Hecate's Orphanage

by BlackRoseRaven

Colloquium

Chapter Sixteen: Colloquium
~BlackRoseRaven

Cadence found the rest of her team trudging towards the walls of the city. They made their way to the edge of Colloquium in silence, all of them doing their best not to look too often at the wreckage they had wrought, but it just kept drawing their eyes in. Who knew how many had been killed? And who knew what lives were among those that had been devastated?

The crash of the ship had knocked out most of the defenses around the city: they were easily able to breach an inactive electric fence, and simply walked past several deactivated turrets. The Kirin guards were panicked and easy to avoid. Cadence only felt worse as they slipped up the stone streets, however, shivering as they passed shops, and offices, and art spots and museums, seeing none of the militarization they had seen in other places.

It still made her sick to her stomach when they walked through a square, however, and found a massive fountain with a statue of Valthrudnir standing on top of it. The statue of the bipedal dragon stood in the same suit Cadence and Sombra both remembered him always wearing, and his hands rested on the heads of Kirin like they were helpless pets, or perhaps slaves. Both Cadence and Sombra couldn't help but stare at this for a little while, until La Croix gently called them onward and pointed out they were standing in the middle of an empty square.

But it looked like the military and emergency personnel had all been scrambled to deal with the catastrophe, and considering the fact Cadence could still hear explosions in the distance and feel aftershocks from the destroyer's crash, she wasn't surprised. There was only the occasional soldier here and there, and most of these seemed like actual Kirin instead of Splices, all of them very clearly distraught, even frightened.

La Croix finally led them into a large warehouse that was filled with what seemed like art supplies, Cadence thought. Blocks of clay, molds, statues, all sorts of fancy tools and shelves and shelves and shelves of pens, paper, sketchbooks...

Auriculos' spirit finally appeared when La Croix moodily stomped a hoof, and then the Kirin gargled as La Croix shoved a foreleg across his throat and pinned him back against the shelf, shouting in his face: “C'est quoi ces conneries? Are you fou? You give me one good reason I shouldn't send you to the diable right the hell now!”

The spirit laughed harshly even as he choked against the limb keeping him half-suspended, and then he wheezed: “They're all expendable. The prison and high security sections are behind the Lord's University, which is protected by the Great Equalizer. Your target was not in danger.”

“And what about us? What about our lives? This place looks like a town, not a prison or a military outpost, and we-”

“Created a crisis. A Class Four Catastrophic Occurrence, to be precise.” Auriculos answered in a rasp as he grabbed uselessly at La Croix's limb. “The town is in emergency lockdown. All nonessential personnel have been reassigned to dealing with the event. And the only lives that died were the designer Kirin, the 'beautiful upper class' created specifically for lives of academics and artistry and sitting on their genetically-superior asses.”

Cadence's eyes narrowed, and Sombra said quietly: “The Kirin like you would have been, had you not been classified as a military unit.”

Auriculos snarled at this, and then he gave a sharp-toothed grin as he retorted: “No. Military units are always made from the most superior genetic material. I would have been better. In fact, I was better.”

“If you continue down this path, Auriculos, you will only end up destroying yourself.” Sombra said softly, and then he shook his head slowly before he looked at La Croix, who was breathing hard as he pressed his foreleg into the spirit's neck even harder, a fury in his eyes like Cadence had never seen before... “La Croix. Please. Let him go.”

La Croix gritted his teeth, trembling a bit as his other hoof sparked with malevolent green energies. Cadence shifted, not knowing what to say even as her father looked pleadingly at the zebra, and Auriculos only grinned challengingly, even as the spirit trembled faintly in and out of reality.

“Now come, La Croix, enough posturing! You're certainly no evil spirit yourself, so don't try and show off just to impress me.” Moonflower said loudly, and Cadence winced before she glared at the stallion, but the winged unicorn was looking pointedly away from her, his eyes locked on the zebra as La Croix growled over at Moonflower. “I know you won't kill him. You're always trying to be one of those good guys, after all... why, they even kicked you out of Hell, didn't they?”

La Croix bit his lip and looked down, and there was silence for a moment before he grumbled under his breath and stepped away from Auriculos, who gasped for breath he didn't need before the spirit vanished from sight. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess you right, Moony. I ain't no rein de la nuit like you.”

“No, you're not.” Moonflower said kindly, reaching up to ruffle La Croix's mane, and the zebra's eye twitched a bit as he glared at the stallion, who asked mildly: “Too much? Well, La Croix, I probably am your elder anyway. It's rude to compare ages, after all, especially when I'm so handsome and retain my youth of... oh, about six hundred years ago...”

“Y'know what a Loa is, right? Y'know we been around since, oh, 'bout the beginning of time, right?” La Croix asked dryly, and Moonflower chuckled patronizingly and patted the zebra on the head, which made the Loa scowl horribly before he looked at Cadence and said grouchily: “We better get goin'. Or I'm gonna break the rules of bein' a gentlecolt and hit a girl.”

Moonflower huffed loudly at this, and Cadence smiled a bit before she asked quietly: “Which way, La Croix?”

La Croix pointed moodily through the warehouse, saying after a moment: “Apparently, assumin' our friend be tellin' the truth this time, there's some kind o' checkpoint ahead. The front half of the town be all show and bluster, but the other half be where they keep the secrets and the projects and the nasty things. You know, like any good doctor.”

Moonflower nodded firmly, adding with surprising seriousness: “Show. It's all about the show, the presentation. You should never merely be good at what you do, you must look good doing it or no one is ever going to take you seriously.”

Cadence looked mildly at the stallion for a few moments, and then La Croix added wryly: “Let's just get goin' before we have to put up with any more wisdom from a stallion who likes to put things in his mouth that don't belong there.”

“Ha, ha.” Moonflower intoned dryly, scowling as he fell into step after La Croix, and Cadence let the two take the lead as she followed with her father. “I'll have you know nothing goes in my mouth unless I know exactly who or what it belongs to.”

La Croix shot Moonflower a look, but resisted replying as he reached the door at the end of the warehouse, instead turning ethereal so he could carefully poke his head through the solid wood. Then he drew back and resolidified, muttering: “Weird.”

Cadence was about to ask what, but then the stallion opened the door and strode through, and the mare winced a bit before she agreed uneasily: “Weird.”

The front of the shop was filled with what weren't simply statues, but taxidermied Kirin in various poses, some of them beautiful, some of them hideous, some of them both horribly and wonderfully mutant. Most of them were in special glass enclosures, but a few were out on display, one in particularly clearly mangled by something other than just fouled genetics and with a large 'clearance sale' tag hanging from its twisted horn.

“C'est des conneries.” La Croix muttered as he carefully ducked past a taxidermied Kirin, shivering a bit as he leaned into the picture window. “Yeah, we finally got some activity ahead. Looks like guards, in front of a big gate we'll have to get past...”

He looked uncertain for a moment, but Sombra smiled reassuringly towards the zebra and said quietly: “If Auriculos can get us inside... we should allow him the chance to. I am sure, in his way, he wants to help, but he is... angry. Anger makes us do foolish things.”

“Ain't no excuse, though. 'Specially when we keep getting caught in the crossfire and all.” La Croix muttered, gazing out the window before he added in a low voice: “Think we better take 'em out nice and quiet-like, though. Don't want to attract too much attention to ourselves.”

“Aye, that is a good idea.” agreed another voice in a whisper, and Cadence's eyes widened in horror as a body pressed itself purposefully over hers, the mare slowly grinding her teeth together as she looked over her shoulder and found herself pressed almost face-to-face with Luna Brynhild. “What does thou think, though, Danzsöngr?”

“What are you doing here, Valkyrie?” the Swan asked in a growl, and Brynhild responded by shrugging and grinning, which made the ivory mare hiss warningly through her teeth even as her father gently touched her shoulder. “Valkyrie...”

“Swan Maiden!” Luna half-shouted, and then she winced when Scrivener grasped her by the tail and yanked her back towards the center of the room where he and Morgan were standing, the sapphire mare huffing before she looked quickly around and added: “I expected to find thee in a den of death, but not like this, Swan. 'Tis rather creepy, even for thee.”

Danzsöngr snarled, and Cadence hurriedly did her best to reason with the Swan before, to her surprise, she suddenly found herself back in control of her own body. She stumbled a little as Sombra looked at her worriedly, but the ivory mare only smiled hesitantly before she nervously touched at her own face, muttering: “I... think the Swan just went off to sulk, that's all. I'm okay.”

She took a breath, then looked back at Brynhild and her partners, the two mares looking at each other evenly for a moment before Cadence said quietly: “It's not that I don't appreciate the help, but why are you here? How did you find us?”

“I have a penchant for appearing where I am needed.” Luna said cheerfully, and Cadence scowled before the sapphire mare added in a suddenly-serious voice: “Why did it strike any of thee as a good idea to crash a flying war boat into a city?”

Cadence winced a bit at this, but La Croix quickly rose a hoof, saying awkwardly: “That be my fault. Wasn't what we thought was gonna happen, but... we got ourselves a little friend who ain't bein' so... friendly, y'see.”

Scrivener grunted at this, and Morgan frowned a little, her eyes glowing faintly before she murmured: “Right. You're a Loa. That means you can bind and capture spirits.”

La Croix shifted lamely, and Morgan blushed a bit, the mare shaking her head and adding quickly: “I mean, I think we just tend to forget that because we... kind of met you in a different capacity. Where are you going? Is Rustproof inside there?”

“You will stay away from our target, Valkyrie! This mission is mine to complete!” the Swan snarled suddenly as it reared up out of dormancy, and Cadence struggled to keep her hooves on the ground instead of grabbing either the Valkyrie or whatever weapon was closest.

Luna only scowled at the Swan, opening her mouth, but when her partners both looked at her pointedly, she grumbled and dropped her head, saying grumpily: “Aye, as always, blame me for the things that other creatures do, great traitors. Fie on all of thee.”

She stopped, then shifted a bit before sighing and adding quietly: “Swan, listen to me. This goes beyond a simple 'mission.' When we first saw Decretum, 'twas in a state of ruin and decay. So too was Endworld. This place is not. This machine world has weapons the likes of which I have never before seen. I am not saying we must put aside our differences or even work together, but do not accuse me of trying to steal thy sordid 'mission' out from under thy hooves when there are more important things to attend to.”

The Swan growled, but Cadence struggled to suppress that side of herself, forcing herself to nod. Thankfully, her father was there to take over for her, while Moonflower awkwardly patted Cadence on the back. “We were told that Valthrudnir and something called the Jarsongildi rule this place. We also met a powerful witch named Thokk, who seemed capable of returning spirits from the Void: they seemed to be protecting the portal to this world.”

Luna scowled a bit, and then she bit her lip before shaking her head and muttering: “Nay. I doubt 'tis Valthrudnir, and until I see it with mine own eyes, I shall consider this another trick. And 'tis difficult for me to comprehend that anyone or anything could return from the Void...

“Thokk, though... 'tis somewhat familiar, but only in passing.” Brynhild added thoughtfully, looking off to the side. “Aye, I remember hearing the name around Valhalla, but... I do not believe I had any dealings with such a spellcaster personally.”

“She has an interest in those like yourself and Cadenza. The... reborn.” Sombra said, and Luna smiled slightly at this.

“Reborn. A gentle way of putting it.” Luna traded looks with her partners, seeming to carry entire conversations with each glance before she grunted and nodded. “Very well. As there is much to investigate, and thou and thine have carried thyselves this far through toil and trouble... perhaps we should split up. We will help thee through this gate, and then create a diversion and search for answers. If Valthrudnir is involved somehow...” Luna quieted, lowering her head slightly before she muttered: “Then 'tis very personal.”

“It's personal for all of us.” Sombra said softly, and then he glanced at his daughter questioningly. Cadence only nodded to him, and the stallion gave a small smile before he turned his eyes back to Luna. “I think we would all appreciate that, though.”

“Alright. If you need help or something happens, send up a signal flare or... do you know how to create a sonic pulse?” Morgan asked, and Moonflower looked dumbly at the purple mare, but Sombra chuckled and nodded. “Okay. If you find Rustproof, send out a double-pulse. That way, we'll know to meet back at Decretum.”

Cadence grumbled, but nodded in agreement after a moment as Luna smiled wryly. The two teams studied each other for a moment, and then Luna grunted something before she started to turn-

“Wait, wait, uh. Uh...” La Croix hesitated as he stepped forward, and then he gestured at Scrivener Blooms, who tilted his head curiously. “Y'think that uh... you could spare a little sang? I need to make a tonic for our friend here.”

Sombra smiled briefly, his eyes flicking away, but he didn't say anything. Cadence's heart went out to her father as she looked towards him silently, and Scrivener Blooms smiled after a moment, nodding. “Sure. No problem.”

The stallion flexed one silver claw before stretching it out as dark corruption bubbled out his palm. Sombra watched silently as the black corruption formed itself into a crystalline bowl, which then filled with liquid darkness, and after a moment the unicorn remarked softly: “Your control is amazing.”

“Years and years of practice. Besides, I can't do what you can do, and use it as a conduit.” The stallion held the bowl of dark poison out, and La Croix gingerly took it, putting it down before the earth pony suddenly added: “You know, you look really weird without your hat and cape.”

“Merci.” La Croix said dryly, glaring at Scrivener, and the earth pony simply shrugged before the zebra sighed and repeated in a quieter voice: “Merci.”

“Hey, no problem. We aren't all like Luna.” Scrivener replied softly, and Luna huffed and shouldered him firmly before she reached up and swatted the stallion's rump as he began to step past her, making him flinch and then glower over his shoulder at her.

Luna only grinned widely at him, tipping him a wink before she turned her eyes back towards Cadence, saying clearly: “And if thou art in need of anything else, Swan, only ask, and we shall provide. Understood?”

Cadence glowered back at Luna, and the sapphire mare grinned until Morgan reached up and grasped her by one ear, pulling her slowly around in a circle as the Valkyrie squawked in indignation and embarrassment. But Morgan only smiled at the group of ponies as she pulled Luna back towards the warehouse entrance, saying clearly: “Take care of yourselves, okay? We're working together here. We're not enemies.”

She accented this with a glare at Luna, who mumbled and nodded, her tail flicking before she tossed one quick raspberry over her shoulder at Cadence before disappearing through the doorway. And before Cadence could stop herself, she drew a knife and flung it angrily at the door as it swung closed, the weapon lodging in the wood where Luna's head had been a moment ago.

She scowled, then blushed and shook her head quickly before her horn glowed, hurriedly drawing the knife back to herself. She looked over at her father with embarrassment, but then softened as she saw he had his eyes on other things: La Croix was quickly mixing up a potion from the corruption they had been given, and the ivory mare bit her lip and lowered her head as she thought silently that they really were fortunate those ponies were so willing to help them. Whether or not Brynhild was annoying... her partners are good people. Her family... they all seem to be good ponies.

The Swan grumbled something inside her, but Cadence stomped on it this time, instead focusing on the here and now and the good things they had, not the negatives and certainly not her own stupid hatred. There were more important things to deal with.

Yet all the same, even as she watched La Croix preparing a potion for her father, she silently hoped that they would prove they were able to deal with this by themselves, without the help of Luna Brynhild and her companions.

Getting past the guards was simple: La Croix snuck up behind one and used a poisoned needle to take him down painlessly and silently, and Moonflower stunned the other with a spell. The gate was controlled by a security system, but Auriculos was able to interface with this and open it, even if all of the Irregulars could admit they were hesitant to let the Kirin spirit 'help' them any further.

Cadence was worried about what was still ahead, but there were a few positives: her father seemed to be doing better, and as they entered the fortified half of Colloquium, they found it was under minimal protection: they still had to avoid the ever-vigilant sensors and cameras, but it was much easier going than Cadence had expected, and Moonflower was able to gently adjust or cause a temporary power surge to blind the few cameras that they weren't able to sneak around.

Moving along the streets and through checkpoints, they eventually found themselves at a stockade in front of a towering, ominous-looking building that stretched towards the sky. Even though this side of town was far less beautiful and artistic, this ugly, enormous structure still stood out like an unnatural growth, larger and far more irregular than the rest of the buildings, which all seemed to confirm to some aesthetic that made the mesh of glass and metal look smooth. This only looked... unnatural.

The doors leading into the stockade were guarded by a booth with a soldier in it, and automated turrets with cameras mounted on each one. Cadence frowned from the niche her team had hidden in across the street, her eyes roving back and forth: the stockade was built into the structures on either side, but both of these buildings were locked down, and there were several Kirin guards at an intersection roughly a block away: they looked like they were waiting for something, and Cadence had the feeling they didn't want to wait and find out what.

“I think I can destroy those turrets, but I highly doubt I can simply knock them out like I did the cameras.” Moonflower said quietly.

“I can get that guard, though. Maybe if I get in his booth, I can shut down the cameras and open the doors.” La Croix suggested, and Cadence hesitated: that seemed too easy, somehow...

“Go ahead.” she said finally, and the zebra nodded firmly before he vanished from sight. The mare sighed a bit, then smiled awkwardly when her father gently touched her back.

She didn't really know what to say, though, as she looked ahead and felt like it wasn't going to work-

La Croix abruptly appeared back in reality, falling heavily on his rump with a thud as he squawked and grabbed at his face as if he'd been punched, and Cadence blinked in surprise before she winced as the Kirin in the booth looked quickly up from his stupor. But La Croix vanished before the Kirin could see him, the guard scowling out his window before he leaned back into the booth.

A moment later, the Kirin down the street came trotting towards the booth, rifles at the ready: Cadence tensed in the niche, narrowing her eyes even as Moonflower quickly cast a cloak over them, and the three waited in silence as the Kirin scanned back and forth, one of them tapping his visor, likely cycling different vision modes. Cadence only hoped silently he didn't look in this direction, and that La Croix had found a good place to hide, even in spirit form...

But after a moment, one of the Kirin approached the booth and knocked on the glass, and the guard inside leaned back into the window as the patrol said crisply: “Nothing to report, sir! No hostiles!”

The Kirin in the booth simply waved the soldier away, and he and the rest of his patrol returned to duty as the guard sighed and slumped out of the window. At least that told them what they were dealing with, Cadence thought ironically. The guard was probably one of the higher-order Kirin, while the patrols were Splices. Maybe they could use that to their advantage.

La Croix reappeared a moment later as Moonflower dropped the illusion, the zebra rubbing at his face before he said lamely: “Walls are lined with iron. I can't pass through 'em.”

“That's okay. I... have an idea.” Cadence said thoughtfully, before she added awkwardly: “It's a little childish, but... I think it'll work.”

“Trust your instincts, mi amore.” Sombra encouraged, and Cadence smiled and nodded to her father before she looked between Moonflower and La Croix, who were both gazing at her curiously.

“Okay. I need us cloaked, and you invisible.” Cadence instructed, and then she laid out her both incredibly-stupid and cunning plan. La Croix was pessimistic, while Moonflower giggled like a foal until he remembered the seriousness of the situation, although as he hid them all from sight, Cadence could still hear him snickering to himself.

La Croix became visible in front of the booth, hammering on the wall of it before he turned invisible and scurried away to hide. Again, the patrol was summoned, and the Splices told the guard in the booth there were no contacts with the same crisp professionalism.

They repeated this twice more, and the second time, Cadence swore that she could see the guard fuming under his helm. Then, on the third try, she heard a muffled shout, after a few moments, the soldier from the booth came storming out without bothering to summon the patrol of Splices, his rifle at the ready as he strode back and forth in the street, snapping angrily: “Goddammit, we're on high alert here and if one of you scientist assholes is out here, screwing with me-”

La Croix appeared behind the guard, slamming a needle into the back of his neck, and the Kirin gurgled as he stumbled forwards before his eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed in an unconscious heap. Cadence moved fast, darting out from cover to sweep up the body as La Croix ran around to enter the open booth, and the ivory mare joined him after a moment, dropping the unconscious guard on the floor of the cramped little room as the zebra muttered: “Felt kinda bad doin' that, if you want me to be honest.”

“Could be a lot worse. At least we didn't kill him.” Cadence replied, before she smiled and slapped La Croix on the back as the turrets powered down and the security doors leading into the stockade slid open. “Great work.”

The two hurried out of the booth, Sombra and Moonflower joining them before the four hurried through the open gate and the steel corridor beyond. They halted at an open portcullis, and Cadence quickly leaned out and checked in either direction: but around this tower, there was simply a wide expanse of open ground... and cameras, she saw, in every direction.

But she thought the time for subtlety was just about over, at least. She prepared herself to run across the concrete walk leading to the armored doors of the rectangular tower, but Sombra stopped her by catching her shoulder, saying gently: “Let's not rush. We still don't know if this is where Rustproof is.”

“Yeah, but...” Cadence looked at her father, then looked back ahead, and found herself staring into the face of a pale Kirin.

Cadence went dead white, her eyes widening and her body trembling as she stared at the spirit, which looked back at her hollowly, emptily. And as she looked back and forth, she realized that this whole area was filled with them: husks, empty shells, silent Kirin and a few scattered ponies pacing slowly back and forth, many of them staring down at their hooves. Cadence trembled, and tried her hardest not to blink, but as always, she did.

And in that millisecond, she saw a ring of death and screaming souls, a black river that pumped up into the tower and ran in a circle around the inner grounds of the stockade. She trembled, then reached up and rubbed rapidly at her eyes, reminding herself that these spirits couldn't hurt her, they couldn't her hurt her, they can't hurt me, just don't draw their attention...

She forced herself to look slowly up at the Kirin in front of her, as her team shifted uneasily, Sombra frowning deeply at his daughter as Cadence whispered: “Sorry. There's... they're here. The specters, the ones no one else can see.”

La Croix grimaced, the zebra leaning forward and concentrating as he looked back and forth before muttering: “I feel... a feel some bad mojo, Cygne, but I don't see nothin'... I mean, I ain't doubtin' you, but-”

“I know. I know, it's weird, you're a death spirit and yet you can't even see these husks, these... I don't know.” Cadence mumbled, before she smiled a bit when La Croix gave her a look. “I know. Sorry. I know you don't like being referred to as that.”

La Croix grunted, and then Moonflower asked nervously, as his eyes darted back and forth: “And you're sure they're not going to hurt us?”

“They don't mean any harm. They're just... scary.” Cadence said softly, looking uneasily at the shade in front of her as it finally turned away, and she bit her lip, wishing silently she could communicate with these things, ask what they wanted...

Inside her, the Swan snorted in derision, and Cadence frowned a bit, but as always, the Swan ignored her and simply went back to sulking. The Swan had the answers, but Cadence knew that the Swan would never give them to her unless something happened that forced it to.

Still, it was vaguely reassuring, in a strange way: the Swan didn't really care if she lived or died, but the Swan was also arrogant and prideful and loved killing far more than it enjoyed dying. If something was a threat, the Swan would be all too happy to point it out, because either Cadence would die fighting it, or the Swan would get to add yet another victim to its endless murder spree.

She was being negative. She had to stop that. She had to focus on the here and now.

Cadence closed her eyes tightly and rubbed at them vehemently, and when she opened them... well, she could still see the spirits, but the river of death was gone, and the shades themselves were indistinct. “Okay. I think there must be a corruption pipeline... I imagine they must use the Clay of Prometheus for fuel, too. Even if...”

“There hasn't been much of a sign of it so far. Perhaps it's another unrefined version, or incomplete.” Sombra pushed a hoof against the floor, frowning and closing his eyes before he murmured: “Yes. I feel it. It's flowing upward.”

“Let's follow it up. Wherever it's concentrating is where we're likely to find... something important.” Cadence said finally, and the others nodded before the mare added hesitantly: “And we'll... move carefully for now. Moonflower, cloak us. Let's see if we can get those doors open quietly.”

Moonflower winked before he cast his spell, declaring proudly: “They won't even have a chance to see us until it's far too late!”

Cadence didn't know about that, but they were able to open the door without any trouble, and the entrance hall was guarded only by cameras that they slipped carefully past. They found an empty security checkpoint waiting for them, and Cadence felt strangely nervous as they passed carefully around the scanning machines and slipped through the guard station, the mare wondering silently where the hell everyone was.

She didn't have long to find out: in an elevator hall a little further down the corridor, they found several Kirin clustered around a dead pony. Cadence winced at this as she and the rest of her team quickly hid along one wall, the ivory mare leaning slightly in through the open door to better hear the soldiers as one of them muttered: “-fifth time. Five times is too many.”

“What about the other prisoners? Have they been moved back to containment?” asked the other Kirin: they were Bushi, Cadence thought, from their heavily-augmented bodies. Unlike the ones they had seen before, however, these ones wore segmented armor of some kind that interlocked with their mechanical parts, making them look almost completely synthetic apart from what little of their faces was exposed.

“No. They don't need to know about the system failures or the emergency alert. Bronze here only tried to run yet again because he realized we're missing about half our guard force.” the other Kirin replied, as the third grunted in agreement. “Too bad the Jarsongildi finally gave us authorization to terminate anyone if they misbehave.”

“They're going to figure it out once they realize they're not under guard anymore.” the other Kirin said pessimistically, before he looked down at the dead earth pony, poking it with the tip of his rifle. “But I got an idea. Let's send his corpse up to donor processing. His brain's still fresh, he's probably smart enough to qualify as a donor. That'll scare at least half of them into behaving.”

“Alright. I'll ask Sovereign to double the guard on Engineering and the shrinks.” replied another Kirin, before he stepped back and tilted his head slightly, muttering in a lower voice into his headset.

As he did so, one of the remaining Bushi started to pick up the corpse, while the other asked: “Are there any other sections where the prisoners are working today?”

“Three in Psionics, and one in Robotics. The rest are all locked in their cells. We don't really have to worry about either of those sections, though: the fortune tellers can't do anything from inside the pen, and the Dogmatist in Robotics never gives us any trouble. Probably because of his neural node.” answered the last, and then he looked up as the apparent officer in charge grunted at him loudly, as he looked up from speaking into his headset.

“Well, check on him anyway after you dump that corpse off. Come on, you and me are heading back to the checkpoint. They'll send a service bot down to clean up the mess later.”

The Kirin with the corpse over his back strode towards the open elevator as the other two came down the hall, and Cadence held her breath as she pressed tightly against the cold metal, hoping that Moonflower's cloak would be enough. But neither Bushi seemed to notice the faint distortion in the air as they passed, one of them grumbling about the prisoners and the other absently checking over his rifle.

The elevator doors pinged closed, and Cadence counted to thirty before she stepped out from under the cover provided by the illusion, striding towards the elevator. She gazed at it uncertainly as the others joined her, Moonflower letting the rest of his magic drop as he nervously looked up at a camera. “Uh... don't you think perhaps we should, I don't know, not stand out in the open?”

“It sounds like their security systems aren't working. That would explain why this was so easy... maybe the systems were damaged when the ship crashed, if this whole city is networked together. Either that, or they're committing all their power to the containment efforts.” Cadence murmured, studying the glowing panel above the elevator and the runes that displayed across it. It halted on one, and Cadence narrowed her eyes. “That must be his first stop...”

Sombra nodded slowly, and La Croix grimaced before he reached up and touched the wall near the elevator, muttering: “Well, I ain't gonna be much help here. Everything is lined with iron or somethin' else I can't pass through. This place be scary, Cygne. And these Kirin be fou.”

Cadence grunted in agreement after a moment, shaking her head briefly. Moonflower shrugged a bit, and then he glanced up as Sombra asked gently: “Can you create an illusion behind us?”

“Of... oh! Yes, certainly.” Moonflower smiled at Sombra, then he flicked his horn to the side, and a line of magic quickly drew itself across the floor before a glowing wall appeared, filling up the end of the corridor. It settled a moment later, and Moonflower winked as he said cheerfully: “Feel free to check my work! And of course, if there's anything else that you want, Sombra, you know that I'm always very happy to oblige a magnificent stallion like yourself... you know, you are looking exceptionally handsome. I think that potion La Croix mixed up for you must have fixed you right up!”

“It has helped greatly, at least. And I trust you, Moonflower, although there is something I would like to go over with you.” Sombra replied kindly, and Moonflower visibly perked up before the unicorn asked: “Cadenza, do you mind if I take Moonflower aside for a moment?”

“Not at all, Daddy. La Croix, keep an eye on the hall behind us, but otherwise I guess we're on break for now.” Cadence said after a moment as she looked at the other two elevators, both of which seemed inactive, while the center elevator wasn't moving... but if they really are down to just a skeleton crew, we might actually be able to get in and out of here while avoiding the worst of the bloodshed...

It took about twenty minutes for the Kirin to finally return to his duties: he emerged from the elevator to an empty room, the stallion looking back and forth curiously before he grimaced as he stepped in the drying blood on the floor, cursing under his breath and kicking one hind leg a few times before he strode quickly onward. He didn't notice the blurs that crept into the elevator, and when he heard the quiet ding of the doors closing, he only gave a cursory glance over his shoulder before shrugging and continuing on his way.

Moonflower let the cloak drop as Cadence hit the button on the elevator that matched the symbol for what she assumed was Robotics. And as the machine rose with a quiet hum, La Croix grimaced a bit before he mumbled: “I got a bad feeling 'bout this whole mess, Cygne. Ain't never this easy.”

“Then let's not expect it to be. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.” the ivory mare replied, and Sombra smiled and nodded before Cadence took a slow breath and readied herself as the elevator hummed to a stop. “Okay. Get ready. We go in hard.”

The others nodded as Cadence focused forward before there was a quiet ding, the elevator doors sliding open to reveal a security checkpoint beyond. Cadence leapt immediately into action as her eyes slid sharply across the room and she noted three Kirin, her hooves already yanking two knives free from her bandoleer before the Kirin even had a chance to look up.

Two Bushi hit the wall with gargles as knives sank into their throats, and the third didn't even have enough time to jump up from his chair at the computer before Moonflower blasted him with a stunning spell, sending him down in an unconscious heap. Cadence looked quickly back and forth before she vaulted the counter the two guards had been on the other side of.

One of the Bushi was trying to reach a button under the counter, but Cadence let the Swan's ruthlessness take over for a moment, the ivory mare leaping forward to seize the Kirin by the head and slam his skull cruelly down into the floor, helmet bouncing free and horn cracking loudly. She yanked his head back, then slammed it down again, finishing him off before she looked over her shoulder at the other Kirin, but he was already going glassy-eyed, and Cadence shuddered even as the Swan said contemptibly: “Soft creatures.”

“Unprepared, but I would not say soft. But the fact that they are still mortal gives me hope.” Sombra said as he strode towards the end of the room to check out the doorway, and Cadence frowned a little as she straightened.

“What do you mean?” she asked, as La Croix and Moonflower entered the room.

Sombra glanced over his shoulder towards her, and then he smiled briefly before replying quietly: “That we will have peace one day.”

Cadence smiled faintly in return after a moment, blushing a bit and rubbing at the back of her head: she hadn't really thought about what was going to happen after the mission was complete, after all, she had just thought this would be marked as a hostile world while they tried to deal with Thokk or whatever other possible threats were out there...

But what about after that? And it wasn't like they could just wipe out an entire world, even if that idea had a terrible appeal to the Swan inside her...

“It's clear.” Sombra said as he checked the hallway, and Cadence nodded before approaching and touching her father's shoulder, both thanking him and silently signaling that she would take point. She slipped ahead, then frowned for a moment before her eyes narrowed as she saw a shape at the end of the hallway.

Specters, again. She shivered a bit at the sight of the spirits as La Croix and Moonflower joined them, before the Loa muttered: “I got a bad feeling...”

“Husks.” Cadence replied in a low voice, and then she frowned then spirit turned and silently strode down the hall, almost as if... “It... seems to want us to follow.”

“That's unusual.” Sombra looked at Cadence with a question in his eyes, and the ivory mare bit her lip before she gave a hesitant nod, gesturing at the group to hang back as she strode slowly after the spirit.

It led her down the corridor and around a bend that Cadence was careful to check around, but it didn't seem like there were any other Kirin present, guards or otherwise. In fact, she didn't think she could hear anything except for the distant sounds of clanking and machinery, but they were slowly drawing closer and closer to this, before Cadence frowned as the spirit suddenly turned and strode through a sealed door.

The mare took a breath, pressing herself to the wall beside the door before she reached up and hit the button. It slid smoothly open and the machine sounds immediately grew much louder, and Cadence leaned carefully in, her eyes narrowed slightly, before they widened in surprise as she saw nothing but a single pony, working alone in some kind of enormous concrete hangar.

She bit her lip, but when the Dogmatist-looking pony only continued to work away at the bench in front of him, she slipped carefully into the room. She began to look around to get her bearings, noting what looked like an enormous, permanent portal arch at the front of the hangar as well as a massive set of windows, but then she saw the cluster of husks, and she halted dead, trembling as she stared slowly over the flock of ghosts and the thing they were gathered around.

Massive tubes of corruption laced across the ceiling and fed down into humongous tankers, which in turn had a multitude of tubes feeding down into some kind of monstrous-looking war machine: but Cadence's eyes sharpened as she looked at it, and it went from a behemoth of metal to a hideous, sleeping monster made out of corpses and bones, the husks mindlessly climbing all over the beast like maggots writhing over rotten flesh.

The mare shivered a little, and then she blinked before hurriedly returning her eyes to the Dogmatist as she realized he was now looking at her. She narrowed her eyes, dropping to a ready position and trying to drop everything else out of her mind, but then the Dogmatist simply smiled and gestured at her with one hoof, saying in a deep but gentle voice: “Hey there. Come on in.”

Cadence relaxed awkwardly, slowly approaching the stallion as she looked over him with confusion: he was absolutely enormous, a tremendous mass of muscle and bulk. Not only that, he had plates of black metal fused over his frame, servomotors implanted in cybernetically-modified limbs, and a glowing red camera eye fused to his features.

The little coat he had between the metal parts was a deep blue-violet, and his natural eye was bright orange, a few shades sharper than his mane and tail. He had a handsome, honest face that might be described less-generously as 'simple,' but Cadence could tell from the complex machine he had been putting together on the table that this stallion was clearly anything but.

“Uh... are you Rustproof?” she asked after a moment, and the stallion chuckled and nodded, making Cadence shift in surprise before she questioned further: “Were you... did the Kirin do this to you? Do you have a...”

'Behavior node' sounded a little rude to ask, but the stallion simply smiled at her kindly before he replied in his low, gentle voice: “Nah. I ain't a Dogmatist. I got these extra pieces when Gymbr ruled Valhalla and they was recruitin'. Weren't my first choice, but we didn't all get one.”

He halted, then climbed to his hooves and brushed at himself before he asked: “So are we going?”

Cadence stared at the stallion, dumbfounded, before she asked disbelievingly: “You... you were expecting us?”

Rustproof nodded even as he calmly reached up and tapped on his metal leg, and somehow, Cadence was unsurprised when a hidden slot opened in the metal, allowing the stallion to slip a cigarette free to put in his muzzle. “Yep.”

When Cadence only continued to stare at him, he shrugged a bit, gesturing absently around the hangar. “Somethin' big happened outside. And I always knew one day Momma would either come for me or send someone to get me.”

Cadence shook her head slowly, giving another laugh of disbelief before she muttered: “Well, glad I don't have to convince you. But alright, we need to get out of here, then, and get far enough away from the Kirin settlements to send up a portal flare. Uh... guys, it's safe!”

Cadence glanced over her shoulder towards where the rest of her team was standing in the doorway, and Sombra smiled as he approached, La Croix following and Moonflower half-falling over before stumbling hurriedly in last. The unicorn traded a brief nod with the Benevolent... Horses of Heaven that seems like an ironically-good word for him so far. Okay. Think, Cadence. “Our first step should be to inform Brynhild and her team. But I don't know if we should call them here or tell them to meet us back in Decretum. I... I don't even know how we're going to get back to Decretum.”

The ivory mare grimaced a bit: right, they had that problem to deal with too. But as she began to wrack her mind for answers, Rustproof said calmly: “I can open a portal.”

Cadence looked at him with surprise, and the earth pony simply gestured towards the massive portal frame at the front of the room. “That's normally used for shipping 'round Fyrverǫld, but I've learned enough 'bout how it works that with a little help from a unicorn who knows the coordinates for where we wanna go, we can jump just about anywhere. Decretum ain't a problem.”

Sombra smiled as Moonflower immediately thrust a hoof into the air, declaring: “I know it! And I can probably power that entire portal by myself anyway, but your help is most appreciated, very large and very handsome stallion.”

Rustproof only smiled, then he turned his eyes towards Cadence. “The only problem is that once I start gearing it up, the Kirin are gonna know something's going on. I'm gonna try and sap power from the elevators and security systems, but that probably won't slow 'em down much.”

“Okay. I need to know where the entrances to this room are so we can lock it down.” Cadence replied quickly, and the earth pony pointed at the door she had entered through before gesturing towards the back of the room, then to the other side, almost directly across from her. “Sombra, can you seal those? La Croix, can you scout?”

“Give me two minutes 'fore you close up this door, Papa Sérénité.” La Croix said, and Sombra nodded as he began to head to the back of the room, while the Loa vanished.

Rustproof nodded a few times, and then the stallion walked across the open front of the hangar towards the control panel. Cadence hesitated, looking back at the monster-weapon and the husks surrounding it before she quickly turned and followed after him, asking uncertainly after a moment: “What... what were you working on here?”

The earth pony looked back over his shoulder at the war machine, studying it silently for a few moments: and while it dominated the room and drew all of Cadence's attention, it certainly wasn't the only weapon here. There were gun racks along one wall, filled with rifles, and at the back of the room, a small fleet of motorcycles rested in various states of repair and augmentation. There were cannons and other artillery with automated sensors, waiting to be tested, and crates of miniaturized turrets...

“Bad things.” Rustproof said quietly, and then he shook his head before pointing at her, asking: “May I?”

Cadence frowned for a moment, and then she realized what the stallion was pointing at: not her, but the butt of her rifle. She nodded and drew this free, passing it to the earth pony carefully: it still felt like a snake or something in her hooves. “I guess you probably know about guns, huh?”

The earth pony simply nodded, extending the rifle's barrel as he shifted it back and forth before he gave a brief smile. Cadence tilted her head, and the stallion glanced up before he said quietly: “Ain't one of Momma's designs, but it's well-made. Custom-built for you. Ain't complete, though: looks like there's some parts missing.”

Cadence frowned in surprise at this, but Rustproof simply chuckled before he collapsed the barrel and passed the rifle back to her, giving her a kind smile. “Guess whoever made this wanted to see how you did with it.”

“I... guess. I don't like guns that much.” Cadence said as she slipped the rifle into the holster, and when the stallion gave her an inquisitive look, she shrugged awkwardly and said lamely: “Feels weird, I guess.”

Rustproof only smiled at her and shrugged, and the ivory mare cleared her throat before she was thankfully distracted when Moonflower asked awkwardly from the middle of the room: “Uh, Cadence? What am I doing?”

“Being patient for once in your life.” Cadence replied dryly, and then she turned back towards Rustproof, asking: “So you can really get this working?”

He nodded, then gestured easily towards the control panel at the side of the portal. Cadence recognized it as a similar design to the portal they had gone through to reach Fyrverǫld, and that brought a thousand other questions to mind. But she thought the most important one was: “Do you know who Thokk is?”

The earth pony frowned, then he shook his head, looking at her curiously. Cadence shook her own in response, grimacing a bit before she muttered: “It's okay. I'm just trying to put some things together that don't seem to fit. You're going to be debriefed when you get to Decretum, though, and Hecate will want to know as much as possible about what's been happening.”

“Yep. I got it all right here.” Rustproof said mildly as he reached up and tapped on his mechanical eye, and Cadence grunted before she looked up as La Croix reappeared, the zebra signaling to her with a grin that told her there weren't any threats present.

As Sombra finished sealing them in, Rustproof began to tap away at the control panel. He beckoned to Moonflower once the portal frame began to charge, the earth pony explaining in his calm, placid way: “Should be ready to go shortly. Just focus your magic on it, and where you want to go.”

“Decretum, Decretum, Decretum...” Moonflower muttered like a mantra, squinting his eyes at the portal as he almost leaned into the energy, and Cadence and Rustproof both winced and grabbed the winged unicorn by the shoulders, before Cadence sighed and carefully pushed him backwards towards the center of the open hangar.

“Try from about here.” she encouraged, and Moonflower nodded several times before he focused back on the portal, his horn sparking and thrumming as he narrowed his eyes and visibly concentrated.

Cadence turned her eyes towards Sombra as the stallion approached, and the ivory mare noted with a smile that La Croix had taken a bit of extra initiative and was currently making his spirits move large, heavy objects in front of the sealed-shut doors: hopefully the makeshift blockades wouldn't need to hold for very long, though. “I sent out a pulse telling them to meet us back in Decretum. I hope I didn't overstep my bounds, mi amore.”

“Not at all, Daddy. Thank you. I feel the team works best when we all... do our own thing. But do our own thing together, you know?” Cadence laughed a little after a moment, and then she shook her head, saying awkwardly: “Sorry. Just... I don't even know how long it's been anymore. It's-”

She was interrupted by an alarm blaring, and the mare looked up with a wince as a mechanical voice announced: “Warning. Unauthorized activity detected in Robotics, Hangar A. Cease and desist immediately: security teams have been notified and deployed.”

Rustproof only ran past the portal, hurrying to a panel in the wall that he yanked open before he reached in and began to fumble through the wires. There was a loud crackle, and then the mechanical voice said coldly: “Warning. Unauthorized access to systems detected. Deploying security drones.”

Cadence readied herself, but a moment later, the lights flickered violently before the voice growled, sounding as frustrated as its synthetic tone would allow: “System failure detected. Upgrading threat level. Informing Sovereign.”

Rustproof grunted, and then Moonflower flinched as the portal frame suddenly glowed brightly, filling with eerie white light. Cadence flinched backwards, and Rustproof shouted as he hurried back towards the control panel: “It's locked on to the coordinates, but something's blocking it!”

“Oh... oh no, that might be one of Decretum's defense systems, it must not recognize that we're trying to portal in!” Cadence shouted back, grimacing as she looked towards one of the doors. Any moment now, she knew, there were going to be Kirin pounding the doors down, and even if Hecate reacted with her usual speed and precision, it could still be minutes before Seneschal sent through a probe to find out who they were and what they were trying to do, and those were minutes they might not have.

Cadence began to look towards Rustproof, to ask if there was any way to force through the portal, but she was stunned into silence as the alarm simply cut out. Rustproof looked up with a frown, and Sombra and La Croix both readied themselves, while Moonflower only stared around in confusion. Everything was silent, apart from the crackling of energy in the portal...

“Prisoner 113-377 32-40-1: Rustproof. This is Sovereign.” spoke a cold voice from the hidden speakers, and Cadence grimaced as she looked back and forth. “Surrender and submit. Intruders: surrender immediately. You will be processed, then terminated.”

“Yeah, I'll pass, thanks.” Cadence retorted, before she asked: “Who the hell are you? Why the hell do you think we'd just roll over and die?”

She needed to buy time somehow, keep this Sovereign talking, but Sovereign didn't seem interested in answering her questions as the voice instead said contemptibly: “Your refusal has been noted and processed. Executing orders.”

Cadence narrowed her eyes, before they widened in shock as she felt a tremble run through the hangar as the massive, monster-machine began to rumble, hellish red light flaring to life in the glass eyes of its steel skull. Rustproof's eyes widened in horror before he looked up in shock as several of the tubes pumping corruption into the beast snapped and exploded from the force of the fuel being forced down them, the stallion shouting: “Stop! It'll go berserk!”

“Correct. By all calculations, all hostiles will be eliminated, and then the Goliath will be drawn to the nearest source of energy: the portal. You will die, and when the portal stabilizes, your allies will die.” Sovereign said ruthlessly.

Rustproof gave another shout of denial, but Cadence only snarled as as the Goliath rose slowly higher and higher, the beast-tank roaring in a mechanical voice at them. And yet even as the creature flickered in Cadence's vision, becoming a hideous mass of undead, hateful bodies over which husks writhed and panicked, and then a terrible war-machine, she felt the Swan rising up through her body, and her fear burning away as her friends and teammates fell in at her sides.

All she knew was this was the last great obstacle between her and getting back to her home, Decretum: this was the final test she had to pass to prove she wasn't a failure.

And neither she nor the Swan would let anything, be it witch, Jötnar, or monster, stand in her way.