Hecate's Orphanage

by BlackRoseRaven

And One For All

Chapter Seventeen: And One For All
~BlackRoseRaven

The massive machine-beast roared at them, making the hangar quake as Cadence gritted her teeth. Its large treads shifted back and forth, yanking against the chains and irons binding it down as the cybernetic monster glared at them furiously.

Cadence's eyes swept over the machine before she gestured quickly to the side, shouting: “La Croix, get around behind it, see if there's anything we can use! Sombra, destroy those fuel tanks and see what you can do to slow it down! Moonflower, you and I are going to hit it head on and distract it!”

Without question or hesitation, Sombra and La Croix both broke away to either side, the Loa vanishing from sight and Sombra leaping up on top of a tall machine, then onto one of the catwalks that surrounded the room.

“Rustproof, what the hell is this thing?” Cadence snapped, although she already had some idea from how the beast kept flickering wildly in her vision between steel and hideous undead abomination.

“Bad. Don't concentrate on the body, hit its sensors and shut down its weapon functions!” Rustproof called, and Cadence nodded with a grunt before she closed her eyes, summoning up the Swan as she drew a knife free from her belt.

Her eyes flashed, and the Swan shot forward, smashing into the dragon-tank's head before she stabbed a knife down into its eye, shattering the glass orb. The beast barely twitched before swinging its head out, smashing the ivory mare backwards as it roared again as its head rose high and its steel neck lengthened, chains snapping as it tore one of its treads free from the binds holding it.

The Swan snarled as she flipped and caught herself in midair: destroying its eye hadn't done much. She readied herself to attack again-

Slots opened over the rectangular back of the machine, turrets snapping to position out of these and all immediately aiming at Cadence, opening fire on the mare. She swore, barely reacting in time to dodge the hail of gunfire that tore through the air around her before a beam of black energy shot into the dragon-tank's face, making it roar.

But as the turrets continued to fire on Cadence, the head of the beast turned towards Moonflower, its steel jaws opening before it leaned forwards and breathed out a blast of toxic mist, Moonflower cursing and flapping his wings hard as he staggered backwards.

Cadence's instincts warned her too late what was going to happen, and there was a single loud click before the cloud of toxic gas exploded in a furious whoosh of hellfire. Moonflower yelled as he flung himself away from the conflagration, rolling wildly over the floor to try and extinguish the flames that had caught over his body as the miasma of fire slowly descended towards the earth, the air itself burning with the poisonous flames.

The ivory mare zigzagged towards the side of the machine, before her eyes widened as the behemoth shifted and yanked its other set of treads free. The mare realized too late that the treads themselves were on some kind of wing-like appendages, and she didn't have time to react before it swung one of these out, smashing Cadence with the force of a runaway train and sending her crashing into the steel wall of the hangar hard enough to leave her embedded in the metal.

Cadence groaned as the machine-monster began to raise itself up, the Goliath snarling as the light shining from its sockets intensified. Its body extended, armor plating sliding into new positions and a terrible crimson core glowing in its breast as poisonous fuel leaked down its body from the broken tubes hanging loosely along its spine. Humongous, spiked rear wheels became visible as it lifted itself off the ground, the beast's roars echoing through the chamber as panels opened over its body to release sensor drones that shot into the air: they looked like hideous eyes, black steel spheres with staring red domes that twitched back and forth in every direction.

The Goliath's eyes locked on to Moonflower as the fog of flames finally faded into embers, and the monster-machine snarled as missile batteries rose up out of the machine's lower back, firing a short volley of rockets that zigzagged through the air. Moonflower stared stupidly up at the streaks wildly shooting through the hangar before they all spun suddenly towards him, and the winged unicorn barely reacted in time, creating a shield at the last moment.

His barrier was pulverized by the tremendous boom, and the stallion was launched across the room to slam back-first into one pillar of the portal with a gasp. He fell to his knees, but then snarled in fury and humiliation even as blood dripped from his nose, beginning to charge his horn with magic. “I... I will not stand for this!”

There was a ka-thunk, and then a grenade landed on the ground in front of the stallion, bouncing once before it exploded in a tremendous blast of anti-magic that knocked Moonflower sprawling, the winged unicorn howling in misery. The Goliath growled as it began to roll forwards, before one of its eye drones suddenly spun violently to the side, beeping loudly.

The giant machine looked up too late as Sombra shoved all the power he could through the tanker he was standing on top of, metal grinding and filters cracking before the bottom of the tank exploded outwards in a gush of black corruption. Boiling mire splashed over the machine, the Goliath flinching to the side like a living thing with a howl of fury as its weapon systems were jammed and black poison spilled its way between armor plates and gaps in its steel body, and then it arched its back with a mechanical growl when the mire crystallized, further clogging up its mechanisms.

The Goliath shook itself back and forth as Sombra leapt to the next tanker, pushing his hooves against it as he breathed hard in and out, his purifier sizzling on his back as he concentrated more poison than was safe. His eyes began to smolder with dark energy, but the stallion kept himself focused, not letting the anger, the hatred, the darkness intrude.

Two eye drones shot up on either side of him, and Sombra grimaced before they both flung themselves at him. One smashed into his side and the other hit his hind leg, the stallion hissing in pain as electricity sparked violently over his body from contact with them before he suddenly pressed down, the top of the tanker turning to rippling black ooze as the drones lunged at him again.

Sombra vanished through the mire beneath him and into the tanker, and the drones smashed uselessly into each other, spinning out of control before they quickly regained their balance. But then they were knocked from the air as the tanker simply exploded, a hail of black ooze raining down in all directions as Sombra dropped with a snarl on top of the machine.

He slammed his hooves down as he landed, and the Goliath roared as spikes of black metal tore into its steel-plated body, the machine immediately spinning itself around in a circle to fling the unicorn free. Sombra snapped a hoof out behind him as he flew through the air, a blast of dark magic hitting the wall and creating a mirror of black crystal that he passed harmlessly through, before he lunged quickly out of the dark gemstone covering the back of the machine, spinning around to attack one of its wheels-

The Goliath roared furiously as its body sizzled with electricity, a shockwave of lightning exploding from its form. Crystal shattered from the pure force of the wave of magic, Sombra launched from the attack with a gasp before his eyes widened in horror as his purifier's machinery bleated before the power crystals inside it overloaded and exploded.

Sombra flipped through the air with a scream of pain as the machinery was half-blown loose from his back, landing with a thud on his stomach. The Goliath seemed to snarl in pleasure as it started to roll itself backwards to simply crush the fallen stallion beneath one of its tires, but then it snarled when Cadence crashed into its face, and it was further distracted as a massive boom tore through the hangar and a cannon round smashed into its side.

The Goliath shifted, one of its treads sliding beneath it before it rose the other, then leaned to the side as it slammed it outwards, La Croix yelping and leaping away from the artillery cannon a moment before it was smashed apart like a cheap toy. At the same time, the Goliath's eye drones shot towards Cadence, distracting her and driving her back from its features even as she slashed back and forth at them.

They were surprisingly nimble, however, darting back and forth around her attacks, and Cadence barely managed to smash one with a lucky kick of a rear hoof before another rammed painfully across her face, knocking her off-balance. It began to whirl around, but then it was blasted out of the air by a bolt of magic from Moonflower, the winged unicorn howling furiously: “Over here, you... you toaster oven!”

The Goliath snarled, then it suddenly slammed both its treads forward, raising itself high as the crimson core in its chest pushed forwards, glowing brightly. Moonflower's eyes widened, and then he snarled in desperation before stepping forwards and snapping his horn down on instinct, a powerful singularity exploding into being in front of him as the dragon-tank unleashed a hellish crimson ray of energy so bright and powerful that Cadence felt her body heating up merely from being this close to it.

Moonflower trembled, fighting to maintain control over the whirling black hole devouring the beam of energy, the stallion grinding his teeth together before his eyes widened in horror as one of the remaining eye drones shot around the deadly singularity and lunged towards him. But Cadence intercepted it before it could slam into Moonflower, the mare kicking it viciously into the black hole to crush it into oblivion as she shouted: “Why is it getting stronger?”

“You ain' hurtin' it! It's self-repairing and it adapts to what it fights!” Rustproof replied sharply as he hurried towards the open wall panel. “Keep hitting the sensors and the weapons!”

Moonflower gritted his teeth at this, his eyes blazing before he snarled: “Oh, I'll do better than that!”

And, even with the laser continuing to bear down on him, the stallion slowly began to lean forwards, pushing the singularity slowly across the room towards the living machine. Cadence's eyes widened in amazement, even as the air rippled with the conflicting forces before she swore when a chunk of crystal on the Goliath's back exploded, and a new turret rose quickly up out of a slot in its body, taking aim at Moonflower.

Cadence shot down in front of it, her wings glowing white before she twisted one in front of herself like a shield, and she winced as a hail of bullets tore against it. It hurt like hell, but the bullets disintegrated on contact with the energy as Cadence gritted her teeth, even as sparks and feathers flew through the air.

Another section of crystallized mire exploded, a second turret rising quickly free to open fire on Moonflower. The stallion cursed as gunfire peppered the ground around him, flinching to the side before his eyes widened as La Croix appeared on top of the turret and shattered a bottle over it, the acid inside immediately spreading over the gun and eating rapidly away at it.

The Loa yelped as the turret exploded, knocked loose from the Goliath as the machine snarled. Moonflower gritted his teeth at this, sweat rolling down his face, his muscles flexed and horn sparking before he shoved suddenly forwards with an almost desperate yell.

The singularity tore forwards along the beam, consuming the laser before the black hole tore into the Goliath itself, and the living machine howled, arching its back as it treads tore wildly against the ground, its neck snapping back and forth even as chunks of both crystallized mire and its own body were yanked into the crushing darkness.

Explosions ripped through the Goliath's body as it twisted back and forth, weapon systems opening across its body and firing wildly in all directions as its remaining eye drones went insane, launching themselves back and forth through the air. But it couldn't escape the singularity, which steadily pulled in more and more of its chest as Moonflower gave a wide, vicious, trembling grin, his whole body ablaze with power.

And then, in one sudden, terrible boom, the singularity snapped closed as the magic whiffed out from Moonflower's horn, the stallion blinking once before he collapsed forward on his face. But the Goliath was left with most of its chest missing, its crimson core completely gone, steel throat torn to tatters and what looked horribly like a cavity of red, charred flesh and half-dead organs left visible in the massive crater of its breast.

The Goliath sparked violently, gurgling for a few moments before it began to fall, and Cadence started to relax. Except, the moment before it hit the ground, the machine froze.

Slowly, the Goliath began to raise itself back up as Cadence stared in disbelief, mouthing wordlessly as what looked like metal webbing began to fill up its chest. The crimson light in its eyes flickered as its jaw dropped open, drooling coolant and black poison as the hideous thing breathed...

“It's in repair mode, take out its eyes while you got the chance! You have to destroy the cameras inside its head, not just the lenses!” Rustproof pointed wildly at the machine, and Cadence snapped herself out of her trance before she leapt into the air with a curse, flapping her wings hard. How the hell was this thing still alive?

She slammed into the eye she had already destroyed, and swore under her breath as she looked into the socket: now that she knew what she was looking for, she understood what Rustproof meant, and the mare grimaced before she quickly yanked her rifle off her back.

She shoved the barrel into the broken socket and extended it before pulling the trigger, and the Goliath only twitched slightly even as a silver stake pounded through the machinery in its skull. The mare wasted no time yanking away and shoving herself to the other side of its head, firing two rounds into the socket for good measure to shatter the lens and destroy the machinery inside, and not a moment too soon as the Goliath roared and woke up, shaking its head back and forth driving Cadence backwards.

The mare opened fire on the face of the creature, but the Goliath ignored the silver stakes tearing across its steel skull, instead blindly looking back and forth before it lowered itself quickly back towards the ground as its treads slid beneath its body, protecting the ravaged hole in its breast. Electricity and anti-magic coursed along its frame, dissolving the black crystal still attached to its frame before several panels opened over its back, releasing more eye drones.

Cadence rose her rifle, firing at one, and all she managed to do was attract their attention as the round went wild. The ivory mare swore before she yelped and barely managed to lunge out of the way when the dragon-machine snapped at her. It rolled forward, the floating eyes tracking her movements as the Goliath breathed out a stream of toxic mist, but Cadence flew quickly away and out of range before the poisonous fog exploded into flames.

The eye drones were all so focused on Cadence that they didn't notice the other threats until one was tackled out of the air by Sombra, who drove the drone to the ground and smashed it with a cruel grin, miasma leaking from his eyes and his purifier discarded. The Goliath immediately spun itself towards the unicorn, attempting to catch him under its treads, but the unicorn burst apart into dark flames that shot upwards and landed on the dragon-machine's skull, the stallion slashing uselessly away at its silver face before he howled as the Goliath drove its head into the wall, making the hangar quake.

La Croix, meanwhile, risked slipping towards one of the treads even as the eye drones looked wildly back and forth through the hangar for any other hostiles, before they were distracted as Cadence managed to shoot one out of the air. And as the Goliath spun back towards the mare, turrets and missile batteries rising up out of the slots in its body to open fire on her again, driving the ivory mare back as she dodged back and forth while clumsily trying to reload her rifle.

With the machine distracted, La Croix yanked several bottles out of his packs, pouring one quickly over the treads as he shattered the other into a sprue, the acid rapidly beginning to eat away at this. Then the zebra winced and stumbled backward as the Goliath suddenly shifted, before it snarled and rose one of its treads as its blind eyes turned towards La Croix, the zebra yelping and vanishing from sight a moment before the creature slammed its tread down.

The rotted sprue popped loose, and the tread itself jammed, the Goliath growling as its body sparked and it froze for a moment with its badly-damaged chest exposed just long enough for Sombra to launch a blast of black flames into the mass of metallic strings, burning through the repairs it had managed and making the Goliath spasm backwards with a roar as its more-sensitive innards were damaged.

But the damn thing just wouldn't stop fighting, kept producing more and more weapons, kept shifting its armor and repairing itself. Its eye drones were behaving more intelligently as they removed themselves from the combat to lurk near the ceiling, and one of its sockets was filled with baleful energy, sparking weakly as Cadence fired uselessly at the silver skull of the Goliath.

The round bounced off, and the mare opened her mouth before she heard and felt the whoosh of energy as the portal behind them transformed into a swirling vortex: they had gotten through. But then the mare gritted her teeth as she looked down and saw Moonflower still unconscious, Sombra dancing around the monster and throwing himself at it like a savage beast, La Croix nowhere in sight and Rustproof still working away at the panel...

And the Goliath itself: they couldn't let that monster pass through the portal, but how the hell were they supposed to stop it? All she could think of was how the monster was trying to defend its chest, but Rustproof just said to keep it off balance, keep distracting it, destroying its weapon systems... how the hell was that going to help them at all?

The mare looked at the gun in her hooves, and she swore before she simply flung this aside, gritting her teeth before she dove forwards even as she heard a shout. But she ignored it, shooting past her father to get his attention before she drove straight for the monster's breast-

A massive blast of lightning and antimagic tore out of the creature, knocking both her and Sombra flying backwards with howls of pain. They both hit the ground hard, rolling violently to a halt near Moonflower, bodies smoldering and Cadence gasping weakly before she looked up with a tremble as La Croix appeared in front of them, the zebra gritting his teeth as he shouted: “Hey! Hey you! I'm here!”

“No I ain't, I'm over here!” shouted another La Croix, and the Goliath's floating eyes spun towards the clone of the zebra standing on a crate behind it, before they rounded on a sharp whistle to see a third standing on top of the railing of the room, waving his forelegs almost desperately.

The Goliath snarled as La Croix began to lean back, muttering to Cadence as she struggled to get her trembling limbs under her: “Okay, I think I can keep it busy, but we gotta-”

Three turrets extended from the machine-beast's back, and La Croix had enough time to look dumbfounded as they aimed in different directions before opening fire. The Loa was blasted of his hooves in a spray of crimson, landing beside Cadence with a howl of agony as the illusions were torn apart.

The zebra groaned loudly, trembling as blood spilled from the wounds in his body before he grinned weakly at Cadence as the mare stared at him in horror. “Pardonnez-moi, Cygne... I got... cocky, I guess.”

“Yes, La Croix... that's my job, not yours.” Moonflower whispered, and Cadence looked back at the black winged unicorn as the Goliath began to advance on them, the stallion gritting his teeth as he advanced slowly towards the machine before his horn began to glow.

It sputtered out after a moment, however, and Moonflower grimaced before he cried out in agony as one of the turrets opened fire, tearing across his side and flaying one of his wings to shreds. He fell on his side, and the Goliath seemed to laugh at them as poisonous fog spilled out of its maw, the creature starting to lean forwards as Cadence begged the Swan to help, for something, anything...

A shot rang out, hammering into the dragon-beast's jaw with a bright flare of light before the poisonous mist burst into flames. The Goliath reared back as its head was engulfed in fire, and a mechanical voice announced coldly: “Warning. Security breach detected. Deploying countermeasures.”

Panels opened across the ceiling, massive, strange-looking turrets descending and immediately opening fire on the Goliath with concentrated beams of azure light. The creature howled in agony, its body sparking violently as it spasmed under the rays of energy, and Rustproof shouted quickly from beside the portal as he shouldered Cadence's rifle: “Get up! We gotta go!”

Moonflower looked desperately back and forth over his fallen teammates; the Goliath was spasming and helpless under the ionized beams, but it likely wouldn't be for long, and even Cadence was too drained to do more than writhe on the ground. Even as plates of armor fell off it and its weapon systems malfunctioned, it was already beginning to jerk itself towards them, mindlessly bent on destroying its enemies no matter what the cost.

No matter what the cost...

Moonflower gritted his teeth, his horn flaring up with black light before he clenched his eyes shut and shouted: “Just hold on, all of you! I've got you!”

Moonflower dropped his head as bubbles of light appeared around his friends, lifting them all with telekinesis before he stumbled around in a circle, then screamed as his horn flashed, and his flayed wing all-but-exploded into energy that swirled around his body. And even as the appendage rotted rapidly away, the stallion felt new strength flood through the rest of his form, giving him the temporary boost he needed to lunge towards the portal as Rustproof yanked a few dials on the control panel.

The winged unicorn charged into the vortex with his friends held safely in his magic, and Rustproof followed a moment later, shooting one last look over his shoulder even as the portal began to overload. Then his eyes widened in horror as he saw the Goliath lunge after them, roaring in fury as it tore out from beneath the ion lasers burning away its programming and circuitry.

“Run!” Rustproof shouted, even as Moonflower burst out the other end of the portal, and the stallion continued to stagger-sprint across the secured portal hall, yelling wildly as he shot past Hecate, Thorn, and Cowlick. A moment later, Rustproof bolted out of the portal, following after Moonflower before the portal all-but-exploded in a hail of sparks and energy: and yet all the same, the Goliath managed to tear its way into the fabric of their reality, even as shattered plating tore away from its body, skinned of much of its armor by the portal snapping shut on it.

The mutilated lump of dragon-flesh and machine-parts skidded forwards on broken treads, and Cowlick grimaced before she spat her cigarette out and strode forwards, saying moodily as Hecate started to reach up: “Don't worry, I got it.”

As she approached the hulk of the Goliath, she reached down and spun a dial on her foreleg all the way around, the vials of poison embedded through her body bubbling violently as they pumped into her. The mare snarled as the monster rolled towards her, its broken treads locking together to try and crush the demon beneath its combined weight and momentum.

But without so much as flinching, Cowlick slammed her hooves forwards and stopped the charge, her rear hooves digging into the steel floor before she roared as her muscles bulged, then grew. Her entire body expanded, a cruel grin spreading over her face as she doubled, then trebled in height before she easily lifted the Goliath half into the air by one tread, then slammed a hoof into its skull in a hook that was hard enough to obliterate its steel skull, chunks of flesh and metal debris flying in all directions.

Almost casually, the demon mare hefted the machine-beast forward to let it fall half-over her as it spasmed and twitched, and then she slammed her hoof up beneath its body, ripping deep into its stomach in a squall of metal. Then, with a burst of fuel and blood and broken machinery, she ripped an engine out of the underside of the living weapon before she casually tossed the hulk of the Goliath to the side.

It spasmed a few times, blood and fuel spreading slowly in a pool around it before it began to slowly gear down, and Cowlick absently wiped her hooves together before she turned around as she adjusted her dial back down, the mare hissing in pain as her body shrank. Hecate only crossed her arms before she asked contemptibly: “Could you be any messier?”

Cowlick snorted, opening her mouth before her eyes were drawn to the side, to the stallion who was staring at her. And she could only stare back, her features slowly losing their tenseness before she swallowed and strode quickly forwards, reaching up to grasp Rustproof's face in trembling hooves as she tilted his head gently one way, then the other.

Rustproof's eyes never left his mother's face, the two looking at each other before the demon smiled faintly, then murmured: “You've been smoking. Goddammit, Rusty. You never learn, do you?”

“Sorry, Momma.” Rustproof halted, and then he silently reached up and grasped his mother's hooves, squeezing them slowly as he said quietly: “I knew you'd come for me.”

Cowlick grinned, eyes bright before she leaned suddenly forwards and embraced her son fiercely, and Rustproof hugged his mother tightly back, the two pressing together in silence until Hecate loudly cleared her throat.

“Welcome to Decretum, Rustproof. Bani, you and your son work for me now, and your first task is to clean up that mess. While you drag that corpse down to recycling, you can use the time to catch up.” Hecate said distastefully, and then the mare simply turned and headed towards where the Irregular Hunters were already being tended to by the medical team.

Thorn glanced over his shoulder at Hecate, then he approached Cowlick and Rustproof as the demon smiled wryly and the earth pony looked curiously at the stallion. “Both of you will need to be processed, and you need to be debriefed, Rustproof. We need as much information on Fyrverǫld as possible.”

Thorn paused, then he glanced over his shoulder at Muse, who was hugging a crystal orb to her chest and breathing hard, a bit of blood running from one ear, but she was smiling all the same as Necrophage hugged her sister tightly, who was beaming brightly and proudly up at her. “You're fortunate we now have a pony capable of scrying across dimensions. Your portal didn't register from any known coordinates, so we weren't originally going to let you in.”

Rustproof nodded, then he calmly reached up and grasped his goggle eye before he carefully unscrewed it, removing a small camera that he held out to the stallion. “Everything you need to know should be there. Should interface fine.”

Thorn took the camera, studying it thoughtfully before he smiled slightly and nodded as Cowlick turned her son's face back towards her, her gaze warm as she looked into both of his natural orange eyes. “I'm damn glad to see your face.”

“I love you, Momma. I missed you.” Rustproof said simply, and Cowlick smiled again before she closed her eyes and only nodded a few times, swallowing back her emotions as Thorn only stood by, smiling a little as he let the two have their moment.

Meanwhile, Hecate was kneeling beside Moonflower, who had his head lowered. One wing twitched weakly, while the other was nothing but a withered mass of sinew; after a moment of inspection, the mare turned her eyes away from the stallion to survey the other wounded.

Sombra was growling, but his eyes were already glazed from being tranquilized with White Matter, which would leave him stupid and harmless until they got him into a medical capsule. La Croix was swearing angrily away as a medical technician held him down and removed the bullets from his body, and Cadence was sitting up, looking ashamedly at the ground but still visibly weak: Hecate could still detect antimagic around her.

The mechanical goddess looked at Moonflower, studying the stallion as he shifted uncomfortably before finally looking up at her. He smiled awkwardly up at her, and then he drew his eyes along her mechanical body: not her usual powerful frame, but instead a lither, much more compact and skeletal version. “Well, I... guess we've all had a rough week.”

Hecate looked at the stallion for a moment, and then she slapped him roughly across the face, Cadence looking up with a wince as blood flew from Moonflower's muzzle and his eyes bulged in shock. He mouthed slowly and wordlessly, then winced when Hecate grabbed him by the mane before she said coldly: “So not only did you cause a Class II alert breaching Decretum, and allowed a hostile bioweapon to follow you into my world, the entire team has returned severely injured. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Nothing.” Moonflower whispered, trying to lower his head, but Hecate held him tightly by the mane, stopping him from pulling his gaze away, forcing him to look into her eyes before he suddenly grit his teeth and snapped: “Nothing, because we did what we were asked! Every one of us, I did, Cadence did, La Croix did... Sombra sacrificed his purifier, Cadenza gave up her life, La Croix is a hero and I...”

Moonflower trembled, his stump of wing twitching once before he said brazenly, even as tears visibly filled his eyes: “I gave up the greatest mark of strength any pony could have. I gave up what made me special. You can call me a failure and a coward and a fool and a thousand other things, Hecate, but I gave everything I could and protected my friends to the very best of my ability, and I... I refuse to accept anything less than a 'thank you' for all the hard work we've done for you!”

There was silence for a few moments, and then Hecate slowly yanked Moonflower's head higher as she leaned down, pressing her mouth beside Moonflower's ear. And even though her features remained cold, her voice was gentle as she whispered: “Your wings never made you special, Moonflower. Your heart, and your courage are what make you special. And I am grateful. I am grateful for what you have done, and your team, just as I am grateful for you.”

Hecate straightened, and Moonflower looked up at her dumbly as she looked back down at him before she said in a harder voice: “But don't expect a 'thank you' for doing your job. Cadence!”

Cadence winced and snapped to attention, saluting sharply as Hecate approached, and the two looked at each other for a few moments before the Empress of Decretum asked coldly: “Do you have the Swan under control?”

“The Swan... knows her place.” Cadence said after a moment, nodding hesitantly, and when the Swan seemed to give her a strange sort of approval, the ivory mare looked up and gave a brief smile. “She wants to help.”

Hecate looked meditatively at the ivory mare, but then she nodded slowly and said moodily: “We will discuss this in further detail later. For now, in spite of the fact you managed to drag several metric tons of killing machine along with you through an unregistered portal and required the assistance of Luna Brynhild and her motley crew...”

The mechanical goddess studied Cadence silently for a few moments, and then she nodded once before saying finally: “Drop off your equipment for repairs, and once you've had a chance to rest, Thorn will debrief you. I can only give your team three days of rest before redeployment, however, so you may want to reserve a capsule at the medical center.”

“Three days?” Cadence blinked in surprise, asking after a moment: “Wait, we have another mission already?”

“Yes. As you and the rest of Team 0-0 seems to enjoy bragging, you are my 'very best,' isn't that correct?” Hecate asked, gesturing towards her pointedly, and Cadence smiled at this, raising her head proudly and nodding firmly. “Don't get conceited. Just be ready when I need you, and make sure your report to Thorn is clear and concise.”

“Yes, Queen Hecate.” Cadence saluted again, and Hecate looked at her for a moment before the ivory mare added quickly: “Luna Brynhild and her team will be reporting in, too. They agreed to regroup here in Decretum.”

“Wonderful.” Hecate rolled her eyes, looking disgusted, before she asked moodily: “Anything else I should be aware of?”

Cadence hesitated, and then she carefully climbed to her hooves, walking over to Hecate and leaning up. The mechanical goddess glowered, but then leaned down, and then her eyes widened and her expression tightened as Cadence whispered: “They said they were taking orders from Valthrudnir.”

Hecate straightened, and she crossed her steel arms, looking down for a moment before she said abruptly: “Your leave has been shortened to two days. You will need to be ready to move out as soon as possible. I'll pull some strings and see to it that Brynhild and her team will accompany you as support, and you and I will pick the candidates for the third strike team ourselves.”

“Strike team? Wait, we're going to attack Fyrverǫld?” Cadence asked in disbelief, looking up at Hecate with surprise.

But the mechanical empress simply smiled coldly, replying distastefully: “No, we are not. We are going on a diplomatic mission to Fyrverǫld. But we will be prepared for the worst, and should combat ensue, we will be ready for it.”

Cadence bit her lip, and Hecate surveyed her for a moment longer before she added shortly: “Moonflower, I expect to see you in my office later. And get that bullet removed from your lung before you asphyxiate.”

Moonflower smiled lamely as he touched his own breast, and Cadence sighed before she pulled herself to her hooves, nodding her thanks to the medical staff currently looking after La Croix and Sombra before she approached the stallion. She looked at him, and he gazed back at her for a moment before the mare leaned forwards and hugged him tightly.

The one-winged unicorn blinked in surprise, and then he trembled for a moment before hugging her tightly back, burying his face against her neck as Cadence murmured: “Thank you. I'm sorry.”

“Don't be, I... I don't need wings anyway.” Moonflower laughed a little, leaning back and smiling awkwardly up at the mare as he scrubbed at his face before he added quietly: “Anyway, it was all... silly magic, you know. An experiment with permanent polymorphs that... didn't go quite right, but... I wanted to be special. I... I always wanted to be special.”

Moonflower looked down quietly as they parted, the stallion twiddling his hooves quietly before he glanced up as La Croix slowly walked towards them, the zebra smiling a little as he said: “Y'are special, Moony. There ain't another rein de la nuit like you in the whole wide universe. And if that ain't enough for you, I guess I can admit I owe you one, mon ami.”

La Croix held up a hoof, and Moonflower smiled faintly before he knocked his against the zebra's, nodding gratefully to the Loa before Cadence said quietly: “You two go and get some rest, okay? Moonflower, go to medical, get that bullet taken care of. La Croix, you get some rest. I'm going to go with the medical staff to make sure Daddy's okay, and then I'll meet up with you later.”

The two nodded, before a throat cleared itself loudly, and Cadence looked up in surprise as Cowlick approached with Rustproof. The demon looked appraisingly over the ponies before she said almost grudgingly: “Thanks, for... doin' your jobs. If any of you ever need anything, you let us know. Me and Rusty'll be more'n happy to help.”

“Bani and Rustproof will be joining our engineering team. They'll likely be placed in charge of equipment design and modification.” Thorn explained as he joined the group, gesturing towards Cowlick and her son.

Rustproof smiled, then he pulled Cadence's rifle off his back and held it out to the mare, who looked awkwardly at the burnt marks around the barrel. “Sorry. Shot my lighter out of it.”

“I'm not gonna ask why.” Cowlick said mildly, but she snatched the gun before Cadence could take it, not that the ivory mare made more than a token gesture to grab the rifle in the first place, anyway. “Huh. Interestin'. But I already see a lot of places where improvements could be made.”

“Did you use the rifle?” Thorn asked, turning his eyes towards Cadence, and the ivory mare nodded hurriedly a few times, but her reaction still apparently told Thorn that she hadn't used it quite as often as she could have, as the stallion said dryly: “You're missing most of your knives, but your clips are still attached to the belts. The ones you didn't lose with the rest of your equipment, that is.”

Cadence smiled lamely, but Thorn only shook his head before saying after a moment: “Go ahead and rest for now. That goes for all of you. Moonflower, I'll talk to you later tonight.”

“Okay, Thorn. I would like that.” Moonflower said honestly, smiling over at the stallion, and Thorn gave him a look, then a quick nod before he turned and headed away.

“Kid's got a stick up his ass the size of Hecate. Ain't no slouch, though, I'll give him that at least.” Cowlick remarked, and then she shook her head before shouldering the rifle and smiling over at her son. “Anyway, Rusty, go deal with the bureaucracy for me. I'll start cleanin' up this mess. Cadence, you come by the lab later. I see you're one of those 'don't like guns' types, but I'll fix you up something you will like, got it?”

Cadence smiled lamely, and then Rustproof glanced towards her and added: “Thank you. All of you. I hope one day I can pay you all back somehow for this.”

Cadence only shrugged a bit, though, and then she said softly: “Just the mission, that's all. But uh...” She glanced over her shoulder at her father, softening as she saw the medical crew carefully helping Sombra to his hooves: he had finally reached that perfect state they needed him in, where he was coherent but pacified, and the ivory mare turned around without another word and hurried towards his side.

Cowlick smiled wryly as La Croix and Moonflower both gazed after Cadence, and then the ivory mare chuckled as she turned her eyes towards Rustproof, her son, and she said softly: “Well, I guess I can understand losin' your manners because of family.

“Family makes you do the damnedest things.”

Hecate stood in Thesis' old room, her arms crossed, her eyes locked on the mural on the wall. She breathed slowly in and out as she studied the image, its every detail, before she closed her eyes and shook her head silently.

It was late, and the briefings and debriefings and everything else were finished. All of the operations for the day had come to a close, and night maintenance had begun. Cadence was staying with her father in the medical center, which was fine: she had told Thorn to take the night off and secretly hoped that he was spending his time with Moonflower, but she had a feeling he was probably trying to sneak in more work. He had at least stopped in to talk to the stallion, though, so at least there was that. It's a start.

La Croix was busy in one of the workshops rebuilding his ridiculous clothes, and her new employees were already hard at work together. Hel had yet to authorize the transfer, but Hecate knew she wouldn't bicker with her for long over it. Hel respected right of might and her authority, and wouldn't challenge her at this junction. Maybe in the future, if she ever suspected what the Ithavoll project might eventually lead to, but that wasn't important right now. Right now, they were allies, and they needed each other.

Brynhild and her team had arrived a few hours ago. She had arranged special quarters for them, and asked to meet with them after they got some rest. She had also sent out a special request to what she considered to be a particularly important world: hopefully they would honor their unspoken agreement and send her allies she could trust in the conflict ahead.

If Valthrudnir was alive, then conquering Fyrverǫld would be next to impossible. If this was all a ruse, then Hecate would have no problem in rendering Fyrverǫld a non-problem. She smiled thinly at this thought, but she still felt uneasy as she looked silently at the painting of Thesis before she sighed and lowered her head.

There was no mention of any Thokk in the archives, and the only thing that had ever come out of the Void in the past were the Hræzla. There was no mention of any being ever successfully returning from the Void either, except perhaps for...

But they were a special case, and it wasn't entirely known what had happened to them in the first place. They only had Hel's word that they had fallen out of the chaos and right into her lap, and Hel's word was... questionable, at best. As Hecate had learned, there was an enormous gulf between being unable to lie and being honest all the time.

Still, they certainly weren't like these 'Voidborn,' as Cadence had referred to them. They had at least been smart enough to bring back one of the knives, which Hecate was having analyzed now, although she could already tell the molecular composition was unlike anything she had seen in the past.

The mechanical goddess tapped her fingers silently against her arm as she gazed at the picture of Thesis, and she knew she was just avoiding the question she really wanted the answer to.

Was Thesis out there, somewhere? And if Thokk had the power to bring those lost souls out of the Void...

But would Thesis survive the Void? Or had he grown so weak, so insane and fragile, that maybe...

Hecate shook her head quickly, scowling as she closed her eyes and muttered: “Enough. Seneschal, render a full report on today's activities for me immediately.”

A holographic blue screen appeared beside the mare, information streaming quickly across it as Seneschal answered: “We haven't completed the analysis on the weapon yet, but we have begun doing wide scale scanning of other worlds, looking specifically for foreign energy signatures and testing the durability of reality. We haven't discovered anything serious so far, which is good news: although there is a distinct... weakening across the universe, we estimate that it would be centuries before-”

“Centuries are not an impossible amount of time. Bear that in mind.” Hecate said shortly, and Seneschal nodded hurriedly before the ivory mare continued coldly: “Has the use of our portals impacted reality?”

“Well...” Seneschal hesitated, and then he said finally: “Yes... both methods of creating portals, stationary and mobile, cause damage to reality that does not simply repair itself. Midgard, of course, abides a vacuum and will fill it immediately, but like any deep wound in the body, it leaves scars that may never fully heal. The molecular disruption on the subatomic level is... uh, not important.”

Seneschal gave a wheezy little laugh as Hecate glared at the holographic screen impatiently, and the AI made a sound like it was swallowing loudly before hurrying on: “Stationary portals are much less damaging than mobile portals. They only create weakness in one area, and because of their assisted activation, the 'wounding' they cause is more like a practical incision.

“But mobile portals and mobile portal technology and magic have both become more and more common. Reality has perhaps in part weakened because of the increasing usage of portals for both business and pleasure throughout the entire universe as a whole: while the effects are not always visible, these portals are not constrained, and tend to create larger 'rips' in the fabric of reality, that take longer to repair and heal. They are often also less focused, and more prone to both collapse and allowing in problematic entities.”

Hecate lowered her head meditatively, and then she nodded slowly before muttering: “An answer that creates a future problem is not a solution. It is simply a long-term problem, like a disease. So have you discovered anything, Seneschal, or do I need to shut down more of your auxiliary functions so you can devote proper processing power to your brain?”

“Yes, wait, yes, I have!” Seneschal blurted, the image of the AI appearing on the holographic screen and waving his hands violently in a gesture of surrender. “I discovered that the coordinates for Fyrverǫld have changed and, in fact, are continuing to change over time, which is why we could not lock on to the world's location. But I've processed and broken the simple algorithm and we should be able to reach Fyrverǫld at any time we please now.”

Hecate narrowed her eyes: what had the power to change a world's position in the universe? Except she knew precisely who had that kind of strength...

Seneschal hesitated, and then he spoke up nervously: “And as much as I know you don't like me being presumptuous, Queen Hecate, in spite of how infallible my logic systems are, I would suggest we investigate Protos further. I would also suggest that we reevaluate the Ten Moons.”

Hecate sighed after a moment, and then she muttered after a moment: “Assemble a scouting team and ready two Titans and two Scarecrows to accompany them. I want a rapid deployment to Protos, and I want them covering as much ground as possible during the short time they have.”

“Yes, of course.” Seneschal said quickly, and the AI hesitated for a few moments before he asked hesitantly: “And what about the Ten Moons?”

“Use their base coordinates and run the same orbit algorithm as Fyrverǫld is on. We may get lucky.” Hecate muttered, although if they were truly fortunate, the Ten Moons would be gone. “I also want the Ithavoll project accelerated. Reroute power from the nonessential and civilian systems if you need to, there's precious few organics in Endworld and even Valthrudnir... would have difficulty reaching it right now.”

She quieted, looking away, and there was silence for a moment before the AI asked meekly: “Am I based upon Valthrudnir, Queen Hecate?”

“That is not important right now.” Hecate replied calmly, straightening a bit and looking at the dragon twiddling his fingers together on the holographic screen, and then she dismissed the projection with only a gesture. She hesitated for a moment, however, then said quietly: “Do what you were designed to do. You are the most intelligent and advanced system I have ever created, Seneschal, but I did not program you to feel doubt.”

“Yes, of course.” Seneschal nodded hurriedly, clearing his throat before he asked in a more professional voice: “Any other orders, Lady Hecate? I am organizing the Orphans as we speak.”

“None for now, Seneschal. Resume your operations.” Hecate replied, and then she turned her eyes silently back to the mural over the wall, silently drawing her eyes along the image before she sighed softly and shook her head slowly.

She reached up and rubbed slowly at her prosthetic horn in a short, nervous gesture, and then she straightened slowly, raising her head high, her face hardening as she turned towards the door. That was enough sulking and pouting for now. Now, it was time to get back to work. Nothing was gained by sitting around, doing nothing: she had the power to change things, and she was going to use it.

There was no time left for hope or regrets. All that mattered anymore was what she did, and whether or not she was able to follow the path she had chosen, or if her traitor heart would lead her to making the same mistakes of the past all over again.