled at him, but it was a gentler smile this time as she leaned in and asked quietly: “Thorn, um... what was it like to have your parents back for a while?”

Thorn frowned at her, and Necrophage scraped a hoof against the floor before she looked up at him with earnest, honest eyes, saying: “I think we're great friends, and you've just been... really sad and confused lately, if you don't mind me saying so, sir. And um... I was just curious about it, especially because of all the great wonderful time you're letting me spend with my sister, and I've been wondering a lot about my own parents and so I was wondering... what it's like for you and if you want to talk about it, because maybe if you tell me about it, you'll feel better, and I'll get answers too!”

The stallion sighed at this, but he visibly softened before he glanced down and rubbed awkwardly at his forehead. He didn't know how to reply, really, but Necrophage was looking at him so curiously, and... oh hell, he had ten minutes.

“It was wonderful, but at the same time... it was hard, and I never got to say everything I wanted to, and I'm left with a lot of worries about...” Thorn silently touched his mechanical forelimb, and then he shook his head and murmured: “Worries and fears are pointless, though. And while I can't break happiness and enjoyment down very well into amount or logical equation, Necrophage...”

Thorn bit his lip, looking at the Replicant for a moment as he wondered what he should tell her. She looked back at him with her naive eyes, bouncing a bit on her hooves and smiling happily at him, wanting to hear what he had to say, treating his word like he was departing some kind of great wisdom or doing some great favor for her...

He shifted a bit, then smiled a little as he looked off to the side, murmuring: “But my parents love me, Necrophage, and I'm lucky to be here, and lucky that I have so many good ponies in my life. I know that I might seem... alien to a lot of ponies and I don't... talk much... but... I guess I'm trying harder to open up more. And I...” Thorn shrugged a little, then he forced himself to look at Necrophage as he said in what was almost a mumble: “You... you are a friend.”

The mare's eyes widened slightly at this, and then she bounced giddily on her hooves before suddenly springing forwards and hugging him around the neck, making the stallion wince: for such a tiny little mare she was sure as hell strong. “Oh, thank you, Thorn! You're my bestest friend too!”

“Necrophage. Please.” Thorn mumbled, and the Replicant giggled loudly before she nodded and drew quickly back, hopping on the spot and smiling happily at him as Thorn only sighed, but then he smiled a little after a moment at her and nodded hesitantly once.

Necrophage nodded firmly back, and then she looked down for a moment before suddenly looking up, asking: “Does that mean I can talk to you about things, too?”

“I... yes, I suppose.” Thorn said after a moment, even though he already felt wary about what exactly that might leave him open to.

The Replicant looked up at him happily, however, and admittedly Thorn liked that look in her eyes before he blinked in surprise as she asked: “Do you think a mommy and daddy would have loved me and my sister if we had a mommy and daddy?”

Thorn frowned a little, and Necrophage looked at him, bouncing from hoof-to-hoof as she said brightly: “Well, you know, it's just that I guess that well Valthrudnir was sort of our not-daddy-daddy, but he was always really mean to Muse and never let her do anything, and he said I was a big failure, so big a failure that he had those nodes implanted in my brain to make my emotions turn off when anyone says 'emotions off!'”

Necrophage immediately halted in mid-bounce, going still and silent, her eyes immediately losing their glow of happiness and her expression dropping into cold neutrality. Thorn sighed a little, before he looked up as the mare said calmly and quietly: “It just seems logical that we are unwanted children. We were merely experimental models, which paled in comparison to Prince Thesis and the Class V Series. I feel our parents would desire higher-functioning Replicants as well, not damaged and inferior machinery.”

“Emotions on.” Necrophage blinked and bounced happily, opening her mouth, but she was cut off as Thorn said curtly: “You are not machinery and therefore not obsolete. I will not tolerate you saying those things, and you should not tolerate it from yourself, either.”

The Replicant blushed a bit, and Thorn sighed before he said quietly: “And I would like to believe your parents would love you both. You would not be a... a 'Replicant' to them, any more than you are a construct or anything of that sort to me. You are you. You would be their daughter, not their drone. Likewise, you are a servant of Decretum, yes, and I am in charge of overseeing you and ensuring your productivity, but... you are also a person to me. You're as real as I am.”

Thorn reached up with his mechanical leg to touch the mare, and then he halted and looked at this, before murmuring: “Maybe more real.”

The stallion stopped, then cleared his throat and shook his head quickly. “That's enough for today, Necrophage. You need to go down and see Cowlick now, and I have a job of my own to get to.”

Necrophage smiled brightly and nodded, bouncing happily towards the door. Thorn followed behind her, before he winced when the Replicant said brightly: “Hi there, Queen Hecate! I'm on my way to work.”

“Good. Keep walking.” Hecate said moodily, and the Replicant giggled before bouncing onward. She stopped at the elevator, however, spinning around to wave brightly at Thorn as the stallion stood lamely in front of the mechanical goddess, uncomfortably waving back before he turned an embarrassed look towards the Empress of Decretum.

Hecate looked at him for a moment, and then she simply rolled her eyes before saying moodily: “At this point I don't even care. I also don't know if she's better or worse than Moonflower.”

Thorn shrugged lamely, and Hecate looked at him for a moment longer before she gestured irritably to the side. The stallion fell in step behind her, and as they walked through the steel halls, Hecate explained calmly: “Something very powerful was detected, seemingly searching for Decretum. Because of the extra precautions I've taken, it wasn't able to actually lock in on our location, but it has an idea about where we are now, and possibly that Decretum is active.”

“What do we know about it? Has Seneschal been instructed to run any tests?” Thorn began to create a holographic screen, but Hecate reached down and gently touched him, making him frown a bit and look up at her uncertainly. “Queen Hecate?”

Hecate stopped in the middle of the hallway, and then she shook her head shortly, her eyes flickering with uncertainty before they hardened again, her face once more hidden beneath her cold mask as she said shortly: “Seneschal is an idiot. I deferred my own tasks to the AI program to deal with. Once we have the results from the simulations and calculations, I'll examine the data myself.”

“You have a feeling.” Thorn said quietly, and Hecate looked down at him icily for a moment, but Thorn saw through her mask. The slight twitch, the way she shifted... “Why don't we just contact Hel directly and ask her what's going on?”

“Hel is insane. She's less insane these days than she once was, but she's still very much insane, and an agent of chaos.” Hecate replied moodily, walking onward, and Thorn quickly followed at her side, studying the mare until she added in a lower voice: “And while I don't believe she would be stupid and infantile enough to let another situation develop as it did with Gymbr and the Pious... Hel also has plenty of reasons to not want to leap at shadows and suspicions. She plays her cards close, as do I. And I'm sure right now she's trying to decide whether she should wait to save the day or hope that we end up being destroyed.”

Thorn grimaced at this, looking uncertainly at Hecate before he asked her slowly: “You didn't show her-”

“I showed her Ithavoll.” Hecate said shortly, and Thorn winced before the Empress of Decretum said contemptibly: “The best weapon is one you never have to use, Thorn.”

“Except you do intend to use Ithavoll.” Thorn said quietly, and Hecate smiled thinly, but the stallion only shook his head and sighed a little, muttering: “I'm not trying to argue. I'm just... trying to make sense of all of it.”

The two passed into an elevator, and as the doors slid closed, Hecate crossed her arms and said quietly: “You need to understand, Thorn, that I will do whatever it takes to achieve my ends. I don't care whether or not it's justified and I don't care who I have to walk over to get my way. If your parents get in my way, Thorn, you know that I will just as readily fight them as I would Hel, or Terra, or anyone else stupid enough to try and divert me from my course.”

Thorn smiled a little up at Hecate, looking up at her calmly, and she looked back at him before narrowing her eyes moodily. “Wipe that smile off your face.”

The stallion cleared his throat, looking quickly away, and Hecate glowered at him for a moment longer as the elevator doors opened before she turned and strode quickly out. Thorn followed after her as they headed towards another elevator: this one would take them all the way up to the command center of the castle, which overlooked all of Imperia.

They entered the tall, narrow car together, then waited in silence. The doors dinged open, and as always, Hecate strode out first, and Thorn followed behind, silently making a few notes on his clipboard. He didn't even notice that Hecate had stopped until he walked past her, and then he blinked and frowned in surprise, and admittedly, a hint of concern as well.

Hecate looked back at the stallion for a moment, and then she said quietly: “Thorn, whether it's unfair or not, I hope you're prepared for what might happen in the future. Your parents may fight us. Hel may become our enemy. You have to understand this.”

“I do.” Thorn replied, lowering his head before he hesitated, then looked up at her. “But I also know you won't let any of that happen unless it's completely necessary. I trust you.”

Hecate looked at the stallion for a few moments, and then she smiled thinly before striding past him and shoving through the doors into the control center. After a moment, Thorn followed, raising his head high and focusing his eyes calmly ahead, ready to do whatever was asked of him: first and foremost, he would always remain loyal to the mare who had been willing to make a clumsy foal with nowhere else to go part of her Clockwork World.

La Croix had interrogated the dead Kirin for as much information as possible, but Cadence hadn't wanted to waste too much time in the guardhouse, and the Kirin corpses had started to rapidly deteriorate after ten minutes of questioning. So La Croix had sent the dead Kirin into the back room before he had let them return to the calm stillness of death; well, all except the Commander, whose spirit he had housed in a black crystal that Sombra had made for him.

With the spirit of the officer as their guide and Moonflower cloaking them, they were able to descend into the city streets and begin sneaking their way through the metropolis, sticking mainly to back streets and narrow tunnels. They had only one possible lead, and Cadence was desperate to see this mission through as quickly and efficiently as possible, and for more reasons than just because their jobs and lives were on the line, too.

Apparently there was a train that went back and forth between Valheim and a 'research facility,' where prisoners were kept and experiments were run for the Jarsongildi. Cadence still had no idea who these Jarsongildi really were, but they had apparently been involved in bringing Fyrverǫld back online, and had been here as long as Valthrudnir had.

Cadence didn't want to think about that, though: she didn't want to think about the fact that Valthrudnir might be back, but hadn't Thokk said that she hated the Jötnar? She had wanted to destroy Sombra, because he was an old toy of Valthrudnir's: Cadence remembered that clearly...

But those memories were distractions and she had to concentrate on the here and now, as she halted with a grimace at the end of a narrow alley. She leaned out into a well-lit street, looking back and forth, but for the most part the concrete road was dominated by Worker Drones and other automatons: the Kirin seemed to like to stay in the skies, and used either the bridges or the weird, glowing walkways that glimmered in the air above for travel. That was fine with Cadence: it made it that much easier for them to sneak through the city.

The four hurried across the road when the traffic slowed for a moment, ducking into another dark, debris-littered alleyway. The bright lights were the same as Decretum, but Cadence reflected that the underbelly of the city was far different: in Decretum, there were no real slums. Junkyards, sure, but no slums: everything served a purpose, and when things stopped serving that purpose efficiently, they were 'relocated' or 'dismantled.' Here, however, the alleys were littered with broken parts and the rotting, rusting hulks of Worker Drones that had broken down...

Cadence grimaced again as she shoved one of these off into a pile of garbage with a shiver from where it had been propped up in the middle of the alley. She felt a little bad, but made her way forward all the same, eyes flicking back and forth nervously as she asked quietly: “Are we getting close yet, La Croix?”

The zebra only shook his head, however, not needing to reach back and check the gemstone as he muttered: “Been like twenty feet since you asked me that last, Cygne. We gettin' there, though, little by little.”

The ivory mare nodded after a moment, glancing over her shoulder with an embarrassed, apologetic smile before she turned her eyes quickly back ahead as she reached an intersection. She checked both ways quickly, then frowned and looked up as there was a loud rumbling above, watching as some kind of airborne vehicle slowly flew by above.

La Croix took the moment of pause to hammer on the sidepack where he'd stuffed the gemstone, and a moment later, the disgruntled-looking spirit of Grimsmoke flickered into existence. The ghostly Kirin sighed tiredly, then looked up and explained moodily: “LAP. Low Altitude Personnel carrier. We just call them Saucers. They're used primarily for transport and patrols: that one was probably a transport because it wasn't scanning.”

“You could be a little more peppy, mon ami. Ain't like I'm torturin' you or nothin'.” La Croix said mildly, and the ghost of the Kirin scowled at him before vanishing, the zebra rolling his eyes. “Fine, be that way, monsieur bougon.”

Cadence sighed, then she looked past the zebra at Moonflower and Sombra: they were lingering back a bit, the winged unicorn nervously staying a little close to Sombra as the older stallion breathed a little heavily, faintly pale still from the exertion of getting over the wall and then slipping down into the city. On the bright side, it seemed that the repairs to his purifier were keeping the corruption at bay, but Cadence knew that her father needed a certain level of the black poison in his body at all times. Otherwise...

She hesitated, then asked quietly: “Is there anywhere we can stop up ahead? Maybe we should take a break for a little bit, get our bearings.”

“I'm fine, Cadenza. We should keep going: we're running short on time.” Sombra said softly, and the ivory mare looked uncertainly at her father, but the stallion shook his head and murmured: “It's merely a matter of adjustment and balance. When we do stop, I'll reduce the purifier's output a little, but until then this is better... if we run into trouble, I can use my powers with less fear of... problems.”

Cadence nodded, still looking at her father for a moment before she sighed and turned around. She didn't have to ask which way to go, at least, thanks to the tracks above their heads.

They continued carefully forwards until they reached a large, cement street that was brightly lit by spotlights mounted over the walls of a towering building of glass and steel. Kirin guards stood outside it, dressed in heavy, plated body armor and wearing helmets with glass visors over their eyes... and even from where she was hiding in the shadows of the alley, Cadence could see there was digital information flicking over the visors. “Dammit. They have some kind of HUD system. They might be able to detect us if we get too close.”

“I ain't pullin' out bougon again for this. Let him rest a little. He needs his beauty sleep an' all.” La Croix said blandly when Cadence looked at him, before he pointed upwards and added in a more-serious voice: “Look, though. Just a few blocks away, that must be where we're headed. We get past here, and we just about home free.”

Cadence nodded slowly, and Moonflower poked his head thoughtfully over the others before he snorted in amusement, saying mildly: “Two guards, Cadence? That's what you're afraid of? Please, we could take care of them in moments!”

“Every time you get cocky we get in trouble.” muttered Cadence, and then she looked uneasily over her shoulder at Sombra, asking quietly: “What do you suggest? I don't think the usual distractions are going to work, not if they've got sensors in those helmets.”

Sombra looked thoughtful for a moment, and then he glanced meditatively at Moonflower before asking: “Are you capable of polymorphing?”

“Polymorphs? Simple!” Moonflower bragged, and then he hesitated before asking awkwardly: “Well. Mostly simple. What were you thinking of? Not that I'm worried, of course, don't be silly! Just that... well... what were you thinking of?”

The stallion looked lamely at Sombra, but Sombra only smiled slightly before his eyes flicked towards La Croix. “We will also need you to assist, and that of your... new friend.”

La Croix looked curious, but then he simply shrugged a bit before saying mildly: “Alright, Papa Sérénité. But I hope your plan be a good one.”

Sombra only chuckled quietly, and then he replied after a moment: “Good, I'm not sure. But let's hope that it works.”

La Croix scowled... but a few minutes later, he had turned himself invisible and ethereal to hide while the glowing but solid-looking spirit of Grimsmoke slowly strode towards his Kirin brethren.

Both Kirin frowned and aimed their rifles at the spirit as it approached, before one of them barked: “Identify yourself!”

“Grimsmoke, PID 472-X-3R.” the Kirin ghost replied shortly, and the Kirin guards frowned before the shade pointed back towards the alleyway, saying coldly: “I'm currently dying in the alleyway over there with two of the hostiles we were warned about earlier. Do me a favor and kill them before I bleed out. My astral projection isn't going to last much longer, but I'll report to central command.”

The Kirin guards didn't look surprised even as the Kirin in front of them vanished, both of them instead raising their rifles to slowly but cautiously approach the alley as one of them tilted his head slightly to the side. “Deity, this is Homeguard 233 requesting a Saucer scan on my location. Possible hostiles detected. Code 2-1.”

“Homeguard 223, Saucer is en route to your location. Neutralize the targets by any means necessary.” the voice said coldly through the command link, and the armored Kirin nodded to each other before they both rose their rifles with telekinesis, then one of them stepped quickly into the alley, eyes narrowed and teeth grit...

There were two dead ponies on the ground, and the corpse of a Kirin, his horn still glowing eerily, several knives buried through his chest. The Kirin didn't relax, however, one of them quickly tapping his visor before he frowned and muttered: “Getting a weird reading from the Kirin's corpse...”

“The other bodies are still warm, but no heartbeat detected in either of them. Check the patrol's vitals, readings might be off because of his magic.” advised the other soldier, as he lowered his guard slightly.

The first Kirin came forwards, putting his rifle down as he reached out to touch the Kirin's neck; he immediately arched his back and tried to yank away, but he was unable to even scream as electricity surged violently over his body, sizzling and crackling loudly before he simply collapsed backwards in a heap. The other Kirin reacted too late as he brought his rifle up, knocked staggering with a strangled curse by something that smashed into his neck, the stallion grabbing at this before his whole body went weak, the soldier gargling and stumbling back and forth before his eyes rolled up in his head and he fell forwards, still clutching the knife buried through his throat.

Cadence shivered as she pulled herself slowly up to her hooves, breathing hard, as the Kirin climbed to his own, and then he simply shook himself once, transforming in a ripple of energy back into Moonflower, who grinned proudly as he declared: “See, I am the very-”

“They sent a warning to base, we don't have much time.” Cadence interrupted in a mutter, the mare shivering as Sombra slowly picked himself up, breathing slowly before he rose his head and smiled at her briefly. But Cadence only gave him an almost-exasperated look in return, asking weakly: “How the hell are you okay after that?”

“You are fine too, Cadenza. Remember, your mind is telling you that you're not, but your body is still strong.” Sombra said softly, reaching up and touching his own breast, and Cadence grimaced a bit, but she knew her father was right. Just like he'd been right about the magic he'd used to make them both appear to be dead.

Moonflower absently flicked his horn to dispel the illusion of knives buried in his chest, and then he added: “If I may say so, though, just taking a small moment of time, I think that was quite a brilliant idea and we certainly pulled together-”

“Not to interrupt y'all, but y'all gotta scat! Up the street, quick!” La Croix snapped as he poked his head out from behind a corner, the Loa gesturing violently towards the road before he turned translucent and vanished through a wall.

Moonflower opened his mouth, and Cadence swore before she burst into a run, smacking the stallion as she ran past and startling him into spinning and following after her. Sombra came last, flagging only slightly as he hurried after the two.

Cadence wheezed painfully: having her heart slowed to a crawl had hurt like hell, and it was even more frustrating that their plan hadn't entirely worked. Then again, according to what Grimsmoke had grumbled, the Kirin would be on alert and no matter how they tried to sneak past, they would have- goddammit forgot to grab one of their stupid helmets.

Cadence swore at herself mentally, but she was well-aware that they were probably going to encounter more Kirin at this rate, and she'd probably get another chance to retrieve that technology to see what it was capable of. That was something important that Hecate had taught her: understand instead of underestimate the enemy. Because if you didn't know what they were capable of as fact, then you always underestimated them.

Just like we did now. They're insanely well trained. The Orphanage doesn't have this level of discipline. Cadence thought, as they shot into another alley, and then the mare swore as she heard a loud humming before a Saucer appeared above the end of the passage, shining down an almost painfully bright spotlight that was slowly crawling towards them-

Sombra flicked a hoof sharply, a half-dome of gemstone tearing up from the concrete as he said quickly: “Moonflower, we need your illusions.”

Moonflower blinked, but then he nodded quickly as Sombra and Cadence both huddled under the dome, joining them as his horn glowed brightly. And a moment later, the dome glowed before it seemed to disappear completely from sight, leaving the alley looking empty apart from some cracks and debris.

The Saucer scanned over them slowly, not slowing down as it reached the other end of the alleyway, and then the spotlight clicked off as it hummed its way onward. Cadence sighed in relief as Moonflower made the illusion vanish, saying quickly as he took advantage of their close quarters to lean awkwardly into Sombra​: “Wonderful idea! I forgot that your gemstone is reflective and impermeable, absolutely astonishing the way-”

“Excuse me, please.” Sombra mumbled, and Moonflower blushed before he hurriedly stepped backwards, and then quickly grasped the older stallion to help him gingerly to his hooves. Cadence looked worriedly at her father, but the unicorn only shook his head before smiling briefly. “I'm fine, mi amore. Let's keep going.”

“Yeah, you don't have time to stop. Ain't gonna take them long to get here and they ain't messin' around.” La Croix added as he solidified after popping out of the ground this time, making Moonflower flinch childishly away. “Patrols of twelve. Twelve, Cygne! You gotta get moving!”

“Twelve?” Cadence stared in disbelief as La Croix once more became ethereal and dove under the street, and then she swore under her breath before turning and running quickly down the alley. If there were multiple groups of a dozen Kirin already mobilized and searching for them, on top of those Saucers scanning for them...

What the hell were they dealing with here? How were they moving so quickly and efficiently? Cadence gritted her teeth as she skidded to a halt at the end of the alley and leaned out, checking both ways for any hostiles as she found herself both horrified and almost envious of the organization of this world.

Her eyes locked on the sight of Worker Drones being escorted by several Kirin: the drones were dragging what looked like massive, portable blockades into place to lock off the area they were in. Had been in, Cadence corrected, as she spotted another alley just across the street and muttered: “Cloak.”

Moonflower was already ready with the spell, and Cadence let it settle for a moment before she strode quickly across the street, her father and Moonflower following closely behind, all of them careful not to go too fast and risk disrupting the illusion too much. The moment they were in the safety of the alley, the illusion dropped again, and Cadence led the way quickly onward: she didn't care if this was the right way to the train station or not at the moment, she just wanted to make sure she got away from that labyrinth of barricades and soldiers.

La Croix appeared in front of them just before they reached the next street, and the zebra solidified, wheezing loudly and grasping at his chest as he muttered: “Hold up there, Cygne. Oh, hell, I didn't think I was that out of practice with that... feels like a poulet is squawkin' around in my chest.”

The Loa shook himself out, then he finally gestured to the side, saying finally: “Two blocks that way, you gonna see the way up to the train. But it's heavily guarded: spotlights, soldiers, the works. And now that they on alert, you got those Saucer-thingies flyin' all over the place and what looks like these... big towers with guns on 'em.”

“Of course.” Cadence muttered, shaking her head before she grimaced a bit as she looked over her shoulder at the others. “And judging by the level of organization, even if we fight our way in, they'll probably shut the train down once they realize what we're trying to do. We're screwed.”

“There's always a way, Cadenza. Don't give up.” Sombra encouraged, and Cadence bit her lip as she looked uncertainly at her father, but the stallion only smiled kindly before he asked softly: “Does Grimsmoke know anything about the train system?”

La Croix shrugged, and then he reached back and knocked twice on the sidepack where the crystal containing the spirit was being kept. A moment later, Grimsmoke appeared, looking distinctly displeased as he said waspishly: “I'm getting tired of being used like this.”

“I apologize. But we need your help again.” Sombra said gently, and the spirit glared at him before the unicorn asked quietly: “How do we get into the train station? We don't want to hurt your fellows.”

Grimsmoke rolled his eyes, but then he answered shortly: “On alert status, no location is undefended. The inside is also monitored by sensors and cameras, as well as patrols of both Homeguard and other Fyrverǫld soldiers. The train won't run without a manual override.”

Cadence frowned at this, asking curiously: “Manual override? How does that work?”

“I'm not an engineer.” Grimsmoke retorted, and he sounded almost smug about the fact he didn't have an answer for them before the Kirin's eyes flicked towards Sombra. “Also, I don't care about these Kirin. Kill everyone in Valheim if you want, we are all nothing but cogs in this machine. But I don't appreciate being used like a toy by the people who killed me.”

“I am sorry that you have died, and sorrier still that you say such things of yourself and your own people.” Sombra smiled, then said softly: “But if you are nothing but a part in a machine, I hope you find more worth and a greater existence in being part of our design.”

The Kirin looked sourly at the unicorn, and then La Croix grumbled: “Okay, you, enough of that. Allez, allez!”

Grimsmoke vanished, and La Croix shook his head before he turned his eyes towards Cadence, adding in a quieter voice: “But you know he can't lie. If he says there ain't no way in and he don't know...”

“No, that just means there's no way he knows about. I'll be the first to admit these Kirin are amazingly organized, but they aren't perfect. They're probably still searching that area they cordoned off, and while the security is raised and I bet their patrols have doubled and intensified, it just proves they aren't infallible. And they obviously don't care about each other.” Cadence said quietly, thinking quickly: if only there was a way they could turn that against the Kirin...

She frowned after a moment, then looked down and muttered: “We can't cut their communications off completely... but Moonflower, do you think you could create a powerful enough pulse of magic to cut them off from whoever they're getting orders from?”

Moonflower huffed loudly at this, and then he looked up at the sky: although it was hard to tell over all the bright lights shining in the air, it looked like there were still plenty of clouds above. And he had a sneaking suspicion that those strange bridges of light used either power crystals or some other form of electrical magic. “Of course! Even without all this energy in the air to draw on, it would be easy for me to terrorize these silly sky horses with true elemental-”

“Great. Come on, keep us cloaked while we move in a little closer.” Cadence said quickly, and Moonflower grumbled, but then quickly generated the illusion over the three of them, while La Croix turned invisible and ethereal to scout ahead.

Cadence led the group through the network of alleyways and as close as she dared to the train station. She immediately noticed another issue: the actual station was roughly a hundred feet above them, the tracks all leading inside through tunnels which had already been sealed off by heavy security shutters. And as La Croix had already warned, there were both flying machines circling the perimeter as well as massive towers topped with turrets that were swiveling back and forth at regular intervals.

The base of the station seemed to be some kind of freight area: even while Kirin calmly stood guard, Worker Drones were still dragging crates of cargo in and out through massive shutter doors, every team escorted by a soldier. Again, Cadence wondered who and what the hell these Kirin were: none of them were slacking off, none of them were shirking their duties, all of them just looked straight ahead and did what they had been told.

She remembered the Kirin they had first seen: they had been panicked, they had acted like actual living people. These soldiers, though, they seemed almost brainwashed. As a matter of fact, considering how many of the last era Dogmatists were controlled by nodes literally implanted into their brains...

Cadence shivered a bit: she didn't want to imagine that. Instead, she looked over her shoulder and asked quickly: “Daddy? What do you think?”

“What are we going to do?” Sombra asked gently, and Cadence smiled a bit, nodding and turning towards her team as she took a slow breath. She shot a quick, nervous look behind her, as the Swan chastised her for turning her back on the enemy, even if it seemed safe beneath this overhang, but the mare felt she needed to look her teammates in the eye for this.

“We're going to have to take a wild swing at this.” the ivory mare said quietly, and Sombra tilted his head as Moonflower and La Croix traded looks before returning worried frowns to Cadence. “I know. I know how stupid that is, but I don't know what else to do. I do know these guys move fast and we have to move faster. And I know that most of this technology is familiar to us.”

Cadence bit her lip, and then she said finally: “We go for the train. 'Manual override' sounds like a fancy term for hitting the right switches. We hit the switches, we go.”

The three stallions stared at her, and then Sombra said slowly: “Cadenza, I don't think you've thought this through. A train only has one destination, and is trapped on its tracks. There's many ways they could stop us, even assuming we were able to escape.”

“I don't know what else to do.” Cadence replied, dropping her head and grinding a hoof slowly into the ground in frustration before she closed her eyes tightly. “We can't just follow the tracks, we have no idea how long the journey is, and we're running out of time and options.”

There was silence for a moment, and then Moonflower cleared his throat before he said finally: “Cadence, I will follow you and your father to the ends of the earth, honestly. The very end, from one end to the other. And if you honestly want to leap headlong into this madness, I will follow you there, no questions asked. But I have also learned that... you are much smarter than me and this sounds very much like something I would do.”

Moonflower looked lamely down, then he added hurriedly: “Only in strategy like this, however! I am only saying that... you are... I mean, I can't protect us all!” Moonflower laughed loudly, grinning widely as he declared: “After all, if I were-”

“Keep your damn voice down!” La Croix snapped, smacking Moonflower with the back of one hoof, and the winged unicorn flinched before glaring down at the zebra but complying. La Croix huffed, and then he turned towards Cadence and added: “And this really is like one of Moony's plans, Cygne. I know... you be gettin' scared and frustrated, maybe, for a whole lot of reasons. But you a way better thinker than him, and... we all know you ain't scared of cheating a little to get to a better solution.”

Cadence smiled a bit at this, looking down for a moment before she nodded and murmured: “You're right. You're right, you both are.”

She quieted, looking down for a moment before she frowned slowly as she looked up at the train station. Cheating a little... and these Kirin were all so mechanical, didn't care about each other, barely questioned each other...

“Yeah. I have an idea.” Cadence said slowly, watching as a Kirin soldier escorted a Worker Drone towards the cargo shutter. “It's also pretty stupid, but it might work. We're going to need to find where those Drones are coming from, though.”

La Croix winked, then he turned ethereal and invisible, his voice saying easily: “You just leave that to me, Cygne. I'll be back in a snap of a cocodril's jaws!”

“I hate him.” Moonflower said mildly, and then he looked towards Cadence, asking with interest: “So what's our plan?”

“Very simple. It'll still require a lot of luck, but... I think we might be able to pull this one off.” Cadence replied with a small smile, and then she added, with an almost-shy glance at her father: “Sometimes... you just have to be patient.”

Sombra smiled at this, nodding slowly in agreement, and Cadence turned back around, looking out from beneath the safety of the overhang at the sprawling facility before them, determined to conquer this challenge one way or the other.

After all, her team was right: she was determined, and she was smart enough to do more than just punch her way through every challenge that came her way... and she definitely didn't mind cheating a little.