Hecate's Orphanage

by BlackRoseRaven

Moments Of Forever

Chapter Twenty Five: Moments Of Forever
~BlackRoseRaven

Their work here was complete, his reports were submitted, and everything had finished ahead of schedule. And thanks to the ancient bestiary of his parents that Scarlet Sage had given him, Thorn was able to provide a vast quantity of information above and beyond what had been expected of him. Hecate had been pleased, and that had made Thorn feel accomplished.

And now, with nothing else to do and two days of freedom before he had to return to Decretum, Thorn found himself with rare free time, and rarer yet, no schedule of events. So when Antares wandered into the Clockworks early in the morning, he could barely believe what he found in the workshop that Thorn had taken over.

Thorn, Muse, and Necrophage were sitting at a table together with sets of complicated-looking playing cards spread out in front of them, Necrophage giggling away and Muse frowning thoughtfully as Thorn sat with his own hand fanned out in front of him, his eyes surprisingly serious for some kind of children's card game. Antares wandered up to the table, peering over Necrophage's shoulder, and the Replicant smiled brightly up at him before she said cheerfully: “We're playing a game! Do you wanna join in? We're just about done! I'm just going to play Ozrakat the Emancipator of Despair and I'll win! But don't tell anyone, okay, because otherwise-”

“Oh. I'll play 'tear free,' then, and conjure your Ozrakat as one of my monsters. I'm sorry.” Muse said apologetically, and Necrophage whined like a dog even as she smiled and started to pass the card to Muse, before they were interrupted as Thorn cleared his throat and placed down two cards.

“'Explosive counterblast' and 'magnify pain' for six damage to you both. I win.” Thorn said calmly, and Muse smiled a little as Necrophage flailed wildly with another loud whine. “So the score is... three, one, and four, with Necrophage in the lead.”

“Yay!” Necrophage said brightly, and then she smiled happily up at Antares, even as she somehow swept all of her scattered cards up from the table and rapidly began to shuffle them between her hooves. “Do you wanna play?”

Antares watched the three ponies shuffling their cards, before he cleared his throat and declared: “You guys are the biggest nerds ever.”

Thorn shrugged, Necrophage beamed and giggled, and Muse only gave a small smile even as she blushed a little, before the black stallion turned his amused eyes towards Thorn, asking: “Is this seriously what you do for fun in your free time? You have two mares all to yourself and this is what you do with them? You really do remind me of Dad.”

“It requires both luck and strategy. It passes the time while we have to wait for orders.” Thorn shrugged again, giving Antares another of his short, brief smiles before he gestured with his head towards a large cardboard box. “Would you like me to teach you?”

“Yeah, no. Today, I'm going to teach you something, lazybones. So get off your ass, and let's go.” Antares replied, and Thorn frowned a little before the black stallion wheedled: “Hey, has your big brother ever led you wrong?”

“In the short time that I've known you, every single day you've done something to either interfere with my mission or have otherwise caused some kind of problem for me on a personal level, yes.” Thorn replied bluntly, and Antares scowled until the sapphire stallion sighed and finally climbed to his hooves, asking with the faintest hint of regret: “Alright. Where are we going?”

“Much better.” Antares grinned, reaching out to slap Thorn on the shoulder before he turned and added cheerfully: “And you'll see! Just follow me for now!”

Thorn grimaced at this, then he shook his head before he looked over at the Replicants, saying after a moment: “Your duties – or lack thereof – remain unchanged. Relax and recuperate. You're free to do as you like.”

“Yay!” Necrophage bounced up out of her chair, saying happily: “We wanna come with you, then! Right, sis?”

Muse blushed, shifting in embarrassment before she nodded meekly, and Thorn bit his lip before Antares said easily: “Yeah, what the hell, the more the merrier. Besides, any friend of yours is a friend of mine.”

“Then we're all friends here!” Necrophage exclaimed brightly, and Thorn smiled a bit despite himself before he winced when the Replicant leapt forward and hugged him fiercely around the neck.

The odd group made their way out of the Clockworks and across town: at first, Thorn was nervous, not wanting another repeat of the events at Sugar Cube Corners, but he was pleasantly surprised when they passed right through the town square, and soon enough, out of the town itself, heading towards the Everfree Forest.

Antares led them down a well-trod path through the trees: it grew narrower as they went, but it had clearly been walked a thousand times before by familiar hooves, and the trees seemed to sway and bend around them almost protectively, Thorn thought, like they recognized Antares. It was as if they were silently shifting out of the way of the ponies, their boughs raised high to form a protective ceiling above them as the little group strode their way along the tunnel through the wilderness.

Thorn wasn't entirely sure of where they were going, and he was admittedly a little suspicious of the fact that Antares was actually keeping his mouth shut for once, not saying anything as they strode deeper into the forest and smiling to himself with a strange mix of confidence and anticipation. Still, it was much more peaceful than the sapphire pony had expected, and he enjoyed the walk, and the company of his Replicant friends and the brother he felt like he was finally starting to connect a little with.

They emerged after almost forty minutes of comfortable pace into a clearing, and Thorn's eyes widened slightly as he came to a halt as he saw the gorgeous cottage that sat out here in the wilderness. He knew that it wasn't, it couldn't be the original homestead that had been out here, but all the same, the look of it, the feel of it, and being here in this place... “This is... this is where our parents used to live.”

“That's right. Now it's where me and Sin live.” Antares said easily, smiling slightly over at Thorn as he gave a brief nod. “It's not perfect. I mean, there's leaks and you can hear all of Sin's snoring or swearing – she sleeps weird – and okay, the ceiling isn't perfectly level in a few of the rooms. But otherwise, I mean... it's pretty damn good. Go on inside.”

Thorn nodded hesitantly back, striding forward before he looked down in surprise as he stepped on something warm. He realized after a moment there was a cobblestone path to the door, and it was heated by magic... “Oh, yeah, that. Sin put that in. We have a herb garden out back, too, and I keep my motorcycle in the garage there, and we've got all kinds of other crap and clutter in a sort of bunker storage unit thing on the other side, you can... sort of see the trapdoor through the grass, which, of course, Sin forgot to cut again, but... hey, go inside. It's much cooler inside.”

The sapphire stallion nodded again, but he lingered for a few moments, gazing back and forth over the exterior of the cottage before he shook his head quickly as if to clear it. Necrophage was looking around with awe, while Muse was smiling, her eyes roving silently over the front of the cottage before she murmured: “It's very pretty, Antares.”

“Thanks. We try and keep it looking nice, at least, even though both Sin and I are lazy about the housework.” Antares replied, before he grinned as there was a loud bang from inside, both Replicants straightening immediately before he reassured: “Don't worry, that's just Sin saying hello.”

Inside, one of Thorn's eyes was twitching slightly, his body shivering a little before he bared his teeth at Sin as she cackled loudly. He had gotten so distracted just from the sight of the entrance hall alone, with the feeling of his parents all around him, that he had walked right into a magical trap, and while the flashbang hadn't hurt him at all... I hate loud noises. How did they figure that out so quickly?

That, of course, was a stupid question. Of course they had been learning about him as he'd learned about them. And of course Antares would have noticed the only thing that made him twitch was sound and contact. And, of course, Innocence was smart enough to loop a simple light-and-noise spell into a trap circle: if he tried to leave the circle, he would get an eyeful of light and an earful of sound, and from what he could sense, probably enough of a kinetic shove to knock him back into the trap.

Thorn sighed as he forced himself to relax, looking mildly at the scaled unicorn as she finally hopped to her claws, grinning widely at him as she leaned forwards and challenged: “Get out of that if you can, crib-stealer!”

“You want to be a baby forever?” Thorn asked mildly, and Innocence nodded vehemently. “Well, there are worse things than infantilism.”

“Yes, there are.” Innocence said stoically, and Thorn reflected she was probably too used to Antares to be fazed by much. “And this baby is going to kick your ass, by the way. Or at least laugh at you while you struggle to get out of my trap. Which, by the way, is shrinking.”

“No, it's not.” Thorn corrected, and Innocence frowned before she looked down in surprise at the trap lines, which were trembling slightly, but otherwise staying perfectly in place. Then she scowled darker as she looked up at Thorn, who shrugged before saying calmly: “Easily blocked.”

Innocence's horn lit up with a dark purple aura, and Thorn quickly keyed into this, his eyes narrowing slightly and his own horn pulsing once as the scaled unicorn started: “Well how about-”

The aura around Innocence's horn whiffed out, and the mare stared blankly as Thorn calmly strode past her into the living room. She mouthed wordlessly, then turned around-

A flash of light and a loud bang blocked her path, the mare yelling and throwing herself back and forth, bouncing wildly off invisible, narrow walls around her as booms and bright streaks tore at her vision. Eventually, she fell on her side, curling up in the fetal position and twitching a little as Thorn calmly examined the books on the shelves and the photos arranged over the wall, the stallion smiling to himself before he said without turning around: “Your energy signature is very distinct and very powerful. So strong, in fact, it only took me a second to key into it and reverse your spellwork.”

Innocence twitched, then snapped her horn out with a roar, reality around her shaking with the force of her dispel before she charged straight at Thorn. But the stallion was unperturbed, and a moment later, Innocence smacked face-first into a translucent blue shield, sticking to this for a moment with a whimper before she slowly slid down to the floor.

Thorn shook his head briefly, and then he took another look around the room before pointing at the painting above the fireplace: it was faintly blotchy, of a stallion running through a dark forest made mostly of swipes of paint, and yet... “I've seen that painting in a few pictures. There are sketches of it in Mutt's books.”

“It's not the original. The original was destroyed even before Antares was born, but I decided to take up painting and drawing and stuff as a hobby.” Innocence clambered to her claws, shaking herself briefly out before she scowled at Thorn. “Also, guess what? Lightning!”

Thorn didn't even glance at Innocence as the electricity she attempted to zap him arced uselessly around his body, leaving her at a loss for words as Thorn studied the painting for a few moments. Then he finally turned his eyes towards her, giving a brief smile as he said quietly: “You shouldn't announce what you're about to do. And I'm still locked on to your energy signature and actively reflecting it, so you won't be able to touch me with any of your magic, anyway.”

“You're... cheating.” Innocence said lamely after a moment, and then she rose a claw and poked Thorn a few times in the side, making him wince a bit. “There. Looks like you can't stop everything, now can you?”

Thorn looked at her for a moment, until Antares finally entered the room, asking cheerfully: “So, Sin, how badly did he kick your ass?”

“He didn't! Nothing happened!” Innocence shouted back immediately, and then she snapped her horn at Antares, but the stallion quickly deflected the telekinetic burst with a slash of his horn, dispelling the attack. He grinned, and Sin huffed at him before she crossed her forelegs and sat back with a grumble as Thorn gazed around the room, his eyes roving to the counter that divided the den from the expansive kitchen.

“The place is powered by crystal batteries that are insulated and buried under the ground, to stop anything from running away with them or trying to drain them. We have working water and everything, which is great, because Sin constantly clogs the toilet anyway.” Antares said blandly, and Innocence growled at her brother as Necrophage bounced excitedly through the room with Muse nervously following. “We got... oh, hey, we've got lots of food and drinks, too. Do any of you want anything? Necrophage, you're a hungry hippo, how about some cookies? Thorn, I bet even you could eat a damn cookie.”

Thorn didn't respond, only striding slowly into the kitchen before he turned towards the back door, as if drawn towards this. Sin began to open her mouth, but Antares reached up and gently squeezed her shoulder, the mare softening and nodding once as the Replicants both curiously turned to follow Thorn.

The stallion strode outside onto the back deck, and he gazed silently over the gardens, the sprawling back yard, the rear shed, and in the center of it all, an old, gnarled tree. Ambrosia, a rare fruit that when properly prepared could create an 'elixir of the gods' granting strength and extending life, hung from several of the withered branches, but they weren't what had caught Thorn's attention. No, what he cared about was what had been carved into the trunk of the withered old tree.

Thorn approached, then silently stroked over the heart and the three names written in runes, smiling faintly as he studied it for a few moments. Scrivener Blooms, Luna Brynhild, and Twilight Sparkle... yes, Thorn remembered growing up, calling his mother by that name. She had only changed it after they had 'escaped' Helheim...

“What do you call her? Twilight, or Morgan?” asked Antares curiously, as he strode up behind the stallion.

“I call her Mom.” Thorn replied quietly, and Antares grinned slightly at this before the sapphire pony shook his head and said finally: “Her name is her decision. Dad... always tries to call her Morgan, but I think he likes her real name more. I think Twilight does, too... but she also likes the sense of connection going by her new name gives her. She likes being... named by Luna and Scrivener, and carrying the name of her mother.”

Innocence approached, studying the tree for a few moments before she sniffed loudly and looked at Thorn, saying grumpily: “You're as bad as Antares, you know that? And talking about our parents like that is really weird. We're not supposed to know about their whole bondagey weird relationship thingies.”

“Says the incest-lover. I mean. That you love incest, not that you... you know. I sure as hell don't remember ever sleeping with you.” Antares said mildly, and Innocence scowled at him before the black pony grinned and leaned in, winking at her. “Although then again, I think I heard all the other stallions you've slept with say that too.”

“I'm a virgin!” Innocence proclaimed, and there was silence for a moment before both she and Antares burst into laughter, nearly falling over as Thorn ignored them both, although Necrophage happily joined in their giggling, even if at the same time she didn't seem to really understand what was going on. “Okay, okay. I'm totally not. And I would never sleep with you, Antares. Prestige always tells me that you're terrible in bed. You can't get it up, apparently. And when you can, well. It doesn't stay up for very long.”

“Hey!” Antares huffed loudly, stomping a hoof firmly before he sniffed disdainfully and rose his head high. “The problem isn't me. The problem is that if I lasted any longer it would be so much ecstasy and amazingness that Prestige's head would literally explode. I don't want to kill her with my amazing sex skills.”

There was silence for a few moments, and then Thorn asked curiously, as he slowly traced the shape engraved in the tree: “Why haven't you proposed to Prestige yet?”

“Oh, not you too!” Antares groaned loudly, rolling his eyes as Innocence snorted in amusement, before the black stallion said in an exasperated voice: “Because uh... if we get married I'll have to have a wedding and invite everyone and oh it would be such a hassle, and... really, who wants Rosewood to have any kind of reason to come down from Canterlot? She'll beat me up.”

“Because you never visit her. She's going to be even worse after she's dead, you know.” Innocence said informatively, and Antares flailed at her while shushing her loudly, the scaled mare grinning and leaning away as she said cheerfully: “Only the truth, Antares!”

“Well that doesn't mean you need to talk about it!” he retorted crankily, and then both of the siblings turned towards Thorn as the stallion created a holographic field overtop the carving, Antares asking after a moment: “Do you seriously have to like, take a picture of every little thing that involves our parents? Because it's really creepy. It's way worse than Scarlet Sage's scrapbooking.”

Thorn shrugged a bit as the carving was digitized into an image, and then he dismissed the holographic field as he said quietly: “I just feel like I'm... chasing them, I suppose. I still feel like I never really... got to know them. The first time I've seen them in more than a decade was just weeks ago, and even if I know I'll see more of them in the future...”

He stopped, then smiled a bit as he turned around, saying finally: “I don't know who they are. I saw them from a foal's perspective and... now...”

He looked away for a moment, and Antares smiled briefly as Innocence looked down, rubbing awkwardly at her neck before the eldest brother of the trio said softly: “They aren't completely different from who you thought they were, Thorn. They're not... completely the same, either, maybe, but... you know, it's not like they abandoned you. I'm pretty sure our parents are... trying to find out who you are, too.”

“Yeah, they really liked you! They loved you. You were always so happy when they were around!” Necrophage added positively, and Thorn smiled briefly as his eyes flicked over to the Replicant, the stallion nodding hesitantly, and the squat mare smiled brightly before she looked at her sister. “We were even totally a little jealous, remember?”

Muse blushed a bit, shifting awkwardly and pawing a hoof at the ground, and Thorn smiled again before he turned his eyes back towards the tree, saying softly: “I think I also... envy their romance. Mutt, Dad, and Mom... they're so...”

“Completely weird.” Antares said mildly, before he gestured pointedly at Sin. “See her? Bachelor for life. Well. Possibly a prostitute, but regular johns aren't really 'romantic relationships' and all. Scarlet Sage? Happily married with her crazy kids. By the way, I was totally out and living on my own by the time I was-”

“Tarry, technically you still live at home. Pretty sure we just went over that.” Sin interrupted, and then she poked her older brother firmly and continued: “And what about you? Unmarried-but-in-a-relationship-forever?”

“Better than Thorn or you!” defended Antares, huffing loudly as he glared down at his sister, who glowered back at him grouchily. “Also, true love doesn't need marriage. How else do you explain all those high school pregnancies?”

Thorn looked at the two for a few moments, and then he turned back towards the tree, stroking a hoof over it as he said softly: “But imagine loving someone so much that you were willing to give up not your life, but your soul for them... and to be so... connected, so perfectly in sync, that you were able to mix your souls together into one. To share every thought, every touch, every feeling for eternity... and yet to be okay with that.”

He halted, then shook his head slowly, murmuring: “That's more than love. That's something we don't have words for. And I'm not saying that none of us will ever experience such a bond... but few will. They have transcended the physical. Every hoofprint they make is like the tread of three ponies. To cut one is to cut them all. And yet, even if they share in everything... they're not the same. They're not a hive mind. They're not a collective one, but somehow her and him and they all at once.”

There was silence for a few moments, and then Antares smiled a bit despite himself, leaning in and saying wryly: “You think way too much, kid.”

Thorn looked sourly at Antares, but the black stallion simply shrugged before he chuckled quietly and shook his head, saying in a softer voice: “But yeah. You're right. And I envy that and I guess... I'm kind of scared, at the end of the day, of... not being right for Prestige. Not being good enough for her. Not...”

Antares shifted a little, and then he shook his head before saying finally: “It scares me, you know? Imagining waking up every day beside someone. And Prestige can leave Heaven now and then, just like I can visit Valhalla... but... am I ready to give up life on Midgard? I love her, but I love this place, too. I love my family and my friends. And I mean, sure, we have a lot in common, but... she wants to do things I definitely don't want to. I want to do things that Prestige hates. I know that relationships are about balancing those things, respecting each other, all that crap, but... what if we're too different?”

Antares chuckled quietly, saying softly: “In a way, I'm... lucky that I only get a few days here and there and the occasional week with her, because it keeps everything fresh and exciting. And I think it's easier for her, too, because I know she needs breaks from me now and then. I'm a pretty annoying guy, after all.”

“You really are.” Innocence smiled a little, then she nudged him firmly and said softly: “You're also really stupid. Prestige loves you and that's that. You're just irresponsible and afraid of commitment, like every other guy in the world. Great work being a stereotype, Tarry.”

“Thanks, Sin. You always know just what to say to make me feel better.” Antares said ironically, firmly nudging the mare with his shoulder, and Sin only shrugged easily and grinned at him as she stumbled to the side. Thorn chuckled a little at the two, and then he hesitated only a moment before he turned around and strode towards the staircase that led up to the second floor of the house.

“What's upstairs?” he asked, and then he winced when Necrophage hopped towards him, giggling as she marveled over the L-shaped stairway.

“It's outside! That's so weird!” she said brightly, and then she looked at the house and asked excitedly: “Does that mean this is really like two houses in one? Like a cabana! A pair of cabanas! Where there's cabanas there's bananas!”

Necrophage giggled loudly again as Muse blushed and mumbled apologies for her sister, and Antares blinked slowly before he cleared his throat and said awkwardly: “Uh. No bananas, no. But upstairs you got the office, my room, the guest room, and.. hey, why don't you just go see for yourself? Or are you being lazy, Thorn?”

Thorn didn't reply, simply nodding his thanks as he headed up the stairs to let himself in through the door, and Innocence huffed before she muttered: “I still have to blast him into oblivion, you know.”

“You can do that after he gets to finish looking at the house, Sin. This is clearly pretty important for him and all.” Antares replied, before he softened a little and said in a quieter voice: “He's had less time with our parents than any of us, after all, and... well, considering the way things are-”

“They won't be gone forever.” Innocence said firmly, and Antares smiled after a moment at her before he nodded slowly in agreement. “And we can always visit Decretum, too. We don't have to just sit here and wait around for things to happen. We could even go look for our parents ourselves!”

Antares nodded thoughtfully in agreement, and then he smiled slightly before asking mildly: “You think that we could convince Thorn to come with us on our whirlwind adventure?”

“I guess. But he has to pull his own weight.” Innocence grumbled, and Antares grinned, making the mare huff loudly. “Hey, I'm just looking out for all of us, okay? And if the kid can't take care of himself, then too bad.”

“I think he's probably more responsible than either of us, Sin. He's like another Scarlet Sage. Which is a terrifying thought in and of itself, another Scarlet.” Antares replied with a shrug, and Sin grunted before he became a little more serious, looking meditatively down. “Although... visiting Decretum might not be such a bad idea. I'd like to see what's going on there. And I'd like to meet up with Hecate again. Plus you owe her some thanks, too.”

“I know, I know. I sent her that gift basket, remember?” Innocence grumbled, and Antares looked at her mildly. “What? I did. I just don't know if it got there or not with the whole... time-space distortion thing. Magic is hard, okay?”

“Magic is hard. Especially when you have no idea what you're doing with it.” Antares replied mildly, tilting his head pointedly towards the mare, and Innocence huffed at him and attempted to smack him with a claw, but the stallion quickly ducked his head away. “Hey, you might be fantastic and all, Sin, but shooting blind is shooting blind.”

Innocence grumbled under her breath, and then she looked up as Thorn emerged back out of the second floor, the stallion smiling a little as he headed down the stairs, a book floating beside him. The scaled unicorn huffed loudly as Antares cocked his head, and Thorn blushed ever-so-slightly as he held the book up, saying quietly: “I'd like to digitize it. It's something that... Dad used to read to me when I was young. I remember it.”

“Dad read it to all of us.” Antares smiled slightly, saying mildly: “He was always really proud of his... earth pony heritage.”

“Was he an earth pony?” Thorn asked curiously, and Antares admittedly felt a little guilty as Innocence pointedly leaned towards her brother. “I know that he was a Replicant, but I don't know much about their lives apart from what's available in the historical records, and-”

“Oh my gods I'm a moron.” Antares groaned suddenly, rolling his eyes before he hurried past Thorn, almost knocking the surprised pony over. “Just... wait right there!”

Antares leapt up to the second floor as Thorn looked blankly over his shoulder at the stallion, and Innocence grinned slightly before she said mildly: “I'm guessing you're just screwing with Antares, right?”

Thorn frowned and turned towards Innocence, asking curiously: “What do you mean? Is he not aware that our father was a Clockwork Pony?”

“Not that part. The... nevermind. I guess for you they were always, what, demons?” Innocence was admittedly honestly curious: all she really knew about what her parents had become was that they weren't true demons, but they weren't mortals or immortals or whatever they had been before, either. They were... different, somewhere in the realm between physical and spiritual entity.

Thorn shook his head, and then he said quietly: “In the terminology of the Archives, they're Beyonders. Souls that have been exiled to Helheim because of irredeemable differences with the mortal plane or Valhalla, but those who cannot become demons for... whatever reasons. Helheim, after all, is supposed to serve as a prison for the damned and condemned: those are two very different things under Helheim law, however.”

Innocence frowned at Thorn, and then she said slowly: “But I thought Inquisitors only had power over demons...”

“No, we have power over all residents of Helheim. It's just that most people assume that Helheim must be full of demons and devils, just as most people assume they're all lost souls or damned or prisoners.” Thorn shrugged a bit, saying softly: “There are plenty of demons in Helheim who will live out placid, relatively normal lives in the civilian regions of Helheim, going about their daily chores and never trying to either escape or cause mayhem. Even in Helheim, every child is born free of sin.”

Innocence smiled wryly, looking silently down at one of her claws before she muttered: “Sometimes I feel like we were born to carry all our parents' sins on our shoulders. I used to run away from that a lot with polymorphs and a lot of other magic tricks that didn't work out so well.”

“I think you're very pretty.” Thorn said softly, and Innocence looked up with surprise, and then she huffed loudly, even as she looked awkwardly away. “Running away solves nothing. Doing nothing, solves nothing. In fact, it makes things worse. We don't get to choose whether or not we participate in life, or the lives of others: through our own existence, we are participating, whether we like it or not. There's no backing out of the game we're all stuck playing.”

“That's a great way to put it.” Innocence grumbled, glowering over at the stallion. “Any other words of wisdom, oh wise one?”

Thorn shrugged, and then he said softly: “Doing nothing feels like the right thing to do a lot of the time, but inevitably, doing nothing will cause us more fear and suffering than if we tried to do anything else. Because like it or not, we owe the world, and more importantly, we owe it to ourselves to try. Evil triumphs, because good turns the other way.”

“I think I've heard that before. Don't steal other people's quotes.” Innocence said grumpily as she turned towards Thorn, studying him for a few moments before she asked finally: “How did you get so smart, anyway? When I was your age, I was really stupid.”

Thorn smiled briefly and shrugged a bit, replying after a moment: “I've had a lot of help, that's all. And Hecate was always very tough but... more than fair to me, too. She pushes me. And I've come to realize that's what we all need. Someone willing to push.”

Innocence smiled a little after a moment, nodding slowly before she leaned towards Thorn and said mildly: “It's nice to be babied too, though. I used to hate it growing up, but now I wish Twilight was still here to... encourage me, and just...”

Sin halted, looking down for a moment as Thorn tilted his head, and then the mare shook her head quickly before she cleared her throat and looked up, asking finally: “What the hell is taking Antares so long?”

Necrophage bounced up beside them, smiling brightly and immediately volunteering: “My sister and I can go see if you want!”

“I don't think it's anything we have to worry about.” Muse said carefully, as she strode up beside her sibling, before she blushed and bowed her head to Thorn. “But your wish is our command, of course, Lord Thorn.”

Thorn simply gave a brief smile, and then he shook his head quickly before he glanced up as the upstairs door flew open and Antares hurried out, carrying a book with telekinesis as he grumbled: “Goddammit, Sin, you put this stupid book back in the wrong section, and-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! You're not giving him that!” Sin snapped, and Thorn tilted his head curiously as Antares hopped down from the steps and glowered at his sister, who glared back at him. “That's our only copy left and-”

“And Thorn can borrow it, do his weird... picture-thing to it, then give it back to us tomorrow. He'll take good care of it, right?” Antares looked pointedly at Thorn, who nodded even as he looked curiously at the book.

Antares smiled slightly, then he passed the worn book to the stallion, saying softly: “Dad's single claim to fame, so to speak. At one time, just about everyone had this book on their shelf. Really proud of him for it, even if he'd argue it was all... smoke and mirrors, and Dad always loved to point out how none of his other books made it very far after that.”

Thorn studied the well-worn book intently, turning it back and forth before he studied the title and gave a small smile. “'I Am, You Are...' I think they had a copy of this book in Dad's office in Helheim. So he wrote this?”

Antares nodded with a grin, then he gestured easily back towards the house, saying mildly: “We have a few other books he did, too, but I don't know how long it takes you to do your... digitalization thing. And obviously Sin isn't going to let you run off with that. I would, because I'm generous and know how to share and trust in people. But Innocence was evil for like, sixty years, she claims.”

“Hey. Eat me.” Innocence grumbled, glowering at Antares, and he made a revolted face as Thorn opened the book and flipped through it quickly, ignoring the siblings entirely as they slapped at each other childishly.

“Wonderful.” he murmured after a moment, and then he shook his head before nodding once and closing the book. Then Innocence's eyes widened in surprise as the stallion simply flicked his horn and the book vanished: she recognized that spell as one used to store items in a personal pocket dimension, something that had taken her years to master. “I'll return it to you as soon as possible.”

“How the hell can you do that if you can only control a hundred bæns of energy?” Sin almost shouted, and Thorn winced a bit as Antares cocked his head curiously. “It's like a thousand bæns just to make my gauntlets vanish!”

“Oh, it's simple. The subdimensional space isn't simply in blank ether. It's anchored through the satchel I've been carrying around, so all I have to do is key into its energy wherever I am, and then teleport the object into it.” Thorn shrugged a bit, smiling briefly as Innocence stared at him. “The subdimension itself was created by Hecate. I had nothing to do with it. Otherwise, small objects only require around ninety bæns.”

“Great.” Innocence grumbled moodily, studying the stallion intently. “How the hell do you have so much focus? Tiny magic reserve I understand. Antares has the same problem, and it's pretty obvious that you were born from Luna and I was born from Twilight, so. You know. Genetic inherency or whatever you call it.”

Thorn shifted a little, opening his mouth, and then he paused at the twin scowls from his siblings before he simply nodded lamely. “Close enough.”

Antares grunted, then he added mildly: “You know, Mutt and Dad aren't exactly known for their concentration. There's kind of a huge difference between being able to power through anything and actually being able to focus on something the way you do.”

“Yeah. And Mutt's never been all that great at magic. I mean, if anything, her magic has only gotten more... physical over the years, so to speak.” Innocence said, and she and Antares traded knowing looks.

Thorn simply nodded: it was clear they were talking about Luna's Jötunnfang after all, which was something Luna had been more than eager to show off every chance she'd had in Decretum. “True. But anyone can learn focus. When I was a child-”

“Hate to break it to you, but compared to me, you still are a kid, kid.” Antares said pompously, and then he patted Innocence firmly on the head, making her scowl. “So's she. Although I guess she sort of wants to be, too, which probably makes it less insulting and all, but you know what I mean.”

Innocence slashed at him with her bladed horn, but Antares easily swayed out of the way as Thorn shrugged a bit, then continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, since he had realized that was usually the best way to deal with Antares: “When I was younger, I had no focus at all. It was Hecate who trained me to harness my magic reserves and disciplined me-”

“That is a creepy thought. Hecate disciplining you. Horses of Heaven, that makes the whole 'Mother' thing even creepier, too. Mother Hecate, disciplining Thorn.” Antares grinned widely as Innocence snorted in amusement, while the Replicants only looked up curiously. “So what did she do, spank you with her bare hands or the riding crop?”

“Corporal punishment would not have been conducive to Hecate's aims, which she understood. The only time she ever hit me was during sparring.” Thorn replied, and now Antares looked a lot more interested, which somehow didn't surprise the stallion.

“Whoa, okay, wait up a minute there. You sparred with Hecate? Like, sparred-sparred, as in-”

“As in non-lethal combat training, yes. It involved everything up to and including weapons and magic training, and I was often knocked unconscious.” Thorn absently rubbed at his head. “I was only badly wounded once, and Hecate had me treated immediately after we were done training.”

Antares studied Thorn intently, and then he asked: “So how long did you fight with your... injury; what happened to you, too?”

“About two hours. My skull was cracked and my front leg was broken.” Thorn said calmly, and Antares stared as Sin cleared her throat awkwardly. “It wasn't nearly as bad as it sounds. I was able to practice numbing the pain.”

“So optimistic. That's another weird trait you definitely don't get from the family.” Antares said dryly, and Thorn simply shrugged.

“Everything is an opportunity. We can choose to disregard them when they present themselves, or we can make the most of whatever happens.”

Antares looked thoughtful at this as Sin grunted, and then the black stallion shook his head before he looked over at the Replicants, asking: “You guys hungry now? Thorn, you gotta be hungry. Come on, I'll fix up something for us all to eat.”

“Yay!” Necrophage exclaimed, and then she cleared her throat and quickly looked over at Thorn almost pleadingly, even as she said: “I mean, it's up to you, sir, but... food!”

“Alright. Food it is.” Thorn said after a moment, and Necrophage bounced happily on the spot with a giggling nod as the sapphire stallion shook his head with a small smile.

Antares grinned slightly, curious to see how Thorn was going to react to what he had in mind, but when he served up venison dumplings along with a side of bacon twenty minutes later, all Thorn remarked was: “This is a lot of protein and calories.”

“Oh, screw your calories.” Antares said crankily, and Thorn smiled slightly before he calmly picked up a knife and fork, and the black stallion asked slowly: “What are you doing?”

Thorn patiently started to cut one of the dumplings into pieces, and Antares cleared his throat before he gestured to Sin, saying mildly: “Will you please show him how you're supposed to eat these?”

Sin nodded seriously, and then she snatched up one of the dumplings from Thorn's plate in a claw and shoved it into her muzzle, violently chewing it up and swallowing it down in seconds. She wiped some of the crumbs from her face as she grinned, and Thorn stared at her for a moment as Necrophage giggled madly, while Muse was politely nibbling at a slice of bacon.

“I think I prefer my way, thank you.” Thorn said after a moment, and he carefully rose a piece of venison to his muzzle, tasting it and chewing slowly before he gave a smile. “It's not bad.”

“It's meat. You recognize that, right?” Antares asked mildly, and Thorn nodded.

“Of course. I have the same parents as you, Antares, that's what being your sibling means.” Thorn said as he looked pointedly at the stallion, who shrugged and grinned slightly in amusement: at least it seemed like Thorn was starting to learn how to be sarcastic. “I also have eaten meats and meat substitutes in Decretum, especially during diplomatic operations. Ponies and other creatures alike put a lot of value on the meals they're served. A good meal can mean the difference between a treaty and a refusal.”

Sin snorted, but Antares smiled wryly before he said mildly: “You know, I never thought I'd say this, but that sounds a lot like the stuff I was taught by Kvasir. I guess Hecate really must know what she's doing with this whole... Decretum thing.”

Thorn smiled and nodded as he cut a piece of bacon in half before picking it up with his fork, and Antares' face slowly turned to a moue of displeasure, rearing slowly back as he added: “But that? That is just wrong. Do you not enjoy your food or something?”

Thorn popped the piece of bacon into his mouth, chewing it slowly before he glanced over at Innocence, who was gobbling down balls of venison one after the other with a gusto he had rarely seen. Even Necrophage was eating a little more politely than the mare, which was also something he had never expected to witness. “There's a difference between enjoyment and... whatever is going on with her, Antares.”

“Sin learned all her manners from Mutt. Which means they just fed her scraps under the table and dumped the leftovers in a bowl for her.” Antares said dryly.

“That's what they do for me!” Necrophage said happily, and Antares cleared his throat awkwardly before he stared when the mare asked brightly: “Can I have the grease, please?”

Antares slowly looked towards Thorn, who looked back at him mildly before he simply shrugged. “You can just give it to her in a can, if you like. Or in the pan. But you're not allowed to eat the pan, Necrophage.”

“I won't lick off even a little bit of the enamel!” Necrophage promised with a firm nod, and then she looked up at Antares with pleading eyes, wheedling: “Please?”

“Necrophage.” Muse gently reprimanded, and her sister Replicant smiled embarrassedly and dropped her head a little, before Muse turned towards Antares and added softly: “I apologize. My sister sometimes forgets her manners, but she means well.”

“Yeah, um. Okay. That's cool, no worries.” Antares said lamely, and then he cleared his throat as he turned and headed into the kitchen. He carried the pan out, clearing his throat as he said finally: “This bacon is a little burnt, but you can have that too if-”

Necrophage squealed in delight, nodding rapidly, and Thorn smiled despite himself as Antares passed her the pan, then stared as the mare upended in, almost swallowing the burnt bacon whole along with the stream of grease that poured into her maw. She immediately began to lick up the rest of the mess as Antares paled a little, looking ill as Sin remarked through a mouthful of venison: “That's pretty goddamn awful. No offense.”

“Necrophage was designed to convert everything she eats. She was also designed to try and mimic pony behaviors, to have enjoyments, to be... real.” Thorn was smiling at the mare, who blushed almost bashfully as she lowered the pan a little, then cleared her throat and quickly put it down, gazing radiantly back at Thorn as he said softly: “She's a little strange. But there's nothing wrong with her.”

Antares looked back and forth between the two, and then a slow grin crested his muzzle before he whispered loudly to Sin: “I think our little brother has a crush on a certain mare in this room!”

“Really?” Necrophage looked up brightly as Thorn flinched and turned beet-red, Antares thrilled by the fact that the stallion had finally lost his eternal composure, before he stared as Necrophage whirled towards her sister and exclaimed: “Wow! I never knew that Thorn liked you, Muse!”

Muse smiled behind a hoof as Thorn dropped his face in his hooves, and Innocence cackled and almost fell out of her chair before the sapphire stallion said tiredly: “Can we please just enjoy a meal for once?”

Antares decided to let it go for now, looking pleased with himself before he perked up with interest as Thorn lamely defended: “And I'm sort of seeing someone right now, anyway. His name is Moonflower and he and I have a... level of comfort together.”

“Wow. That's so romantic.” Antares deadpanned, before he continued: “Moonflower, though, huh? I mean, with a name like that, I guess you'd pretty much have to end up gay, but... that's pretty cute. What does Hecate think about that?”

Thorn shrugged after a moment, tilting his head curiously. “What do you mean? We've talked about it, of course, to ensure there weren't going to be any instances of nepotism. Otherwise she wants me to enjoy my relationships. She... says her son, Thesis, never had any romantic relationships when he was young.”

Antares quieted a little as Thorn ate his food. Innocence was grinning, but now the black stallion couldn't help but be more than a little interested: Innocence wouldn't remember it, probably didn't even know much about it, but Thesis had been a serious threat to their parents when she had just been a baby...

“Can you tell me anything about Thesis?” he asked, and Thorn looked up with a slight frown. And, even with as hard as Thorn was to read, Antares recognized that expression and what it meant, so he quickly lowered his head and reassured in a gentler voice: “Just what you feel comfortable with. I know that Hecate is your mentor and sort of another mom to you-”

“She is my mother.” Thorn said quietly, and Antares nodded. For a moment, there was silence, and then Thorn sighed a little before he sat back and started: “Thesis was the beginning and the end of the Replicant project. He was composed of superior genetic data, designed to... what?”

Antares was looking at the sapphire stallion oddly, and after a moment, the crystal-winged unicorn smiled before he asked: “Can you tell me about Thesis, not just about his genes or Valthrudnir's projects or anything like that? I want to know about... Thesis. Because from what I saw, he was... damaged.”

“Yes. Yes, he was.” Thorn looked down for a moment, and then he scooped up a bit of bacon on his fork. He chewed thoughtfully on it, then smiled briefly before saying quietly: “When he was young, Thesis was the Prince of Equestria. He grew up in a time of war between the griffin and Equestrian nations. A war that had been incited and urged on by Valthrudnir so he could better test his experiments, although Hecate had not realized it at the time.

“Thesis was...” Thorn stopped, then took the moment of thought to eat a little more, gathering his thoughts before he continued: “Thesis was gifted, and strong, but everyone knew he was a homunculus. But he was happy... that's what Hecate tells me, anyway. He was proud of his country, and didn't let the ponies who thought of him only as a weapon to... bring him down, or make him angry. Thesis was a good pony.”

Antares smiled faintly at this: Thesis had nearly destroyed the worlds, had killed his own so-called 'brother,' had attempted to murder his parents and acted without regard for anyone but himself, not following any strain of logic but his own psychotic delusions... “He sounds a lot different from what he became. That exoskeleton he had... that had something to do with it, right?”

Necrophage shivered visibly as Muse looked down silently, and Thorn softened as Antares and Innocence both looked up in surprise. “Yes. It did. Muse?”

“Thesis was so sad... all the time.” Muse said softly, shaking her head slowly. “He was so broken, and he hurt so badly. Part of it was because of the exoskeleton, yes: but it was also because of the nodes inside his mind, that corrupted his thoughts, made him... sick with despair. The exoskeleton filled him with anger, and anger made him lash out, made him dangerous... but it was the sadness caused by the nodes that truly broke him and his spirit.”

Muse closed her eyes, and Necrophage smiled, but there was a strange glimmer in her eyes as she said: “Once, I saw Thesis talking with Psukhikos and Protolea, but he didn't really know who they were! He kept calling them Red Sky and Singing Lark, and when Psukhikos finally corrected him, he just scowled at her and said he'd been calling her the right name the whole time and knew who she was! That was right before he sent the rest of us off to sleep...”

“The Thesis you knew... wasn't really Thesis at all.” Thorn said softly, looking down and picking at his food before he gave one of his brief smiles. “Hecate has always told me to think of Thesis as my brother. She never speaks of the Thesis of the recent past... only her son, who was lost to her a thousand years ago. She thinks about him every day, and...”

Thorn quieted, then he shook his head and said calmly: “This food is very good. You're a talented cook, Antares.”

Antares smiled slightly, recognizing the conversation was probably over as he simply shrugged and sat back, while Innocence only looked curiously at the stallion. Thorn, however, had gone back to being inscrutable as ever as he ate the meal in his careful, meticulous way: still, however, Antares could be happy about the fact that they had probably learned more about Thorn from the last hour spent together than they had in the entire week.

And to think, all he'd had to do was actually listen to him.

Comments

[Mira Starlight]

So Innocence knows that Thorn is her half-brother. On second thought... yeah, it's pretty obvious.