Hecate's Orphanage

by BlackRoseRaven

A Bouquet Of RED

Chapter Sixty Six: A Bouquet Of RED
~BlackRoseRaven

It had been a rough start, but everything was falling into place, as the machinery of Decretum ground implacably on. With the Hexad Army now present to assist with both cleanup operations and securing Imperia, the Dogmatists were able to focus on repairing the most severe damages and rescuing those who were still trapped throughout the wreckage of the city.

Cadence had heard that Hecate had called some kind of meeting, but she and Thesis were currently in the process of getting ready to head to the Ten Moons facility. If she'd known Hecate a little less well, she would have been offended... okay, maybe I am a little pissed off that some big thing is happening, and Thesis and I- “Hey, you're thinking dumb things.”

“I am not. You're dumb.” Cadence said grouchily, as she glowered over the stallion, who pasted a hurt look on his face. Then she scowled as she drew her eyes over him: apart from the exoskeleton implanted into his back, the only gear she saw on him was a Mission Drive strapped to one foreleg, and a satchel hanging off his side that was stuffed with paperwork. “Are you ready? If these guys end up being hostile...”

“They won't... well, okay, they might be hostile. But not hostile the way you're thinking.” Thesis replied mildly, shaking his head quickly. “They'll recognize my command authority. But they'll be rude and obnoxious and... well, I mean, everything you're used to by now, I'm sure.

“But Mom wouldn't send us on this mission if she didn't trust us. She also wouldn't send us on this mission just to get us out of the way.” Thesis said pointedly, leaning towards Cadence, and Cadence leaned slightly back even as she let her eyes flick almost embarrassedly away. “But hey, the sooner we get this done-”

“The better.” Cadence cut off, shaking her head quickly before she checked over herself: her own armor was being repaired, so she was only wearing a set of the lightweight, mass-produced black plate armor similar to the gear the Kirin clones were equipped with: it brought back memories. Both of recent times, and when she'd first come to Decretum...

She hesitated, then looked over at Thesis and asked quietly: “Did Hecate ever train you? I mean, she was your mother, and...”

“Mom was also the Princess of the Sun when I knew her, Cadence. She taught me a thing or two, sure, but most of my training came from other tutors. Back then, Mom didn't like to fight.” Thesis replied with a shrug, before he smiled a bit as he reached up and touched the front of the armor Cadence was wearing. “I did use similar gear, though, when I was in the Dark Angel unit. All our special forces used this gear after it was first developed.”

Cadence nodded, and then she absently reached up and touched her own breast, letting her hoof rest beside Thesis' as she asked: “What about the Mission Drives?”

“Those are new.” Thesis glanced at the small machine on Cadence's side, before he smiled slightly as he tapped her breast once. “She's given you guys a lot of new, cooler stuff, as a matter of fact. We had the visors and the communication system, yeah, but... that was about it. No uplink, no network, no OA-SYS.

“Valthrudnir... Dad, he always wanted to win a fight, but after the Decretum project 'failed,' he just abandoned us. Mom must have taken all his schematics, all his plans, and gone through them and brought them to life... weird, really, thinking about... how much Dad has protected this universe.”

Thesis looked down as he half-grasped Cadence's hoof, and she frowned at him before she shook her head and muttered: “The universe wouldn't need protecting like this if it wasn't for him.”

“And we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him.” Thesis countered, which Cadence had no real response to. She felt the Swan twist inside of her... but what surprised her was that it seemed to be with interest, not anger. “Seriously. As much as it sucks to admit, not everything he's done has been for the worst. And do you want to imagine fighting Loki without my Mommy to back us up?”

“We probably wouldn't even need to fight Loki if it wasn't for Valthrudnir.” grumbled Cadence, and Thesis only huffed loudly in response to this. But before they could continue their circular, endless argument, Cadence quickly cut in: “Let's just get going. We can talk about this later.”

“I know enough about mares to know that means 'we'll never talk about it again and I just won the argument.” Thesis said dryly, before he winced at the glare Cadence favored him with, lamely squeezing her hoof before he looked dumbly down at their locked forehooves, and then he looked up with a faint blush and a lame grin. “Uh. Hi.”

Cadence looked down at their hooves for a moment, then she yanked hers away, glowering at him. “What it means is you should shut up and listen to me because you're an idiot. We have a mission to do.”

“Yes ma'am.” Thesis gave a loud, theatrical sigh as he saluted lazily, before he winced when Cadence grabbed him by the nose to pull him out of the prep room and back into the portal lobby. He grumbled, but allowed himself to be led along even as he whined: “You know, you could at least hold me by the ear like Mommy does.”

“I'm not your Mommy.” Cadence grumbled, but she finally let go of the Replicant as they stopped in front of one of the smaller rings. She couldn't help but glance back and forth all the same, muttering: “There's still a lot of activity.”

“What, you expect a little thing like a catastrophic invasion is going to stop Mom from doing business as usual?” Thesis asked mildly, and Cadence smiled despite herself. She was a little... unsettled by it, maybe, but at the same time she appreciated the fact that Hecate apparently refused to let anything slow her down, as Dogmatists came and went, cargo moved through the large-scale freight portals, and a few diplomats and officers went about their own business, as if the Clockwork Empire wasn't in shambles.

Thesis saluted the Dogmatist beside the portal they had been assigned to, and to Cadence's surprised, asked cheerfully: “How the hell are you holding up, Azure?”

The thin Dogmatist gazed silently back at Thesis through his hollow glass eyes: he was supported more by the tight metal braces around his body than his own gangly limbs, and his mane and spine were both a mess of cables and nodes. His skin was stretched and pale, and he had the look of one of the Dogmatists that had spent too long hooked up to the machines, had too many wires and circuits to be a pony anymore-

And then, to Cadence's disbelief, Azure creakily rose a hoof and made a small wave at Thesis, and Thesis smiled warmly as he reached up and patted him firmly on the shoulder. “Good. Keep it up, huh? All of you, even me... I feel like we're so close to being ponies again, you know?”

Azure bobbed his head slowly, and Cadence smiled a little before Thesis asked: “So what's the drop point? How many connectors am I going to have to hit?”

“Sector Seven. No connectors.” Azure replied in an emotionless, mechanical voice. Thesis nodded and smiled again at this, looking both relieved and a little uneasy, Cadence thought.

“Great. I mean. Sort of. Well. I'm glad you're efficient, Azure.” Thesis said finally, and then he turned towards Cadence and explained: “If I remember the layout of the Ten Moons correctly, us being able to jump straight to Sector Seven means that they've brought most or all of the security checkpoints online. You can't just portal in anywhere in Ten Moons: you have to drop either outside of the facility, or you have to connect directly to another portal, which has to be active-”

“I think I get it. Why doesn't that make our job easier?” Cadence asked, and Thesis rubbed at the back of his head moodily.

“It does and it doesn't. It means that the Replicants are probably in 'reception,' as we call it, where they're uploaded new data while in stasis.” Thesis grimaced as he rubbed moodily at his head. “It's not fun. It means they'll be cranky when we wake them up, among other things. On the positive side they'll know who you are, but on the negative side they'll... know who you are.”

Cadence gave the stallion a moody look, but Thesis only shook his head before he turned towards the portal, saying finally: “Well, we're wasting energy here. Let's get this over with.”

Cadence sighed a little, but nodded in agreement after a moment, the two facing the portal before Thesis said mildly: “Close it behind us, Azure. We can reactivate it from the other side when we're ready to come home.”

Azure gave a slow nod, and Thesis smiled at him before he turned his attention back to the swirling vortex, saying easily: “Well, let's go, Cadence. Stop stalling.”

Cadence glared at the Replicant as he strode into the portal, then she rolled her eyes and followed quickly after him. They both emerged from the other side in a swirl of energy, but anything Cadence was about to say was cut off as she found several Kirin waiting for them, one of them already apparently briefing Thesis on whatever was going on.

The stallion looked unperturbed as Cadence approached, but the ivory mare frowned immediately as she picked up the conversation: “-shut down, and the security protocols are all in effect. You'll have to go through quarantine.”

“So what does that mean for us?” she interrupted, and the Kirin gave her a moody look, but Thesis only smiled amiably and shrugged a bit.

“Not what you're thinking. More that it'll just take us a lot more time.” Thesis replied with a brief shake of his head, and then he glanced back at the Kirin commander and said: “Continue with the standard protocol for now. If you want a recommendation, then shut down the tram system and divert power to the bulkheads. That should decrease the security level a little.”

“Yes, sir.” The Kirin saluted, and Cadence looked curiously at Thesis even as the stallion turned to lead her through an open shutter, past two looming Bushi that glowered at them distrustfully as they passed.

Cadence frowned a bit over her shoulder as she followed Thesis, before she asked uneasily as they passed a few more suspicious-looking Kirin: “Okay, why the hell are they all looking at us like that?”

“It's a long story. But in the past we were at war with the Kirin and... when Dad found a planet dominated by them, he uh...” Thesis cleared his throat, then he gestured awkwardly with his head at a Bushi as they passed, the cybernetic Kirin not hiding his distaste as he slowly sharpened a weapon against one metal hoof. “Well, they're not like the Dogmatists. The nodes force them to obey, but not to forget.”

“Because there's absolutely nothing that could go wrong with that.” Cadence said dryly, and Thesis smiled wryly as he shrugged a bit. “What about this quarantine? Did something get loose?”

“No, quarantine is a standard procedure when the units are brought online. The Replicants aren't just in reception, they're being paced, which means they're sort of being... readied, so to speak.” Thesis said carefully, and Cadence grimaced again.

“Replicants, clones... I feel like the Orphans are going to be replaced by actual machines.” Cadence muttered, and Thesis looked at her mildly over his shoulder.

“We're not going to replace you, and you know it.” he replied, and Cadence smiled awkwardly at him as she felt surprisingly embarrassed for letting something like that slip out.

“I don't think of you as a Replicant.” she said, and Thesis looked at her curiously before the mare cleared her throat and glanced away, mumbling: “Let's just get this over and done with.”

“Yeah. Labs are a level down, don't worry. Just keep your cool and don't get too mad when the Kirin try to search you.” Thesis replied pointedly, and Cadence nodded as she decided to follow along for now, before she frowned when Thesis added: “Hey, if you turn on your visor, you should automatically link to the network. We can see if Mom followed up with those authorizations already.”

“Alright.” Cadence flicked her head, pulling her visor down with telekinesis, and it automatically flickered to life. The HUD blinked into life as the visor booted up, before the ivory mare grimaced a bit at the numbers and letters that scrawled over the glass, muttering: “Hate this thing.”

Thesis snorted at this, but he didn't reply, forcing Cadence to focus on the information in front of her before she muttered: “Okay. Yeah, it's synchronizing information... Seneschal? Can you hear me?”

“Yes, yes, Cadence, I can hear you, but please tell me you have a reason for wasting my processor power like this.” Seneschal's voice complained from the headset, and Cadence looked lamely over at Thesis.

But the Replicant only winked before he replied mildly: “Seneschal, it's your new boss. Do you have the diagnostic prints for the Replicants here in Sector Seven?”

Seneschal gave a long groan, then he grumbled moodily out of the visor, as a tiny, scowling image of the dragon appeared in a corner of Cadence's vision: “Yes, yes. I see you're on your way there now, though, why bother me about it now?”

“I like to be prepared.” Thesis replied simply, and Seneschal grumbled grouchily before he asked: “Can you send them to my Mission Drive?”

“Yes, yes, yes. I'm already doing so, of course, your highness.” Seneschal said acerbically, before asking ironically: “Will there be anything else today, substitute Thorn, or may I return to my diligence?”

“Yeah, uh, large coffee, black, and Cadence and I didn't eat much lunch so like if you could throw something together for us, that would be cool.” Thesis said blandly, and Seneschal hissed through his pixellated teeth before Thesis asked suddenly: “How's the system integrity here looking? Have you completed a full scan yet?”

Seneschal seemed caught off guard by this, replying curiously: “All systems are optimal and integrity is holding at 98%. Scans have been completed every hour, on the hour, as per Empress Hecate's orders.”

“Do another scan now, and recheck all priorities: compare their current commands to the physical data logs and alert myself and Hecate if you detect any mismatched data.” Thesis said briskly, and Seneschal grumbled loudly before he gave a mumble of acknowledgment and blinked out of Cadence's visor.

“Physical data?” Cadence asked, and Thesis smiled at her as they headed into an elevator.

“Yeah. Long-term, important data... configuration files, stuff like that, it's kept on hard copy, in the form of physical data cards. Basically they're metal cards that a physical scanner drags over, and it interprets the patterns and holes in the card as data according to a mathematical formula.” Thesis explained, and Cadence stared at him before the Replicant gave a wide grin. “What? Awed by how smart I am?”

“Not really, since somehow I don't think you understand half of what you just said.” Cadence grumbled, as Thesis hit a button on the control panel. He huffed at her as the elevator doors closed, and they descended in silence before Cadence grimaced as the elevator beeped loudly and slowed to a halt. “What's that?”

“Just stay still. The camera is scanning us.” Thesis replied, gesturing at a small dome in the top corner of the elevator. Cadence glared at the stallion, but Thesis only smiled slightly, saying softly: “It's weird being back here. Doing this stuff again. I questioned at first how Mom could do it, but... now that I'm doing it too, I guess... there's a weird sort of familiarity. It's almost comforting. This... this is what I was designed for, after all.”

Cadence softened a little, and Thesis chuckled softly before he lowered his head and murmured: “I guess no matter what happens, you can't really escape your purpose, huh?”

The ivory mare glanced down at one of her golden hooves as her long tail flicked uncertainly behind her, but then Thesis looked up, gave her that stupid, cheerful grin of his, and said easily: “But you sure as hell can choose how you fulfill that purpose, and even what that purpose means. And I'd much rather think of myself as a weapon who exists to protect than a weapon who just exists to kill, right?”

“I... shut up.” Cadence grumbled, as the elevator doors finally opened, and she grimaced when she looked out into what was clearly a checkpoint, with a team of Kirin guards already standing at the ready.

The moment she stepped out, one of them reached out to grab her, and Cadence wasn't sure if she reacted or the Swan did as she caught his wrist and immediately twisted, the Bushi flinching as the other guards tensed.

“Yeah, okay, Cadence, this is what I meant about the 'don't freak out when they try to search you' thing.” Thesis said delicately as he stepped out and reached up, carefully prying the Kirin and Cadence apart, and the ivory mare did her best to hide her embarrassment with a grumble as she moodily glared at the Kirin in front of her.

The other guards shifted nervously as the Bushi brushed himself off, and then he said brusquely: “Standard procedure.”

“Fine.” Cadence grumbled, as she eyed the scanner ahead moodily: it wasn't like a patdown was going to show them anything the machine wouldn't. But all the same, she let the Kirin quickly check her over before she walked through the scanner to the other side, where another Kirin lifted a plastic box with telekinesis and instructed:

“Place all your-”

Cadence slapped the box out of the Kirin's psychic grip, and then she glowered over her shoulder when Thesis whistled and remarked: “What the hell, Cadence. I thought you were the professional one here.”

“I am. To a point.” Cadence grumbled, as the Kirin quickly picked up the box and scurried out of her way. “I want to get this over and done with, that's all, and I still don't know where I stand with these guys.”

“'These guys' are literally all around you, Cadence. Try and at least pretend to be polite, huh?” Thesis said pointedly, and Cadence sighed a little before she nodded almost grudgingly, even as she and a Bushi glared at each other.

Thesis carefully grasped Cadence by the shoulders and gently pulled her onward, past the guards she had been glowering at and into a long hall. The mare grimaced as she immediately noted the security shutters placed at regular intervals through the corridor: all of them were raised, but the fact there were so many in just this one sterile hall alone... “Just what kind of Replicants are we dealing with here?”

“Difficult ones. I'm not surprised Mom left them in storage until now.” Thesis answered, before he continued gently: “And hey, look. I know it's weird. I know it takes a lot of getting used to. I know you probably feel like you're getting jerked around a lot and you're stuck dealing with a bunch of people you don't want to, like... me, for example. But it would be great if you could, you know, not take it out on everyone.”

Cadence shifted a bit, but she knew that was fair. And as much as she wanted to blame the Swan, lately the Swan had been quiet, and curious, and... weird. Just weird. And I think that's part of what's throwing me off, too. “I know. I'll try harder.”

“I don't want you to try, Cadence. I want you to do, because I know that you can.” Thesis replied as he shouldered her lightly, and Cadence gave him a sour look, but the stallion only winked. “Hey, from weapon-to-weapon-”

“You're not a weapon. You're not like me.” Cadence grumbled, although part of her regretted saying that almost immediately.

Thesis, however, only smiled at her and shrugged easily before he replied gently: “As much as I appreciate you saying so, we're more similar than you might think. Right down to the moodiness and the childish spats and the throwing of the ice cream on the floor.”

Cadence sighed and rolled her eyes, but decided not to respond as she carefully wiggled herself free and let herself fall a pace behind so she could follow. Thesis gave her a look she couldn't quite figure out, but he led the way forward: she was glad that at least he seemed to know where to go, since like every other Decretum structure she had been in, this one was a maze of corridors and doors.

Thesis led her to a door guarded by another pair of Kirin, the stallion announcing as they stepped in front of it: “Prince Thesis, here to assess the operational status of the RED AI Action team.”

Both Bushi saluted grouchily, and then they both reached back and pressed paired panels on either side of the door, the security shutter sliding up after a moment with a hiss. Cadence thought Thesis took a moment to steady himself before he quickly strode inside, and the mare followed after him as she squared her shoulders.

They stepped into some kind of viewing room, and Cadence frowned a bit as they approached a window to look down into a target range below. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise as she counted no less than four ponies below, all of them simply staring in an awful, emotionless way despite the different expressions on their-

Cadence felt the presence before she saw it, spinning around and swinging her hooves out, but her attack was caught by a mare with a shark-like maw of fangs, who whispered in a sibilant tongue: “Aren't you a cutie?”

Cadence flung the mare backwards, and it gave an echoing laugh as it seemed to twist on itself like it had no spine, the mare-creature landing on sharp hooves against the ground before it vanished from sight in a puff of black smoke. Cadence's eyes widened in surprise, but the Swan immediately took over, the ivory mare's eyes narrowing before she gave a slight smile and struck out with an elbow to the side.

The mare-creature gasped in pain, staggering back into reality before she snarled in fury, but Thesis quickly stepped between the two, saying sharply: “Enough.”

Danzsöngr lowered her head politely, and the mare-creature snorted, but then stepped moodily backwards and nodded once, muttering grudgingly: “Only because we must obey you, Prince Thesis. And only because it has been too long since we set our eyes upon you. We missed you, dear: did you forget about us?”

Thesis simply gave a wry smile, and Cadence grimaced a bit as her eyes locked on the mare-creature: it had four small crimson eyes and a wispy mane that floated eerily around it like silken cloudstuff. Her body seemed to flow and ebb like a living pool of ashes and charcoal, and her teeth were a little too large for her mouth, giving her a permanent parted-lip grin.

Cadence frowned slightly as her eyes drew over the creature, realizing something about it was... wrong. Or rather, that it wasn't exactly pony, even disregarding its mutations: the legs were too long and slender, the hooves were petite and strange, the body was almost hound-like. But it was the Swan who answered her question for her, as it said from her mouth: “Illilleap.”

“Very good. An extinct race, but Karsilamas and the others from the RED team are all uh... unique.” Thesis said delicately, before he reached up and pointedly gestured at the red-eyed mare when she began to lean forwards. “No. Go back to your squad, Karie. We'll meet you in a minute.”

“Karie!” The creature seemed amused by this, her red eyes studying Thesis with interest for a few moments before she bowed her head and smiled, replying kindly: “But very well. Just as you wish, Prince Thesis. We'll be waiting for you.”

Karsilamas vanished from sight, and Cadence scowled as she felt the invisible Illilleap brush against her before she sensed its presence fade. For a few moments, she was silent, and then she turned her eyes moodily towards Thesis, who only looked mildly back at her before he said blandly: “Hey, none of this is my fault.”

“Everything is your fault.” grumbled Cadence, and Thesis sighed dramatically before the mare asked in a quieter voice: “What the hell was that?”

“Replicant, Class 5 prototype. I don't know how much you know about Replicants like me-” Thesis faltered ever-so-slightly in his words. “-but we're made to infiltrate settlements, designed to be able to 'blend in,' so to speak, even if we... we're different. Well, the prototype Class 5s look really different because they were also Valthrudnir testing just how far he could push and bend our genomes but... anyway, getting off topic, yeah.

“The RED series were designed to infiltrate non-pony civilizations and settlements. There are quite a lot of them, you know, both magical and non-magical races.” Thesis replied as he stepped towards the glass, looking down at the Replicants below, and as Cadence let her eyes draw over them again, she realized that none of them were pony. They all looked like races similar to ponies, but... “They're... 'lesser lesser' creatures, as I think Valthrudnir liked to refer to them as. It's left them all with a bit of a chip on their collective shoulders.”

Cadence studied the five standing below them silently, before Thesis gave a wry smile as he stepped back and muttered: “Well, let's go meet the team. And try and be on your best behavior, huh?”

“I'm usually the one telling other people that.” grumbled Cadence, but she nodded after a moment, adding grumpily: “I will, though. But don't talk to me like-”

“You talk to us?” Thesis asked ironically, but as much as Cadence wanted to glower at him, she had to grudgingly admit that he had a bit of a point. She also felt something she couldn't quite identify as they stepped through a security door together and descended a steep set of stairs: it was rare for anypony to actually stand up to her, after all. Even Shining never really...

Cadence shook herself once, then she looked up with a scowl as a voice asked coolly: “Is this really what we've been replaced with, Prince Thesis? Adopted ponies from other worlds who can't even keep themselves on task?”

“Cadence, allow me to introduce the RED AI Action team.” Thesis said dryly, turning around to face Cadence as he gestured broadly at the five not-ponies behind him. “Karsilamas you already know. The others are Faunus, Manes, Gesicht, and Thespis. I'm sure you guys will get along just splendidly.”

The ivory mare allowed her eyes to moodily rove over the line behind Thesis, moving from the strange, alien Illilleap that was Karsilamas and along the lineup. And a strange group it was, full of creatures she'd never even seen before.

Faunus seemed to be some sort of small, wingless dragon: he had dark purple-red scales that almost looked metallic, and small, hooded eyes. He had four short, curving horns that framed his face, and dexterous, complex claws that were nervously playing with some kind of large rifle, as his serpentine tail flicked uneasily back and forth behind him.

The next in line was a zebra: he was tall, well-built, and had eerie eyes that glowed with knowledge and unknown magics, and body armor that had been augmented with orbs of crystal that glowed with the same colors. He looked almost normal, except that maybe his visible coat was a little too ashen, and his stripes almost seemed like oil, flowing and undulating with his movements. He smiled slyly at Cadence when she looked at him, tossing her a wink as he licked his sharp teeth... they all have sharp teeth. Carnivore teeth.

Gesicht, to her surprise, was some kind of griffin species: he had the front quarters of a golden eagle, his forelegs ending in gauntlet-covered talons, his powerful wings folded at his sides, but his hindquarters seemed to be that of a pony, covered only by a battle-skirt that seemed more ceremonial than anything else. He had some sort of huge rifle holstered over one shoulder, his eyes covered by heavy goggles, yet Cadence could feel the contempt he looked at her with.

Last, but not least, was an... antelope, Cadence guessed: a rare species she hadn't seen much of. He seemed almost perfectly normal, she thought: apart from the fact he was wearing an officer's armor, there was nothing all that off about him that she could identify: from his tall horns to his lithe body, to his cold, cold eyes...

He smiled at her, and she saw his sharp teeth; he extended a hoof, and she realized that it wasn't really a hoof at all even before she took it, as he said calmly: “I am Commander Thespis of the RED AI Action unit. I understand that we will be working together.”

His hoof was like firm rubber, pulsating and warm in her hoof. But Cadence did her best to hide her grimace as Thespis calmly rose her hoof to kiss it, before he looked up at her with a thin smile and asked: “Are you here to assess us?”

Cadence frowned, then she said uncertainly, even as she felt Thesis wince beside her: “I suppose-”

Thespis twisted her foreleg hard and slammed his other hoof up into her chest before Cadence had a chance to react, making her gasp as she staggered backwards stupidly. Immediately, Karsilamas was on her, seizing her around the neck and throwing her backwards before she dropped with a titter as Faunus leapt over her and smashed the butt of his rifle across Cadence's face, sending her sprawling backwards with a cry of shock.

The Swan took over, a snarl of fury cresting the ivory mare's face as she rolled sharply backwards up her hooves, but then she gasped as a shot rang out, the floor in front of her exploding as her eyes looked quickly up to see Gesicht working the lever of his rifle, hovering near the high ceiling. Danzsöngr barely reacted in time before the second shot, bringing one of her wings up as it glowed with ivory energy, shielding herself.

The bullet smashed into her wing, sending up a burst of ivory feathers and white motes of energy, and the Swan staggered back a step before she sensed someone behind her: how they had gotten on the other side of her so fast, she neither knew nor cared. She only acted, shoving herself backwards and slamming a hoof out.

Manes' cocky grin vanished in a burst of blood as the zebra was knocked onto his back with a gasp of shock, eyes bulging. Karsilamas immediately vanished from sight, but the Swan could still sense her, and even before Manes hit the ground, the ivory mare had already twisted hard to the side to slam both rear hooves out, hitting an invisible shape in the face with a resounding crunch.

Manes and Karsilamas hit the ground one after the other, and the Swan neatly flipped backwards as her wings flapped sharply, sending a flurry of glowing white daggers streaking up into the air to hammer through Gesicht's wings. The griffin howled in pain, but even as he fell, he fired off a shot-

Danzsöngr smiled coldly as she flicked her horn sharply, deflecting the bullet with a spark of magic and sending it slamming into Faunus' lower leg, knocking him sprawling forwards, and the Swan caught his head as he fell to slam his face through the floor with a loud crunch. It left only her and Thespis standing, the commander looking at her coldly as the Swan eyed him for a moment, before the antelope began to open his mouth-

His eyes bulged in shock as the Swan buried her horn into his chest, black blood leaking from the wound as he trembled on his hooves. He mouthed wordlessly, then hissed in pain as the Swan slowly withdrew her horn before she reached up and grasped him by the face, forcibly turning his head back and forth as he glared at her furiously.

Danzsöngr smiled again, before she said contemptibly: “We are not impressed.”

She drew her hoof back- “Wait!”

The Swan looked over at Thesis, and the Replicant grimaced a bit before he said quietly: “We are here to retrieve them. Not to fight. You've all had your fun, but that's enough. No more blue.”

The Swan looked at Thesis for a few moments, but then she finally relented, letting Cadence take back over, and the mare grumbled under her breath as Thespis gave a distasteful smile and opened his mouth-

Cadence slammed a right hook hard across the antelope's jaw, knocking him sprawling on his back with a loud thud and leaving him in a senseless heap as she grumbled: “Yeah. These guys seem real promising.”

“Hey, they'll be plenty effective. Or are you trying to say you're not badass?” Thesis replied pointedly, and Cadence huffed at this as she glowered over the sprawled RED unit, who were slowly picking themselves up and reassembling around Thespis with mixed looks of humiliation and anger.

“Five Replicants should be more of a challenge than that.” Cadence said moodily, although she recognized fully that all she'd really done was knock them down: even Thespis was recovering now, glaring angrily at Cadence as he stood up and the wound and his armor both visibly healed- wait. “Does he have some kind of new-model armor?”

Thespis snorted, but Thesis only rolled his eyes before he said pointedly: “Thespis, Cadence is a superior officer. While it's cute how you used order-override privilege to get a free punch in on her, really – and by cute I obviously mean suicidal – you are required to answer her questions. So you know. Get answering.”

Thespis snorted, and then he rose his head before smiling contemptibly, and Cadence's eyes widened in surprise as his features flowed like silver liquid before they became a perfect match for Cadence's own. Then his face shifted back to normal with the same eerie metal gleam. “My body is composed of liquid metal. I can configure my appearance however I please. Now, if that's all the silly questions you have, Lady Cadence...”

Cadence glowered at the antelope, but Thesis gently but quickly nudged her aside as he stepped forwards, saying: “I need a sound off and operative status.”

Thespis sighed and rolled his eyes, but then he nodded and turned towards his unit, saying in a voice that utterly dripped contempt: “Do as the Prince wishes, as we are all but puppets to the desire of the head puppet. As I do; Thespis, callsign: Comedian, ready to deploy.”

“Karsilamas, callsign: Gypsy, ready to deploy!” trilled the Illilleap, the creature smiling with an out-of-place smugness at Cadence.

“Manes, callsign Oracle, ready to deploy.” The zebra glared at Cadence as he rubbed slowly at a bruised eye, and the ivory mare noted that he wasn't healing with the same supernatural speed as the others: then again, perhaps that also had to do with the fact he was clearly the most 'normal' of the group of Replicants...

“Faunus, callsign: Lizard. Ready to deploy.” grumbled the pony-sized dragon, as he grouchily rubbed at the broken armor over his bruised foreleg.

“Gesicht, callsign: Hawkeye, ready to deploy.” muttered the griffin-thing, as he adjusted the large goggles over his eyes and flapped his wings absently.

Cadence let her eyes draw over them, and then she looked back at Thesis, who was studying the five intently. They were all Replicants: there was something so synthetic, imperfect in its perfection, about each and every one of them. And apart from Thesis, in spite of the emotions they projected, Cadence found herself questioning if they actually felt anything at all...

She turned her eyes back towards Thesis, studying him, before she returned her eyes to the group of Replicants, deciding to just stay quiet for now as Thesis asked: “Have you gone through the latest updates and reception?”

“Yes, the team is at full operational status.” Thespis said irritably, gesturing disdainfully at Thesis. “We've all been updated fully. Seneschal brought us online, and said we were to serve Empress Hecate, and that Lord Valthrudnir has been terminated.”

“Good riddance.” Karsilamas said, and then she paused before adding gently: “With all respect, of course, Prince Thesis.”

“No, I understand. Dad wasn't... great.” Thesis said delicately, before he shook his head and asked: “What about the Orphans?”

“For the most part, we are to treat them as Dogmatists. We are also aware that all other Replicants have been brought into active duty.” Thespis smiled thinly. “But as you are aware, Prince Thesis, we are not industrial models. We are military models, designed for a specific purpose.”

“Retrieval, Extraction, and Deception.” Thesis answered, and Cadence couldn't help but give a wry smile: that explained the name. “You'll be doing plenty of that, don't worry. Have you been briefed on the status of the enemy, or has that remained under an intelligence blindfold?”

Thespis finally showed an emotion other than contempt as he saluted and replied in a crisp, professional voice: “Voidborn. Data on the enemy is incomplete, but they can be terminated by powerful magic or continuous damage. Seneschal informed us that more data would be given on request, and I want my team prepared.”

“And you will be. We'll brief you in Decretum, I'm sure that Empress Hecate already has a mission lined up for your team to get you warmed up.” Thesis replied with a slight smile. “She'll probably send you out to capture one of the Voidborn. Are you up for that?”

Thespis snorted, then he looked back at his team, and Cadence thought there was the faintest bit of pride in his eyes as he replied: “We're prepared for anything that the enemy can throw at us.”

“You didn't do too well against me.” Cadence said before she could stop herself, and Thespis immediately favored her with an ugly look.

“We weren't briefed on your abilities. We only know that you are a command unit, in charge of the Orphans and second to the acting Regent.” Thespis replied irritably, while Manes and Faunus both half-turned away with looks of embarrassment. “You are also protected by command authority, which disallows full combat authorization against you.”

“Just allows for cheap shots, huh?” Cadence asked ironically, and Thespis scowled at her before the ivory mare added moodily: “I will take on your whole team any time, by the way, and-”

“Okay, uh. Let's just get back on topic, shall we?” Thesis interrupted, and both Thespis and Cadence glared at the stallion. But the Replicant remained unperturbed, instead instructing: “Thespis, you and your team head to the nearest equipment bay and gear up, then rendezvous with us at the LSFT site on Level 8. You can serve as the security escort for the cargo. I'll authorize you for the highest level gear I can.”

Cadence blinked in surprise, looking curiously over at Thesis, but Thespis only saluted sharply before he replied: “Twenty minutes.”

“Make it thirty. Give me and Cadence a chance to linger.” Thesis replied with a slight smile, and Thespis saluted again before the antelope turned and led his team towards a set of doors. Karsilamas stayed for a moment, smiling strangely between Thesis and Cadence, but then she simply vanished with a giggle that made the ivory mare's skin crawl.

Cadence looked at Thesis, and Thesis shrugged before he said finally: “They're weird. I warned you about that already, though, I thought. Either way, let's get going. We have to go down a few floors and pick up-”

The ivory mare narrowed her eyes dangerously, and Thesis winced a bit before he held up his front hooves, saying plainly: “This is not my fault or my idea.”

“Horses of Heaven, I just wish that once, once, Hecate would tell us what the hell is going on.” Cadence muttered, before she sighed tiredly as Thesis smiled at her supportively even as he began to walk towards the exit the RED team had taken out. “Would that really be so bad?”

“When there's scary mind readers involved, yes.” Thesis replied mildly, and Cadence sighed before she lowered her head grouchily in agreement as they headed into a short, sterile corridor.

Cadence began to open her mouth, and then she frowned slightly before her eyes flicked up to the ceiling. And even without the Swan's help, she caught sight of the strange distortion present, the mare scowling as Thesis said mildly: “It's not polite to listen in. You should also be getting ready.”

“But I'm already ready!” whined Karsilamas, as she reappeared above them, laying on the ceiling in plain defiance of gravity, her forelegs crossed under her head and a pout on her lips. “Besides, you need an escort, dears, don't you?”

“Nope.” Cadence said shortly, and then she added grumpily: “Go away.”

“Okay!” Karsilamas vanished from sight, and Cadence sighed as she distinctly heard the Illilleap hop down from the ceiling and land behind them. She could hear the mare... doe... whatever it is... prowling along behind them, but she wasn't quite sure what to say.

“Karie, relax. Go with the rest of your team, you don't have to scout or spy on us.” Thesis said mildly. Karsilamas huffed at this, but after a moment of apparent indecision from the presence tracking them, it vanished, seeming to fade all at once as if it had simply puffed out of existence.

Cadence looked pointedly at Thesis, and the Replicant shrugged before answering: “Illilleap are... notoriously difficult. They're disobedient and mischievous. She was kept in line mostly through fear... that's how all the Replicants were kept in line, really. But... I don't want to rule that way. I want to be...”

Thesis quieted, and Cadence studied him for a few moments before she opened her mouth, but then frowned a little and lowered her head. Thesis looked at her questioningly, and Cadence smiled a bit before she said finally: “I was going to say that Hecate rules through fear, but I guess there's a difference between fear and being afraid of someone, huh?”

“I think I get what you're saying. Mom is tough, yeah, and Mom's scary, but I think that while all of you guys are afraid of her, none of you really fear her. She's hard on you if you fail. But she's good to you guys, at least from what I've seen so far.” Thesis smiled a bit, then he said softly: “I'm glad to see it. There was a time in the past when...”

He lowered his head, and Cadence leaned over and nudged him firmly before she said softly: “The past is in the past.”

“The past is in the past.” Thesis agreed, and then Cadence looked up in surprise as they stopped in front of an elevator, the stallion smiling over at her. “What?”

“I guess sometimes I just get talking to you, and I forget we're actually going somewhere.” Cadence replied, and Thesis looked oddly touched by this remark.

The rest of the journey was in silence, however: Thesis seemed like he wanted to talk, but couldn't find the words, and Cadence was meditating on what she had learned so far and thinking about the RED team, wondering uneasily what their actual purpose was. Retrieval, extraction, and deception... somehow, she didn't think that was the entire story.

They arrived in what looked like some kind of immense freight warehouse, and Cadence scowled as she noted that Worker Drones had apparently already set up a flattop and loaded a massive, rectangular box on top of it roughly the size of a small house. She moodily approached the simple, eight-wheeled transport, before glancing up as Thesis asked: “Do you know how this works?”

“Yeah, I used them when, uh...” Cadence halted, cleared her throat as Thesis looked at her curiously, and then she said lamely: “I've used them before.”

Thesis studied her for a few moments, and then he grinned before asking: “So what the hell did you do to end up on work duty?”

“I shut an asshole stallion the hell up, that's what I did.” Cadence threatened, but Thesis only snorted in amusement before the ivory mare stormed around to the controls on the back of the machine, pressing the button for manual operation before she reached up and grasped the large handles on either side of the device: all she had to do was squeeze the hidden triggers on them, and the machine would move wherever she pushed it. She just had to account for how awkward it was.

“Just roll it forwards, the freight elevator is straight ahead, about two hundred feet.” Thesis said, and Cadence grumbled, then grimaced in surprise at how hard the flattop was to move: whatever was in that box was heavy enough to strain the transport machinery. And since flattops were used to move tanks...

She looked at Thesis pointedly, and Thesis looked back at her blandly before the ivory mare said dryly: “You either tell me what's in this box or I'm going to roll it on top of you.”

“Gee, Cadence. My favorite thing about you is how you don't use threats to always get your way with literally everyone.” Thesis said mildly, and then he winced a bit as the mare threateningly shifted the flattop towards him. “You know, if you just asked politely...”

“Fine. Will you please tell me what's in the box before I run you over with it?” Cadence asked grumpily, before she uneasily looked at the cargo crate, muttering: “I think I recognize some of those warning labels. That's for radiation, isn't it?”

“Technically everything is radioactive, you know.” Thesis said, and Cadence gave him a look, the stallion shifting lamely and looking off to the side before he became more serious as he stepped towards her, asking quietly as his eyes flicked up to meet hers: “Do you know what an Orbiter is?”

Cadence frowned curiously, and Thesis smiled a bit as he said quietly: “This is what we actually came here to retrieve. It's a class of satellite... you know, a thing that goes in space and floats around the planet. The difference is that an Orbiter can modify its orbit around anything... hence the name. Very useful for when you need to target or protect something.

“This is an N-Class Orbiter. It can fire what we refer to as 'cold' nukes from its rail accelerator: it produces a fission-based explosion but only a few short-lived radioactive particles, meaning the fallout disperses within months, sometimes only weeks, but the destructive potential is still... well, scary.” Thesis looked ahead as Cadence winced a bit. “This one specifically is a production prototype: it has all the data necessary to copy and begin mass production with.”

“What? Why would Hecate want to mass produce these?” Cadence asked disbelievingly, and Thesis shrugged. “Thesis, I've seen nuclear test footage before. I know what that kind of weaponry can do-”

“No, you... you really don't. Believe me, you really don't.” Thesis said quietly, and Cadence frowned a bit, and Thesis gave the smallest of smiles as he continued to gaze ahead. “I've seen it firsthoof, and... I still haven't processed what it's really capable of. The cost of these kinds of weapons. It's like playing with the powers of the Jötnar. It just...”

He shook his head briefly, then sighed a little as he muttered: “I'm glad we're not breaking out the radon cannons, and I mean... I am nervous as hell about this, yeah. But... I trust Mom. I really do. She... after I got... sick, I know she helped the people I hurt stop me. And I'm grateful to her for that, you know? Because it means that I know that, no matter what, she will do the right thing.”

“You trust her because she...” Cadence caught herself before she could say anything exceptionally stupid, and instead she cleared her throat and asked awkwardly: “Is it ever... weird that once you were sort of the...”

“Bad guy?” Thesis asked wryly, and Cadence shrugged a bit. The Replicant studied her for a few moments, and then he shrugged again as he turned his eyes forwards, saying finally: “I'm trying hard to let the past just be in the past, to... be able to talk about it and think about it but not mope and sulk and fret that I'm going to turn into a bad guy again. Sometimes that's pretty tough. But I know that... whatever will happen will happen, and that I'm still me, and... I'm determined to make the most of the time that I have, here and now. That helps.”

Cadence smiled a bit at the stallion, who shifted awkwardly before he laughed a little and added: “And I guess that wasn't entirely an answer to your question, huh? Yeah. It was weird, and it still is weird. But life is weird and will always be weird and I try not to freak out over it too much.”

Cadence nodded, and then she turned her eyes back ahead as she said after a moment: “Well, either way, I guess... I'm glad you're here, Thesis. There... I've met worse ponies.”

“I know. I'm awesome, remember?” Thesis said mildly, and Cadence rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to ram the flattop into him.

The ivory mare grimaced as she felt the flattop shudder a bit as they rolled into the freight elevator, the mare slowing to a stop as Thesis stayed by the doors, muttering: “Just enough room. I forgot how big this thing is. Okay, we'll go down another level and hope that the freight teleporter is up and running. But I'm sure Mom is already impatiently waiting for us.”

Cadence grunted, stepping back from the flattop and stretching absently before she asked: “Is there anything else I should know, Thesis? Whether I understand why you and Hecate do this or not, I'm still pretty tired of being jerked around.”

Thesis looked over at Cadence as the freight elevator clanked before slowly beginning to descend, and then he quickly walked over to her. Cadence frowned as they looked at each other for a few moments, and then Thesis suddenly leaned forwards and kissed her cheek, the ivory mare's eyes widening as her jaw dropped.

Thesis grinned at her lamely as he blushed a little, and then he said awkwardly: “I really like you and I am sorry that things are so awkward but I do really like you and uh... when we get back to Decretum let's go on a date.”

Cadence stared at Thesis as the elevator continued to rumble slowly downwards, before she stepped forwards and punched him across the jaw, knocking him staggering dumbly backwards. He flinched as he grasped at his face, looking awkwardly up at Cadence as she glared at him for a few moments, then suddenly sighed and lowered her head, awkwardly looking away and rubbing at one of her forelegs compulsively before she mumbled: “I don't... do dates.”

“What kind of Princess of Love doesn't do dates?” Thesis asked as he uncovered his face, then yelped as he was punched again, glowering horribly at Cadence. “Hey!”

“Don't call me that! I'm no... I was never any princess.” Cadence grumbled, and then she sighed and looked away, adding grouchily: “Besides, we never have time off and Decretum is in crisis and it's really inappropriate for you to-”

“Oh, yeah, because like, it's totally appropriate to respond with horrible violence to your superior officer.” Thesis complained as he rubbed at his cheek. “Fine. You're not a princess. You're an awful bitch.”

Cadence glared at Thesis, then she stepped forwards into another punch, but this time the stallion caught her hook and firmly twisted her wrist, making her yelp. They glared at each other for a few moments, and then Thesis suddenly smiled and asked almost pleadingly: “Just one date? What do you say?”

The ivory mare grumbled under her breath before she managed to yank her hoof back, and then she sighed a little, looking away and mumbling: “I'm not... promising to enjoy myself or anything. Or anything. You're an asshole.”

“Yeah, maybe. But considering the fact you've filled your life with assholes, maybe that's what you need in life.” Thesis reasoned, and Cadence admittedly didn't have any great arguments for that, as she only looked at the stallion until he repeated pleadingly, as the elevator rumbled to a stop: “Just one date?”

Cadence sighed tiredly, then she moodily turned her eyes towards the slowly-opening shutter of the freight elevator before she asked grouchily: “Why?”

“Because I like you.” Thesis said simply, and then he smiled at her when she gave him a look. “And I think you make me braver, and I make you a better person.”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?” Cadence asked grumpily, but like it or not, she thought she knew what the stallion meant, as she looked away and crossed her forelegs, grumbling: “If you mean that I have to be a good little soldier when you're around-”

“Precisely. That's right. Totally.” replied Thesis blandly, looking at her mildly, and Cadence felt a little more chastised than she wanted to admit. “Look, you're not... I don't believe you're a bad person, Cadence. I know you don't want people close, and I understand why better than most people. I really do.”

He stopped, struggling to find the words, before he looked up and said plainly: “But I want to get close to you. I want to do it for me because I like you. But I want to... do it for you, too, because... I like you. And I want to live for someone other than myself. And...”

Thesis rubbed at the back of his head, looking flustered and embarrassed as he tried to find the right words to say, before he looked up, opening his mouth-

Cadence pressed a hoof over his lips, looking at him quietly for a few moments before she sighed a bit and said softly: “Just...”

She stopped, then scowled and instead turned away, heading to the flattop and grumbling as she grasped the controls, mumbling: “Let's just get this done for now.”

Cadence pushed the flattop on, leaving Thesis sitting and staring after her for a moment before he took a breath and hopped up to his hooves, following quickly after the mare he only admired more and more with each passing moment they spent together.