Synthesis of the Atheist

by BlackRoseRaven

The Merciless, Heartless Sun

Chapter Eighty One: The Merciless, Heartless Sun
~BlackRoseRaven

All either pony knew was that they were inside some kind of immense research facility: neither of them could make much sense of anything much past this, and what admittedly made Scrivener feel a little uneasy was the fact that Valthrudnir seemed to have dragged himself out of whatever hole he had been hiding in to study the world they were passing through.

They were currently striding down a narrow hall: the walls were lined with pipes, the roof seemed ridiculously high above, and there were enormous electrical cables and plastic-looking tubes secured in place by immense staples all along the surfaces to either side. The worst part though, was the fact that steam sometimes vented at random out of the ceiling, the pipes, sometimes even up from the floor: combined with the clanking sounds of machinery in the distance, it made both the ponies feel like they were in the bowels of some massive, synthetic beast.

They rounded a corner and found themselves at a narrow staircase, and Luna poked Scrivener a few times with her horn, the stallion sighing tiredly. He nodded once after a moment, starting uneasily up these as he muttered: “I really hate being your meat-shield sometimes, Luna. I really, honestly do.”

Luna only grunted, following after the stallion and looking uneasily over her shoulder as they ascended towards a narrow opening near the very-high roof. “Be that as it may, Scrivener Blooms, thou art also the black-blooded Tyrant Wyrm... and need I remind thee that we just as often get ambushed from behind as we do attacked from the front?”

Scrivener opened his mouth to reply as he stepped through the doorway... but then he forgot to say anything at all as he instead slowed to a halt along the high catwalk they were on, staring in disbelief over the room beyond. Luna's own incredulous gaze followed Scrivener's after a moment, unable to process what precisely she was seeing even as Valthrudnir muttered in their minds: And here we see the glorious bastardization of my projects.

Monstrous cables the size of trees ran along the ceiling, many of them curled around immense pipes and the bases of gigantic machines suspended from the roof. Conveyors crossed back and forth across a room that had to be almost a kilometer long, forming a complex roadway that led to and from various machines and holes in the walls. There were immense tankers in the far corner of the room that pipes from the ceiling fed into, and boiling vats filled with corruption placed beside a conveyor belt large enough to transport a house just below them.

The stallion leaned down and watched with surprise as some kind of massive metal box rolled slowly by, with a strange-shaped opening in the top. The conveyor system beeped loudly as it came to a stop, the strange tank halting in front of a vat that slowly tipped forwards to pour some of its payload into the tank below.

It filled it up only partway before the vat tipped back, and Scrivener watched as the process was repeated by several more suspended vats before Valthrudnir muttered: That would be a mold, ignorant plebeians. And we should very quickly leave here.

Scrivener shook himself out, tearing his eyes away from the massive box as it was filled almost to the brim by the last vat, and then the stallion shook his head out and muttered: “Yeah. Yeah, okay, let's keep going. This place is godawful. Plus the lack of a railing here gives me a bad feeling.”

Luna only grunted as she continued to watch as the enormous, filled tank halted in front of some kind of tunnel-machine-thing the conveyor passed through. Scrivener rolled his eyes but turned forwards anyway, beginning to walk as he noted that it looked like this catwalk wrapped completely around the immense manufacturing plant below. They could just follow it-

And then a klaxon blared through the air, and the catwalk that went along the side wall for as far as Scrivener could see slowly withdrew into the cement surface, the stallion mouthing wordlessly as Luna growled and glowered towards the very far end of the facility. “Well. At least we now have some bearings upon which way to head, do we not? Across this... vile mechanical jungle. Well, it matters not: 'tis only a short flight, Scrivener Blooms.”

The stallion grimaced in distaste, but they were both interrupted by a dry laugh before the two ponies glared as a cluster of small orbs flew up beside the catwalk. They spaced themselves out before one of the orbs flew in front of Luna, almost ramming into her face and making the winged unicorn wince back. Then she snarled at it, sorely tempted to punch it as Hecate's voice asked disapprovingly: “You really aren't stupid enough to think I'm going to just let you flitter over here, right?”

“Aye, we did. Thou does seem stupid enough to, after all.” Luna retorted, earning a growl from the orb before the winged unicorn firmly swung her horn towards it, but the crystalline sphere quickly shot backwards, glaring at Luna with the eye-shaped rune carved into its surface. “Get thee hence, foul harpy. If thou art so eager for the hoof party to begin in thy face's house, then raise the bridge and we shall run to thee as fast as we can. And do not think some stupid little toys of thine are going to keep us from taking to the air if we so desire!”

“My toys are a lot better than your toys, insolent little brat.” Hecate said contemptibly, and then she added icily: “But sure, fine. Mock me in my own home. But let's see which one of us is all talk once I do this.”

Luna opened her mouth to reply, and then she cursed, her eyes bulging in surprise and Scrivener flinching before raising his head as his teeth grit. He stared disbelievingly upwards, both he and the winged unicorn feeling like the air itself was suddenly bearing down against them with unnatural strength and weight before both ponies looked down in shock as the grated catwalk beneath them trembled warningly.

And then it slid out from beneath their hooves and into the wall, and both ponies were sent tumbling through the air and towards the metal and mechanical ground below at speeds far faster than either of them liked, made all the worse by Hecate deadpanning: “Have a nice trip.”

Luna spread her wings, cursing in pain before she flapped them sharply and flung herself into Scrivener Blooms, tackling him in midair before she arched her back and flapped her wings again with a gasp, yanking him backwards before she cried out in agony as one of the glassy orbs shot down and exploded in a tremendous blast of electrical energy. Both of the ponies were flung down to strike the edge of the massive conveyor belt below, rolling over the dark rubber surface before they both ended up in sprawls almost perfectly mirroring one-another, noses inches from touching.

The eyes of both ponies opened and they traded glowers before one of Hecate's eye-like orbs shot down, remarking patronizingly: “Funny. I knew you were going to disappoint me but I didn't expect it to be so soon. Well, catch up if you can, I'm waiting for you in the management office. It's the big glass window you can't possibly reach.”

Luna snarled as she looked up, but the orb and its fellows quickly buzzed away before she could even reply. Instead, she settled for grinding her teeth together, shaking her head in disgust before both she and Scrivener winced as the conveyor belt beneath them began to rumble onwards.

She stumbled to her hooves as Scrivener fell in a sprawl with a curse, and the mare huffed a bit after a moment before glaring through the enormous, open area, saying moodily: “All my instincts warn me that Hecate desires us to tire ourselves before reaching her... aye, we have done well so far, but 'tis not as if our strength is infinite, and we have already-”

“Luna, look out!” Scrivener cursed and flung himself forwards as the corruption vat they were passing beneath began to tip, knocking the mare flat before he gritted his teeth as he covered her with his body. Boiling corruption poured down, scalding his back and making him snarl in pain even as he felt his body naturally connecting to it, healing despite it sending flares of pain through his form, commanding it to flow around him instead of letting a single speck land on Luna.

The mare looked up at him with surprise, then smiled faintly even as Scrivener's eyes slowly closed, breathing hard, boiling, liquid darkness spilling slowly down his body. As she looked up at him, she watched as his body rippled and trembled, his eyes darkened, then faded back to their normal chestnut, felt his shivering... both physically and emotionally.

There was a moment of silence as the conveyor rolled onwards, and then Luna reached up and placed her hoof against the gemstone in his collar, her head leaning upwards, her eyes focusing on him before she smiled slightly. “Damnation. Thou art not allowed to save my life.”

“This would be a lot more fulfilling if...” And then Scrivener groaned as the second vat slowly tipped and poured boiling black liquid poison over his body, making him curse in pain... except admittedly, that feeling of strength that filled his body drowned out the agony, made even the hurt of the heat into something... something welcome... something that made him want to...

He felt Luna's hoof reach up and snag his mane, dragging his head down as he looked down at her in surprise, hot corruption spilling down his features before he felt her mouth meet his. They kissed slowly, hungrily for a moment even as they passed slowly onwards through the waterfall of black poison, even as painful, boiling corruption spilled from Scrivener's face to Luna's...

And then their lips parted, and she looked up at him and grinned, her eyes burning as she all-but-commanded: “Use it, Scrivener Blooms. Use it, and bring out the monster... and let us see how long Evil Celestia dares mock us when we bring true darkness to her doorstep.”

Scrivener slowly grinned, breathing hard even though he knew this concentrated, burning corruption was just further influencing their emotions, and their emotions in turn were heightening the excitement, the rage and hate, the frenzy they were both feeling and responding to. They both knew they should fight it, they shouldn't give in to the urge to charge, they shouldn't be doing something so stupid like kissing and letting their primal desires rule and-

The last suspended tub slowly tipped forwards, dumping black poison over the two on the conveyor, and Scrivener arched his back in the flow as his eyes glowed, snarling as scales spread over his features and his body pressed down, pinning Luna beneath his weight and power as she grinned widely and threw her head back, baring her fangs to the air and pushing herself back up against the stallion as she felt his transformation, his excitement, his raw power. Scrivener threw his head back and roared, shaking the world around them as the spill of corruption bubbled excitedly over his scaled frame as they passed out from beneath it, and then his head snapped own and his claws dug into the rubber covering over the conveyor belt.

Luna looked up at him with eagerness, then she rolled quickly to the side before leaping into the and jackknifing onto Scrivener's back, landing neatly between his bony pistons as she grabbed the back of his collar and leaned forwards, grinning widely as she felt the hot corruption almost trying to spread up over her body.

She shouted something: what, not even she was sure. All she knew was that she was telling Scrivener to go, and the Tyrant Wyrm bared his teeth as he snorted blue smoke before roaring again, driving back the crushing feeling of the increased gravity with his ferocity before he launched himself forwards down the conveyor. And Luna could swear she heard Hecate cursing as clearly as she felt a shiver of pleasure, approval, and something else dark and wanting and a little scared from the essence of Twilight Sparkle nestled inside themselves.

Scrivener glanced up with a growl as he heard a loud clanking above, looking up to watch as an enormous press hanging in front of the massive, rectangular tunnel the conveyor passed through began to quickly lower, steel grinding loudly against steel as gears stripped and it accelerated downwards too fast. But Scrivener was far faster, especially with the movement of the conveyor belt carrying him onwards as he ran into the tunnel.

And a little too late, his eyes flicked back and forth, noting the massive, circular-shaped nodes lining the walls on either side and the ceiling above, Valthrudnir shouting in their minds: Get out of here, you morons, this is an oven!

Even as a terrible red light began to fill the air around them, however, Scrivener was already more than halfway through the tunnel, grinning and unafraid... before Luna looked up with horror as the conveyor belt beneath them stuttered violently, making the Tyrant Wyrm stumble, then claw madly at the rubber surface of the belt as it started to reverse rapidly.

Scrivener Blooms snarled, painful light beginning to fill his vision and bake his body as Luna cursed and ground her teeth together before looking up in shock as they both saw the massive metal mold they had been watching earlier rumble back along the conveyor belt towards them. The Tyrant Wyrm's first instinct was to drop back, but the sapphire mare on his back quickly looked over her shoulder and saw that wasn't an option, thanks to the broken press that had lowered into the path behind them, sparking with electricity.

So instead, the Tyrant Wyrm snarled, racing against the conveyor under hoof and doing the only think he could do as he fought both increased gravity and the heat boiling around them: he ran forwards, then shoved himself upwards, claws hammering into the metal wall of the enormous mold as he hauled himself rapidly up it before flinging himself overtop and past the heavy metal box.

He crashed back down onto the conveyor belt, muscles flexing as he yanked himself quickly forwards, breathing hard before he winced as there was a tremendous crash behind him, followed by a screaming and clanking of metal. He didn't dare look back, but Luna was able to sneak a look over her shoulder as the Tyrant Wyrm hauled himself onwards, and she stared in shock as she watched the enormous mold bounce back and forth, smashing against the sides of the enormous oven and crashing against the already-damaged press.

Something gave away, and Luna turned forwards as she poured her strength and energy into Scrivener Blooms, the Tyrant Wyrm growling even as he used the extra energy to propel himself forwards as fast as possible, ripping up the rubber belt beneath him as he flung himself forwards. Around him, the tunnel of heat and metal sparked with electricity before the Tyrant Wyrm flung himself out the other side, Luna gasping in air that felt cold against her body after the terrible heat and thunder of the oven they had just torn through.

The Tyrant Wyrm continued to sprint forwards against the motion of the conveyor, before Luna cursed and looked up as she saw another press coming down towards them, sparking violently as the machinery accelerated faster than it could handle before Luna glanced to the side, seeing one possible chance to escape. “Left!”

Without hesitation, Scrivener Blooms leapt to the left as he caught Luna's thoughts as much as heard her words, clawing outwards to seize into the large metal support pillar to one side and gritting his teeth as his heavy body and increased gravity made the pillar bend slightly, even as he hurriedly clung to it with all fours before hauling himself upwards with a snarl of effort.

Luna bared her teeth before she cursed and glanced to the side as a crystalline orb whickered through the air and shot in towards her, but the sapphire mare only flicked her horn to knock it flying backwards with a blast of telekinetic energy. It zigzagged wildly through the air before exploding in a hail of glassy shrapnel and lightning, and Luna growled in frustration as she held tightly onto the Tyrant Wyrm's collar as he crawled his way up to a crossbeam. “It looks as if Hecate is terrified of our coming after all, Scrivener Blooms!”

Scrivener only rumbled as he half-crawled, half-ran along the horizontal girder, heading quickly forwards before Luna lightly kicked his sides, and it gave him both a thrill and a tingle of ironic entertainment despite the situation they were in as the Tyrant Wyrm followed his instincts and Luna's thoughts, throwing himself from the pillar and down onto the top of some kind of another immense machine. He scrambled quickly over the top of this, then cursed and staggered backwards as two spheres of glass smashed into the ground in front of him, electrifying his body and making Luna snarl... then grin savagely despite herself at how little pain the powerful explosions caused them both.

A third sphere shot down, but this one only floated in front of them, glaring at them horribly as Hecate shouted furiously out of it: “What do you idiots think you're doing? Do you morons have any idea how important, how expensive, how-”

“Scrivy, run!” Luna snapped out sharply, realizing almost too late that Hecate was only stalling, and the Tyrant Wyrm flung himself forwards, charging past the floating sphere and leaping off the machine a moment before one of the massive chemical pipes above exploded, a river of green-tinted poison gushing outwards as several power cables snapped.

One sparking power line swung downwards through the green haze, and the jolt of electricity turned the torrent of liquid into a roaring red inferno that spread over the machinery below like dragon's breath. Luna cursed and winced over her shoulder, urging Scrivener faster on in her mind, and the Tyrant Wyrm looked wildly back and forth before he flung himself off the side of the machine and crashed down to the grated floor below, then cursed over his shoulder as his rear claw tore through the metal and got caught for a moment..

A rush of burning liquid spilled over the edge of the immense machine behind him as several explosions sounded from... oh hell, everywhere! It sounded like the whole factory was beginning to rip itself apart as Scrivener yanked his rear claw loose with a curse, hissing as the flood of fire burned towards him before the Tyrant Wyrm launched forwards into a labyrinth of humming, alien machinery, piping, and metal monoliths neither pony could identify.

Scrivener leapt around a corner as Luna looked up with a curse, watching as several more crystalline spheres shot down towards them. Luna glared for a moment before she snapped her horn outwards, knocking one of the orbs flying backwards with telekinesis to explode uselessly in the air before her eyes widened as the other two orbs simply shot past, the mare's gaze following the alien objects before they both suddenly, violently twisted to either side, one smashing into some kind of piston and the other ramming into a glass tube.

Both spheres exploded at almost the exact same time, and the tubing shattered as the pistons geared up, crackling loudly before vents in the side of the monstrous engine released a massive blast of reeking steam and cloudy exhaust that flooded the corridor they were running through, while boiling acid burst down the shattered pipes above.

Luna had only a moment to make her decision before she snapped her horn upwards with a wild prayer to forces she didn't even entirely believe in, unleashing a tremendous blast of force in all directions that blew away the cloud of steam and rebounded the stream of acid high into the air, splattering the two only with a few biting droplets before Scrivener leapt past the melted flooring and smashed his way around another corner, tearing out into a wide, open area beneath a gigantic 'shelf' of storage tanks.

The steam vented past them as metal screamed and one of the pistons overloaded behind them, loud bangs ripping through the air behind them as Luna winced at the rush of heat and force and Scrivener Blooms fought the urge to look back, gritting his teeth and sprinting along the immense storage units as fast as possible. Luna glanced sharply up at these, then leaned forwards and shouted as her thoughts mixed with Scrivener's at the same time: “Up!”

Scrivener gritted his teeth, but he felt more than Luna depending on him, urging him on, giving him strength: he felt Twilight needing him to do this and feeding him power as well, and the Tyrant Wyrm snarled before he leapt upwards and seized into the edge of the lower shelving, seizing a loose bar and almost ripping it out of place as he crawled rapidly upwards over the shelves and along the face of the tanks, his lithe, agile body and strong, sharp claws letting him fight even the increased gravity with ease as he focused his eyes on the goal Luna had seen: there was a ledge above, an end to this nightmareish run in sight.

He hauled himself upwards as Luna dropped herself against him, clinging into Scrivener's collar and body as she gritted her teeth, body flexed as she leaned forwards with a curse. She could feel gravity yanking at her, but also feel more than just her physical grip keeping her tight against Scrivener, like their link had magnetized their bodies together as the Tyrant Wyrm moved steadily upwards on a diagonal until one of his claws finally seized into the concrete lip.

And below, acid and fire flooded over the grated floor of the manufacturing plant as something exploded all-too-close by, both Luna and Scrivener wincing even as the Wyrm yanked himself onto the ledge. Luna glanced up, and her eyes locked on a massive, dome-shaped window above in which she thought she could see a single shape... but it shifted quickly, and the sapphire mare cursed under her breath before her eyes drew down and locked on an enormous set of security doors inset into the wall, the sapphire mare growling: “'Tis time for us to pay Hecate a visit, Scrivener Blooms.”

The Tyrant Wyrm rumbled and bared his fangs before he leapt towards the armored shutter-doors, slamming his claws into them and slowly beginning to wrench them apart as Luna leaned forwards, soulstone horn glowing and feeding Scrivener more strength while pushing against both doors with telekinesis in the same moment.

Scrivener growled as he finally shoved both security doors wide with a scream of metal, and Luna leapt past him and into the steel corridor beyond, looking sharply back and forth. On the one hoof, the hall ran straight ahead and it looked like there were all kinds of places they could explore... on the other, there was another hall just ahead and to their left, and Luna suspected this was the way they wanted to go.

The Tyrant Wyrm flung himself into the corridor, and the armored doors slammed shut behind him as he looked quickly over his shoulder, then turned his attention back ahead as Luna glanced down the connecting corridor and smiled coldly at the flight of stairs leading up to an open archway. “Come, Scrivener Blooms. 'Twould be rude to keep Hecate waiting after how long she has been sitting back and expecting us for, would it not?”

Scrivener grunted and nodded, growling under his breath, and the sapphire mare grinned over her shoulder at him, eyes burning. Her body flexed, and felt light as a feather: she guessed that they were outside of the zone of increased gravity now, and even if she could still hear bangs and explosions from the manufacturing plant, she felt excitement and not worry: they had a powerful foe waiting for them just ahead, but Luna had never been one to back down from a challenge like this.

She leapt upwards and flapped her wings once, almost brushing against the ceiling as Scrivener strode quickly forwards, then grinned when the mare landed on his back in perfect position before he turned and began to squeeze his way up the stairs. Luna leaned back, licking her lips slowly as she felt a single tremble run through her body, and the stallion-Wyrm mirrored her excitement as he breathed hard in and out, the blood of both boiling and singing for revenge and battle.

They stepped through the opening at the top of the stairs and entered some kind of immense office-theater: there was a second, elongated archway currently blocked by a barrier of energy that led into a smaller area, while the section they were in was large, slightly-rounded, and had an enormous glass wall along the longest side, gazing down into some kind of laboratory. There were only a few furnishings here and there... and on the far wall, a portrait of Evil Celestia herself, dressed in regal, beautiful clothing, with a crown upon her head and a cold expression on her thin features.

Scrivener and Luna were both drawn towards this... and then a voice called distastefully from behind the curtain of force: “Are you here to rifle through my things, or looking for me?”

The two turned... and only stared in disbelief at what they saw. Past a beautiful and obsessively-neat work desk, in front of a massive window, there was a vast array of mechanical equipment, strange machines, massive monitors that hung from the ceiling. And the latter cast a terrible light down over a pedestal... into which was plugged nothing more than a glaring, contemptible-looking head.

Hecate's mane twisted and sparked around her, a mix of white and blue hair, sparking and almost-alive electricity, and plastic computer cable. Her eyes were cold and glassy, and her neck ended in some kind of thick, studded cap with large bolts that held it securely in place. This was plugged into the mechanical pedestal beneath her, and neither Luna nor Scrivener knew what to say as Hecate only sneered at them, fearless. “Look at you children. Walking in here, thinking you have any idea what you're getting into. But you know what? I welcome it. I welcome the distraction.”

“What... what happened to thou?” Luna asked incredulously, staring with disbelief over the head on the stand, and Hecate only snorted in disgust before the sapphire mare gritted her teeth, leaning forwards and adding sharply: “Do not think 'twill cause us any pause, though, monster! Lonely head or not, we shall still rip thee up from thy fine perch and make thee suffer for what thou hast done, and what thou hast aided Thesis in-”

“Oh, as if I give a crowbait's flank what Thesis does, Luna Brynhild. Don't be so naïve.” Hecate said patronizingly, shaking her head in distaste: a particularly unnerving sight on top of the pedestal. “He has his little fantasy of becoming 'complete,' but it's not going to work. Even after he activates the Immeasurable Gyre, the chances are he's only going to destroy himself and most of this world with it. And I'll just laugh and laugh and laugh...”

“What... what is wrong with thee? Wert thou ever Celestia?” Luna asked incredulously, shaking her head slowly as Scrivener growled, but the Tyrant Wyrm filled with his own sense of revulsion as much as anger. “Look at what has happened to this world, how can thou not care about it? Hast thou forgotten about thy country, thy people, thine own sister?”

“Actually, the moon's gravitational pull was interfering with some of our more sensitive research, so I threw it into the sun. Silly me, guess I forgot about the fact Luna was up there and all.” Hecate retorted, rolling her eyes in derision.

“Thou art insane!” Luna snarled in fury, leaning forwards and feeling a strange ache in her system, mixing with the rage trying to blind her senses. “Thou art a monster and... and nothing more than a serving wench to Thesis!”

“Better than being dead. Like you're about to be.” Hecate clicked her tongue loudly, and there was a loud clanking sound before Luna and Scrivener both stared in disbelief as an enormous, metallic suit of armor strode calmly forwards. It was bipedal and at least ten feet tall, with a high, ridged collar and arms powered by large servomotors, each limb ending in complex, dexterous claws. These reached down, grasping Hecate's head and calmly beginning to unscrew her from the pedestal, as the mare continued moodily: “You see, I might just be a head, but if anything it's helped me learn just how important it is to cling to life. You lecture me all you want, but I doubt you or Scrivener Blooms have any idea what it's like to have your entire world taken over. To give birth to a monster. And then to be experimented on so much your body eventually starts to decay...

“But that's fine.” The enormous, silver-plated mechanical body lifted the head free from the pedestal, revealing a large bolt sticking out from the bottom of the cap that it slipped into its neck, before firmly screwing the head down and into place. Hecate grimaced as her head was locked onto her clockwork body, before her metallic claws slid down and tugged at either side of her metal collar, and it folded inwards with several loud clicks to wrap around the steel base at the end of her neck. “I'm going to outlive you, and Thesis, and everyone else. I may just be a head, but I'm an immortal head with an immortal body of metal and magic. But enough talk. Let's get started.”

Luna opened her mouth, and with a cold smile Hecate snapped her fingers, the barrier of energy between them suddenly flashing brightly out of existence. The flare of light blinded both Tyrant Wyrm and sapphire mare, the male stumbling backwards... before some tremendous, massive force smashed into his chest, and he and Luna were knocked hurtling through the room to smash through the window behind them.

The sapphire mare flung herself away from Scrivener to avoid being crushed, hitting a cold steel floor on her back as Scrivener howled as he smashed down on a gurney, bouncing once but quickly scrabbling backwards to his claws as he snarled. They had landed in an open, mostly-empty research theater of some kind, several strange machines and immense tubes lining the walls, and both he and Luna looked back and forth quickly to get an idea of their surroundings before Hecate calmly leapt down from the window above. She landed with ease on her metal legs, a cruel smile on her features as she cracked her neck loudly.

Luna snarled in fury, then snapped her horn forwards, yanking Sting Mk. II off her back and catching it in one hoof before she fired several rounds at Hecate's features, but the mare didn't even bother to move as the bullets were deflected with bright flashes of light. “Give me a break. Your toys are nothing like my toys.”

Hecate leaned back slightly, grinning coldly as several plates of metal slid back over her breast, and three small, glassy orbs buzzed out of her body, floating in the air and glowing with malign magic. Then the plates slid quickly back closed as Hecate waved a claw out, and the orbs shot towards Luna Brynhild, who snarled and snapped her horn forwards to send a wave of raw telekinetic force hammering into the trio of spheres.

They were all flung high, shattering in booms of anti-magic energy as Scrivener slammed his claws down against the ground... then stared in disbelief as the metallic floor only gleamed, refusing to melt away into mire. Hecate laughed coldly as her eyes turned to him, flicking a claw at the Tyrant Wyrm and sending a bolt of electricity into his body that knocked him staggering with a wince as she said distastefully: “Please, don't make me laugh. None of your abilities are going to work here.”

Luna snarled, soulstone horn glowing and Andlitstingar tearing free from her back before she charged forwards, and Scrivener gritted his teeth before leaping towards the broken gurney he'd landed on and smashing it straight at Hecate. But the metal-bodied mare didn't even flinch when the gurney bounced off her steel frame, only grinning viciously before one hand reached up, lightning-fast, and caught Luna's spear by the neck just as it stabbed at her.

Luna leapt forwards and swept her soulstone horn hard down into Hecate's stomach, refusing to slow or change her charge, but she barely left a dent and felt some tremendous force repel her, cursing and flipping backwards to land on all fours and skid over the steel floor. Scrivener leapt in next, snarling, but Hecate only turned and smashed him across the neck with the pole of the spear, knocking the Tyrant Wyrm staggering before her free claw seized him by the back of the head and slammed him face-first down into the ground.

It was painful enough to stagger the sapphire mare as well, as Scrivener's eyes bulged in shock before Hecate punted him viciously backwards, knocking him onto his back like a toy in a fine spray of black blood. His head whiplashed into the ground with a bang, but before Luna could even register the mirrored pain, Hecate rose a claw and seized her in a psychic grip, constricting and crushing the mare, making her howl in agony before she was flung across the room.

She smashed into the wall opposite, and then Hecate stepped forwards and threw Luna's own spear at her... but Andlitstingar halted only inches away from striking, and Luna shivered on the ground before a snarl spread over her face and she looked up through the blood leaking around her features, saying harshly: “Thou great, stupid bitch! Thou cannot kill me with my own soul!”

Luna shoved herself up to a ready position, Andlitstingar spinning beside her before raising high, and Scrivener Blooms rolled and staggered to his own claws, sidestepping to flank her as he growled low in his throat. The two glared at Hecate as she looked back and forth between them, and then the sallow mare shook her head in disgust before one limb sizzled with electricity, turning with an almost disdainful gesture towards Luna and sending out a massive blast of lightning.

The sapphire mare stabbed her spear forwards into this, disrupting the stream as her horn glowed brightly and drew in several of the chaining arcs of lightning. Hecate leaned towards her with a snarl, her own horn glowing before her eyes widened as Scrivener Blooms roared at her, sending out a concentrated wave of both sound and blue, toxic mist.

Hecate quickly rose her free arm, half covering her face as her mane twisted itself like a shield over her features, the mare gritting metal teeth in frustration as blue mist sizzled and sparked against her unnatural locks and slowly ate away at the metal of her body. Then she suddenly turned, the stream of electricity ending as she instead made a fierce striking motion into the stream of blue mist hammering against her, launching a missile of raw force straight through down the center of the stream and into Scrivener's jaws.

The Tyrant Wyrm staggered backwards with a gargle as he felt several of his teeth knocked loose, eyes bulging in agony as Luna flinched and staggered, then looked up with a curse: Hecate was already making a run straight for Scrivener, her metal body carrying her with surprising grace before the Tyrant Wyrm snarled and attempted to lunge into her, heedless of the pain it would likely cause-

Hecate easily leapt over him, slamming both feet down into his back and making him howl in misery before one of her claws tore downwards, nearly ripping apart his spine. His back arched... and then all he could do was cry out and convulse in misery as the mare channeled electricity straight down into his body, making him gargle and convulse as Luna staggered, lightning zapping over her own body as she stared in horror, then snarled.

But before the sapphire mare could force herself to retaliate, Hecate easily leapt off the Tyrant Wyrm's back, her metallic frame still sparking as she grinned cruelly and ripped her claws into the Wyrm's scales and flesh. Scrivener gasped but was unable to move, body still jittering even as he was hauled up into the air above the mare's head, before Hecate leaned forwards and flung the reptilian creature savagely straight at Luna.

Luna could only watch with disbelief for a moment before Scrivener Blooms' body slammed into her, knocking them both rolling backwards until they crashed into a wall together, the winged unicorn thankfully ending up on the floor next to the Wyrm instead of crushed beneath his body. They both breathed hard before Luna gritted her teeth and unsteadily forced herself to her hooves, and Hecate only shook her head in disgust.

“I will... truly hurt thou for this...” Luna snarled, and then the sapphire mare flexed, eyes and horn glowing with fury when Hecate only sneered at her mockingly in return. “Damn thou, Celestia!”

“Hecate.” the mare corrected coldly, and then she rose a claw and clenched it, and Luna gasped as she was encircled by telekinetic bands that immediately began to crush painfully down into her body, the sapphire pony gargling weakly before Hecate added coldly: “You talk too much. You're weak. You and your husband both... so I can only imagine how pathetic your whore Twilight must have been before Thesis had the reapers kill her.”

Luna's eyes widened as Scrivener Blooms rose his head, snarling, and Hecate only grinned callously at them, metallic fingers beginning to clench-

The sapphire mare snapped her horn upwards, and Hecate cursed as she was hit by magical recoil as her telekinetic hold shattered, before Luna flapped her wings and lifted into the air, eyes glowing before she snapped her head forwards. And the world around them rumbled before a massive peal of thunder echoed through the room as the lights in the ceiling above shattered and a tremendous surge of lightning tore towards Hecate.

The mare cursed, barely shielding herself with her metallic forelimbs in time as her own mane of electricity sizzled, cables and mane writhing violently as she skidded several inches before anchoring herself, and Scrivener roared as he rose his own head, adding his own power to Luna's attack. The torrent of electricity grew larger and more fearsome twisting and zigzagging like a living thing as chains and arcs of lightning speckled and warped the flooring around Hecate...

But the mare only laughed, her own horn glowing, her teeth bared as she shouted over the sound of surging thunder: “You're too weak to hurt me, Luna Brynhild! You could have all the power in the world and you still wouldn't be able to put a scratch on me!”

Luna felt her teeth almost breaking as she clenched them, her eyes glowing, she and Scrivener mixing every last ounce of strength they could dredge up together before the sapphire mare felt something. Hooves, grasping her shoulders... and Scrivener looked up in shock as he saw Twilight's spirit rise up behind Luna, with wings spread, almost overshadowing the mare as the apparition rose her own horn high in the air as she glowed like the mightiest star to ever grace the night sky.

Hecate's eyes widened, and then the mare looked up in disbelief as one of her forelimbs began to melt and the other to smolder, the torrent of lightning growing larger as the arcs of electricity previously diverted around her twisted in towards her, hammering against her body until one lucky bolt struck a servomotor and overloaded it. Her arm jolted, and the thunderbolt knocked her limb wide before hammering into her, driving her to the ground with a scream of disbelief before Luna roared as her horn flashed brightly.

There was one final, tremendous boom and a flash of light, a sound like an explosion... and then Luna fell to the floor as Scrivener dropped his own head low, breathing hard. The two trembled for a moment, heads bowed, eyes closed, before the sapphire mare grinned weakly as she looked up... but then trembled and shook her head slowly as the smoldering, metallic body of Hecate twitched.

Slowly, Hecate sat up, snarling: her movements were jagged and uneasy, and her metal frame was broken, plates fused together here and there, one limb hanging loosely from her body by several large connecting rods and torn clumps of wiring. Dark-colored liquids oozed out of her like blood as her mane sparked and twisted, and her head had slightly listed to one side, as if the base that was supposed to hold it in place had become damaged.

She growled slowly, then reached her still-working claw up and firmly shoved her head back into position before limping forwards, one leg dragging behind her. Immediately, Luna tried to stagger to her hooves, but then she gargled as Hecate's horn glowed, feeling herself hefted into the air by telekinesis before she was slammed viciously straight down into the metal floor.

Hecate snarled at her, and Luna was hefted and slammed down again, then again, and again, feeling bones cracking, her skull fracturing, her eyes bulging before Scrivener leapt forwards and caught her. And all the while, Hecate dragged herself closer before she looked with disgust down at the Tyrant Wyrm as he glared up at her, leaning forwards-

A metal claw slapped across his features, stunning him before Hecate shoved her claws forwards, plunging them into his throat before she tore viciously to the side. And Scrivener gargled as a hail of corruption poured down from his neck, spilling over Luna and making her writhe as her eyes bulged, clutching at her own throat as she felt blood leaking from a wound that mirrored her husband's. The Tyrant Wyrm tried to twist his head around, to do something, anything to defend himself, but Hecate reached up and seized him by one horn, holding him in place before she leaned down and glared into his eyes, saying coldly: “I'll get to you in a moment.”

With that, she twisted Scrivener's head down and slammed his face into the ground, knocking him senseless and almost snapping his horn off as Luna convulsed in his limbs. Then she felt something tangle in her starry locks before she was yanked upwards and hauled to head level with Hecate, the sapphire mare rasping for breath as the two glared at each other before Luna, in the only act of defiance she could think of, swung both her rear hooves up and kicked them savagely into the metallic chest of the mare.

It was more brittle than she had expected, several plates snapping and tearing loose to tumble to the ground, and Hecate looked slowly down to see several slots in her frame had been revealed. Glowing pieces of shaped crystal, circuitry, tubes and wires and orbs and strangest of all, what looked like a pocketwatch were all left bare, Luna gritting her teeth as her horn began to glow, seeing her one possible, desperate chance...

A chance Hecate didn't let her take as she whiplashed Luna down into the ground once, twice, thrice, then bared her teeth as she sent a surge of electricity through the bloody, broken sapphire mare. Luna could only scream in misery as pieces of her own armor fell loose from her body, before Hecate flung her into Scrivener like a rock when he began to haul himself to his claws, knocking him flopping backwards again as Luna ended up in a sprawl half-over his frame, her face landing in something that splashed over her features with boiling heat.

She gasped and inhaled the substance, and realized it was Scrivener's blood. The mare trembled as she lay on Scrivener, her eyes opening, half her face buried into the wound in Scrivener's neck before Hecate asked contemptibly: “Any last requests?”

“A last kiss.” Luna whispered, and Hecate frowned before Luna bit savagely into Scrivener's neck even as tears ran down her features, ripping the wound wider as the Tyrant Wyrm gasped and brought up a claw, grabbing at Luna's body... then ripping downwards, tearing open her armor so he could shove his claw into her bare flesh.

Hecate snarled, electricity building along her working arm as she drew the claw back and stepped forwards... and Scrivener Blooms leaned up and roared with all the force he could channel, blasting her backwards in a torrent of soundwaves and blue mist. The toxic fog clung to Hecate as she was knocked away with a howl, crashing and skidding over her back before her metallic body convulsed violently as the acidic smog began to eat away at her sensitive innards, corrupting and damaging her machinery as she cursed in frustration and tried to get her golem frame under control.

Luna knew they had one chance, and one alone: that there was no time to argue with herself or rationalize, that all she could do... was give in. And she was eager to, as Nightmare Moon laughed with delight and Luna felt her sense of morality slipping as her body warped and shifted and became more like Scrivener's... except worse. Far, far worse, as the little armor she had left tore and fell free from her body, as she flexed and trembled and her hooves became enormous, three-toed claws, as bone pistons ripped out of her back and she felt her strength returning and need became desire became gluttony...

Then Luna threw her head back with a roar, hauling herself to her hooves as she grinned savagely, yanking both Sting Mk. II up out of its holster and raising Andlitstingar in her psychic grip. Her mane and tail burned as blue flame, twisting and whipping back and forth as she spun around, striding away from Scrivener Blooms' fallen form... but through his lightheadedness and near-delirium and the weakness, he felt eager. He felt excited despite the corruption still bubbling out of his body, watching as the corrupted Luna Brynhild strode towards Hecate with a cruel grin on her face and the soulstone horn that had transformed into something monstrous and enormous like the rest of her body thrummed with darkness.

Hecate looked up with a snarl, raising her claw... and Luna thrusted her spear viciously into it, Hecate's eyes widening in shock as the machinery that powered the limb squealed and screamed before Luna ripped to the side, rending most of the metallic arm into pieces. It fell limp, but Hecate still snapped her horn forwards, hitting Luna with a blast of telekinesis that knocked her staggering... before Luna's eyes gleamed, and she whispered: “Oh. Thou must have meant to do this.”

Luna snapped her horn upwards, and Hecate was smashed by a psychokinetic hammer that flung her across the room to crash into a wall opposite. She bounced off, but landed on her clawed feet, snarling in fury before her horn snapped upwards, and Luna laughed in delight and excitement as the front plating that remained on Hecate's body tore itself free. “Art thou trying to give me an easy target? Are thou that eager for-”

The metal plates spun violently in the air, flattening themselves out before they launched like razors one after the other at Luna, and the mare cursed as one of these ripped through her shoulder and knocked her staggering before she barely deflected two more with swings of her weapons, then ducked under the last. Then her eyes widened as several glassy spheres were ejected from Hecate's body before they shot towards her, and the corrupted mare reacted too little, too late.

They smashed into her almost as one and exploded in a tremendous bang of electrical force and anti-magic, Luna screaming as her weapons both fell from her mental grip before she looked up with a furious snarl and simply charged straight towards Hecate.

The mare's eyes widened in surprise, but all the same she reacted, dragging herself forwards before leaping up with her working leg and sending a vicious kick into Luna's face. The corrupted mare was almost knocked to a dead stop before Hecate landed and slammed her head into Luna's, making her flinch, before the corrupted mare howled in agony as Hecate's horn glowed brightly and her metallic body released a concentrated discharge of static energy.

Luna convulsed, and Hecate grinned... and then her eyes widened at a horrible tearing sound, and Luna's expression turned from pain to pleasure and excitement as a grin spread over her face, eyes snapping open before she lifted the metallic behemoth into the air by the claw buried through her stomach, then she slung the broken body savagely backwards. Hecate bounced off the wall with a clang, but Luna leapt forwards, seizing the mare by the face with her claw and swinging her skull into the wall with a sickening crack, before ripping her talon back and tearing out chunks of mane and cable in a burst of blue-tinged blood as Hecate shrieked.

The corrupted mare laughed loudly despite the blood running down her own features and the wounds on her own body, slamming her hoof forwards into Hecate's chest, then again, and again, and again, pulverizing and tearing apart complex mechanical parts, shattering crystals and glass orbs in bursts of electricity and anti-magic energy Luna barely felt anymore, bloodying her own limb and cutting herself with shrapnel and sharp metal edges. The broken, cracked pocketwatch was flung from Hecate's frame before Luna leaned forwards and dealt the final blow, ripping her claw completely through the metallic breast of the mare and into the steel of the wall behind her, and Hecate's frame gave one final spark of electricity before falling still and useless.

Hecate herself looked up with disbelief... and the fear that Luna had craved to see, as the corrupted sapphire mare reached up and seized her by the horn, then viciously twisted. And Hecate screamed in agony as her horn trembled, then cracked before Luna yanked downwards and ripped it free from her skull in a hail of blood and sparks, revealing that it was an enamel-coated prosthetic of crystal and complex wiring that Luna paid no heed to as she tossed it away. “Hecate... we are not happy... no, we are not at all...”

Luna reached up, seizing Hecate by the scalp and mane as the head tried to shake itself wildly, before screaming in agony when Luna's claw crushed down, then yanked cruelly back and forth until it finally tore the head free of the metallic frame it had been attached to. Luna laughed and slammed the Hecate's head first into the wall, then turned around and hammered the creature face-down into the floor, then rose it and slammed it down even harder, viciously enough to leave an imprint in the metal. Hecate could only gurgle, eyes bulging before Luna easily dropped her broken head, then slapped it almost playfully back into the air before she leaned forwards and slashed it viciously with her horn, knocking Hecate's head bouncing across the room until it landed against an overturned metal table.

Hecate lay, staring in terror, gargling and bleeding and nothing but a severed, broken head made of severed, broken parts. Luna approached slowly, her eyes glowing, feeling eagerness burning through her body, excitement, wrath, hatred, pleasure, and... and...

The corrupted winged unicorn looked down at the staring head of what could have been her sister, looking up at her with such terror, fear and weakness, as she heard the sound of Scrivener Blooms rasping behind her, watching with pleasure, oh yes... but something... something else, too. Something she vaguely remembered, even as Nightmare Moon snarled at her to kill Hecate or be done with it, but another voice cried out to her... a more important voice than her own dark passion...

Luna snarled, clenching her eyes shut, her mane and tail flaring backwards before Hecate cried out miserably: “P-Please! You don't know what it's like! You don't know what I've had to live through, I'm not... I'm not a-”

“A monster?” Luna's eyes flashed as she leaned forwards, and Hecate shrieked, her eyes widening as the corrupted mare strode quickly towards her, hissing: “Thou dares to ask mercy, thou dares to scream and cry and beg and wheedle, thou says thou art not a monster? Well, I say thou art! For I too am a monster, Hecate!”

Luna stepped forwards, raising a claw, and Hecate stared up, mouthing wordlessly, her eyes widening... and Luna trembled for a moment as she saw her sister's face, her sister's eyes, and a strange memory passed through her mind before she slammed her claw down.

She clenched her eyes shut... and then her body began to steam rapidly as she took a long breath and Scrivener slowly sat up, feeling his own mind clearing, and both shame and awe running through his form as he stared over at Luna Brynhild. As he watched her throw off her demons before she gasped and shivered, her eyes opening as her body returned to normal and her starry mane and tail twisted silently backwards... and then she drew her hoof slowly away from where she had punched the ground next to Hecate's head, whispering: “But unlike thou, I do not use it as an excuse to do evil, and give in to weakness. Thou stupid, wretched fool.”

There was silence for a few moments as Hecate looked up at her with disbelief, and then Luna shook her head slowly, shivering a few times as she fought her vicious instincts and Nightmare Moon's disappointment. But she felt Twilight's silent approval as she looked over her shoulder... and smiled faintly when she saw Scrivener Blooms had returned to his own normal pony shape as he dragged himself forwards, shaking his head out and murmuring: “You did better than I ever could have.”

“Only because thou art a mare. Mares are slaves to their silly passions. We mighty stallions must always maintain control of our emotions.” Luna replied quietly with a faint smile, and then she shook her head before looking over towards the broken, battered remains of Hecate's body, shaking her head slowly before murmuring: “Funny. Only now I realize that... 'twas like the Clockwork King. Except this time we triumphed.”

“We won last time, too.” Scrivener smiled a little, and Luna nodded thoughtfully after a moment before the stallion frowned a bit as his eyes settled on the pocketwatch, murmuring: “Although I don't exactly see what the hell that was doing in there.”

Luna frowned as well, then turned her moody eyes down to Hecate, who looked up at them with distrust before the head finally mumbled: “Soul prison. You should know... a simple, trivial object is the best container. No one ever suspects it until too late.”

The sapphire mare's eyes widened, then she strode quickly over to this as she shook off the last of her daze at the same time, Scrivener Blooms breathing quietly in and out and slowly gathering the energy to join her. He felt weak and tired, and he could see that Luna still bore plenty of damage despite having been supercharged by his corruption... it left him with no idea how the hell they were going to deal with Thesis. But on the other hoof...

Luna snatched up the pocketwatch, studying it before she closed her eyes and concentrated, soulstone horn – a horn that still looked a little larger, sharper than it had once been – glowing faintly. And a moment later, the pocketwatch sparked before Luna's eyes widened... and then she grinned slightly before beginning to slam it firmly against the ground again and again, cracking and denting the metal frame.

Scrivener Blooms stared blankly as Hecate rolled her eyes in disgust, wriggling herself carefully around to watch as Luna uselessly battered the watch against the ground before the head finally said in a sour voice: “You can't destroy it that way, idiot. It can only be opened by the same soul it contains.”

Luna grumbled, but then looked down thoughtfully at the watch before squeezing it slowly in her hoof, murmuring: “But then, until that point... Scrivener and I are now the holders of his prison. And that means Kismet... must serve us.”

“Thesis is going to kill you. You'll never get to him in time... and he's already far more powerful than you. More powerful than me. You're both wounded and weak, probably too weak to even force your way through the security doors between him and you.” Hecate grinned coldly at this, glaring at Scrivener as he glowered back at her balefully. “And to think. Thesis once wanted you here. You could have been part of all this. Now, you're nothing but two intruders in our home.”

“So thou art saying the doors shan't open for us...” Luna looked slowly around the room until her eyes noted a set of heavy-duty doors at one side of the room, with some kind of device mounted on the wall next to it. It looked vaguely similar to the magic scanners on the high security doors inside Cowlick's lab, giving the mare an idea. “But they will open for those who belong here.”

Hecate's grin faltered as Luna looked pointedly at the head, and then the winged unicorn strode quickly over and picked her up as Hecate began: “There is no way I could ever be convinced to help-”

Luna turned and flung Hecate across the room, and the head struck dead-center into the middle of the device, sticking there for a moment as there was a loud buzzing sound. Slowly, the mare's face peeled off the wall and fell to the ground, and then the scanner beeped loudly before the doors clicked and slid open, making both Luna and Scrivener grin widely.

Hecate only groaned on the floor, an the sapphire mare shook herself out before turning her attention to her armor, saying calmly to Scrivener: “First, permit us refresh ourselves and gather our wits and gear, Scrivener Blooms. Then we shall push forwards, and end this once and for all.”

Scrivener Blooms grunted and nodded in agreement, and the two ponies studied each other before silently slipping forwards and sharing a fierce embrace, reminding one another of all the reasons they had to keep going, all the reasons they had to survive... and all the reasons to continue to refuse the darkness, no matter how treacherous their path, no matter how alluring the call so often became.

Author's Note:

Vs. Hecate: Blind Guardian - Bright Eyes

Comments

[hellcatte]

Why is Hecate GLaDOS?