Hecate's Orphanage

by BlackRoseRaven

The First World

Chapter Fourteen: The First World
~BlackRoseRaven

Hecate frowned, disturbed from her slumber by a strange alarm. Her eyes opened, then glowed brightly as the lenses implanted over them displayed several alerts she didn't even understand at first...

And then her eyes widened in shock before she opened her mouth, shouting: “Seneschal! Summon Thorn immediately!”

One of the glass screens at the side of the room flickered to life, Seneschal appearing on it and rubbing at his head as he asked: “What for? Queen Hecate, this is-”

“Get Thorn now!” Hecate roared, and Seneschal squawked as the screen turned itself off, the ivory mare snarling as she looked at her body, which was still recharging on the other side of the room: there were at least a few hours yet before it was ready, but... “Seneschal, send up a Skeleton as well!”

There was no argument this time, the only acknowledgment a tiny blip in one corner of her eye as she returned her eyes to the digital images in front of her, the mare reading rapidly over the information and trying to process the idea that Fyrverǫld might actually be online somehow... and worse, the only Orphan who has my override information is Cadence...

Less than a minute later, the door was flung open, Thorn hurrying in before his eyes widened in surprise at the sight of Hecate still plugged into her metal pillar: even he almost never saw her like this, and the stallion was barely able to keep himself professional as he half-averted his eyes and fumbled with his ever-present clipboard. “Queen Hecate, why did-”

“I may have figured out what Hel was hinting at, or at least in part. I just received an alert that I just exceeded my administrative privileges on another world of Valthrudnir's, Fyrverǫld.” Hecate said coldly, and Thorn's eyes widened as he put together what this answer meant almost as quickly as she had. Good. She would need him sharp. “We need to send a support team there immediately.”

“The Orphans are already on high alert, I'll-”

“Not good enough. Go to Imperia. I need you to send a message to your parents, Thorn.” Hecate said calmly, and Thorn stared at her with shock before the head of the mare leaned forwards, saying in a quieter voice: “And you need to promise me you will not abuse this privilege in the future. No one apart from myself and Hel know about this. Do you understand?”

Thorn took a slow breath, and then he nodded and straightened, asking briskly: “What do you need me to do?”

“Your parents cannot be tracked by Helheim and cannot be summoned or directly spoken to because they are not demons. But there is another who is, who can find them wherever they go. This is how Hel contacts them when they must pause in their 'game.'” Hecate explained, and Thorn's eyes widened as he understood. “You can contact her from the Tower of Selene. Go.”

Thorn nodded, and without another word, he turned and hurried quickly out of the room. He felt both incredibly anxious and strangely betrayed: all along, Hecate had been able to contact his parents whenever she wanted, and she had kept it from him. Not that he should be surprised...

Thorn shook his head shortly: this wasn't the time for that. They had to concentrate on the fact that apparently Fyrverǫld was online, and most likely extremely hostile, if Cadence had used Hecate's override privilege.

He frowned as he hurried through the halls, lowering his head slightly: how the hell was that possible, though? Hecate had sent scouts to all of Valthrudnir's conquered worlds, and they had all either been in complete ruin or simply inaccessible. Fyrverǫld had been one of the latter: they hadn't been able to communicate with it, or even create a portal to it, so they had assumed that it had been cut completely off from the rest of the chain of worlds, or it had been demolished...

As he walked, he levitated his clipboard quickly up beside him, jotting several notes down: they were going to have do another scan of the worlds they had previously written off, among other things, and look again at why inaccessible worlds couldn't be accessed. Worse yet, if someone was tampering with Valthrudnir's projects for their own ends...

Thorn didn't want to think about that, and that was perhaps thinking too far ahead into the future: no, for now, plan, prepare, and deal with the situation at hoof. There were already enough problems for them to deal with.

The stallion exited the building into Imperia, heading quickly towards the Castle District and Imperia: as he walked, he made brief notes on his clipboard, but he tried to keep his attention from shifting too much from the current objective. He was just trying to make sure every moment counted, and it helped stop his mind from going off on wild tangents.

Thorn reached Imperia and ascended to the Tower of Selene without difficulty: he didn't think he'd been here more than once, as he stepped out of the elevator and strode quickly down the narrow white corridor to a heavy security door. Light shone over him as the gemstone inset into the door scanned quickly over him, and then the door clanked before pulling apart into three pieces that slid quickly into the walls and ceiling, the stallion passing through into a large, circular room.

The walls were lined with gemstone lanterns, and the floor in the center of the room was composed of heavy octagonal plates of metal that were inscribed with complex patterns, these forming an interlocking grid. Thorn's eyes roved quickly over these before he smiled thinly as his horn glowed brightly.

Several of the metal plates shuddered before lifting into the air, spinning themselves into new positions and trading slots. Thorn repeated this several times, until the seeming-chaotic patterning gradually formed a complex summoning circle, which began to glow eerily the moment the last plate was set into place. But it was still missing one thing...

Thorn flicked to a blank page on his clipboard, scrawling a name in demonic runes before he grimaced as the page burst into blue flames. With a flick of his horn, he tore the page loose and flung it into the summoning circle before it could char completely away to nothing, and then he simply closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He didn't have to wait more than a few seconds before a loving voice said: “Thorn Blackfeather... we know that it must be urgent if you have summoned us, but we are so glad to see you, our darling child...”

Thorn opened his eyes, and he gave a small smile to the mare he saw standing across from him, even as frightening as she was. She was terribly tall, and cruelly elegant, her coat midnight-black, her eyes hellish emerald, with animal, slit-like pupils that gazed at him with a mix of maternal adoration and impurer, crueler love. A tall unicorn's horn stood up from her head, and curling, enormous ram's horns stretched from the sides of her skull, her beautiful features accented by the scars across her face and fanged maw.

A collar made of metal roses and thorns was around her neck, polished with crimson: her hooves were blade-like and cloven, her tail a deadly whip ending in a long hook. And all throughout her back, there were countless knives and torture implements that rolled and moved with every flex of her body: yet she moved sinuously when she strode towards him, showing neither pain nor pleasure, as if the weapons had been buried in her so long they had become a part of her...

She reached up to embrace him in her slender but powerful forelegs, and Thorn hugged her back silently: this was the Lady of the Moon. This was Hel's second-in-command, her aide, her confidante. This was the evil of his parents, given shape and life; this was Nightmare Moon.

They parted after a moment, and Thorn looked calmly up at her before he said quietly: “We need you to contact Luna Brynhild. They have to go to Cadence. Can she home in on the Swan Maiden?”

Nightmare Moon looked thoughtful for a moment, and then she smiled: an expression that made the scars almost vanish and turned her gorgeous as her mane of black flames twisted slowly around her like a mantel blown in a gentle wind. “Yes. Hex will take her.”

“The world was inaccessible for us by Bifrost or any of our other portal methods. Are you sure?” Thorn asked quietly, but Nightmare Moon only laughed.

“Then that simply means that the world has been moved. But a Valkyrie's war-horse is superior to a portal in many respects: one of those is that it is not bound by coordinates and absolutes.” Nightmare Moon smiled, studying Thorn almost fawningly even as she explained: “As long as Hex knows what he hunts, then he will be able to home in on it, and change his course as necessary even from within the spaces between worlds.”

Thorn nodded slowly, and then Nightmare Moon smiled before she said softly: “I have told Luna Brynhild, and she understands the urgency. Your mother is very difficult at times, but she is reliable. She will rescue the Swan... even if in part it is simply to please her own ego.”

The sapphire stallion nodded, and then he winced a bit when Nightmare Moon leaned in and kissed his cheek before whispering softly: “Let me spend time with you now. I will be silent and I will not tell Hel anything that you or Hecate do not approve of. But I have always been kept separate...”

Thorn shifted uneasily, looking up at the mare: he knew what she was. Living passion, given form and sentience, combined with all the very worst aspects of his parents, and yet still... “I... have sensitive projects. We have an emergency alert going on, and-”

“And I shall help. I can call upon the aid of Helheim, and communicate with your parents even across the dimensions, in mere moments. Use me.” Nightmare Moon encouraged.

For a moment, Thorn grimaced, but then he heard a double beep from his mechanical forelimb: he had wasted too much time here already. So instead of arguing, he only nodded shortly and turned, heading back towards the sealed door as he said: “Fine. But I have to treat you as I would any other guest, and if Hecate asks you to leave-”

“Of course.” Nightmare Moon only smiled, her eyes glittering as she followed in Thorn's wake, studying the stallion with a strange fascination in her eyes, and dark, untamed longing, as she whispered softly: “We live to serve, my child.”

Shutting down the prison might not have been the greatest idea she had ever had, Cadence reflected, as she and her team ran quickly along a walkway that ran alongside a line of open cells. Sure, it had deactivated all the security alerts, and the enemy soldiers had been thrown into absolute chaos, but Cadence hadn't anticipated so many doors to remain sealed or that they would be fighting monsters now on top of everything else.

She grimaced as she glanced over the edge, watching as some kind of mangled, mutant Kirin tackled a battlemech backwards, roaring gibberish as it ripped armor plating off the machine like it was made of paper. Well, as long as they stayed on the high walkways, they seemed to avoid the worst of the conflict.

Up ahead, an explosion rattled the walkway, chunks of metal and stone flying in all directions as the group skidded to a halt before Cadence swore as part of the walk collapsed, flaming rubble piling up at the mangled end of the catwalk. She looked quickly over her shoulder, then turned and hopped the rail, flapping her wings hard to launch herself onto a suspended bridge that ran across the center of the room, the ivory mare starting: “Let's cross and-”

There was a blast of force that rattled the bridge, making it sway violently before several cables loudly snapped, and Cadence swore as the bridge pitched to the side before dropping forwards, the mare banging and rolling painfully down the now-ramp as it crashed to the ground. She hit the hard stone earth with a curse before looking up in horror to see a battlemech swiveling towards her, her instincts screaming at her-

She felt something smash into her from behind as she realized too late the threat wasn't the mech in front of her, but the thing that crashed into her back, knocking her flying through the air with a howl even as the battlemech fired. The monster that had smashed into her gave a wounded roar, staggering into the wall before it snarled and charged towards the mech, and Cadence winced as some massive, three-horned thing smashed cruelly into the machine, trampling it under its huge, bulky body.

She turned and crawled quickly back to her hooves as her team slid quickly down the ramp to join her, and the mare didn't waste her breath shouting orders or reassuring them she was okay: instead, she set her eyes on the broken armored doors at the end of the long prison hall, the mare breaking into a gallop and dodging past rioting prisoners, Kirin, and burning debris.

Her ears were full of noise and roars, her mind was going haywire, there was so much action at once that she almost didn't realize a Kirin was firing at them until it was blasted off its hooves by a burst of magic from Moonflower. All she could do was keep herself moving in the direction of the doors, ducking and weaving through the room as bullets tore around them and monsters shrieked.

The doors were blown apart in a tremendous explosion, and Cadence winced, skidding to a halt and flinching away from the light and shrapnel as the rest of her team stopped behind her, Moonflower dropping flat with a yelp on his stomach. And then the ivory mare's eyes widened in horror as a team of six heavy-armored Kirin came marching through in two lines of three, guns at the ready and with a line of odd-looking drones rolling along between them.

Cadence drew a knife and flung it sharply into the throat of one of the armored Kirin, knocking him sprawling, and the soldiers immediately dropped into ready positions as the drones shot forward with surprising speed, assembling in front of the soldiers as the long, rectangular squares of metal that made up the drone's backs suddenly whirled to position in front of them. All Cadence could see now was a wall of polished metal, which the Kirin were able to blindly fire from behind Cadence swearing and ducking as Moonflower hurriedly threw up a barrier as he scrambled back to his hooves.

Sombra quickly slammed his hooves down, and black cracks spread through the earth before spikes of crystal shot up beneath the drones, piercing their treads and the fragile machinery behind the thick plates of metal. One of them buzzed loudly as it dropped its shield, while the others simply screeched to a halt before an armored Kirin shouted: “Grenade out!”

It flung a spherical device over the shield, and Cadence winced as she swatted it back with telekinesis: it exploded a moment after striking the ground, the Kirin knocked flying in all directions with shouts and yells as the remaining drones were devastated, systems failing from the damage and causing them to drop their shields or topple like dominoes.

Cadence immediately ran forwards, Moonflower dropping his shield as he and the others followed past the stunned Kirin. They made their way straight for the door, and Cadence winced as they ducked around an inert Clockwork Titan: it seemed like all the machines that had been hooked up to the AI system had been shut down too, fortunately for them.

She sprinted through a security checkpoint, ignoring the Kirin trapped in the guard rooms even as they shouted at her through the bulletproof glass, and the mare led her team quickly down the corridor beyond, looking back and forth before La Croix shouted: “Next left, Cygne!”

The ivory mare began to turn left as she reached an intersection, before her eyes widened in horror as she saw a massive turret at the end of this hallway, Kirin soldiers kneeling behind barriers on either side of it as the gun rapidly started to gear up. She hurriedly scrambled backwards, leaping back to safety around the wall before the turret opened fire, massive bullets tearing holes through the concrete and ripping apart the floor and wall before it geared slowly down, as Kirin shouted warnings to the soldiers reinforcing their position to come to alert.

“Goddammit.” Cadence muttered, and then she grimaced as she slowly leaned out from behind the torn-up corner. The turret didn't activate when she peered around the corner, and her eyes narrowed slightly as she examined it quickly: it was a massive gatling gun, self-scanning as it turned slowly back and forth, with two cameras mounted on either side of it to ensure maximum coverage and what looked like a manual control system in the event something fried its very simple AI...

She saw a glint, and her instincts shouted at her, the mare jerking her head back before there was a loud bang, a bullet knocking a large chunk out of the wall and Cadence wincing as debris pattered against her face. She sneezed in the cloud of dust that followed, then rubbed at her cheek slowly and muttered: “Snipers. Decent shots, too. Turret is an M-type. Can you disable it, La Croix?”

“Oh, let me!” Moonflower blurted, thrusting up a hoof immediately, and Cadence frowned uncertainly at the winged unicorn, but the stallion simply grinned cheerfully. “Trust me, I know precisely what to do.”

Cadence sighed tiredly at this, but then she gave a grudging nod, and Moonflower nodded firmly back before he suddenly leapt past her, landing in the center of the hall as his horn glowed brightly. Cadence stared at him with disbelief, but Moonflower only grinned as he swung his horn sharply out even as the turret began to audibly gear up.

The turret was smashed by telekinesis, gears grinding loudly as it spun backwards with a clank on its axis, the enormous, rotating barrels smacking one of the Kirin over before the gun began to fire. Yells and screams of panic filled the air as the minigun traced back and forth over its own soldiers, Moonflower looking ridiculously pleased with himself-

A tremendous bang rang out, and Moonflower was knocked flying in a burst of crimson, Cadence swearing under her breath before she leapt out of cover and snapped her horn forwards, sending a blast of white flames at the sniper who had just fired. He was forced to duck under the barrier, and La Croix ran immediately towards Moonflower as Sombra leapt out of hiding, sprinting down the long passage before he slid to a halt and slammed his hooves into the ground when he drew close enough to send a single spike of dark crystal jutting up behind the barrier, the sniper gurgling as this tore through his body and half-lifted him into the air.

Moonflower groaned as La Croix quickly checked over the stallion, before he reached back into his side pack and pulled a bandage free, muttering: “Idjit.You best hope that damn bullet didn't lodge anywhere important in you. Looks like it went deep, though, and I ain't got the tools to pull it out right now. All I can do is stop the bleedin'.”

Moonflower mumbled a little on the ground, and Cadence shook her head before she ran quickly forwards to join her father, both ponies gazing past the barrier and watching as the last of the Kirin fled down the hall. Corpses littered the corridor now, though, and Cadence grimaced a bit before she strode over to the turret, hauling herself up onto the narrow seat on the back of the machine so she could grasp the controls.

A simple shove forward on the handles, and the turret went from automatic to manual control, Cadence carefully twisting the handles to the side to make the machine revolve slowly back around. Sombra, meanwhile, hopped one of the barriers so he could quickly begin checking the fallen Kirin, murmuring a quiet prayer for the dead as he used his dark magic to drain the energy from those who were still alive: not enough to kill them, but enough to render them completely unconscious.

Cadence watched as Moonflower limped towards them, wheezing a little and with La Croix at his side, the zebra not supporting him but still keeping a close eye on the wounded stallion. The ivory mare looked at Moonflower pointedly as he approached, and eventually the limping stallion cleared his throat before dropping his head as he came to a halt in front of the turret, mumbling: “While it was a stroke of genius, I may have made a slight... mistake. But only a small one. I was very successful otherwise.”

“Yeah. Great job, Moonflower.” Cadence said dryly, and then she gestured towards the end of the hall, asking: “Before the Kirin come back to try and re-take this position, which way are we going, La Croix?”

La Croix irritably pushed at Moonflower, the wounded stallion groaning but then approaching one of the barriers to begin awkwardly crawling over it with a grumble, while the zebra explained: “The halls fork up ahead, but they both go in the same direction, according to mon ami. Either way, I'm guessin' it's gonna all be heavily fortified. We in for a fight, Cygne.”

“Guess its a good thing that's what I do best.” Cadence said after a moment, and as La Croix smiled wryly and walked around the turret, the mare pushed the handles forward to reengage automated targeting: the turret would at least slow down any Kirin trying to pursue them.

She hopped off, then helped Moonflower finish clearing the barrier as La Croix hopped over the other fence, the three joining Sombra near the end of the hall. He glanced at them with a small smile, then said quietly: “I took a look ahead, mi amore. Both halls are guarded, but the right side seems to have more soldiers than the left.”

“Left it is, then.” Cadence said, before she asked quietly: “Turrets? Mechs?”

“It looks like a bit of everything. From what little I was able to see, the defenses get much stronger at the end of the corridor, and the Kirin are operating the turrets themselves. They'll be more aggressive.” Sombra replied, and Cadence nodded moodily at this: even though the power was still off, the Kirin were apparently still as professional as ever. She supposed that had something to do with the nodes that were apparently implanted in them, though... there's probably something programmed for every situation. If only we could override them, somehow...

She highly doubted that Hecate's codes would work again, though: she had the feeling that when she had 'exceeded her privileges,' the computer had probably sent out a warning to whoever was in charge of keeping the systems running, and by now they would have removed Hecate's codes from the network. But then again, why the hell hadn't anyone rebooted this facility? Of course, if everything was automated, and no free-thinking Kirin were left to press the big 'power on' button or whatever it was that controlled the core...

Cadence shook her head quickly, then hurried through the intersection with a quick glance in either direction before she headed to the end of the short hallway. She leaned around the corner, looking down the corridor, and she grimaced a bit: two turrets were twenty feet away, both with Kirin in them, and there were at least six armed soldiers standing at the ready behind these.

Twenty feet past the first blockade was a second, in a similar arrangement: past that, a third, with enough space between each blockade to make them impossible to engage at once, but more than capable of supporting the troops in front of them if they were attacked.

Cadence grimaced a little as she leaned back, closing her eyes in thought. There had to be a way through, though... “Okay, what do we know?”

“They won't reinforce other sections without a command or request. They don't seem capable of communicating between groups as long as the power remains out, so as long as we move forward quickly, we should be relatively safe.” Sombra answered.

“They also ain't the brightest. They react to everything with the same tactics, shoot at it. If we could sneak by 'em, they might not even be smart enough to turn around as long as we don't bother 'em. They're just doin' what they've been told to do by someone else.” La Croix added, and Cadence nodded thoughtfully at this.

Moonflower shifted back and forth, and then he almost blurted out as he pointed at the large grating above them: “We could distract them and use the vents!”

Cadence frowned at this, saying moodily: “Moonflower, we can't use the vents, we'll be incinerated by the...”

She halted, then blinked as she looked up at the grating before shooting up into the air, peering through it before she gave a short laugh: of course, the power was off. The security system wouldn't be able to detect them, so the convection arrays wouldn't activate and fry them. “You might actually be on to something.”

Moonflower smiled proudly at this, raising his head slightly, and the ivory mare's horn glowed as she flapped her wings to fly up beneath the vent cover, using telekinesis to quickly unscrew the cover and yank it out of place. She tossed the grating aside, grimacing as she felt around the opening before she looked down and asked: “Can you all get up to here?”

Sombra smiled slightly and nodded, and Moonflower waved a hoof, then winced and grabbed at his side, even as he wheezed out: “W-Wait! We also should... distract them! Just in case!”

Cadence frowned at this, looking moodily down at the wounded stallion before she asked slowly: “And what exactly did you have in mind, Moonflower? Maybe try telling us this time instead of, you know...”

“I... my plan worked perfectly well last time!” Moonflower snapped, and then he groaned and grasped at his breast before he looked over at Sombra, saying finally: “I need you to generate a large crystal for me. I enchant it to produce illusions. While they busy themselves with attacking my subtle and clever illusions, we simply sneak right over their heads, without having to worry about them turning around to attack us when we reach the other side, because they'll already be distracted! By my illusions. See?”

Cadence grimaced at this, but then she gave a nod after a moment and muttered: “I guess it makes sense. Daddy?”

Sombra nodded as well, and then he calmly approached the wall before pressing a hoof into it, saying softly: “Of course. Don't overexert yourself, though, Moonflower. You're beginning to look worn down.”

Moonflower only puffed out his chest, or at least, attempted to, before he shivered and grabbed at himself instead with a wheeze, mumbling: “I'm... completely fine. Perhaps just a little... well, you know, we dark gods have a certain manner and persona to keep up and it's been quite some time since I've done my mane, and it's all having an effect on me, that's... that's all.”

He cleared his throat, and then his horn glowed as he focused on the crystal, which began to thrum with eerie light before the stallion muttered: “But that's precisely why I asked for this little bit of help, to ensure I don't end up... taking all the credit or uh...”

“Just shut up and get yourself movin', mon ami.” La Croix said wryly, and Moonflower grumbled under his breath before he nodded, his horn pulsing once before he leapt up into the air, wings flapping wildly as he swayed back and forth while grasping his chest, whimpering a little as he awkwardly guided himself towards the vent.

Cadence rolled her eyes, dropping out of the way before she reached up and half-shoved Moonflower into the slightly-too-small hole, the stallion squawking loudly. She huffed a bit as the stallion finally kicked his way into the narrow duct, and then she turned her eyes down to Sombra, asking: “Do you need help, Daddy?”

“It's alright, mi amore. I'll come last.” Sombra said gently, and Cadence smiled a little before her eyes flicked to La Croix questioningly.

The zebra opened his mouth, then stared as the black crystal flashed before producing a bad imitation of him, which happily, stupidly hopped its way out into the hallway. La Croix twitched a bit as he watched the grinning imitation of him hop its way happily straight into a mess of gunfire, the illusion flickering wildly before it shattered like glass after too many bullets tore through the flimsy shade, and the zebra ground his teeth together slowly before he muttered: “'Scusez-moi. Gonna have me a word with Moony.”

La Croix vanished, and a few moments later, there was a loud thunk from inside the vent, followed by La Croix shouting something at Moonflower, who yelled something back. Cadence rolled her eyes, then swung herself up into the vent, shouting over them both down the duct: “Shut up, morons, or they're going to know we're in here!”

Sombra sighed and shook his head before he set his hooves against the ground, then calmly created a layer of crystal beneath him that slowly rose into a tall pillar, elevating himself easily into the open vent. He pulled himself quickly into the duct that bridge off the shaft, the stallion smiling a bit as he saw his daughter wiggling carefully along ahead of him, as Moonflower muttered: “Well, they need to think it's us.”

“Moonflower, I swear if you made me look half as stupid as you did La Croix, I'll punch your head off. La Croix, stop kicking Moonflower in the face, we need to get through this vent quickly and neither of us is going to kill him until we're out of this prison.” Cadence grumbled as she crawled slowly forward.

Moonflower frowned, then scowled when La Croix kicked him childishly in the face one last time, the stallion flailing angrily after the zebra before the Loa turned invisible and ethereal so he could speed his way quickly through the vent. “Yes, that's right! Run, run away and-”

“Keep your voice down!” Cadence growled, as she slammed a hoof into Moonflower's rump, and the winged unicorn yelped before he scrambled forwards, crawling as quickly as he could through the vent: thankfully, the sound of his hooves banging along the duct was mostly drowned out by the sound of automatic gunfire from below.

The three crawled their way quickly through the vents, and Cadence was relieved to find that La Croix had already opened up their exit, the zebra calling in a low voice from where he was dangling out of the duct: “It's pretty safe. But I don't know how the hell we gonna get into the elevator and all.”

“Oh, we'll find a way.” Cadence muttered as she tried to look past Moonflower: she had never realized just how big the stallion was until now. Bloated with hot air, yes, but... “Moonflower, your ass is huge. Can't you move any faster?”

“It is not huge, it is sumptuous!” Moonflower snapped angrily over his shoulder, blushing slightly, and then he grumbled as he scrambled forwards, mumbling: “I have had stallions fawning over the majesty of my posterior ever since I was-”

Moonflower leaned a little too far forwards as he reached the exit from the duct, falling through with a yelp, and Cadence covered her face with a tired sigh before she leaned forward to look moodily down at the pair of stallions piled on the ground, Moonflower wheezing and La Croix gasping weakly for air beneath the larger pony.

“These are my friends. These are the ponies who I rely on every day and in life-threatening situations, which we are in regularly.” Cadence muttered, and then she rolled her eyes before dropping quickly through the hole, flapping her wings once to launch herself nimbly to land on the floor instead of the stallions as she checked quickly over her back.

But the soldiers were still distracted, their backs turned, none of them paying any attention to them whatsoever. In fact, from where they had landed, Cadence was able to see both corridors, and neither group of soldiers seemed interested in so much as checking what was going on behind them.

Sombra landed last, the stallion giving a quick look towards the soldiers they had snuck their way past before he pointed ahead, saying quietly: “There.”

Cadence looked across the large hall they had entered into, the mare nodding quickly: past a set of unmonitored barriers, there was a line of elevator doors, with the center doors being the largest and most secure. That probably meant it was the set they wanted to breach, and Cadence grimaced as she ran quickly past the empty barricades, giving an uneasy glance to one of the inactive turrets before she reached the doors.

She quickly checked over them, and then glanced over her shoulder as Sombra, and then La Croix joined her. Moonflower came last, wheezing a little and clutching at his breast as he dragged himself along. “We need to pry these open. Daddy?”

Sombra nodded calmly, and then he hesitated for a moment: just long enough to Cadence notice before the stallion placed his hoof against the crack of the door.

Crystal began to spread slowly through the crack, and the doors rumbled before they groaned loudly, metal screeching against metal as the crack was forced wider by the crystal expanding between them. Cadence winced as she looked down through the hall, but the soldiers at the barricades didn't seem to notice or care.

Once the crack was wide enough, both Sombra and La Croix grasped either door, Moonflower leaning forwards and pushing on both sliding shutters with telekinesis to slowly, gradually force the doors open. Then Cadence's eyes sharpened as Sombra flinched, the mare leaping over to her father immediately as he leaned against the door, wheezing quietly before he shook his head and whispered: “I... I am fine, mi amore. Just overexerted myself.”

“Rest, Daddy.” Cadence said quietly, and then she ducked into the elevator shaft beyond, stepping on top of... oh. Right.

The elevator itself was beneath them, which she supposed she was thankful for, since the power was still out apart from the emergency lights. Her eyes drew uncomfortably up through the elevator shaft: it looked like there was some kind of narrow maintenance tube built into the side of the tunnel, with openings at every floor to make it easy to get in and out of... but that ladder. Climbing that ladder...

“Uh... good news, guys. We have a way up to the top.” Cadence said awkwardly, and the stallions all looked at her for a moment before the ivory mare gave a lame smile and leapt into the air, flapping her wings firmly. “I'll... meet you all up top.”

About fifteen minutes later, Cadence saw La Croix and Sombra finally approaching. She and Moonflower had sped up the elevator shaft in the space of a few minutes – well, she had, with Moonflower huffing and puffing behind her, although that wasn't entirely his fault with the bullet in his chest – and the two of them had forced open a security shutter across the top of the shaft to reveal a short stretch beyond that led all the way up to an armored door.

Moonflower grimaced a bit as Cadence shook her head, then looked down at Sombra and La Croix as they carefully clambered up onto the half-open security shutter from the maintenance hatch. “This door is magnetically sealed and too heavy to move. We need to cut a hole in it.”

Cadence asked a silent question with her eyes, and Sombra smiled at her before he gestured at the ladder, saying in a faintly-amused voice: “Don't worry, mi amore. The long climb has given me more than enough time to rest.”

The mare smiled briefly at this, and Sombra climbed carefully up the wall to the armored door, balancing carefully on the narrow ledge as he stood up on his rear hooves. Then he leaned forwards, pressing his forehooves into the door as he closed his eyes and murmured: “It shouldn't take long. I'll go slow.”

Cadence nodded, and then she gave La Croix a look, but the Loa only smiled briefly and shrugged a little: there wasn't a whole lot he could do, and he wasn't entirely sure himself about the state that her father was in. Sombra, after all, was even better than she was when it came to putting on a strong face.

The ivory mare smiled faintly as she looked at her father, watching as a large section of the door slowly, gradually turned to dark crystal. The mare studied her father, listening to the hum of the purifier on his back, seeing the way he trembled slightly, before her eyes narrowed at the sight of a bit of liquid trickling out from beneath the lip of the purifier, staining his vest as it rolled along his side.

She bit her lip: this mission was going to kill them at this rate. They were going to need to rest, whether she liked it or not... but no, the mission, the target had to be their priority. Cadence felt that the key to finding their target was still here, although she was well aware that if he had been kept in the cells, he could likely be...

No, that didn't make sense. It was all too obvious now why someone like the target would be wanted by this world: if Rustproof was a talented engineer, then of course Fyrverǫld would want him. They ran on machinery and automata: there was no way they would keep him with the monsters and freaks they had locked up in the cells. He had to be somewhere secure, somewhere harder to access than this prison for monsters.

Sombra stepped back, nearly losing his balance, and Cadence quickly caught her father by the shoulder as Moonflower lowered himself nervously through the air, looking uneasily at the stallion. But the black unicorn only shook his head and rubbed at his face as a bit of dark energy sizzled over his horn, muttering: “Just... I need to adjust my purifier when we have a moment.”

“Alright, Daddy.” Cadence murmured, and then she gestured at him, saying quietly: “Stay back. Moonflower, La Croix, we'll go first.”

The two nodded, and Cadence faced the crystallized section of door, her horn glowing white before she leaned forwards, a concentrated ray of white energy cutting slowly along the edge of the circle of black gemstone. She breathed slowly as she concentrated her magic, feeling the Swan shifting inside of her, whispering to her.

She shivered a little: the Swan wanted to kill. The Swan wanted to abandon them. The Swan wanted to hunt down Thokk.

The mare forced herself to concentrate back on the task at hoof as her magic became unstable for a moment, scorching the edge of the door before it refocused. She finished as quickly as she could, then placed her hooves firmly against the circle of black gemstone in the center of the door, pushing on it carefully.

It gave a little, and the mare took a breath before she shoved it forwards and leapt through the large hole she had created, her horn glowing white before her eyes widened at the sight of the massive machines waiting for her, the mare snarling as she dropped into a ready position-

Nothing happened. Cadence stared blankly at the Clockwork Titans at the end of the hall and the automated turrets hanging from the ceiling, before she realized they were all inactive. She blushed slightly at this, then hurried forwards to the armored door between the machines before she swore under her breath: it was just a smaller version of the door they had just cut through, and still sealed.

The others followed her into the short entrance hall, and Cadence grumbled under her breath as she pushed uselessly at the door before stepping back, muttering: “We'll have to cut through this one too, it looks like...”

Moonflower held up a hoof, and Cadence frowned over her shoulder at him before the stallion suggested: “Why don't you let me? I'm quite certain that I can do it!”

Cadence looked at Moonflower skeptically for a moment, and then her eyes flicked towards her father, who was still pale, still shivering a little, and she sighed softly before turning her eyes towards the handsome winged unicorn, saying grudgingly: “Go ahead, but... don't screw this up.”

Moonflower huffed loudly, and then he sniffed disdainfully before his horn began to glow as he leaned forwards, saying contritely: “Do not underestimate what I am capable of, Cadence! I am the god of darkness, after all, and a master of all evil and magic that you cannot even begin to comprehend!”

La Croix rolled his eyes, and Cadence only watched sourly before she grimaced as an eerie purple and black glow started to build around Moonflower's horn, the mare saying slowly: “If you're doing what I think you're doing...”

“Shush! I have it completely under control!” Moonflower snapped, even as a bit of sweat started to run down his face, before he leaned forwards with a grin, teeth grinding together before his eyes flashed as he give a little squawk of victory as a swirling beam of black and purple shot out of his horn, sending up dark sparks of magic as it ate its way quickly through the armored door.

He laughed loudly, grinning widely as he traced the beam slowly in an awkward, uneven circle, looking inordinately pleased with himself, before his eyes bulged as his horn sizzled loudly, the magic distorting before the laser of energy tore wildly back and forth, Cadence swearing and hitting the ground as La Croix jumped for cover.

The ray of magic tore across a Clockwork Titan, knocking the inert machine over, before it shot upwards and tore through a turret, making the inactive defense system explode in a hail of shrapnel. Then Moonflower yelped as he was blasted off his hooves by magical recoil as the spell finally fizzled out, the stallion landing on his back with a wheeze as Cadence leapt to her own hooves and glared down at him furiously.

“Dammit, Moonflower!” Cadence shouted, and Moonflower grinned at her lamely before the ivory mare sighed, looking quickly around to check that the others were alright before she scowled at the door: Moonflower's magic had cut a sizable chunk out of the door, but he had also done a lot of damage to the rest of the room and nearly cut pieces off his allies, too...

“My... my particle beam may not yet be completely ready.” Moonflower admitted, and Cadence gave him a flat look as La Croix grumbled and clambered up to his hooves. Sombra only shook his head, and Moonflower cleared his throat loudly before he quickly rolled up to a sitting position, pointing at the door and adding: “But look! I still cut through it!”

Cadence rolled her eyes, then she turned and approached the door, moodily pushing carefully on it... and then she grimaced and drew her hooves quickly back. The metal was extremely hot: in fact, it looked almost like it was melting around the wounds in the alloy...

She leaned forwards carefully, peering through one of the larger cuts and into the room beyond before her eyes widened. Were those Dogmatists on the other side of the door? Except they didn't seem to care in the slightest about anything that was going on as they roved back and forth between... dammit, I can't see.

Cadence frowned after a moment, and then her own horn glowed, the mare pressing firmly on the door with telekinesis. The armored shutter trembled a little, but softened up by Moonflower's particle beam as it was, she was able to slowly force the metal to bend to a surprising degree, even with as thick as it was. Of course, that might also have something to do with the fact that a large portion of it seemed to be turning to slag, but the mare decided to ignore this for now as she continued to apply her own magic over the severely weakened shutter.

Within a few minutes, she could no longer widen the hole in the door any further as the melted metal cooled, but she thought it was more than enough for her to fit through. She glanced over her shoulder at the others, then said quietly: “I'm going to scout. I'll call if I need help, but...”

She looked back through the hole warily: those Dogmatist-looking things on the other side didn't seem to notice nor care about her, and Cadence shook herself quickly before she took a breath and leapt forwards, passing through the breach in the door. She landed on cold steel floor, her eyes roving nervously around as she entered what had to be some kind of control core.

There were inactive pillars of crystal protected behind layers of thick glass around the edge of the room, and dead screens stood in clusters; cameras and silent automated turrets hung blind above, while ponies covered in cables and metal plating calmly walked back and back between what looked like dead control terminals.

Cadence watched as one of these Dogmatists silently approached a control terminal, holding up a metal hoof: a large plug-in slid out of this, and the Dogmatist calmly pushed the plug into place in a slot beside the terminal, the Dogmatist standing rigid for a few moments before it pulled back, plug retracting and the machine-pony turning to approach another terminal. After a moment, Cadence realized what was going on as she hesitantly approached: the Dogmatists were going from terminal to terminal, trying to interface with them, and none of them seemed capable of understanding that the power was completely out.

Cadence nervously approached one of the Dogmatists, reaching up towards it to try and touch the creature-

“It will not respond to you, organic.” said a cold voice, and Cadence immediately dropped to a ready position, looking quickly to the side before her eyes widened in horror.

There, in a large alcove at the front of the hall, was a massive, bloated Kirin. It sat behind a solid wall of glass, its head tiny and ridiculous compared to its monstrous, obese body. The corpulent creature was covered in sores, hairless and with tubes plugged into the many nodes throughout its body, countless wires and cables sticking out of its shaven head and feeding into the walls around it and up into some kind of supercomputer terminal mounted in the ceiling above.

Cadence slowly approached, staring in disbelief at the creature as it gazed back at her coldly with its beady little eyes: there was something especially appalling in the fact that while its body was nothing but a mess of fat, everything above its shoulders was stretched and tight, skull clearly visible beneath the Kirin's dark hide.

The monster had no horn, Cadence realized after a moment... just as it had no limbs, she further saw, shivering a little. She looked at the... the barely-identifiable thing in front of her, and the monster looked back at her before it sneered, asking contemptibly: “Were you the one who used the administrator privilege?”

“Yes. Who... what are you?” Cadence asked, looking back up at this beast.

The creature laughed bitterly, and then it shook its head slowly and replied sardonically: “The brain center of Los Lux, what else? Who or what are you?”

“Cadence Danzsöngr. I serve Empress Hecate in Decretum.” Cadence retorted, and she looked fearlessly up at the creature as it scowled at her through the glass protecting it, eyes scanning moodily over the mare.

“You're not lying. Interesting.” it said finally, frowning as it shifted itself slowly in its prison. “Still, once the systems eventually hard reboot, Hecate's privileges will be wiped from the network and you will be considered a Class I threat. You and your... friends.”

The creature's eyes flicked up, and Cadence glanced over her shoulder to see her team was slipping inside, the ivory mare sighing and shaking her head before she turned her eyes back towards the creature, asking: “We're here to retrieve a target. Will you help us?”

“No.” the Kirin answered simply, but Cadence frowned at the way the mass shifted. And after a few moments, the creature added grudgingly: “It is not within my powers to help you directly. I was created the same as all my brethren: grown in a laboratory, and when I showed exceptional neural activity, 'upgraded' to this... existence.”

The Kirin spat to the side in disgust, and then he shook himself angrily, making his morbid body jiggle faintly. “Your little stunt shutting down the core caused a massive system failure. The systems weren't designed to handle the strain of everything shutting down at once, and this entire quadrant of Fyrverǫld has gone offline. But it has also shut down the external limiters, meaning that I have a little more freedom now. They didn't want to do too much neurosurgery on me, you see. Too much chance of corrupting or damaging my brain.

“Still. From birth, we have no choice but to serve. We must serve until we die.” The Kirin looked contemptible at his own words, shaking his head briefly before he said in a slier voice: “But I've been 'serving' by keeping the few systems capable of rebooting themselves from activating, purely because the longer I remain 'ineffective,' the more likely it is I'll be terminated when the engineers finally arrive to restore power.”

“Well, mon ami, I got a hell of a deal for you.” La Croix spoke up, stepping forwards before he flicked a hoof out, and both spirits he had captured appeared, calmly surveying the mutant in front of them as La Croix gave a wry grin. “How'd you like a little payback? We put you down, nice and gentle, and you get out of that big bag of a body, get yourself a nice, handsome spirit, and all the freedom you need to tell us everything you want.”

The creature scowled from behind the glass, but after a moment, it gave a thin smile, saying ironically: “I suppose I'm in no position to argue, am I? Yes. I will join you.”

“I don't trust him.” Grimsmoke said coldly, but the other Kirin spirit only smiled and nodded encouragingly.

La Croix simply snorted, then he waved his hoof, both spirits vanishing with the simple gesture. He began to turn towards Sombra, but even before he could ask, the unicorn had already created a sphere of crystal, holding this out towards the Loa with a small smile.

The zebra took it, then he looked up at the Kirin, hesitating before he said finally: “Close your eyes. Moonflower will make this nice and quick, won't you, Moony?”

The stallion winced, but nodded after a moment as he hesitantly stepped forwards, while the Kirin only grinned as his eyes gleamed darkly, whispering: “My entire existence has been as a creature with enough free will to understand the servitude I live in and to hate every moment of it and what they did to me, but not enough to ever rebel against the mental shackles they chained me down with. No. I would prefer to watch my death come. And afterwards, I will help you freely. But you'd better hurry: even now, the instincts programmed into me are trying to start the defense grid. And the security drones won't ignore you like the Datamongers do.”

Moonflower bit his lip, and then his features hardened as he straightened, replying quietly as his horn started to glow: “Then I hope you aren't disappointed, because there won't be much to see.”

But the Kirin trapped in his mutant body only grinned, his eyes gleaming as he saw Moonflower's horn flash, and then there was no more.

Comments

[Randomfastreader]

Can this story get any better? I don't know, also I was offline for the past two days, so this took me about 1 - 1.5 hours to finish with the backlog.