Prologue: The Mad and the Hatter

~BlackRoseRaven

"This is the way the world ends; this is the way the world ends; this is the way the world ends; not with a bang, but a whimper." says one of the Draconequus quietly, amongst the shifting madness of their chaotic home realm. The others look towards it; one smiles, one laughs, one does nothing at all.

Fish swim by and birds dance through the air; a tango or a waltz, depending on their moods. Buildings stand in thin air in defiance of gravity and zoning regulations and there are swirling formations of gemstone and minerals, perfect and beautiful and yet scattered in such a way that the gorgeous order of the crystalline latticework only makes the chaos of the world all the more apparent.

The Draconequus look at each other as one, floating upside down, sits back and asks curiously: "Will it be the Great Old Ones? Are the tethers coming loose? Is the great pizza falling down? Is our show getting canceled?"

Another Draconequus laughs, then covers his face and begins to sob. The remaining Draconequus share looks, shrugs, and then one says thoughtfully: "None of the above. All of the above. Either way, there'll be chaos before the end."

"Yes, but it'll be like binge drinking. We'll all get really wasted together and then there'll just be silence, and nothing, and it'll all be still forever." mutters another of the chimerical creatures of chaos, and all eyes turn to him meditatively. "Either the power's going to go out, or everything's going to be too bright to see."

"We could warn the master, or the acolyte. I have a great long-distance plan." points out another Draconequus as it pops up out of a hole in reality, holding up a small black phone. All eyes look at him for a moment, and then one of the Draconequus firmly steps on his head, knocking him back into the hole with a squawk.

"Cellphones cause cancer, and one of those was enough to deal with already." retorts the Draconequus, pointing several times straight down, then he shakes his head before adding: "And you remember what the boss said before he left. Life or death, Helheim or Valhalla, we don't go telling anybody nothing."

"So, what, we're actually going to follow the rules?" asks another Draconequus pessimistically as it flops onto its side, floating in midair and propping its head up with one claw. "Isn't that like, against our religion or something?"

Several other Draconequus look dryly at the speaker, and then one remarks: "Religion is the opiate of the masses, and a form of control. Control is against our religion. Our religion is not to have a religion at all. We're all agnostic here."

"We could be pastafarian." argues another, pointing at a large cheese grater on his head, and several other Draconequus give him mild looks.

"Hipster." one of them finally proclaims, and then it turns its eyes back forwards, snapping its fingers. In front of it, chaos swirls into a window with blurred edges, through which a forest can be seen that had a small cottage cradled among its leafy boughs. "No, we could do anything we wanted, but we can't do anything we please. We're just watchers from the balcony, here to laugh at them and mock them but secretly, cheer them on and hope things turn out for the best. After all, we're all completely sure this is going to end badly. And when chaos is completely sure of anything, it's automatically dead wrong."

"That's right, my friends and neighbors." adds a friendly voice, and all the Draconequus turn with surprise towards the figure in the suit, who grins at them as he reaches up and adjusts its bow tie. "Move aside, I've got box seat tickets."

The Draconequus all wince, and the creature strides through the chaos, eyes gleaming with delight as it rubs gloved hands together. "This is a tragedy in three acts and a comedy in five! The whole cast is present, living and the dead alike, and oh, I see the future, you know! There will be laughter and despair, suffering and joy, there will be a very definite beginning... and a very final end."

The creature puts its gloved hands together as it bows its head forwards, misshapen top-hat almost falling over its eyes before one of the Draconequus asked uneasily: "Now we won't be talking about ravens and writing desks will we, Theophilius Carter? For there are no answers at all to that riddle due to how many have been made up by other authors."

"Some better, some worse. Not the answers, of course, but the authors; all the answers are terrible because the riddle's real answer is that it has no answer, which in and of itself is the answer. Really, quite a serious answer to quite a few questions, my friends and neighbors." replies Theophilius eloquently, and then the horse-headed entity smiles and claps its hands together. "And you will of course excuse the pun."

"Only out of the respect we the Mad have for the Hatter." remarks one of the Draconequus, and they trade looks before all eyes turn back towards the window in reality, as Theophilius leans intently forwards, licking his lips slowly. "We aren't quite like you, after all, just as you aren't quite like us, but all of us here in Ginnungagap move on a different wavelength from everything else; so I suppose that makes you much the same as us. At least as long as you're here: if you're ever there, you're not here at all, and that means you must be very much different from us indeed."

"Good, my friends, good good. I promise you, there will be chaos, fear, and oh yes, for a time, the balance will be tipped to Order's folly; but I have a scheme of my own, a plan vast and great, friends in places up on high and low-down-below... and I promise you now, audience of Ginnungagap, entertainment like you've never seen before! Let the wild rumpus start!"

Theophilius throws his arms wide, a bright grin on his face as the Draconequus cheer, and laugh, and cry, and more of them pop out of holes in the fabric of chaos, surf down through the air, and leap up from below to cluster around the window in reality and watch the beginning of what could be the end of the everlasting tea party.

Act I: Ponerology

~BlackRoseRaven

---

The Prophecy of the Mad Hatter

.

And let it be so, so must it be,

That he shall be made flesh, the Emperor of Nothing,

Darkness given form, in which a cold heart rings,

As he defines himself by that which he never wanted to be.

.

And when it is so, the balance will rise vicariously,

Light shines and faith comes, given form and substance,

The Light will be pure, giving both shackles and second chances,

But faith is a child, and children often love too vicariously.

.

And a third will be born from these two's rivalry,

He will bring order to chaos, a Hatter who rules the Mad,

In the background he'll move, through the good and the bad,

He cares, but he is scared of his brothers' rivalry.

.

For good and evil shall be siblings side-by-side,

They are one in the same, their goals reflections in the mirror,

Even their methods shall reflect: corrupt-to-save those that fear,

But too late they'll understand they're each other's other side.

.

Chaos will try and help both sides rediscover lucidity,

Who wants the best for his brothers, but sides with neither;

Between his brothers he sits, born of others but half of either,

There madness forms a balance to balance out order's lucidity.

.

Sibling chaos must lead the way, find the path to set all free,

After his brothers both die and leave the cycle in disarray,

But the Hatter must be given a reason to mend what is frayed,

To stand up to what can hurt him when all he desires is to be free.

.

Only when darkness becomes light, heaven-hell and hell-heaven,

When Wonderland is broken and imagination bleeds,

Only when light betrays darkness, can be sown chaos' seeds,

When all the souls sing out, from heaven-hell and hell-heaven:

.

glory be! glory be!

.

Then will the Mad Hatter fulfill this self-fulfilling prophecy.

Chapter One: We're A Weird Family

~BlackRoseRaven

"Innocence! C'mon, Sin, wake up, we gotta head into town soon!"

The young mare groaned loudly, wiggling deeper beneath the mound of blankets and pillows comforting her. It was warm and comfy and she really, really didn't want to get up. Sleep was too nice. No, just lazing here was too nice.

A hoof pounded at her door, and Innocence mumbled under her breath before squirming around a little to peer through a small hole in the safe enclosure of blankets surrounding her. She watched the door rattle a little with a few more firm raps against it, knocking several of the paper butterflies she had taped up against the frame loose, and then her big brother called mildly: "If we're late again, I'm not going to take the blame for it, butthead."

"You're a butthead!" Innocence retorted, although her response was mostly muffled by the shell of blankets around her. And then she shifted and grumbled before beginning to struggle for the surface, mumbling: "Okay, okay, I'm getting up, I'm getting up..."

The cocoon of pillows and blankets around her trembled, several layers peeling slowly back as she pushed up towards the surface; her horn was the first to push through, tall and curved and almost blade-like. Next visible was her frazzled, steel-blue mane and the top of her head, normally-straight locks puffed out in all directions.

She grumbled, then shifted back and forth before a snout pushed out of the blankets: it was covered in deep, regal violet scales. A small claw soon pushed up out of the hole the muzzle had shoved out of, widening it and letting Innocence free herself completely with a wheeze, like this was all taking her some monumental effort.

The cold air was half-welcome, half-uncomfortable against her body: sections of scale meshed smoothly into more-equine hide the same color. It was only the texture that gave away her... strangeness. She wrinkled up her muzzle as she absently rose one of her claws in front of her face, then she chewed on it slowly as she scratched at herself with the other claw before her amethyst eyes finally blinked open.

She yawned loudly, showing off her large, sharp teeth for a moment before blinking blearily and rubbing slowly at her face. Then she turned, slowly slumping towards the edge of her large, puffy bed, and she simply flung herself off it, half-catching herself on her front claws before flopping face-first into the ground with a loud thump.

Several of her pillows and blankets followed her, but Innocence paid as little attention to them as she did to the floor as she picked herself up, not fazed in the slightest as she stumbled to a standing position. She shook herself out, then yawned loudly again as she surveyed her room, smiling a bit at the bookshelves stuffed with books and art supplies and dolls of all shape and size, the closet stuffed with junk more than clothing, and the full length mirror.

She sniffed loudly as she walked over to this, then peered into it and studied herself for a few moments quietly. She was no normal pony, she knew that... but what made her feel a little better was that no one in her family was really a 'normal' pony. But she was still a pony... no matter what she looked like.

Innocence smiled after a moment, then shifted a bit so she could look at her cutie mark on her flank: a stylized golden sickle, the handle in the shape of a cross. Ceres, she had heard that symbol called before.

She shook her head out after a moment, then studied her frazzled mane for a few moments before her horn glowed a dark lavender as she leaned forwards, concentrating. Her mane lit up with the same aura for a moment, the mare wincing as her shoulder-length hair was yanked out straight in all directions, then allowed to fall straight again, naturally twisting itself around her features.

She smiled as her body lit up with the same aura after a moment, and she winced only slightly as scales merged together and lost their rubbery texture. Within seconds, she was no longer some half-reptile, half-pony, but instead a relatively normal-looking mare, a warm smile spreading over her features as she nodded firmly to herself a few times. "There!"

She shook herself briskly out, her long, dark blue tail flicking once before she rose her head proudly as she turned towards the door, horn glowing to yank it open and let her prance out of her room. She turned into the den room, smiling at the photographs of her family that covered one wall alongside several paintings done by her mother, before her big brother leaned over the counter that divided living room and kitchen, the glossy-black unicorn smiling slightly at her. "Hey, Sin, finally. I was about to eat your pancakes."

Innocence licked her lips at this, sniffing the air and catching not just the scent of pancakes, but bacon, too. Then her eyes returned to her big brother: he looked like their father with his dark coat, unruly white mane and tail, and his scarred frame, but he had their Móðer's midnight-cyan-green eyes. And she could never help but admire him: there was about twenty-four years of difference between their ages, but they were still the best of friends, and he acted more her age than he did like an adult.

"So, Antares Mīrus, is there any reason in particular you're being so nice to me?" Innocence asked mildly, cocking her head pointedly, and Antares shrugged before he turned around, heading over to the stove as the young, sixteen-year old mare trotted into the kitchen and leaned towards him insistently. "Come on, I always know something's going on when you put on bacon, you never cook."

"I cook. I cook great." Antares retorted defensively, turning towards her with a huff as he picked up a spatula with telekinesis, making the necklace he always wore sway: plain, dark string that held a black star inset with a silver lightning bolt around his neck. As always, Innocence couldn't help but let her eyes draw to this, then over his scars along his breast: large, crisscrossing mars over his chest that were older, more stretched and faded than the smoother crescent-shaped scars over his shoulderblades.

Then the unicorn turned towards the stove, and her eyes roved to the emblem on his flank: a constellation of nine blue-white stars with faint lines between them creating an image of a rose blossom. "Also, you still look like a monster this morning, Sin. You're all morning-face, sleepyhead."

"Well excuse me, some of us here didn't inherit Mutt's immortality or agelessness or whatever." Innocence retorted crankily, and then she reached up with a claw and grumbled as she felt self-consciously along her features as Antares grinned over his shoulder at her as he began to poke at the bacon with the spatula. "You're a jerkface."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't blame me, blame Móðer." Antares replied mildly, and then he winced as grease spat up from the pan, flailing stupidly with the spatula at thin air as he stumbled backwards with a curse.

Innocence snorted in amusement, rolling her eyes and turning around with a flick of her tail to head back into the living room, calling mildly over her shoulder: "I don't blame Momma for the way I turned out. You shouldn't blame Móðer for being a giant jerkface."

"I blame Móðer for you being a giant jerkface too, actually." Antares replied grouchily as he poked the pan threateningly a few times with the spatula, and then he moved it onto another burner as he turned the stove off, opening a cupboard above the sink as he added: "Coffee's here too. Come get stuff, Sin, I'm not your butler."

Innocence only flopped down on her back on the futon that dominated the den: it was most often used by her parents, and smelled faintly of the forest and coffee. She rolled onto her back, glancing up through her legs and whining: "You hurt my feelings, Tarry. You should make up by bringing me my food."

"Oh, you're such a baby, Sin. I swear to Valhalla..." Antares sighed as he took down two plates, then grumbled under his breath, already resigned to doing what Innocence had asked. "You know, one day I'm gonna say no to you."

"No you won't, I'm too cute." Innocence let her head drop back, smiling slightly to herself as she gazed into the empty fireplace, then she yawned a little before flopping over on her side and snuggling down into the futon, peering across the den room and watching across the open counter that divided the rooms as Antares put their food and coffee together. She studied her big brother, then softened a little as he lifted the plates, utensils and mugs with telekinesis, asking in a softer voice: "How long are you here for?"

Antares shrugged a bit at this as he dropped the plates and mugs gently to the floor, then sat down on a pillow as Innocence crawled to the edge of the bedding. "Not much longer... you know I've got lots of work to do. The whole family does, and that's going to include you soon."

"Two years is not soon." Innocence grumbled in response as she picked up her fork and knife with telekinesis, cutting into the pancakes on the plate before she smiled despite herself: Antares had given her a bigger share of bacon than he'd taken for himself. There he goes again. "You know, you're the big strapping stallion here..."

"Yeah, and I don't really even need to eat... weird as that is." Antares smiled a bit after a moment, then he shook his head and leaned forwards, saying softly: "Besides, you'll need your strength today. I'm sure our parents have something big in mind for you."

Innocence shrugged a bit at this, poking at her pancakes and muttering: "Yeah, big, I'm sure. Maybe Mom will see if I can do a light spell again. Or have me recite all the different schools of magic. Or maybe I'll even have to grow a plant."

"I wonder if I was this angsty and cranky at your age?" Antares mused aloud, looking pointedly at his sister, and she blew a raspberry at him in response, making him smile amusedly before he reached up and shoved gently on her face, making her huff before she shoved a large piece of pancake into her mouth and chewed disconsolately. "Sin, every day for the past two years, you've gotten up and put a simple but long-lasting polymorph on yourself. You're sixteen years old and... our parents are just trying to let you have a childhood. Take it from someone who knows, be a kid for a little while, kid. You'll be a lot less confused and bitchy growing up than I was."

Sin huffed in response, but for a few moments they only ate in quiet before she nodded a few times, glancing up and smiling a bit. "It's just... hard, Tarry. For a lot of reasons. And at least you weren't a freak like me growing up."

"No, I just had wings." Antares quieted for a moment, glancing over his shoulder at the scars on his back, and then he cleared his throat before shaking his head and gazing forwards with a smile at Innocence. "But I also didn't have Móðer and Dad around for a decade, too. You're lucky."

"Yeah, we're the luckiest kids ever. We have three parents." Sin remarked ironically, and Antares laughed and shook his head slowly. "And even more, Móðer is nuts and Momma's crazy overprotective."

"Mom is not crazy overprotective. You're just as crazy as Móðer is." Antares replied with a shrug, and Sin huffed and glowered, but then Antares snorted and looked back at her mildly. "Okay, then tell me one way your latest attempt to fly was not completely stupid and insane."

"It almost worked!" Sin snapped, even as she blushed deep red. "The spell was just... I didn't calculate my weight right and... stupid... it... shut up!"

Antares replied to this by reaching over and poking Innocence in the chest a few times, and the mare winced as she felt a faint ache spill through her from a rib that was still bruised from jumping off the roof and gliding – okay, spiraling wildly out of control – straight down into the ground. Innocence slapped at his hoof, then grumpily picked up a claw full of bacon and tossed this into her mouth, chewing loudly and speaking through her food: "Look. The sooner I prove I can handle myself, the sooner they'll let me do stuff to help them and Equestria. The sooner people will stop looking at me like I'm a freak of nature."

"You are a freak of nature, Sin, but it's not the fact you got the messed-up side of Dad's genetics that makes you a freak. It's just... who you are. Hell, we're all freaks in this family, even Scar." Antares replied reasonably as the mare swallowed her bacon, and then he picked up a dry piece of pancake with his fork and flicked it at her, making Innocence scowl as it bounced off her cheek. "And again, talking from experience-"

"Well, I don't want your experiences. I want my own experiences." Innocence interrupted stubbornly, and Antares snorted in amusement, rolling his eyes and shaking his head briefly. The mare grumbled at him, then she complained: "Look, I've heard all the stories, okay? When you were my age, you fought a destruction entity-"

"Yeah, great times. He blew up Ponyville and killed my friends, and really it was all my damn fault. I shouldn't've gotten involved." Antares said mildly as he poked moodily at his pancake: but these days, thinking about Cancer and the cost hurt less. It had been so many years ago, and... he had changed a lot from those days.

All the same, Innocence looked at him a little sheepishly, and Antares sighed before he smiled to show it was okay, raising a hoof and saying quietly: "Look, baby sister. I just... I don't want you screwing up, that's all. I know you're gonna make mistakes and I know you deserve to make mistakes and do stuff on your own, but... just... try and listen to me when I say that because you've got a chance to be kind of a spoiled little brat, you should take it."

"Because you're not." Innocence replied sarcastically before she could stop herself, and Antares replied by flicking another piece of pancake at her, but the mare huffed and caught this with telekinesis before flinging it back at him. The stallion winced as it bounced off his face, then stared as the mare demanded: "I want to do magic stuff!"

"Hell no. Also, food." Antares pointed at his plate with his fork... and then stared when Innocence seized what remained of her savaged food with telekinesis and all but inhaled it, chewing it up violently before she picked up her coffee and guzzled it down, ignoring the streams of hot dark liquid that spilled out of her maw before she slammed the mug down and glared at Antares.

The stallion chewed thoughtfully on his inner cheek, then slowly lowered his fork and picked up a small piece of his half eaten pancake. His fork spun around, sliding slowly through the air towards his mouth, and he delicately took this and chewed slowly, drawing it out as long as possible before swallowing. Then, as Innocence glowered at him horribly, he said pointedly: "I'm not done eating yet. And we have to go into town soon."

Innocence grumbled, then fidgeted on the spot as Antares slowly put a single piece of bacon into his mouth and chewed calmly. He savored the taste of the meat as Innocence groaned and rolled over on her side, then grumbled and rubbed moodily at her stomach before deciding to change tactics, looking up at him pleadingly. "Can't we please please please do some magic exercises together? You're my bestest big brother ever and you know I just wanna spend time with you, since you're away so much and everything."

"That's cute, Sin. Really. I'm totally convinced." Antares said mildly, gesturing at her with his fork, and Innocence glared at him before hurriedly changing back to a begging gaze, and the stallion looked back at her before he reached up with a hoof and flicked her nose gently. "Alright, alright. When I'm done, we can practice a little. They probably expect us to show up late with how lazy you are anyway."

"I'm not lazy. You're lazy." Innocence huffed, and then she reached out and snatched up some of the stallion's bacon, tossing this into her mouth even as he glared at her before she grinned at him through the mouthful of meat. "Monsters need to keep their strength up, right?"

"Mimir's head." Antares sighed and rolled his eyes, then he grumbled and stabbed her lightly with his fork when she reached out to try and grab the last of his bacon, the mare yelping and quickly drawing the injured appendage back. "I already gave you most of the bacon. Do you know how hard this stuff is to get in Valhalla?"

"You're the one who accepted the job as liaison. And you're the one who spends all his time hanging around Heaven." Innocence complained, then she shoved herself to her claws and arched her back, stretching out like a cat before bouncing away, saying positively: "I'm gonna go get ready. Finish up your food, Tarry."

Antares smiled and rolled his eyes even as he gazed over his shoulder at his youngest sibling affectionately. She was so bossy, so strong willed, so much like his Móðer, Luna Brynhild... which was kind of funny, because he was the blood child of Luna, while Innocence's blood-mother was Twilight Sparkle. They had the same father, Scrivener Blooms, although their father's... odd genetics had clearly been passed down more to Innocence than it had to him.

The stallion quickly folded up his remaining pancake, then shoveled it into his jaws and chewed it up thoughtfully as he let his gaze drop to his plate, smiling a little despite himself. So many years had passed... he still remembered when he'd first heard that Twilight Sparkle was pregnant, and he was going to have a sister... no, he hadn't really accepted her as a sister then. He'd thought of her as a half-sibling... well, to be entirely honest, he'd thought of her as a terrifying accident of nature.

He'd been kind of an idiot about the whole thing. Well, no, he'd been a little worse than that. And he hadn't really handled Innocence all that well when she'd been a baby, either, not until...

He remembered that moment clearly. That defining moment where... she'd just been his sister, not the weird baby who was so much younger than him and had been born from Twilight Sparkle. After Twilight had been badly hurt – as badly hurt as an entity like Twilight had become could be, anyway – and his Móðer and Father had been leaving for a terrible, dark place. And the family had been there: his pregnant big sister Scarlet Sage, her partner Apple Bloom, and baby Innocence. He remembered picking her up, curling her against his body, feeling her clinging to him and realizing as much as he wanted to go with his parents, his little sister had needed him more.

The stallion smiled a little, then shook his head slowly before he glanced up mildly when Innocence came trotting back into the room, gazing at him brightly and wearing a saddlebag on one side. And now here she was: tall for her age, almost a full-sized adult pony, although who knew when she'd really stop growing... literally and metaphorically. He just gazed at her for a moment, and then Innocence scowled at him and said: "Hey, stop looking at me like that, creepy."

"Fine, I'll stick to hovering over your bed while you sleep." Antares replied eloquently, sipping at his coffee, and Innocence made a face at him before he said seriously as he stared at her as disturbingly as possible: "You're pretty, you know. Real pretty."

Sin only sighed and rolled her eyes at this, then she retorted: "And you're not. Now come on, let's get to magic practice, I wanna try something new."

Antares winced at this, picking up his mug of coffee and swirling it moodily before he said slowly: "You know, I'm thinking that maybe, since I was nice enough to agree to this and all, you should probably let me choose what we work on..."

"Uh, no." Innocence answered flatly, and the stallion groaned before he sighed and picked up the dishes, utensils, and mugs with telekinesis. Then he winced as Innocence bolted forwards before he could even turn, sweeping the various dishes out of his telekinetic grip with her own and tossing them loudly into the sink from across the kitchen before she spun around and bounced from claw-to-claw. "Okay let's go, let's go!"

"You know, in my twenties, I started to basically magically turn into Móðer. I'm hoping that soon you turn into Mom." Antares said moodily, and Innocence grumbled at him.

"Yeah, I get it, I know. You say that all the time." Innocence complained, and then she turned and headed down the front hall to yank the door open, adding: "Let's get out of here, come on, I really want to get some work in before we gotta go to Ponyville!"

Antares rolled his eyes, but he smiled despite himself. He remembered when he had always been that eager to train... well, hell, some days he knew he still was. That was the advantage of having the bloodline of a reborn Valkyrie in his veins, and physically in his twenties for however long his life was going to last.

The stallion followed in his sister's wake, pushing out the front door of this beautiful little house that sat in the middle of the Everfree Forest. He glanced over his shoulder at it, softening: it had only been a few years ago when he'd finally given up his room here, and his Móðer had converted it into a sort of artist's studio for herself. But he still stayed here often, when he wasn't working. It was more comfortable for him than his little apartment in Canterlot.

Innocence was waiting impatiently near the edge of the forest, past the yard in front of the house, but Antares took his time loitering towards her. He stepped down from the polished deck, glancing towards the landscaped, hollowed out mound on one side that served as a storage hut of sorts, then he looked over towards the small shack on the other that contained Luna's prized possession: Epona, her monstrous motorcycle. Antares had only driven it once, and when he'd come back after a short little joyride he'd found his Móðer waiting for him with the most baleful look he had ever seen in any pony's eyes.

He was pretty sure the only reason she hadn't killed him was because he'd been careful not to put so much as a ding in her precious Epona.

The stallion drew his eyes thoughtfully back towards Innocence, who was stomping back and forth at the foot of the wide dirt path: it was a good hour or so march to Ponyville from here, and that was at a good pace. He always enjoyed the walk through the forest, though, and they had plenty of ways to get there faster if it was really necessary. But as he'd learned... sometimes it was important to take things slow and pay attention to the journey, not the destination.

"Come on, Tarry!" Innocence called irritably, and Antares sighed before he smiled despite himself over at the mare, shaking his head wryly as she bounded a short distance down the path, then ran back, looking both childish and agitated... and altogether adorable, really. "Now you're seriously just being a jerk."

"Oh I am not. Calm down, Sin." Antares rolled his eyes in entertainment, striding towards her before the stallion paused and flicked his horn firmly as it glowed brightly, and Innocence squawked as arcs of white purification streaked across her body, stumbling backwards with a wince before she glared furiously at Antares as he leaned down with a wide grin and a wink. "That makes me a jerk."

Innocence grumbled, reaching up to touch her own features... and as expected, where the purification had touched, her polymorph had been dispelled. She glared after him as her horn glowed, quickly restoring her shape before she grumbled: "You're just jealous, that's all. Jealous that I can actually change my shape and you can't."

"Do you want me to help you with your magic or not?" Antares asked mildly, glancing over at her with a tilt of his head, and then he paused and leaned down, poking his horn against a patch of scales on her cheek. "You missed a spot."

"Bite me." Innocence huffed, and then she concentrated and winced a bit as her horn glowed and the patch of scales vanished into pony-like hide, the mare wrinkling up her snout and mumbling: "There. Do I look okay?"

Antares smiled amusedly over at his younger sibling, then he nodded. "Yeah, kid, you look fine. Although you know it's kind of silly to disguise yourself but leave your claws out."

"No one ever notices my claws, as long as I'm not grabbing and flinging stuff and stuff. They don't really care about that." Innocence shrugged a bit, digging her digits against the ground as they walked as she looked down and watched as they made distinct marks along the dirt path. "Where are we gonna train?"

"I dunno, that little field about halfway to town, I guess." Antares shrugged a bit, smiling a little over at Innocence. "You know, when I was your age-"

"Oh here we go." Innocence rolled her eyes, then she nudged the stallion firmly with her shoulder, and he glowered at her as she continued in a teasing voice: "What great history lesson do you have to impart on me now, grampa?"

Antares grumbled and nudged her back, then paused and said reflectively: "If I was your brother and your grandfather, that'd be really bad."

Innocence sighed tiredly at this, closing her eyes and looking pained, and Antares snorted in amusement before he looked ahead and shrugged. "Seriously though. Like, I know I keep repeating this, Sin, but it's because you won't listen to me. And I know you're probably never going to listen to me, but that's not why I'm repeating this anymore. It's because every time I tell you something helpful and you don't listen, when the day comes that you finally realize how right I was, I'm going to be able to give you the biggest I-told-you-so ever."

"Fantastic." Innocence said drolly, then she glanced at the side of the path before her horn glowed, yanking a treebranch back before she simply released it to send it lashing towards Antares' face. But her big brother only grinned, moving with sudden grace to simply slice the branch loose from the tree before he flung it easily to the side and into his sibling's face.

She yelped and stumbled, getting a mouthful of leaves before glaring over at her older brother as he laughed and shook his head, looking over his shoulder at her with amusement. "You're gonna have to do better than that, you know."

"I can set you on fire, you know." Innocence threatened, and Antares only rolled his eyes in entertainment before the mare hurried to catch up to him, grumbling: "Okay, fine, I'll tell Móðer I heard you clopping all last night in the guest room."

"You're just the nastiest little person ever." Antares said flatly, blushing slightly, and when Innocence looked up at him with amusement, he added hurriedly: "And I also wasn't even in the room upstairs last night. Don't think about me like that, you weirdo."

"Stop whimpering your girlfriend's name and making the bedframe rattle, then!" Innocence shot back, and the two siblings halted to glare at each other before Sin suddenly rose her head and asked curiously: "How is Prestige, anyway?"

Antares shrugged, his own mood shifting just as quickly as he smiled despite himself, even as his blush faded only slightly. "She's good. Really, really good. She got promoted, finally, and Aunt Tia even promised to give her a few days of personal training when she can head back up to Valhalla. But you know how busy Aunt Tia is."

"Yeah. I don't know why she doesn't just become queen or something. Then she could do anything she wanted." Innocence remarked, and Antares smiled amusedly, making the mare frown up at him. "What? What?"

"It's not really that simple. It's like how... you know, Mom is busy all the time, and Móðer is busy too, but with different obligations." Antares explained, and then he sighed when Innocence scowled at him and he realized it probably wasn't a good explanation after all. "Okay uh... look at it this way. When Aunt Tia was Baroness, she had to spend a lot of her time in council meetings or writing out reports or doing other not-fun stuff and never doing anything herself, sometimes even having to stay back on the sidelines while everyone else fought. Now that she's just kind of Ambassador, it's her job to be on the front lines, where she wants to be."

Innocence frowned at this, then she looked forwards and said mildly: "I'd just make it a law that anyone who disagrees with me gets smacked in the face. There. Problem solved."

"You're not as great at thinking as you think you are." Antares said wryly, and Innocence huffed and swung her horn at him, but the stallion parried it easily with his own. "Can't you just accept the answer and move on?"

"No, not until I understand why, or you give me a good one. If you give me a stupid one I'm just going to keep pointing out it's stupid until you admit I'm right." Innocence retorted, and Antares sighed even as he gazed at her affectionately.

Innocence really did just keep poking the same subject over and over until she got her answer: it was both one of her worst qualities and one of her best. Combined with her boldness, it got her in trouble a lot... but it was also part of what made her so sharp, too. And what would help take her far, as long as she remembered to rein herself in now and then.

Then she leaned forwards and lightly hacked at his nose with her horn, and Antares winced away in pain: unlike his horn, hers had a natural sharp edge to it. He glared at her, and she looked back defiantly before the glossy black stallion sighed and remarked to the young mare: "You know, this is exactly why sometimes even Móðer says you're a little too... direct."

"Oh, she does not. Fine, don't answer my question. Are you and Prestige going to get married one day?" Innocence asked, and Antares winced a bit but quickly caught himself before he could be knocked too far off guard.

"One day, I want to, yeah. I want to start a family with her." Antares said after only a moment of hesitation, looking down at the mare mildly. "Why does-"

"I want to be your best mare." Innocence said immediately, and Antares stumbled to a halt and stared at her stupidly as the young mare halted and looked at him pointedly. "Well it's not like you have any guy friends, for one thing. For another... because."

"Okay, for one thing, Innocence, I do so have guy friends. For another... I'm pretty sure Aphrodisia will want to be my second, and I'm pretty sure she can take you in a fight." Antares said flatly, and then he shook his head and cleared his throat. "But anyway, come on, keep moving. You wanted to train, right? Stop wasting time."

Innocence grinned inwardly as she bounced cheerfully alongside her brother, glad that they were picking up the pace and even more that she had found another subject she could use to poke at him. She felt both friendship and an odd form of sibling rivalry with her big brother, a need to keep him off balance and a way to turn the conversation to something else if he started to lecture her too much.

She knew he was right about a lot of what he said, she just really didn't want to admit it. She wanted to have her own experiences, make her own mistakes, and... live up to the legacy that had been built by her entire family.

Her parents were heroes. Her big brother was a hero. Her oldest sibling, Scarlet Sage, had saved countless lives. And she had to find some way to leave her own mark, to prove she could be just as strong as they were, that she had something that set her apart, too.

She descended into quiet, and Antares softened as he looked at his little sister: he had a pretty good idea what was on her mind, since he'd often felt a similar weight himself. He let her think, though, until they stopped near a small side path leading away from the wide dirt road that cut through the Everfree Forest, and the stallion smiled as Innocence glanced up from her reverie, blushing only slightly. "Twenty minutes, okay?"

"Half an hour." Innocence said stubbornly, and Antares sighed, but grudgingly nodded after a moment, and the young mare grinned up at him. "Great. I was ready to go down to twenty-five, but thirty minutes is even better."

"I kind of hate you." Antares remarked mildly, and Innocence only snorted in amusement as she hurried down the side path. The stallion shook his head, following after her swishing tail as he glanced at the emblem on her haunch, and then he smiled slightly before questioning: "Remember when you got your cutie mark?"

Innocence huffed and glowered over her shoulder, and Antares laughed despite himself, shaking his head and saying in a pointed voice: "Okay, let me rephrase. Remember what got you your cutie mark in the first place?"

"Magic. And that is all I have to say on that subject." Innocence grumbled, and Antares couldn't help but grin. Before he could pursue the subject, however, they stepped into an open, circular field that had a few distinct pockmarks and odd rock formations, and the young mare quickly said: "I want to practice mire thaumaturgy again."

"Oh. Oh, I'm sorry, Sin, I thought I just heard you say: 'I want to practice using the powers my entire family has warned me I'm not supposed to use because I could short circuit myself or bleed to death everywhere,' but I must have just had something crazy in my ear." Antares said flatly, scowling over at the young mare, but she glared defiantly back at him. "You can't seriously expect me to actually help you with that, can you?"

"Yeah, I can, because you also know I'm more than willing to lie and blackmail and generally make your life a living hell." replied Innocence clearly, and when Antares looked at her moodily, she emphasized: "I love and respect you that much, that I am more than willing to completely destroy you and salt the earth with your remains."

"Great." Antares groaned, dropping his head back before he sighed and looked up, asking after a moment: "Can't we practice... I dunno, you can do your multi-element fireball thing or... we can do some terrible, hideous necromantic dark magic. Let's do that. Let's play with the laws of life and death, that sounds … far more fun and dangerous."

"You are a ginormous pansy." Innocence pronounced, and Antares narrowed his eyes at her grumpily before the young mare leaned forwards and said seriously: "If you really think that I'm not willing to put you in a world of nightmares, then I want you to remember my last birthday party, when you didn't show up until really late because you were out with Aphrodisia and Avalon."

Antares groaned again at this, rolling his eyes and saying flatly: "Okay, for one thing, we were out so late because we were getting my motorcycle repainted, so we could give it to you. And then you complained about it because it wasn't as good as Mom's and trashed the goddamn thing."

Innocence huffed at this, retorting: "You gave it to me with no gas and no battery and all dinged and dented up from how many times you or one of your psycho friends crashed it!"

"It's not my fault everyone in my life is completely crazy. That includes you, by the way." Antares said sourly in return, and the two siblings glowered at each other before the stallion sighed tiredly and slumped, muttering: "But okay, okay, I get your point. Please just... let's just make this fast then. And if you fall over and die, I'm just gonna laugh at you. I may possibly make some token gesture to save your life, but only so our parents don't get mad at me for not being able to save you."

"They'll be mad at you for agreeing to train me. Then Momma'll bring me back to life and I'll tell them you forced me into it. It won't make any sense whatsoever but Momma will still kill you because you know she loves me more than she loves you." Innocence replied conversationally, and Antares slowly reached up and touched his chest.

"My heart just withered and died. It just. Shriveled up and rotted away to nothing because of you. You... monster." Antares said grouchily, and then he grumbled and shook himself quickly before asking finally: "Okay. What... what did you want to do? Please don't die, because... you're mean."

Innocence frowned thoughtfully, looking back and forth before she said after a moment: "I guess I should try and make the area around me mire, like Dad does. That shouldn't be too hard, right?"

Antares shrugged moodily at this, saying finally: "I don't know. I'm... more Móðer than I am Dad, I guess. I didn't inherit those powers, and I was born before... Dad really... started changing."

He quieted, then smiled after a moment as Innocence looked up uncertainly, their rivalry forgotten, instead little sister who was looking at the big brother she adored for some kind of advice or reassurance. "But... if I screw up again..."

"Well, yeah, I'll save you, Sin. But wouldn't you rather... not having to risk owing me your life because you could mess up and I would have to be all amazing and sweep in and save you?" Antares asked pointedly, and Sin smiled a bit even as she sighed. The stallion nodded in response to this, then he gestured with a hoof before saying quietly: "Try and... remember what Dad said. You're not a Clockwork Pony like he is, Innocence, you're... you're something different. Something special. You have a little bit of everything in you."

"Yeah." Innocence closed her eyes, taking a slow breath as she let those words wash over her, and thought of her heritage. Not just three parents, but her father was a Clockwork Pony, with a dark substance running through his veins that gave him strange powers... her mother was Twilight Sparkle, a heroine who had died during the war with Decretum and had been resurrected as a Lich. And her Móðer – or Mutt, as Innocence still affectionately called Luna Brynhild now and then, like she had as a baby when she hadn't been able to pronounce the word properly – was a Champion of Equestria and former Valkyrie, the Mistress of the Night who entire legions of demons and dark spirits and the other things that went bump in the night bowed to.

So much darkness... but her parents weren't evil, or bad ponies. They had always done the right thing with all their power... powers she was still growing into, trying to learn to control. And she had been told over and over again, she had to be careful, because power could have a mind of its own. And if she didn't watch herself, that power could start to control her.

She wanted power: she wasn't ashamed of that, and she wasn't afraid of her ambitions. But she also didn't want her powers to control her, and she sure as hell was not going to be the first pony in the family to lose herself to her strength.

That meant she had to take things step-by-step, and next in line was mastering these abilities.

The young mare breathed slowly in and out as she closed her eyes, then she gritted her teeth as she concentrated, feeling the blood in her body beginning to boil as her horn lit up with its dark aura. Her body trembled as she felt the darkness surging through her veins before she concentrated on the ground beneath her, trying to push not just with her magic, but willing that sensation of dark powers downwards and into the earth.

She gritted her teeth as the uncomfortable sensation grew into outright pain, feeling herself teetering on the edge... and then she gasped and slumped as her magic and strength both gave out, shivering a little and opening her amethyst eyes to look quickly down. But the ground beneath her was unblemished; she couldn't even exert enough influence to poison the ground.

Innocence stomped her claws in frustration... then wobbled woozily as Antares sighed and shook his head, the stallion saying dryly: "Now you know I'm going to have to cut you, right?"

"What? No! I'm fine." Innocence grumbled, shaking her head firmly. "I don't think I managed to summon up any poison or anything, I just... kind of lost my focus."

Antares only looked at her pointedly, then he said mildly: "You know, we've been over this before. Unlike Dad, you don't do so well when you turn the blood in your veins into corruption. You get a little... how should I put this... dead."

"I don't get dead. Your face looks like it's... dead." Innocence shot back, and Antares rolled his eyes before the mare grumbled, shaking her head briskly: "Besides, I get sick, not dead, and then I get angry. You're just scared of being beaten up again."

"Well, you have big teeth and I don't like it when you bite me." Antares responded testily, and then he shook himself quickly before continuing: "Look, if everyone says that practicing this stuff is dangerous and that you might not be ready for it, maybe you should just try and accept that... practicing this stuff is dangerous and you probably aren't ready for it yet."

"Hey, I know my own... self better than they do." Innocence retorted, and then she grimaced and reached up to rub at her stomach as she felt a distinct twisting through her veins, like serpents coiling through her body. She breathed slowly through her nose, then abruptly added, in a sharper voice: "I mean, what about you? You were-"

The stallion groaned at this, rolling his eyes and saying almost pleadingly: "Can we not get into what I may or may not have done? Seriously, I was stupid. You have a chance to not be stupid. It would be really great if you took that chance."

"That would be boring. Like Scarlet Sage. I don't want to be boring." Innocence complained, and Antares gave the young mare a flat look. "Well she kind of is. I mean, I know she's really scary when she's mad but she never really talks about anything."

"That's because Scarlet never really wanted to be... like us. But she is all the same. She just has... a different sort of way of dealing with things." Antares replied delicately, and then he sighed when the mare wobbled a little again, grimacing and hugging herself. "Okay, you pretty clearly poisoned yourself again. I'm draining the corruption out of you."

Innocence opened her mouth to reply, but Antares simply flicked his horn firmly down, and the mare instead squeaked when a blast of white energy raced across her body. Her eyes bulged as her polymorph was completely dispelled and her mane and tail poofed out almost comically, but it felt much less entertaining to the mare as the blood in her veins turned red hot, boiling her from the inside out, feeling like living, angry serpents had just come alive beneath her hide.

She danced back and forth on her claws, yelling and cursing, but Antares only leaned forwards as his horn glowed brighter, a faint grin cresting his features as he intensified the purification spell. This was the one kind of magic he was any good with, luckily for Sin... or unluckily, depending on how you wanted to look at it.

Finally, the burning white radiance died out around the mare, leaving her steaming visibly and glaring at him as one of her eyes twitched. She could feel the blood slowly settling in her veins, but every nerve and fiber of her body ached as she glared furiously at Antares. The stallion only looked complacently back, however, before he replied pleasantly: "I'm just trying to be helpful, Sin. You said you didn't want to be cut or anything so. I didn't cut you or anything. I just neutralized it all."

He paused, studied her thoughtfully, then added after a moment: "Also, by the way, you're all morning-face again. Well, early-morning-face, I mean. I think you get that from Móðer too."

"Ha, ha. Ha ha ha, oh, aren't you so funny?" Innocence asked drolly, and then she reared suddenly back as her horn glowed brightly, glaring at him. "Fine, we'll practice my other magic!"

With that, she snapped her horn forwards, sending a blue fireball at Antares, but the stallion was already reacting on instinct even as he winced, leaning forwards and slashing his horn fiercely into the sapphire sphere of flames. It was repelled, sizzling with energy, and Innocence's eyes widened in surprise before it smashed back into her face and exploded.

She was knocked crashing onto her back, looking dazed as one of her hind legs kicked weakly at the air, her eyes rolling stupidly in her head. Antares stared, then he cleared his throat awkwardly and reached up to rub the back of his head slowly, saying after a moment: "You uh. You need to give me a little more warning than that."

Innocence blinked a few times on the ground, then scowled at the air before she sat up, moodily shaking her head out before glowering through her uneven, puffed-out mane at Antares. The stallion looked back at her plainly, then he giggled stupidly for a moment at her before hurriedly clearing his throat when she scowled deeper and holding up a hoof. "Hey, uh. You're not hurt, right?"

"No. I guess not." Innocence mumbled after a moment, blowing some of her mane back with a huff. Yes, it had stung to take her own fireball to the face, but it was more her ego that had been hurt. The little physical pain in her body came mainly from getting knocked on her back and whacking her head off the soft ground: probably because of what she was and who her parents were and her own talents with magic, other magical energies simply couldn't hurt her all that much. Well, except for the goddamn purification that Antares was always poking her with.

She shook herself out, then rubbed her claw absently along her scaled features before scowling a little and complaining: "I'm going to use up all my energy on polymorphs at this rate, Tarry! Why do you have to be such a jerk?"

"Why do you have to be such a jerk?" Antares retorted immediately, and when Innocence simply gave him a dour look, the stallion cleared his throat before he gestured awkwardly with his head back towards the road. "Well, uh. Why don't we just head into Ponyville, then?"

"I want to practice." Innocence said resolutely, and Antares sighed a little, dropping his head before nodding moodily, and the young mare smiled warmly before she took a breath and straightened, narrowing her eyes slightly as her horn began to glow. "Okay. I'm gonna try and turn the field to mire again. This time just let me do it, okay?"

Antares sighed and rolled his eyes, but he was smiling wryly all the same as he gazed across at his younger sibling, watching as her body began to shake as she focused her powers over herself. He was sure that one day, she'd accomplish something great... the tricky part would just be making sure she stayed alive until that day came.

Chapter Two: Those Crazy Ponies You Hear About

~BlackRoseRaven

Innocence and Antares were late again, but that was to be expected by now. And even though Twilight Sparkle was getting a little agitated and worried about her children, Luna Brynhild was only cheerfully bragging about her daughter to Celestia, while Scrivener Blooms was relaxing at the table in the comfortable familiarity of the library, editing his way through a thick sheaf of papers.

"And we have full faith that this is only the beginning of what Innocence shall accomplish. What say thou to that, Celestia? Aye, nothing, just as is to be expected, except perchance that my daughter truly is most masterfully talented!" proclaimed the sapphire mare, raising her head proudly and making the strange prosthetic horn standing out of her head gleam. It was a crystalline blue, with a strange, scintillating core of light that gave short, faintly-visible pulses in time with the ebb and flow of her ephemeral, starry locks. Her dark, cyan-green eyes were filled with confidence and strength, and she wore both the collar of green, living vine around her neck and the trails of white scarring over her body proudly.

The collar had a silver hollow on its front, with a gorgeous black pearl inset into this, which bore an etching of a rose blossom. It was almost the same as the emblem on the flank of the charcoal stallion: the only difference was that his cutie mark also included a raven feather quill overtop the bloom. And likewise, the stallion wore his own collar, but his was made of gorgeous platinum and was inset with slices of gemstone that formed a white crescent embraced on either side by onyx: the symbol of the moon, the same as the symbol that stood out amidst the splotch of black over the sapphire winged unicorn's hips and rump.

It wasn't just their adornments that were similar, either: scarring laced back and forth across the well-worn, large body of the dark-coated stallion, and many of his larger scars mirrored the marks over the sapphire mare's form, such as the distinct twist of white that curled up from under his collar, or the larger slashes over his breast.

His chestnut eyes glanced up absently, looking overtop his small glasses towards the sapphire mare for a moment as she all-but-glared at a larger, ivory-coated winged unicorn with an ephemeral, flowing mane that was a soft rainbow of color. A slight smile quirked at her mouth as her amethyst eyes studied the pony in front of her for a moment, and then she asked curiously with a tilt of her head that made the bronze key hanging from one ear gleam: "And is she still taking after you, Luna?"

"Aye, she is, for I am the most influential of all ponies." the sapphire mare replied with a firm nod, then she paused and grinned amusedly over at the stallion, her eyes gleaming teasingly as she looked from him towards the violet winged unicorn beside him, who was chewing uneasily on one hoof. "Besides, I am the fun parent. Scrivener is the boring parent and Twilight is the... anxious parent. Cease thy worrying, Twilight Sparkle, she is with Antares. They are both idiots, but very capable idiots."

"Our children aren't idiots." Twilight mumbled, reaching up to brush her near-black mane back uneasily, making the lines of pink and purple that ran side-by-side through it twist like scared snakes. She bit her lip as her violet eyes looked uneasily at Luna, her hoof moving down to rub nervously at the lunar lily-shaped clasp of the leather collar that tightly encircled her neck. A collar that somehow seemed a match for the ones that Luna and Scrivener wore, and if that didn't make the relationship between the three clear enough, then the black studs in her ears of a rose blossom and a crescent moon often did get the point across to anyone observant enough to see them.

The violet mare was also wearing a simple turtleneck sweater, but she had accidentally pushed it up a bit thanks to her anxious squirming around, and it left some of the thick black stitching over her body visible: stitching that literally helped hold Twilight Sparkle together. She sighed as she glanced down and caught sight of this, half-embarrassedly yanking her sweater back down even as her eyes roved towards her own cutie mark: a six-pointed, pink star surrounded by smaller motes of light, and a circle of red runes. Once upon a time, she had just been a normal – okay, sort of normal – unicorn with a normal cutie mark... then she'd gained wings, and those runes... and decades later, well...

She touched her own breast, feeling the Y-shaped stitching there... and more, the lack of any beating heart. But when she glanced up at Luna, she felt that it had all been worthwhile as a faint smile bridged her lips, nodding reluctantly to her even as the Lich said quietly: "But our kids aren't idiots."

"They are a little." Scrivener said mildly, returning his eyes to the pages in front of him, and Twilight gave him an exasperated look before the stallion said pointedly: "Look, Innocence swallowed a rock two days ago. Sure, she's plenty smart in a lot of ways. But I just... really don't think we can hold onto any illusion that's not something an idiot wouldn't do."

"I dared her to." Luna informed positively, looking over at Celestia with a firm nod, and the ivory mare sighed tiredly and shook her head even as a smile twitched at her lips. Twilight and Scrivener, meanwhile, both looked sourly at the sapphire mare even as she continued cheerfully: "And I think 'tis wonderful. 'Tis very much like me, very bold, very brave, does not ever go against what she says and will do any foolish thing she promises, no matter how brash. 'Tis like all the best qualities of the three of us are fused into one."

Scrivener glanced up moodily for a moment as Twilight scowled a little, then said finally: "Luna, our daughter isn't... isn't some dog that you can just... feed rocks to..."

"What kind of dog did you have growing up, Twilight?" Scrivener asked mildly even as he returned his eyes to editing, and the Lich gave him a flat look as the stallion poked absently along the page with a quill. Luna, meanwhile, glowered at the stallion as he muttered: "And I told them both it was a bad idea, by the way. But if you want me to be completely honest, they're bad influences on each other. Sin makes Luna act like she's sixteen."

"My little sister has always acted somewhere around that age, or younger." Celestia remarked, and Luna huffed before poking at her sibling with her strange, crystal horn, but Celestia only sighed and gently pushed this away with a hoof. "I take it you didn't learn anything from when you startled Sleipnir by doing that and he punched your prosthetic?"

Luna grumbled, straightening and retorting: "'Tis not just my 'prosthetic,' 'tis part of me. 'Tis part of me and from now on thou shall be sure to treat it as such, as part of me, for that is what 'tis. Even if 'tis made of soulstone and I am not made of soulstone, although they do call us alicorns in other worlds so... perhaps I should call myself the soulstone pony. Soulstony. I am a soulstonicorn."

There was silence, apart from Scrivener slowly turning a page of his manuscript, and then Twilight sighed tiredly and dropped her head forwards as Luna glowered around at them all. "Oh, thou art all fools and idiots."

"Yes. The problem is clearly with us. You're so right." Scrivener said mildly, and then he grumbled under his breath: "How the hell did I even write that. Ugh, no, rephrase... tense isn't even right and that ruins the whole mood..."

"Scrivy, thou art married to myself and Twilight, not thy work, cease being so... busy." Luna complained, and Twilight smiled despite herself as she glanced up... then she winced when Luna picked up a book on the table and flung it firmly at Scrivener's head.

But Celestia caught it in her own telekinetic grip before it could hit the stallion, who looked up and flinched only slightly before the heavy text dropped back on the table as the ivory mare said pointedly: "Please don't throw books, Luna, I like to try and keep the library as clean and undamaged as possible. Not just because I look after it for Ponyville, but because I live here."

"Aye, 'tis so funny. Thou art living here, comfortable, a terrible librarian." Luna said wryly, smiling a little after a moment before she glanced towards the stallion, then to the violet mare. "My husband is a poet and writer, my sweet mare used to run the library and helps run Subterra's Archives, beneath Canterlot. And I am the mighty warrior. I am... how do you say it?"

"Yes, Luna, you're the jock who hangs out with all the nerds." Scrivener said dryly as he looked up, meeting Luna's eyes... and more than that, feeling their very souls twisting together, as the two shared smiles despite themselves as they felt that link.

And Twilight felt it too, closing her eyes and letting it settle her more effectively than any word, any touch ever could: that sense of being linked. That sense of being connected, to the two people who were the most important to her in all the world.

Their minds met, and they shared emotions and thoughts and images and most of all, understanding. A sense of intimate knowing that came from the fact Luna and Scrivener served as Twilight Sparkle's living phylacteries, the anchors that kept her firmly bound to this world. That was how much she loved them, how much she trusted them... how sure she was she wanted to spend the rest of her life with them, in spite of how strange she knew it was to have not one partner, but two.

The violet mare glanced up with a small smile, softening as she gazed at the two, and both Scrivener and Luna gazed back at her, mirroring one another's expressions of warmth. And as always, it made her feel strangely good to see that; the little visual reminders that Scrivy and Luna had one linked soul, which was why they ended up subconsciously imitating each other so often and shared the same marks upon their bodies.

It was funny: they were so different, all three of them, but they were so much the same, too. And admittedly Twilight took some pride in their odd relationship: how many other ponies could hold together their kind of relationship for all the years they had? And how many ponies could survive being linked by the soul to two others?

"Aye, I am very strong and brave to have survived for so long as I have." Luna said cheerfully as she picked up on Twilight's thoughts, and the Lich favored her with a wry look as Scrivener rolled his eyes in amusement. Luna only grinned, however, turning her eyes towards Celestia and adding: "And before thou says anything, the quality is in the quantity of years, not partners. We all know dirty Freya engaged more than two on the verdant battlefield at once in days' past, after all."

"Yes, Luna. Because you haven't brought that up often enough in the past." the ivory winged unicorn remarked, and the sapphire mare nodded rapidly before Celestia sighed, then she hesitated for a moment before saying finally: "And as much as I hate to draw the conversation away from the exploits of my past self... maybe we should focus on-"

"Oh, thou art not bringing up Kvasir, art thou?" Luna groaned, then she grumbled when Scrivener Bloom and Twilight Sparkle both looked up a little uncomfortably. "Oh shut up, both of thee. 'Tis Celestia's fault. She is the one who brought up the Elle of Fat in the room, as 'tis said."

"Actually, 'tis said that it is an 'elephant,' Luna." Scrivener said mildly, glancing up, and the sapphire mare replied by glowering at him until he awkwardly shielded himself with his sheaf of papers. "Fine, next time I'll just let you continue to say the wrong thing and just let people continue to silently mock you."

"Well, what other ready reason would I have to punish them if not that?" Luna replied pointedly, and then she shook her head quickly and returned her gaze to Celestia, who didn't look quite as amused. "Look. It has been almost six years since Kvasir vanished. I am as sorry for this as I can be; 'tis not like I did not like him, after all, especially after he began to cease being such an insufferable twit. But does thou know why I do not worry?"

"Because of his bride, Terra, among other things, such as the fact she seems to..." Celestia paused at Luna's horrible scowl, and then the ivory mare sighed and rolled her eyes, but then asked after a moment, despite the clear look of regret on her features: "No, why?"

"Well, clearly, Celestia, 'tis because of his bride Terra, among other such things as that she seems to know in some way what has happened. I swear, Celestia, if thou wert any thicker we could use thy skull to bludgeon down walls." Luna replied imperiously, earning a dry look from her older sibling. "And furthermore, I do not like thinking of things I can do naught about."

Twilight looked up at this, hesitating only a moment before she asked quietly: "But are you sure we can't do anything to help? I mean, there must be some scrying spell... and since Antares is a liaison and all and Valhalla is kind of important in the grand scheme of things..."

Celestia softened a little, like she always did when her eyes turned towards her former student, the mare who still held such an important place in the former matriarch's heart. "I wish we could, but wherever he's gone, it's out of the reach of our magic. I don't know how or why, if he found some portal or secret of Odin's locked away beneath Valhalla, that Terra is now trying to protect us from... I just know that we don't have the proper tools to find him. And until Terra agrees to tell us more about what happened, why she was able to inform us so calmly that he was... gone..."

There was silence for a moment, and then Luna huffed over at Scrivener, saying dryly: "Oh do not think that, poet. Thou saw the pain as clearly as I did in the creature's face. Whether Terra is a Caoránadux demon or not, she truly cares for Kvasir's well-being, and thou hast heard her speaking so hopefully of the day when she shall be able to introduce father to his child."

"I didn't even say anything." Scrivener said finally, and when Luna looked at him pointedly, he shook his head and returned his eyes to the manuscript, mumbling: "Fine. All the pessimistic thoughts in the world clearly come from me."

"Aye, they do." Luna huffed a bit, then turned her eyes back towards Celestia, adding: "And young Taruos carries his father's blood, Celestia... 'tis a fact, despite the fact that to this day I am still baffled by how such a large dragon and such a small Kvasir could make a baby. I still prefer to imagine that Terra secretly had a child with some other beast and 'tis only by freakish coincidence that the blood of the Aesir flows through its veins."

"And is pure enough to keep Valhalla's gates open, and the Vale in good health." Celestia said pointedly, and the sapphire mare grumbled before Celestia said gently: "Only the true heir of the King of Valhalla, and one who has the blood of the gods that once ruled this place running through his veins, could keep the Vale and the Castle from beginning to shut themselves down after a few days."

"I know, I know, shut up, Celestia." Luna complained, and then she huffed and mumbled: "Thou art nothing but a stupid buttocks. A stupid talky buttocks."

The ivory mare only smiled reassuringly, which just made Luna scowl deeper before Twilight asked hurriedly: "But if we can figure out a way to extend the range of our magic, Taruos could help us find his father, right?"

Celestia nodded, turning a gentle look to Twilight as she said softly: "It's possible, but to be entirely honest, I want to... I want to respect Terra in this. I feel like part of the reason Kvasir is gone is because of how insistent we've all been in trying to force our help on him. I believe that he's trying to protect us, even if... I don't know how, or where he is."

"Terra knows. Why don't we just force her to tell us? 'Twould be an excellent fight." Luna commented, but before anyone could reply, the front door was thrown open and Luna's attention was drawn away, the sapphire mare brightening as Innocence strode in with a warm smile on her face. "There, see! There is my daughter!"

"Our daughter." Twilight said softly, the violet mare giving an awkward smile of relief at the sight of the young mare, disguised by her usual polymorph. Then she sat up a bit, saying awkwardly: "We were getting a little worried, you and Antares are... a little late..."

The stallion that had just followed Innocence inside glanced up at this with a slight smile, and then Antares Mīrus nudged his sister firmly as he passed her, cutting her off before she could speak with: "See? I told you so. Anyway, it's all her fault."

"It is not, it's yours." the mare huffed in response, and then she looked up and added quickly: "I wanted to practice right away, but Tarry took forever to make breakfast and then eat breakfast and he ate all the bacon."

Scrivener glanced mildly over the sheaf of papers in his front hooves as Luna gave Antares a huff, but the glossy-black unicorn only rolled his eyes and reached up to tousle his little sister's mane with one hoof, making her flail grouchily and glower at him. Her older sibling winked in return, then glanced up and said warmly: "Hey guys. Good to see you all... where's Bob and the pets?"

Celestia smiled at this, reaching up automatically to touch the key dangling from one ear before she replied softly: "I'm sure Discombobulation will be along sooner or later. And Abaddon and Ratatoskr are probably off exploring the Everfree together."

"I do dearly hope one day we don't end up with half-pseudodragon, half-squirrel babies. I am not taking care of them. Nor do I believe they would be edible." Luna said mildly, and most of the eyes in the room turned to simply stare at her, while Innocence only giggled at her Móðer's warped sense of humor. "Well, 'tis true."

The sapphire mare paused, then smiled suddenly at Innocence as she slipped out of her chair, striding towards her before reaching up and pulling her into a firm, surprising hug. Innocence winced a bit in surprise, blinking dumbly before Luna pushed her daughter back and gazed down at her fondly. "Thou art special, Innocence. And today, we have called thee here for a special purpose, have we not, my family?"

Antares sat back, gazing down at his sister fondly as Scrivener put down the manuscript and stood up, joining Luna in front of their daughter. Twilight did as well after a moment, gazing over her child with love and the faintest hint of anxiety: it made Innocence cock her head curiously as she shifted a little from claw-to-claw, wondering uneasily what was going on.

Then Celestia finally stood with a sigh and a smile of her own, but she bowed her head courteously to Luna when the sapphire mare glared at her older sibling, and the starry-maned winged unicorn nodded firmly once before turning her eyes towards Twilight. Twilight only shifted awkwardly, however, and by now Innocence was starting to look nervous, so Luna simply plunged ahead: "We have decided that, as thou art our child, inheritor of the bloodline of the Valkyries... if thou so desires it, we shall train thee to become one."

Innocence reared back in surprise, then she looked up and mouthed wordlessly before asking uncertainly: "Wait, like... protecting Valhalla and stuff? I mean, I'd be... where would I be trained or..."

Luna traded amused smiles with Celestia, and Twilight was quick to lean forwards and reassure: "No, no, you'd stay here, don't worry about that, you'll still be staying on this world... but it'll mean intensifying your training, working under Luna and Celestia more, and... changing your studies a little. It would come with a lot of responsibilities, but... we've been talking about it a lot and we think you're ready if you want to... to focus on that, Innocence."

The young mare looked back and forth, and then she brightened a bit before looking over her shoulder at Antares. But the stallion only shrugged and smiled in return, saying softly: "Hey, I didn't really have anything to do with it. And I think you should think about it, Sin, but... you're always talking about what direction you want to take your life and... this might give you a taste of just what that means. If I'd known what I was going to get myself into, believe me, I would have followed in Scarlet's hooves."

Luna huffed at this, then she stepped forwards to poke at Antares, making him wince back a bit and slap lightly at his mother's crystalline horn. "Cease that, traitorous cur. Scarlet Sage is a fine warrior, she is just not as beholden to the battlefield as we are. Besides, thou art a messenger boy. A silly messenger boy. Silly messenger boy."

The sapphire mare stepped forwards and swung her soulstone horn down as it took on a brighter sheen, but this time it was met by Antares' own horn as he smiled slightly, then firmly flicked and twisted upwards to repel his mother. Luna stumbled backwards with a look of surprise... but it quickly turned into a wide grin before she yelled and leapt forwards, and Antares winced even as he grinned himself, their horns crashing together as Luna began to fiercely foil against her child.

Scrivener and Twilight only watched with matching dry expressions as the two stumbled away from them, and Celestia winced as Luna attempted to sling Antares into a shelf, but the stallion managed to drive his horn down and almost force her into a pin. Then the ivory mare sighed as they thankfully both danced away from the shelves while still shoving and slashing at each other, saying clearly: "If you or your son damages anything, Luna, I'm going to make you clean it up."

"Oh, cease being so stuffy, I am graceful as a bird!" Luna retorted, then she parried an attack from Antares before stepping forwards and slamming her head into his hard enough to knock them both stumbling senselessly, Scrivener and Twilight both wincing and grabbing at their own skulls as Innocence laughed and clapped her claws excitedly.

Luna grinned dumbly, then shook herself out before leaping back towards Antares, forcing him into a hurried retreat. Celestia shook her head slowly, then cleared her throat to draw Innocence's attention back to her before she explained in a surprisingly-neutral voice, in spite of the havoc her little sister was wreaking just a few feet away: "Your mother and I have discussed this, and... it's honestly difficult for me to think about, but I do agree that you're ready to be tested. We never recruited Valkyries in the old days: there were simply forty of them, for me to train and hone from the start."

Celestia smiled after a moment at these old memories, and then she shook her head slowly, forcing herself to ignore the sound of the table being knocked out of position on the other side of the room, even as both Twilight and Scrivener stared over their shoulders with something like horror at the mess Antares and Luna were starting to make. "Times have changed, though, and... I understand that we must adapt ourselves. We've already faced so much, and for six years Valhalla has been without a true ruler. Taruos has much to learn still, and Terra's interest in rule extends only to ensuring the Heavenly Council doesn't overstep its bounds.

"I feel that if... Valhalla wasn't forced to rely on outside allies, we wouldn't be in the situation we are now. Valhalla needs to be stronger, and the layers themselves need to be better protected." Celestia paused, then glanced over her shoulder as Luna and Antares crashed into each other, horns slashing back and forth fiercely before Celestia whistled sharply, and both of the ponies stumbled awkwardly apart and looked lamely at the ivory winged unicorn. "I think that's enough for the moment. Besides, Luna. You said that you three wanted to test Innocence yourselves."

Innocence looked up in surprise, but then she nodded firmly several times as she fidgeted a bit on the spot, even as Twilight said reassuringly: "But it's okay if you don't want to, and we're not going to do it all today, and we-"

"You're doing it again, Twilight." Scrivener said mildly, and the Lich blushed a bit even as she looked at him flatly, but the stallion only shrugged before he turned his eyes towards his daughter, saying softly: "I know you don't actually have... any kind of idea what you really want to do with your life, which I'm pretty sure you get from me. I know you also want to make yourself the best person you can be, which I'm thinking you get from your Mother, and I'm more glad for that than I can say."

Scrivener glanced up for a moment at Twilight with a smile, and the violet mare blushed and shifted slightly even as she smiled warmly in return. Then the stallion returned his eyes to his daughter, continuing: "This is... this is a good way to help you understand... more of everything, I think. You've got a lot of potential, Sin, and we all want to help you make the most of it. Nurture your strengths and... help you conquer your weaknesses."

Innocence blushed and nodded a little, then she rubbed awkwardly at one foreleg before glancing up and asking lamely: "This isn't like... you guys trying to pass off sending me to military school because I've caused so much trouble, right?"

"Oh, Innocence. As if thou hast managed to cause even half as much trouble as I have." Luna replied wryly, and then the starry-maned mare shook her head with a laugh that made her crystalline prosthetic gleam a little brighter. "Nay, fear not. But we will be expecting much more of thee, daughter. And I wish for thou to know, here and now, that... if thou feels at any point thou cannot handle thyself, or that this is not the course which thou desires thy life to take, thou just needs say so and we shall amend things as best we can."

"I can always find you an opening in the Canterlot Magic Academy, Innocence. Or in one of Subterra's universities, if you preferred." Twilight added, and Innocence shifted lamely as the violet mare smiled and softened a little. "Even though I know... you do better learning with... hooves-on things."

Innocence nodded awkwardly a few times, sitting up before Scrivener shrugged and traded amiable looks with Luna. "Well, neither of us ever managed much with academics."

"True. Although I am proud to say I am less the academic than thou art, considering thou hast taught a damned class on writing more than once." Luna replied pointedly, and Scrivener looked back at her with mild amusement. Then the sapphire mare looked thoughtfully at Twilight, as she gave them both almost-pleading eyes. "But thou art the epitome of... nerd, aye? Nerdiness. 'Tis as bad as Celestianess. 'Tis a good thing thou art so secretly-wicked or thou would be the stuffiest of all Liches."

Twilight sighed tiredly, and Innocence smiled a little before Celestia took up the conversation before it could go on any further tangents, drawing the young mare's attention as she said: "I just have one thing I need you to promise me, Innocence. That you will not, unless supervised, try and use your thaumaturge powers. Although I can see that you were experimenting a little with them earlier, weren't you?"

Innocence grinned lamely as Luna tilted her head curiously, but both Scrivener and Twilight winced a bit. The young mare shifted awkwardly under the looks she received, then – as she always did whenever she was caught – she turned a lame grin towards Luna first, asking after a moment: "Well, I gotta learn to control them, right? And who better than Antares?"

"Well, Scrivener Blooms, perhaps." Luna answered, and when Innocence looked at her pointedly and her partners glowered at her, the sapphire mare slowly turned her eyes to the latter before brightening. "Oh, 'twas a metaphorical question!"

"Rhetorical." Scrivener corrected, and then he winced when Luna huffed and leaned over to bop him firmly with her horn.

He glowered at her, while Twilight turned her eyes back to Innocence. "Look, I understand what it's like to... to have these powers you want to master. But I don't think you're ready for that yet... when I was your age I still thought that mustache and age spells were the height of magical mastery. You're exploring entire... pantheons of magic that, when I was a filly, were thought of as just myth..."

"Um, Momma, not to be mean or anything, but saying 'when I was a filly' really doesn't have the effect I think you're going for when you're kind of. An undead immortal." Innocence said awkwardly, and Scrivener cleared his throat loudly, then both he and Luna hurriedly looked away when Twilight glared at them, while Celestia smiled despite herself and Antares coughed loudly into his hoof. "I mean, it was... what... a century ago now?"

"I'm not that old!" Twilight almost blurted, and then she shook her head quickly before clearing her throat and saying awkwardly: "Look, let's... okay. I just mean that you have lots of time to learn lots of different types of magic, you don't have to rush towards mire thaumaturgy yet."

Innocence sighed and looked pleadingly towards Luna, but the sapphire mare only shrugged and said after a moment: "Thou knows I must agree with Twilight, daughter. Otherwise she shan't have sex with me. Does thou remember the sex talk?"

"Oh god, okay, nevermind." Innocence winced and leaned away with a shiver before she turned her eyes quickly to Celestia, promising finally: "I won't use any of my thaumaturge abilities unless someone asks me to, okay?"

"Thank you. I'm going to hold you to that promise." Celestia said calmly, and then she glanced over at Antares, adding: "And please don't encourage your little sister to use her powers, even if you can neutralize the mire."

"Lame. See? I knew I'd get blamed for it somehow." Antares said pointedly, and Luna grunted before her son grunted back, the two trading looks and firm nods with each other.

Scrivener sighed a little, slumping his shoulders and unsure of whether or not he was happy that Luna and Antares were now getting along so well. He shook his head out after a moment, then turned his eyes towards his daughter, hesitating only a moment before asking finally: "Well, do you want to go out and try to work with the mire?"

Innocence brightened at this as Twilight looked nervously at Scrivener, but Luna grinned widely as well: something that only further encouraged Innocence. Antares and Celestia, meanwhile, traded amused looks before the glossy-black unicorn said mildly: "Well, fun as it would be to watch Sin play in the mud, I'm going to go visit Scarlet Sage. I promised I'd stop in and see her and the kids before I left. But yeah, yeah, don't worry Sin. I'll be back for a little while tonight before I head back to Valhalla."

"I think I'll walk with you. I'd like to talk to Scarlet about something, and on the way back we'll have to stop in and see Sleipnir." Celestia smiled over at Antares, who nodded in response before the ivory winged unicorn reached up and lightly touched Scrivener's shoulder. "Try and keep the concentration low. For your sake as much as hers."

Scrivener smiled lamely, while Luna blew a raspberry loudly at Celestia's back as the larger winged unicorn strode calmly towards the door. Antares checked his mother lightly as he passed, and Luna huffed and firmly bodychecked him in return, knocking him staggering with a wince before he stuck his tongue out over his shoulder at her, but the sapphire mare only made a face in return as he stumbled out the door after his aunt.

Twilight and Scrivener traded looks as Innocence giggled and half-covered her mouth, and then the stallion sighed before reaching up and flicking Luna's horn firmly, making it ring out a long, sonorous note and the mare wince and grab hurriedly at her head. Then the stallion turned back towards his daughter, gesturing at her with his head. "Here, come on in for a few minutes, get something to eat. I've gotta finish up this page."

Twilight nodded with a smile, gesturing to her daughter and asking quickly as she began to lead her towards the kitchen: "How did your thaumaturgy go? I mean, I'm not encouraging it of course... I want you to learn to master it but in a safer way than... I mean, are you okay?"

Innocence nodded, smiling at her mother despite the faintest hint of exasperation in her eyes, and Luna chuckled quietly to herself as she watched the two head for an archway at the back of the expansive library, near the set of stairs leading to the second floor and the guest room. The sapphire mare turned her eyes towards Scrivener after Innocence and Twilight vanished around the corner, and then she asked softly: "She is doing better, aye?"

"Yeah, I think she is. She's just... fierce." Scrivener smiled a little, glancing up for a moment from straightening his spilled papers, and then he sighed as he marked off where he had finished editing to with a pen. "I'm glad, though. Sin's a great little girl, she just... needs to be a little more in control. And... motherly as Twilight is, it comes from a good place."

"Aye, although I think I will have to point out to her again tonight she is being too clingy. She must try to be more of a 'cool' parent, as I am." Luna said with a nod, and Scrivener rolled his eyes in amusement before he bit his lower lip as he looked awkwardly at the manuscript, but Luna only favored him with an amused look. "Oh come now, Scrivener Blooms. No one is going to steal thy silly papers. This is not just a library, 'tis Celestia's library."

"Less worried about people stealing, more worried about people reading." Scrivener muttered, and then he sighed and pushed himself away from the table, shaking out his rough white mane before he approached the sapphire mare, and Luna turned towards him with an entertained look in her eyes. "I really hate sharing any of my work with the world. Even if I'm glad Underbrush let the hype die down."

Luna rolled her eyes at this, then she poked his chest firmly, asking mildly: "And remember how thou felt when thou received that letter in the mail about I Am, You Are?"

Scrivener looked meditatively at Luna, then remarked: "Whenever you say 'you,' it always sounds like 'poo' in my ears, thanks to the way you pronounce things. Or thou pronounces things, I should say."

"Thou art poo." Luna huffed and bopped him firmly with her horn, making him wince before she poked his chest gently. "Scrivy, thou hast value. Thou art worthwhile. Thy writing is not nearly as awful as thou makes it out to be, and best of all, we have a family that is whole."

The stallion smiled a little at this thought, bowing his head forwards and closing his eyes for a moment before he nodded slowly, murmuring: "Yeah. And that feels way better than any award I've ever won, Luna. Although it's really awkward that, you know, the kids seem to think you're also one of our kids."

"Stop implying that I am old." Luna huffed, and then she poked lightly at Scrivener Blooms with her horn, adding imperiously: "And furthermore, it goes to show that I have an enviable relationship with my children. Scarlet Sage looks up to me, Antares Mīrus and I are friends, and Innocence adores me. I am adorable."

Scrivener only rolled his eyes in amusement, then he leaned forwards... and was promptly stopped from saying anything by Luna leaning up and kissing him. Their mouths worked together for a few slow moments before Luna pulled back with a pleased smile, then she pushed her hooves against his chest and leaned up with a wink. "Having such wonderful children only strengthens my desire to have more. Although admittedly it helps that the process is quite fun, too."

The stallion cleared his throat awkwardly at this, then he reached up and carefully pushed Luna backwards, but she only grinned and seized one of his hooves. And, as her own hooves firmly massaged against it, the stallion couldn't help but smile a bit as his hoof clicked loudly, then split apart into dexterous claws made of a flexible but solid dark material.

Scrivener reached this up, gently stroking into Luna's starry locks, feeling them rippling and flowing around his digits as the two gazed at one another tenderly. It felt wonderful; hell, on days like today, everything felt wonderful, and moments like this were breaths of pure bliss. For the last few years, after all, everything had finally been falling into place, everything had finally been starting to go the way they'd always hoped.

Yes, Kvasir vanishing had caused about six months' of apprehension and confusion, even with Terra being so... strangely sure that her husband, the King of Valhalla, would one day return from wherever he'd apparently willingly gone. Although to get up and abandon his duties... that wasn't at all like the Kvasir that they had known. And it didn't help that there had been an attempt on the administrator's life not long before he'd disappeared.

All the same, when Hell – or Hel, for that matter – hadn't attempted a hostile takeover of Heaven, when no mysterious enemies had attacked, when no one had tried to claim responsibility and Valhalla had settled into uneasy... neutrality, was probably the best word, everyone else had slowly calmed down as well. Kvasir's loss was a painful blow, dulled only slightly by Terra's odd promises that he would be back... and shortly after, the birth of the heir to the throne of Heaven, Prince Taruos.

Eventually, things had begun to... heal, for lack of a better word. Although maybe there really was no better word to describe the process, because like a healing wound, it itched, and it ached, even as little by little it sealed closed. And now, here they were: the wound was mostly gone, they were all trying to move forwards with their lives, and yet there was still a scar, and still the faintest, strangest itch that they were doing their very best to ignore.

Then Scrivener and Luna both looked up as Innocence cleared her throat loudly, her glowing horn levitating a cup of tea beside her as she said pointedly: "Mutt, I really love you and all but... you and Dad have a really weird relationship."

The stallion awkwardly drew back, quickly pulling his claw away and hurriedly shaking it out before he gave a lame smile and a small shrug, while Luna only huffed, replying mildly: "Mutt has the best relationship ever, thank thou kindly, Sin. I only hope that one day thou art able to find a relationship half as strange and fulfilling as mine is."

Twilight sighed, but smiled all the same when she stepped up beside her daughter, glancing down at her and murmuring: "I'm sure she will. Our little girl's very special, after all."

Innocence gave Twilight a half-pleading, half-thankful look, and Luna leaned forwards, concentrating on the Lich's horn. After a moment, Twilight twitched as energy sparked along the spire, the mare blinking dumbly before she looked over at the winged unicorn as Luna said kindly: "She knows she is, mother of my children. For she was sired by me after all, was she not?"

Twilight sighed as Innocence groaned and turned a begging look towards Luna, complaining: "Móðer! I really don't want to hear the scary story about how... you know..."

"How thou came to be between three parents?" Luna asked cheerfully, and Innocence nodded morbidly several times even as she strode over to the out-of-place table. She sat down at it with a huff, and the sapphire mare grinned widely as she pranced over to her daughter, even as Twilight fidgeted worriedly and Scrivener only sighed and smiled despite himself. "Well, 'tis very easy when there is only one stallion and my two pretty mares."

Luna winked over at Scrivener, and Innocence smiled after a moment despite the huff she gave, shoving at her mother lightly as she came close, but Luna only grinned and dropped her head forwards, bulling playfully forwards. "And since thou art so much like me, I must be father!"

And after a moment, Sin laughed, and Twilight sighed and shook her head despite the warm smile that crested her features. For a moment, she admittedly feel... the faintest sting of envy. Luna was so good with their kids, after all, and Innocence just about worshiped the ground that her Mutt and Daddy walked on. While she was just the... motherly mother, the worrier, and the nagger.

The Lich shook her head a little, feeling... embarrassed by her own thoughts as Luna looked up softly, and then the sapphire mare slipped back from Innocence and reached up to ruffle her daughter's mane gently. "Drink up thy tea, and perhaps if thou art very good, we shall make thy father show off the full extent of his powers and he can give us a ride back into town."

"Okay, Mutt! I'd like that a lot, Daddy..." Innocence turned a big, open smile on Scrivener Blooms, and the charcoal stallion groaned and shifted awkwardly, then tried to turn away. But it was impossible: when Innocence gave him that look, he was as helpless to look away as a wild deer stranded in bright light.

Finally, he sighed tiredly and slumped, nodding moodily once as he mumbled: "Okay, okay. I'll think about it. But it's not really something I should do just for fun and games, it's... tricky. Like solving one of those puzzle blocks really fast."

"Thou art just a complainer, Scrivener Blooms." replied the sapphire mare mildly, and the stallion sighed tiredly and rolled his eyes as Innocence giggled a little. Then the younger mare smiled as Luna reached up and squeezed her shoulder gently. "Although I suppose it does run in the family. Thou should hear Twilight, who has adopted too many of Scrivy's bad habits, or Antares, or thyself."

"I don't whine that much, Móðer!" Innocence laughed and nudged the sapphire mare firmly with her shoulder, and Luna smiled amusedly as she pushed back against her daughter. Then the unicorn swept up her mug in her claws and guzzled the contents quickly, and Twilight winced as Scrivener reflected there was a lot to be said for nurture over nature with the way Innocence had turned out, in spite of being Twilight's child.

The young mare firmly set the mug back down, then she belched loudly, making Luna grin but Scrivener and Twilight both look pointedly in the direction of their daughter. After a moment, Innocence cleared her throat, tapping at her breast and saying awkwardly: "Excuse me."

"Thou art excused. Now come, come, 'tis time for us to get going." Luna said positively, and Innocence brightened as she hopped out of her chair, looking eagerly towards Scrivener Blooms.

Luna and Twilight both looked at him as well, and the stallion sighed inwardly but smiled all the same. It kind of annoyed him sometimes how they all had come to have their little... assigned positions, the places where they were each in charge. Sure, Twilight always had the last word when it came to Sin, being her birth mother and all... but the violet mare trusted them both, and let them handle their own areas of expertise.

Luna was always in charge of training Sin, running her through drills, testing her physically... Twilight herself could clearly handle teaching her own daughter magic. And Scrivener, of course, was supposed to help Sin learn about the one thing that the two mares couldn't teach: how to handle her powers, and the Clay of Prometheus: the black corruption.

The stallion hesitated, raising his claw and studying it for a moment before he cleared his throat and self-consciously clenched it into a fist. As the digits lined up, the claw clicked and locked together, forming into the near-perfect replica of a hoof, and Scrivener smiled faintly before he shook his head and looked up. "Okay, okay. Let's head outside of town... not into the Everfree, but along it to that empty sandlot. It'll be good practice."

"Thanks, Daddy. I'd really like that." Innocence said softly, looking up with a bright smile before she asked curiously: "So can we... I mean, can't you maybe..."

"No." Scrivener said dryly, already knowing what she was beginning to get at: he had something more than just his power over the mire at his disposal, after all, but he thought he still hadn't managed to get the seriousness of the Black Verses across to Sin. "We've talked about that before. That's not something we're going to try and work with."

Innocence grumbled a little, and then she finally nodded. The stallion smiled a little, relieved that she hadn't further pressed the subject as Twilight reassured: "We do trust you, Innocence. It's more that... it hurts the user, too. I don't think any of us want you exposed to that."

Sin mumbled a bit more, then she finally sighed and nodded before wheedling: "But you'll at least let me work the mire by myself, right? Right?"

"C'mon, kiddo." Scrivener said after a moment, smiling despite himself: Luna's whining and Twilight's eagerness to learn mixed in a very odd way in Innocence.

The stallion turned towards the door, pushing through and leading the mares out. Sin bounced up to her father's side with a bright smile, while Luna and Twilight traded amused looks as they lingered a little behind... but not too far, thanks in part to the soul link between Luna and Scrivener.

It was their blessing, but it was also their curse, in a way: they could no longer be more than forty feet apart, and they were constantly aware of one another's thoughts and emotions. On some level, that communication had always been there, and was often willingly shared between them or happening during moments of extreme stress or emotion or even just surprise... but now it was happening like an almost constant flow, with a sensation like someone was always looking over your shoulder and breathing heavily in your ear...

It took some getting used to.

Twilight was gazing softly at Luna, and the sapphire mare blushed slightly as she glanced to the side, then huffed and grumbled: "Oh, do not pity me so, I am not a filly crying over spilt milk. Thou art a filly."

Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling gently, looking tenderly at the sapphire mare as she said quietly: "But you still wouldn't have things any other way, right?"

"Aye. I suppose not." Luna said after a moment, and then she shook her head and mumbled: "But 'tis still annoying, my dearest mare. I do not want to lose my link with Scrivy, nay. I only desire to be able to throw him to safety every so often."

"Always with his best in mind, right?" the Lich asked mildly, and Luna huffed even as she nodded firmly several times. "You know, you're a little..."

"I am a miracle." Luna said staunchly, and Twilight laughed... then laughed louder when Luna leaned over and drew sloppy, tickling kisses up the side of her neck and over her cheek, before their mouths met when the Lich half-turned towards her, giggles silenced by the long kiss shared with the mare she trusted with her soul.

Innocence glanced over her shoulder, then groaned and rolled her eyes, calling loudly: "Oh come on, Mutt! Don't be so gross!"

"Thou art just jealous thou does not have pretty mares to kiss!" Luna shot back the moment the kiss broke, and then she added quickly, in a flash of what to her was brilliance: "Thou art just envious and frustrated that we art thy parents and thou shan't be able to make out with us thyself!"

Innocence stared, then retorted suddenly, before she even knew what she was going to say: "Well, you have dog breath anyway!"

"Dog breath! Dog breath! Thy... thy face is dog breath!" Luna shouted, half-incredulous and half-furious as she danced back and forth on her hooves, while Twilight only coughed loudly, trying her hardest not to encourage Innocence. Scrivener, on the other hoof, laughed loudly, which made Sin look exceptionally pleased with herself.

Finally, Luna calmed and grumbled, glowering at their daughter's back as Scrivener and Sin turned around to continue down the road. "Dog breath."

Twilight gently patted Luna on the back, and the starry-maned mare grumbled a little. Then the sapphire mare looked back and forth at the familiar landscape of the village around them, sighing moodily before she mumbled: "Dog breath."

The Lich smiled comfortingly as she started forwards and Luna trundled along beside her. Soon enough, though, her eyes drew away from the mare and along the fronts of the pretty, traditional houses with wooden frames and straw rooftops, and the updated, more-modernized ones with siding and trim and more metal amongst the raw wood. Likewise, old oil lamps stood beside newly-built electric streetlights, melding the once-future and the once-past together into a present that was struggling to find a balance between the good old and the fascinating new...

And most importantly, of course, there were the other citizens. The ponies of Ponyville... and alongside them, Nibelung, and demons, and so many other species and creatures that the name of the town harkened now to a day long past, when ponies had dominated Equestria alone. Now there were many races, many different peoples, many different cultures... Twilight wanted to believe they were better this way, but sometimes she longed for when everything had been simpler.

Then Luna interrupted her thoughts by turning almost-pleading eyes back to her, exclaiming: "Dog breath!"

"You don't have dog breath, Luna." Twilight soothed, and the sapphire winged unicorn grunted and nodded, looking pacified for now. "But you know, maybe around Sin we should tone it down more... studies show that-"

"She is sixteen years old, Twilight Sparkle, and she is smart and strong and most of all, stubborn." Luna interrupted, looking pointedly at the violet mare. "'Twill be fine. She will not grow up to be a prostitute because she has seen her mothers kissing. But I love her so much I fear, that if she did desire to be a prostitute with all her heart, if 'twas the goal she set her eyes upon, I would support her in her choice of career and spare no expense in aiding her to become the greatest prostitute Equestria has ever seen!"

Twilight stared at Luna with something like horror, and Luna only smiled cheerfully in response before adding brightly: "Well, 'tis Equestria's oldest profession, and one that never sees a downturn. So think of what an honor 'twould be to be named the world's greatest prostitute!"

Ahead, Innocence glanced over her shoulder curiously as Twilight began to rant away at Luna, but Scrivener only said amiably to his daughter: "Don't worry. They're just uh... arguing about your future, that's all. What kind of job they think you should have."

"I want to be a cosmonaut and go to the moon!" Innocence proclaimed. Scrivener Blooms only quirked an eyebrow at her, unsure of whether or not his daughter was serious – or what the hell was a 'cosmonaut' was – until the young mare continued with a smile: "Cowlick was telling me about them the other day. They're ponies who go into space by machines and magic... isn't that incredible? Cowlick says they're building the world's first rocket ship right now, and trying to train these people called cosmonauts to ride in them, but they only accept the strongest and the smartest."

"Yeah?" Scrivener smiled after a moment, looking at his daughter tenderly. He didn't know why, but... it was a little different from how it had been with Antares and Scarlet Sage. With Scarlet Sage, there was tenderness, with Antares, he felt such pride... with Innocence, he felt... adoration. She was his baby girl and he'd do anything he could to protect her. "So you'd have to be smart as your mother and strong as Móðer, is that it?"

"And tough as you." Innocence gazed up at her father, and Scrivener only laughed and shook his head, gazing at her fondly. "I want to be strong, Daddy. I want to carry the strength of all my parents inside of me."

"One day, I'm sure you will." Scrivener said softly, and then he shook his head before glancing ahead and adding, as they began to approach the open gates leading out through the secure, heavy bulwark surrounding Ponyville: "Just try and remember to be a kid now and then, okay?"

Innocence only shrugged and smiled, and there was silence as they passed through the gates, Luna and Twilight both hurrying to catch up to them. Twilight nodded to the guards as they passed: a pair of the wolf-pig Nibelung, one of the dwarves holding up an axe and the other saluting them with a smile, tusks gleaming out of their lupine muzzles of the squat, strong-built bipeds.

"Does thou know how to tell a male dwarf from a female dwarf?" asked Luna loudly the moment they were out of earshot, and Scrivener looked pleadingly over his shoulder at her as he picked up the sound of mischief even before her thoughts filtered over to him. "'Tis very simple! If 'tis wearing armor, 'tis a male. If 'tis buck naked, 'tis a male. If 'tis in a skirt... 'tis most assuredly a male. There are no female dwarves because no mare is dumb enough to be one."

Innocence laughed at this, and Scrivener looked dryly at Luna before Twilight said quickly: "Actually, they still have a very male-dominated society, that's all... the birthrate of females is only around twelve percent, according to a recent study, and the Nibelung still have very-"

"Lots of guys, only a few not-guys, you do the math." Scrivener said mildly, and then he added: "But they all live for... thousands and thousands of years and they're born and raised really fast. And there's an old legend that some ancient Architect discovered way to chisel dwarves out of stone and bring them to life..."

"Momma knows facts, Daddy knows stories, Mutt tells bad jokes." Innocence looked up with a smile of amusement, and the ponies looked at each other awkwardly before the mare asked curiously: "Can they and ponies have babies? Ponies and dragons can, right?"

"Ask thy aunt, she knows much about making babies with strange creatures." Luna said cheerfully, and Innocence nodded seriously as Twilight sighed and Scrivener shook his head in wry amusement, before they turned off the path to head through the rolling, verdant fields that surrounded the town: what parts weren't occupied by farmland and cottages, that was, or places like the animal care center and its pastures and corrals.

Innocence brightened as she looked up and noted the empty lot in the distance, near the edge of the Everfree: after some more wrangling with Mayor Monkshood, they would eventually be building an enormous botany center out here, to study the Everfree Forest. Something that, oddly enough, had never really been done in great detail... but in the past, Celestia had tried to avoid anything wild or outside of her webwork of controls, right up until she'd come to realize how much she needed a little chaos in her life.

But that was a story for another day, as Innocence called brightly: "I'm ready, guys! Don't keep me waiting, I really wanna prove that I can do this!"

"Well, thou heard her, Scrivy." Luna said mildly, and the stallion sighed but nodded after a moment, giving an amused shake of his head as he continued to linger a little. But when Twilight Sparkle only sighed and shrugged, he couldn't help but nod, starting forwards with more intent and strangely looking forwards to finding out just how strong his daughter had gotten... and feeling a strange sense of longing for the days when she had just been a child playing with her old doll Dinah, instead of a young mare looking to grow into the shoes of a Valkyrie.

Chapter Three: The Family That Plays Together...

~BlackRoseRaven

What Innocence had been taught to believe was that when you were training with someone, you didn't try to injure them, you didn't try to kill them... but you did give it every fiber of your being. And while killing or maiming them was absolutely unacceptable, if someone wasn't at least getting a few cuts and bruises, there was something wrong. When you pulled your punches, you dishonored both yourself and your opponent.

She knew her mother sometimes held back in her magic studies, and Scrivener hesitated at first... but then some instinct inside of him always took over, and he would gear up from treating her with kit gloves and training wheels to being just as tough as her Móðer was. And Innocence respected that, liked that... needed that. She needed to know her parents' real strength, what they were capable of, how strong they were, so she knew how hard to push herself in training... so she had a goal not to simply reach, but to one day surpass.

Because she was also well aware that they would always have the edge of experience on her. And with how hard Luna Brynhild pushed them all, they would likely always be stronger than her, too. The prideful, strangely-needy part of her hated this and wanted to prove it was untrue; the part of Innocence that would always be the child of her parents desperately wanted it to never be proven wrong, because she wanted her parents to always remain her teachers, her heroes... and maybe be able to kick her ass a little if she ever needed it.

Right now, she was caught between those two worlds: the desire and need to do better, to be better than everyone around her, and the fascination and adoration she had for her mother, father, and Móðer.

Innocence grinned, both in excitement and in awe of her father's strength as she leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding a wave of black, dark corruption that ripped along the ground where she had been standing only a moment before. It hardened as it passed, and instead of crashing it down, it became a massive wall of black gemstone that cut off her easiest escape.

Most of the enormous square of dead land they had chosen as a training ground had been transformed into a boggy, black rectangle of mire that felt... warm, and exciting beneath Innocence's claws. But the strength it was feeding her was nothing compared to the strength that her father was able to draw from it, as Scrivener shoved a claw of his own into the muck before he gritted his teeth as he snapped it upwards.

It left a crescent-shaped trail of mire that hardened almost immediately, becoming a moon-shaped blade. Then he gestured sharply towards where his daughter was standing, battered and bruised but grinning so widely, with such near-joy, even as the blade of mire was launched upwards on a dark appendage of mire before the gangly black tentacle twisted around and slung the blade straight at her.

And without moving, Innocence snapped her head forwards and blew the blade apart with a bolt of magic energy. She felt so alive. She felt so good. She felt such love for her family, that shone so bright at times like this, honored by the battle and the connection, feeling such dedication and... pleasure and... remembering when she had earned her cutie mark.

Innocence leapt up, and Scrivener winced: he was hitting her hard, and Innocence was again showing just how much she was like Luna with the fact she was clearly enjoying it, if anything. And he also reflected again on how Antares had seemed so talented, so skilled, even when he was young, he had never been quite as much a prodigy as Sin. Not in the sense of skill, of course: even after how long they had spent coaching her, training her, shaping her, she still wasn't a clean or precise fighter. Rather, what was prodigal – and frightening – about her was her raw destructive potential.

Sin leaned forwards, her eyes and horn both lighting up with the same dark, powerful aura as the raw waves of magic shredded what was left of her polymorphic disguise, her fangs baring and her sharp teeth glinting like knives as she shouted: no words, just an exclamation of instinct.

Scrivener winced and shoved his unfolded claws down into the mire in front of himself, and the mire rippled before exploding upwards: not in an attack, but instead forming a domed wall in front of himself. And he felt Luna hurriedly feeding more strength, more energy into him as well, the walls crystallizing into black gemstone before there was a tremendous, singular bang.

The wall was shattered, chunks of debris and splatters of mire flying in every direction as Scrivener was sent skidding backwards with a wince, and Innocence flopped out of the air a moment later in a smoldering mess, her mane charred, her eyes wide and stunned and stupefied as she landed on her back and twitched a little. Twilight was already hurrying in from the sidelines towards her daughter, while Luna only rolled her eyes with an amused smile before she strode towards the stallion, looking over at him with entertainment.

The stallion coughed a few times, then he dug his claws moodily against the dark ooze before shaking his white mane out, looking dryly over at Luna as he said dryly: "You and Twilight told me that she'd stopped flaring up."

"'Tis not her fault, she is suffering that awkward time where her body is going from child to adult." the sapphire mare replied placidly, shrugging before she glanced towards the destroyed defensive barrier, which had been crumbled almost completely by the raw blast of unfocused power: Scrivener was a little scared of what it was going to be like when Innocence learned to actually focus all that strength in her body.

Twilight, meanwhile, was hurriedly brushing her daughter off, half-lecturing her, half-worrying over her as Innocence sat uneasily up, still a little too drained and blank to understand what the hell was going on. Scrivener and Luna both looked towards this, and both shared the same smile for a moment even as their eyes drew towards one-another's, and they felt that same twist inside of themselves, that same set of thoughts ran through their minds.

They weren't stupid: they knew that Innocence wasn't just a mix of their best qualities. She had all the things that made them strong, but also all the things that made them weak: lust for power, a lack of self control, and... anger. No, worse than anger: bitterness. The way she would snap at people who made her unhappy was nothing compared to the way she would cling to a slight, fuming over it, working herself up more and more as she clutched it with all the vengeful avarice of a dragon holding an empty chest to remind herself of the theft she had suffered.

But she was their daughter, their wonderful little girl... and she was no Midnight Hour, no matter how often their minds insisted on trying to compare her to their prodigal child from Because Love Conquers All. She knew about honor, and that everything had limits, felt remorse. She was no spoiled brat: sure, they treated her wonderfully. They also made sure she was punished when she did something wrong and she had to earn anything she truly wanted.

Part of the real reason why they wanted her to get this new training was not only to just get a fuller understanding of her heritage and the lifestyle, but also to try and help reinforce those lessons of honor, and maybe get Innocence a few more friends, and a few other things to fight for apart from herself and her... desire for power.

Then both Scrivener and Luna started forwards, pushing any other worries aside or now as the sapphire mare called cheerfully, only forcing a little bit of the pleasure of seeing her daughter excel: "Most excellent, my daughter! Thou art truly the better in the fight, but that is not much considering 'tis Scrivy thou wert paired against."

"I was not, Mutt, Daddy could have easily beaten me, I think." Innocence mumbled embarrassedly, but Scrivener only smiled awkwardly and shrugged a little. Innocence might not believe it herself, but she really was able to put up a hell of a fight.

Luna shrugged amiably as well, and Twilight Sparkle gently brushed at her daughter again, making the young mare grumble a little before the Lich said softly: "You did really well. But again, Innocence, you really need to work on control..."

"I... I am! I have lots of control!" Innocence argued, shaking her head quickly, and then she shook herself quickly out and sat up straighter as the bruises and scratches over her body slowly but visibly healed; Scrivener couldn't help but glance down, studying the dark mire around his daughter, and the way it was... rippling. How through the dark ooze, he could feel his daughter's pulse, her biorhythms, her heat and the energy that rippled through her body...

He cleared his throat after a moment, blushing slightly when he realized his family was looking at him and he had just been staring vapidly at the muck, and then he looked up and asked finally: "Twilight, can you maybe take Innocence aside and help her heal up? I'm going to clean up here."

"Well, perhaps we should have a short spar, Scrivy. It has been a while, and I should ensure thou art fit to help train and judge our daughter if thou art to help at all instead of simply sitting upon thy large rump." Luna said thoughtfully, and the stallion groaned loudly before scowling at her, but the mare only grinned in response. "A challenge! I accept!"

"What, what the hell are you-" Scrivener started, and then he yelped when Luna tackled him backwards into the mire, sending him skidding along his back before he attempted to roll backwards, but Luna kicked both lower hooves into his stomach and launched herself off him as she flapped her wings hard at the same time.

He wheezed and half-curled up with a wince on his back, and the sapphire mare landed on her hooves with a wide grin after a moment, eyes glinting challengingly. She felt the same pain reflected into her, but to Luna that only made the spar even better, even more intense: the fact they could feel each other's pain wasn't a handicap but a blessing, because it made victory all the sweeter and the training all the more worthwhile.

Scrivener grumbled as he slowly picked himself up, while Twilight sighed and gestured moodily over to the side, Innocence brightening and clapping a few times before she followed quickly. Luna stomped her hooves eagerly, raising her head proudly as if Innocence was clearly clapping for her, and then she scowled when Twilight said tiredly: "Please don't hurt each other too badly. I've made it almost two years with this body."

"Thou art right, that is extremely unnatural. We shall smash each other to bits and save thee from the oppression of thy current body. 'Tis getting fat anyway." Luna said cheerfully, and Scrivener cleared his throat and winced a bit at the smoldering look Twilight shot the sapphire mare, who shrank away a little and looked over at her awkwardly. "'Tis. 'Tis the excitement of the battle to come, that is all. I... I apologize. Thou art not fat. Thou art... coated with love-flesh."

Twilight slowly lowered her head, looking pained, and Innocence giggled loudly behind her claws before Scrivener Blooms sighed and swept up a claw's worth of mire. He lobbed this moodily at Luna, and the sapphire mare looked back towards him dumbly to take the ball of mud to the face, splattering over her features.

She blinked dumbly through the mask of mud, then leaned forwards and bared her teeth... and Scrivener leaned forwards, narrowing his eyes as he concentrated. The sapphire mare winced in surprise, then squawked loudly, grabbing wildly at her face as the muck hardened into a mask, solidifying over her eyes as Scrivener said mildly: "Hey Luna, you got something on your face. Let me help you with that."

Scrivener slammed his claws down into the ground, and there was a tremendous bang as the mire beneath Luna exploded, sending her flying into the air with a yelp, the mare flailing wildly before her wings flapped firmly and launched her higher, the mare shaking her head briskly before she concentrated with a growl as her soulstone horn began to glow. "Scrivener damned Blooms."

She focused on the link between them, and a moment later, she was seeing through the eyes of Scrivener Blooms instead of her own. She narrowed her eyes behind the mask of solidified mire, the mare gritting her teeth before she launched herself forwards, and the stallion winced as he kept his gaze on her... which worked well for the sapphire mare, letting her lock on to precisely where she was heading.

Then the stallion slammed a claw down into the ground, and a massive blade of black crystal shot up out of the darkened earth, Luna cursing and hurriedly veering to the side. Her hooves skidded through the mire as she dropped for a moment, then she twisted herself back up into the air, snapping her glowing horn down to send a blast of lightning in the direction of the stallion.

Scrivener cursed as he swung a claw up, wincing as the electricity struck this and streamed around it, sparks flying as the stallion bared his teeth. His limb trembled as energy surged over his foreleg, and he cursed in the effort of holding it back before he leaned forwards and swung his claw hard to the side, deflecting the attack away from his body.

The stallion gritted his teeth, then he slammed his claws together before drawing them quickly apart: it caused a sharp burst of pain in his forelimbs as long, thin lines of black tore through his palms, forming into floating black slivers before the stallion snapped his claw in the direction of the sapphire mare, and the splinters shot themselves at her in a burst.

Luna reacted on instinct, thanks to being able to see what the stallion was doing, and she snapped her horn down, creating a barrier of energy that intercepted the needles of black crystal. And Scrivener's eyes were back on her: combined with being able to feel him through the link, she was able to spin towards him and snap her horn to the side, firing a blue fireball at him.

Scrivener Blooms winced and slapped his claw to the side, knocking the sapphire fireball to the side before he shoved a claw down into the mire and swept savagely upwards, sending a much-larger spike of mire exploding upwards from the ground and launching towards the mare like a missile. But Luna flapped her wings hard and dove forwards, slashing her crystalline horn into this as it glowed brightly, blowing it apart into chunks of mire.

She launched herself forwards, and the stallion had a moment to look up dumbly before the winged unicorn slammed into him and drove him down onto his back. She slammed her head forwards with her moment, and there was a loud crack as the mask of mire shattered loudly against the stallion's skull, knocking him sprawling senselessly as Luna staggered dumbly backwards even as she gave a dumb donkey laugh.

Then she cleared her throat as Innocence cheered for her and Twilight rubbed slowly at her skull, but smiled despite herself as the sapphire mare stepped on top of the stallion and pinned him down in the mire. He glowered up at her, and she looked imperiously back down at him before declaring: "I am the victor, Scrivener Blooms, and thou art the loser. And fat. So there."

"Great Luna. Simply marvelous, really. You're truly showing just what kind of decorum the winner should have over the loser in battle." Scrivener said dryly, and Luna nodded in agreement, making the stallion grumble and roll his eyes before he finally muttered, shifting a little in the murk of the mire: "Well, at least I'm a little less beaten up than usual."

"Aye, because thou cheated, damn cheater." She huffed down at the stallion, then shook her head quickly before leaning down and saying pointedly: "Thou art not allowed to sling mud. Thou art no politician, and nor art thou a dung beetle. Just a beetle. A fat beetle. But that means that thou art fat, not that thou throws fat."

Innocence was just giggling away, and Twilight sighed as she shook her head slowly, but Scrivener only shrugged before he said finally: "I could be a squid. They have no spines and shoot ink and can squeeze through little holes."

The sapphire winged unicorn nodded thoughtfully, and then she and Scrivener looked at each other for a few moments before the mare stepped back and seized him, dragging him up to his claws. The stallion winced a bit, then dropped his head with a grimace when Luna bopped him firmly with her horn, then said firmly: "Now, destroy the mire."

"Oh, no, no, no! I want to try!" Innocence said hurriedly, and all eyes looked up as the young mare smiled brightly and strode forwards, gazing between her parents. "Can I?"

"I... well, okay. I guess it won't hurt." Scrivener said finally, nodding after a moment, and Twilight shifted uncomfortably before she sighed and nodded herself. Luna only shrugged a little herself, then she turned a supportive smile towards her daughter.

"Aye, 'tis a good idea and good practice for control. I must admit that 'tis a nice change to see thee attempting to learn this side of strength as well." Luna said finally, and Innocence looked up curiously. "Well, thou knows, thou usually... leans much more towards blowing things up much more... directly. Not that I do not understand, of course. I prefer to blow things up myself."

"It's kind of blowing something up." Innocence said positively after a moment, and Luna looked thoughtfully at the young mare before the odd unicorn nodded a few times, brightening a little. "It honestly kind of is. I mean. I'm like, blowing up the entire sections of land if I can do it right and stuff. That's pretty destructive, right?"

"Aye, perhaps I am thinking of this wrong." Luna said meditatively, nodding a few times as Twilight sighed and shook her head slowly, while Scrivener Blooms only did his best to repress a smile despite himself. "Very well then, raze these tracts of mire. Twilight, let us step aside."

Luna paused, then turned her attention to Scrivener for long enough to firmly bop him again with her soulstone horn before she turned and pranced away. The Lich sighed and followed, leaving Scrivener and Innocence alone along the dark sprawl of land, and the stallion smiled a little over at his daughter as he said quietly: "You did hold up pretty well, Sin. You sure you can do this, though?"

"I want to try." Innocence said stubbornly, and Scrivener sighed before he nodded a little. They looked at each other for few moments, then the stallion half-bowed and gestured to her with one of his claws, making Innocence brighten and set herself.

The unicorn breathed slowly in and out as she rose her head, her hon beginning to glow, and Scrivener smiled a little even as he felt... it was hard to describe. This just struck him as difficult to watch for some reason: not just because of how fast the years seemed to have passed, not because this was another step towards Innocence fully achieving independence and adulthood, but because... watching her trying to work with the corruption, the mire...

He had felt something a little strange from her, and he was feeling it again through the dark soil as Innocence focused her powers down into the black earth. The way it was resonating with her was different, just as the way she was reacting to it was... well, different. It was hard to describe properly.

For some reason, it brought up a weird memory of years ago, of carnage and mire, of monsters known as Tyrant Wyrms. He remembered his own unorthodox duel against one of the monsters, as they had used not brute force, but the Black Verses to fight, both trying to exert control over a battlefield made of poison until Scrivener had lost control and resorted to using something... he'd rather not think about, considering the consequences.

The stallion looked down at a claw and flexed it slowly, wondering why that memory was coming to mind as Innocence pushed against the mire, then cursed as she only manged to cancel out a little bit around herself... which quickly filled back in with poison, anyway. Scrivener looked up with a bit of a smile, watching how hard Innocence was trying and working before he felt that strange tug again, like... no, it was a stupid feeling. Innocence wasn't trying to take anything away from him.

He let her continue to try for a few minutes, until the young mare finally groaned and slumped, muscles trembling a little from her efforts and breathing hard. She looked winded, so Scrivener leaned over and said gently: "Alright, kiddo, here. Let me try, alright?"

Innocence grumbled a little, but then she nodded with a sigh, and Scrivener smiled despite himself before he turned his eyes over the mire. His claws flexed against it, but by now he was fully healed, his strength returned, and if anything, this dark poison was only feeding him more strength. But it obeyed him: he was the master of this corruption, and if he said it was time for it to vanish...

Then he winced as a rock bounced off his shoulder, before slowly turning a scowl towards Luna. She was just at the very edge of the maximum distance they could maintain, and when he glared at her, she complained: "Well, how else was I to get thy attention?"

"Oh, I don't know, it's not like I can hear your thoughts at all." Scrivener said dryly, and Luna responded to this by glaring at him and sending him several awful mental images, making him wince and shake his head hurriedly. "Yes, like... stop it! Why would you even think about things like that?"

"To torture thee. I keep a mental file on hoof of all the things thou hates, to ensure thou knows the whip awaits thee should thou screw up somehow." Luna said huffily, and the stallion gave her a moody look before she added: "Also, thou promised a show of strength."

"I. I really don't want to. We get stared at, Luna. I don't like being stared at." Scrivener said delicately, and then he paused and added moodily: "There's also the 'people flee in fear' thing, too. Which is hilarious right up until someone stabs me with a pitchfork and we get an angry mob chasing after us or something."

Luna huffed at this, then said sourly: "That has happened all of one time, Scrivy. And furthermore, 'tis not dark of night and we shall be riding upon thy back. Besides, when have I last asked anything of thee?"

"You mean excluding the sparring session we just had and... pretty much my entire life?" Scrivener asked blandly, and Luna simply glared at the stallion until he winced and grabbed at his temples, Innocence grinning between her parents and Twilight Sparkle absently poking at some stitching that had come loose on her side as she ignored the banter between the two.

Or she was trying to, rather: what she was really doing was her best to resist adding her own wheedling alongside Luna's. Awkward as it was to admit, Twilight Sparkle... liked the fact she and Scrivener and Luna were all so strange these days. She hadn't just gotten used to the darkness, she had begun to embrace it, and enjoy the shows of power, the eccentricities, the differences that came with it.

Finally, the stallion sighed before he slapped a claw against the mire, then muttered: "Alright, alright. Watch out then, Sin. I don't want to catch you up in this."

Innocence bounded over to join her maternal parents, and Scrivener looked meditatively in their direction. Luna grinned at him, and Twilight looked up with a shrug and a blush, and he felt her mind for a moment, saw the gentle request hidden in her thoughts. And the stallion sighed a little before he grudgingly nodded and muttered: "Wonderful. I guess I should be glad that my greatest function as a terrible, world-destroying monster is still always going to be 'thing for Luna to ride.'"

"Well, thou art very fun to ride. 'Tis why I must ride thee every single day. I must ride thee fiercely." Luna said seriously, and Scrivener slowly dropped his head forwards as Innocence made a face at the sapphire mare, but Luna only looked innocently back. "What? I have said nothing ill."

Scrivener shoved his claws down into the mire with a grumble, and the dark bog rippled before it began to swirl slowly around the stallion. Waves of black goo splashed upwards, splattering against him as the murk started to draw quickly inwards, twisting upwards and around the stallion as he closed his eyes and thought clearly to Luna: You're making it very tempting to squish you.

"Squish me? Thou wishes. Thou art the one always beneath me, after all." Luna replied with a wide grin, knowing Scrivener would hear her words even over the rumble of the mire rapidly gathering around him. Innocence was only staring in awe, however, and Twilight Sparkle was smiling despite herself as she watched as the corruption coalesced into a sphere around the stallion.

Scrivener could feel it pressing it from all sides, surrounding him, pushing against him, and claustrophobia fought a strange, comforting sensation as the dark ooze around him rumbled. He could feel heat and raw energy being fed into him from the near-solid corruption, and he gritted his teeth as he arched his back and let the power simply take him over.

As energy raced through him, he felt the changes: his body grew, scales spread, his mane and tail disintegrated. He felt his body reshaping itself as it pulled in the poison around him, felt himself changing and evolving inside this egg made of corruption. And outside, Luna shivered eagerly as Twilight felt her own throat go dry and her own eyes lock on the trembling sphere of poison.

The enormous orb of corruption crystallized for a moment... then finally, it cracked apart and shattered into pieces, leaving behind not a stallion, but a creature known as a Tyrant Wyrm. His taut hide of scales were ebony over most of his body, but eggshell white along the underside of his powerful form; three pairs of conical pistons of bone pumped along either side of his spine as a draconian head rose proudly, horns gleaming and mouth opening to release a sapphire rasp of poisonous smog.

Scrivener Blooms cracked his neck loudly before he shook himself out, digging his large claws against the ground as the mire around him tuned gray, drained of its energy. He smiled slightly to himself, then rumbled once in his throat as he approached the three mares, looking down on the ponies that were less than half his size.

Luna reached up the moment he drew close enough, smiling warmly as her hoof touched the collar still locked around Scrivener's neck: it was locked tightly into place still, unbroken and undamaged. Since Luna had always been fond of polymorphing Scrivener even before he had learned to transform himself, she had ensured it carried an enchantment to change along with him... and not for the first time, the winged unicorn felt more glad than she knew was healthy that they had managed to maintain the stallion's ability to shapeshift.

She looked up at him: a Tyrant Wyrm, a world-destroyer... although Scrivener was much smaller than the usual Tyrant Wyrm, and so much was different... like those chestnut irises that still gazed at her tenderly, that quirk of a smile on his face. Then the now-large, now-reptile shook his head and glanced over his shoulder, saying finally: "Alright. Come on. I hate encouraging this, though."

"Well, thy choice is to encourage me or to be beaten, Scrivy." Luna said pointedly, and the Wyrm stallion sighed and dropped his head as Innocence smiled up at her father and Twilight shook he head with a soft laugh.

Innocence's eyes trailed from Scrivener Blooms, then down to her own claw as she reached it up and flexed it slowly. For a moment, there was that mix of emotions again: love and adoration, desire to be better and stronger. She was a mix of these three ponies, she was learning to do everything that they could... and she was even more a Tyrant Wyrm than her father. One day, maybe she'd be able to...

But before she could really finish the thought, she was interrupted by Luna saying: "Now, family, there should be enough room for us all to ride. Even if Scrivy is short."

"You're short." Scrivener reached up and caught Luna by the face in one claw when she began to open her mouth, and then he firmly shoved her down, pinning her by the head as he looked down at her with entertainment. "I warned you, didn't I?"

Luna flailed uselessly beneath his claw, her rump sticking up in the air and wings flapping stupidly at her sides, and Innocence gazed with entertainment at her parents even as she bounced over to Scrivener's side, then hopped up and clawed her way onto back, making him wince a little as her sharp little digits dug against his scales. Twilight followed her daughter, while Luna only grumbled moodily before her crystalline horn glowed and unleashed a short blast of electricity, making the stallion squawk and stagger.

She popped up to her hooves, and the two glared at each other before Luna leapt up and seized into his face, the Wyrm wincing and shaking his head back and forth even as the winged unicorn scrambled hurriedly up his features like a ladder. Then she skidded down the back of his neck on her butt to all-but-fling herself into Twilight Sparkle and her daughter, knocking them both sprawling along the back of the Tyrant Wyrm as Scrivener rolled his eyes and slumped a little, mumbling: "I think I understand how the riding horses of Valhalla must feel."

"Nay, I always treated Hex much better than I treat thee. And besides, the riding horses are much more valuable." Luna replied cheerfully as she spun around and reached down to grasp the back of Scrivener's collar, while Twilight picked herself up and glared at the sapphire mare's back, and Innocence only smiled as she rolled around to comfortably lay across her father's lower spine. "Now come, Scrivy. But be aware thou must not go too fast, we are all trying to find room upon thy stickish tiny little frame."

Scrivener Blooms grumbled as he started forwards, heading in the direction of Ponyville. He glanced moodily back and forth as he lumbered through the field, moving slowly, but still covering ground quickly with his long strides.

His mood lightened as he moved, and he hated to admit how much he... kind of enjoyed this, in spite of everything. Yes, he was essentially using powers meant originally to augment his destructive potential to serve as a pack animal, but... he was helping his family, and he was able to use powers originally meant to destroy to help. To do good things.

It was stupid how happy that made him, but... it did. It was probably also stupid how good it felt just to have moments like these, walking under the sun with his family, the violent stuff all done with and now everything just feeling so much more... pleasant and quiet and serene. Gods, how good peace still felt, after so many years spent... fighting, and warring, and pretending they were heroes and good ponies when really, they were anything but.

Luna huffed and whacked the back of his neck gently, and then she said flatly: "Oh, shut up. We are better than heroes. Heroes are stupid and silly and only do good and are. Boring and stuffy. I am none of these things."

"Yeah, well. We're also not exactly fantastic role models here, either." Scrivener remarked mildly as he made his way across the fields. But he could feel Twilight's quiet smile, her silent disagreement, and even after all these years it still gave him a feeling like butterflies in his stomach.

He glanced over his shoulder at her and gave a small smile, and the Lich looked back at him softly before Luna slowly rose her head between the two, her starry locks spreading out into a curtain to completely block them from each other. The stallion looked at her flatly as Twilight glowered at the sapphire mare's back, and then Luna said pointedly: "I am the center of our universe. 'Tis very rude that Twilight complains about my tenderness in front of Scarlet Sage but then goes and attempts to engage in such with Scrivener Blooms whilst Innocence is right here herself. I would say riding upon her father but I'm somehow sure that 'twould be taken entirely the wrong way."

Innocence made a loud whining noise in her throat as Twilight smacked Luna's back and Scrivener only rolled his eyes, saying dryly: "You know, just because our daughter is old enough to understand that you're a very creepy, disturbed mare doesn't mean you have to be a creepy disturbed mare around her."

"Thou art a creepy disturbed mare, shut up Scrivy." Luna huffed, and then she flopped forwards and half-hugged his neck, mashing her face against his scales and mumbling: "Damnable Scrivener Blooms. Damn thou."

"Damn me." Scrivener agreed, smiling despite himself after a moment, and then he shook his head before turning his attention back forwards as he lingered a little, slowing his pace to make sure that the Nibelung didn't mistake him for a Marsh Drake or something else hostile that they should raise the village's defenses against.

At least it was broad daylight and he was carrying three ponies on his back... even if one of those ponies was Luna Brynhild, who had a rather bad habit of causing all the mayhem and mischief she could manage. He cleared his throat as he approached, then called awkwardly to the staring guards: "Uh. Hi there."

The Wyrm stallion strode calmly through the gates, then he glanced over his shoulder as they entered the town, asking in an awkward mumble: "So uh. Do you guys want to get off me now so I can change back into a pony?"

"I am thinking no. After all, Innocence and Twilight both agree with me that this is a most welcome way to travel, aye?" Luna sat up slightly to wink over her shoulder at the other mares, and Twilight gave the starry-maned winged unicorn an amused look as Innocence nodded firmly several times, a warm expression on her features.

Features that she hadn't bothered to polymorph and hide... and Luna noted this clearly in her mind, sharing the thought with Scrivener Blooms and making him sigh inwardly as he smiled a little. But suffering all the embarrassment in the world was barely any cost at all if it helped his daughter be a little more comfortable with herself; if it even helped distract her enough that she forgot for a little while to worry about her shape and just... enjoyed life a little.

He turned his attention back forwards, striding through the dusty streets of Ponyville as Luna gazed imperiously back and forth, nodding now and then to ponies and other people that stared up at them with amazement and often awe. Twilight only shook her head at the behavior of the mare, while Innocence giggled happily and gazed ardently at her mother.

Then Luna gave a cheerful shout, and the stallion halted and looked curiously to the side as Innocence blushed slightly in both embarrassment but also honest happiness at the sight of her friend Clinker approaching, the chubby, young earth pony stallion cocking his head with his usual bland expression on his features behind his taped glasses. "Hullo."

"Hello!" Luna waved at the young, chestnut stallion, as he blinked slowly and continued to look up at them with that slightly-awkward, almost-vapid expression he usually wore. His short, dirty dark blue mane wafted a little in the breeze, the only part of him that seemed to really be moving. Scrivener sometimes found himself wondering if anything could really bother or excite the hefty pony: he was fairly certain that if Luna ran into him on her motorcycle, he wouldn't so much as twitch but her monstrosity of a machine would end up trashed.

"How are you doing, Clink?" Innocence asked as she leaned down off her father, and Clinker turned his large, solemn eyes to her before he gave a small smile. Innocence smiled warmly back at this, then she leaned forwards, patting her father's side excitedly. "You see my Dad? This is my Daddy, you see him?"

Clinker nodded slowly, and there was an awkward silence before the young stallion asked in his slow, calm tones: "Are you going to come to my birthday tomorrow?"

"Yep!" Innocence beamed brightly, nodding firmly as she gazed happily down at the earth pony, and then she wiggled quickly off her father's back and flung herself to the ground, wincing as she landed in an awkward stumble before shaking herself out as she straightened and turned affectionate eyes towards her friend. "I got you the best gift ever, too. Mutt helped me pick it out!"

Clinker blinked slowly, and then he simply nodded before slowly trundling around in a circle. Scrivener's eyes roved to the emblem of some mathematical formula on the stallion's flank of '-λN.' The Wyrm stallion had no idea what it meant, but he bet it had something to do with Clinker's... slowness.

The young earth pony seemed to simply wander off, and Sin waved happily after him as sh e called brightly: "I'll see you tomorrow, Clink!"

Luna smiled wryly as Twilight gazed kindly down at Innocence, while Scrivener only looked meditatively after the chubby young male and wondered how he and his very active, energetic daughter could get along so well. Or at least Scrivener thought they got along well: Clinker was kind of inscrutable, after all.

Then Innocence trotted quickly up to her father's side and smiled up at him brightly, and the stallion turned his eyes down to her with entertainment before the mare said positively: "I really like Clinker, but don't worry Daddy. He's not my coltfriend or anything. I don;t know if I even really want a coltfriend right now or anything."

Scrivener smiled slightly, unable to help that... odd relief he felt. Luna, meanwhile, snorted in amusement before the mare said cheerfully: "Well, thou does not need a coltfriend to scratch the itches that thou might have now and then, daughter."

"Luna." Twilight said flatly, even if Innocence only giggled and blushed, looking warmly over at her Móðer. Scrivener, meanwhile, sighed and rolled his eyes, but didn't bother to say anything as he started forwards and Innocence bounced happily along behind him.

They headed back towards Celestia's familiar home, but just as they were crossing the open square in front of the enormous tree that housed the library, a loud, cheerful voice roared to them: "My siblings! 'Tis wonderful to see thee in such good health, and with my gorgeous niece!"

"Uncle Sleipnir!" Innocence brightened immediately, bouncing around Scrivener as the Wyrm stallion smiled despite himself. Luna, meanwhile, grinned widely as she flung herself off her husband's back to land in front of an enormous chestnut earth pony with a mane and tail of thick, healthy green vines.

His hazel eyes twinkled with happiness as he looked down at the sapphire mare, and she lunged up to share a fierce embrace with the earth pony for a moment before drawing back and slapping his broad chest, making strong muscles flex and the tattooing of vines intertwined around runes and celestial symbols ripple. "And how art thou, my handsome brother?"

"He's good. Too good." said a sour voice, and Scrivener and Luna both smiled as they turned their eyes towards the mare that stepped up beside Sleipnir. She was a dull, pink-gray, her eyes rimmed with red and irises supernatural blue. Her mane was straight, falling in a waterfall that partly obscured her features, and she had her own tattooing of vines over the left side of her breast that twined and twisted around the profile of a black ash tree... the same tree symbol that was on the stallion's flank.

"Pinkamena." Scrivener greeted, and the mare responded to this by gesturing at him rudely, making him snort in entertainment. "That's why you're my favorite demon."

"And you still make a craptastic Tyrant Wyrm, Scrivy." retorted Pinkamena, before she glanced mildly over her shoulder and called loudly: "Hey, kids, come on!"

"We're right here, Mommy, don't worry!" said a cheery voice, and Twilight smiled as she slipped off Scrivener's back as Antares approached with his cousin, the daughter of Sleipnir and Pinkamena: Aphrodisia Celeste Pie, a demon who had started to truly grow into her powers, and was steadily working towards finding her station in life... and still best friends with her glossy-black unicorn cousin even after all these years.

Aphrodisia smiled warmly as she and Antares drew close: her eyes were a bright and cheerful green, her mane a raven black and knotted to one side, her coat the same faint pink as her mother's. She was beautiful and a little taller than Pinkamena, but slender, seeming to float along on her cloven hooves as her strange cutie mark – an emerald serpent, coiled in a spiral on her flank – seemed to twist and move of its own accord.

A more recent addition also shone along Aphrodisia's spine: bright red runes, spelling out the word 'Elska' in a blessing over her back, all of them shaped distinctly like hearts, stars and other symbols. But more than just a blessing, it was the name she had chosen for her soulbound weapon, a scythe she had retrieved from a reaper much more than a decade ago now.

Apps strode up to Luna and leaned forwards, kissing her cheek and trading a hug with her, then repeating the affection with Twilight Sparkle before finally hopping up and hugging Scrivener's large head so she could kiss the crown of his skull with a happy smile. The Tyrant Wyrm smiled amusedly in return as the young-looking mare slipped backwards, as Sleipnir boasted proudly: "My beloved little girl has been making leaps and bounds in her training! Aye, as a father I must fear for her, but I am also so very proud of her, for being so strong and able, and her dedication to friend and kin!"

Luna smiled warmly over at Aphrodisia, who only blushed and bowed her head, but looked with delight at her parents all the same: Sleipnir, beaming with fatherly pride, and Pinkamena, who looked at her daughter with tenderness visible in eyes that were usually as opaque as frosted glass. And Antares smiled warmly as he nudged the cousin he often referred to as 'little sister,' saying softly: "I sure as hell know I'm glad we're on the same side myself. She's starting to make me look bad."

"Worse, you mean. You do a great job of making yourself look pretty bad, kid." Pinkamena said mildly, and Antares gave the demon a flat look, but she only shrugged amiably as Aphrodisia giggled quietly and Innocence laughed and nodded firmly in agreement.

"Oh, do not be so mean, my phoenix!" Sleipnir chastised cheerfully, nudging the demon firmly, and Pinkamena only grunted and shoved back at him. "For one, Antares is growing into becoming a strong and capable warrior, and he has handled the arduous task of liaison with far greater grace and candor than I ever did when 'twas my responsibility."

"Perhaps thou should say irresponsibility." Luna quipped, but Sleipnir only nodded agreeably before Luna asked cheerfully: "Tell me, brother, for 'tis a point of contention betwixt myself and mine husband: does Scrivener not look like a riding horse as a Tyrant Wyrm?"

Scrivener glowered at Luna, but Sleipnir only looked thoughtfully at Scrivener before he suddenly bounded forwards, the Wyrm wincing as the enormous stallion spun himself around the male's neck before dropping firmly into a sitting position on Scrivener's back, making his eyes bulge and his back arch painfully.

Sleipnir settled himself thoughtfully, then he nodded firmly once and patted the back of Scrivener's neck a few times, making him wince. "Well, little sister, he certainly feels much like a riding horse, that is for certain!"

"There's a few ways to test that theory." Pinkamena said mildly, pushing Twilight out of the way before she hopped up behind her husband, Scrivener groaning, then yelping when Pinkamena drove the heels of her hooves into his sides. He automatically staggered forwards, and Luna laughed even as she twitched a bit from the faint feeling of pain in her own body.

Meanwhile, Innocence had turned fascinated eyes to Aphrodisia, bouncing over in front of her and questioning quickly: "So is it true you know all kinds of demon magic now? That you're an assassin? That you met Hel herself?"

Aphrodisia blushed and shifted slightly, smiling a little awkwardly: while normally she was bright and childish, she always strove to be a little more... careful around Innocence. The demon understood all too well what it was like to long to be stronger, but her experiences had taught her what it was like to give in to the animal side for too long, and how high a cost could come with the pursuit of power. In spite of how young she might look, she was only six years younger than Antares... and over the last five years, she had seen quite a lot of literal Hell. "Well...

"For one thing, I'm not an assassin. I'm an Inquisitor in training, sort of. Sort of. It's kind of a thing from Hel. A gift-thing." Apps clumsily explained, and when Antares snorted in amusement, she huffed and punched him in the shoulder, making the stallion wince even as he continued to grin. "You shut up! At least I'm not a messenger boy!"

"I'm way more of a delivery boy than a messenger boy, I'll have you know." Antares said in an offended voice, and then he stepped forwards and wrapped a foreleg around Apps' shoulders, pulling her in against his side and winking at Innocence. "Think of it this way. I'm the boring liaison with boring Heaven, but Apps is more like the ambassador between Midgard and Hel herself. Who gets to kill stuff that gets in her way."

Aphrodisia laughed, but she happily dropped her face against the side of the stallion's neck for a moment, visibly relaxing, taking comfort in the closeness. Innocence nodded in understanding, then she returned her eyes to Aphrodisia, asking curiously: "So what kind of magic have you learned? Can you show it to me? Or maybe tell me more about your scythe?"

"I'm really bad at explaining things." Aphrodisia said with a fidget, looking lame, but Innocence only nodded after a moment, in spite of looking more than a bit disappointed. But the young mare's attention was shortly drawn by the sight of Scrivener wincing and leaping through the open square, startling a few people and getting both yells and laughs as Pinkamena and Sleipnir rode him like a bucking bronco. Luna was dancing along beside them, and Twilight was only sitting with her face in a hoof, looking a bit embarrassed by the whole scene.

Innocence was drawn away, while Apps and Antares only watched with entertainment, before the demon drew her eyes towards the glossy-black unicorn and softened, saying quietly: "So I'm here for... I think a few days, until I have to resume training at the Archives. Mommy will be coming down with me this time, so... I want to try and spend my time up here with our old friends. You know, if you can stay and all, I know you're a lot busier than me-"

"I am not. And I can always skip out a little bit." Antares said softly, smiling slightly over at the demon, who gave him an entertained look. "Yeah, I'm supposed to go back up tonight but... I think technically 'tonight' lasts until tomorrow morning if you don't sleep, and the portal's in Subterra. We'll just make a little side-trip through Canterlot this evening and grab Avalon."

Aphrodisia only looked at Antares with amusement, and the stallion shrugged, saying mildly: "Hey, I didn't say we were going to give her a choice in the matter. I just said we're going to grab her and drag her off, like old times."

The demon sighed and smiled, then said wryly: "It's funny, you know? In the old days, you would have been the one impossible to drag away from his job. Now, you want to find a way to abduct the Captain of the Thunderbolt Division from her post in Canterlot for drinks."

"It's not my fault I turned into Mom and everyone else got boring." Antares said mildly, and when Aphrodisia glared at him, he smiled amusedly and rolled his eyes, nudging her companionably with his shoulder. "Okay, okay. Everyone apart from you, Pinkslap."

"Thanks, big brother." Aphrodisia hugged the stallion tightly around the neck with a warm smile, and the stallion only shrugged a bit as he reached up and rubbed gently along the runes over her back, and she closed her eyes and arched her back slowly as they lit up with a distinct neon glow at the stallion's touch.

Then she sighed and relaxed, blinking a few times and looking relaxed before she looked up warmly as Scrivener finally stumbled over his own claws and flopped painfully to the ground with a grunt, skidding a few feet on his chest before his face dropped into the ground with a loud thump. Sleipnir only laughed and hopped off the Tyrant Wyrm, while Pinkamena grumbled and stood up, then stomped viciously up and down on the shapeshifted stallion's back, making him gargle and twitch a few times before she hopped off.

He glowered over at her, but she only blew her mane back and then reached out to smack his face lightly, making him wince away. But then the mare smiled briefly, shaking her head as she walked away. "I guess you're not a complete failure, Scrivy. Just mostly one."

"Thanks. That does great for my self-esteem." Scrivener muttered, and then flinched as Luna hopped over his neck, mumbling: "Please don't step on me."

"Oh shut up. I am perfectly in control." Luna argued, and then she decided to prove this by hopping back and forth over the Tyrant Wyrm's long neck as she made her way up towards his head. Then, on her last jump, she hopped forwards and landed on top of Scrivener's skull, making him wince in pain before she sat down primly on his crown as she declared: "See? I am the controller. I am the rider, and thou art the ridden."

"Yep." Scrivener muttered, and then he rose his head and flicked it hard upwards, launching Luna flipping into the air with a yelp before she spun around and caught herself with a flap of her wings, glowering down at him.

Scrivener looked moodily back, and then he huffed out a short burst of blue mist before closing his eyes. He felt a wave of heat pass through his body as his scales lost their distinction, melding together and becoming waxy before they simply started to melt; and after only ten seconds or so, the once-solid Wyrm was now just a mass of dark sludge rapidly losing all color, as a form pushed up out of its melting back before a stallion surfaced out of the center of the muck with a gasp.

Scrivener Blooms arched his back with a wince as thick, scruffy white locks finished growing out of his scalp, his entire body prickling with pain and heat as the shed body of the Tyrant Wyrm simply dissolved into ashes and black mud. Turning back into a pony was a less-than-pleasant process, since he wasn't able to compress his entire body back into his normal shape: instead, he simply shed the extra weight, so to speak.

But it hurt like hell, and he felt... raw for a while, like he'd been skinned and reformed. Which he guessed that he technically had. Luna had a horrible metaphor that it was kind of like he gave birth to himself every time he shifted back from Wyrm form, but... Scrivener really preferred not to think about that at all. He felt nauseated and weakened enough by the transformation, after all.

The stallion waded out of the murk as Luna swayed a little in the air, dropping her head with a faint grimace as Scrivener's pain and fatigue resounded through her, and then the sapphire mare dropped and landed unsteadily on her hooves, breathing softly once before looking up with a small smile. There was an awkward moment of silence, and then Sleipnir broke this by asking curiously: "So art thou actually a snake, Scrivener Blooms? Or a lizard? Or... do dragons molt? I do not know if dragons molt. I have never seen handsome Spike molt, but I suppose that sweet Rarity would know the better. But if he did, they could make their own-"

"I have a feeling no one wants to hear the end of that sentence." Pinkamena interrupted, and Sleipnir huffed a bit before the dull-gray mare rolled her eyes and glanced over at Innocence. "Hey, by the way. Sissy wants to know what kind of cake your pal Clinker wants. Although I think Pinkie Pie just wants to be involved so she can go and brag about how much everypony loves her or some other lie like that."

"'Tis so refreshing to know the Pink Twins are still getting along so divinely." Luna said wryly, and Pinkamena rolled her eyes before the starry-maned mare added mildly: "And I do not believe Clinker should have a cake. He is..."

Innocence glowered at her mother, and Luna huffed a bit before the young unicorn turned her eyes back towards Pinkamena and said in plain defiance of Luna: "The chocolatiest chocolate fudge-filled chocolate cake she can make!"

"Kid, I really hate you. That's going to be a pain in the flank to make." the demon groaned, rolling her eyes before she moodily looked over at Aphrodisia. But when the young demon only gave her mother a pleading look, Pinkamena slumped a bit and muttered: "Goddammit. Sure. Fine. I guess you're going to have to help me, Slippers."

Sleipnir's eyes widened slowly and delightedly at this prospect, while Luna only narrowed her eyes pointedly at Sin, but Innocence glared fearlessly back. Then the two blew raspberries loudly at each other at the same time, and Twilight sighed as Antares smiled despite herself and Aphrodisia gazed at her cousin with entertainment.

"You guys are all morons. Come on, Slippers, let's go and see if you can not screw up one simple little task." Pinkamena said moodily, and the stallion nodded cheerfully in agreement before turning to trot happily after the demon, looking much like an oversized dog at his mistress' heel.

Antares and Apps traded looks, and then the glossy-black unicorn turned towards Twilight and strode over to her, almost picking her up with a tight hug and startling the Lich into a laugh before he set her down and smiled warmly. "I'll send you a letter. You too, Mutt."

"That is Sin's name for me, not thine! Name thief!" Luna called, and Antares grinned before he leapt away from Twilight, pouncing towards his mother, but she swiftly stepped forwards and swung her crystalline horn fiercely upwards as he snapped his own horn down, the two spires meeting with a crackle of energy before they were both repelled with a thunderous bang.

They staggered, glared at each other... then stepped forwards and firmly banged their horns together thrice before bowing at the same time. Then they straightened and shared a fierce hug, Luna murmuring to her son as she squeezed him close: "Idiot. Take care of thyself. Thou hast our love."

"I love you too, Móðer. All of you. Watch out for each other, huh?" Antares replied softly as he pulled back, and their eyes met before the stallion winked over at his father, then gazed towards his little sister. "Sin, try and behave yourself while I'm gone, huh?"

"I'll try, Antares. I'll miss you." Innocence smiled up after her brother, and the stallion nodded firmly as Aphrodisia quickly exchanged her own goodbyes with her family. Then, as the two left, the young mare hesitated before looking back at he parents, biting her lip as she gazed at the ponies that remained... that would always remain.

Twilight Sparkle, Scrivener Blooms... and Luna Brynhild. Innocence's attention drew to the last, and she leaned forwards, asking impulsively: "One day, can I be like Aphrodisia or Antares? I mean, I know I'm already getting all this Valkyrie training, and I'm really grateful for it, but... they're already working for Heaven and Hell. One day, will I be able to..."

"One day. But to be honest, I hope 'tis a day far away. I am selfish that way, my dearest daughter." Luna said softly, and Innocence smiled warmly and blushed slightly. But it was a happy look on her face, and Scrivener and Twilight traded soft looks: they both knew that if they'd given the same response to Innocence, her reception would have still been warm, but not quite so... touched.

Then Innocence turned around and hurried towards the library, and the three traded looks, thoughts, and emotions; enough passed through their minds in those few moments that Scrivener and Twilight were both left to shift embarrassedly, and Luna grinned widely at them as she shook her head slowly. "Oh, thou idiots."

She stopped, took a moment to choose her words a little more carefully than she usually did, and then she smiled and drew her eyes over them, saying quietly: "I am Móðer to Sin, and she thinks of me as a close and dearest friend, aye. But she adores and respects both of thee: thou art her father, a father she is proud of and looks up to, and Twilight Sparkle, for all thy worries and bitterness, I am all too sure she respects thy authority more than she does my own, just as she should."

"It's just hard not to be a little envious of how good you are with her sometimes, Luna. How much she listens to you, how much she tells you." Twilight said softly, but Luna only shook her head and chuckled quietly at this.

"Nay. She may seem to speak more to me, Twilight Sparkle, but Innocence is cunning as Celestia. And she is very well aware that whatever she may tell one of us, she tells all of us." Luna replied easily, and Twilight leaned back in surprise, then looked thoughtful at this response, lowering her head a little as Scrivener gazed at Luna warmly. But before he could say anything, the mare grinned widely and shrugged, turning around and adding cheerfully: "But maybe thou art correct and Innocence simply knows who is the best mare to speak to on matters of fun. Thou art both boring, after all."

Scrivener rolled his eyes in amusement as Twilight gave the sapphire mare a dry look, but it was chiefly warmth that they both felt as they followed the starry-maned winged unicorn into the library. Innocence looked up as they entered, and then she levitated the book beside her before hurrying forwards... and past Luna to Twilight Sparkle, skidding to a halt in front of the Lich as she looked up at her brightly and asked: "Do you think you could help me with some of this stuff, Momma? I really could use your help with it."

Twilight smiled and nodded firmly as Luna and Scrivener both looked tenderly towards the violet mare: a mare who sometimes still undervalued herself and worried too much about how others might see her, but who all the same was the most important, the most integral part of the life of these two ponies... and almost as important to the friends and family she had that filled this beautiful little village of Ponyville.

Chapter Four: Little Miss Screw You

~BlackRoseRaven

When night came in Ponyville, it was peaceful: the gates remained open, letting both late-night revelers and the less-often-seen citizens of the night pass in and out. Demons and spirits and other creatures roamed the streets freely, passing beneath lanterns and under the harsh electric lights with what would be boldness in many other towns... but in Ponyville, it was comfort. Ponyville had been among the first places to welcome these creatures: and now, many years later, they were as natural to the citizens of the village as any pony or Nibelung seen out and about during the day would be.

Canterlot, on the other hoof, was always buzzing with activity. Nightclubs opened their doors, and while Nightmares and demons roamed, they were a little more aloof, a little more cautious. In spite of the fact that in the massive caverns beneath Canterlot there was an underground city of darkness, Equestria's crown city was still less than welcoming to many of its nocturnal residents. In a place like this, that was so much larger and where the citizens had much less contact with the creatures despite living just above them, change took longer, and was so much harder to achieve.

While they were working towards that change, they had to continue to deal with the consequences of having ponies and other beings living uneasily with demons and creatures of darkness. Almost every night there was some complaint that ended up being due to a misunderstanding between the day-ponies and the night creatures. Over the years, the forces that protected Canterlot had learned to deal with this more effectively, however, and they had been given more funding and better training to form better and better peacekeeping forces.

One branch of these forces was known as the Thunderbolts: a section made up mostly of elite Pegasus Guard, all of them exceptional in the air. They were trained to take down any aerial threat that the standard aerial defense forces of Equestria couldn't handle, and were rivaled only by the Wonderbolts when it came to their aerial prowess. Except the Wonderbolts weren't trained be able to meet demons and dragons in aerial combat.

The Captain of the Thunderbolts – and the daughter of the stallion who had come up with the name and suggested the idea in the first place – was moodily reviewing a file over her desk in her private office. It was almost midnight, but she planned to spend the night here at the command post to try and catch up on her paperwork... even if the overeager, wild part of her that had never died was hoping badly for some kind of alert she could respond to, to work out some of her energy. She was almost forty years old, but still in her prime, stronger, faster, better than any other pony out there.

Well, almost any other pony.

She reached up, smiling slightly as she rubbed a hoof slowly through her mane: it was blonde streaked with red, styled into a brush cut as short as her cropped tail. Her coat was a bright sun gold, and she was wearing a black cloth jacket that, even with the sleeves hemmed up, was a little too big for her: but that wasn't because she was messy, but rather because she was roughly the size of a foal in spite of her strength and age.

The Pegasus sighed, then she reached up, rubbing slowly at a nearly-invisible scar beside one of her red eyes, fidgeting a little as she looked moodily down at the stack of papers on her desk. Expense reports, flight logs, budgets and all sorts of not-fun things. She shook her head, then looked moodily down at her cutie mark of a line cutting an apple in half: that was her talent, not giving up until she finished whatever job she was given. Enduring. Smashing her way through whatever the hell was in her way. She was going to do that here, too.

She shook her head quickly, then looked down... before glancing up in surprise as there was a knock at the door, and a Pegasus Guard quickly shoved it open and stepped inside, wincing and saluting as he said hurriedly: "Ma'am, sorry to intrude, but two demons are causing a ruckus downtown, near the Oasis Tower... the Royal Guard requested you send two of yours to deal with it."

"To deal with two demons? Please. For one thing, all ten of my boys and girls have the night off. For another, two mischief-making demons don't require two of my pack. They shouldn't even require one." the mare said distastefully, and then she shook her head before straightening and locking her gaze on the guard: even if the tiny mare was standing on the equivalent of a booster seat, she still struck terror into the soldier as she glared him down into the ground. "But you know what? Since I'm bored, I'll go ahead and deal with this myself. Tell 'em to set up a perimeter if they're too scared to get their hooves wet."

"It's just... ma'am, we're using that new detection technology, and one of them is a First Tier demon and the other we can't make heads or tails of." the Pegasus Guard explained awkwardly, and the mare frowned at this as her wings flapped, carrying her easily over the desk to land in front of the soldier. And even though she was less than half the size of the bulky Pegasus, he seemed to be looking up at her instead of her to him... despite the fact that even leaning down as low as he could go, she was barely at eye level with him. "They're making a scene but..."

"Fine. Fine, I'll deal with it. Good, I've been looking to let off some steam." the Captain of the Thunderbolts grumbled, and then she shoved past the guard, making him wince as she strode out into the hallway and made her way quickly down to the locker rooms.

Ten minutes later, and the small mare emerged onto the streets of Canterlot in body-fitting steel armor with nasty, blade-like flanges and a helmet with an enormous, saw-like fin. Deadly bracers were locked over her forelegs, that each had four long, razor-like blades standing out at the compass points: crosshatch blades, weapons that were as deadly as they were difficult to use properly. Like her armor, each blade was marked by an emblem: a bolt of rainbow colored lightning coming out of a black thundercloud. A silent tribute to the father, who to this day was still her inspiration, her rock, her idol.

The Pegasus took a breath, then she leapt up into the air, becoming a golden streak through the night as she shifted easily in the direction of the Oasis Tower. She had a pair of goggles on to protect her eyes, although one had a thicker lens and a strange tint: these had been a gift from an old friend, and while one goggle was normal, the other saw the energy emitted by organic beings, letting her understand if she was looking at a mortal, a demon, or something else entirely.

She shot through the air, focused, sharp, unyielding... and in this moment, feeling free, in spite of the fact she was rushing headlong towards danger. She let herself smile for a moment, as her eyes narrowed behind her goggles: she didn't smile as often these days, though, living in her apartment here in Canterlot, away from her family, her friends, her real home. But she had responsibilities she couldn't drop, she was determined not to be the pony she had once been, but better: she wouldn't let someone get hurt again because she hadn't been there. People needed someone who could wing in and save them, and she was that pony.

She wouldn't let down another pony like she had let down her mother. She wouldn't ever treat something, no matter how small, like it wasn't important again... because she knew that it was the smallest little cracks that could erupt into the biggest wounds.

The Pegasus twisted upwards, almost brushing the clouds as she took a quick sweep of the entire area to ensure she wasn't about to fly into an ambush before she dove forwards. Her eyes focused in on her destination as she rapidly closed towards it: Oasis Tower, an omen of the coming age. A behemoth structure that wasn't just stone, but metal and glass, and stood out like a sore hoof amidst the rest of Canterlot's stone and fairytale architecture.

Around the rectangular base were clustered ponies and a few gawkers, pointing at the mass of dark smoke circling rapidly around the structure, cracking the glass here and there. Only a few windows had been shattered, but another figure was standing complacently in one of these, wearing a heavy cloak to conceal itself. All the same, the mare could at least read the energies of the creatures with her goggles, and she grimaced: the guard had been half-right. One was a First Tier demon, the other... she wasn't sure. Even if the cloak was muffling its energy signature somehow, it wasn't like anything she'd gotten familiar with over the decade she'd worked here...

Then the cloud of living smoke that was an incorporeal demon veered suddenly towards her, and the mare gritted her teeth as she flew up into a ready position and rose both her crosshatch blades. But to her surprise, the cloud of smoke twisted suddenly around, beginning to circle her violently even as she said coldly: "Listen to me, punk, if you don't cease and desist right now I'm going to smash you down to Subterra and drag you in front of the Overseer. Let's do this nice and easy, and we'll go through the Canterlot courts, unless you want a one-way trip to Helheim."

Echoing laughter rippled through the air around her, and the tiny Pegasus gritted her teeth even as her brow furrowed slightly: there was something strangely familiar about that sound. But she shoved that away for a moment, shaking her head briskly before she said sharply: "Final warning! And believe me, I'm eager to hurt you and your..."

As the demon revolved around her again, the mare's eyes locked on the sight of the cloaked figure, and they widened slightly as she saw it draw back before leaping out of the building, angling its body to dive straight down with the cloak fanning out around it. On instinct, the Pegasus lunged forwards to intercept, but the demon that had been orbiting her shot downwards and twisted in a violent corkscrew around her, knocking her off-balance and sending her zigzagging wildly out of control.

It was only for a few moments, but by the time she regained her balance, the cloaked figure had hit the ground... and smashed right through a drainage grate in a flash of white magic, the mare cursing under her breath as she watched the First Tier demon quickly follow.

Without hesitation, even knowing this was likely an ambush, the tiny mare shot down after them, ignoring the yelling crowd, the other guards, everything except for her target. She lunged through the hole and twisted upwards to shoot through the tunnel above the shallow muck of the sewer, her eyes focused forward and her teeth grit as she just caught the smoky tail of the incorporeal demon twist around a corner ahead.

It was narrow, it was damp, it was cold, and the Captain of the Thunderbolts wasn't aware of any of these things: all she knew was that there were two freaks asking for a beating ahead, and she was going to make them rue the day they thought they could cause mayhem and then escape her wrath. With ease, she navigated the twisting tunnels, slowly gaining on them inch-by-inch until they reached a wide, open straightaway, and the mare bared her teeth as she thought: This is it!

Her wings propelled her through the air in a streak of gold, the force of her passage parting the water beneath her as she closed the distance on the two. But to her surprise, the cloaked figure was the one to react, not the demon she was ready to smash out of incorporeality: one moment, he was fleeing, the next he had twisted towards the wall, running up it before kicking off and flipping his body towards her even as she reacted on instinct and training-

She slammed face-first into a solid barrier of energy that formed out of nowhere, her eyes bulging even as she hit it with enough force to crack it, and for a moment she was stuck there with one foreleg raised. The demon was just a dark shape floating in the air as the cloaked figure laughed at her, even as he fell calmly backwards... and the mare's eyes blazed with fury before she slammed her front hoof forwards, smashing the magical barrier apart before she shot savagely down into the cloaked creature and flipped her body to slam both hind legs into him, shouting: "This is no goddamn game!"

The cloaked figure squeaked as it smashed into the brick wall of the sewer with enough force to send cracks through the brittle stone, but the mare didn't take any time to savor her victory. Instead, she was already moving again, flapping her wings hard as she kicked her hind legs upwards to hook her body in a J through the air, calmly dodging a wild dive from the incorporeal demon before the mare twisted her whole body around and into a savage smash of both forelegs, swinging the silver-edged crosshatch blades into the cloud of smoke.

The blessed weapons flashed on contact with the smog, and there was a cry of pain before a shape rocketed out of the smoke cloud as it dissipated, a demon with two large cuts across its back and shoulders smashing into the water below. And the Captain of the Thunderbolts was already in the perfect position to knock the rest of the fight of her enemy as she dove straight down, going into a wild corkscrew that turned her entire body into a deadly drill-

And then something happened that had only happened once before, in her entire life: she felt something leap fearlessly into her and pluck her from the air in mid-spin, tackling her to the side. A moment later, she slammed face-first down into a platform of solid energy, and the cloaked figure was on top of her and one of her forelegs had been yanked up painfully behind her back, where she couldn't move it because then the stupid crosshatch blade would likely shred the stupid base of her stupid wing.

She mouthed slowly and wordlessly, the large, circular platform of energy she was pinned into sizzling against her chick as the cloaked figure stood triumphantly on her back. There were only two ponies in the entire world that could have done that to her, and she looked disbelievingly up over her shoulder at the stallion holding her down as she asked stupidly: "Antares?"

"Hey, Aviator." Antares flicked his head back, knocking the hood of the cloak off so he could grin down at her cheerfully, and the tiny Pegasus stared up at him as he looked placidly back down at her. "Pretty sure you owe both me and Apps a beer now."

"Yeah, Avalon! That really hurt!" complained another all-too-familiar voice, and the tiny Pegasus gave a dumb laugh as Aphrodisia bounded up beside the platform, sniffing loudly as she splashed through the ankle-deep muck. "You're a big doo-doo head."

Avalon Apple only shook her head slowly, looking disbelievingly from one pony to the other before she suddenly gritted her teeth, beginning to wiggle violently beneath Antares against the platform of energy he had made, shouting: "You stupid morons! This is why there was no suppression response from Subterra? This is why I was called? You goddamn idiots went and vandalized private property and caused mass panic through Canterlot because... because you wanted to say 'hi?' What the hell kind of thinking is that?"

"The kind you used to appreciate." Antares said mildly, and then he lightly flung Avalon forwards, and the mare caught herself quickly in midair and spun around to yank her goggles up onto her forehead so she could glare furiously at the unicorn as he sat primly down on his own platform of energy, giving her a slight grin. "And it's not like Apps or I did anything bad. Minor property damage to some jerks who make half their money from peddling drugs and staying just ahead of labor laws. I know for a fact Rosewood's been trying to get rid of them, so... we did you a favor, really."

Avalon stared in disbelief, and then Aphrodisia added brightly: "Also, we had fun, right? And we brought you out of sight and stuff, so you can sneak away. And we didn't kick your butt even though we really should because you're sort of mean."

Aphrodisia paused, glancing pointedly over her own shoulder at the slowly-healing lacerations, and the Pegasus gritted her teeth before she shook her head fiercely and snapped: "Look, we're not judge and jury! I don't know how things work in Heaven and Hell, but my job here is just to catch who I'm sent out after and bring them in, then let the courts decide their fate, do you understand that? And I am not about to just... dick off with you two because you want to go have fun and drinks! Those days are over!"

The stallion shook his head sadly, and Avalon glared at him furiously before she spun around before the unicorn called mildly: "Never knew you'd grow up to be kind of a wimp without us around, Avalon."

The Pegasus skidded to a halt in midair, knowing she shouldn't, knowing she should just leave... and then she slowly gritted her teeth before spinning around and retorting: "You two think you're really that important? Well, sorry, but I'm not immortal like you assholes, and neither are my parents! I needed to grow up and learn to be responsible and strong, to do my duty, because unlike you idiots I'm going to die!"

"We're all gonna die, Avalon. Hey, for all you know, we could end up dead long before you." Antares said reasonably, and then he smiled over at Aphrodisia. "And me and Apps aren't going to end up in Valhalla like you when we die. We're just going to be gone. You and your parents, you guys are the lucky ones. You lose one life, you gain a whole new one. I lose my life, and because of all my exposure to Valhalla and just... what I am... I'll be gone."

Avalon winced a bit at this, and then she shifted and felt... guilty for a moment, before Aphrodisia looked up and said softly: "It must be hard, Ava. I can't imagine what it's like, knowing what happened to your Mom and how old all the people we grew up with are getting... it hurts enough to see that Auntie Pinkie is getting so old. But this life is just... a cocoon, that's what I try to think. And death is just gonna be a transformation into... something new. Something better."

Avalon shifted a bit, then she shook her head and muttered: "That doesn't mean I get to just dick around as I please. Hell, if anything, that means I gotta be even better than I'm doing now. Look, I'm busy, I have work, I have... mortal problems. You used to really understand that, Mir."

"You used to be fun. And stupid. Also, Apps and I both have to head back to our jobs like, soon, which by the way, are much crazier and harder than your job." Antares said pointedly, and Avalon glared at him as one of her eyes twitched, but the stallion only shrugged. "Hey, it's true. What do you do? Oh, apparently it's beat up your friends when they try to invite you out for a beer, that's what you do. Me and Apps save the motherbucking universe. I'd like to see you try and save the motherbucking universe. But you couldn't, because there's a height requirement."

There was silence for a few moments as Avalon stared at him, her mouth falling slightly open as Aphrodisia giggled madly behind her front hooves, and then the stallion informed: "If I wasn't clear, I'm calling you short."

Avalon roared furiously and threw herself at Antares, and the stallion grinned as he flung himself upwards, leaping high into the air. As expected, Avalon attempt to boost herself off the platform he had been standing on, but the moment her hooves slammed down against it they became stuck, the mare looking dumbly down before she snapped her eyes up in time to see Antares falling towards her, his horn glowing and a hoof drawn back, a wide grin on his face...

And then there was darkness and nothing but a haze for a little while. There was the vaguest sensation of moving, but also blurs of memory. Laughing with her friends, the mare she had used to be, the good times, how they had been friends, always looking out for each other...

Avalon shifted... and then she blinked a few times before opening her eyes and raising her head as she realized she was sitting at a table. She mouthed slowly as she looked back and forth, trying to make sense of her surroundings as her hoof knocked against something, then awkwardly caught it and lifted it before she could knock it over.

She looked down blankly at it as she realized it was a bottle of beer... and from the bad singing and the smell of alcohol, they were in a tavern on karaoke night. A glance to the side confirmed this as she saw the stage past the bar and the ponies who were just having fun on it, before the Pegasus ground her teeth together as she looked slowly across the table, focusing on Aphrodisia and Antares as they both rose glasses of whiskey and clinked them together. "You assholes. What did you do to me?"

"Angel taser." Antares said mildly, winking across at her as he reached up and tapped his horn. "Nice big jolt of purification to short-circuit your nervous system. But hey, it was either that or have Apps take over your brain. I figure you'd like brute force more than mind control."

Aphrodisia grinned, showing off needle-like fangs, and Avalon groaned as she sat back in her chair, shaking her head in disgust as she muttered: "It's been three years since the last time we hung out. I don't do this kind of thing anymore, you two. I'm not this person anymore. I have to get back to work and I want you two to leave me alone."

"Okay. Go right ahead." Antares said mildly, and Avalon frowned moodily as she stopped on the edge of her seat, while Aphrodisia cocked her head curiously. But the glossy-black unicorn was looking at the tiny Pegasus with a slight smile and a mischievous gleam in his eye, as he continued: "It's only been half an hour or so, and we're in a lower district so you can probably merge right into a patrol path to announce that you're back and make up some excuse for what happened.

"I know it's been hard. We haven't been able to be around much, get together much. You're here in Canterlot, and Apps and I are in Ponyville, so even when we do come to visit, we don't often see each other. It's been years, and really... almost a decade since it was me, you two, and T all able to be together like old times." The stallion halted, then he shook his head and said softly, glancing up: "I'm sorry, I am. I wish I could spend more time with you, Ava. I wish I was here more often. I wish Prestige was able to leave Valhalla. I wish for a lot of things, but I'm grown up enough to know I can't just make my wishes come true. I'm also grown up enough to know that when I have a chance to hang out with my old friends, I should goddamn well take it unless I want to spend the entire week pissed off at myself because I decided I couldn't cut an extra hour out of work to have a beer and act like the pony I used to be instead of the hardass I am now."

Avalon glowered at him, but she felt... guilt in her gut, too. And that brought up thoughts of her family and … to hell with it. "Fine."

The Pegasus picked up the bottle of beer in front of her, then leaned down and bit off the metal cap, spitting it aside as she said sulkily: "Here's to being an irresponsible jackass, then."

With that, she tilted the bottle back and guzzled half the contents before slamming it down, then she belched loudly and glowered over at Antares, saying moodily: "I guess you've still got those stupid eyes of yours, huh?"

"Acuity. It's my special talent." Antares smiled slightly, shrugging a bit before he glanced up and added: "Here, see that guy over there? Beside him is his wife, but he's cheating on her with that younger mare across the table. That necklace she's wearing is a gift from him. They're already thinking about how they're going to have sex later, right under his wife's nose, because... she's her teaching assistant. She's a professor of... something in the arts field."

Avalon glanced dumbly over the back of her chair, seeing the three ponies that were all laughing together at a table nearby, and the tiny Pegasus studied them blankly for a few moments before she scowled and turned around, glaring at the stallion. "You made that up. There is no way you've gotten that good."

"The fun part is that it's not like you can just go over and ask them. Well, I mean, you could, but that'd kind of be awkward." Antares said blandly, and then he smiled slightly when the Pegasus glared at him. "Okay, fine. Look at them again. His wife is wearing those big ugly glasses, has several books and papers sticking out of her purse, none of her jewelry is real and most of it is new agey. Her husband is keeping space between them and he's leaning towards the younger mare, and the young chick has almost all her focus on him and keeps touching the necklace; she thinks it's all an adventure, she's all excited, she's too dumb to realize how big the consequences are going to be if they're caught. Especially because there's deference towards the wife, too; the way she keeps her head low, the way she keeps making supplicating gestures."

The Pegasus looked over her shoulder as Aphrodisia raised her empty glass and called to a waitress, and then Avalon turned back around and said moodily: "Okay, congratulations. I'm now freaked the hell out and not sure whether or not I want to hang out with you anymore. You better not be using your psychic powers on me."

"I'm not psychic, and I already know everything about you, Aviator." Antares said mildly, sipping at his whiskey, and when the mare glared at him, he added: "It's not like you're exactly hard to read, either. You tend to kind of throw your emotions at whoever's around."

"You shut the hell up. You don't know anything about me." Avalon retorted, and then she held up a hoof when the waitress approached, saying before Aphrodisia could say anything: "A pitcher of ale from the tap, and a glass of ice."

"Refill, please!" Aphrodisia smiled, and the waitress nodded with an amused look, taking the demon's glass.

"Bring me a cup too, thanks. No ice, though, I don't need to water my alcohol down like some ponies do." Antares said mildly, looking pointedly over at Avalon, who scowled back at him.

"Hey, bite me. For one thing, I'm supposed to be working. For another, I don't need to water down any of my goddamn ale, I just like it cold, that's all." Avalon said grouchily, and Antares only shrugged placidly as the waitress headed away. The tiny Pegasus bared her teeth at the stallion, and then, before she even realized what she was saying, she pointed at him and snapped: "Fine, I'll drink you under this damn table, you hear me?"

Antares only shrugged, grinning slightly... and two hours later, the three stumbled out of the tavern together, laughing like it was old times, Avalon drunk to the point where she could barely keep herself on her hooves, her friends shielding her between them before she said in a mumble: "I'm... I'm gonna... this was the greatest night in... guys, guys... guys, thank you because... I just missed you guys and my family so bad and this... this really helped."

"Hey, I'm glad for it, Ava." Antares smiled down at her, feeling tipsy but... not nearly as drunk as the tiny Pegasus clearly was. Impulsively, he reached over and hugged her tightly with one foreleg, and she hiccuped even as she looked up at him warmly, then laughed when Apps grabbed her and hefted her up into a tight hug against her body.

Avalon hugged the demon tightly back, and then she almost fell when the demon let go of her, but the tiny Pegasus managed to catch the air with her wings before she looked up with a dumb smile and... happiness. Yeah, she was happy, as she stuttered out: "I'm gonna... I think... I'm gonna go now and go and... go home now and... you guys send me letters or stuff and... I'll read 'em! I'll... I'll see you guys soon. You guys better come visit soon."

She didn't really hear what Antares and Aphrodisia said in response as she flitted up into the air, zigzagging back and forth before her body turned to guide her home. Home, where she belonged. Home, where she was always happy, because things were going to get better...

In the morning, Avalon woke up with a groan, feeling hungover and stupider than usual. Her friends were gone, and she wanted to regret last night and all the work she hadn't done, as she sat carefully up and the hay beneath her shifted. She grimaced a little, rubbing at her features, hating herself but more glad than she would ever, ever allow herself to admit about that time spent catching up with friends and being her old self...

She frowned as her eyes opened, looking around at the stalls, the old wooden walls, feeling a strange sense of familiarity and no sense of surprise despite the fact this wasn't her home... this was... this was...

Her eyes widened slowly, and she staggered to her hooves, hurrying across the sawdust-covered floor and sending hale flying in all directions as she all but erupted out of the bale. She almost rammed face-first into the ajar door, yanking it open to stare out of the barn and at the ranch house across the lawn... before her jaw fell agape as a familiar old red earth pony opened the door and trotted out onto the deck. Age had tanned his coat darker in places, and he had a scruffy, short gray-blonde beard now and had let his mane grow out a little more, but that piercing green eye was the same as it had always been, far more vibrant than the glass orb in the other socket.

"Breakfast." he called to her amiably, as if nothing was out of the ordinary, and then he turned around and strode back inside.

Avalon mouthed slowly, then she strode dumbly across the yard, her wings flapping a few times to shake the last of the hay loose from her body. She reached the stairs and climbed them almost nervously, swallowing thickly... but it had been a long time since she'd been home. She sent them money every month, but rarely much of a letter these days more than standard well-wishes... she just never had time to reply to the letters she got with everything she was in charge of.

The tiny Pegasus headed to the door and pushed it open, tracing the familiar path to the kitchen, feeling such a powerful wave of nostalgia from the life she'd lived here... and how that only got all the stronger when she stepped into the kitchen, saw everything the way she had always remembered it all, saw her family all gathered there.

The big red stallion, her uncle, was sitting at the table beside a light blue Pegasus who grinned up at her, his features still handsome despite how much of his youth they'd lost. And at the counter, just finishing up pancakes, was her father: a Pegasus stallion with magenta eyes and a shaggy rainbow mane and tail, his coat blue, the emblem on his flank of a white cloud releasing a rainbow-colored bolt of lightning. Her father, her inspiration... and beside him...

Her mother smiled at her, a smile that made her green eyes light up and refute the wrinkles that covered her features. She was a goldenrod earth pony, with a mane that had once been blonde but had now turned almost entirely white, and she was thin, and... pretty. She held herself up well, in spite of the shawl wrapped around her neck; not because her mother was frail, but it helped hide the marks of all the surgeries she had gone through, these last few years.

Avalon swallowed a little, looking back and forth, and then her mother gestured at the table and said softly: "Go on and sit down, Ava, you look famished. Hurry up, Dash, Big Mac and Soarin' got work to do today, we ain't all as lazy as you."

"Hey, I know what I'm doing, thank you very much." Rainbow Dash replied pointedly as he turned back to the griddle, flipping the pancakes to check them as he added: "And you should go sit down too, Applejack."

"I'm fine. Y'all are worrying about me for nothing these days, I swear." the mare grumbled, and Avalon smiled despite herself as her mother pushed away from the counter and made her way to the table... a little slow, a little careful of her balance, Avalon noticed. She couldn't help but stare, and then she blushed when her mother glanced over at her and said: "Hey, sit down, Ava. Don't even think about runnin' off without eating."

"I'm not, Mom. I'm not." Avalon said when she finally found her voice, and then she quickly hurried to slip into her old spot at the table. She smiled embarrassedly, looking around awkwardly before she cleared her throat and mumbled: "So uh... it's... it's good to see you all. I... I guess I got confused trying to go home last night."

Big Mac only smiled amusedly over at her, and Soarin' grinned as he leaned forwards, asking: "So how's the Captain of the Thunderbolts doing in Canterlot, anyway?"

"Great. Really... really great." Avalon said unenthusiastically, and then she looked up with a smile as her father approached and placed an enormous stack of pancakes down on the table, the Pegasus changing the subject hurriedly: "How did you guys know I was here?"

Applejack only chuckled and shook her head, saying softly: "I was still up reading when I heard the barn door open. At first I though it might be someone trying to help themselves to some of our stores, but Dash went and took a quick look, and well..."

"There you were. In the same place you always slept in whenever you came home drunk." Rainbow Dash said with a smile as he slipped in beside his daughter, and he nudged her lightly with his shoulder as he winked at her. "Your mother was a little worried until I reminded her that Apps and Antares had been around. You went out with them, I'm guessing, yeah?"

Avalon nodded awkwardly, and she thought she saw... relief, approval even, in the eyes of her parents. She shifted embarrassedly, then picked up a fork and cleared her throat before she asked finally as she poked at her pancakes slowly: "So how... how have you been, Mom?"

Applejack laughed quietly, adjusting her shawl before she said softly: "Don't you worry about me, Ava. Just seeing you... does me a world of good. And you don't have to keep sending us money, either, we've been doin' fine here..."

"No, but I like to. I want to help out." Avalon said firmly, shaking her head, and then she frowned a little when Applejack and Rainbow Dash traded looks, both shifting a little. "What? What is it? Do you need more help?"

"No, honey, that's not it at all." Applejack said quietly, and he glanced over at her big brother, who nodded firmly once before he reached up and squeezed Soarin's shoulder gently. The former Wonderbolt glanced up dumbly from where he was stuffing his face with pancakes and hash browns, and then he nodded lamely before quickly sweeping up his plate and excusing himself with the crimson stallion.

Avalon shifted uneasily, looking back towards her mother as she breathed hard in and out, expecting the worst. That she was going to be written out of the will, this was her last family meal, that... they were going to lose the farm and it was all her fault. She met her mother's eyes, already trying to form an apology that would never be enough, before Applejack said softly: "This ain't entirely fair, Avalon, but this farm has been our family's for generations, and I want to continue that tradition... at least one more time. I'm passing down Sweet Apple Acres to you, Avalon."

"I... M-Mom, I can't... I mean... what about you and Dad?" whispered Avalon, and Rainbow Dash reached up to squeeze his stunned daughter's shoulder soothingly.

"Well, your mother and I haven't really thought that far ahead yet." the stallion said softly, and Avalon turned disbelieving eyes up to him, before he explained gently, slipping a tender look towards Applejack: "Ava, I... your mom and me, we're both getting old now. And for so many years, we've been here. Don't get me wrong, it's been great, but your Mom and I never really got to live out all our silly dreams we used to have and... we want to, before..."

"Before the end." Applejack said gently, unflinchingly, and she smiled even as Avalon turned worried eyes to her. "Oh, don't give me that look. I'm fine, still, and I'm gonna be fine for months yet. Long enough for one last pilgrimage around Equestria, see my family and explore the country and where the Apples came from... but I can't lie. A year? I don't know. Two years? I don't see any point in pretending that's likely. Three? I know I'll be in the ground before then."

"Mom, don't talk like that. D-Don't talk like that, okay?" Avalon pleaded, but when Applejack only smiled again at her, her daughter trembled and lowered her head, biting her lip and whispering: "I'm so sorry..."

Rainbow Dash rubbed soothingly along his daughter's back as Applejack chuckled and shook her head, murmuring: "Now stop that. Ain't your fault, Ava, we were both doin' things we weren't supposed to. You were off bein' stupid but I was the one trying to do all the work by myself in the barn. I knew better than that, with my lungs all chewed up, but I was doin' it anyway. Would have been easy to find you, I'm sure, and easier to just wait, but I didn't. It's not your fault I broke my back... it was all that pride that finally did it."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Applejack cleared her throat and straightened herself carefully before saying softly: "We're gonna travel around Equestria. I got that stupid brace that Cowlick made for me, and... we're not gonna worry about the farm, 'cause it's yours now. Big Mac will be around if you want some advice, but he and I agree the farm should go to you."

Avalon didn't know what to say, or how to react. She swallowed again, trembling a little as she looked across at her parents, and then she simply nodded a few times, feeling tears forming in her eyes as she rubbed at her face and realized... how much this meant to her as she laughed faintly before bowing her head. "I just... I'm the Captain of the Thunderbolts now... I've got to be responsible."

"I know. It'll take a few weeks to get all the papers sorted out and everything anyway, Ava, you got time to think about what you want to do. If you wanna sell it, that's fine too. I just want to pass this farm down to you... I know you'll do what's best." Applejack said softly, and Avalon laughed faintly as her father squeezed her around the shoulders, and she only hoped that she'd live up to half of what her parents still thought of her after all these years.

---

After breakfast, Avalon had sent a letter off to Headquarters using the dragon statue they'd been given forever ago by Luna and Scrivener, claiming she was held up in pursuit and would be returning to base to make her report once she'd finished gathering some intel.

She left her armor at home... her home, Sweet Apple Acres. That felt so strange to think of, but she... she sort of liked it. Not that she thought she could just abandon everything and come live out here, but maybe there was someone who could help. Someone else she could look to for advice.

She didn't have to go far: just a little down the road, there was a beautiful little cottage, with little hutches and feeding bowls for animals over the lawn. Quite a few different creatures were helping themselves to food and drink, and Avalon smiled wryly despite herself as she made her way to the door of the pretty house.

And before she could even knock, the door was quickly opened, but it wasn't a pony who emerged. It was an equine that looked almost like it was black smoke made physical, with a smoky mane that half-curled over her face to shade her curious, glowing green eyes that lacked both iris and pupil, but were all the same expressive and gentle.

Her wings flapped a little at her sides, and then the entity smiled softly at Avalon, saying quietly: "This is quite a surprise. Are you looking for my okâwîmâw, Avalon?"

"I am, yeah, but... I have time today, Tender Trust, so... if... well, you know. Maybe you can help some too." Avalon said softly, gazing at her friend with a small smile. Tender Trust looked back curiously, but she nodded before stepping back, gesturing for the mare to come inside.

Avalon followed her friend through the entrance hall and into a cozy den that smelled of flowers and woodsmoke. There was a small fire crackling quietly away in the fireplace, and a pot suspended above this in which charred herbs were emitting that almost-rapturous mix of smells, Avalon feeling herself loosening up just from the first few breaths, turning her eyes towards the couple on the couch as Tender Trust introduced politely: "Okâwîmâw, Avalon is here."

"Oh, hello Ava... it's been a while since the last time we talked." said the Pegasus resting back on the couch in a soft voice, sitting up with a quiet, warm smile. She was a sunny yellow, with her pink mane carefully pulled back from her eyes and held in place by headband, a cutie mark of butterflies on her haunch... but only a single wing furled against her side, the other missing.

Beside her, an almost-ethereal stallion grunted, nodding once as his black body seemed to ripple and twist like smog, green-fire eyes studying the visitor with interest. There were two others similar to this being resting on pillows at one side of the room as well, but they seemed somehow younger and more-physical. And when Tender Trust walked over to drop down beside one of them, and he absently attempted to shove her over, it became quite apparent they were siblings, while the ponies on the couch were their parents.

"Fluttershy, Nirvana... it's good to see you both." Avalon greeted, and then she hesitated before glancing between the two, taking a deep breath and inhaling the relaxing vapors... and then she simply blurted: "So my Mom and Dad are passing down the farm to me and I don't know what to do."

Fluttershy only smiled softly as Nirvana cocked his head, and Avalon cleared her throat at the unexpected reply... or the lack thereof. Then Tender Trust rose her head and asked curiously: "So when will you be moving back to your den?"

"Huh?" Avalon blanked for a moment, glancing over at Tender Trust, and then she blushed slightly and shook her head quickly, saying awkwardly: "Well, I mean... I guess I kind of want to move back, but I don't know a goddamn thing about running the farm... sure, yeah, I've done basically every chore and stuff but I could never actually... run the place..."

"You should talk to your parents about that, then, and ask them how it works. You're smart, Avalon... when we trained together, you learned very quickly. Your problem was always just a lack of focus... but from what I've heard, you've long conquered that." Fluttershy said gently, then she picked up the cup of tea on the table in front of her and sipped at it slowly, before smiling over at the tiny Pegasus. "You have to go where you belong."

"I... I don't know..." Avalon bit her lip, looking down and nodding slowly before she sighed when the two stallions beside Tender Trust rumbled and shifted. "Hey, shut up. You guys are lucky, you kind of... have your lives laid out for you, and all kinds of time to live. Ponies like me only have a few years compared to Phooka like you."

The brothers traded looks, then both blew raspberries at Avalon, making Tender Trust giggle as Nirvana rolled his eyes and shook his head slowly. Fluttershy only smiled despite herself, then turned her eyes towards Avalon and suggested: "Why don't you go speak to your aunt, Apple Bloom? Perhaps she can help you."

"I... yeah. Yeah, you're right. I gotta tell her anyway... Mom told me that she talked it over with Aunt Bloom too, but... she said that even if Apple Bloom works at the engineering building, she deserves to know everything that goes on out at the farm still." Avalon stopped, thought of that morning, and then she laughed a little and shook her head as she murmured: "Forty years old and I'm still learning how much family is willing to do for you."

"I know exactly what you mean." Fluttershy said softly, smiling towards Nirvana, and the Phooka simply bowed his head to her placidly before the one-winged Pegasus turned her gaze back towards Avalon. "I hope you decide to do what's best for you, either way, Avalon... and please, after you make your decision, come back and see me. I'd like to know what I could do to help, either way."

Avalon nodded awkwardly, and then she straightened and said after a moment: "It might... be a few weeks or something though, before I... you know, really... come to any decision, and of course I gotta fill out the papers and stuff and... you know. It might be a while."

She smiled lamely, but Fluttershy only smiled kindly back and said gently: "That's perfectly fine. I have all the time in the world, and you know I'm always here or over at the care center. Here, let me walk you to the door..."

Fluttershy began to carefully stand, but Tender Trust hopped to her own hooves first, saying quickly: "No, okâwîmâw, please rest. I would like to go with Avalon anyway, to spend time with my friend. That is important, is it not?"

"It is. Very important." Fluttershy settled back, nodding once as Nirvana grunted in agreement as well. Tender Trust smiled, then she turned to Avalon, as Fluttershy said softly: "Remember that I'm always here to help you, Avalon."

"Thank you, Fluttershy. I will." Avalon promised, smiling in return to the elderly mare before she turned, letting Tender Trust lead the way outside.

They strode to the street together in silence, and Avalon bit her lip for a moment before she finally glanced towards the half-Phooka, half-Pegasus, saying quietly: "So our parents are growing old, huh? Well... my family and your mom."

Tender Trust only smiled a little, shaking her head and murmuring: "Okâwîmâw will be around for many years yet, Avalon. She lives well. She will be treated well. And we will bury her amongst our ancestors in the forest, so she may be with us always."

Avalon grunted, then the young mare sighed and lowered her head, saying quietly: "I wish I could be more like you, T. Just... happy with things, able to take stuff in stride. Look at me, Captain of the Thunderbolts, the top combat flyer in the nation... and here I am, thinking that... just because Mom and Dad are going away and... oh, it's stupid."

"It is not stupid. You are trying to balance what you can do for others with what you must do for yourself." Tender Trust said softly, and Avalon glanced over at the smoky mare before the half-Phooka continued kindly: "What you must keep in mind is that you will not cease to be who you are, just because you go to a different place. In Canterlot you are still Avalon. Should you return to Ponyville, you will still be Captain of the Thunderbolts."

"Not if I don't have the job, T. I'll have to give up the job, my position, everything, to come back here. Sell my apartment, and... say goodbye to all my... friends..." Avalon had trouble with the last, grimacing a little as she looked away, unable from reflecting that outside of the Thunderbolts... she didn't really have any friends. And even inside the unit, well... "Plus, you know, it'll be a lot harder to have one night stands."

Tender Trust only looked at Avalon blankly, and the young mare winced and looked awkwardly away, mumbling: "I always forget that you're like, half my age. And from a completely different culture. And I guess Fluttershy wouldn't be the 'sleeping around' type."

"Okâwîmâw sleeps anywhere she likes." Tender Trust said after a moment, and Avalon sighed... then slowly stared when the half-Phooka continues: "Sometimes she sleeps at home, with her husband. Sometimes she sleeps in the den, with whoever will host her. Sometimes she sleeps with many of our kin at once. The Phooka are always very eager to please my mother."

Avalon mouthed wordlessly for a moment, and then she frowned and asked moodily: "Wait. Are you just making this up?"

"No, I am not. For the Phooka it is an honor to help care for my mother, for which we are very proud, and often she desires to be close to the tribe." Tender Trust continued, then she paused and added calmly: "Sometimes she is even invited to spend time and special occasions with favored members of the den, who treat her to anything and everything she desires.

"So she sleeps where it most pleases her. But she does not have sex with them is that is what you are referring to." A pause. "It is in my nature to take advantage of the gullible, I apologize." Tender Trust finished gently, and Avalon groaned and rolled her eyes.

They didn't share much more conversation on the way into the village, and Avalon smiled wryly at the way the guards stumbled to attention and saluted her when they realized who was approaching. And as they made their way into the village itself, she was suddenly rushed by several younger ponies, who bounced around her until she awkwardly signed a photo one of them had of her and sent them on their way. It was almost enough to distract her from the way the air in the northern half of Ponyville felt so much heavier than everywhere else: a reminder of a battle they had lost, a decade and a half ago.

It wasn't something she would ever get used to. Once upon a time, the Wonderbolts had been the unrivaled masters of the skies, stunt-Pegasi who were even called upon now and then to perform high-risk aerial missions throughout Equestria. Then they had established the Thunderbolts... and shortly after that, started a rivalry when Avalon had openly declared that the Thunderbolts would be Equestria's most adept flyers, and the Wonderbolts had responded by challenging them to an exposition. A battle of two teams.

But what few of the current Wonderbolts roster knew was that Avalon had worked with former legends among their own organization. Spitfire, Soarin', and of course her own father, Rainbow Dash: she knew the entire Wonderbolt repertoire inside and out. And when the current Wonderbolts had made the mistake of letting them put on the first show of skills, she had simply taken her team of then-four and led them through an old Wonderbolts routine... then finished it with an imitation of her father's Sonic Rainboom.

She had stolen the victory for the start. And sure, she had gotten lectured about fair play afterwards from her parents, but it hadn't really sunk in then: she was too determined to do her duty. She wasn't treating it like a game or a contest; it was a fight, and the enemy had to be taken down by any means necessary.

The competition had been heavily in their favor as they continued to use the Wonderbolts' own repertoire against them, right up until the pissed-off team of stunt flyers challenged them to aerial sparring to show who was really in charge of the skies. It was a mistake, and now more than ever, Avalon regretted what had happened.

She was paired up against their new Captain, Skylash. Skylash was tough, was capable, was the only Wonderbolt who was able to consistently undermine the Thunderbolts. And Avalon knew that if she wanted to get the final word, she had to take Skylash down hard.

She forgot these were ponies who hadn't seen the things she had; she forgot these were aerial flyers who were used to being untouchable; she forgot that this was really just a stupid game, and didn't care that she had already more than earned the respect and funding she needed to fortify the Thunderbolts as an organization.

Skylash came at her, tried to use her speed to gain the edge and make a quick frontal attack: Avalon saw it, and could have handled it a thousand different ways. But as she always did, she chose the direct route.

Avalon dodged upwards, and then came down with the force of gravity and the weight of her armor backing the hammer hoof she brought down on Skylash's skull. With a single blow, she brought down the Captain of the Wonderbolts and made herself the Captain of the Thunderbolts. She sent another Pegasus down in a bloody mess and left her in a broken heap on the ground below, and first there had been silence... and then, cheering. Not for her, but for the show she'd put on. For the way she'd so viciously punished a pony who had only wanted to try and defend the title her team had held for generations.

Even a few days ago, Avalon would have still said Skylash deserved it. Now, she wondered uneasily where the Wonderbolts were these days: she knew that now, the Thunderbolts took care of war, and the Wonderbolts were just the entertainers...

Tender Trust nudged her with a wing, and Avalon shook her head hurriedly before she looked up and saw they were approaching the engineering building. She cleared her throat, then smiled weakly over at Tender Trust, saying once she felt she could trust herself to speak: "Sorry. I got... I got a lot to think about. I... I just got a lot to think about."

The half-Phooka only nodded, and Avalon shook herself briskly before she turned back towards the enormous, strange building. It was massive and blocky, covered in peeling paint that had once been a mix of skillful graffiti and gorgeous murals, but had mostly decayed away now thanks to the constant wear and tear on the building from repairs, expansions, modifications and so many other structural changes.

Avalon approached the double doors and shoved them open, striding into a small lobby of sorts with Tender Trust following, and the small Pegasus made her way towards the 'Employees' Only' door before she scowled and looked up as the stallion at the desk in the corner asked loudly: "Can I help you, miss? I don't recognize you."

"Just going to see my aunt." Avalon said mildly, and then she reached up... and narrowed her eyes when she shoved on the door and found it locked. She glared at the stallion, but he was only looking at her with a disapproving frown, and the tiny mare flitted up into the air to cross her forelegs and lean forwards threateningly. "Listen, pal. You really don't want to go here today."

"But we are here too." Tender Trust said curiously, and Avalon groaned and rolled her eyes before glaring at the half-Phooka, who only shrugged. "I apologize. I do not entirely grasp what is going on. This place reeks of chemicals and things alien to nature, and my kind try to avoid it."

"Great. Where the hell is Cowlick? Where the hell is Cowlick's old secretary, she knew me." Avalon said flatly, and then she hammered firmly on the door. "I worked security detail here before, in the frigging restricted access wing, and if you don't recognize me-"

"I don't. Please step away from the door and I'll call someone to meet you in a few minutes." the stallion said disdainfully, and Avalon glowered over at the desk clerk before she pounded on the door again. "I said, please step away from the door: don't make me call security, miss!"

"Dude, if you call security on me things are gonna turn out even worse for you." Avalon warned, and the stallion reared back as if shocked before the Pegasus turned to pound on the door a few times again.

The stallion leaned over and pressed a large button on the desk, and a noisy buzzing filled the air. Avalon winced at this, and then the stallion said huffily: "Security will arrive shortly here to escort you of the premises. Please step back from the-"

The door rattled again, but this time it wasn't from Avalon touching it. The mare blinked at this, then flew backwards when the door was yanked open, an earth pony mare storming through and asking crankily: "The hell was this locked again, and who... I, hey! Hey, Avalon, is that you?"

Avalon grinned and nodded as she looked down at the mare: she had a short, messily-cut dirty blonde mane kept out of her eyes by a worn red bandanna, and her chestnut-colored body was streaked with grease and other chemicals here and there. Her cutie mark was of several interlocking gears, and combined with the stains, it made it pretty clear what her special talent was.

She laughed and shook her head, piercing blue eyes looking up at Avalon, as the piercings in her ears, her nostril, her eyebrow glinted, clearly more recently cleaned than the ripped denim vest she was wearing. She reached up and yanked a box out of her breast pocket, digging out a cigarette as she asked: "What the hell are you doing here? You need some better gear? Or hey, you finally go berserk on some poor punk and they make you toss in the towel?"

"Screw you, Aunt Cowlick, I'm better than that." Avalon said firmly, even if the faint blush that rose in her cheeks made it clear she wasn't entirely sure she was. Then the tiny mare cleared her throat before she settled a little as the earth pony coughed a few times before shoving a cigarette into her muzzle, and Avalon asked: "Is Apple Bloom here?"

"Yeah, she's working with Shiny in the back right now, doing some repairs on him. Me, I was just going to go on lunch... I had enough of dealing with the psycho head on wheels." Cowlick rolled her eyes, then she shook her head before frowning and leaning around Avalon, asking loudly: "Hey, jackass, did you lock this door again?"

The stallion smiled nervously, and Cowlick rolled her eyes before saying moodily: "You do that again, sport, and I'm gonna fire you. There are guns and security turrets and now an angry head floating or wheeling her way around these halls. No one's going to be crazy enough to attack us here, you got that? You're just a damn secretary, you're not a security guard. You let me worry about anyone who might want to kill me."

The pony nodded sheepishly, shrinking down a little behind the counter as Avalon grinned a little, and then Cowlick turned her eyes upwards and smiled again, reaching up to squeeze the Pegasus' shoulder. "It's good to see you. And you too, Tender Trust, don't see your kind around here too much. Come on in, then, let's talk. You can spare a goddamn hour or two for me, and if you say no, then I'll cripple you for the day and you can try to explain that to your bosses."

"I ain't gonna say no, Auntie Cowlick." Avalon replied with a snort of amusement, shaking her head before she watched as the earth pony engineer turned around and headed back into the halls beyond. Avalon took just long enough to make a rude gesture at the humbled stallion before she followed after Tender Trust and into the halls of the engineering lab.

It was a sterile, busy labyrinth, brightly lit and the walls whitewashed and floors polished. And again, there was that strange sense of coming home, despite the fact Avalon had never really worked here that often. But she had been in here quite a bit, running messages, visiting her real aunt as well as the engineer here who'd sort of muscled her way into being an aunt as well, she thought she knew why. It wasn't just because it was familiar to her, it was because the people who kept this place going were all so familiar to her.

Then Cowlick halted and grumbled in front of a steel door, hammering on it twice before she grabbed then handle and shoved it open, then jerked her head at the room beyond, saying mildly: "Here. Had to move my goddamn office, but even if I'm somewhere different, guess it's all pretty much the same. I'll make you a coffee, extra whiskey."

"Yeah, I think I get what you mean." Avalon murmured after a moment as she stepped inside, smiling after a moment as she looked back and forth at the desk that was littered with papers, the shelves filled with trinkets and small machine parts, how it was all stuffed into a different place... but really, it was all the same as it had always been, even with all the time and way things had changed.

Chapter Five: The Pre-Show

~BlackRoseRaven

Luna Brynhild hummed absently to herself as she calmly polished one of her two spears: the nine foot pole had a spiral of runes etched all along its length, made of a fantastic, near-indestructible metal known as gianttooth. But the body of the weapon was nothing compared to its tip: locked tight in a ring of the same metal was Luna's own alicorn horn, lost during a battle but now put to use in a new way that let her keep it, in a sense, as part of her own body. She had always treated her Valkyrie weapons as part of herself, after all.

Luna glanced up and smiled at Scrivener Blooms, who was grumbling and had his claws unfolded so he could clean a much-more complex weapon: Sting Mk. II. It was a weapon of the modern age, a rifle with a rectangular, fortified barrel with a weighted, thick underside and an attached, six-inch double-edged bayonet. The stock and handle were enlarged to be comfortably gripped and utilized by a pony's hoof, with a large, revolving cylinder that could hold up to four different bullets at once. Apple Bloom had given her the first version of Sting, then heavily improved upon the design to create the cherished Mk. II.

It was currently disassembled in front of the stallion, who was cleaning it piece-by-piece as he tried to remember which part went where. He was pointedly doing his best to ignore Luna's occasional, clearly 'accidental' pokes at him with her spear, which he couldn't help but think was all the more fitting bore the name Prúðbikkja. That name described Luna all too well.

Luna huffed loudly, then she poked firmly at Scrivener a few times as the speartip sparked at him, but the stallion grimaced and slapped at this, warding it off. And a few feet away from them, Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes where she was cleaning Luna's other spear, Andlitstingar: a much simpler weapon with a nine foot long, tensile alloy pole and simple diamond tip, but which had the advantage of being able to collapse into a baton. "I really shouldn't have to be the one to tell you two this, but these are very serious, very dangerous weapons..."

"Aye, and they are also pieces of mine own self, Twilight Sparkle, which means that they are also fun when 'tis possible. Dangerous fun, but fun." Luna said mildly, and then she brought her spear up and bopped Scrivener firmly with it, making him wince. "Besides, we may tell foals not to play with fire and take away their matches, but 'tis only so that we may then set off great firecrackers and colored flames and other marvelous pyrotechnics."

Twilight sighed tiredly and shook her head slowly, opening her mouth to argue... but she was interrupted when Innocence came bounding into the room, looking anxiously back and forth before she asked impatiently: "Aren't you guys ready yet? Come on, we gotta go to Clinker's party! We gotta go and get everything ready!"

Scrivener looked blankly at Innocence, her form polymorphed to make herself look more pony, while Luna only huffed and said: "Clinker does not have friends. We are the entire party, so 'tis safe to say that we shall not miss it."

"Mutt!" Innocence whined loudly, and then she huffed and spun around, heading back into her room with a grumble as Twilight and Scrivy both looked flatly at Luna.

Luna only looked defiantly back, then she rolled her eyes and grumbled, tossing her spear into the air. It floated for a moment as the alicorn horn tip glowed, and then it burst into blue flames before dropping down behind one of the winged unicorn's ears in the shape of a fountain pen, as she said grumpily: "Oh fine, fine. Then we are most of the party. And 'tis not anything mean, besides, 'tis simply... the simple truth."

Scrivener rolled his eyes, then he carefully began to reassemble the large gun as Twilight twisted Andlitstingar and collapsed it down into a baton, the Lich noting: "Yes, but you know how protective Innocence is of him. It's very important for us to try and extend a sense of... of friendship and positivity towards all of Innocence's friends."

"Yeah, all one of my friends." Innocence's voice floated sulkily out of her room, and the adults traded lame looks before Innocence added moodily: "So I really really don't want to show up late. Because I really don't want to lose my only friend."

"You have more friends than Clinker, Innocence." Twilight tried to encourage as she hopped up to her hooves, dropping Andlitstingar to head towards her daughter's room. Luna huffed, but Scrivener smiled a little over his shoulder as the Lich leaned hesitantly into the doorway.

Innocence looked up with bit of a pout from her bed, and Twilight softened as she saw beneath the angst and saw the honest worry and hurt. Sure, Sin had her faults and her virtues, but... she was also a sixteen year old girl who had one friend in a world that almost ran on friendship. The Lich sighed a little, then she strode up to the side of the bed and sat down beside it, smiling a little as she said softly: "When I was your age, I didn't have many friends either. It really wasn't until I was an adult that I started making friends... and a lot of the friends I made, I carried through my entire life. I'm good at getting along with ponies, but I don't know if I really am that good at the... the magic of friendship."

Twilight laughed as Innocence only cocked her head curiously, but the violet mare shook her head and murmured: "Sorry, I guess it's kind of a... an inside joke these days. What I mean is that... you're going to find your friends, Innocence, as long as you hold on and keep looking. They're out there. And your family is always going to be here for you, too."

Innocence nodded a little, glancing down and shifting hesitantly before the young unicorn brought her eyes up and asked quietly: "But what about after... you became different? I mean, Móðer and Daddy are different too, but... I know that they can keep it hidden. You can't, and... I mean..."

The young mare shifted a bit, then she sat up and sighed, looking down at one of her claws as she flexed it slowly before mumbling: "I hate that I was born like this. Born such a freak."

"You are not a freak. Don't ever think that, okay?" Twilight said quietly but firmly, striding forwards and sitting down beside her daughter, and Sin shifted a bit before she lowered her head and nodded with a mumble. The Lich gazed at her softly, then she smiled faintly and reached up, touching her daughter's shoulder gently. "Look, after I became a Lich... my real friends stayed with me, and more than that... I met some of the greatest people I've had the fortune to ever know, too. Like Burning Desire, or Morning Glory."

"I know, but they're demons and... not normal people." Innocence said after a moment, and Twilight smiled again but let it slide for now: she knew what the young mare meant. She sat back, letting Sin wrestle with her own thoughts for a moment before she looked up and asked finally: "Am I... should I just try and make friends with demons, then? Should I just give up on mortals?"

Twilight shook her head at this, saying softly: "Like I said. Some of my best friends stayed with me even after I changed... almost all of them mortals. Look at... look at Cowlick, and Ross, and Rosewood and Scutum... there's a lot of good people out there, Innocence. And I know that sometimes it doesn't seem that way, because the people you don't want to deal with are always louder, are always trying to block you from seeing that there's plenty of other people out there... but you're strong. You can push past the bullies and the bigots and the idiots. I know you can."

Innocence smiled a little and nodded, and then she lowered her head with a sigh before she mumbled: "Okay. Well. Then can I please head into town myself, if you guys are going to be busy still? I really want to be there for Clinker."

"Fear not, Sin, Scrivy is just about done putting Sting back together, and I have already gathered what foodstuff we are supposed to bring." Luna strode up into the doorway of Innocence's room, and the unicorn brightened as she sat up, looking past her mother towards her Móðer. "Does thou have his gift?"

"Yep!" Innocence said brightly, leaping off the bed and snatching up a satchel bag to throw over her back, and then she bounced past Twilight Sparkle and almost ran into Luna, who laughed and caught her easily in a one legged hug for a moment. Then Innocence slipped past, and Luna gave a lame grin and a faint blush as Twilight only looked wryly at the sapphire mare for a few moments, the Lich doing her best to ignore that awkward twist of almost-jealousy inside her.

But she shook it off after a few seconds, standing up and striding over to Luna, and they shared a quiet, gentle kiss for a moment before the violet mare let her head drop forwards and rest against Luna's shoulder, as the mare nuzzled her quietly. "You need to teach me how you get along with her so well, Luna."

"Well, it helps that she's the moon. Gravity and all." Scrivener said ironically, and Luna slowly glared over her shoulder at Scrivener as Twilight smiled a little despite herself. "Oh sorry, dearest. I didn't mean to imply that you're fat. You're pretty."

"I am very pretty." Luna grumbled, and then she muttered: "And I am not fat. Thou art fat. Thy fat head is fat. Fat headed Scrivener Blooms."

Scrivener only shrugged amiably, and the Lich leaned forwards, nudging the sapphire mare gently with her shoulder. "Come on, Luna. Let's get going before Innocence runs to town without us. This is important to her."

"I know, I know!" Luna groaned, throwing her head back and rolling her eyes, and then she grunted at Scrivener as he approached, Sting Mk. II pieced back together and resting in a rune-covered leather holster over the stallion's back. "Bring that with us. We shall shoot things."

The stallion looked dryly at Luna, and the sapphire mare gazed pointedly back before the charcoal stallion mumbled: "Fantastic. Because the other parents in Ponyville don't already hate us enough as it is."

"They hate thou, and 'tis not my fault they do. Thou art a terrible conversationalist." Luna replied, spinning on one hoof and striding towards the door, and Scrivener rolled his eyes before the sapphire mare added: "And besides, we have promised to provide entertainment, have we not? Therefore, let us provide the best entertainment we know how!"

"I don't think Bean Counter actually thought we were going to do anything. I think he was just agreeing with you so you'd go away, because you both scare him a little." Twilight said pointedly as she followed Scrivener and Luna outside, and Scrivy shrugged agreeably as Luna only huffed loudly over her shoulder.

They strode across the deck, Twilight absently flicking her horn to close the door behind them before the Lich smiled a little at the sight of Innocence waiting eagerly in the yard. She wasn't entirely alone, though: she had been joined by the smallest member of their odd family, who chirped loudly at them as he hopped up and down on the young mare's head as she bounced excitedly on her hooves. "Come on, come on, come on!"

"You coming too, Abaddon? Usually you like roaming around, pretending you're the boss of these woods because everything intelligent here knows that trying to eat you will end up getting blasted by one of us." Scrivener said mildly, and the tiny pseudodragon on Innocence's head huffed and leaned forwards: it had black scales over most of its body, but a rubbery white underbelly. Its sapphire eyes glowered at Scrivener, clearly showing it was intelligent enough to understand at least the tone of what was being said to it, and its wings stretched out as it tried to make itself look intimidating, tiny crown of horns gleaming and tail snapping back and forth like a cat's... but it was all rather ruined when it made a little growl that sounded like a kitten's purr.

The stallion cleared his throat, while their daughter glanced up with a giggle before she shook her head quickly and stomped a claw against the ground several times, saying quickly: "Okay, let's go, we can go now, right?"

"Calm down, Sin." Twilight smiled and shook her head slowly, then she glanced over her daughter before turning her eyes towards her family. Luna and Scrivener both nodded... and then the stallion winced when Abaddon flung himself through the air to smack loudly into his face and cling to his features with a huff.

Scrivener did his best to ignore the pseudodragon attached to his face as Innocence shifted back and forth on her hooves, tossing little looks over her shoulder now and then while the Lich double-checked that they had everything. Then the violet mare finally nodded, saying: "You can go ahead to Clinker's, and we'll go to Sugar Cube Corners to picked up the cake like we promised, and-"

"Okay! See you there!" Innocence said brightly, spinning around and sprinting down the path, and Twilight blinked and stared after the mare as Luna laughed and Scrivener shook his head in entertainment, then reached up and awkwardly pried the stubborn pseudodragon off his features.

He dropped Abaddon to the field, and the little reptile huffed at him before scurrying quickly over to Luna and up one of her legs to her shoulder. He sat himself down and glowered pointedly over at the stallion, who looked dryly back at him as the three ponies started to make their way towards the path and into town for this festive occasion that they were doing their best to try and be excited about.

It wasn't that any of them disliked Clinker, it was... parental frustration, maybe. Here they all were, trying to help out a kid that would probably have quite a big party: yes, Innocence would probably be the only guest, but Bean Counter spared no expense for his son. And furthermore, this would be his son's eighteenth birthday, and Scrivener and Luna both were really not looking forwards to attempting to mingle with Clinker's family.

Innocence apparently ran full-tilt all the way to Ponyville, because they didn't catch up with her on the path or even see her ahead by the time they reached the end of the trail through the Everfree Forest. Of course, Twilight was now the one anxious to stay on schedule, while Luna and Scrivener were loitering a little, both trying to come up with excuses as to why they wouldn't be able to stay for very long.

It was about noon as they made their way towards Sugar Cube Corners, the most popular bakery and candy shop in Ponyville. But as they were walking through the streets, the ponies glanced up with surprise to see two familiar faces heading down the road, one of them belonging to a certain pony they hadn't seen for years now. "Avalon? Is it truly thee?"

"I... oh, hi, Scrivener, Luna, Twilight!" Avalon smiled awkwardly, blushing a little as she flitted towards them. Tender Trust followed behind the tiny Pegasus, bowing her head respectfully, and Luna grinned widely as she marveled over the mare that her family had known since she'd been a baby. "Uh... been a while, yeah?"

"Did you get to see Antares and Aphrodisia last night?" Twilight asked curiously, and when Avalon cleared her throat and nodded lamely a few times, Luna leaned forwards eagerly.

"Well, tell me more!" the sapphire mare said pointedly, but when Avalon only looked at her awkwardly, the mare huffed loudly. "Oh come now, thou cannot have gotten into that much trouble. A strip club? Drunken debauchery? Believe me when I say that no matter what thou wert up to, Avalon, in the past mine brother and I indulged far, far worse."

Avalon winced at this, shaking her head rapidly as she said hurriedly: "No, nothing like that, seriously no! It was just that... well, uh... yeah, we got pretty drunk, but... I ended up coming here and... woke up in the barn instead of apartment in Canterlot..."

The tiny mare stopped, hesitated, then asked on impulse: "Hey, uh... if you had a choice between a really great job, getting looked up to, feeling like you're finally somepony, you're finally an adult... and comin' home, to everything that's familiar and that you've kind of maybe missed in spite of what a big shot you are in the big city... what would you choose?"

Scrivener and Twilight both smiled as Luna only laughed loudly, and Avalon frowned before the sapphire mare said mildly: "Avalon, thou art speaking to a pony who was once Princess of Equestria, but abandoned all that to flee into a cottage in exile. Aye, I would give up anything to... to be home, with those I care for."

She looked back and forth, softening, before the starry-maned mare shook her head and added gently: "But thou art not me. Thou art thou, and it sounds as if thou shall have to make an important decision for thyself in the future. Look at what thou art truly doing with thyself and do not just think of what will make thee happy for the short term, but what shall fulfill thee over the long term. Think hard on it, and remember to act with honor."

"I... that's a lot to think about." Avalon grumbled, but she nodded and sighed, rubbing a hoof through her short, bristly mane before she muttered: "Fantastic. And by the way, your son's a jerk."

"Then I have raised him right." Luna grinned widely and winked over at the Pegasus, who groaned and rolled her eyes before the sapphire mare added cheerfully: "I know! Thou should come with us to Clinker's birthday party! 'Twould make it much less boring."

"Uh. What?" Avalon asked dumbly, and then she shook her head, pointing awkwardly away and saying lamely: "Look, I really have to get going, okay? I mean... there's kind of a billion things I gotta get done, and a lot to think about, and uh-"

"I'll let thou shoot my gun." Luna wheedled, and Abaddon whimpered as both Scrivener and Twilight Sparkle stared over at the starry-maned mare.

Avalon only scowled, however, saying flatly: "You know I'm not just some dumb kid anymore, right? I'm the Captain of the Thunderbolts. I don't treat weapons like toys anymore, that's just a waste of ammunition and time and makes the whole unit look bad."

"Oh, wonderful. Thou hast become a little Celestia." Luna retorted, looking ruffled before she rose her head in the air and sniffed loudly, brushing past as Scrivener and Twilight awkwardly followed. "Well, very well then! Go off and deal with thy silly sordid business, I shall be rude and undisciplined and stupid and we shall see who has the last laugh."

Luna accented this with a loud 'ha!' before she headbutted the door of Sugar Cube Corners open, and Twilight gave one lame, last apologetic look over her shoulder as Scrivener only sighed and let his head drop forwards. But the moment they were inside the shop, Luna seemed to immediately forget about Avalon as she turned her eyes towards the counter at the front of the store, bouncing gleefully up to it as the pink mare behind the counter glanced up and smiled. "Hey, guys! Hey, big twin sister, they're here!"

A shout from the kitchen told them Pinkamena was busy with something, but her twin sister only laughed before turning warm eyes back towards her friends, looking at them overtop perpetually-broken glasses held tightly on with a thick strap. She was a little too thin despite the fact she lived mostly off sugar and sweets – which made her sparkling, perfect teeth a bit of an odd sight as well – and her cotton-candy mane and tail had thinned out some over the years, making them less of a wild tangle and more of a shallow nest.

She was growing older. All the ponies of Ponyville were getting older, except for Luna and Scrivener and Twilight and a few others, who were unable to do anything but sit back and watch it happen. And some days it was hard, while other days it was difficult to believe that these ponies were...

Twilight shook her head quickly, then she turned a smile back up to Pinkie Pie, who awkwardly adjusted her glasses before she gazed brightly over at Scrivener. He smiled at her lamely, feeling a little dumb and embarrassed behind his own: his were just glass lenses, after all, and he wore them because Luna liked them on him. Not because he was losing his vision, like Pinkie Pie. "I really don't know how you can keep yours so intact still, Scrivy, I broke mine again just the other day!"

She was loud, but not just because Pinkie Pie was Pinkie Pie: she was a little deaf. Luna only smiled warmly at her, though, and Twilight did her best to smile, too: this was just hard for her, seeing her friends like this, faced with their mortality and feeling like she couldn't do anything to help them. The Lich knew that it was difficult for Luna, too, but Luna had spent her life immortal, and seen five hundred years of this in the past... not that Twilight thought her experiences with seeing society and ponies change and grow and pass on made it easy to deal with. She knew it didn't.

Pinkie Pie turned towards her, and the two looked at each other for a moment before the still bright-pink mare said kindly: "You're lookin' real well, Twilight. I'm real happy to see that... hey, did you hear about Avalon? She's going to be taking over Sweet Apple Acres!"

"We figured as much. She seems to have a difficult choice ahead of herself, and I pray that she makes the right one." Luna said softly, and the ponies glanced from one another before the starry-maned mare added thoughtfully: "'Twould do her good to come back, though. She may be less of a Celestia if she returns to the farm."

"Hey, your big sister is really nice these days." Pinkie pointed out, and Luna grumbled and tilted her head back and forth even as the friendly earth pony continued: "She's always coming in here, buying treats for herself and Bob, and she buys all sorts of baked goods to just give away to ponies who visit the library, and she always pays way more than she has to, and-"

"Will you stop trying to suck up, sissy?" asked Pinkamena crankily as she emerged through the swinging doors leading in from the kitchen, and Pinkie Pie gave her twin sibling a flat look before the demon glowered over at the three guests and their pet. "What the hell are you here for? The goddamn store isn't even open today."

"What? Lemon Drop, we can't just close the store because we feel like it!" Pinkie Pie complained, and then she turned to walk around the plain, polished marble counter, but Pinkamena simply sat down in her path and crossed her forelegs, refusing to move.

Pinkie Pie huffed at this, then turned and strode quickly in the other direction, past the racks filled with fresh-baked goods and into the half of the store clearly run by her less-friendly sibling: here, the counters were painted black, the shelves were left purposefully off-kilter or slanted, and the decorations were of a much more horrific nature while the food items were all shaped like body parts, bones, and other items that followed the dark theme.

But the store's schizophrenic quality was a large part of what drew in so many customers, and why they were so popular. And, even if Pinkamena would never admit it, she was proud of this place she had run with her twin sister for many years now, and almost entirely by themselves: they had two assistants, but the twins still did all the baking and preparation on their own.

Pinkie dropped low and wiggled her way beneath the divider at the end of the counter, wheezing a little before she popped through despite the fact that Scrivener was very sure the little space she'd squeezed through was far too small for the average pony to fit into. But Pinkie only smiled as she stood up and shook herself out: maybe she could no longer bounce like she used to, but she was still plenty spry and flexible for her age.

Pinkamena only sighed tiredly as Pinkie Pie strode triumphantly towards the door, and the demon's eyes flickered with softness for a moment before her gaze turned sour again as she looked at the trio and their pet. "You're here for the weird kid's cake, right? Fine, I got it in back, along with a box of goodies that sissy insisted we make up. It's probably just a bunch of balloons, since she has to put her trademark flank everywhere."

Pinkie Pie only looked mildly at her twin sister over her shoulder as she flipped the sign on the door to 'Open,' and then she glanced after a moment at her cutie mark of yellow and blue balloons before asking curiously: "Can't a whole bunch of ponies have the same cutie mark? It's funny, I never really thought about that."

"Maybe if they were background ponies or stock characters, but all you moneymakers are unique and copyrighted." said a mild voice, and all eyes looked up with surprise before Luna grinned widely and Twilight smiled despite herself at the sight of the Draconequus complacently seated on the ceiling. His inverted white pupils studied them thoughtfully, black eyes flicking back and forth as his draconic, red-scaled features furrowed in thought. "Although of course, some of the background characters are now rather unique specimens of their own. It's rather funny what people will cling to, isn't it?"

"Get the hell off my ceiling. I just washed that." Pinkamena said irritably, and then she added acidly: "And you tell your goddamn mistress she owes me eighty goddamn bits. I ain't making these donuts just so she can give them away to stupid foals who probably smear crap all over her precious books, you hear me Discombobulation?"

The chimerical creature sniffed, then arched his back and casually somersaulted off the ceiling to land primly on his mismatched giraffe and feline legs. He smiled pleasantly as his long, purple kangaroo tail flicked to the side, then he crossed his arms over his black scaled chest: one of these had a gray skinned hand and was covered in shaggy orange fur, while the other was completely different even from the rest of the chaotic creature: it was made of shaped and interlocked metal, designed to look and function as much as possible like a real limb, from dexterous, claw-shaped and complex hand to the rounded cusp that locked tightly over what remained of the Draconequus' shoulder, a tight harness holding this firmly in place on his body. "I hear something, Pinkamena. But hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world. Not that I would ever want anything to do with your Chamber of Secrets."

Pinkamena slowly narrowed her eyes at the Draconequus, and he cleared his throat and bowed to her politely, the shark-like fin and almost-translucent, spiny frill beside it both flexing. "And now I have introduced my character in the best way possible. By making possible innuendo out of a children's story. Or implying what we all know already and that you have a terrible dungeon somewhere." He paused, then threw his head back and flailed his arms, shouting: "Soylent green is people! Soylent green is people!"

"I don't eat greens." Pinkamena said flatly, and then she stomped viciously down on his feline paw, making the Draconequus yelp and hop backwards, grasping childishly at his injured appendage as he glowered at her. But she only glared back, saying distastefully: "And I would never share my meat with you losers, anyway. Either you whine about it or you steal all the best cuts."

She turned a dour look to Luna, and the sapphire mare huffed before retorting: "Well, thou offered! What did thou expect, that I would simply leave behind the most tender morsels and take only the bits and bobs that were ill-prepared or scarred?"

"No, I expected you not to take ten pounds of steak out of my goddamn freezer." Pinkamena retorted icily, and then she shook her head and glared at Scrivener Blooms, who winced away as Abaddon squeaked and hurriedly scrambled down to hide on the earth pony's back. "And you helped her, so you're just as responsible and just as bad. Asshole. This is why I'm not nice to you stupid people. I'm the Gluttony demon but you're the gluttons."

"No, believe me, your Wrath is definitely showing." Scrivy muttered, and then he winced when Pinkamena punched him in the chest, letting out a slow wheeze after a moment. "Just... proves my point. Thanks for that."

"Call it another favor." Pinkamena said moodily, and then she jerked her head at the doors leading into the back. "Come on, mule. Let's load you up with the stupid cake."

"Hooray." Scrivener grumbled, and he smiled wryly over his shoulder at Luna and Twilight as Abaddon hurriedly hopped off the charcoal stallion's back. Discombobulation, meanwhile, quickly drew the attention of the others: if he was always good for one thing, it was causing a distraction.

Pinkamena and Scrivener slipped into the back, and the demon sighed and shook her head slowly, giving a quieter glance over her shoulder at the stallion. "This is all your fault. If you morons hadn't shown up or just come around the back, then I wouldn't've had to... put up with kids today."

Her tone softened as she snuck a look over at Scrivener, and the stallion smiled a bit. He could always see through her, and not because of any of his strange abilities. Instead, it was because they were the best of friends, even if Pinkamena liked to try her hardest to avoid showing it at all.

He walked towards her, but she only turned and gestured at the enormous, several layer chocolate cake sitting on the middle of the island in the center of the kitchen, and Scrivener stopped to whistle a little as he slowly drew his eyes along the towering dessert. "You two went all out, huh?"

"Pinkie insisted. She always does." Pinkamena sighed a little again, shaking her head and muttering: "Maybe if she'd stop spending all her time trying to make friends and show off and kiss everyone's butt and play with all the stupid kids, she wouldn't be dying alone."

"She's not alone. She has you and Sleipnir." Scrivener said softly, and when the demon glared at him, he met her eyes and smiled a little in return despite himself. "Okay, I know what you meant, yeah, but you know what I mean, too."

Pinkamena grunted, then she muttered: "It's stupid, anyway. Help me box this up so you can take it over to weirdo. That kid's more of a freak than your daughter."

Scrivener rolled his eyes, but he strode over to help the mare put the cake into a stiff box that would hopefully protect it a little. Then they slid onto Scrivener's back, and the stallion grimaced as Pinkamena tied it down to him, saying moodily: "You look like a camel with a stupid-tall hump, so try not to walk into anything and ruin all my frigging work. And make sure you get me a hefty tip from the weird kid's dad."

The charcoal stallion grunted, and then Pinkamena hesitated before reaching up and catching him by the shoulder. Their eyes met for a moment, and the demon asked quietly: "You're gonna stick by no matter what happens, right?"

"We're cellmates in the asylum, right?" Scrivener replied with a slight smile, and Pinkamena grunted and gave a brief smile before the stallion added: "Just... enjoy your time with her. You have years yet, remember that."

"Years are seconds to a demon." Pinkamena said softly, and then she shook her head and shoved Scrivener forwards through the door, saying crankily: "Look, this ain't no therapy session and you could never afford me, anyway. Get the hell out of my shop."

"At least it's not a pet store." Discombobulation said helpfully, and then he winced and ducked when Pinkamena flung a muffin at his head. Then all eyes stared as Luna charged after it and went into a long dive, spinning around in midair and catching it in her jaws before she hit the floor with a loud thump on her back... and promptly started to choke, grabbing wildly at her neck and flopping around like a fish over the floorboards.

Scrivener winced and wheezed, twitching a bit as he felt the same distinct lodging in his throat, and Twilight flinched before hurrying forwards... but a moment later, Luna managed to roll over and spit out the offending baked good. It landed with a splat on the floor, and Luna stared down at it for a moment before she swept it up as she sat back, peeled off the wrapper, and ate the muffin in two large bites, to a mix of horror and exasperation throughout the room.

Ten seconds later, three ponies, a pseudodragon, and a Draconequus were all flung or shoved out the door, Pinkie Pie calling an awkward goodbye behind Pinkamena as the demon snapped: "Don't come back unless you're bringing me money from Celestia or the weird kid!"

With that, she slammed the door, and Discombobulation slowly brushed at himself before he said mildly: "I bet if they were on Kitchen Nightmares, she would definitely be the one to make Gordon Ramsey cry."

Scrivener only grunted as he glanced awkwardly up at the cake on his back, while Luna huffed a little and said loudly: "There is nothing wrong with what I did. 'Tis not like when Scrivener Blooms was eating that scone and I stole it out of his mouth."

Scrivener shuddered, and Twilight grimaced and looked away as Discombobulation looked mildly over them, then said dryly: "You know, you might not want to say things like that right now. I have this sense we're not entirely alone, after all."

"No, Bob, truly? Thy powers of perception, truly they are without rival." Luna said ironically as she stood up, gesturing absently with her head at the road, the buildings, the curious people passing by. "So art thou coming with us to Clinker's birthday?"

"No, no I am not. I'm not fond of birthdays, particularly ones that aren't my own." Discombobulation said mildly, rubbing absently at his metallic arm before he added dryly: "Besides, I'm fairly certain that Tia wants to do awful things to me that I won't be able to remember later."

The Draconequus began to walk away, and then he halted and looked uneasily upwards, and this time it caught Luna's attention. The way he was posed, the expression on his face, the seriousness that seemed to breathe through the chimerical creature for a moment... and Twilight asked quietly, as she picked up on both Luna's emotions as well as the Draconequus' own flare of nervousness: "What is it?"

"Like I said, we're being watched, but before I thought I was simply being cute. Because clearly, I'm cute as a button. Now, though, I think I might have instead been something I very rarely am, which is factual: we are being watched." Discombobulation paused, then scowled up at the sky, tilting his head back and forth as he made a frame with thumb and forefinger of both hands and peered through it with one eye at the blue sky above, the other ponies looking up dumbly. For a moment, Scrivener wondered moodily if this was some joke, but any paranoia about possible pranks was washed away when he muttered: "Oh great. It's my brothers and sisters from the great orphanage in the garbage dump of a plane I come from. And they've got a cave troll."

The Draconequus paused, then dropped his fingers and huffed. "Wait, that's a bad reference. I mean, it's a good reference but a bad reference for the situation."

"Why are Draconequus watching us? And what could be with them, what else survives in Ginnungagap?" Luna asked incredulously, and then she frowned up at the sky and asked moodily: "'Tis not Loki, is it? If 'tis Loki, I have yet to pummel him for all the times he grasped my buttocks."

"I thought you didn't mind it when someone slapped your flank." Scrivener said mildly, even as he looked uneasily up at the sky himself, despite the fact that he knew the chance of seeing anything were next to none.

"Aye, I do not, but a slap is friendly, but to pinch or squeeze or grope is unwelcome unless 'tis a special occasion." Luna replied absently, as Twilight stepped up on her other side, her horn glowing as she scanned the area around them with magic.

"I can't sense anything... wait, could they be looking for you or Discord? We don't know much about Ginnungagap or Draconequus culture, after all..." Twilight said uneasily, glancing hesitantly towards the chimerical creature. "They're not going to... I mean, you won't have to..."

"Twilight Sparkle, how many times do I have to repeat Steinbeck for you? You can't go home again." Discombobulation smiled a little, and then he turned his eyes back upwards, murmuring: "No, they're just gathered on the balconies and piling into the seats, why, sometimes two to a chair. As a matter of fact, they look like they're going to be down to standing room only for the latecomers... which is silly, really, because you can do so much more than stand in a room, even if you must be very quiet and very attentive to the players upon the stage."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Discombobulation shook his head and said softly: "They're all watching and waiting, eager and yet afraid. I think the curtains have yet to draw back on our stage and the show to begin, my friends, but... I fear that with such an audience, we must have quite a play for our cast indeed. But what bothers me most of all is the fact there's that special guest in the audience, and I really don't know who it is..."

"Please tell me there's not going to be a flood of Draconequus released by the... Draconequus King into our world or something. Having two of you around here is bad enough." Scrivener said with a grimace, but his eyes revealed how he was far more worried than he wanted to let on.

Luna snorted in amusement as Twilight Sparkle shook her head slowly, but Discombobulation only smiled dryly over his shoulder at Scrivener Blooms. "Kings are for countries that want order. We just had powerful not-leaders we were obliged to obey, or they would be obliged to throw us out. And the garbage heap of Ginnungagap may just be a festering mess of nonsense and lies, with no law, no rule, no order, but definitely no anarchy, either, because we can't have anything whole or defined in that senseless attic... but it was still home to us."

There was quiet for a moment, and then Discombobulation shook his head and quickly gestured at them. "Well, business as usual, but fear not: I'll tell Tia promptly about this, since it'll keep her from putting her dirty hooves all over me while she tries to puzzle it out."

"Your selflessness is astonishing." Scrivener Blooms said mildly as Luna rolled her eyes and Twilight continued to look concerned, but the Draconequus only shrugged before he sidestepped and vanished into thin air as if passing through a curtain.

The three ponies traded looks, and then Luna shook her head and murmured: "Keep thy eyes open, my friends. Thou both possess eyes that may see other omens of what Discombobulation says may be coming... a show that will garner the attention of all of Ginnungagap. And I remember them not being so interested in the events of our universe since the fall of Valhalla."

"Draconequus are drawn to chaos..." Twilight tossed another worried look upwards, and then she shook her head and looked back and forth slowly. And even though she knew what Luna was worried about, she couldn't help but ask: "You want us to keep an eye open for Grimm?"

"Aye, and possibly reapers. We shall speak to Kismet: his kind also often know and gather before... certain events." the sapphire mare replied quietly, and then she shook her head and added hesitantly: "And... I do not know if we should warn Innocence of this..."

"We have to tell her. I don't want to, at all, but we have to. What if something went wrong tomorrow, or what if she saw a cluster of Grimm and didn't know what it meant? She... we have to try and make sure she's prepared for whatever might happen." Twilight almost pleaded, and Luna and Scrivener traded looks before they both nodded slowly.

The Lich smiled at them faintly after a moment, nodding quickly back, and then she blushed a little and shook her head, murmuring: "But maybe we're all just... you know. Scared now, because we've had peace for so long, but ever since Kvasir vanished there's been this... sense of waiting..."

"Yeah." Scrivener said quietly, and then he grimaced and glanced over his shoulder at the cake on his back, muttering: "Well, come on. We still have to head to the kid's party. After that... we'll figure things out as we go, like we always do."

Luna and Twilight both nodded in agreement, then the sapphire mare trotted ahead to take the lead on the way to Clinker's party, even as worries twisted through the minds of all present.

---

Celestia felt a chill with what Discombobulation told her: it brought back memories of her past life, during one of the few times she – then Freya, and well known to be a favorite mistress of Odin's as well as the battle-eager Queen of the Valkyries – and Frigg – Odin's controlling, all-knowing wife – had put aside their vast array of differences to discuss a strange omen. Draconequus clustering in Ginnungagap... just like they were now.

And then, less than a week later, she had helped Odin slaughter her own former kin, the Vanir. Shortly after, while Valhalla had been weak from the senseless war that had started with finding her brother's severed head, Helheim had flooded Valhalla and razed it to the ground.

She still wondered sometimes why Hel hadn't intervened: the goddess could have marched her Inquisitors into Heaven, or done countless other things to try and help. But Celestia thought it was likely the same reason that Hel had never done anything else to try and prevent Valthrudnir and his forces from destroying their universe to reshape into his own image: fear. Fear of the one creature in the entire universe who could have destroyed her.

Celestia sighed and shook her head slowly as she headed towards the engineering lab, giving a faint smile as he glanced up over her shoulder when something tickled her senses in time to sees everal fireworks explode high in the sky in the northern half of Ponyville. The vibrant colors left streaks through the air as they became shooting stars, dragged down by the supernatural gravity on that side of town: the effects of Selene's final grand goodbye still hadn't faded, even if many businesses had been rebuilt, and ponies and Nibelung had even made comfortable homes in the high-gravity zones. It just took some getting used to.

The ivory mare turned her eyes back towards the engineering building, and she absently adjusted the thick purple scarf around her neck, hoof sliding over the beautifully embroidered sun that ornamented it, the same design as her emblem. The only thing she wore these days, apart from her earring... the key to her heart. She smiled a little to herself before her horn glowed, opening the doors and letting her stride inside.

The stallion at the desk almost fell over at the sight of her, but Celestia ignored him as she strode towards the door leading into the employee area. She ducked through, and strode calmly through the sterile halls. They smelled of chemicals, machinery, the modern age: she wasn't entirely fond of all these new, self-propelling things. She was worried about the effects that this technology was going to have on society, as it became more and more common.

But Equestria had survived everything thrown at it: it had survived the dissolution of the laws that allowed only certain unicorns to practice magic, and it had survived magic-based technology spreading slowly through the nation. It had survived being separate baronies, and one united nation. It had survived anarchy, conformism, monarchy, and being completely destroyed to be rebuilt here, in what they called Looking Glass World. And most impressive of all, it had survived her being Baroness, Princess, and Queen.

Then Celestia paused and glanced through the open door of a small, clustered office to see a pony she knew, arguing with a Nibelung Architect leaning against the wall. "Excuse me, Cowlick. I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Well, you are, but that's fine, Greece is just being a..." Cowlick leaned to the side and coughed a few times, then she grimaced and hammered on her own chest before sweeping up the cup of coffee on the desk and slurping at it loudly, asking disgustedly: "God, you trying to poison me? I think that piece of pizza you made just tried to crawl back up my windpipe."

"It wasn't that bad." Greece said plaintively, and then the Nibelung smiled awkwardly over at Celestia: he had no tusks, and was wearing a traditional kilt and an open vest. The shorn-down – or in this case, completely removed – tusks were the major tell that he was an Architect, a dwarf who had been trained and educated at the last-standing Academy in Niflheim, the only place that retained any traces of their culture before the dwarves had become barbarians, mercenaries, and footsoldiers for Hel.

He turned his eyes to Celestia, nodding to her respectfully as he said: "It's good to see you, Valkyrie Celestia. I would offer you some food, but I'm afraid Cowlick ate it all."

"And now feels like she's got spiders trying to crawl out her various orifices, thanks." Cowlick said flatly, and Greece sighed before the engineer burped, grimaced and shook her head, then looked moodily at Celestia. "You better not be here to pass on some new law or something I'm violating. I like you and all, Celestia, and I respect you, but I'll still shoot you."

"No, I'm actually here to speak to... Hecate." Celestia made a face, and Cowlick grinned widely at this as Greece looked curious. "It's... a matter of some importance."

"I guess it would have to be. You and her remind me a lot of a game the biologists upstairs at Manehattan used to play, where they'd put a lab rat and a giant bug in the same cage and see which ate each other first. Sick bastards. Bug usually won, by the way." Cowlick paused, then she shook her head and slipped out of her seat, adding in a more serious voice to Greece as she passed: "I want you to head downstairs and check on the munitions line, my guys at the end of assembly keep telling me every few boxes is coming up short, so someone's clearly stealing bullets. Figure out who it is so I can shoot 'em."

Greece sighed, but he nodded reluctantly as Cowlick strode past Celestia and gestured at her to follow, the earth pony leading the mare down the corridor as she cleared her throat loudly. Celestia looked awkwardly at the engineer as she followed, and then she said carefully: "While I appreciate you doing this, Cowlick, I think-"

"Hecate is back in a restricted area, as always. She's less fond of dealing with ponies than Pinkamena is. So you're gonna need my help to get in there, since there's no way in hell I'm ever going to be giving you more than research access." Cowlick said mildly, and Celestia smiled a bit despite herself. "Last thing I need is you screwing with my toys on top of all the goddamn bureaucracy and hoops I have to jump through. You gotta talk to Rosewood for me, get her to change some of the laws."

"I'm not a politician anymore, Cowlick. Sometimes I serve as an ambassador, and sometimes as an adviser, but I'm not a politician." Celestia said softly, and Cowlick rolled her eyes. "Besides, changing laws requires time and effort and... feeling things out."

"Yeah, yeah. Cover your flank all you want, I'm still gonna shoot you in it at this rate." Cowlick grumbled as they reached the end of a side hall, and the mare gestured absently for Celestia to stay back as she stepped in front of an enormous armored door with a crystalline orb inset near the center.

This glowed brightly, the neon light shining out over the engineer as she winced backwards a bit, and then machinery inside the door clanked loudly before the light died out and the heavy, several-foot-thick gate swung open.

Cowlick stepped forwards and grabbed the edge of this, then she wheezed as she slowly began to drag it open before Celestia smiled slightly, her horn glowing and pulling it easily the rest of the way with telekinesis. It earned a sour look from the engineer, who then grumbled and strode quickly into the narrower, more-industrial looking halls beyond. "Come on, hurry the hell up, we need to find-"

"I smelled her reek the moment she stepped inside the building." said a disgusted voice, and Celestia's eyes narrowed slightly, her smile tightening on her features as she stepped into the hallway and looked up at the strange shape hovering slowly towards them.

It wasn't the flying disc, kept in the air by a large dome of magical crystal that stood out of the bottom of it, that was strange: Celestia had seen that and stranger. But she had never seen anything like Hecate before: nothing but a sallow head with living blue lightning and thick rubberized cables for a mane that swirled around her in midair, her eyes pieces of purple ice in black-rimmed, sunken sockets. A stump of neck was locked into a thick metal cap that had a large connector on the bottom of it, letting her interface with anything she was literally plugged-in to, and a synthetic horn made of wires and magic-charged crystal in a protective steel housing stood out of her skull.

And to make matters worse, Hecate had a face and voice that matched her own. She was a ruthless, murderous Celestia from a destroyed world... but little as most of them liked her, she was also someone who they could use the vast knowledge and expertise of.

Also, as nothing but a head with a low-power prosthetic horn, Hecate's ability to stir up problems was limited in a world that wasn't dominated by Clockwork World technology. Although Celestia often mused on what kind of horrors Hecate had been able to unleash in a world filled with thousands of machines at her beck and call.

Hecate spent all her time in one of two places: she was either floating around Subterra, helping with administration in her malicious, punish-everything-that-breathes way, or she was here in Cowlick's engineering lab, sorting through machine parts and old artifacts, helping them understand and even build Clockwork World technology while spitting nasty remarks at anything that came within a hundred feet of her.

"You really should wipe off the Draconequus' sweat before you start shoving your muzzle into my business. A little hygiene isn't much to ask." Hecate said moodily, and then the floating head zipped a little closer to Celestia as the ivory winged unicorn's eyes narrowed. "But unless you're here to tell me that you're finally letting me rebuild a proper body, you can take your horn and shove it up your-"

"I need your help with an analysis." Celestia interrupted calmly, and Hecate frowned as Cowlick looked up in surprise. In the silence that followed, Celestia pushed forwards, meeting Hecate's eyes evenly to hopefully help get the point across that this could be serious. "Discombobulation told me that many, many Draconequus are currently watching our world, or perhaps something in our vicinity. He said they were 'inspecting the cast,' which means-"

"I speak idiot well enough, I spent my entire life dealing with plenty of people who only spoke that dialect." Hecate said icily, and then she frowned for a moment, floating back and forth before the hovering saucer carrying her head spun around and flitted down the hall. "Follow."

Cowlick grumbled, but Celestia kept her mouth shut for the moment as they headed a short distance down the hall to an open door. Hecate flew inside, and Cowlick followed... then groaned in disgust at the sight of the laboratory, which had objects strewn everywhere across it, the engineer angrily kicking a broken burner aside as she snapped: "Some of us have to walk in here!"

"The important person here does not." Hecate snapped back as her saucer hovered over to what looked like a large, rectangular platform on thick rubber treads, seated silently on top of a steel lab table. A little basket was on the front of this, which someone – very likely not Hecate – had decorated with a few brightly-colored stickers.

The head and its carrier lowered onto this, and there were several loud clicks before the platform rose up slightly as it activated, energy thrumming through the cubical machine. Celestia made a face as Cowlick looked moodily at the vehicle, then she said irritably: "I know this is hard for you to process, Hecate, but the rover stays on the floor. Not on walls, not on furniture, especially not on the goddamn roof, "

"This is my lab, and my excuse for a body. I'll do whatever the hell I please." Hecate retorted as she flicked her mane grouchily, the rover humming as it geared up before turning carefully in a half-circle so that Hecate could look at them moodily. "Alright, Celestia. Putting aside how much I hate you, I understand why something like this would scare you. You suspect something massive is going to begin: something more chaotic than war or Armageddon. Something truly terrifying is the only thing that could attract, and more importantly, hold the attention of chaos beasts. Something that promises either a beginning of a brand new world of anarchy, or an end.

"One world being destroyed isn't enough. One world, in the grand scheme of things, is unimportant... apart from the core world." Hecate paused, then grinned slowly, revealing her steel, sharp teeth. "My. Maybe that's it, Celestia. Maybe they're watching because someone is here to torture you Valkyries into revealing the position of the Core World. Or someone else knows about the beads."

Celestia remained silent, and Hecate snorted before Cowlick asked moodily: "Can't you build some kind of scrying glass to look into Ginnungagap?"

"I could." Hecate said calmly, and then she smiled coldly and glanced up at her horn. "But not with this. I need a better horn... and I want a better body than this stupid go-kart. If you little fillies extend a little more trust and privilege to me, I will gladly show you how to build a scrying glass."

"I already know how to enchant a scrying glass, and furthermore, am in possession of a powerful one. But no scrying glass can look into Ginnungagap. Even Discord can't do more than catch and interpret any larger spikes of chaos energy... he can't communicate with them unless he's able to somehow get a message through to someone on the other side." Celestia said slowly, but as she spoke, she frowned thoughtfully, thinking that maybe, since so many Draconequus were watching them...

But Hecate only laughed, shaking her head almost in disappointment before she said moodily: "Impossible? Not at all. You're just too weak, and never bothered to learn more than you needed to stay alive. As for myself, I learned under a crueler tutor than you apparently did. I can do it, without the help of your Draconequus concubinus, and without you having to get your poor hooves dirty."

Cowlick muttered several words that Celestia couldn't help but agree described Hecate, but the ivory mare forced herself to consider the proposition before she nodded hesitantly and said reluctantly: "I'll speak to my little sister and the Overseer about... having your privileges enhanced. But if you betray us, Hecate-"

"You'll kill me. I'm not afraid of that." Hecate replied steadily, looking up and meeting Celestia's eyes as her own almost glowed with malice. "But you'd all be so lost without me I can't help but want to tend to all you pathetic little ponies. And I suppose I'm very interested in one day finding out which of us is the better Celestia... if my so-called evil makes me as weak as you think it does, or if you're even half as strong as you think being such a nice girl has made you."

Celestia only smiled grimly, and the two looked at each other for a few more moments in silence before the ivory winged unicorn turned away, saying quietly over her shoulder: "Then I hope you're not half as stupid as you act, Hecate, and you should try and remember I'm not half as kind as I pretend to be."

Hecate only laughed at this, then grinned widely, licking her lips slowly as Cowlick gave the head a dark look before the engineer tuned to follow Celestia quickly out, moodily wondering what the hell could be so bad it wouldn't just draw the attention of Ginnungagap, but compel even these two opposites to try and work together.

Chapter Six: An Uninvited Guest

~BlackRoseRaven

Clinker's party was a lot bigger than Luna, Twilight, or Scrivener had anticipated, and a world more awkward as well. It turned out that whether he was a weird, lonely-seeming kid or not, quite a few ponies had shown up... likely because of the fact that alcohol was flowing freely for Clinker and all his friends, and quite a few of the 'cool' parents were hanging out with a thrilled-looking Bean Counter.

The lanky, nerdy stallion seemed even more excited than his son was over the party, which was being held in the expansive back yard of Clinker's house, which sat just outside the enormous, fortified walls that protected Ponyville and was converted from an old farmhouse. There was a portable bar set up in one corner of the backyard, with a bartender wearing sunglasses and trying not to look too guilty over the fact he had clearly been tipped heavily not to ask to check anyone's ID.

Several tables were stacked high with food, and Scrivener felt a little... uncomfortable when he put the giant chocolate cake down next to an already mostly-eaten cake bleeding sludgy rum syrup. He and Luna had honestly thought Clinker wasn't exactly going to have some huge party, after all, and... "Oh no. Innocence. Where's Innocence?"

Twilight had already hurried over towards Bean Counter to try and find out what precisely was going on here, and Luna and Scrivener scanned the crowd. A bunch of young ponies were dancing around in front of a karaoke stage, where some young stallion was badly mangling a song, and plenty of other young ponies were standing around and smoking, and drinking, and chatting excitedly... before both Luna and Scrivener finally locked onto Innocence.

She was sitting with a circle of ponies, looking utterly thrilled at how much she was fitting in, a drink cup in her claws. The other ponies were all talking and laughing, and Clinker was beside her, possibly smiling... both Luna and Scrivener both stared as the pony's foreleg slowly rose, and as if in slow motion, dropped down, down, down around Innocence's shoulders... then his hoof slid down further, rubbing along her back, moving clearly lower, lower, lower...

Luna and Scrivener both lunged forwards and stupidly bounced off each other in midair, before Scrivener madly clawed at the lawn, but Luna was the first to regain her senses as she pounced on him, pinning him down. Someone nearby cheered at the sight, and Luna growled and snapped her horn to the side, sending a blast of electricity into the offender. He was knocked over with a squeak, and the rest of the ponies nearby hurriedly turned their attention away as Luna hissed down into Scrivener's ear: "Cease, cease, cease! We cannot-"

"She's... drinking, he's... got his hoof on her... I'll kill him!" Scrivener snapped, attempting to claw forwards, and then Luna punched him in the back of the head and knocked him flat, the stallion feeling himself settling even as he mumbled: "This is all turning out very different than expected."

"Aye, aye. I know." Luna sighed tiredly, and then she shook her head and muttered: "But we cannot simply drag Innocence away, either. 'Twould humiliate her, and she has never had a chance to make friends like this before... we do not want to betray her, do we?"

"Maybe she should be a little humiliated." Scrivener muttered, and then he shook his head and glared in the direction of Clinker and Innocence and those other ponies who were all... "I can't believe it. Where the hell is Bean Counter? What is he thinking?"

"Likely enjoying being the popular parent for once. Oh, do not be such a poop, Scrivy!" Luna said reasonably, as she hauled Scrivener up to his hooves. He glared sourly over at her, but she only smiled despite herself and leaned over to nudge him lightly. "In my day-"

"Ponies were real horses, I know." Scrivener said grumpily, and then he shook himself, feeling ridiculously protective as he glowered back and forth as a few laughing ponies passed, visibly a little tipsy. "If Twilight sees this..."

Luna began to open her mouth... and then both she and Scrivener stared as the Lich stormed through the crowd, looking thunderous as ponies scattered away from her. And both Luna and Scrivener hurried forwards with matching winces: they might all be on slightly-different wavelengths when it came to 'special occasions' with their kids, but neither Luna nor Scrivener wanted Innocence to be humiliated, especially since it wasn't likely she'd ever see most of these kids again.

"Innocence!" Twilight shouted, and Innocence squeaked and looked up in horror as her mother shoved through the crowd. Clinker's eyes widened slightly, although that was about the only change in his expression, even if he slowly pulled himself away from the young mare and left her sitting in a space all her own.

The Lich looked angrily down at the young mare, who grinned weakly as she looked back up, fumbling her drink in her claws before tossing it quickly away almost like something that had attempted to bite her. "M-Momma... hey..."

"What do you think you're doing, Innocence? Your Móðer and Father and I, we raised you better than this!" Twilight snapped, and she barely looked up even as Luna and Scrivener joined her as the violet mare glowered around at the other ponies. "I know you want to fit in, but this is not the way to do it and these are not the kind of ponies-"

"They're normal, Mom! Normal!" Innocence shouted, standing up and shaking her head as she trembled, glaring with both fury and hurt up at the violet mare. "You're the one who told me to try and fit in, try and be normal, and now-"

"Innocence, I don't want you doing this, this isn't the kind of 'normal' I was talking about... come on, we're leaving." Twilight said forcefully, then she gritted her teeth when Innocence only shook her head furiously. "Innocence-"

"Stop it, just stop it!" Innocence snapped back, and then she looked up as her eyes glowed, snarling as her polymorph melted away even as tears slid down her cheeks. She heard ponies gasping, heard their laughter, knew they were looking at her like she was a freak and even Clinker was trying to slip away from her-

She reared back, her horn glowing brightly, and Twilight's eyes widened before her own horn glowed as she snapped it firmly upwards. In that moment, the most anyone could see was a crackling as something started to form around Innocence... and then there was a tremendous bang, and a sound like shattering glass that was drowned out by ponies yelling and screaming as they were flung in all directions.

Innocence stood, her head lowered, tears running from her eyes as she looked slowly up. The ground in a circle beneath her was scorched. Clinker was nearby, looking stupefied and bleeding slowly from his nose. And in a thirty foot radius around her, every pony had been knocked flat by a wave of concussive force, even the grass flattened from the force of the spell.

Large pieces of ice were strewn around the yard, slowly melting: Twilight had apparently muffled her lashing out with a barrier of frost. The Lich herself was the only pony inside the circle still standing, looking disbelievingly at her daughter as Innocence stared back, shaking her head weakly... and then the young mare trembled violently before she spun around and bolted away, vanishing and reappearing in short, unconscious teleports that made it all the harder to track where she was going until she blinked out of sight.

Twilight stared after her daughter, then swallowed thickly before she reached up and touched her own breast. Now all the ponies were staring at her, before she heard the whisper: "God, what a freak."

What made those word sting was that she knew they were being directed towards her daughter. And it wasn't just pain she felt, but anger... anger that was growing higher, making her stitches twist and pop beneath her sweater, making her want to lash out herself as energy crackled around her horn and she thought for one wild, cruel moment, that she could kill two birds with one stone if she showed these stupid, preppy little ponies with their 'so-cool' parents why they should treat her daughter with respect...

But Twilight forced herself to breathe, and the thought was gone as soon as it came. It was just... stupid anger, that darkness bottled up inside her rearing its ugly head, trying to make her do something she'd regret later. Instead, she forced herself to move, stumbling into a run in the direction Innocence had gone, and she was joined a moment later by Luna and Scrivener.

They were both silent, not looking at her, and Twilight didn't speak as she kept her own eyes ahead... but she already felt ashamed of herself. First she'd stormed off and lectured Bean Counter and had some nasty words with the adults who thought it was fine to encourage the drinking and partying and smoking if it just meant their precious little babies wouldn't think badly of them, and then she'd picked up on Scrivener's anger and Luna's thoughts and... all that rage and protectiveness had just boiled up inside of her...

She shook her head. She didn't need to make excuses right now. Right now, they needed to find Innocence and... whether she liked it or not, she had to apologize and talk things out. Yes, she just wanted to override her daughter and continue to be mad at her. Yes, it would be easier just to reiterate how disappointed she was or punish her. But she had made a mistake, too, especially knowing how sensitive Innocence was about the perceptions of others, and especially her friend, Clinker...

"Even if I want to go and shoot Clinker right now myself." Scrivener muttered, breaking the uncomfortable silence between them, and Twilight smiled faintly despite herself before she shook her head quickly and gazed back ahead as they cut through an orchard and around the town.

"Can thou sense her?" Luna asked quietly, thankfully leaving off any reprimands she might have for the moment, and Twilight nodded a little, smiling faintly: she could easily pick up the distinct energies of her daughter, even if she had quite a head start on them. And it helped there was really only one place Innocence could be heading, anyway.

They circled around Ponyville, and reached the edge of the Everfree Forest before the three ponies skidded to a halt. Twilight frowned uneasily, picking up Innocence's magical energies not that far away but uncertain if they should just plunge into the woods: the living force embraced and protected them, but now she was second-guessing whether they should go to Innocence or wait for Innocence to come back to them.

"We should go to her. 'Twill be a little humbling for thee, mother of my children, but 'twill be good, too." Luna said mildly, and the violet mare blushed a bit even as she felt awkwardly defensive: the defensive part came from her sometimes-too-strong maternal instincts, the awkward part came from all the guilt she felt and the fact that Luna was a mother, too, who had her own share of mistakes and fixes... and thus was speaking from experience. That, and she hated feeling like Scrivy or Luna were even the slightest bit upset with her. "Oh, come now, thou cannot blame my irritation upon me! I know 'tis... 'tis hard sometimes, Twilight Sparkle, but... I believe we must try and allow our daughter to make mistakes, and solve her own problems from time-to-time."

Twilight nodded after a moment, sighing and lowering her head a little before she mumbled: "It's just really, really hard Luna. I don't want to rule Innocence's life, but I also don't want to be some permissive, does-everything-for-her parent. I want to be there for her but I want to be able to expect her to do certain things and I want to hold her accountable for the mistakes she does make."

Scrivener sighed a little at this, and then he hesitated before looking over at Twilight and asking quietly: "If we drank, would you have been easier on Innocence?"

Twilight blushed, looking surprised at this question as she hurriedly rambled out: "Scrivy, I mean, it's not like I think you're... you know, I know that you've conquered that and I know that it doesn't necessarily mean Innocence..."

Luna and Scrivener both only looked flatly at the violet mare, and she shifted awkwardly before sighing and dropping her head, mumbling: "Probably. I still would have been upset but... not as worried. And I know, you don't even have to say it, that's... that's stupid."

"That's not stupid. The fact I know that I should be mad at Innocence but I just want to murder Clinker instead is stupid." Scrivener grumbled, and Twilight and Luna both looked at him with amusement before he shook his head and glanced up, saying finally: "I'm a little upset with her, yeah. But she wasn't smoking, she wasn't... being too much like Luna... she was just trying to fit in. I'm mad that she either lied to us about Clinker or she decided to let him grope her as a birthday present or something, but... I guess I'm trying to sympathize, and thinking of all the dumb things I did in order to try and fit in after I got out of North Neigh. None of which. Ever worked, by the way."

"And I think we should have had words with Innocence, but later. It would have been better to keep an eye on her throughout the party and watch how she handles herself, instead of simply assuming the worst." Luna paused, then looked pointedly at Scrivener Blooms. "And thou loves the way I am. Thou art being a hypocrite."

"The difference is that you're an adult, Luna, and more importantly, you're not my daughter, who I still sometimes read bedtime stories to." Scrivener said dryly, and then he winced when Luna grinned widely up at him.

She half-lidded her eyes, then said teasingly: "Aye, but thou does get so hot and bothered when I call thee 'Daddy,' doesn't thee?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and turned to plod into the Everfree Forest, and Scrivener awkwardly hurried after her as Luna laughed and followed last, her mood as always the fastest to change and lighten. Scrivener, meanwhile, was trying to send soothing thoughts to Twilight as the Lich led them onwards through the wild woods, noting the broken branches here and there made by Innocence.

The Lich shook her head slowly as they passed a trampled patch of flowers, before she glanced up and gave a faint smile as she sensed Innocence just ahead. They were mother and daughter, and Twilight cherished that connection, as much as she cherished her link with Luna and Scrivener... she would do anything for her little girl. She was hard on her sometimes, and she pushed her, and she was always afraid she was just becoming an annoying old nag, but... she really just wanted the very best for her beautiful, special daughter.

There was another sound carrying on the breeze, too... a pretty melody, what sounded like a choir of birds. Except these days, in Looking Glass World, birds rarely sang according to the whims of a pony.

It was... entrancing. Twilight slowed her pace, smiling slightly as she leaned up almost eagerly, making her way a little more carefully through the underbrush to avoid startling whatever was making that beautiful music. She began to lose focus as Scrivener and Luna followed after the Lich, letting her lead them on as that soporific sound filled their ears. It sounded like... like a flute, now that they were closer, but a flute that trilled and sang with a thousand different voices at once, echoing and murmuring through their minds...

Twilight's head pushed out into a narrow field, and she felt her daughter's presence. She looked up slowly, smiling in pleasure as she saw her daughter, drawing slowly towards the source of that sound with her eyes closed and tears drying on her cheeks, and the Lich's eyes roved to the entity that was emitting that harmonious melody...

A cloak of heavy cloth and shadow covered its body, and it seemed to be bipedal from the way it was standing, hunched forwards and with one forelimb extended, the other raised high, like... like a spider's, waiting to drop its claw into an unsuspecting victim. Its features were hooded, but it wasn't just the heavy cloth that veiled it, but magic that disguised it in wreathing darkness that twisted back and forth over its features as it continued to lure Innocence closer, and-

The raised hand was holding a knife.

All the pleasure, the happiness, the warmth in the air turned to stale, cold fear, and then Twilight leapt forwards, shouting a denial as she burst into the field and snapped her horn sharply towards the surprised creature, as Innocence's eyes blinked open and she looked up just in time to see her mother fly past and launch a blue fireball into the cloaked assassin.

It was blasted backward with a howl, but it quickly caught itself and skidded to a stop, snarling at them from beneath its dark cloak. Luna and Scrivener leapt quickly up beside Twilight as Innocence stumbled backwards, her eyes going wide with disbelief as Twilight shouted furiously: "You stay the hell away from her!"

"You gonna make me, sweetheart?" rasped the assassin, and then it gave a rusty laugh as it brought its knife in front of itself, twisting it eagerly back and forth as it growled at the trio that had rushed in front of Innocence. "What a lucky break for me. Sent in on a scouting mission, and maybe I can bring back the heads of a Valkyrie and three abominations... ain't this my lucky day?"

"I recommend thou considers other options." Luna said coldly as her horn glowed: Sting Mk. II was yanked free of its holster on Scrivener's back, flying past the stallion to be caught in one of the winged unicorn's front hooves before she took aim at the cloaked assassin, her horn glowing as she used telekinesis to fortify her grip on the rifle and hold it steady. "Thou art outnumbered and I am in no mood to grant mercy to a coward such as thee."

The assassin only gave a rasping chuckle, then that strange music began to thrum through the air again, filling the world around them with a peaceful, pleasant ambiance. And even with the adrenaline and anger pumping through the veins of all three ponies, even with their experienced minds fighting to drown out and ignore the melody and the magic it was laced with, they felt their bodies beginning to relax, their reflexes to slow.

Luna cursed and leaned forwards as she fought to aim at the assassin, but the creature grinned and leapt backwards, vanishing in a burst of smoke. Yet the music continued to whirl around them, and Scrivener and Twilight both hurriedly fell into a rough defensive position around Innocence as their daughter cried out and grabbed her head, dropping flat against the ground and looking back and forth in terror as she tried to blot out the beautiful music. "Stop it, stop it!"

Scrivener dug a claw into the ground, and the field began to rot away into mire as Twilight rose her horn, scanning the air around them for any energy distortions that would predict where an attack could come from. And Luna kept her rifle raised, tracing slowly back and forth as her soulstone horn glowed and blue flames sparked out of her starry mane, fangs bared in a challenging snarl.

"Here I come!" the creature's voice rasped gleefully as it appeared out of thin air in a burst of dark smog, dropping towards Twilight with its knife raised, and the Lich looked up in shock as Luna spun around and snarled, the sapphire mare not letting herself think, only react.

A single bullet tore through the air, smashing through the creature... and turning it back to a puff of black smoke, before there was a growl and another burst of smog some dozen feet away from Scrivener Blooms, the assassin loping out of this and charging straight for the stallion. And again Luna reacted, spinning towards this and firing another round into the beast and turning it to a puff of smoke.

Too late, Luna realized that it was only creating illusions to distract them: a moment later, a claw seized her tail and yanked her off her hooves as it slashed its knife in towards her neck. Luna was barely able to snap her head to the side in time as her starry locks became a curtain of blue flames, this smashing across the creature with enough force to send it flying backwards, interrupting its toxic melody.

The moment of clarity shocked Twilight and Scrivener into reacting, both moving before they even realized what they were doing. Scrivener's claw tore into the ground, and even as the creature attempted to roll itself back to its claws, the mire beneath it erupted upwards into crystalline spikes, hammering the assassin and shredding apart its cloak as it attempted to leap away. Then Twilight's horn snapped out, and thick green vines ripped up out of the mire, lashing like whips towards the creature and attempting to snare it in place.

The assassin slashed its knife back and forth into the grasping vines as it staggered hurriedly away from the mire, then it hissed when one of the whips struck across its face, making its head snap to the side and making it fling itself into a desperate jump to escape. But before it could vanish again, two bullets smashed into its chest and knocked it out of the air with a howl of misery, grasping at its body as dark, watery blood spilled out of its wounds.

It breathed hard in and out as it laid bloody and seemingly beaten on its side, but then snarled up at them and simply vanished in another puff of smoke. And this time, its presence faded completely with it, as Luna cursed under her breath and snapped her rifle open, ejecting the bullet casings as she muttered: "We shall have to speak to Celestia about this."

Scrivener nodded, then turned his attention to his daughter: Twilight had already turned her attention to Innocence, even as her horn glowed and she used her powers to scan the area for any other possible surprises. The Lich was rubbing her back soothingly, reassuring her in a soft murmur, and Scrivener y reached down to silently squeeze his daughter's shoulder with a claw before he frowned slightly as he felt a strange pulse through the mire.

His eyes roved to where the mire was... aching, for lack of a better word, and then he made a face and shivered a little in disgust: the corruption had attempted to absorb and consume the spilled blood of the assassin, but it looked like the creature's blood had poisoned the dark muck. Luna frowned as she picked up on Scrivener's thoughts, following his eyes, and she shuddered.

But before either of them could discuss it further, Innocence suddenly sprung to her claws, leaping away from Twilight and almost tackling Luna. The sapphire mare blinked as she caught her daughter with a look of surprise, and then she sighed softly as she hugged the young mare close, saying gently: "Fear not, 'tis over for now, my daughter. Come, we should head back into town. We must discuss what has happened with Celestia."

"I... I don't wanna be seen, though. I just want to go home and curl up and... I'm just... I don't know what happened." Innocence whispered, looking up with a tremble. "One moment I was just so angry and upset, the next I heard this... whistling music... and then he was there..."

"The Whistler." Scrivener muttered, and Luna smiled grimly and nodded after a moment. It was as good a name as any for the unknown assassin they had seen. "He seemed to know about us. Not that I'm surprised, really, everyone seems to know that you're a Valkyrie. We probably should have tried a little harder to keep that quiet."

"I shan't be ashamed of mine heritage, Scrivy, no matter what the cost. I am proud to be Valkyrie." Luna said firmly, looking over at him with a huff as she kept Innocence close against her, and then she softened a little when she saw the way Twilight was looking at her, at how her birth daughter had again, rushed right to Móðer... "Sin, come now. I know thou wants to retreat to the comforts of thy home but we must head into town all the same."

"Okay. Okay, if we have to." Sin shivered a little, but pulled away and looked up, clearly trying to be strong. Luna smiled a little, and Twilight stepped forwards, putting whatever was still bothering her aside for her daughter's sake.

The Lich's horn glowed, and Innocence grimaced and shifted uncomfortably as Twilight quickly checked over the young mare's body before polymorphing her to hide her scales and Wyrm-like features. Innocence scowled a bit deeper at this, then bowed her head silently and nodded a reluctant thank-you to her mother, who... didn't really know what to do at this point.

Scrivener and Luna traded awkward looks, and then the stallion sighed as he shoved a claw against the mire, making it ripple before the sludge rapidly lost its cohesion, turning to stale soil as Luna muttered as she slipped Sting Mk. II into the holster still on Scrivener's back: "Well, to town, then, my family."

It was an awkward walk back: in spite of the fact Twilight had just leapt in and saved her, in a way it only made Innocence's embarrassment over how her mother was treating her worse. Also, as much as she trained, even though she sometimes tried to tag along on missions, despite the fact she'd beaten up her share of bullies and more... she'd never had someone try to actually kill her before. She'd never been ambushed, made a victim of powerful mind-altering magic, or snapped out of a trance to find her parents surrounding her to try and protect her from a killer...

And it had been such a great day at first. Clinker's party had been fantastic. His father was getting the bartender to serve everyone drinks and she'd guzzled down her first beer with her best friend beside her. She'd gotten to hang out with all the cool kids, because Clinker was elevated to the status of 'cool' himself by the fact his party had free-flowing alcohol and every kind of treat under the sun and all the other great things Clinker's dad had gone out and bought...

Then everything had just gone to hell, and here they were, heading back into town. Twilight didn't understand... how could she? Innocence loved her mother, but she was just... she was a Lich of immense magical power, and yet what did she ever do with her power? What did she ever pursue? She read books, tried to be normal, was awkward in conversation and never even stood up to the ponies who picked on her, even though she had more than enough power to make an example of any of them if she really wanted to.

Luna was who she really admired. Her Móðer, who she acted a lot more like, felt a lot more like. Some days she wondered if Twilight really was her birth mother or not, if it was even possible that a Lich – a member of the living dead, who had blood and organs less because she needed them and more because they were usually left-over from whatever she used to reconstruct her body – could give birth to her.

Innocence dropped her head and closed her eyes. No, she knew that she'd done something bad, something wrong, she knew she... well, she'd made herself look pretty goddamn stupid too, and then she'd gone and let her emotions take over and lost control. But she was still... she was still mad at Twilight. That was understandable, right? She could admit she'd done something wrong, but... she didn't want to apologize for it until her mother apologized to her for... for possibly ruining her friendship with Clinker, for making her look like such an idiot.

Twilight gave her daughter an awkward smile as they stepped out into the open field, and Luna relaxed slightly even as she looked uncertainly back and forth. But it didn't sound like they were in serious danger yet... the assassin had sounded a little... overeager and overconfident, after all. Scrivener nodded in silent agreement with the sapphire mare's assessment, but he kept his own eyes open as the group made its way forward, before he smiled supportively to Innocence when she looked over her shoulder at him.

Innocence let her eyes linger on her father: she saw how his claws had already folded up, hidden themselves away again as hooves. And he had those unseen pistons in his back, and some of his hide had become harder, shinier over the years, almost like patches of scales. And the corruption gave them a special connection, she knew that. The corruption played a big part between them, and Innocence smiled a little before she turned her eyes back towards Ponyville before she sighed quietly.

On the bright side, unless everyone had run away from the party, no one in town would know much about her little outburst. But then again, gossip always spread quickly, and she was sure that there were plenty of ponies who were all too eager to talk about how the freak got scolded by Mommy in front of everyone...

The young mare shook her head violently, trying to shove those thoughts away, but they had already started and now it was hard to... close that particular door. She snuck another glance at her mother, but Twilight was scanning the area again with her magic... as if they were going to be attacked here, right outside of town. Or maybe her mother was just afraid that she was going to end up turning into a whimpering mess again if that assassin showed up out of the blue again...

Innocence gritted her teeth as she blushed a little, then winced and looked up as Twilight halted at the gates to say quickly: "We were attacked out in the forest by an unknown assailant... it might have been some kind of demon, but it kept itself cloaked. Tell the other guards to be extra cautious."

"Yes ma'am pony!" The Nibelung both saluted, and Innocence lowered her head, hating to feel like this was all her fault... like somehow, this all reflected badly on her, even if she couldn't exactly put into words how that could be...

Luna and Scrivener traded their own awkward looks, but neither said anything as Twilight took the lead again, heading quickly for the library. It was the right decision to make, definitely... but something was clearly bothering Innocence, and Twilight's insistence on handling things was just making it worse.

Neither really knew what to say, though, and they didn't have the time right now to figure out the right words to say to an upset sixteen year old mare. All they could do was keep moving and try to sort things out in their minds, Scrivener and Luna silently trading information between themselves to try and decipher what the hell could be hiding beneath that cloak, what the Whistler had actually been...

Twilight was surprised when she found the door to the library was locked. She frowned a little at this, knocking twice, then hesitated before looking over her shoulder and asking awkwardly: "Should we go inside? I mean... well..."

"Fear not. Celestia would not lock this door were she in the midst of relations with Bob. And nor is any door Celestia locked, locked from us. 'Tis to keep others out." Luna said mildly, and Twilight nodded after a moment, feeling reassured as she turned back towards the door. Her horn glowed, and the handle clicked before the door swung open, the Lich striding quickly through. Innocence hesitated as she stared off into the distance, and Luna frowned as she looked uncertainly up, worried for a moment that their daughter had seen something, but then the young mare only shook her head quickly and smiled lamely up at the sapphire mare.

"Sorry, Mutt. Just... distracted." she said quietly, then she hesitated before lowering her head and mumbling: "I'm sorry I... I'm sorry I got so scared. I won't let fear rule me again like that, I promise. I know that I'm stronger than that, I'm better than that."

"Now, fear not, Innocence. 'Tis not thy fault. Thou art sixteen years of age and trying desperately to do what all other young mares are doing at the moment themselves." Luna soothed gently, as Scrivener smiled a little and nodded. Then the stallion winced a bit, glancing awkwardly at the sapphire mare as she continued cheerfully: "Besides, thou art a little drunk and perhaps a little frustrated from not having thy loins settled and quite a bit upset. 'Tis very understandable thou would end up a little confused and scared after being hypnotized by the Whistler's tune."

"Mutt!" Innocence blushed, but she laughed and smiled all the same, brightening immensely even as she turned and scurried quickly away. And Luna grinned widely, then frowned at Scrivener as he looked dryly at the winged unicorn.

She finally huffed at him after a few moments, then leaned forwards and nipped his nose, making the stallion wince away and wrinkle up his muzzle. Then Luna strode quickly forwards and through the door... and swallowed a bit at the foul look Twilight gave her, but she hurriedly turned her eyes away and called lamely after Innocence, as she saw the young mare heading for the hall: "But... but thou knows I am not encouraging thee!"

"I know, Mutt!" Innocence called back in an amused voice, and Luna turned an awkward grin to Twilight Sparkle. The Lich looked less-than-impressed, shaking her head slowly before she sighed tiredly and reached up to rub at her forehead with one hoof.

"Why do I even bother." she mumbled as Scrivener closed the door, and then the violet mare glanced quietly towards the open archway, saying finally: "Innocence said she's... going to put on tea for us. Do you think Celestia will be long?"

"Nay. Just as any dragon will not leave its aerie and territory for long, so Celestia shall undoubtedly wing shortly back here, to this infernal place of bookery." Luna replied, glancing absently around the wide main room of the library. Twilight gave the sapphire mare a pointed look, but Luna only shrugged, absently leaning over and poking at Scrivener with her soulstone horn. "I do not have to be nice. Am I not already too nice too oft, Scrivy?"

Scrivener Blooms replied by slapping her horn firmly, making it ring loudly and the sapphire mare wince and draw her head hurriedly back. Then the charcoal stallion turned his eyes towards Twilight, walking over to her and saying gently: "Celestia will be here soon, and you're not a bad mother. You're a good mother. Luna's a bad mother."

"I am a fantastic mother!" Luna argued, sounding outraged as she stormed quickly over to them, then she rose her head high to prepare to whack Scrivener with her horn... before clearing her throat at Twilight's scowl, shrinking back a bit and saying awkwardly: "But for the matter of the comparison, aye, compared to thee I am oftentimes a bad mother."

Scrivener smiled amusedly over at the sapphire mare, who grumbled and flicked her starry mane before punching the stallion lightly in the shoulder, making him wince and stumble to the side. "But thou art also a terrible parent compared to Twilight Sparkle, I shall have thee know. And I am a much better father than thou art."

"I would never argue that." Scrivener said drolly, and Luna huffed before looking pointedly at the charcoal stallion, and he sighed a little before turning his eyes back towards the Lich, asking finally: "Do you want Luna and I to give you and Sin some time alone? We can check out the forest, look for clues, make sure nothing tried to sneak in our house while we were gone... and maybe try and figure out where the hell Abaddon went as well. I think he smelled trouble at the party before we did."

"Aye, that would explain his running off." Luna paused, then she shook her head and muttered: "Although to be truthful, I do not believe that we shall find anything further. Neither clues, nor any other creatures... remember his words?"

Twilight nodded, saying softly: "That makes sense, given his powers. He was sturdier than I thought he'd be, though..."

"Perhaps. But perhaps not. I only shot him with rounds of iron, and if he was clad in some kind of protective gear, then 'tis very possible that I pierced that and left injury enough to bleed, but far from lethal." Luna replied meditatively, shaking her head slowly. "And of course, if 'tis not a demon, but some other creature, either of Clockwork World or something even more alien..."

"I don't think it was a Pious, Luna. You and Celestia might hate them, and I don't like them myself, but... I don't think they're hostile." Twilight said quietly, referring to the strange creatures from another realm that had set up a sort of missionary outpost on their world.

Luna grumbled moodily to herself, but then she sighed tiredly and nodded a little after a moment, saying in a meditative voice: "Perhaps not. But that is no reason we should not burn down their new sanctuary and drive them out of Midgard. I am sure I can rouse up plenty of ponies to agree with me."

Scrivener rolled his eyes at this, and Twilight looked flatly at the sapphire winged unicorn before she said dryly: "That's funny, considering you're the pony who started Subterra and created the alliance between demons and ponies, Luna. And Scrivener, you keep saying that we have a chance to rehabilitate Clockwork Ponies now, and we should try and do that instead of destroying them."

"I... I wasn't on either side of this conversation. Why are you dragging me into the argument?" Scrivener asked moodily, and then he looked thoughtfully at Twilight Sparkle. "Or are you just trying to get me to debate your side with you, because you know you can't win a debate without my help?"

"Shut up, Scrivy." Luna bopped Scrivener with her horn, making him wince before the sapphire mare glowered over at the Lich. "And I shall have thee know that I also agree with trying to put the Clockwork Ponies to use upon our side. Why should we waste a resource such as that? Aye, 'tis... rather ghoulish in some cases, and some should be put to rest, but the ones that still function obey myself, Scrivener Blooms, and Hecate all without question. Ever since..."

She quieted, and Twilight shifted awkwardly before Luna cleared her throat and looked up, returning to the topic at hoof as she said firmly: "Demons need not be evil, and Clockwork Ponies are often little more than puppets, whom we may now pull the strings of instead of their cruel former masters. The Pious are... they make me itch. I do not like things that make me itch."

Scrivener made a face as he nodded in grudging agreement: he hated to agree with Luna's less-than-rational arguments, but... he understood what she meant, and more than just because of their link. They made him uncomfortable too, and he didn't know why it was so different from when he looked from a Pious to a particularly-nasty demon: some demons even looked more strange – if it was possible to be more strange – than the Pious did, but... they never gave him the same itch as the Pious did. Hell, the Strange Ones never gave him the same discomfort that the Pious did.

Twilight looked back and forth between the two pleadingly, but she was interrupted when Innocence returned, levitating a tray with telekinesis that carried a few simple snacks, and a large pot of tea and cups. The Lich smiled over at her daughter, but Innocence averted her eyes awkwardly even as she set the tray down on the table and said: "Here's tea, Momma. Peppermint, like you like."

"Thank you, Innocence. I appreciate it." Twilight said softly, and she hesitated before shaking her head quickly and smiling a little, walking over to take a seat by her daughter at the table. "Don't be too hard on yourself over what happened today, okay? I think... we should all just focus on the present and... I want you to know that I didn't mean to hurt you, Innocence. I'm sorry."

"Okay." Innocence's answer was quiet, simple, but that wasn't what was important: what was important was that she looked up into her mother's eyes, and gave a small smile. The young mare shifted forwards, bowed her head slightly, and she mumbled a few incoherent words... but that was more than enough for Twilight, and the Lich leaned forwards and hugged her daughter tightly around the neck, and Innocence willingly dropped against her mother and closed her eyes.

The little family rested in the quiet for a few moments, Scrivener Blooms sipping at his mug of tea and Luna slowly tipping over until she was resting against him with her eyes closed, looking peaceful. Innocence and Twilight parted, and the Lich fought back the urge to start lecturing or rambling or ruining everything she had just done with Innocence, and instead she started talking about the training Innocence would soon be going through, and what she needed to prepare for.

The young mare was attentive, but it was only a few minutes before they were interrupted by the library door swinging open and Celestia striding inside. She frowned at them, immediately understanding that something had happened as she simply asked: "Where?"

"The Everfree Forest. We found my daughter in a field not deep inside the woods, being lured in by some... assassin, using music as the bait." Luna replied calmly, then she jerked her head at Scrivener Blooms. "Scrivy has named it the Whistler."

Celestia glanced at Innocence, but then she only nodded a bit when the young mare blushed and shifted awkwardly, before the ivory mare allowed her eyes to draw to Twilight as the violet mare said quietly: "I don't think it was a demon. I mean, at first I thought it might be, but I think it was... well, I don't know what it was. And by that, I mean it can't be any of the races we're familiar with."

"Which narrows it down to an interloper from another world. Can you tell me anything else?" Celestia strode towards the table, sitting down before she winced and rose a hoof when Innocence hopped out of her seat and hurried towards the hall. "Innocence, you don't have to..."

But the young mare was already gone, and Celestia barely had the time to sigh and shake her head before Innocence hurried back to put a mug down in front of Celestia and smile at her. "Peppermint, but I can go and make-"

"That's fine, Innocence. I appreciate it, I truly do. Please, sit down, we have something more important to attend to right now." Celestia said calmly, but she had the slightest blush in her cheeks and looked a little awkward all the same. Luna grinned slightly, and when Celestia glanced up and saw this, she couldn't help but relax a little as she asked: "So you don't think it's serious?"

"It's definitely serious, but... it said it was some kind of scout. It said something about... getting a bonus for killing a Valkyrie and us three..." Scrivener halted, glancing awkwardly over at Twilight, then to his daughter. He didn't really have any problem thinking of himself as an abomination, but that was the furthest thing from what he thought the rest of his family was. "Well, us three not-Valkyries."

Celestia nodded slowly, and Luna said mildly: "'Twas using aural enchantment. Weaving wicked music that sounded so beautiful it forced down even my guard... 'twas the strangest magic, Celestia, and I do not know how it sang it so. Or whistled, rather, as 'tis the Whistler." She stopped, then glanced over at Innocence, softening and adding quietly: "I fear what such a creature would be able to do to those who have no training in resisting such mental trickery. Or those who lack the strong will shared by all our family."

Innocence smiled awkwardly, dropping her head with a blush, and Celestia frowned and lowered her own before she murmured: "That sounds similar, in a sense, to the Black Verses: they have to be heard to have an effect."

"They weren't the Black Verses. They weren't... the opposite, either. White Verses, I guess, if you really want to go that way." Scrivener said mildly, shaking his head and rubbing at his head slowly. It had been a long time since he and Luna had tried to invert the Black Verses, after all, and he'd never really tried to put a name to the strange power. "In fact, there was... something completely different about the noise it was making. I mean, Twilight was the first one to snap out of the trance. It almost took us over too at first, after all...

"But once we were aware of it, it was easier to fight off the effects. It's hard to describe, but..." Scrivener hesitated, then glanced up. "You know how usually, when Luna and I are hit by a spell that's supposed to make us both feel tired or something, it usually hits us harder? Well, this time, it was like the link between me and Luna and Twilight actually... helped us resist its magic. How would that work?"

"Well... it is possible that your joint awareness means any magic meant to target your minds would be naturally resisted... I think that means it must be a psychic effect, not simply a magical one, though. Magic and psychic powers work on different frequencies, have different rules regarding them, so to speak..." Celestia lowered her head thoughtfully, nodding meditatively. "We've never had a lot of interactions with creatures that use mainly psychic abilities."

Luna grunted, nodding and saying moodily: "Aye, every kind of creature has its stupid magic. True psychic powers, on the other hoof, are so much rare they are almost the stuff of myth. Even our telekinesis is more a grip of magic than true telekinetic wrath, for which I am most grateful. 'Twould be most frustrating if all the unicorns of all the many Equestrias were capable of flinging large, heavy objects with their minds whenever they so pleased."

"Technically, Luna..." Scrivener started, then he winced when Luna smacked him, making a face and rubbing at his head as he mumbled: "Okay, okay. Yes. Technically unicorns can't do that. Even though plenty of them do. The only difference is that they use their horns instead of their brains."

"Did thou not understand that the hoof to thy head was the signal to shut up, Scrivy?" asked Luna sourly, as Innocence giggled loudly and Twilight sighed, and then the sapphire mare shook her head and turned her eyes back towards Celestia. "The Pious are psychic."

Celestia made the slightest expression of distaste at this, and then she shook her head and said almost reluctantly: "I don't like to defend the Pious, Luna... but unless the creature was completely detached, emotionless, alien, and... unpleasant..."

"Well, anyone who attempts to stab my children I consider to be unpleasant, Celestia." Luna said mildly, and then the starry-maned mare grumbled: "Nay. 'Twas mocking and rude, and... aye, it felt like it hated us. Nor did the Whistler seem so... freakish."

The ivory mare nodded calmly, and then Innocence glanced up and said hesitantly: "What about the blood? I know you guys saw it, too, the blood had a bad effect on the mire."

Celestia tilted her head curiously, as Scrivener Blooms glanced up, then smiled a little before he turned his eyes towards the white winged unicorn. "Yeah, that's right. The thing's blood had a bad effect on the mire, like purification does... it made it... ache. I could feel it."

"Me too." Sin said softly, glancing up and looking oddly embarrassed, but Scrivener only gave his daughter a soft look, and she smiled a little in return before saying hesitantly: "But it didn't... I mean... it didn't seem like anything... good, you know?"

"Good and evil are subjective things, Innocence... more so than I like to think. They can be easily clouded and confused." Celestia replied gently, and then she studied the young mare thoughtfully before asking: "What did you feel?"

Innocence shifted a little, and then she looked up and answered slowly: "At first, when the music was playing, it felt... I felt like it was making me promises. It was so beautiful – the music, I mean – and I didn't know where it was coming from, and I remember closing my eyes, and..."

She wanted to pretend that she had closed her eyes to focus, to try and find the source of that song, but after a moment the young mare admitted quietly: "The music got prettier with my eyes closed and I just.. let it take over my mind. I saw all these images, and colors. I didn't even realize I was moving until... Momma saved me."

She turned a faint smile to Twilight Sparkle, who only shrugged a little, looking embarrassed and oddly relieved before she murmured: "I'm just glad no one was badly hurt, Sin."

"Aye, only I looked stupid." Luna said wryly, then she shook her head as Twilight glanced up with a small smile. "Nay, nay. I should have been more aware of what was happening, but that damned enchantment or... psychic siren's song or whatever 'twas, it stole my focus."

Celestia nodded, and there was silence for a few moments before the ivory mare said quietly: "We shouldn't leap to the assumption this has anything to do with what Discombobulation mentioned. An overeager assassin wouldn't draw the attention of Ginnungagap. This might just be a badly-timed coincidence... or maybe something to do with Kvasir's disappearance."

"And thou does not think the vanishing of the King of Valhalla is related to whatever doom eagerly rushes towards us?" Luna asked wryly, and Celestia only gave her sister a faintly-entertained look. "Well, I will not deny that aye, we are good at attracting trouble of all shape and size... and aye, there has been more than one attack upon myself and others important to me over the last decade. But all the same, Celestia, to think that these things are not connected..."

"Luna, in the long run, everything is connected. Life is just one immense web, where all the strands are held together by the center." Celestia shook her head, then she said softly: "Let me rephrase. I don't believe that whatever might be coming is directly connected to the assassination attempt and Kvasir's disappearance. Is that clearer?"

Luna grunted as Scrivener and Twilight traded looks, while Innocence looked up and asked awkwardly after a moment: "Does this mean... well... I'm not going to get to train with you guys after all? Are we going to have to wait?"

"Nay, I think that now more than ever 'tis important that thou receives this training." Luna said firmly, nodding to her daughter, and Innocence brightened and sat up a little before the sapphire mare glanced over at Celestia, asking curiously: "Should we perhaps have Innocence train in Valhalla after all? If there are bad things afoot, then 'twould be in our best interests to accelerate my daughter's training however we can."

"Training too fast, too hard, will just be to Innocence's detriment. Over the next few days, we need to continue our assessment, and I think you should take the experiences from today into consideration, too." Celestia said tactfully, and Innocence blushed and lowered her head a little as Twilight looked softly at her daughter and Scrivener and Luna both smiled a bit. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, Innocence. If you didn't hesitate, it might concern me more."

"Oh shut up, Celestia. Thy lies are very lieful and easily seen through." Luna huffed, and Innocence smiled a little over at her Móðer as the sapphire mare added mildly: "Besides, my daughter needs no reassurances any longer. She needs instead to focus on the future, and how she will excel in her training and how she will act upon the battlefield."

Innocence nodded firmly a few times, and Celestia looked thoughtfully towards the young unicorn before she simply nodded once. Scrivener sat back, sipping absently at his tea before Twilight asked: "So how should we prepare? I mean, what should we start studying?"

Celestia gave Twilight a quietly-amused look, and Luna snorted as Innocence sighed. Twilight looked lamely around at them all, before Scrivener said dryly: "A book can't really teach you how to take a punch to the face, Twilight. Unless you hit yourself in the face with it repeatedly, I guess. But it would have to be a pretty heavy book."

"Actually, I found a lot of my supplemental reading helped me while training. And even these days I do a lot of research while trying to learn new magic. Theory is important." Twilight argued, leaning towards Scrivener, and the stallion tilted his head towards her with a mischievous gleam in his eye. "It is!"

"It is." Scrivener agreed seriously, and then he waited a moment before adding to the ruffled sapphire mare: "Theoretically speaking, of course. And we all know that theories never quite work out the way they're supposed to in real life. I mean, theoretically, you're the best cook ever. In reality..."

Twilight glowered at him, and then Luna glanced towards the two and said mildly: "Cease thy flirting, if I am not allowed to do so than neither are thee. Furthermore, 'tis not like thou art any master of the culinary arts thyself, Scrivy. I am a better baker than thou art."

"Yes, your lopsided shovelfuls of chocolate cake is the best, especially the crispy side." Scrivener deadpanned, and Luna scowled at him before Scrivener held up a hoof and added: "Also, I don't bake, precisely because I know that I don't know how to bake. You bake now and then even though we all know you don't know how to. That doesn't automatically make it a victory for you."

Luna huffed at this, then her soulstone horn lit up with dark radiance, and Scrivener flinched and twitched as the black blood in his veins boiled violently for a moment before the two glowered at each other. Then both looked up as Innocence said brightly: "Those muffins you made turned out really good, though!"

"Yes, because Luna didn't actually make those muffins. She just dumped frosting all over them and then claimed she made them." Scrivener said mildly, and then he winced when the sapphire mare smacked him firmly.

"Thou great traitor! Thou promised thou wouldst never tell!" Luna complained loudly, and Twilight sighed as Innocence laughed.

Celestia smiled despite herself, but as her amethyst eyes roved over the ponies, she saw all the little details she didn't want to see, that these three linked ponies were trying their hardest to hide from their smiling daughter. The way their gazes flicked back and forth, the subtle shifting of their bodies towards one-another's, the smiles that didn't quite reach their eyes.

They were all worried, and chiefly, they were worried for their daughter. It seemed that every child of theirs, they risked losing, and Celestia knew that these three would go to any length to protect their family. She only hoped that she was right about her prediction, that the assassin and whatever had lured in the Draconequus weren't connected events: otherwise, she had the feeling that they wouldn't even have the time to begin Innocence's training before the young mare's whole world was turned upside down.

Chapter Seven: Introspection

~BlackRoseRaven

Scrivener Blooms breathed slowly in and out as he looked up, then rolled his head on his shoulders as he studied the alien sky silently. The cold blue light of stars and strange constellations shone down from above, and the moon sat in the center of it all like a goddess upon her throne. They had been here so often he was beginning to understand this strange night sky: the night sky of the universe inside him, and Luna, and Twilight Sparkle. The universe created by their linked minds, and inhabited not just by them, but by a cruel queen of nightmares, passion, and malicious pleasure.

"Thank you for the compliment, Scrivener Blooms. I'm glad that I still have the power to impress." said a soft voice, and Scrivener lowered his head, looking back and forth. But there was no one here: just enormous, blackened trees, growing out of a dark swamp crawling with vines and alien life. Terrible life. Beautiful life.

Scrivy shook his head quickly, then held up a claw... not just unfolded, but in this subconscious world, the claw of a Tyrant Wyrm, his entire limb covered in scales, along with most of his body. A reptilian tail snapped back and forth behind him as he flexed slowly, conical pistons of bone pumping and sparking over his back. He looked up, then shook his head quickly: half of his features were that of the Wyrm, the other half still more pony in nature... although he wasn't really a pony, was he?

The stallion shook his head hurriedly, trying not to think about this as he looked back and forth before calling clearly: "We're not really in the mood for games today, Nightmare Moon!"

A soft, seductive laugh echoed out of the forest, before the mare's voice called tenderly: "I'll light the path in a moment, my most beloved rulers. I just need a moment longer to prepare a little something special to enjoy while we chat. It's been a long time since we've shared a decent conversation, after all..."

Scrivener shifted awkwardly, then he glanced to the side at a flare of sapphire flames before Luna appeared, the winged unicorn shaking herself roughly out as her starry locks sizzled, and then she muttered: "Aye, and for good reason, foul creature of darkness. Thou hast not been needed..."

But Nightmare Moon only laughed quietly... and as Luna stepped up beside her husband, the creature of passion whispered to them silkily: "But soon you'll be giving me more than simple token gestures... you'll be begging and pleading for your slave to come back in her full glory... as you revel in your own decadent descent into our darkness..."

Luna snarled... but how could she make any denials when her hooves had become cloven and blade-like, and her coat had become rubbery, almost scaly. Small horns protruded through a mane that had deepened and darkened, and her soulstone horn had almost turned black, a pulse of unnatural, toxic light burning at its core.

She looked fierce, and almost monstrous, and Scrivener admittedly hated a little how attractive he found her like this. He shook his head awkwardly as Luna gave him a dry look, but she seemed to relax a little as she murmured: "Thou art sick, Scrivener Blooms. Thou art nothing but a monster thyself. And a beetle."

"You're a beetle." Scrivener said mildly, and Luna huffed at him again, and then there was silence for a few moments before the charcoal stallion shook his head slowly and said softly: "Let's just go and get this over with."

Luna began to nod... and then both ponies looked to the side as there was another flare of sapphire flames, which quickly faded out and left Twilight Sparkle in its wake. The violet mare smiled a little as she strode up to Scrivener's other side, thick black stitching that seemed a little more distinct in this world, more prominent and almost like it had a life of its own. And there was something else, pulsing in her chest, that Scrivener could feel the distinct tremble of: the Kundalini, the same core that powered the Tyrant Wyrm.

She looked at them, and they looked back, all of them wondering... who had corrupted the others. Twilight Sparkle still wondered silently how much becoming a Lich had intensified her darker side, and how much of it had simply been woken up by her transformation; Scrivener Blooms feared his lust for power, feared what he was... and yet he hungered constantly for more; and Luna Brynhild was a Valkyrie who had formerly always stood apart from her sisters, the Night Maiden, to be respected and honored but never befriended, with a greater taste for bloodshed and battle and the physical than even her siblings had possessed.

The three of them traded looks, and then Twilight shook her head and finally said quietly: "I'm an equal. That means you don't have to protect me anymore, go alone anymore. Our souls our linked; my soul is yours. I am yours, and I love you both."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Scrivener and Luna traded looks before the stallion said quietly: "We love you too. You know it's just that... well..."

"Why wouldn't I be excited to have our beloved Twilight as a guest?" Nightmare Moon's voice murmured through the trees, and then all three ponies looked up as floating globes of blue flame sparked into being one after the other, forming a trail through the dark forest towards an ill light in the distance. "This way. And you know that you have nothing to fear... I am your willing, adoring slave..."

"And as we have learned, Nightmare Moon, 'tis not the mistress that is the most dangerous, but the servant whom acts so eager to please..." Luna muttered under her breath, then she shook her head briskly and stepped quickly ahead, grimacing as she led the way after the phantom lights.

Scrivener and Twilight followed, the two naturally falling in step with each other and trading looks and small smiles before the mare slipped a little closer and silently dropped her head against the side of his neck. The stallion softened, feeling her trail of thoughts and worries, knowing what was bothering her most right now, and he took only a moment before saying gently: "You're not a bad mother, Twilight. You're just a... motherly mother."

Twilight smiled despite herself, nodding a little against him, and Luna was tempted to look over her shoulder. She resisted, though: as much as she wanted to, her attention was instead drawn towards the large table that had been set out... and the smiling, monstrous entity standing beside it, as it said lovingly: "Mistress Luna, Lady Twilight, and my King of the Night... welcome."

"Nightmare Moon." Scrivener murmured in greeting, and the creature bowed its blue hellfire mane low, large, draconic horns curling through this gleaming like polished obelisks and a spired, tall black third horn standing out of her forehead: the only thing that really defined her as being a winged unicorn anymore.

She stood on cloven hooves, and her hide was armory. Enormous, leathery wings stood out of her back, bat-like and furled comfortably on either side of her, and her tail was long, whip-like, and ridged with blades of bone. Curved, deadly predator's teeth showed in her smile, and her slitted pupils and poison-green eyes had more in common with a reptile's than a pony's, glowing through crisscrossing scars that formed a checkerboard over her face... but none of that was the worst about her.

The worst part was how she decorated herself: around her neck was a collar of steel roses and metal thorns, all polished red with blood. And standing out of her back were needles, spikes, knives, torture implements, all buried through her flesh but worn with pride and pleasure...

Nightmare Moon was violence, and hatred, and evil, and sadomasochism, all rolled up into one dark shape. She was the pleasure in pain, and the slavery in freedom, and the hatred in love. She was secretive and sly and dangerous, eternally trying to twist the entire world to her machinations, to try and gain more power, more worship, more... love, in a word.

She called herself slave to them, promised them she would do anything they wanted her to, dedicated herself to them... and it was all true. Luna knew that none of them could deny Nightmare Moon's loyalty... even if her loyalty included keeping secrets and sometimes twisting the truth or reality itself to better suit her visions and ideas.

Nightmare Moon gestured politely towards the table, and Luna grimaced a bit as she followed the calm indication of the creature. "Here, please. Take your seats. I will cater to your desires."

Scrivener grunted, shifting uncomfortably: almost everything was meat. Steaks, cuts, bacon, dumplings, meatballs, pork chops... heavy meats, at that. Fleshy meat, red and tender, bloody and varying from well-done to looking like it could still whimper for life.

The stallion shivered a little: part of him was revolted, and the rest of him only felt all the hungrier at the sight of the food. He licked his lips, then grimaced at himself and shook his head quickly, muttering: "Let's just... get this over with."

"If you desire, my master, I can have live prey next time... we'll make a game of it." Nightmare Moon said tenderly, drawing her eyes to the stallion and licking her lips slowly. And Scrivener shuddered as Luna growled and Twilight did her best to get to the table without being noticed. But at the moment, Nightmare Moon only had eyes for Scrivener Blooms, studying him as he sat down before she quickly slipped up beside him and leaned down over him... and even though he was larger and bulkier in this world of dreams and nightmares made reality, she still towered over him, far larger as she asked far too eagerly: "May I help you?"

"Uh. No." Scrivener said awkwardly, and then he shook his head quickly as he looked down at the plate in front of him... then grimaced when Nightmare Moon's horn glowed and several food items floated quickly over to him and dropped down on his plate.

The stallion looked down at this awkwardly: a steak, dumplings, several other delicious-looking morsels. He shifted uncomfortably, then winced and stared when Luna called loudly: "Serving wench, fetch me my bib if thou can cease thy drooling over the pretty mare!"

"You speak so ill of Scrivener, but don't forget that we know how you scream for him, what a mighty stallion you think he is." Nightmare Moon replied pleasantly, and Luna narrowed her eyes dangerously before Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat and awkwardly tapped her glass.

"We should... probably save that topic for later." Twilight said finally, and then she smiled lamely as Nightmare Moon gazed at her tenderly. "No uh... sex or politics at the dinner table, right? I think we uh, all agreed on that."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Nightmare Moon laughed quietly before bowing her head, murmuring softly: "Of course, beloved and beautiful mare. And Mistress Luna... we are very happy to assist you."

Nightmare Moon strode calmly around the table, flicking her horn to create a large, blue bib in a spark of energy in front of her before the dark creature of passion slipped up behind her alter ego, dropping it around her neck and tying the straps tight enough to choke the smaller mare for a moment as Nightmare Moon dropped her head beside Luna's and murmured in a dangerously-tender voice: "But a word of advice, Mistress... ever since your... 'willful decision' not to steal Valthrudnir's powers... we have been growing less fond of you, and more fond of our beloved King and Twilight Sparkle, whom no mere title can convey the worth of..."

"But apparently one can with Scrivy. Well, 'tis funny how much thou coddles and cuddles him and all-but-ignores Twilight Sparkle then." Luna grumbled, as she yanked the bib down from around her throat and glared over at Nightmare Moon. "Perhaps thou should turn thy attentions to her."

Twilight winced at this, and Scrivener shrugged lamely, smiling awkwardly over at the Lich, but Nightmare Moon only laughed quietly and murmured: "Do not pretend we have to choose between them, Luna Brynhild... we do not, any more than you do. And they both love us back and also... hold you accountable for your failings."

Luna gritted her teeth, resisting as much as possible before she finally was unable to stop herself from replying tersely: "As we have discussed over too many years now, Nightmare Moon. Our aim was never to steal Valthrudnir's powers. 'Twas simply to kill him, foul leech."

Nightmare Moon refused to be put off by this, however, only smiling kindly before she leaned down and murmured softly: "We are you, Luna Brynhild, do not ever forget that... even if we do so adore being thought of as a being in our own right... still, we are chiefly your thoughts, your passions, given their own life. We have not allowed this topic to rest because to this day, you still wonder..."

"What it would be like to have that power? Nay, I do not, trickster. For if Scrivener and I had such powers we would undoubtedly only create incredible feats of idiocy, not of creation nor destruction." Luna said crankily, shaking her head quickly. "'Tis one thing to have power, creature. 'Tis another thing entirely to be able to use it."

Nightmare Moon only laughed quietly at this, and the tenderness in her eyes only made her seem all the more patronizing as she chastised: "And would you continue to play the role of the fool if such power was truly required? Maybe we would not be as concerned about the approaching dangers if you had just taken those powers for yourself."

Scrivener shifted uncomfortably as Luna glared up at the entity of passion, and Twilight awkwardly picked up a dumpling and rubbed it between her hooves slowly before the Lich asked uneasily: "Do you... do you know anything about what's coming, Nightmare Moon? Or about what tried to attack us?"

"All I know comes from what you three see, what you three feel. The only difference between us is that I have access to your subconscious, and the immense storehouses of memory, and all that untapped knowledge and power hidden away in the minds of all three of you..." Nightmare Moon slowly turned her smile back towards Scrivener, saying gently: "Which means that I have recognized long before you have why you feel so strange about your daughter, Scrivener Blooms."

The stallion frowned and tilted his head as Twilight sat up a little, looking more anxious. Luna, meanwhile, only picked up a steak with telekinesis and floated it in front of her, taking a large bite out of it before she muttered around the barely-scorched meat: "Now shush, Nightmare Moon. A fetish only becomes a problem when it leaves the realm of fantasy."

Nightmare Moon only smiled calmly, replying pleasantly: "Oh, believe me, little Luna, you don't have to be afraid of losing your position as the King of the Night's favorite meat... rather, I'm talking about the problem of territory. You are the master of the Clay of Prometheus... it can only have one master."

Scrivener frowned at this, tilting his head curiously as Luna and Twilight both leaned forwards as well. The sapphire mare became more serious, while the Lich shifted anxiously, asking: "Does that mean that... as long as Scrivener's alive..."

"You have such faith in our King of the Night, and as always it delights us, most beloved Twilight Sparkle..." Nightmare Moon said lovingly, leaning forwards with a pleased expression. "No. It means that Innocence must learn to create and use her own mire. But just as Scrivener's corruption will feed strength to and protect our most beloved daughter... it will also not obey her. It will coddle her, and comfort her, and love her, but it will not obey her, and it will do its best to keep her... under hoof. You like her under hoof, all of you, do you not?"

Scrivener grimaced a bit at this, then he shook his head as he tried not to let her words get under his skin. All the same, he knew how defensive and ruffled he was feeling slipped into his voice as he replied dryly: "I don't want her under my anything. I just want her safe."

"I would never complain. You deserve everything. I am not weak, like the foolish creature in that foolish story. I am honest when I say I would do anything for you that you asked, I would and will give you all that you desire." Nightmare Moon replied quietly, slowly striding down the table towards the stallion, and the charcoal, half-Wyrm and half-pony swallowed thickly before the passion entity leaned down and invited gently: "Eat, my beloved. Enjoy."

"Yeah. Enjoy." Scrivener muttered to himself, and then he shook his head before awkwardly picking up a dumpling and biting into it... and even knowing that it wasn't real, that this was just all in their minds, it tasted real, and it felt real, and... he enjoyed it much more than he knew he should.

The stallion chewed slowly, then he looked up awkwardly as Nightmare Moon leaned forwards and murmured softly: "It's good, isn't it? Yes, eat well... would you like me to feed you? Or a massage, or some other pleasure?"

Nightmare Moon licked her lips slowly, and Scrivener winced away a little before Luna asked moodily: "And again, thou art stalking Scrivy all creepily. Cease that."

"I apologize, but... it is the easiest way to get the attention I so crave. And Scrivener is closer to the darkness than Twilight Sparkle is..." Nightmare Moon laughed quietly, then slid her eyes towards Twilight Sparkle, murmuring: "But darling Twilight does take reassurance in seeing what you and Scrivener Blooms do... and often seeks to follow in your hoofsteps as well."

The Lich looked down awkwardly, shifting and blushing a bit as Scrivener and Luna both grimaced over at Nightmare Moon... but the worst part, by far, was the temptation. The allure. The sensation of wanting to see how deep Twilight's darkness went, what kinds of things she dreamed of doing in her darkest heart, that fascination...

No, those thoughts weren't good thoughts to have, especially right now. Scrivener shivered a little, hating that part of himself that was so... terribly... curious. He closed his eyes, taking a breath for a moment, trying to calm himself down... and then he looked up in surprise when Twilight said quietly: "I have just as terrible thoughts as Luna and Scrivy do from time-to-time, Nightmare Moon. The only difference is that... I'm a lot better at hiding it."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Nightmare Moon bowed her head towards the violet mare with a sultry smile, her eyes glimmering with dark delight. "Then we shall do our best to help... draw these urges out of you at the appropriate time. You deserve to practice the same wonderful arts that Lord Scrivener and Luna Brynhild both do, after all."

Twilight couldn't help but shake herself out at this, but before the conversation could twist any further into uncomfortable territory, Luna said pointedly: "I believe thou would be rewarded better, Nightmare Moon, if we could focus upon business instead of pleasure..."

"Very well, Luna Brynhild. We understand." Nightmare Moon straightened, finally drawing her fawning eyes away from Scrivener and Twilight to become more serious as she looked towards the sapphire mare. "Chaos draws the eyes of the Draconequus. They take pleasure in watching our plays, our transformations, and great events where sense is lost and we are forced to give up our rules, our laws, our manufactured order.

"But they do not desire to see us die, remember. They loathe death: to them, it's like a toy being broken, or taken away. It serves no advantage to them." Nightmare Moon stopped, then looked meditatively up at the stars above. "We must try and find out why they watch us. You have failed to consider the fact that there is more than one option here: they may watch us because something powerful, and chaotic, and very much alive is coming, instead of something that will promise destruction."

Luna shifted at this as Scrivener and Twilight traded looks, and there was silence for a few moments before the violet mare asked hesitantly: "But isn't it more likely that... something bad is happening? I mean, there's records that show even a chaos generator doesn't attract the attention of more than one or two Draconequus..."

"We must consider every option, that is all." Nightmare Moon said gently, looking over at Twilight Sparkle and studying her for a few moments, and then the tall, dark-coated creature returned a smile towards Luna. "Although interlopers are more likely. And unfortunately, sweet Luna... if the Draconequus are already watching, that means your failure to stop them is all but guaranteed. Otherwise, fewer would be so interested... unless in order to stop the enemy, we must cause a great calamity... or perhaps..."

Nightmare Moon looked thoughtful, and Scrivener, Luna, and Twilight all shifted uncomfortably before the passion entity looked up and said softly: "Perhaps we are meant to join whatever force of destruction is about to arrive. That will ensure our survival, perhaps finally lead to us attaining the strength we so desire, that we all deserve to achieve..."

Luna gritted her teeth at this, straightening and narrowing her eyes as she said disgustedly: "I would never sell myself to the enemy, whether it meant survival or not!"

"Noble. Brave. Ultimately stupid, and very likely a lie, Luna Brynhild..." Nightmare Moon turned her eyes slowly towards Scrivener Blooms, then she leaned down and whispered in his ear: "Because I taste your emotions, my beloved King. If you were promised power and safety... you would gladly become a monster, wouldn't you? You would happily turn on the world that's been so cruel to you, treated you so unfairly..."

Scrivener clenched his eyes shut, then he shook his head and shoved Nightmare Moon's face away, saying sharply: "Look, that's in the past. The world we live in now... it's been good to me and my family. Why wouldn't I fight to defend it, to-"

"Maintain your status as top monster?" Nightmare Moon asked almost teasingly, and Scrivener glared up at her before the dark entity drew her eyes towards Twilight Sparkle, adding softly: "And you would defend the world more because it is what's expected of you than what you truly desire anymore, Twilight Sparkle. I know you wish that you could pass on new strength to your friends, after all... that you didn't have to be worried about them as they go to Valhalla and you... do not."

Twilight shifted and shivered a little, then she shook her head and closed her eyes tightly. "No matter what I want, what I have to focus on is what's best for my friends and what's... right, in the long run. Even if I wish they could be around forever..."

Nightmare Moon laughed quietly at this, shaking her head slowly and murmuring: "You have such quaint notions of morality, Twilight Sparkle. We love you all the more for your sense of right and wrong, but at times, it is... tedious. And you still have yet to understand that sometimes you must throw away doing what is right if it will only hurt yourself and those close to you in the long run."

"That's not what I want to believe. That's not what I've been trying to raise Innocence to believe." Twilight looked up resolutely, shaking her head quickly. "Even when it hurts us, or those around us, we still have a duty to do what's right-"

Nightmare Moon laughed quietly, cutting off the Lich's argument before the dark entity slipped around the table, striding towards Twilight with a smile as she began: "But if it hurts us or those close to us, how can you say it's right? How could-"

As the enormous winged unicorn began to pass, Luna shoved her chair backwards and firmly whacked into Nightmare Moon's side, making her stumble with a wince, and then her beautiful features twist into a furious glare as she bared her fangs at Luna, who growled in response. There was tense silence for a few moments, and then Nightmare Moon's scarred features smoothed out and she bowed her head, saying softly: "Excuse us, Luna Brynhild. It has just been so long since we've had the chance to speak to you all... we are eager for conversation. We enjoy the debate."

"What thou enjoys is causing trouble." Luna replied moodily, and then she shook her head slowly before she sighed and dropped her head back, saying finally: "I believe that we are simply... without an answer, is that what thou art avoiding?"

Nightmare Moon only shook her head, replying after a moment: "No. It simply does not interest me, Luna Brynhild, that is all. I am a creature of passion, of the moment. I desire to live in the now, and not to worry about the future. Oh, I like to plan, to scheme, to do as I can for what is to come... but this does not concern me. I do not care any longer if this universe lives or dies: that is neither my problem nor my concern. My only goal is to make the three of you understand that we must do what is best for ourselves."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Scrivener looked up and said disbelievingly: "So your real answer is just... that we should run away?"

"If it is necessary." Nightmare Moon shrugged, looking around at them with an expression of... entertainment, amusement, and patronization, it seemed like. "This world has begun to bore us, perhaps that is all. And I believe it would be easy to drag those with us we care about if necessary... or perhaps..."

Nightmare Moon's eyes gleamed as she murmured: "Do you not remember our conversation with Hecate? It is possible... perhaps even easy... to cut the tethers of a world free from this universe and disconnect it from any easy access. Maybe we should do that... make our own home, our own world. Yes, we desire... we long for more. And we are tired of cleaning up all these other childish, foolish messes."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Luna said disgustedly: "Here I thought thou wert my battlelust. Now I see that thou art my cowardice."

But Nightmare Moon only smiled and leaned down, locking her gaze with Luna's own and pushing almost nose-to-nose with her as she replied quietly: "No. I am your darkness, tempered by how you have changed, what you have seen. Oh, believe me, I am very happy to fight and kill... but saving this world, fighting for others... it all bores us now. And now, we both see that it would make the perfect cover to escape forever... to leave, and find our own world to begin our own dark empire, as our King of the Night still dreams of and you have such fantasies about yourself, little Luna Lightblade."

"Brynhild." the sapphire mare corrected with a glower, and then she closed her eyes and muttered: "And fantasy is not meant to be acted upon, Nightmare Moon. Nor would I truly ever desire to rule."

"No, you don't want to rule as Celestia has. You have your own idea of rulership... one that would be much more interesting. Would be much more... hooves-on." Nightmare Moon replied softly, leaning forwards knowingly.

There's another awkward silence, and Scrivener looked awkwardly at the food in front of him before he shook his head and muttered: "I think I'm... done. I think we should probably just go."

Nightmare Moon only laughed quietly, then she simply tilted her horn to the side, and the three ponies wince and lean backwards in their chairs as the table, plates, and foods dissolve into ashes and shadows. "Very well, if that is what you so desire. But do not forget that you came to me for my advice, and that was all I gave."

There was silence for a few moments between them, and then the dark equine shook her head slowly before she said softly: "I will be here as always, waiting for you. Eager to provide the help that I can, and to give you my honest advice. My honest opinion. I am passion, but in a way I am just as logical as Celestia, at times: it is the strength of my nature. My desire to take care of all of you."

Luna grumbled, and Twilight shifted uncomfortably as Scrivener looked away. There was silence for a few moments, and then Nightmare Moon smiled around at them before saying softly: "Come back to me when you're ready to accept to accept my advice. When you... tire of this silly game we've been playing for so many years. It's time for you three to accept who you are, and the darkness you are composed of, and it is time for us to leave behind the things that make us weak."

Scrivener grimaced as Twilight looked down and Luna glared challengingly up at the creature. There was silence for a few moments, and then Nightmare Moon laughed quietly before she bowed her head forwards and faded away as the darkness around the three ponies became more heavy, more oppressive, more blinding...

The stallion closed his eyes... and when he opened them, he was back in the comfortable darkness of his bedroom, breathing quietly in the darkness, and with his forelegs wrapped around Luna on one side and Twilight Sparkle the other. The Lich was curled up tightly against his chest, her eyes still closed as she clung to him, while he was resting with his head against Luna's breast, her holding him just as tight and close as he held her as he felt her lips silently kiss his temple.

Her horn was like a beacon in the darkness, as they rested on their low, wide round bedding, blankets strewn around their bodies, the painted-on stars and constellations that decorated the ceiling above seeming to twinkle like the real thing. The curtains were drawn, but they weren't shielding them from any light: it was two, three in the morning, and the night was as dark and silent outside as it was in the confines of their room.

The three shifted a little, and Luna sighed softly before she murmured into the darkness: "I do not like this, Scrivy. Nightmare Moon... I fear she seeks to replace me."

"She doesn't want to replace you, Luna." Twilight murmured quietly, and the Lich shifted a little so she could look up at Luna without having to pull away from Scrivener, and the stallion smiled a little as he rubbed a hoof silently down her naked back. "She wants... well... to be part of us."

"She is part of us. Like a tumor. A tumor I cannot simply cut out, much as I may desire to." Luna said grumpily, shaking her head quickly before she sighed tiredly and mumbled: "This is all Scrivener's fault."

"Yeah. Probably." Scrivy agreed after a moment, and Luna nodded firmly before she leaned down to chew thoughtfully on one of his ears, and Scrivener winced but didn't otherwise react, turning his eyes down to the Lich as he asked quietly: "But what are you thinking?"

Twilight shrugged a little, and then the Lich buried her face back against Scrivener as she blushed a little and whispered: "Just how much I love you two and how... tempting Nightmare Moon can be sometimes. She sees into us... into those deepest, darkest, most hidden parts of us..."

"Aye, but she is blind to the obvious, to what stands in the light." Luna murmured around Scrivener's ear, and then she grumbled a bit before spitting this out and instead lowering her head to bump insistently against the stallion's muzzle. "Nightmare Moon sees only what she desires to see, so... so 'tis best not to listen to her advice when it has naught to do with the subject of our interest."

Twilight shrugged a little at this, and Scrivener Blooms dropped his head as Luna gazed down over the both of them, then she smiled a little and firmly shook the charcoal stallion a few times. "Now cease. Trust in my words, all will be fine, I promise: no matter what adversity we face, we shall overcome it together. Together."

She emphasized the last word, and the two ponies nodded before Twilight mumbled and buried her face into Scrivener's chest, the stallion hugging her tightly against him as the Lich murmured: "Together. Just make sure you two aren't just saying that to me, that we really will do everything together... you both still sometimes try too hard to protect me."

"You deserve protecting. Me and Luna don't. We're kind of... you know. Jerks." Scrivener said after a moment and Luna grunted and nuzzled down between Scrivener's ears before she slid past him to kiss Twilight's forehead reassuringly, making the Lich smile a bit.

"You don't always seem like jerks." she said softly, and then she leaned up and me Luna's lips, sharing a soft kiss with the sapphire mare before their mouths parted, and she buried her face back against Scrivener's neck with a bit of a blush and a quiet laugh, mumbling: "It feels so weird to... be so old, but feel so young still."

Scrivener only shrugged a little, and Luna laughed softly as she dropped back, saying wryly: "Thou art both quite young yet, Twilight Sparkle. But I suppose that is rather unfair, for to both of thee I must seem ancient and powerful as the universe itself."

"Like a black hole." Scrivener said mildly, and Luna glowered at him before she brought up a front hoof and shoved it firmly into his face, making him wince a bit as Twilight laughed and shook her head slowly. The stallion only grumbled, shifting awkwardly before the sapphire mare finally pulled her hoof away, and the earth pony sighed as he looked up at the roof and mumbled: "It does scare me sometimes, though. I don't want to live to the end of the world."

Luna looked quietly entertained at this, then Twilight laughed quietly and nudged the stallion gently, saying softly: "You two already lived through the end of the world once, though. And you made it out okay and... fixed things."

"Yeah, but... maybe that's part of why I don't want to do it all over again." Scrivener smiled a little over at Twilight, hugging her a bit closer with one foreleg before he closed his eyes as he felt Luna shift, slide herself closer, curl around him – no, both him and Twilight, really – protectively.

There was quiet for a little while as they laid together, and then Luna finally hammered lightly on the back of Scrivener's head, yawning once before she gestured absently at the door, and the stallion grunted as he carefully wiggled free of the mares before absently stepping back on Luna's head for a moment, making her huff and flail at him as Twilight giggled a little.

Then the stallion made his way out of the room, absently ducking under the pillow Luna flung at him. It bounced off the door, and Scrivener simply brushed it aside and yanked the door open before he winced and stumbled back a bit in surprise, wincing at the light.

Luna groaned at this and rolled into Twilight, burying her face against the violet mare to block out the light, and Scrivener mumbled as he strode into the hallway. He felt more tired after lazing in bed for half an hour than he had when he'd first woken up. He hated it when that happened.

He shook his head out quickly as he stumbled his way down the hall, yawning again and glancing moodily up at the electric lights in the ceiling. Someone had forgotten to turn them off, or Sin had turned them on to see while she was going to get a glass of water or something, and... nice as they were, Horses of Heaven did he hate how bright they were.

He made his way into the kitchen and approached the coffeemaker. Some things never changed, he reflected: Luna insisted on her coffee every single day, ever since he'd introduced her to it. Or reintroduced, rather: apparently it had been around even in Luna's day, it had just been a little harder to make, and a lot harder to procure.

Scrivener smiled a bit as he finished readying the coffeemaker, then turned his attention to starting a small snack for them. Sure, they were an immortal, a Clockwork Pony, and a Lich, and none of them needed to eat... but that didn't change the fact that they got hungry now and then. Not hungry-hungry, but when you dreamed of a good meal and then woke up with nothing in your stomach...

Scrivener fidgeted a bit after a moment, looking awkwardly down before he shook his head quickly. There was no need to be ashamed of that. But some things were hard to outgrow and move past, and he thought that some things – especially the things that carried a reminder he wasn't really a pony – would never stop really bothering him. Then again, maybe he tried too hard to be bothered by dumb things, too, as if he was worried that if he let them not bother him, it would make him less of a pony.

"Nay, I think thou just likes to whine. But never fear, Scrivy, I shan't make thee give up thy whining and whimpering." Luna said mildly as she turned the corner into the kitchen, and the stallion smiled despite himself over his shoulder before the two traded a quick kiss, and then Luna dropped her head against his neck and closed her eyes. "Twilight is being lazy. Lazy lazy lazy."

"Lucky Twilight." Scrivener replied mildly, and Luna grunted before the charcoal stallion headbutted the sapphire mare gently. "Go flop. I'll finish putting jam on these and you can pretend you're queen of everything while I feed them to you."

"Twilight must also feed me. I am queen of everything and I demand this." Luna mumbled, nuzzling into Scrivener's neck above his collar before she yawned and turned around, striding back into the living room to fling herself down with a mumble before she smiled slightly over her shoulder. "And I shall make thee head servant if thou..."

Luna paused, then giggled to herself before repeating: "Head servant. Nay, I know of an even better way thou can-"

"Shut up, Luna." Scrivener said wryly, and he hated how affectionate his voice was as the sapphire mare smiled and turned around, burying herself down against the cushions. After a few moments, she was joined by Twilight Sparkle, who flopped down against her side. Luna turned towards her, burying her face into Twilight's neck, and the Lich smiled as she arched her back and her wings fluttered a little before she relaxed with a sigh.

The two mares were shortly joined by Scrivener, who carried in a tray with one claw that held their usual mugs of coffee and jam-covered muffin halves. Luna grabbed eagerly at this, but Scrivy stayed just out of her reach as he strode around the bedding to put the tray down in front of the fireplace, and Luna growled in frustration as she wiggled forwards and grumbled: "Thou art annoying, Scrivener B-"

The earth pony jammed a muffin-half into Luna's open mouth, and she coughed around it, sending crumbs flying everywhere before she glared balefully up at the stallion. He only winked back, and there was silence as the sapphire mare chewed slowly, then swallowed loudly and finally said crankily: "Thou must be a little gentler than that."

Scrivener opened his mouth, then huffed when Twilight looked at him pointedly before he sighed and instead picked up the coffee mugs in his claws, passing two to the violet mare. She caught them both in a telekinetic grip, and Luna rolled over and reached up to snag one out of the air between her front hooves, bringing it down to rest atop her scarred breast. Then he opened her mouth insistently, and Scrivener sighed tiredly, picking up another muffin half and tearing it in half before dropping it daintily into her jaws so the mare could loudly chew it up. "You make me feel like I'm part of a petting zoo. The nasty part, with all the animals that try and bite you and run into your butt."

"I never knew thou liked animals in that way, Scrivy. Should Abaddon ever become pregnant, I shall turn my eyes to thee first." Luna said pointedly, and the stallion rolled his eyes before the sapphire mare carefully tilted her mug of coffee back, opening her mouth wide and messily managing to spill some of the black liquid into her jaws as both Twilight and Scrivener glared at her.

Then Luna tilted the mug back, smacked her lips a few times, and said thoughtfully: "Today we must begin our daughter's training, but perhaps in the morning we should visit our eldest, Scarlet Sage, and her terrible twins."

"Only one of them is evil. The other's always very nice to me." Scrivener said after a moment, and then he picked up a muffin half and dropped it into Luna's waiting jaws. As she chewed it up loudly, Twilight sipped moodily at her coffee, and the stallion couldn't help but smile in amusement at the two. "I think you both just don't like being old grandmothers."

"And thou art the old grandfather. Why does it not bother thee? I do not like that the world around me is growing so old." Luna grumbled, shaking her head quickly before she added: "We should make another visit to another layer to see the young faces of friend and family again. Where they have not aged so fast and grown so old."

"They might look like our friends and family, Luna, but... they're not. I think that might just make things worse." Twilight said quietly, and the sapphire mare softened as she looked over at the Lich. There was silence for a few moments, and then the starry-maned mare reached a hoof up, and Twilight took this and squeezed it gently as she murmured: "Sorry. I think it's just... every time something's happened in the past, I've been worried about my friends. But now, they're going to want to help but... they aren't going to be able to."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Scrivener Blooms shook his head and said softly: "Old has to make way for the new. At least, that's how it's supposed to work, but I guess... things like we are tend to screw that up a little."

Luna smiled wryly, then she nodded slowly before saying quietly: "Aye, we do, but... we too should step aside one day, Scrivy. If I have learned anything in all these years, 'tis that. As much as I desire to protect my friends and family forever... eventually, I may become a Celestia if I do so, where my protection eventually becomes a cage."

Scrivener only smiled down at the sapphire mare, and then Twilight glanced up at the empty fireplace before she easily swept her horn to the side, and blue flames burst into life over the charred logs. The three ponies looked into the flames for a few moments, and then the violet mare sighed before turning her eyes towards the two and murmuring: "I really don't know if I want to ever step aside, though. I understand why we should, especially with ponies like our children to take our place, but... I wish that I could make my friends young again, that we could all... live forever."

"Well..." Luna shrugged a little, then she sipped upside-down at her coffee again before saying finally: "Aye. I understand that all too well, Twilight Sparkle. Perhaps... I would even take steps towards achieving that end, 'twere I alone. But I am not alone... I have the two of thee to think and worry about."

Scrivener and Twilight traded looks, and then Luna wiggled a bit on the bedding and nodded thoughtfully to herself, before she smile back and forth between the two. "'Tis not the best thing, but... as long as we have each other, my mares, then I shall always be able to find happiness."

"We're codependent. I think that's a bad thing." Twilight said mildly, and Luna huffed as Scrivener only shrugged agreeably. Then the violet Lich sighed and shook her head before murmuring: "I don't think I'd ever change it, though. I've gotten too used to this feeling of sanctuary... but... at the same time, I wonder if I could survive if something happened to Innocence. I know we have to get her ready for her own life, that good things and bad things will happen that might distance her from us a little more and more... that one day we might have to leave, and she'll be on her own... but..."

"It is very hard to accept, aye. But if thou can accept letting go, then sometimes 'tis what leads to... gaining more." Luna said softly, and then she smiled reassuringly to Twilight. "Why, just look at myself and Antares, Twilight! He has become strong and happy, and our relationship is a strong and happy one, and neither of us can deny 'tis well in part because... I let go."

There was quiet for a few moments, and then Twilight smiled a little as she said softly: "You didn't really let go, Luna. Instead, you... you just stopped standing over him. You let him walk on his own, but Scrivy and I both know that you've always been there for him, ready to catch him if he ever fell. And that's the kind of mother I want to be, but I don't do it nearly as well as you."

"Well, 'tis also not time to let Sin go quite yet. First she must pass these training exercises." Luna said comfortably, and then she shook her head quickly and added softly, glancing up at Scrivener Blooms: "Thou must teach her to use the mire, on that note. That seems like the only useful bit of knowledge we gained from Nightmare Moon."

"I don't know if I can teach her that, though, Luna. I mean... it's not like I ever really tried to learn these things myself... creating the mire was just there." Scrivener said awkwardly, and Luna huffed at him loudly as Twilight smiled amusedly and sipped her coffee, taking a strange pleasure as always in watching the two as they went about their oddly-supportive and loving bickering.

"Well, thou certainly did not learn to harness it just on instinct! It took thee much practice and fiddling to refine all thy skills... at first all thou could do with it was splash it on people and make it spike, and the splashing was usually more effective than the spiking, great wimp that thou art." Luna complained, and Scrivener rolled his eyes before picking up a muffin half and shoving it into the mare's mouth.

She gave a muffled grumble around the food, then chewed it up slowly as Scrivener mumbled: "Well, still, I don't know if I'm cut out for teaching. And don't bring up the classes I taught up at the university, that's not really teaching. I read out of old books and rambled a lot about how I think writing should work. Which probably wasn't all that helpful."

"Hey, at least one of your students has been successful, and she credits you a lot." Twilight said pointedly, and Scrivener looked at the violet mare dryly before he picked up a muffin half and attempted to jam it into the Lich's muzzle, but she only laughed and waved it away before saying softly: "Look, Innocence really looks up to you, Scrivy, whether you like it or not. She'll listen to you, and she's already trying really hard to use the corruption as it is, no matter what we tell her."

"She is very strong-willed, aye." Luna agreed, smiling a little over at the violet mare before she shifted her eyes to Scrivener. "And she does adore thee. 'Tis funny, she and I get along so well, but I think often she loves me less like a parent and more as a friend."

"Well..." Twilight shook her head, hurriedly cutting herself off. The last thing she wanted to do was start down that line of complaining, so instead she rose her head and smiled a little, asking: "Do you think once Innocence learns to control the mire more, it'll help with her... outbursts?"

Luna and Scrivener traded thoughtful looks, and then the charcoal stallion shrugged and the sapphire mare murmured: "I would like to say yes, my beloved, but... 'tis difficult to say. The discipline will be good for her, but... she is a very determined and stubborn sixteen year old. There is little that can fix that, as nothing is really broken."

Twilight nodded, and there was silence between the three as they drank their coffee and shared the snacks. Eventually, Scrivener took the empty tray and empty mugs back to the kitchen to wash them quickly off in the sink, and Luna rolled around on the futon childishly as Twilight sat to one side, thinking to herself about things and trying to plan for a future that she wasn't entirely sure of.

When Scrivener came back, his claws folded back into hooves that were still a little soapy from the washing, Twilight looked up at the stallion and asked curiously: "Do you think that you could talk a little about how you use the mire to transform yourself with Innocence? Not that I think she can or should turn into a big Tyrant Wyrm like you do, Scrivy-"

"Scrivy is not a big Tyrant Wyrm, Twilight Sparkle, he is tiny. He is the smallest of all the Wyrms." Luna declared from where she was sprawled on her back, and Scrivener glowered at the sapphire mare as she peered at him between her legs, then grinned widely. "I am not used to seeing thee so far away when I am like this."

"Yeah, it's nice to be at a safe distance." Scrivener said dryly, and Luna huffed at him loudly before the stallion turned his eyes towards Twilight. "But uh... well, yeah, but she already polymorphs herself well enough, if that's what you're thinking of."

Twilight nodded, smiling after a moment. "She does, but... maybe the mire could help her to polymorph herself better. Right now, it's very vulnerable to any kind of purification... sometimes just her own emotions or focused light are enough to burn away her transformation. I just... I just want her safe."

The Lich blushed: it was a strange choice of words, maybe, but Scrivener and Luna both traded soft looks, then nodded to the mare, and the stallion said quietly: "Alright. I'll see what I can do. But... well, you remember when Luna and I brought up armor before..."

Twilight frowned uncertainly at this, shifting and sitting up a little, and Luna finally rolled onto her stomach and gave the violet mare a soothing look. "Gorgeous mare, fear not. I know thou art... uncomfortable with the thought of girding our daughter in battle armor, because thou knows what it will mean: we made a promise to Innocence, that we would give her armor when she was ready for it, and from that day forth she would aid in protecting Ponyville. And we shan't renege on that word, but... thou knows as well as I do, her training is not just for her to learn discipline, and to be able to defend herself. It is the point where... she will be asked to begin defending others."

The Lich sighed quietly, shifting again before she nodded slowly and looked down, biting the inside of her cheek. Scrivener joined her and sat beside her, and Luna slipped forwards to lean up and kiss the underside of the mare's muzzle gently, before Twilight murmured: "I know. It's just... it's hard, that's all. It's really hard to let your kids grow up."

Scrivener and Luna traded smiles at this, and then the stallion hugged the violet mare gently as Luna slipped forwards and pushed up against the Lich's chest, embracing her fiercely around the neck. And Twilight sighed softly again as she dropped her head next to Luna's, but after a moment she still found a smile bridging her features all the same: here, safe and comforted in the grip of her lovers, she knew that even if the world continued to change and ponies continued to grow up and grow older, things would still always be okay... as long as she had her soulmates by her side.

Chapter Eight: Familial Advice

~BlackRoseRaven

Luna and Scrivener strode through Ponyville, glancing back and forth at the people they passed and listening now and then to the excited murmur of gossip. Something about Avalon, and rumors of war, and the usual chatter about sightings of strange and fantastic things throughout Equestria. But there were all kinds of wild and weird things in Looking Glass World: monsters like the insectile Takers that infested the bogs and older forests, alien creatures like the Strange Ones and the Pious, nature divinities and peaceful Phooka and even benign demideities here and there.

Looking Glass World was nearly perfect in Luna's eyes, but for her, part of what made it so welcome and wonderful was the fact that they never went more than a few weeks without something happening. Whether it was a festival, a sighting of some marvelous unknown creature, some attack by demons or bandits or dragons... there was always something going on.

The sapphire mare smiled slightly over at Scrivener Blooms as he gave her an amused look, and then she asked cheerfully: "What, thou would rather have our life be boring?"

"Yes." Scrivener answered blandly, and Luna laughed even as she swung her horn at him, the stallion ducking with a snort of amusement before he glanced up as they approached the enormous, many-times-expanded building that had once been just one humble blacksmith's, and now included several forges that could rival Valhalla's. "I guess it's been good for keeping people in business, though. Never really thought about how great monster attacks would be for merchants and service-based industry and all that."

"Oh shut up, Scrivy. Stop attempting to suck the magic out of my life with all thy ridiculous talk of ridiculous economics." Luna scoffed, and Scrivener only shrugged amiably before they both strode in through the wide-open doors of the large building, the mare shouting loudly: "Sleipnir! Spike! We are here for a special order! Get thy lazy buttocks out here!"

"Lazy!" Sleipnir's voice shouted, and there was a loud banging from down the hall before the enormous stallion stomped his way out of the corridor, covered in soot and sweat. He shook himself briskly as he halted in front of the two, and Luna huffed as Scrivener winced and scurried backwards to avoid the hail of soggy ashes. "Thou thinks me a dandy! How can thou think so low of me, my own little sister?"

"'Tis very simple, big brother. Look at how thou sparkles, even after thy roll in the overflow bin to pretend thou had been working!" Luna scoffed playfully, and Scrivener leaned up and then blinked dumbly in surprise at the fact that the enormous stallion was now only speckled by ash and dust, no longer coated from head-to-hoof.

Sleipnir huffed at this then he brushed absently at his viny locks as they twisted on their own, before the stallion complained: "Well, 'tis not my fault! 'Tis because of Mother Nature's love for me, that is all, and she simply does not like to see me so dirty, for I am very pretty."

Luna snorted in amusement at this, and then she swung at him lightly, but the enormous stallion only reached up and caught her hoof in his own, grinning as his large muscles flexed and easily held her in place, even as she growled and threw her weight and strength into attempting to yank him to the side. "But tell me then, what is so important that thou must have thy talented big brother make it instead of forging it with thine own hooves?"

"'Tis armor for my daughter, Sleipnir. And aye, while 'twould give it great sentimental value if I made it myself, I all the same want the very best for my daughter, and requires thy skills." Luna paused, then glared up at Sleipnir and grumbled: "And aye, I am admitting that... when it comes to beating and bending metal, thou art the very best. Great idiot."

Sleipnir laughed loudly at this, and then he let go of Luna's hoof... and barely seemed to notice when she punched him firmly across the face, knocking his head slightly to the side before he rose his head and said brightly: "Aye, I already have a grand idea! It must be lightweight, but Spike has a natural talent for shaping gemstones and I have a good supply of alloys that should be perfect to fuse with... aye, we shall make her safe. Perhaps I shall even speak to Hecate, or Celestia. But I would much rather speak to Hecate, to be honest. She is less frightening as a pretty head instead of a full mare."

"Aye, I agree. Hecate is only a head and 'tis rather amusing when one gets past her... nastiness." Luna said agreeably, and then she paused before adding hesitantly: "I would like for thou to... blade her armor. And a full mask, not just a helm: Twilight will be mad at me, but I feel this would be the best choice for my daughter."

Sleipnir looked curious at this, cocking his head with interest. "Thou art asking for the armor of a warrior, but thy daughter... she is more of a mage, aye? Tell me that thou does not just simply wish to make her look the more intimidating... or 'tis this something wiser?"

Luna shook her head at this, smiling a little as she looked up at her big brother before she said softly: "I do not know, Sleipnir. I do not... want to mold her into my own image, but that is perhaps what I am subconsciously trying to do. Or perhaps I am just thinking of Celestia: she uses her own magic to boost her abilities and make herself stronger than thee. Look at what she is already learning, taking after Twilight. She will be fierce on every battlefield."

Sleipnir nodded thoughtfully, and then he bit his lip as he tilted his head back and forth before the stallion glanced over his shoulder with a slight smile. "Spike, cease warming the forge and come here! 'Tis still early in the morning, after all."

After a few moments, there was a grunt before a tall, bipedal dragon joined them from down the hall, rubbing absently at the lime-green scales over his breast, thinner that the dark purple scales that covered his strong, muscular form. A mohawk of darker green fins ran from his forehead to the back of his neck, and his emerald eyes were dryly amused as he rubbed at the back of his head absently, saying mildly: "I hate to point this out, but we've kind of got a lot of work today..."

Sleipnir only huffed, then reached up and slapped one of his earfins lightly, making him wince a bit before the enormous earth pony said cheerfully: "Work is to be welcomed, Spike, and not feared! For work keeps us busy and happy, whilst lack of work leaves us bored and cranky and makes our most-loved mares disappointed in us, does it not?"

"Uh, well. Rarity was talking about me taking time off, actually." Spike said awkwardly, and he shifted and rubbed slowly at a bicep that was surrounded by tattooing of ruins: a permanent enchantment that kept him at the size he was at now. "Not that it's not good to see you guys, though, and.. well, if Sleipnir says we have enough time to take on another project-"

"Thou had best do thy damnedest on it, Spike. 'Tis for my daughter." Luna poked at the tall dragon's abdominals with her horn, and he winced and shifted awkwardly backwards, half-hiding behind the heavy industrial apron over his other arm.

After a moment, the dragon nodded lamely, and then he looked over at the enormous stallion he worked with almost pleadingly, but Sleipnir only laughed and shook his head. "Oh, thou worries too much! Have I ever missed a deadline? Have I ever once been late to deliver? Nay, I give thee my word now, Spike, 'twill be the work of only a few days. 'Twill be done fast, 'twill be done right, and we will be paid most heartily for it, fear not."

The dragon shifted on his clawed feet, and then he sighed a little before he slipped the apron on and mumbled: "Yeah. It's not that I don't have faith in you, Sleipnir, it's just that... you know, we keep getting bigger and bigger orders, and a normal person takes weeks to make a set of armor, maybe even longer than that..."

"Well, that is because they do not speak to nature as I do. For nature still thrives even in these minerals as we temper them, Spike. The metal folds and shapes itself to my will because I am polite enough to ask, and never do I force." Sleipnir grinned and leaned over, waggling his eyebrows at the purple dragon. "For I have never had to force myself on any mare, Spike."

Luna only huffed at this, grinning widely before she said easily: "And aye, that is why some mares find thee such a disappointment. Thou art all talk and no shove."

"Now cease, Luna. At least I am not like thou, who so forcefully forces herself upon thy poor tender mare Scrivener Blooms, or even dares try and kiss the maw of our own big sister Celestia!" Sleipnir replied easily, and then he winked over at Scrivener Blooms before leaning towards him with a wide grin. "Tell me, handsome mare, what is the better: a stallion such as I who attends to the desires of his lucky bed-partner, or a stallion such as my little sister, who kisses her own baby-eating sibling?"

Scrivener looked back and forth as Luna glared at him and Sleipnir leered, and then the stallion dropped his head forwards and mumbled: "I hate no-win scenarios. I choose. Twilight Sparkle. She's only bossy sometimes, and less creepy than either of you are."

"Thou art creepy. And a cheater." Luna huffed and leaned over, firmly whacking Scrivener Blooms with her soulstone horn and making him wince. Then she turned her eyes towards Sleipnir, nodding to him and saying mildly: "Well, that is all I have to ask of thee for now. Scrivy and I are going to visit Scarlet Sage and her twins. And possibly Apple Bloom, but she seems to be working nearly as often as Cowlick. Does thou desire to come with us?"

Sleipnir opened his mouth, then huffed when Spike cleared his throat loudly, the stallion turning a mild look on the dragon for a moment, then returning his gaze to Luna's. "Nay, I fear that I must stay behind for now. There is work to be done and cranky dragons to be soothed."

"I'm not cranky." Spike grumbled, and then he shook his head before glancing over at Luna and asking hesitantly, as if knowing he was going to regret the answer: "You... what about a weapon for Innocence? I guess... in for a bit, in for a bushel and all that."

Luna looked thoughtful at this, bowing her head forwards and shifting back and forth before she glanced at Scrivener Blooms, who shook his head. When Luna leaned towards him, the stallion sighed, trading a few quick thoughts with her as their gazes locked before he looked towards Spike and Sleipnir. "No. It's not that she's not ready for that... even though she might not be... but it's more that she doesn't really... she hasn't found anything that's really her yet. And I'm sure you both remember how long it took for Antares to finally find something that clicked with him."

The two nodded, and then Sleipnir smiled warmly and reached out to slap Scrivener on the shoulder, declaring: "A worthy point, brother, and one that was spoken well at that! Very well, we shall leave off for now and focus instead on the armor, and see how Innocence wears the design I have in mind... it should make for good starting gear for her, but I am sure in the future that as she develops her Celestianess, she will want heavier gear."

"Stop comparing my daughter to Celestia! 'Tis my daughter, not hers!" Luna complained, and Sleipnir grinned roguishly in response.

"Oh, art thou sure? For I am somehow certain that our most-loved sister may have had her way with thy black beauty more than once." Sleipnir said cheerfully, and Luna scowled at him as Scrivener cleared his throat awkwardly. "But then again, I also do not know how he would still be alive if she did. He must be hardier than I have given him credit for."

"Thou would not believe the things I do to Scrivener Blooms in bed!" Luna said challengingly, and Scrivener groaned before he turned around and quickly left, Luna huffing loudly at his back before she demanded: "Tomorrow by nightfall!"

With that, Luna spun around and hurried after Scrivener, catching up to him on the road and lowering her head to ram her crystalline horn into his rump. The stallion yelped and leapt forwards, landing on his butt and glaring over his shoulder at Luna, and she only grinned widely and straightened, saying pompously: "Be glad I aimed not more to the left, or I would be wearing thee like a hat. My butt-hat."

Scrivener closed his eyes and dropped his face in a hoof, and Luna sniffed before she strode forwards and past him. "Come then, cease thy lazing. Sleipnir shall have the armor ready for tomorrow night, and we must visit Scarlet Sage, then meet Innocence for training in only a few short hours' time."

The stallion grunted, picking himself up and striding after the mare to fall in pace behind her, heading through Ponyville together before the sapphire mare glanced up at the cloudy skies above, murmuring: "Such dismal weather, is it not? Soon 'twill be autumn... Innocence's birthday has come and gone, and next is Antares, but he is still stuffy when it comes to such celebrations. Yet all the same, he celebrates Nightmare Night with us, and that means much to me. We are fortunate, are we not, Scrivener Blooms?"

The charcoal stallion smiled a little, then he nodded slowly as he murmured: "Yeah, I think we are." He stopped, then glanced up towards the skies as well, saying finally: "I kind of want to visit Subterra soon. I want to talk to those other Clockwork Ponies we've got locked up in the detention center, and see... if there's been any changes."

Luna grunted and nodded, murmuring: "'Tis funny. 'Tis like they all knew that Thesis had been destroyed, and thou had inherited... seniority, so to speak. And what scare me most of all, I suppose, is that I enjoy the thought of having thee as a master of monsters."

Scrivener shifted awkwardly, even as he answered in a soft voice: "I don't think they can be called monsters. Valthrudnir was a monster, but... he created these things to follow his orders. They might have been monstrous in what they did, but... they aren't monsters themselves. They're just machines, tools. I feel sympathy for them."

"More so because thou art a Clockwork Pony thyself, I expect." Luna said, and there was a strange braveness in her voice as Scrivener glanced over at her, then he smiled a little, nodding. That subject had once been taboo, but now they were gradually... getting more used to it. They had won, after all: there was no more need to be ashamed, or worried about what it meant.

They walked onwards in quiet, even as they traded thoughts and wisps of emotions between themselves, until they reached Scarlet Sage's home. It was a large, well-kept two-floor house with a pretty, well-tended garden in the front. Much better looking than their own garden back home, Scrivener reflected, which, while it had several precious species of herbs and was protected by living vines, all the same was clustered and crappy and the plants were all half-dead. This garden was alive, in neat, ordered rows, and all the flowers were growing in perfect complimentary colors.

"She must be cheating with her Blood Seer powers somehow, 'tis the only explanation." Luna grumbled, and then she strode across the front deck to the door and headbutted it open, calling loudly: "Lily, Mercury! Thy favorite Amma is here!"

There were happy shouts before a small, light blue Pegasus shot through the beaded curtain leading into the kitchen, and Luna grinned before she leapt up and tackled the filly out of the air, making her laugh brightly as Luna crashed down on her back with the small filly held tightly against her breast. A second filly followed shortly, this one with a white-gold coat and running along on her hooves, her eyes bright as she leapt forwards just as Luna sat up, but the starry-maned mare easily caught the other child with a wide grin and pulled her just as close.

Lily and Mercury were twins, but bore little resemblance to each other: Mercury was the blue Pegasus, with a deep blue mane that was cut short and rough and a curious, easily-excited personality. Lily was shyer, with her mother's red mane flowing messily around her shoulders, the quieter and more cautious of the fourteen year old pair.

But both of them had their mother's red eyes, and Luna smiled warmly as she hugged the Pegasi tightly for a moment long before letting them slide backwards, as she noted the other thing that paired the two: Mercury had the cutie mark of a black spade, and Lily had the cutie mark of an ivory heart.

Lily, as always, stayed to the ground, while Mercury flitted up into the air and bounced awkwardly off a wall, knocking a picture frame loose, but Luna easily caught this with telekinesis and set it back in place as the oblivious blue filly rambled: "Amma, Amma, you like, Avalon was here yesterday and she said she would tell us all about the Thunderbolts and was going to see if the Wonderbolts were around and and and-"

"Mercury, calm down." called an amused voice, and the Pegasus huffed and shrank a bit even as she nodded lamely, looking over her shoulder as a silver Pegasus emerged from the kitchen, shaking her head with a soft smile. She looked young and beautiful, with a glowing red mane and tail, and a cutie mark of a crimson mirror edged in black on her flank. "Girls, neither of you are done breakfast yet. Go finish up... Mom, Dad, can I get you anything?"

"Nah, we ate with Innocence a few hours ago." Scrivener said with a smile, and then he stepped forwards and traded a tight hug with his daughter, before Luna did the same. And then the charcoal stallion couldn't help but laugh as the fillies retreated into the kitchen, studying his daughter and murmuring: "How many years has it been?"

"I know, I know. It's..." Scarlet Sage reached up, touching her breast before she laughed and shook her head slowly, gazing affectionately between her parents. "Well, come on in. I'm really happy to see you two, and... I heard that Innocence is going to be doing more serious training, right? And... that something happened..."

"Do not fear, Scarlet Sage. We are fine and well. We just... we do not see thee as often as we like." Luna said softly as they strode into the wide, polished kitchen, where the young girls were hurriedly finishing the food on their plates: Mercury was gobbling down eggs, and Lily was doing a slightly-more-neat job of eating down her oatmeal.

Luna smiled slightly at the sight of the foals, while Scrivener Blooms drew an amused look from them towards his daughter, asking mildly: "Have your cooking skills improved as much as mine have from having kids around?"

Scarlet Sage smiled as well, turning her eyes towards the foals before she said mildly: "Mercury, I can see what you're doing with your peas. Eat them, please, don't just save them to throw at your sister later."

"Mom!" Mercury whined, and then she grumbled and poured the napkin of green peas out onto her dish, saying grumpily: "I never get to have any fun."

"You get to have lots of fun, Mercury. Far too much fun, as a matter of fact. Often, your fun is what gets you in trouble, little miss." Scarlet replied pointedly, and then the mare glanced over at Luna as the sapphire winged unicorn looked at her pointedly. "What? She does, and-"

"Oh, 'tis not that, even though I am somehow sure thou art quite the fun-killer. 'Tis rather that thou art feeding thy child booger-veggies first thing in the morning with her eggs. 'Tis not a breakfast food, daughter. I raised thee much better than that." Luna said pointedly, and Scarlet Sage gave her mother a half-endearing, half-irritated look.

Scrivener only shook his head in amusement, then slipped past and smiled at Mercury as she grinned up at him with a mouthful of egg, and then he stepped up beside the shyer, smaller-seeming sibling. "How are you doing, Lily?"

"I'm good, Grandpa Scrivy." Lily looked up with a bright smile, blushing and nodding a little as she shifted back and forth before adding warmly: "I got all A's on my special report card, and Mommy said she and Mama are gonna take me to the big bookstore in Canterlot so I can pick up one new book, anything I want!"

"Nerd." Mercury snorted, and Lily scowled as Scarlet Sage reached up and squeezed her daughter's shoulder, gazing down at her reprimandingly, and the young mare dropped her head with a grumble and mumbled: "Okay, okay. Sorry. But she is."

Scarlet Sage sighed as Luna huffed and bounced up beside Mercury, leaning forwards and saying pointedly: "Aye, but she is also thy sister, and between thee, one must be the brain and the other the brawn. The brawn must protect and cherish the brain, 'lest the brain stop working... and what would thou do then, little Mercury?"

Luna reached up and tickled playfully along Mercury's sides and wings, and the Pegasus snorted laughter and flailed at the air before she shoved herself backwards, flitting up near the ceiling with a bright grin. "Okay, okay! Yeah, I guess you're right. I guess we do sorta need each other."

Lily smiled at this, looking up and blushing as she bowed her head forwards, and Luna grunted as Scarlet Sage gave her mother a tender look. Then the sapphire mare cleared her throat and turned her eyes up towards Mercury, asking kindly: "And how hast thou been doing?"

"I'm doing good. I mean, I'm passing the extra courses and stuff." Mercury looked a little awkward now, but when Luna smiled encouragingly, the young filly brightened a bit and straightened, flying down and saying positively: "Mom and Ma say if I pass, they're gonna let me help out at Cowlick and Ma's place!"

Luna smiled warmly at this, looking up curiously at Scarlet Sage... but before the Pegasus could answer, another pony pushed though the curtain with a grin, the earth pony mare saying easily: "Hey there, kiddo, remember the other part of the deal. You can't go getting yourself into any more trouble with the tutors or with the teacher at the expensive teachin' center."

Mercury nodded a few times, and Lily turned to wave happily at the toned, tall earth pony mare, who had a gorgeous yellow coat, a deep crimson mane, vital green eyes and a cutie mark of several pretty flowers. "Hi, Mama!"

"Hey kids. Hey Scrivy, Luna. Hey hon." The mare strode forwards and lightly slapped Scarlet Sage's rump, making her stiffen slightly and look over her shoulder, but any sourness was stolen from her look when the earth pony kissed her cheek firmly. "Thanks for letting me sleep in. It's made you even more beautiful than you were before in my eyes."

"You're welcome, Apple Bloom. You can do the dishes." Scarlet Sage replied in an amused voice, and the earth pony mare groaned and rolled her eyes, but then traded nods with the mare before Scarlet Sage glanced over at Luna and Scrivener. "Do you two have the time to watch Mercury put on one of the routines she's been practicing? She's getting very good."

Mercury's eyes widened in excitement at this, and after Luna and Scrivener both smiled and nodded, it didn't take more than a look from Apple Bloom before Mercury shot off through the beaded curtain, calling brightly: "I'll be just a minute!"

Apple Bloom chuckled and shook her head, then her eyes roved to Lily and she smiled, saying: "And I bet Scrivy'd love to see your workbook, honey. Why don't you go grab that so he can take a look, huh?"

"Okay, Mama!" Lily said brightly, and she hopped down from the table to run quickly off as Scrivener and Luna gazed after the two, then they turned their eyes towards the wives, the partners, the two ponies lucky enough to still be in love after all these years.

There was quiet for a moment, and then Apple Bloom grinned wryly as she said: "Funny, you know? Never thought I'd be wanting to brag about my little girl scraping through a remedial class with a C, but... she's doin' it. She's doin' great."

"She is great. And Lily's tutors told me the other day the school is going to look at advanced placement next year... she just seems to learn whatever you give her." Scarlet Sage added warmly, smiling and nodding. "Even if she's having... a bit of a tough time socializing and..."

"Has she even tried to fly yet?" Luna asked softly, and both Scarlet Sage and Apple Bloom shook their heads. "Then Mercury and Lily truly are as day and night. I only hope they better temper one-another for the future. If they do, there will be no pair of siblings stronger, nor more tighter linked. Which may make it fun for any stallion-"

"Ha ha, let's please save jokes like that about my daughter until after they're grown up, okay? They're still kids." Apple Bloom said pointedly, and Luna opened her mouth, but Scrivener quickly elbowed her as the earth pony mare cut off dryly: "Yes, Luna, I remember all the stories you already told me about what fourteen year old fillies got up to in the old days. And no, I'm actually real happy pretending that Mercury ain't yet started getting interested in stallions, thank you very much."

"We really should talk to her about that magazine you found in her room." Scarlet Sage said mildly, and Apple Bloom sighed and shrugged moodily.

"Let's just pretend we didn't find it. Also, I'd much rather have her peeping in a book than get caught peeping in the colt's shower room again." Apple Bloom grumbled under her breath, muttering: "Things sure have changed since my day, Luna, I tell you what. I don't think stallions would used to scream like little fillies and go running for mommy when they saw a pretty girl tryin' to catch a look at them in the shower in the old days."

Scrivener and Scarlet Sage both groaned, while Luna only nodded seriously, remarking mildly: "'Tis a very sad world that we live in now, Apple Bloom. But what would thou have preferred, the boys put on a show for her? Well. I would like that, and thou would like that, but as everypony continues to complain to me, fourteen year old ponies are no longer to be treated as they were in the past..."

"And if I saw any stallion trying to treat my daughter that way, I'd punch 'em into the next layer. But it sure would have saved me a lot of trouble trying to explain a whole lot of things I didn't really want to talk about if they'd... wiggled around a little or something." Apple Bloom replied with a shrug, and Scarlet Sage glared at her partner as Apple Bloom only grinned back.

Luna looked thoughtful at this, then slowly turned her eyes towards Scrivener Blooms, but the stallion shoved his hoof into her face without looking at her as he said dryly: "We are not hiring a male stripper, for any reason, ever. We've been over that before."

"I really envy your household sometimes. I'd say we should trade wives, Luna, but I guess that'd just be awkward." Apple Bloom said thoughtfully, and Scrivener gave the earth pony mare a flat look as Luna giggled stupidly behind his hoof.

Thankfully, before any reply could be made, Lily came hurrying back in with a large book tucked beneath one wing. The ponies turned towards this as the young mare skidded to a halt, a pair of little glasses now askew on her face as she slipped the book to her front hooves and held it out. "My first exam is on the literature of Equestria during the Equitarian Era. That's right now, actually!"

"Oh. Fantastic." Scrivener said with a notable lack of enthusiasm as he took the large textbook... except as he opened it, he realized that the enormous hardcover was actually something Lily had clearly made for her own study purposes, full of study notes and text and pasted-in pictures, all of it organized neatly and... "Uh... wow, you put this together yourself?"

"I finished it last night." Lily informed, nodding a few times before she brightened and added: "I think you're in there, Grandpa Scrivy, under commercialization and the effectiveness of advertising and corporate backing on the popularity of literature. I think I labeled the tab 'hype' for short. But don't worry, I still really like your books."

"Great. Thanks, Lily. Really." Scrivener said in a slightly strained voice, and Luna sniggered at him as Scarlet Sage smiled lamely and Apple Bloom coughed loudly a few times. The charcoal stallion awkwardly checked the tabs, and then he flipped to the one the young filly had indicated as he mumbled: "Really just... just fantastic, really. It's not like I don't already hate my stories enough..."

Lily cocked her head curiously, but then Mercury flew back into the room, clad in safety gear and wearing a brightly-colored uniform as she grinned and stamped her front hooves together. "Okay, okay, let's go out to the back yard guys, come on!"

The adults gazed with amusement at the hyperactive twin as Lily looked disapprovingly over the top of her glasses, and then she complained: "Your straps are loose again. If you'd just tidy yourself up a little you could increase your velocity by upwards of eighteen percent..."

"Your face is loose so shut up!" Mercury shot back, and when Apple Bloom cleared her throat loudly, the blue filly winced and said lamely to her twin sibling: "I mean... I'm fine how I am. Just... I'm fine. So... thanks anyway."

"I'm going to pretend she didn't learn half of what she says from you two." Scarlet Sage said dryly, and Luna and Scrivener both shifted awkwardly before the silver Pegasus turned and headed to the sliding door leading out to the backyard. She barely had it open before Mercury shot by her, and she sighed before calling loudly to her daughter: "Please don't go too high this time, Mercury, we need to be able to see you still!"

"I won't, Mom!" Mercury called back loudly, and Scarlet Sage smiled a little as she led the other ponies out onto the back deck. Scrivener had absently allowed one hoof to unfurl into a claw so he could better carry Lily's workbook, and the filly was currently staring up at this, studying it with fascination until the stallion looked down and awkwardly caught her looking.

Lily quickly looked away, and Scrivener smiled lamely before he opened her book again and looked at it, studying the contents for a few moments. Then he cleared his throat and looked back at her, saying finally: "You uh. You have a really great vocabulary here, kiddo."

"Oh, look, she's getting in position!" Apple Bloom said with a smile, pointing up at the sky. "There, see? We worked on her uniform for damn-near ever to get it right... the way it reflects light actually makes her seem a little bigger against the sky, makes her brighter and easier to see. But she wants to take after Dash and Avalon... I think she might actually have the chops for it, too."

Luna smiled slightly at this, tilting her head with interest as her eyes roved upwards, easily able to discern the brightly-ornamented Pegasus against the cloudy sky. Scrivener, meanwhile, kept his eyes down with Lily, as the young mare happily bounced over to him and excitedly began to point out the whole timeline she had constructed, naming off authors he had never even heard of and telling him all kinds of comparisons and metaphors... sometimes a little tactlessly, making him wince a bit when she compared him to a few certain renaissance period writers and struggle not to correct her interpretations with his own thoughts.

Mercury, meanwhile, was flying around high above, pulling off a few simpler aerial maneuvers and some moderate difficulty stunts without too much difficulty. She handled herself well, even if Luna could see that her balance was a little off. The sapphire mare grinned a bit as this was accented all the more when Mercury went into a too-hard roll and twisted to the side a bit in mid-flight: not enough to disorient her or knock her off course, just enough to make her recovery noticeable and more than a little messy. "She is talented, but rough. Brash."

"Yeah, she takes after Mama, alright." Scarlet Sage said mildly, and Apple Bloom smiled amusedly and nudged her partner firmly, before the two returned their eyes upwards to watch as Mercury went into a steep dive, then bridged into a complicated zigzagging pattern before twisting upwards some twenty feet above the ground.

"She's good though. She's gonna be damn good. I think with time and training, she might one day be as good as Uncle Dash." Apple Bloom said softly, and then she chuckled quietly and grinned wryly. "Hell. Maybe if she tries real hard, works at it, finds the right focus... she might even be as good as Avalon."

"So thou art admitting that Avalon Apple is better in the air than Rainbow Dash in his prime?" Luna looked up with honest curiosity... and a bit of surprise, too. But Apple Bloom only smiled a little and nodded, as Scarlet Sage glanced tenderly over at her wife. "'Tis not something I ever thought I would hear thee say."

"I didn't ever think I would, either. To be honest..." Apple Bloom shook her head, murmuring: "I love my niece, always have. But she was also kind of crazy, and irresponsible... I mean, Dash was always focused on that. On being the bet, on never giving up, on... proving himself. Even after he left the Wonderbolts, he was still the best flier in Equestria.

"But... Avalon learned to focus. She fights like a dragon, you've seen her... I ain't even sure I'd be able to hold my own against her, and you mares know that I'm good in a scrap these days." Apple Bloom smiled slightly, then she shook her head slowly. "She can take on a high-class demon in the air like I'd take on a dumb dwarf bandit on the ground. And even if I worry that this whole business with the Thunderbolts and what happened to Applejack and all kinds of things have left her screwed up six ways from Sunday, she's still... she's the best. No one can argue that now, especially now that Dashie's... retired."

There was quiet for a moment, and then Apple Bloom looked up at Mercury, watching her foal perform several quick loops before the earth pony mare murmured: "But you know what? Maybe I'm bein' too hard on Ava. She's takin' over the farm, you know."

Scrivener and Luna both smiled warmly at this, and Apple Bloom nodded once before Scarlet Sage said quietly: "I told you she would, one day. And you know, it's kind of silly that you of all ponies was so mad at her."

Apple Bloom grunted and shrugged, saying finally as she glanced at her cutie mark: "Hey, I might make all kinds of guns and stuff, but it's the things I've done for the farm that always... really worked best. Stuff that makes stuff grow, stuff that builds on other things, stuff that has to do with... life, not death. Even if I'm still working with all of Cowlick's crazy crap."

She stopped, hesitated as she looked up, watching her daughter do another loop, and then a spiral, before the earth pony mare murmured: "I'm a little worried about her. Did you guys notice anything off about her when you saw her last? Maybe it's just me, but... I've worked with her for a long time now and I can't help but think..."

Scrivener frowned a little as he glanced up from where Lily was happily chattering away about her book, and Luna cocked her head curiously, but before either pony could form a question or a reassurance, Mercury dove down towards them before yelling as she lost control and went into not so much a dive as a wild, flailing ball of hooves and wings.

Scarlet Sage winced as Apple Bloom leapt to her hooves, but Luna had already launched herself into the air. And the starry-maned winged unicorn grinned as she snapped her horn out to slow the Pegasus with a harmless blast of telekinetic energy before she easily caught the filly and flapped her wings hard to catch herself in midair, looking down with entertainment at the staring girl caught in her forelegs. "Thou should be more careful, Mercury."

"You're awesome, Amma." Mercury said, half-sheepish and half-awed. Luna only laughed loudly in agreement, then nodded as she dropped to the ground and set the filly back on her hooves. Mercury stumbled a little, but then shook herself and looked brightly up at the ponies, asking almost impatiently: "Well? What did you think, huh guys, huh?"

Luna laughed and shook her head, then she grinned widely and leaned down, saying easily: "I think that thou had best work on thy landings. And marvelous as thou art for thy age, thou must still learn to better harness thy own energy whilst airborne... thou lists, my little filly. Like a ship with too much weight on its side."

Mercury blushed, then then Luna smiled and said softly: "But aye, thou art talented, and better than that, skilled too! Thou just needs to continue thy work, grow better, and pursue thy dreams... I believe thou can achieve them, Mercury. Thou art still young enough thou can mold thyself into anything."

"I don't think that's technically true. For example, some professions require beginning to develop a comprehension very early on, otherwise you risk permanently falling behind in the field and never measuring up to the standards set by your forebearers and associates." Lily said pointedly, frowning a little, and Scrivener cleared his throat loudly before the filly mumbled: "But you did better than I thought you would with your... wind resistance and all."

Mercury grinned widely down at her twin, and Lily shrugged and looked awkwardly back up before Scrivener smiled a bit and reached up to tap his wrist with one unfolded claw. Luna looked over at him grumpily, but then she nodded before turning her eyes towards Scarlet Sage and Apple Bloom, saying softly: "Thou art both gorgeous, and lucky to have such beautiful children. We shall try to come by again soon, daughter."

"Okay Mom. I'll be looking forwards to it." Scarlet Sage smiled a little, then she leaned over and traded a tight, fierce hug with the starry-maned mare, before sharing an equally-firm embrace with her father. Further hugs were traded with the rest of the family, and then Apple Bloom took the twins inside as Scarlet walked her parents around the house and towards the road.

The Pegasus hesitated, and then she looked up and said softly: "Mom, Dad, remember that I'm here for you, whatever happens, okay? It looks like with my powers... I'm going to be around longer than most ponies anyway, even if I think I still feel like the years are beginning to wear at me."

"Apple Bloom looks good too, though... it must be the link you share with her." Scrivener said softly, and the silvery Pegasus blushed a bit and smiled a little, nodding hesitantly after a moment.

She bit her lip, then looked up and admitted finally, under her parent's inquisitive looks: "Yeah. I've been sharing a little more of my blood with her, to strengthen that link and... because I guess I really would... do anything to keep her around. I love her."

"Aye. Aye, thou does not have to explain thyself to us, and nor is this anything we would hold against thee, Scarlet Sage. Thy father and I know this well." Luna replied softly, smiling faintly as she and Scrivener automatically took one-another's hooves, looking softly over at their daughter as the Pegasus shifted a little, but smiled all the same. "And we... trust in thee. Besides, for all the power thou has... thou restrains it admirably."

"I want to do good with this... demon blood in my veins." Scarlet looked down, flexing a hoof slowly as she murmured: "Even though it's... it's tempting to use it more and more often. I guess I'm finally starting to understand why my ancestors would be willing to trade their lives, their souls, for the ability to manipulate the blood and life-force of others, but... I don't want to turn into my ancestors. I just know that now that I have these little girls... I'd do anything to protect them. Anything."

She hesitated, then glanced up and smiled faintly. "And I'd do anything to help you and Dad too, Mom. Because I find myself doing all the things that you used to do for me... reading to them, making sure they're taking care of themselves, trying to... to help them learn from their mistakes. And trying to give them enough room to make mistakes here and there, too. Is it ever hard, but... I had good role models."

"We were lucky to have you as our daughter, Scarlet. You're a good pony, that's all." Scrivener said softly, and the Pegasus blushed and lowered her head. "Anyway, Luna and I... we're gonna go meet Innocence. You can come with us, you know, if you wanted to."

"Maybe later. I get a little jealous of my little sister sometimes." Scarlet Sage smiled slightly, shaking her head and gazing over her parents affectionately. "Funny, isn't it? I wanted to be a healer, and I love helping ponies. But I get jealous of her because you two are teaching her all this warrior stuff. And even if you trained me a lot, I'm no Antares, and I'm definitely not like Sin, either."

"You're you. And I also think you're the scariest to piss off." Scrivener replied mildly, and Luna laughed in agreement as Scarlet Sage gave her father an amused look. "What? It's true: Antares just yells and runs headfirst into things and Innocence electrocutes herself or blows up. You set people on fire with your mind and make heads explode."

Scarlet Sage sighed, then she asked mildly: "Daddy, are you ever going to understand that some things you just shouldn't joke about?"

"Remember when I was dying?" Scrivener asked pointedly, and Scarlet Sage sighed again before the two stepped forwards and traded a tight hug, the stallion murmuring: "Take care of yourself. You're our daughter."

"Even if Antares has grown up... I think he needs thee more than ever now." Luna agreed softly, and she traded another tight hug of her own with the Pegasus. Parents and daughter parted, and traded soft smiles: Scarlet Sage was as much their daughter to them as Innocence was, even if how they'd come to be part of the family was very different.

Scrivener and Luna turned and began to walk away, but neither could resist looking over their shoulder, watching as Scarlet Sage reentered her house. She was so independent, strong, and in a way, braver than Antares, which was funny to think. But Scarlet had never had as much a problem with growing up as the rest of them... she had always been afraid of being a burden, and after finding her special somepony in Apple Bloom, helped along in a strange way by a strange, dark story...

The two shook their heads and looked forwards again, both ponies smiling a little before Scrivener Blooms asked softly: "So what do you think?"

Luna shrugged, tilting her head back and forth before she murmured: "I think too much, Scrivy, that is all. But I adore my daughter, and I adore our sweet little nieces. And whether or not 'tis perhaps a little cruel... I hope they have inherited at least a little of their mother's power. Although the Blood Seer heritage... 'tis difficult to trace, and likes to skip generations at a time. But perhaps..."

The sapphire mare bit her tongue, then she shook her head and laughed despite herself. "Oh, Asgard above, here I am thinking of making deals with our demon friends, to awaken nefarious powers in my niece and nephew! Truly, Scrivy, there is much wrong with us."

"Well, we live in a weird world." Scrivener said softly, and Luna grunted in agreement after a moment before the two traded awkward smiles and looks. There was quiet as they continued down the road, before the charcoal stallion finally murmured: "But then again, maybe... we're just a little evil ourselves, after all this time gazing into the darkness."

"I do not mind being a monster as long as thou art by my side." Luna said softly, and Scrivener traded a smile with her before the two leaned towards each other and lightly clunked their heads together. Then Luna laughed and drew back, lightly bopping Scrivener Blooms with her horn as she smiled slightly. "Come, come. Before we end up late. Innocence will scold us if we are, and we need to-"

"You need to take a minute and talk with me." said a sour voice, and all eyes looked up in surprise as a well-built earth pony stallion approached, looking at them moodily from hooded, nearly-black eyes. His almond coat was rough and a little shaggy, and he had thick tufts of hair around his unshorn hooves.

His mane was black and slicked back in something semi-professional that resembled a mullet, and his tail was short but shaggy. He glared at the two of them as Scrivener and Luna traded awkward looks before the stallion halted and sighed tiredly, his tie swaying slowly in the wind as he wrinkled his nose and said distastefully: "Eggs. Disgusting."

Beside him, Deputy Mayor Mare looked up in confusion, the elderly old lady blinking behind her horn-rimmed glasses. Her mostly-gray mane and tail swayed as she cleared her throat and adjusted her shawl, then said awkwardly: "I don't smell anything."

The large stallion gave her a flat look, and she grinned lamely as Scrivener and Luna looked from the former mayor of Ponyville and her cutie mark of a scroll to the new mayor of Ponyville, and his cutie mark of a birch arch covered in thorns. There was silence for a few moments, and then the pony who had been mayor for seven long years now turned his dark eyes back forwards even as he said: "Deputy Mayor, go ahead back to City Hall. I'll catch up in a moment after I have a word with these two ingrates."

Deputy Mayor Mare smiled with more anxiety this time, but then hurried on her elderly way, and Scrivener and Luna glanced over their shoulders at her before the sapphire mare said mildly: "I miss when she was mayor. 'Tis not like any other pony ever wanted the position, and 'twas one the old drunk was not so harmful in. And now instead we have the pleasure of dealing with thee, Monkshood."

The Mayor smiled icily at them, and then Luna said crankily: "'Tis so much harder to intimidate a creature that carries the curse of the farkasember than a silly old mare."

"Well, I'm hoping that I won't have to let Wolfsbane out to play to get my point across. Stop using municipal land for your training exercises. Every time we finish fixing property or landscaping or laying down a foundation, you come along and destroy it." Monkshood said in a moody voice, and he shook his head slowly before growling: "This may strike you as a surprise, but sand is expensive. Wood is expensive. Everything costs money for the city, even if you're happy to stroll about and take what you please whenever you like it."

"Oh, go chase thy own tail!" Luna huffed loudly, then complained: "And again, have we not offered the aid of demons to thee? Have we not told thee that Subterra can supply demon who can transmogrify materials, or cut down trees and then grow more in the blink of an eye? Do we not have a bevy of nature spirits here in Ponyville, at-"

"I am not making Ponyville reliant on your supernatural friends for every little thing. It's bad enough that we have patrols of demons and specters passing through 'ere each and every night. I know very well the cost of relying on the so-called supernatural to help." Monkshood replied moodily, and Luna and Scrivener traded mild looks.

Monkshood, meanwhile, only glared at them... and Scrivener had to admit, the big earth pony was tough. Sure, it probably helped that when he wanted, he could transform into a vicious, gigantic dire wolf that had a mind and nasty personality all his own, and it took a tremendous amount of force or the right instruments to kill him... but even First Tier demons usually didn't argue with them as much as Monkshood did.

That was, in large part, why Luna grudgingly supported Monkshood as mayor of Ponyville. He got things done, he wasn't afraid of anything, and he was firm in his beliefs. And it was probably a good thing there was someone in Ponyville to challenge them and stop Luna from running it like it was her own personal kingdom.

The pair of ponies looked at the stallion for a moment, and then Luna glowered over at Scrivener and declared: "'Tis his fault!"

"You're the ringleader. He's just the moron who follows you around." Monkshood said moodily, and Luna huffed loudly as Scrivener opened his mouth, then only shrugged amiably. The almond-colored earth pony rolled his eyes at this, and then he said distastefully: "Just stay the hell away from Ponyville's property, got it? And go and pay your bill at that disgusting meat-palace."

"You know, not that I have anything against vegetarians, but... you being all ultra-vegan doesn't really mesh well with Wolfsbane being a 'small living animals are my favorite snack' kind of wolf." Scrivener said mildly, and Monkshood scowled at him before the charcoal stallion cleared his throat. "Just. Pointing out you. Probably shouldn't judge us for eating meat."

"Wolfsbane is a curse, and an entirely different person from me. He's an evil spirit that I unfortunately must share this body with. His actions and mine aren't the same." growled Monkshood, and Scrivener awkwardly held up a hoof before the mayor spat to the side and added in a mutter: "I'm not like you two, who gorge yourselves on meat without any reason."

"We are not quite normal ponies." Luna replied evenly, and Monkshood looked at the two of them before he simply nodded, then strode calmly past them. The sapphire mare glowered over her shoulder at the large stallion, and then she shouted: "'Tis because of Wolfsbane that thou art such a big, muscular idiot, thou knows!"

Monkshood didn't reply, likely neither wanting to fuel the fire nor talk about his curse in front of the general public. The two ponies watched him leave, then they shook their heads before Luna groaned and turned around, mumbling: "Well, 'tis a good thing then that we have asked Innocence to meet us in the Everfree. The wilds belong to no one."

"Technically they belong to the Barony." Scrivener said mildly, and Luna gave him a flat look as the two strode towards the edge of town, the stallion shrugging as he looked over at the starry-maned mare innocently. "What? It's true."

"Oh shut up, Scrivener Blooms." Luna said grumpily as they made their way towards the gates of Ponyville. They left by their usual route in quiet, only nodding to the guards as they strode along the dirt path leading through the fields and into the forest, before the mare suddenly bit her lip and simply turned a nervous look on the charcoal stallion.

Scrivener only smiled a little, however, shaking his head briefly as he glanced over at her and caught the trail of her thoughts in his mind, and then he murmured: "Hey, it's going to be okay, okay? Innocence is doing well and... you said this was a good idea yourself."

"Aye. Aye, it is, we all know it is, we have all agreed, but..." Luna glanced back and forth, and then she sighed softly and murmured: "I fear that we are readying our daughter for a conflict that none of us shall be prepared for, and it will... it will cost us dearly. I am afraid of what may yet come to pass, Scrivener Blooms... I am afraid of what the future holds for us all."

The stallion nodded a little, glancing down as they strode along the trail together, feeling the forest around them... twisting, murmuring, the branches reaching out as if to shield them, like it was trying to say it would do a better job of protecting them all next time. Then Scrivener Blooms sighed softly and said finally: "If we don't prepare her... it'll be worse."

Luna looked meditatively at Scrivener, and then she shook her head slowly and mumbled: "Aye. Thou art stealing mine own thoughts again, Scrivy, and I loathe that. Very well, then we shall train Innocence to be as strong as she can and only hope that, when the time comes, she will be safe."

The stallion nodded a little, and the two remained quiet as they fell in pace side-by-side together, Luna dropping her head against the side of his neck and closing her eyes, keeping close. They strode evenly together, their minds twisting and working in tandem as Scrivener kept his eyes ahead, but really it was both of them seeing through the stallion, just as both of them were concentrating more on the world inside themselves than outside.

Emotions and images and the indescribable twisted between them through their link, as they felt their mixed soul shifting, twisting, and locking together. Time and space all became relative and meaningless: when they were together like this, they could have as much or as little of them as they pleased.

They stopped feeling each other's bodies as separate things: instead, they were just one, in two, walking down this path. Their hooves strode in time, their hearts beat in time, every muscle flexed in a silent parallel with the body beside it. And they could feel Twilight, too, as they drew closer and closer: they were drawing her in with them, and she was letting herself be pulled, to join them, to become one with them in that beautiful, safe place inside themselves...

But the two shook themselves out of the reverie, pulling apart... and stumbling in synchronization as the same disoriented expression crossed their features before Luna and Scrivener both looked at each other dumbly, for another moment perfectly mirroring. Then they shared awkward smiles before Luna bopped the stallion with her horn and mumbled: "'Tis all thy fault. We must not lose ourselves to fantasy, Scrivener Blooms. Tempting as it is to live in the world inside..."

"We have a lot to do outside first." Scrivener muttered, and the two ponies nodded at the same time before they both looked up and smiled as they approached the field near the center of the Everfree Forest, where Innocence was impatiently waiting for them and Twilight Sparkle was smiling softly in their direction, her eyes locking on her partners the moment they came into view.

They really did have a lot to do yet, and still quite a few things to make up for... and both Luna and Scrivener only hoped that whatever the future held, the curtains had a long time yet to draw back on whatever play their chaotic audience was waiting to watch, and that even after it begun, it wouldn't start with a clash... even if by now, both ponies were well-aware that no matter how things worked out, there was going to be a truly mighty bang in the future.

Chapter Nine: Characters In Motion

~BlackRoseRaven

Innocence beamed brightly as Sleipnir carefully set down a large, tightly-tied bundle, her enormous uncle smiling benevolently down at her before he said cheerfully: "Now, my niece, I have been working hard at the forge and must shortly return to show anxious Spike that I am not slacking, but I desired to deliver this to thee by mine own hoof so that I could see thee put it on. I believe 'twill be most suiting for thee, sweet little filly."

The young mare bounced excitedly back and forth along the back deck as Scrivener, Celestia, and Twilight all watched with smiles, the violet mare pushing herself away from the table to join anxiously-fidgeting Luna as the sapphire mare encouraged: "Well, open it, open it, daughter!"

Innocence looked up at Sleipnir for a moment, and when the enormous earth pony chuckled and nodded, she brightened and spun towards the package, yanking at the ropes and knots and grimacing as she tried to wrestle it off. Scrivener sighed as Twilight winced and leaned forwards, trying to get her daughter's attention as Luna only growled in frustration, her soulstone horn starting to glow, but Sleipnir quickly leaned in before anyone could do anything further, saying delicately: "Sometimes a gentle touch is required, sweet filly."

With that, Sleipnir gently grasped the loose end of rope above a knot, and with a single gentle tug the entire system of knots holding the bundle together unraveled and the thick cloth fluttered open. And Innocence's eyes widened, gleaming in delight at the sight of the armor beneath as Twilight winced a little, shifting awkwardly as the young mare whispered: "Oh wow..."

Sleipnir smiled warmly, straightening and saying in a pleased voice: "'Tis some of my best work, and Spike's too, if I may be so bold as to speak for him. The gemstone composite beneath the plates is alive with energy thanks to both Spike's work and some enchantment done by the gifted Architects we share the forge with, and 'twill absorb most magic energies flung at it. Thou should also be able to energize it with thine own magic, Innocence, to better armor thyself.

"'Tis like a sandwich." Sleipnir continued positively, and Luna grinned as Twilight looked uncertain and Celestia only smiled slightly, tilting her head with interest. "Light plate on the outside, gemstone beneath, and a webbing of leather to insulate and comfort. But that is only over the body: the leggings are but leather, and the bracers alloy inset with magic-conductive crystal. They shall serve to absorb magic energies themselves as well, and I am sure Celestia shall be able to train thee well in the use of such artifact."

"I think Innocence is smart enough to pick that up on her own, Sleipnir. You really have outdone yourself, though..." Celestia hesitated as Innocence held up a facemask in her claws, staring over it with amazement. "The fierceness..."

"Seems appropriate for my daughter, for she is fierce!" Luna interrupted firmly, and Twilight winced a bit even as Innocence looked up brightly, blushing slightly but seeming delighted by her Móðer's encouragement... in fact, Scrivener noted, he thought that she seemed excited about not just the armor, but how Sleipnir had shaped it, which he hadn't entirely expected. "Now put it on, put it on before I shove it onto thee myself!"

The young unicorn smiled brightly over at her mother, then she nodded before quickly beginning to pick up pieces of the armor, Sleipnir and Luna both stepping forwards to help the young mare into her equipment. Scrivener, meanwhile, picked up his cup of tea and sipped slowly at it as his eyes turned towards the sunset, and Celestia studied him for a few moments before saying softly: "You're worried about this, aren't you?"

Scrivener nodded a little, glancing back towards the group: they were so absorbed in what was going on, that he doubted even Twilight had heard with how anxiously she was flittering around the three ponies. "I am a little, yeah. Innocence is... she's learning fast, but..."

"You're hoping she never has to use those powers... or rather, you know one day she will, but you hope that it won't be soon." Celestia said softly, and Scrivener smiled a bit over at her with a small nod. The ivory winged unicorn looked back at him thoughtfully, and then she asked curiously: "Have you considered changing your plans and visiting Subterra? I think that I'm going to have to go there with Hecate myself soon, and... I certainly wouldn't mind the company."

"It always scares both me and Luna when you two work together." Scrivener said mildly, and then he shook his head a little and asked softly: "What about Valhalla? Have you been in contact with upstairs at all?"

Celestia smiled slightly at this, tilting her head and asking: "I have been, yes, but shouldn't that worry you and Luna more, that I consider whatever's going on so serious a warning that it means I should get in contact with Queen Terra and Heaven itself?"

There was silence for a moment, and then Scrivener shook his head and murmured: "You're still Queen of the Valkyries, Celestia. Maybe in some ways, you belong in Valhalla a little more than a lot of the rest of us. It makes you happy, doesn't it? And besides, Hecate is like your opposite. Much scarier when opposites are working together than anything else."

"You have a point." Celestia hesitated, looking down before she nodded slowly. "And I do feel... loyalty to Valhalla still, I suppose is the best way to put it. I feel like it's a part of me, and I'm part of it... and it's not entirely an unpleasant way to feel these days."

Scrivener smiled over at her, but before he could say anything further, Luna called for their attention as she and Sleipnir stepped away from Innocence and gestured towards her, and Twilight gave a visibly-strained smile as the young mare posed in her new armor.

It was a mix of white and gold, the plates along the shoulders and top side of her body overlapping and twisting upwards at their edges to give the armor more of a regal, if tortoise-like, appearance. A gorgeous ruby gemstone was inset into the center of the heavy breastplate, already gleaming with stored energies, and thick black leather covered her limbs, ornate ivory alloy bracers gilded with golden metal locked around these, the lighter-looking armors that covered her forelegs both inset with enormous, oval-shaped rubies that matched the stone in her breast.

Lastly, a facemask shaped like the snarling skull of a Tyrant Wyrm was locked in place over her features, her curved horn standing tall through a slit in the golden metal and her eyes glowing brightly through the deep sockets. The mask was locked back into a casque that covered the rest of the mare's head, only a bit of her mane poking out beneath the bottom of the unornamented golden metal as she said brightly: "Look at me!"

"Wow. We... we are." Twilight said after a moment, and then the Lich slowly looked down at the bracers, noting the way they were almost... ridged, like raised scales or fins or... "Why... why is it sharp everywhere, though?"

Luna cleared her throat awkwardly as all eyes turned to her... except for Sleipnir, who only shrugged and said brightly: "'Twas what I was instructed to do, 'tis all. It shall work most fantastically to protect thy daughter, for like the bladeback's shell, it shall be her source of greatest defense and offense all in one."

Scrivener only shrugged lamely when Twilight turned to glare at him, and then then the Lich's eyes turned on Luna as she leaned forwards, saying flatly: "I thought we agreed that-"

"I really like it, though, Momma!" Innocence said, glancing up with a smile, and Twilight immediately deflated a little, turning surprised eyes on her daughter as Innocence bounced back and forth before she bared her teeth under the cusp of the mask with a playful growl. "I feel fierce in it! I feel strong and scary, but I kinda like it."

Sleipnir smiled positively down at the young mare, even if there was an odd, appraising look in his eyes now, and Luna turned her own warm eyes on her daughter, studying her. But she thought she saw part of why Innocence would like it: not just because of how rough and tough it made her look and feel, but because it so cleverly hid her features, made her look like a normal pony... even though the fierce, almost-bestial armor actually bore quite a resemblance to her own body in places.

There was silence for a few moments, and then Twilight Sparkle simply sighed and nodded slowly, and all eyes returned to Innocence after a moment as the young mare looked towards Sleipnir and she murmured: "Thank you, Uncle Sleipnir. You did a really, really fantastic job. And Mom, Móðer, Dad... I'm not gonna let any of you down. I promise."

There was quiet as they looked at their daughter in her fierce shell armor... and then Scrivener sighed before trading glances with Luna and Twilight, able to give them a bit of warning with their link even before he said softly: "Well... Celestia actually has invited us along to Subterra with her. I know you're eager to work through your kind of... prologue to your real Valkyrie training, but we should maybe focus on... some other things right now."

"Aye, thou knows there is much to be learned in Subterra. I, for one, think 'tis a good idea, and there are better facilities there that will allow Scrivener and thee to practice together." Luna paused, then looked thoughtfully over at Celestia. "And perhaps we can even harass Hecate into teaching thee some of her wicked, nefarious spellwork. For not even Celestia can channel antimagic like Hecate has demonstrated in the past."

"I don't know about that... Hecate is... well, I just don't know if that's such a good idea." Twilight said awkwardly, and Scrivener shifted awkwardly, not entirely sure which side of the conversation he was on. But he was surprised when the mare suggest hesitantly: "Maybe... maybe Kismet, though..."

"Assuming he is not busy... making... daisy-chains or... helping orphans or... doing something else absurd. Despicable death entity. He is not supposed to be so nice." Luna grumbled, and then she huffed at the amused looks she got before waving a hoof in Sleipnir's face. "And thou can go now as well, great and silly tree-face. But thou does have my thanks for the armor."

"Nay, thank me not. 'Tis rather a pleasure to have the opportunity to create such a masterwork for my niece, and besides, 'twas thanks in great part to the efforts of both Spike and the Architects we were able to complete this project so quickly." Sleipnir replied easily, and then he turned a kind look towards Innocence, saying softly: "All I ask is that thou promises to always strive to uphold thy Valkyrie heritage when thou art wearing this. Fair?"

"Fair!' Innocence agreed with a warm look up at her uncle, and then she reached up and carefully tugged the faceplate off before blushing and adding: "But... thank you all the same, Uncle Sleipnir. It means a lot to me that you designed so much of this and got so many people to help and brought it out here to me like this."

Sleipnir only shrugged with another smile, then he reached up and playfully ruffled Luna's mane, making her huff. She swung at him with her horn, but he slapped it aside almost absently before bouncing over to Twilight and picking her up in a hug, almost cracking her ribs as the Lich's eyes bulged and the breath was forced out of her lungs.

The enormous stallion set her down after a moment with a laugh, then waved cheerfully to Celestia and Scrivener before he trotted for the door. Luna leaned forwards, biting her tongue as her soulstone horn glowed, but thankfully she was interrupted by Innocence asking: "So can we go to Subterra, Móðer?"

Luna opened her mouth as the glow died out around her horn, then she awkwardly cleared her throat and looked at Twilight, who hesitated only a moment before the Lich softened and nodded, glancing down at Innocence and answering: "It would probably be a good idea, yeah. There's a lot of people you can learn from, and better places to train and practice, and more privacy and... well..."

Twilight shifted, not knowing how to approach the subject, in large part because it was something she had experienced herself. The... feeling of safety that had come with Subterra, but not like the safety she felt with Luna and Scrivener. Luna and Scrivener were always there, and she knew they'd always be there, and they pushed her to do things she might not otherwise have ever risked or been comfortable with... they made her stronger.

When she'd first started spending long amounts of time in Subterra, she had eventually gotten so... enthralled with the welcoming atmosphere and fitting in that it had gotten... harder and harder to leave. And it probably hadn't helped that Scrivener and Luna had been gone back then...

The only reason she'd been able to tear herself away from Subterra was because of Antares. Because he needed her, and because she knew he needed to be around other ponies. Yes, Ponyville was another safe place, a miniature utopia, but... as it grew busier, there were more ponies coming in who weren't as tolerant, or who hadn't seen all the things that the citizens of Ponyville had, what they'd grown up with, what to them had become natural.

But Subterra was nothing but demons and monsters, where freaks and supernatural oddities were the norm. And sometimes even these days, Twilight felt it from not just herself, but Scrivy and Luna, too: it would be easy to settle into that city of the night, that little sanctuary, and live there for the rest of their lives. In a way, though, it was the worst thing they could do: they would be running away from the rest of the world, the very same world the wanted to protect. They would be relegating themselves to the darkness beneath Canterlot when they had fought so hard to save the world above. They would be hiding, and eventually it would grow hard to leave Subterra and the safety it provided and face the sunlight, and they might even forget that they had a duty to more than just the night.

Twilight desperately didn't want to forget that she still belonged in the daylight, too, no matter what some ponies might say... and the Lich didn't want her daughter to envelope herself for so long in the night that she forgot she still had good things under the sun, too. Subterra could be so comforting for them it was like an artificial womb; she didn't want that maternal paradise to become a wanted, needed, welcomed prison.

Innocence was still looking at her, and Twilight shook her head quickly before she blushed a bit and said finally, giving a small smile: "Sorry. I got lost in my own thoughts for a minute. Yeah, Subterra will be great for a few days, I think, but then we're going to stay in Canterlot. I want you to do some training at the Magic Academy, too."

"Momma! But I hate the Magic Academy!" Innocence complained childishly. Twilight gave her daughter a mild look, then turned a flat glare on Luna when she giggled, and the sapphire mare hurriedly cleared her throat and looked awkwardly away as the young unicorn continued crankily: "They all hate me there, and even the advanced classes really aren't that... advanced or hard, with what we've been studying."

"They emphasize the basic foundations of magic, though, and that's where you need practice. All the best mages practiced the basics." Twilight said empathetically, and then she looked over at the others for support.

Scrivener shrugged awkwardly, while Luna grumbled but nodded, and Celestia smiled... and was the only pony who didn't look surprised when Discombobulation said mildly from where he was now sitting beside the ivory mare: "I think that someone's been spending too much time hanging out with Hank Hill. He believes firmly in the motto of 'practice the basics' too."

Twilight only looked blankly at the Draconequus over her shoulder, and Scrivener drank down the last of his tea before he asked dryly: "So does that mean you approve or don't?"

Discombobulation began to open his mouth, but he was cut off when Luna asked quickly: "What news is there regarding Ginnungagap, creature? Has there been any activity above, or any other signs of the storm on the horizon?"

Innocence quieted, and Twilight winced a bit, stepping protectively towards her daughter as Celestia turned silently-questioning eyes to the Draconequus. He was silent as well, licking his lips before he looked down at his metallic hand and murmured: "Nobody gets justice. People only get good luck or bad luck."

He paused, then glanced up and said softly: "We've created as many technical delays as possible. We've thrown wrenches in the gears and let the Phantom run the opera house, but to no avail: Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson must have caught the case, or perhaps good old TinTin, but either way the ghosts have been exorcised from the machinery and now the curtains... are drawing back."

The Draconequus looked up, saying finally: "You have to open with a good monologue, though. A summary of events. You need to get the protagonist on the stage and have him bore the audience's ear off with some grand announcement, make him a virtuoso for a few weak minutes... albeit a very bad one. But the very best plays always have the very worst actors, you know."

"So this is just the... I don't know how plays are set up." Scrivener said after a moment, and when Luna gave him a dry look, the stallion shrugged. "Hey, I'm a poet and kind of a writer, I guess. I'm not versed in every little thing when it comes to plays and stuff, though."

"We're in the space between spaces right now: our own little void, before the prologue properly begins, but after the curtains have begun to draw back." Discombobulation shook his head, looking uncomfortably upwards. "But perhaps we'll be lucky. This might be a musical, and before the narrator or protagonist or whoever is going to ramble away and tell us what's going on appears, there's the flourish of the instruments, the humming of a short tune, maybe a merry melody or a tidbit of song. Everyone knows that a few seconds can give you weeks, months, even years... as long as you make a strong enough wish."

The Draconequus fell quiet, then he flexed his metallic hand slowly, studying the steel digits before he shook his head and muttered: "Well, fantastic. Now I feel like I've gone and soured the whole mood here, thank you very much for turning me into Mr. Weatheman and making it rain, Scrivener Blooms."

Luna only smiled wryly at this, then she shrugged and replied pointedly: "Well, thou did not have to predict gloom and doom, Bob. Thou did that all on thy own."

"And if I lied, then you'd all be mad at me. I don't like it when ponies are mad at me, it makes me feel all squiggly inside, like there's worms crawling around inside my stomach." Discombobulation paused, then glanced mildly over at Luna. "Although at least you wouldn't be the only one full of parasites, then. I wonder how many have jumped aboard you, hunkered down for decades; growing, spawning, shopping, putting on plays..."

Luna huffed loudly at this before her soulstone horn glowed, and Discombobulation winced and grabbed Celestia's flowing mane, hiding behind it like a blanket and making the ivory mare roll her eyes and smile despite herself even as she asked in a soft but serious voice: "Is the creature you couldn't identify before still there?"

"Could it be like some kind of chaos god?" asked Innocence, and all eyes turned to her for a moment as Scrivener smiled a little despite himself. He'd almost forgotten she was still here, and in full armor and all. She had put down her faceplate though, and the stallion felt oddly glad about that, and felt the same sensation of relief from Twilight and Luna: but perhaps it was because they always managed to worry about Sin hiding herself a little, even if they all recognized things like her pony polymorph were probably a good idea right now.

"Chaos and gods don't really actually go together as often as you think." Discombobulation said delicately, tenting his fingers as he looked mildly over at the young mare. "I mean, a god has a defined role. That instantly order. God of Chaos? So you're a god, this static thing, that's in charge of creating chaos, and just that? That's nonsense. Sure, maybe Discord fancies himself 'god of chaos' now and then, but really, is he? No, he's not. He's just a big jerk who happened to be in that videogame about a quantum conundrum that had a really lame ending."

"But Draconequus are chaos entities. How can you be a chaos entity but there can't be chaos gods?" Innocence asked flatly, and Discombobulation huffed and touched his own chest as he sat up straight, letting Celestia's mane flow back away.

"Elementary, my dear Innocence. I am not an apple, I am an orange." Discombobulation paused, then he wiggled his fingers and said mildly: "Sure, I'm made of chaos. But the fantastic thing about that means that part of chaos is not causing chaos. I'm not causing any mayhem right now am I, am I? See, unpredictability. Gods are predictable, ordered, set into one kind of rhythm. Me? I can get up and play the piano if I want to at five o'clock in the morning, and eat pancakes for dinner."

Luna looked thoughtful at this, then she glanced over at Innocence and asked curiously: "How would thou like pancakes for dinner tonight? 'Tis the first good idea that Bob has ever had."

Discombobulation looked at the sapphire mare sourly, and then he said dryly: "Well thank you, Little Miss Lightning Rod. We'll just forget all the times I saved the day for you ponies, often risking life and limb in the process."

The Draconequus held up his metal arm pointedly, and Luna huffed a little as she retorted: "Well, aren't thou remarkably touchy today, creature. And here I thought that 'twas Celestia who got grumpy when she did not get her bumps in the night from thee."

Celestia gave her younger sibling a flat look as Innocence made a face and Twilight rolled her eyes, then the violet mare hurriedly rose a hoof and asked before the conversation could twist any further into unwanted territory: "I think what Innocence means is... could this be... well, could it be a god, infected by chaos?"

Innocence frowned at this, and Discombobulation looked thoughtful, rubbing meditatively at his features before he said finally: "That's a strange thought, Twilight Sparkle, and one that's going to require some chewing over. No, it seems like... well, I've been outside of Ginnungagap so long that I forget precisely who the Mad must bow to, apart from the Hatter, of course. But if we ever saw that reference used, there would be troubled times ahead indeed: it would mean we're not going down the rabbit hole, but Wonderland is coming to us... and can you imagine what a terror it would be to unleash all that madcap magic into our world, even if our world is very much through the Looking Glass? It'd be like pouring Narnia into Prydain, or telling King Arthur he has to room with Saladin. It just really isn't going to work out that well."

"Wonderland... I liked those stories, ever since you gave Luna and me that book." Scrivener murmured, shaking his head a little before he glanced up and across at Discombobulation meditatively. "But they can be twisted, can't they?"

"Aren't they already, when you stop and think about it, Luna Brynhild?" the Draconequus asked quietly in return, and Scrivener shifted awkwardly before the chimerical creature glanced over at Celestia and reached up to gently comb his fingers through her mane, the ivory mare closing her eyes and bowing her head towards him silently. "I have to go. But we'll always have Paris."

And with that, the Draconequus slipped backwards and vanished in a puff of green-tinged smoke, and Celestia sighed before glancing over at Innocence as the young unicorn gazed curiously up at her aunt. "Try not to worry yourself too much, Innocence. Until we know what's going on, it's better that you just focus on your training for now and let us try and worry about everything else."

Innocence shifted a little, nodding even as she made a bit of a face, and Luna was quick to add: "'Tis not that thou art not helpful but rather... thou must be ready for the future. And the only way to ensure that thou truly are ready is if thou puts all thy strength and focus towards training with us. Let thy Aunt Tia and Hecate and all the other brainy-types worry about the puzzles."

"Okay." Innocence nodded, regaining some of her former positivity, and Celestia gave an awkward, half-apologetic smile to Twilight Sparkle as the violet mare approached with a softly-entertained look to her former mentor. The Lich gathered up the empty mugs and teacups on the table with telekinesis, and Scrivener slipped out of his own seat as Innocence asked in a more-eager voice: "So when are we gonna leave for Subterra then? If we went right now-"

"We can wait until tomorrow, Innocence, we still have some theory to go over tonight, and you need to learn more about your armor, what every part is called and where it's strongest and weakest." Twilight replied over her shoulder as she headed to the back door, but she was warmed as always by her daughter's enthusiasm. It always made her happy to see Innocence excited about something, especially learning... even if it was learning dangerous arts like they were teaching her now.

As the violet mare strode into the kitchen, however, her face fell a little as she lowered her head. Was it really a good thing she was almost encouraging her daughter's descent into this? Or was it partly because of Luna and Scrivener and... that little, naggling fear she sometimes had...

She sighed and shook her head slowly, then looked up and blushed a bit as Scrivener said softly: "We probably do influence your thoughts a little, but... you know that you probably influence us, too. And we would never... puppet you."

"I know. I know that, Scrivy. Well, except for the time Luna did try and make me..." Twilight scowled a little, glowering over at him, but the stallion only grinned slightly. "You know, I understand testing if it actually works or not, I was fine with that, but I did not like... that sort of... dirty dancing."

"If I have to be entirely honest, I kind of did." the stallion said mildly as Twilight tossed the dishes in the sink, and the Lich shook her head and stepped aside as Scrivener turned on the taps to run the water. He glanced over at the kettle on the stove, not needing to ask for Twilight to grab it with telekinesis and lift it over to him even as the stallion continued: "Look, I do understand. Don't forget that... Luna and I can exert control over each other, too, and I kind of have some idea of what it's like to be puppeted... although I know your situation means..."

"No, it's okay. You don't have to do that." Twilight said softly, shaking her head and smiling a little at the stallion as he drew the kettle out from under the stream of water, and she easily carried it free from his claw and set it back on the stove, a dial glowing before the burner clicked on as the Lich continued, her eyes roving to watch the stream of hot water fill the sink inch-by-inch: "You two... understand me. I think that's why I want to talk about it to you, though, not just... go over it in our heads, I want to hear you..."

She blushed a little, and Scrivener glanced over at her with a slight smile even as he poured soap into the sink, before he glanced back at the water and murmured: "Now that I do really understand, Twilight. I'm the guy who needs to actually hear twenty times a day from Luna I'm not going to be a monster to be reassured. Although maybe a few of those times are just because I like the attention and all."

Twilight sighed and shook her head, smiling despite herself before she slipped up to his side, and the stallion glanced at her, claws buried in the soapy water, gently grasping one of the mugs before the Lich leaned up and met his lips. He kissed her softly back, and Twilight's eyes slid closed before they slipped apart... but only so she could bury her face against the side of his neck, eyes still closed as she murmured quietly: "Say it."

"I love you. Both Luna and I do. And you're not a monster, or giving into that dark part of you that you claim is somewhere inside there, is as bad as me and Luna..." Scrivener smiled slightly, glancing over at her and adding softly: "Although when you say that stuff sometimes, I wonder if you've really seen... me and Luna."

Twilight laughed and shook her head a little, and then she glanced up at him with honest adoration. She loved that most about Scrivener: that when you got past all the masks and the anxiety and the nonsense, there was this confident stallion beneath it all who would do anything for his friends... and she'd never believed in her wildest dreams that she'd be so happy to have a partner who saw her as a best friend first, everything else after that.

Of course, she also had never really expected to be in a three-way relationship. Nor in a relationship with another mare. And there was the whole Lich thing, too...

Scrivener was looking at her with entertainment, and she could tell he was picking up her thoughts, so she only dropped her head back against him and mumbled: "Do the dishes and I'll dry them off."

"No, you'll use your dumb magic to dry them off. It's fine, we'll just let them air dry." Scrivener replied, and the Lich rolled her eyes but nodded, only looking up long enough to grasp a dish towel with telekinesis and drop it over the countertop. She stayed against him as he calmly washed the dishes, maybe holding onto him a little tightly, enjoying the closeness as much as she first had... all those years ago now...

"When you were angry, and feeling rebellious against Celestia, and visiting me and Luna in the forest where we were hiding in exile." Scrivener murmured softly, and Twilight looked up at him with a slight smile. He had picked up on her thoughts again... not that she minded at all on this subject. "I remember that. Luna and I were kind of... just... starting to really lock in with each other, everything was newly built, and then you... when you first showed up that day, you were so happy..."

"And then I... was looking at you two, and I remember thinking, studying you, studying Luna... that I've never had this. I could never be a part of this. I made myself so upset, and I thought... well, I was still trying to pretend all those feelings were for you, too, which didn't help much because I'm pretty sure part of me still hated you." Twilight glanced up at him, and Scrivener laughed as he continued to soak, wash, and rinse their used dishware.

"Don't worry. I'm sure I felt the same about you." the stallion replied easily, and then he dropped his head lightly against hers as their eyes met, warm, tender emotions twisting between them, but not needing their link to see the emotions, the signs in each other's eyes... they knew every inch of each other, every secret, every tell: they were equals. "But... it hurt to see you so sad, and Luna seemed to know right away what was wrong while I was... well..."

"Clueless." Twilight smiled despite herself. "Not that I blame you, considering... the kind of hoof we got off on, and even if I'm no big catch myself, the fact that Luna loved you so much... considered you a soulmate..."

She stopped and softened, looking down for a moment and biting her cheek before she glanced up and asked quietly: "Do you think we can still count as being soulmates, even if there's three of us? We're not two halves to a whole."

"We kind of are." Scrivener shrugged a bit, and when Twilight frowned at him, the stallion put the final mug aside and flicked water off his claws before he tapped his own chest gently, saying softly: "Me and Luna barely make up one dumb soul between the two of us. You're the half... to both of us. And honestly, Twilight, without you... I don't think Luna and I would be nearly as strong or happy or... even as close... as we are now. You're kind of... everything important that binds us together."

Twilight Sparkle blushed at this, but smiled radiantly all the same, and Scrivener smiled slightly in return as he drained the sink and added mildly: "But you know, really, you totally owe us your life. Because you pretty much gave in to us without a fight."

"Maybe I gave in right away because I trusted my instincts. Because... it felt right, horrified as every other part of me was, especially when..." Twilight blushed a bit, then quickly closed her mouth as Luna came inside with a wide grin, Innocence following with a curious look on her face and Celestia calmly striding along last.

"No, no, finish the story! Innocence is old enough to hear, I am sure. And thou wert so cute, so inexperienced, so-" Luna winced when Celestia slapped the back of her head, then the sapphire mare glowered over her shoulder with a huff at the ivory mare. "Thou art an assbutt, Celestia. A great big assbutt."

Celestia only shook her head slowly as a blushing Twilight turned and hurried away, and Innocence made a bit of a face at her father before her attention was drawn by her aunt saying gently: "Come into the den and we'll take off your armor, then examine it piece-by-piece. I'll tell you what everything's called, and then you can try and put it on by yourself."

Innocence nodded a few times, then she looked almost suspiciously at Scrivener again before following quickly after Celestia, and the stallion sighed as he looked across the divider at the two before he glowered over at Luna, who was grinning widely at the charcoal earth pony. "Please don't... actually, you just shouldn't talk. Ever. It always leads to trouble."

"Well, thou art one to... to talk!" Luna retorted lamely, and then she cleared her throat before shaking her head and grumbling: "Furthermore, I was not the pony groping up Twilight Sparkle, that was thou. With thy... soapy claws and foul words."

"I was washing the dishes. Go blame Twilight, she was trying to seduce me." Scrivener replied immediately, and Luna grumbled and narrowed her eyes at him moodily, leaning pointedly forwards until the end of her muzzle was pushing into his face. He wrinkled up his features, looking awkwardly sideways at her, and then Luna snorted against his cheek and drew away, trotting off to harass Twilight instead as the stallion sighed tiredly. Well. On the bright side, things are never boring around here.

---

Celestia stayed the night: it was something they were actually rather used to, and Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight all welcomed her company. After Innocence went to bed, they spent most of the night up, discussing things quietly until Celestia excused herself to rest a little before morning, and the three remaining ponies shifted into more-comfortable, more-affectionate positions in the den. They shared touch, and taste, and action, but without letting themselves slide into anything too passionate, too heavy; sometimes waiting, drawing it out, made it a little better.

Later in the morning, as Scrivener was making breakfast for them, the stallion couldn't help but reflect that it felt like they were going through a kind of second romance together. He had no idea what had really triggered it, but he, Luna, Twilight... they were being more affectionate than was usual even by their standards. It wasn't that he was complaining at all, but... in his dark-romantic's heart, which felt that love flourished most under the most unusual circumstances, the hardest pressures... he wondered if it wasn't an omen that things were about to get bad. Very bad.

Luna and Twilight both glared at him across the divider, and then Luna flung a pillow at the stallion, which bounced off harmlessly but then almost fell on the stove, Scrivener cursing and flailing wildly in all directions to eventually knock the flopping pillow back across the divider, scattering the recipe books and dishes that had been piled up. Luna winced at the sound of several of the plates shattering, and Scrivener glowered at her as Twilight sighed tiredly and shook her head before announcing: "I'll get it. Since you two just ruin everything."

Innocence giggled tiredly at them, and both ponies were just glad that Celestia hadn't come down yet to give them that look. But after a moment, the back door opened and Celestia herself calmly strode in with an enormous weapon gleaming over her back, focusing that exact look Luna loathed and Scrivener had learned to detest himself on the two of them. "Arguing?"

"Not... wordily!" Luna complained as she hopped up and glared over the counter, and Celestia smiled slightly, which just added insult to injury before the winged unicorn threatened: "Make me not come upside thy head with the egg-spatula, Celestia! Not even thy stupid Tyrfing shall save thee from my wrath!"

Celestia sighed tiredly, and Scrivener gave Luna a flat look before he returned his eyes to the sword resting across Celestia's back as she walked by, secured by several twists of her own rainbow mane. It was an enormous weapon, the blade perhaps six feet long and with large, fang-like barbs spaced evenly down its length. Along the flats of the massive golden blade were engraved crimson symbols depicting the nine worlds that seemed to glow with their own inner magic. It was a truly menacing weapon, one that carried a curse that would kill any man who tried to use it... but Celestia was certainly no man, in any sense of the word.

"Arguable. She is very manly." Luna grumbled as Twilight finished repairing the broken dishes with magic and Scrivener turned back to poke at the batch of scrambled eggs. "When did thou leave to pick up thy gigantic stabbing tool, anyway? And I do not mean the one thou likely uses on Bob."

Celestia didn't react to what Luna considered swift-witted banter, the ivory mare instead replying calmly: "I've been working on my summoning magic... Tyrfing and I know each other well enough now that I can call on him when I need him. It's good practice, and I hope that one day..."

The ivory mare hesitated, then she smiled slightly over at Luna as the sapphire mare's eyes gleamed, a slow grin cresting her muzzle as she rose her head. "I had never thought of that. Nay, thy hjorleikr is not summoning, but creates the weapons as thou needs them... 'tis not like thou hast wielded thy true blades since..."

"Since I was Freya. The swords I woke up with on this world... they weren't my real swords, only cheap imitations." Celestia halted, looking thoughtfully over at Luna. "Perhaps part of the reason I was so angry, for so long, is because I've been incomplete all these years. Our weapons are our souls, are they not?"

"And thou art still without thy soul, but... thou feel they exist still?" Luna asked curiously, and when Celestia only gave her an amused look, the sapphire mare grinned wryly. "Blame me not, Celestia, I could not resist the question! But aye, no forge can burn a Valkyrie's soul, I know this well."

Luna smiled warmly up at her big sister, and Celestia nodded as she gazed back down at the smaller mare with an expression that was tender, but eyes that were filled with determination and passion as she said: "And right now, those pieces of my soul probably rest somewhere either in some... trophy house of Valthrudnir's, or were snatched up by a greedy demon. But if I can focus on them enough, I should be able to call them to me... assuming they'll still recognize me."

The starry-maned mare laughed at this, breaking into a full grin now at her sister. "Scared of what thine own self shall think of thy new self, art thou? Great coward! Nay, thou hast nothing to fear, Celestia, my most beloved and worthy sister... for even though thou spent a long time changing, I am glad to say that somehow thou hast gone full circle and become the Freya I once knew."

"I hope not entirely full circle... there's parts of her I want to remain behind me." Celestia said softly, and Luna shrugged thoughtfully as the ivory mare looked curiously at her younger sibling.

Luna tilted her head back and forth, and then she said with a wink: "Well, if thou leaves behind thy adventurousness, 'twill be boring. What fun we Valkyries had, gossiping about Freya's latest exploits, and conquests, and how terrified all the warriors were of being her next meal, be it on the battlefield or in the bedroom. I sincerely hope thou continues to be so bold, Celestia, for otherwise I shan't have nearly as much to gossip about.

"And thy anger is not... entirely without its merit. Thou taught me this, Celestia: it can be focused. If thou could but focus thy rage on something..." Luna paused, then shrugged and smiled after a moment at the mare, saying softly: "I simply believe that it can benefit us all as well. Thou must simply... use it in other ways than thou did in the past."

Celestia nodded thoughtfully, studying her younger sister before she glanced to the side at Innocence, who was gazing up at them both admiringly from where she was sleepily curled up on the futon, and the ivory mare murmured: "You're a very lucky young mare, you know, to have such wise mares to help guide you... and such a strong father, too."

Scrivener glanced over his shoulder with a smile at Celestia, and she tipped a wink to him before turning around, and Luna glared up at the ivory mare as she snapped: "Oh, do not start thy adventurousness again with my husband! 'Twas bad enough thou regularly plundered the Valkyries of their prizes in the old-days, sometimes in mid-sowing!"

Celestia smiled over her shoulder as she strode down the hall, calling easily back: "The Queen has the right to claim any treasure she desires, Luna Brynhild... but I promise I'll ask permission before I attempt to steal away your husband. I'll meet you in Ponyville."

"Nay, Twilight can decide for herself: 'tis my wife, Scrivener Blooms, that I am more concerned about." Luna hurriedly shouted back as the ivory mare left, and Scrivener sighed as he shoveled scrambled eggs out of the pan and resisting the urge to simply fling it all at the soulstone-horned winged unicorn. After all, it would hurt him and Twilight too.

They ate breakfast quickly, and Twilight had already packed up the few things they would need: not a lot, since they would be staying either in the Thorn Palace or at a friend's estate in Subterra, and either way almost everything would be provided for them. Scrivener also had decided to bite the bullet and deal with a business meeting regarding one of his books: the head of the company was an old unicorn named Xeric Underbrush, a nasty-tempered businesspony who owned a surprising amount of Canterlot and was interested only in the bottom line. To be honest, Scrivener was a little scared of him, but he allowed himself to be treated like an employee and signed all the unfair contracts because in return, Underbrush was able to give him something he'd always wanted, whether he wanted to admit it or not: a real chance to share his stories with the world.

The stallion glanced up as he felt Luna touch his shoulder, and he cleared his throat as he realized he'd been zoning out for a few moments. She only looked at him with entertainment, though, and Scrivener smiled a bit before Luna gestured easily at him and said mildly: "Thou art half-dressed. Come now, put on the rest of thy gear."

Scrivener grunted, reaching down to pick up a bracer as Luna turned her eyes back to the armor rack in their bedroom, and the stallion glanced slowly around this familiar, comfortable sanctuary before he shook himself quickly as he slid the bracer on. At the same time, he glanced up and questioned, despite knowing the answer might just make him cranky: "So why precisely are we taking our full armor?"

"Precaution." Luna said softly, and the stallion looked at her back with surprise, but the mare only smiled a little as she finished tightening her equipment on and she looked over her shoulder. "I can be perfectly serious now and then, Scrivener Blooms, and I am now because... I am worried. Perhaps 'tis a tickle of instinct, perhaps 'tis something more or less, but... I do not know. Celestia is clearly preparing for the worst, Bob has warned us that something is about to start, and we have already suffered one attack upon ourselves that apparently was not even the beginning of the dangers to come... I am not stupid enough to simply ignore these events.

"Now tell me how I make thee stiffen." Luna grinned slightly, strutting forwards and posing sharply in her polished armor: she had a breastplate that was made of heavy, dark plates of metal that had been polished to a black sheen, engraved with roses and ivy. It overlayed strong, dragon-scale leather armor that was a rich navy blue and protected the mare's limbs and rear body, giving her the highest possible freedom of mobility. Solid black metal bracers protected her lower limbs, and belts were tightly bound around her upper limbs, etched with prayers written in runes. Her wings flapped once before furling on either side of her as her blue, heavy-duty alloy helm floated silently beside her head, designed specifically with a base that would support her soulstone horn.

Scrivener Blooms smiled despite himself as he drew his eyes slowly along the armored mare, silently studying the way her collar fit so smoothly with the rest of her gear before he said softly: "You look gorgeous."

Luna huffed at this, but she blushed ever so faintly all the same as she straightened, her helm rising and then firmly locking itself into place over her skull as her starry mane sparked and folded itself smoothly up beneath the casque. "I did not ask thee to compliment on my beauty, Scrivy. I already know that I am very beautiful. I asked for thee to tell me how much I turn thee on. Now pose thyself and I shall demonstrate."

Scrivener snorted in amusement, and then he smiled despite himself before raising his helmed head high, the solid horns that stood out from it glinting. He pushed his chest out, flexing his body against the heavy obsidian plate mail he wore, and the silver chainmail that formed an insulating layer beneath the solid black plates. Large silver pauldrons protected both his shoulders, each inscribed with the symbol of the crescent moon, with a similar symbol embossed on his breastplate. His platinum collar fit snugly against the top of his armor, giving him protection from hoof to head and leaving only his face exposed.

"Oh, handsome, mighty stallion, how I cannot wait to drag thee into bed and peel thy armor off piece by piece!" Luna exclaimed, striding forwards with a wide grin and licking her lips slowly, and Scrivener grinned despite himself in return before she winked and straightened, shaking herself quickly out as she stepped back. "I am getting far too into character now. Away, away, Scrivy, let us pick up our equipment and prepare ourselves for the journey ahead."

Scrivener grunted at this, and then the mare snorted and shoved at him lightly with a hoof. "Well, somepony must carry the equipment, and thou does that very well. And I am the one who uses the weapons, therefore it only makes sense that I carry the weapons."

"Well, watching you attempt to swing away with two spears and shoot angrily at things is pretty entertaining." Scrivener said wryly, nodding agreeably after a moment. Luna gave him an entertained look, and then she headbutted him lightly and pushed him towards the door.

Scrivener strode out, shaking his head and smiling despite himself as he headed to the den, where Twilight was already waiting. She was only wearing a gemstone vest that had been painted with a gray composite material to enhance its strength, half-hidden beneath a pretty cloak embroidered with a border of lilies and roses that Rarity had stitched for her. There was no point in her loading herself down with heavy armor, after all... especially now that Twilight had learned a few new tricks she could do with her undead shell.

"I wish you wouldn't call it that." Twilight said softly, but she was smiling all the same, and Scrivener shrugged amiably as he strode towards her. The Lich shifted, and he smiled wider at the brief glimpse of the holster tucked up under one wing, in which rested Andlitstingar. But before he could say anything, she surprised him by holding out an object he hadn't expected in one hoof: a set of glasses.

The stallion sighed, but when Twilight lifted them with telekinesis, he didn't resist as she slipped them onto his features. They gazed at each other softly, and then the violet mare reached up and gently brushed his ivory bangs back, murmuring: "I think I understand more with each passing day why Luna likes those on you so much."

The charcoal stallion only shrugged, and Twilight mimed him after a moment with an entertained look before Scrivener said softly: "You know, even if you and Luna just magic these glasses up, there's a hundred better things you could do with that kind of power."

"There's a hundred worse things, too." The Lich shook her head in amusement, then glanced to where the satchel bags were resting at the side, lifting them easily and carrying them across the room to drop squarely over Scrivener's body, the stallion wincing at their weight as the belts rapidly tightened themselves over his body. "And they add more than aesthetics, Scrivy. They at least protect your eyes a little."

"I dunno about that. Somehow, stuff always manages to go right past my glasses." He paused, then informed: "Or you know. The glasses themselves get punched into my eyes. That also hurts like hell, because glass shards are not supposed to go into your eyes. That's bad."

Twilight looked at him for a few moments, and then she sighed tiredly and said dryly: "This is why Luna hits you so often, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, well. I really wouldn't want our relationship to change any now." Scrivener paused, then glanced up with a slight smile as Luna emerged from their room, a satchel over one side of her body and Sting Mk. II holstered over her shoulder, Prúðbikkja shrunken down to the size of a fountain pen and carefully tucked beneath her breastplate. "I thought you were carrying all the weapons."

"Well, Twilight can wield Andlitstingar fine. 'Tis really just thee that I do not trust with any weapons, I only did not want to say anything before and hurt thy sensitive little feelings." Luna replied with a wink, and Scrivener touched his own chest, mocking a hurt look. "I do not know why though. Thy pain sustains me so nicely."

Scrivener only shrugged amiably, and Twilight gave the two amused looks before Luna turned and knocked firmly twice on Innocence's door, calling loudly through it: "Hurry up, daughter! Thou had best not be exploring thy nethers in there!"

Now both the stallion and the Lich gave Luna a flat look, and the sapphire mare huffed before complaining: "Well, I do not know what else a mare is to do with the door closed, all by herself!"

"That's because you can't seem to ever think of anything but the most perverted possible situation." Twilight said mildly, and then she looked dryly over at Scrivener. "And I know that's partly your fault, too, by the way."

"Shut up, you're getting as bad as we are." Scrivener argued after a moment, and Twilight blushed slightly even as she shook her head firmly. Luna opened her mouth, but then Innocence's door swung open and the embarrassed-looking young mare stumbled out, a jumbled satchel hanging loosely from her side.

Luna groaned at this, then she grumbled and turned towards her daughter, her horn glowing as she tightened the straps. "Look at thou! Oh come now, daughter, thou cannot simply go and throw things on... well, not these things. Thy equipment must be tight, tight as possible, or thou will end up tripping all over thyself should an attack occur."

"Sorry, Mutt." the young mare mumbled apologetically, shifting awkwardly before she looked up and added hurriedly: "I just wanted to get the stuff I could together for the trip since... we're gonna be there for a while, right?"

"Only a little less than a week, Innocence." Twilight smiled a bit, hearing the unspoken plea in the mare's voice. "And a couple of those days will be in Canterlot, training at the Magic Academy, like we agreed on."

Innocence groaned, but nodded after a moment, glancing up and pleading: "But not long, right? Only a few classes, and... I'll go alone for it too, right?"

Twilight sighed a little at this, but she nodded and said softly: "Yes, you can go on your own, Innocence. So long as you promise to actually attend the classes and I don't hear any complaints from administration or any of your teachers."

The young unicorn nodded hurriedly a few times, and then she laughed and shifted quickly away when Luna poked at the teenager with her soulstone horn, before the sapphire mare smiled and said kindly: "There, see how much easier it is to move now? Thou must always remain mobile, does thou understand?"

Innocence smiled and nodded, gazing up at the mare warmly, and Luna paused before reaching up and poking the reptilian end of her daughter's snout as her eyes roved meditatively to the overstuffed bag. "And tell me not thy facemask is in that jumble. Innocence, we must respect our armor!"

"It's... it's on top?" The young unicorn grinned sheepishly, and then she hurriedly turned her attention to the bag when Luna gave her a flat look, yanking the satchel open and wincing as some of the contents spilled out. "Sorry, I'll get it!"

Twilight smiled a little and shook her head slowly, watching the way the two... got along so well. Innocence just listened to Luna in a way that never failed to make her a little envious. She shifted a bit, then turned her eyes towards Scrivener when the stallion reached up and touched her shoulder reassuringly, and the mare nodded hesitantly before she suggested, as Innocence finally wiggled her mask free from its enclosure: "Have you considered... putting runes on your armor?"

Innocence looked up with surprise at this, then she visibly brightened, straightening and asking excitedly: "You... you really think I could do that?"

"Well, you'll need some help, Innocence, last time I checked your knowledge of the futhark wasn't as complete as you claimed it to be." Twilight said mildly, making her daughter blush a bit before the violet mare smiled a little. "But even if your body armor and bracers would require a lot more time and effort to add an extra layer of enchantment to... I think that we could at least do something about your helm and facemask. Or you and Luna."

"Nay, Twilight, thou art the better at that sort of thing, even if thy horn-writing is a little messy." Luna replied easily, and Innocence glanced at Luna, then turned appraising, bright eyes towards Twilight Sparkle, who smiled wider. "But if I may make a suggestion all the same, my family, I would say that a call-and-dismissal charm upon the mask would be perfect to start."

Innocence gazed warmly over at Twilight, and the Lich nodded firmly with a smile of her own, giving Luna a silent 'thank-you' even as she said softly: "Then why don't we get moving and we can talk about it more on the way?"

"Okay, Momma!" Innocence agreed, and then she laughed when Luna lightly yanked her mask free from her telekinetic grip and locked it into place on her face, holding it down for a moment as the sapphire mare glanced softly over at Twilight before she grinned and shoved away from her daughter when Innocence took a playful swipe at her with her horn.

Scrivener gazed between the mares with warmth in his eyes, and he was gladder than he could say as the tension left the air and they fell into that... natural rhythm with each other he cherished so goddamn much. It made the walk to Ponyville seem shorter than it usually did, and he felt... eager, almost, to be on the way to Subterra. There was a lot they had planned, after all: more than just work with their daughter, but practice for themselves and a few other pleasant diversions.

Innocence held herself proudly in her armor as they walked through the town, drawing looks from other ponies. But when they reached the square in front of the library, where Celestia was waiting for them, the young mare was smart enough to quickly fall back a little and bow her head, grinning embarrassedly up at the ivory mare who looked every inch her title of Queen of the Valkyries.

Massive, golden full plate mail covered her body, gleaming like the sun. Tightly-linked chain mesh was just visible beneath the plates at the joints and around the bases of her wings, and a solid coronet was locked around her head, keeping her flowing, ephemeral mane out of her eyes. Tyrfing glinted from where it was holstered over her back, and she looked more titanic and imposing than Sleipnir as she studied Innocence, then simply nodded once before turning her eyes towards Luna. "Are you ready to go?" A slight smile. "Are you sure you've got all your toys?"

Luna huffed loudly at this, then she rose her head proudly and said pompously: "Thou art nothing but a sore loser, Celestia, jealous of the fact I so easily command any weapon upon which my hooves land. And so elegantly that even thou art no match for me, I might add."

"Well, Sting does suit you, Luna." Celestia smiled slightly. "It's small, loud, unorthodox, and the blade portion is... undersized."

"Under... undersized! I shall show thee undersized!" Luna shouted furiously, shaking a hoof violently before she stormed up to her older sibling and almost shoved her face into Celestia's as the ivory mare continued to smile in amusement, her amethyst eyes twinkling with mischief as Scrivener and Twilight both traded dry looks, and Innocence only giggled. Sometimes, the kinds of downsides that came from Celestia spending so much time with a Draconequus really showed.

But before Luna could start ranting away or challenge Celestia to a duel, the ivory winged unicorn's eyes flicked up and widened slightly in surprise. Luna blinked at this, then glanced over her own shoulder... and immediately she grinned widely at what she saw.

Avalon Apple was slowly dragging the old Apple Family merchant cart into town square beside her mother, looking sour beneath her brush-cut before she landed with a huff. She glanced back and forth at all the staring ponies, then shouted: "I ain't signing a goddamn thing today unless you buy some goddamn apples!"

A lineup immediately formed, and Avalon gaped in surprise as Applejack threw her head back and laughed, reaching up and patting her daughter on the shoulder. She looked good today, especially with her old, well-worn hat on her head and the pretty choker-locket Dash had given her for their thirtieth anniversary around her neck. "You look just like your father used to... and... hey, Twilight and family, it's good to see you all here. Would you look at this?"

"I hate this. I hate everything." Avalon grumbled crankily, even as she flitted around the cart, setting it up with an ease that showed she'd never forgotten how. Applejack watched her daughter with warmth, and Luna couldn't help but grin at the tiny mare as she continued to mumble grouchily away: "'No, you gotta serve out your contract,' 'no, you gotta buy the farm now,' making me choose... stupid... universe... stupid everything..."

"In the past I would've been tempted to go upside your head listenin' to you like that, Ava. Now it's like music to my years to hear you back here, ready to work but complainin' away." Applejack smiled at her daughter, and the small Pegasus sighed and gave a bit of an awkward smile as she glanced over at her mother, nodding hesitantly.

"I... I know. And I know I chose this and I am happy to be here, I'm just... pissed off, too. I really got to head back to Canterlot to sort things out tonight." Avalon paused, then she frowned over at Luna, glancing over the ponies. "Hey, what's up? There trouble?"

"Oh, aye, yes, there is trouble so serious we are able to stop and chat and laugh at thee as thou goes from greatest flier to likely-as-not mediocre farmer." Luna said wryly, and Avalon glared at her before the sapphire mare grinned challengingly. "What, would thou like a spar?"

Avalon opened her mouth... and then Applejack cleared her throat as an excited Pegasus bounced up in front of the cart, and the tiny mare groaned and mumbled: "I'm really starting to see you in a whole different light these days, Luna. You and your son both."

Luna only grinned wryly and shrugged easily, and then she added almost teasingly as Avalon turned to start serving pones and signing the autographs many of them wanted much more than the food: "Well, we shall be in Subterra shortly. So when thou comes to settle thy score with the Thunderbolts, we can have a match. Living as I do does have some wonderful advantages: getting to watch fillies grow into strong mares, watching as students become our equals... and then, of course, the delight of mashing thee so badly thou once more feels like a child left in bruised awe of her better."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Avalon nodded a few times before slamming her front hooves together as she glared over at Luna. "I can't wait to tell Antares that I beat up his Mom."

"I can't wait to tell Antares I have beaten up one of his friends!" Luna shot back, and the two glared at each other as Twilight and Applejack traded amused looks, before the Lich softened a little when one of the earth pony's hind legs kicked a bit.

"Hey, don't gimme that look. I'm actually real happy, and for the first time in years." Applejack said softly, glancing up with a small smile at Twilight. "Dashie's takin' me on that trip we've been talking about for the last decade... it's gonna be wonderful. And Ava's back and gonna take over the farm and... I couldn't ask for more than this. I couldn't be happier, Twilight."

"Okay, but... you know that Zecora or I can mix you up a potion if you need it." Twilight said softly, and Applejack only smiled at the Lich, who shook her head and gazed tenderly at the earth pony. "I just... Applejack, you're still a good friend. You and Pinkie Pie and Rarity and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, and... I wish..."

"Don't wish for nothing, Twilight Sparkle." Applejack stopped, then softened and glanced to the side, where Scrivener was now slowly dragging Luna away from Avalon, who was shouting her own slurs and insults as Celestia and Innocence simply sat back and watched, the ivory mare stoic and calm as ever and Innocence cheering on her Móðer. "I had a lot of doubts at first. 'Bout you, 'bout me, 'bout life in general. But everything worked out fine... better than fine, all things considered. So I ain't worried about the future anymore, and that makes everything else easier to handle too."

Applejack turned her eyes forwards, and then she smiled a little and nodded slowly, saying softly: "You just take care of yourself, Twilight. Few ponies else I'd trust to look out for Dashie and my daughter once I'm gone. They may both be adults but... I think all the same they do better when they know there's someone they can turn to if things go south."

"We'll all always have each other, AJ. Always." Twilight said softly, studying her old friend's face before she stepped forwards and hugged her gently, and Applejack returned the embrace as tight as she could. And even though she felt so frail, she seemed so bold, so courageous, too... and for the first time in the longest time, Twilight felt that maybe the fragile mortality of this world wasn't something to she had to be afraid for.

Chapter Ten: A Comfortable Darkness

~BlackRoseRaven

Once Luna and Avalon had finished arguing, they had left Ponyville without much further fanfare, and started down the well-trodden highway towards Canterlot. They were making good time so far, and it likely wouldn't be long before they were moving out of the fields and into the range of mountains around the gorgeous castle and city.

Scrivener, Luna, and Twilight were walking at the head of the group, while Celestia was striding alongside Innocence, telling her a little about the Valkyries. One of her friendlier stories, Twilight was glad to note: Celestia and Luna had quite a few tales that made even the Lich shrivel up in horror at what had passed for 'fun' in the old days. She was also admittedly rather happy that Hecate wasn't traveling with them, but would be making her own way to Subterra later that night: she wanted things to stay as peaceful as possible for as long as possible.

The Lich looked over her shoulder as Luna and Scrivener bickered, neither keeping much of an eye on the road ahead or the daylit fields around them. Twilight was fairly sure that it was unlikely anything was going to be able to sneak up on them here, after all, especially with Celestia's always-alert senses... but all the same, even though Twilight felt the twitch and turned her eyes upwards, even though she knew the others sensed it as well... it still felt unpleasant when they saw what was waiting for them not far ahead.

Twilight instinctively dropped back a little to try and shield her daughter as the conversation between Innocence and Celestia petered out. The young mare leaned forwards, gazing uncertainly past her mother as Scrivener and Luna both looked moodily up at the creatures calmly waiting for them: the unnatural, alien Pious.

Both creatures stood on two long, gangly legs covered by some strange religious garment: it was almost a skirt, gilded in gold and not large enough to wrap completely around the waist, but the space at the front was covered by a golden loincloth that doubled as a cloth belt, knotted tightly around the waist. They were emaciated and thin, with V-shaped torsos that didn't seem to possess a stomach and wide ribs and broad shoulders mostly covered by some kind of poncho-like garb.

Their arms were terribly long: longer than they were tall, and with not one, but instead a multitude of joints: instead of being attached at the shoulders, they stood out from the middle of their bodies, like they had been badly glued together by some foal who wasn't very keen on following the instructions. The shoulders instead seemed to control the second set of appendages that stretched up out of their upper backs: straighter, less-segmented limbs that ended in something like exceptionally-long claws, like they were supposed to be wings but had never grown webbing.

Scrivener and Luna stopped within ten feet of the creatures: but despite the healthy buffer of space, those long, terrible arms still wouldn't have much trouble reaching them if they wanted to. Both of the Pious calmly crossed these long limbs over their chests in an X-pattern for the moment, though, and Celestia frowned. Before Kvasir had vanished, he had mentioned he'd finally figured out what that gesture meant: it was to protect themselves against the 'unclean' and 'ignorant.'

Luna glared up into the facelessness of one of the Pious: as alien as the rest of them, they had large, lipless mouths full of tombstone-shaped teeth, and above their jaws only rubbery, solid-looking flesh. Luna swore sometimes there was a faint translucence to it, that it was like they were wearing some kind of smooth, oval cap, but Scrivener didn't want to imagine how that could actually work. Either their flesh formed into natural cowls, or they somehow made these 'caps' themselves...

Scrivener shuddered a little, as one of the Pious said calmly, in a voice that resonated loudly in the minds of all ponies present, even as its jaws didn't move: "Valkyrie Brynhild. You are going to the Demon City."

"Aye, thou hast my thanks for reminding me." Luna said distastefully, grimacing a bit as her soulstone horn vibrated faintly: the Pious wasn't actually speaking out loud but communicating through psychic signals, and it always made her prosthetic horn act a little funny. And brought out the worst in Scrivener Blooms, too, which didn't help her own mood all that much. "But I suppose that is thy ever-so-polite way of beginning a request."

"We desire you to carry a message for us to the Overseer, since our kind is banned from entering the Demon City." said the same creature with the same... was that perhaps hidden contempt, or arrogance? Luna scowled at it, but it remained unfazed as it continued: "We desire to spread our Holy Word further. Our Sanctuaries are becoming places of great joy and spiritual prosperity for your kind. Ponies have come to accept The God Above All."

"It's bad form to capitalize a definite article to try and give more emphasis to your proper noun." Scrivener said moodily, and Luna couldn't help but toss a wry look at the stallion. "Not to be picky or anything. Just saying."

The Pious both slowly swiveled their heads towards Scrivener, and he flinched a bit at their eyeless gazes before they both turned with the same ruthless calmness back towards Luna. It was awful how nothing ever seemed to bother them, how confident they were, how just... different they were. It made them so hard to connect to, so hard to interact with, so... difficult to even look at. "Will you ask if we may build a new Sanctuary in your Demon City?"

It was a question, and at the same time... it wasn't. Luna bared her teeth at the creature, leaning up and snapping: "I am Valkyrie! I am not a messenger girl and I do not trust thee, nor thy aims, nor thy hokery-pokery, and if thou hast forgotten, 'tis I who put forward the idea that thy kind remain outside of Subterra. And I still do believe thou should remain outside the 'Demon City,' as thou so calls it: not just because I do not like thee, but because the denizens of Subterra shan't take kindly to self-professed 'Angels of Greater Heaven' tromping into their territory and attempting to spread their 'Holy Word.'"

"You made Selene, a Nephilim, your Overseer. You did not like her or trust her either, but you all the same accepted her into your fold, nominated her for her power. She was not Pious, but she was not of your world herself." spoke the Pious, apparently deaf to Luna's derision.

Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight all glared up at the angel, but it was Celestia who stepped forwards now, saying curtly: "It was not her power, but her loyalty that made us choose her. And you will not dangle her like a trinket when we know that her so-called mother discarded her before she came to us, many years ago."

"She was not meant to survive, nor meant to be found, nor meant to become one of your kind. Our sister was only exploring this new world that had been born from the Old Wizard's magic when she came across the demon." The Pious replied, as if this somehow explained something.

Celestia smiled thinly, raising her head as she said in a voice made all the more dangerous by her gentility: "So because she was discarded and left to die, because something about her was... imperfect... you're saying it's our fault that we picked up your so-called 'garbage?'"

There was silence for a few moments, as the Pious that hadn't yet spoken bowed its head, while the other exhaled a rancid, rot-reeking breath and closed its jaws with a snap. Luna could recognize that body language well enough: it was nervous. And that at least meant they had emotions or brains enough to recognize who they should be afraid of.

And then, with all the eloquence of a drunken dragon that had set itself on fire, the Pious said: "This is not the subject we desired to speak of. We desire you to ask a question for us. That is all."

Luna took a long, slow breath, closing her eyes and bowing her head forwards and reminding herself that they put up with the Pious for a reason. They were powerful allies, and whether they were zealots who eagerly tried to spread their religion to every living – and sometimes not-living – thing they came across, they provided an extra buffer of security to the layers and helped to keep Valhalla secure against its many enemies.

And there was the sticky subject of Selene, who in death had accidentally called these creatures here. Apparently her sacrifice had unleashed such a distinct pulse of energy that it had set off some kind of alarm back in the homeworld of these creatures, and they had carefully tracked the energy back across dimensions and worlds until they'd finally ended up here.

It wasn't Looking Glass World Luna was concerned for. It was Valhalla: even with all the rebuilding efforts, Heaven needed years, perhaps decades, before it could finally restore its own army. As it was, they only had fifteen new Valkyries – most of whom had only a little combat experience – and most of their army was composed of demons who had been 'volunteered' by Hel, the Queen of the Underworld.

The Pious and the few other allied gods and divine entities in Valhalla helped keep threats like rogue demons, Void monsters, and less-friendly worlds at bay. They only made up a small section of the universe, however... but as their worlds flourished and Valhalla was restored, they were attracting more and more unwanted attention and curiosity.

Luna didn't want to end up being responsible for completely ruining all relations with the Pious. If she did, she knew that she'd then be forced to try and make up for it somehow, which would mean going to Valhalla to protect it herself. And while the winged unicorn was sure she could watch over Valhalla with one hoof and Scrivener Blooms tied behind her back, she also didn't want to lose her freedom here in Looking Glass World.

So, finally, the sapphire mare ground he teeth together and looked up at the Pious that had been doing all the talking. It seemed to look back at her despite its lack of features, its mouth opening slightly: a faint tell of the angel's eagerness, which made it all the harder for Luna Brynhild to grumble grudgingly: "I will at least make mention of it, but do not again ever treat me as thy little messenger pony, does thou understand?"

The Pious only bowed its head politely, and there was an awkward silence for a few moments before the one that had done all the speaking stepped back and opened its arms wide. "Then we shall take our leave. We shall speak again soon, Valkyrie Brynhild."

The other Pious made the same gesture, and then both of the angels turned around as they put their hands together, bowing their heads forwards as Luna and Scrivener both winced at the bright white rips in reality that formed in front of the two tall, bipedal beings. They vanished through their individual portals, which snapped shut behind them in eerie synchronicity: but the Pious seemed to almost always act in concert, and there seemed to be very little individuality among their ranks.

Scrivener and Luna glanced over their shoulders, the sapphire mare looking ruffled... but Celestia seemed just as moody, her eyes dark, her head lowered slightly as she murmured: "They're getting more insistent. I don't like it."

"Could they be the source of..." Twilight began hesitantly, but she thought she already knew the answer, as Celestia smiled a bit and shook her head, the ivory winged unicorn visibly fighting to cast off the sourness that had settled over her mood.

"No, no. I doubt it: the Pious are too ordered, and they're not hostile towards us. Only... distant, and unapproachable." Celestia paused, then looked up and reflected: "Well, no. Not unapproachable... ponies do go to their Sanctuaries, and are received well enough. Maybe I should say instead they're very... closed-off."

"We should burn down their Sanctuary." Luna grumbled, and Celestia looked like she was struggling to resist saying yes for a few moments before the sapphire mare finally sighed and looked over her shoulder at Innocence, who looked a little... afraid, she thought. "Art thou alright?"

"I just... I just don't like those things." Innocence said quietly, shivering once and looking down, and Twilight softened as she turned towards her daughter, but the young unicorn hurriedly shook her head, glancing up through the facemask and struggling to smile... but her eyes were still worried, like the presence of the beings had brought old fears and anxieties to the surface. "Let's go, let's just keep going and... I'm okay."

"Okay." Twilight said softly, but she fell back to pace beside her daughter all the same when the group started to move again, Scrivener and Luna pulling a little ahead and Celestia lingering behind last with her head lowered in thought.

They remained quiet on the rest of the journey though, until they reached the mountain pass that led up towards Canterlot... but once here, Luna grunted and gestured with her head to the side, and Twilight sighed a little as she said pleadingly: "It really isn't that bad to just go through Canterlot..."

"Oh, do not be a great wimp, Twilight Sparkle. This way is much faster and better, and I am sure thou shan't explode this time." Luna retorted, and Twilight sighed as Scrivener cleared his throat and smiled a little despite himself. "Come family, come, I do not wish to waste climbing this mountain, nor deal with the Royal Guard today. 'Tis bad enough I was not allowed to simply drive my sweet Epona here."

"Luna, the motorcycle isn't really meant for more than... well, you. And me, I guess, with the sidecar and all. I don't quite see how the hell you would have fit us all on there." Scrivener said mildly, and Luna only huffed at this.

"Aye, but remember, we discussed this before with Cowlick and she said to simply hook up one of the wagons, which we have done before." Luna said positively, and Scrivener and Twilight both turned a sour look on the mare as she led them along a hidden path that curled downwards and into a narrow trench running along the side of the mountain base. "Oh, thou can both act as frustrated as thou may like, but as I recall it went perfectly well. Thou art both just being sissies."

Innocence smiled a little as Celestia glanced up and shook her head slowly, saying mildly: "If I had ever caught you abusing Hex the way you abuse your so-called Iron Horse, I would have hung you upside down in one of the feast halls for the warriors to do with you as they pleased."

Luna huffed at this, retorting: "Assuming there were any warriors left to do as they pleased to me after thou wert done with them, greedy Freya." A pause, and then she added loudly: "And at least I was never accused of having sex with my riding horse!"

Celestia only looked mildly at Luna from the back of the single-file line they had formed as Scrivener sighed, Twilight rolled her eyes, and Innocence fought to suppress her giggles. "I don't think you're going to get quite the reaction you want to from anyone in this world with that kind of remark, Luna. Except perhaps for Discombobulation."

Luna grumbled as she looked ahead, through the darkness of the ramping-downwards, gently-curving tunnel they were heading into. Her eyes were already adjusting to the deep shadows, though, letting her see as clearly as she did during the day, and for Scrivener it was the same, while Twilight was probably able to see better in the dark than either of them. And with Luna's mane and horn glowing quietly, and surrounded by family, even less-used-to-darkness Innocence was able to follow the path without much problem.

Then Luna glanced backwards, asking curiously: "If my Valkyrie self and my current self met, Celestia, and we engaged in relations, does thou think it would be a travesty?"

"Funny, Luna, I asked a similar question to Bob a while back, and his response was: 'a horse is a horse, of course of course,' which I'm fairly certain means 'yes.'" Celestia replied pleasantly, and Scrivener and Twilight shared cranky looks as Innocence began to giggle a little again. "All the same, I think it's a matter of consent and intelligence. Or at least intelligence."

"That sounds like the old Freya." Luna said with relish, and Celestia seemed strangely touched by this before the sapphire mare gestured quickly ahead towards a faint blue light shimmering around a corner. "There, there it is!"

Innocence looked up... and then her eyes widened in amazement as they rounded the corner and stepped up in front of a massive archway that was emanating a swirling blue radiance. Immense doors rested wide open like arms inviting an embrace, and runes carved out of gemstones glowed all along the gray stone arch... but what was truly amazing was how Innocence thought that beyond the radiance, she could make out all sorts of shapes and figures walking around...

"This leads into the Thorn Palace. 'Tis a newer construction, in part thanks to crafty Hecate's plans, although the head herself never uses it." Luna paused, glancing mildly over at Celestia. "She seems to enjoy floating through Canterlot late at night, scaring all the citizens. And on that note, Celestia, that is how thou pulls a prank. Harmless, fearful fun. Not by killing ponies."

"I'll do my best to learn the finer points of making mischief from my evil twin, then." Celestia said dryly, and then she shook her head before continuing: "I'd like to point out that she's not interested in 'fun' as much as she is causing as many problems as possible as quickly as possible, Luna. She has my appearance and we still haven't exactly broached the subject of-"

"Into the portal!" Luna shouted cheerfully, and then she charged forwards as Scrivener Blooms winced and hurriedly stagger-ran after her, leaping forwards and biting hurriedly into her starry tail when Luna leapt towards the blue radiance before they both vanished in a flash of light the moment the winged unicorn touched it.

Celestia slowly closed her eyes as Twilight winced and touched her own chest, and Innocence blinked and straightened, leaning forwards with interest. There was silence for a few moments, and then the young mare's eyes widened behind the mask as she bounced forwards, gazing with amazement into the sapphire radiance. "Mutt? Daddy?"

Scrivener and Luna were now on the other side of the portal, Scrivener Blooms laying on his back and visibly wheezing and Luna Brynhild waving wildly at them. Innocence laughed brightly, and then, before either Celestia or Twilight could say anything, the young unicorn leapt forwards and into the archway.

She was blinded by the flash of light, and then her back arched and her eyes bulged in shock at the pain that jolted through her system before she was violently expelled from the other side of the portal, landing with a loud bang and rolling several times before she ended up in a dumb sprawl as her facemask popped off. She groaned loudly in pain, and then looked slowly up as Luna trotted over to her and smiled down at her daughter, saying cheerfully: "See? Tight straps, thou did not end up all in a tangle with thy saddlebag."

The young mare shook herself, then mumbled a little as she regained her senses little by little, grimacing a bit before she looked up... and pain faded into amazement as she stared at the gorgeous architecture of what she recognized after a moment as... "This is an Archive!"

"Aye, well. Not a true Archive, but our version of it, yes." Luna glanced over her shoulder, smiling slightly as she drew her eyes over the wide room behind them. It looked like half-library, half-research laboratory with its enormous shelves full of books and transcripts that loomed over tables stacked with all kinds of magical artifacts. Innocence scrambled up to her claws so she could better gaze over the area herself, looking back and forth in awe.

And something else almost as fascinating as the beautiful, rounded architecture and the feeling of magic that vibrated through the air was the fact there wasn't a single pony present. Only demons and other servants of the night, ranging from Nightmares proudly wearing beautiful adornments to entities that could almost be considered deities in their own right, but who were more than willing to bow their heads in servitude to Subterra... and more than that, to Luna, who they considered to be their Mistress of the Night and true mentor.

Scrivener Blooms cracked his back as he stood up, then he smiled a little as he glanced up himself through the Archive that was modeled after Hel's own cores of order in Helheim. The dark goddess had actually provided not only the plans for these, but much of the equipment used for research purposes, as well as the portal door that they had just passed through to get to this place. Not to mention some other odds and ends, and even the personnel: Hel had been very generous with her gifts to them, especially over the last few years.

In a way, that wasn't the most comforting thing in the world: even if Hel was one of Valhalla's strongest and most dependable allies, despite being violent, eccentric, and paranoid, she was also still the goddess of the Very Bad Place as well, and enjoyed her role as chief troublemaker. She was also cunning and cruel, and at the end of the day was focused almost entirely on only what would benefit herself in the long run.

Celestia and Luna had recovered many of their memories of their former lives, but Celestia had said that whatever had happened between Hel and Odin had happened long before she and her twin brother had joined the Aesir... in fact, it had happened long before many of the other Aesir had joined the clan of the Warrior Gods.

Then there was a loud thrum from behind the group, and a moment later Celestia and Twilight emerged in a burst of blue light, Celestia barely stumbling once as she strode calmly forwards, while Twilight's eyes bulged as a bevy of her stitches popped loudly across her body. She staggered and caught herself with a wince, then sighed tiredly as her muscles trembled and energy sparked over her form before she slowly straightened and shook herself briskly out. "I knew the energy charge was too high for me..."

"Are you okay, Momma?" Innocence asked after a moment, hesitantly drawing her eyes over her mother, and Twilight smiled a little after a moment, nodding even as she stumbled a little again before managing to straighten herself out.

"I... I am. I am. Just a little..." Twilight shook herself quickly, fidgeting a bit on the spot before she smiled and straightened, trying her hardest to ignore all the loose string and the open wounds. But since they were in Subterra now, at least she'd draw a lot less attention with being a little...

"Loose." Luna finished her thought for her, grinning widely over at the violet mare as she waggled her eyebrows, and Twilight looked sourly over at the sapphire mare. Luna pasted an innocent look on her features, tilting her head in response as she said pointedly: "All I have done is said what thou art thinking thyself."

Celestia shook her head, then she softened and glanced over at Twilight, asking gently: "Would you like to stop and apply some grafts? I'd be happy to help you with that."

"No, let's just keep moving for now, Celestia. I can wait until after we see Morning Glory." The Lich replied with a bit of a smile, and then she turned her eyes towards her daughter, explaining: "This Archive actually rests against the rear of the Thorn Palace, but that portal we passed through can actually go to other places around Subterra as well. It's just a matter of know the right magic."

"Which of course thou knows. Thou art just disappointed thou did not get to show it off. Great braggart." Luna said mildly, and Twilight looked the sapphire mare dryly as Scrivener cleared his throat and stepped carefully away from the two.

Twilight managed to resist falling for Luna's baiting, though, instead taking a breath and turning her eyes towards Celestia to ask: "Do you think we should stay at the Thorn Palace, or over at Burning Desire's manse? He's been pretty insistent about that..."

Celestia turned her attention to Scrivener Blooms, making a very large point of ignoring Luna's insistent waving for attention, and she asked curiously: "Would you prefer to stay at Burning Desire's? I know you enjoy spending time with your cousin."

"Yeah, that sounds good." Scrivener agreed, smiling a bit, and when Celestia gave him an entertained look, leaning forwards slightly, he said awkwardly: "I'm not agreeing just to agree, or because I want to get away from Luna. I really do think that's a good idea. And the Thorn Palace honestly does kind of creep me out."

The ivory mare nodded, then she glanced over at Luna, who was hopping up and down and looking frustrated. "I'll probably stay in the Thorn Palace, but I don't expect to rest much. Hecate will undoubtedly keep me busy with the help she's requested, and I'll probably be spending most of my time in the forges beneath-"

"I am so glad thou hast all decided precisely what thou art going to do!" Luna said loudly as she leaned up, glaring imperiously around at the others, and Scrivener and Twilight traded mild looks as Celestia sighed and Innocence giggled. Luna huffed loudly at them, then she swept up Innocence's mask and firmly shoved it back into place over her daughter's features before she grabbed the surprised Innocence and dragged her away. "Come along, Sin. If all these wicked creatures are going to ignore us, then we shall ignore them!"

Scrivener looked mildly over at the sapphire mare as she led Innocence quickly away through the Archive chamber, and then he turned to follow with Twilight and Celestia, the charcoal earth pony saying mildly to the Lich: "This is your fault, you know. I'm not entirely sure how, but I'm still blaming you for it. And for when Luna eventually blows up at us, too."

Twilight only rolled her eyes, then she responded with a tilt of her head: "Actually, this looks a lot more like your fault than it does mine. You're the one who started it."

"You started it. You're a starter. A trouble-starter." Scrivener grumbled in response, and the two bumped into each other as they walked along, Twilight smiling despite herself.

Behind them, Celestia shook her head slowly as she gazed with quiet entertainment from one to the other, feeling an odd twist of reminiscence. So many years ago now, Scrivener had been the Court Poet of Canterlot, and Twilight Sparkle had been her student, her apprentice, her simulated daughter... and the two of them had always found a way to spend more time together than any other ponies who had claimed to hate each other ever would.

And now, here they were. Celestia had never expected this kind of relationship, though... but the world had changed in a lot of ways she hadn't expected, hadn't meant it to, and as her eyes roved from the demons they now worked side-by-side with, to the daughter of three ponies who was bouncing happily alongside her Móðer at the front of the group, she couldn't help but smile at how much that thought still had the power to surprise and please her.

Innocence and Luna rambled away to each other like best friends at the front of the line, the sapphire mare happily answering every question Innocence had about the Archives they were walking through, Subterra, and anything else that bridged into. Scrivener and Twilight were talking amiably, and Celestia felt her eyes continually being drawn to the world around them. Once upon a time she would have seen a place like Subterra as an infected tumor to be cut out, and the thought of one of Hel's Archives being on the mortal world would have filled her with horror and fury.

That old Celestia never would have stepped down as Baroness, though, or any other position of power. That old Celestia would never have believed that the ponies could manage themselves... and sure, sometimes she had to step in now and then, but usually that was as an ambassador representing Equestria, not as a ruler herself.

Yes, she had been plenty worried at first: no one had really wanted her to step down. As a matter of fact, they had been pushing her to assume the mantle of queen, but she had no interest in that anymore. Well... that wasn't entirely true. But the kind of Queen she was came from a different age, and served a much different purpose than acting a foalsitter to a council that wanted all the power, but none of the responsibility. And most of all, a mother to run to and hide beneath the skirts of if anything ever went really wrong.

But she had stepped down officially, and nominated her assistant, Rosewood, for the position of Baroness despite the fact there had been a law in place at the time against allowing anyone not born inside the barony to be elected to any major political office. Rosewood, however, had served for years as Celestia's steward, although she'd been less a puppet and more had actually run the barony on her own, as she saw fit.

It had caused a little bit of a scandal, but since Celestia was backing her and Rosewood had essentially already been baroness for years, the law was overturned and Rosewood had become the baroness of the Canterlot Barony. She had a lot of support from the people, and the other barons were a little afraid of her, which Celestia thought was a good thing. Most important, she had served well as an example that Equestria didn't need Celestia as much as they thought they did... and the ivory winged unicorn had been so deeply relieved when she'd realized that she didn't need to rule the country as much as she'd feared, either.

They were passing now along a stone and steel bridge that connected the back of the Archive into the Thorn Palace, and Celestia softened as she watched the doors open and felt that... odd sensation she always did. That sense of Selene... and she knew that ahead, Luna felt it too, as she paused almost imperceptibly in the middle of answering one of her daughter's questions.

But Selene had always resonated with them in a strange way... a way Celestia found all the more odd these days because Selene had supposedly been half-Pious. She had been so loyal, so enthralled with them partly because she claimed that she and Luna, the Valkyries, were like her mother... except Celestia thought Luna was the furthest thing from these alien and distant Pious.

Sometimes the ivory mare wondered if the Pious might not be lying completely about their connection to Selene: they seemed like they would do absolutely anything to try and spread their so-called 'Holy Word,' after all... but no, they had known too much about her, and there were similarities, particularly between the Pious' abilities and what Selene's own had been. So maybe it was just that Selene had seen her 'mother' through her child's eyes, or was attributing things to her that...

"Celestia, thou art thinking too much, I can hear it from here and 'tis quite distracting." Luna called loudly over her shoulder, and the ivory mare looked up with a wry smile before the sapphire winged unicorn sniffed disdainfully, midnight cyan eyes glancing back ahead down the marble-tiled halls as she continued: "There is nothing to be thought about, really. Better, we shall be able to let our hooves do our talking for us. Oh, it has been far too long since we have visited Morning Glory."

"Let's not pick a fight with her, please." Twilight mumbled, and Luna huffed loudly as Innocence looked up brightly. "I really don't want to have to change my body while I'm here. And I kind of want to make this quick so we can go to Burning's and I can get stitched up."

Scrivener Blooms nodded in agreement, adding mildly: "She's also probably still mad at us for making her Overseer in the first place. I think the only thing she really enjoys about it is that tournament she runs every year, where she beats up half of Subterra to prove that she's still the strongest demon around."

"Aye. I enjoy her rule-through-power approach, though, since she is very good to my servants of the night and works very well with Canterlot. She is tyrannical and terrible and a dictator, but in a very good way." Luna said thoughtfully, and Scrivener and Twilight traded amused looks as Innocence giggled a little. "I fear she may have taken lessons from Celestia on that, though."

Celestia sighed and shook her head, and then Innocence asked quickly: "Do you think that... maybe Morning Glory could work with me too?"

Twilight winced a little at this, and Scrivener cleared his throat loudly when Luna opened her mouth, making the sapphire mare glower before she grumbled and rolled her eyes, answering finally: "Perhaps. But she is very busy, and thy other parents fear that she will... be a little hard on thee."

Innocence frowned a little at this, raising her head before she said immediately: "If Antares could handle it, I can definitely handle it! He's always been a lot worse with listening to stuff than me!"

Scrivener and Twilight traded amused looks at this as Luna snorted in entertainment, then she said wryly: "Oh, my little filly. If only thine eyes could gaze into the past, thou would see a very different Antares than the stallion we know and love today."

Innocence tilted her head, but before she could ask anything further, she was startled by the sudden appearance of a Nightmare in front of them, the equine made of darkness and shadow bowing its head as its smoky mane and tail wafted and swirled backwards. "I have been sent to welcome our Mistress of the Night and her family. Please, follow me to the Overseer's room."

Luna huffed at this as the red-eyed Nightmare straightened, gazing at the sapphire mare fawningly even as Luna complained: "We know the damn way well enough! Morning Glory did not have to send thee to walk us like foals to her, the... the head... foalsitter of Subterra!"

"The pleasure is all mine, Mistress Luna. My sisters and I are always eager for any excuse to bathe ourselves in your presence." the Nightmare replied calmly, bowing its head politely, and Luna sniffed loudly but looked pacified at this as Innocence gazed warmly up at her Móðer.

Twilight sighed a little, and Scrivener reached up to touch the Lich's shoulder reassuringly even as the Nightmare turned to lead them onwards. He understood that flicker of anxiety that ran through the violet mare: she was always a little scared that Innocence was going to get too used to all the positive attention, too infatuated with the way the Nightmares and other creatures would fall all over themselves to do anything Luna asked. She didn't want her daughter admiring the fact they could order around these servants of the night: she wanted her daughter admiring the fact they had earned the loyalty of these different beings because of their compassion and respect for one-another.

Respect that didn't always show through, as Luna looked up and said cheerfully: "While I am here, creature, I would like a massage from the biggest, handsomest demon thou can find. I would also like cake. The cake is for eating, not for rubbing upon my body... well, unless they have cakes that are good for that."

"I am sure they do, Mistress Luna." the Nightmare replied kindly, and Scrivener sighed tiredly as he dropped his head forward. Even if the Nightmares were no longer strictly bound to them, all their exploits over the years, and now the fact that they were slowly, carefully beginning to explore realms of magic and enhancements they had been hesitant to in the past... it had made them very eager to try and prove themselves to their proclaimed masters.

There was less conversation as they followed the Nightmare to a set of silver doors, etched with gorgeous lunar designs. The smoky equine knocked firmly twice on these, then stepped back and quickly bowed as they swung open, gesturing for them to go forwards with one hoof. "The Overseer awaits. I shall wait for you here."

"Nay, thou shall instead go about thy duties, but I shall call for thee later." Luna replied with a nod, and the Nightmare gazed up with strange pride before it nodded firmly and vanished. Then the sapphire mare turned towards the open doors with a grin, shouting as she strode inside: "Now if I could just get thou to show me such respect, Morning Glory!"

"Shut up, Luna Brynhild." retorted a sour voice, as Innocence bounced eagerly up beside her mother and the others followed a little slower, Twilight shaking her head moodily as Scrivener glanced awkwardly back and forth. The hall they entered was large, had too many creepy nooks and niches thank to the strange, ribbed structure of the steel and stone walls, and at the end of it was a raised, rectangular stage where a single behemoth figure was sprawled out in a steel throne.

Luna grinned up at Morning Glory, and the titanic demon glared back down at the winged unicorn. She looked like a unicorn with a faint-pink tinged coat, her ivory eyes seeming to stare right through the sapphire mare and into her very soul. Her mane and tail were both composed of golden flames, twisting and curling slowly to one side of her, flaring slightly as she leaned a foreleg on the arm of her chair and the tattooing of runes along her upper leg flexed. "What do you want?"

"Is that any way to talk to thy Mistress?" Luna asked cheerfully, and Morning Glory rolled her eyes in distaste before the sapphire mare pranced forwards and poked lightly at the pale pink demon with her horn. "And look at thee, out of thy pretty girdle, showing off thy brand!"

"Forget I asked you anything. Go back to shutting up." Morning Glory slapped moodily at Luna, but the sapphire mare ducked with a snort of amusement before the demon sighed tiredly, looking grouchily down as she reached up and rubbed slowly at her tattooed foreleg. "If I didn't require a strong leader to keep my mind sane."

"Aye, but 'twas thy own decision to tag thyself with my name. 'Tis very sweet, I have not yet even writ my name upon Scrivy, after all." noted Luna with a wink, and Morning Glory glowered at the winged unicorn as she continued to slowly rub at the tattoo: it was more a mark of loyalty than an actual enchantment, but it did serve as a simple charm that would allow Luna to summon Morning Glory to her side if necessary.

"Let's move on to business." Morning Glory said distastefully, and then she slipped out of her throne before flexing and straightening as silvery liquid bled out of her pores, coating her own body before it solidified into thick, flexible steel. The armor layered her body and made her look like a living warship, mimicking musculature and forming a massive, bladed tortoise-like shell over her back that was covered in tall, conical spikes.

She glowered down at them out of the high collar of the armor that had formed in moments over her body, and Luna huffed loudly up at her before she poked at the titan's chest, complaining: "And now none can see thy pretty tattoo! Shear off the armor upon thy foreleg, I command it!"

"No." Morning Glory said sourly, and then she rolled her eyes when Luna uselessly prodded at her with her soulstone horn, before the enormous demon turned her eyes to Celestia. "I don't like the idea of letting Hecate run loose. I'd like to ask you to keep a close eye on her while she's here, Lady Celestia."

The ivory mare nodded, smiling a little before Morning Glory glanced over her shoulder and called: "Eventide!"

Innocence smiled wider, growing a little braver now: in spite of all her interest in Subterra, she always got a little shy around the imposing Destroyer that served as Overseer. But when a Nightmare appeared near the demon, the young unicorn slipped forwards a bit and waved childishly at the smoky equine that looked both taller and more-solid than the other Nightmares they had passed.

Eventide smiled and nodded to Innocence before she bowed her head respectfully to the other ponies, as Morning Glory instructed: "I am going to be busy with Celestia, so I want you to take Luna Brynhild and her family to-"

"Thou cannot just ship us off! We are here for our own purposes, we only visited thee out of courtesy! How dare thee!" Luna huffed loudly, while Scrivener only sat back and Twilight gave Luna a mild look. Luna, meanwhile, glowered over at her partners, then flailed a bit as he shouted: "Oh come now, surely thou can work up at least a moment of outrage instead of just... drooling and smiling as thou art pushed and prodded and-"

Morning Glory stomped a hoof hard enough to shake the floor, Luna blinking dumbly and looking over at the mare before the Destroyer said sourly: "I am not in the mood to try and explain what's going on, but it is important. So please, Mistress Luna. Take your family, go with Eventide. Celestia and I will join you after we discuss Hecate and the current... problems."

The starry-maned mare frowned a little at this, becoming a bit more serious, but Morning Glory only looked down at her and shook her head before glancing almost awkwardly at Innocence. Innocence looked up through her facemask, and then Morning Glory cleared her throat before she said finally: "Hello."

Then, without another word, Morning Glory swept past, almost stomping Twilight and Scrivener under her metal hooves before the enormous demon nodded politely to Celestia. Celestia nodded back, then turned to leave as Eventide strode forwards, the Nightmare drawing her eyes towards Innocence and saying gently: "You wear your new armor well, Innocence. I'm very happy to see you."

Innocence brightened at this, the young mare straightening and nodding firmly to the tall, pretty Nightmare. "It's good to see you too, Eventide... hey, do you think you could help tutor me?"

Eventide gave a soft laugh at this, looking affectionately over the mare before she replied softly as her eyes flicked towards Luna: "If your parents have no problem with it, I would be very glad to help you, and accompany you around Subterra. My first loyalty is still to you, after all, Innocence. Don't forget that."

Luna nodded a little after a moment, looking warmly at the Nightmare as Scrivener and Twilight both focused their own gazes on the entity. Until about nine years ago, Eventide had served loyally as a mix of nanny and bodyguard for Innocence, and the two had been very close. Then, because of her devotion and loyalty, Luna had selected the Nightmare for a particular experiment she had discussed for a long time with Celestia, Sleipnir, and several others she respected enough to listen to the opinions of.

They had used magic and the most concentrated form of the corruption Scrivener could make, administered to Eventide in careful, measured doses until they had achieved the result Luna was hoping for. Normally, Nightmares were much frailer than their fierce appearances seemed: sunlight could destroy them, and even though they fed off emotion, it could become a poison to them as well.

But they had fortified Eventide, into the first Greater Nightmare: another project started because of a story that Luna was sometimes afraid she was trying to make true. After all, the evil Luna and Scrivener in Because Love Conquers All had created their own flock of powerful Greater Nightmares to serve them...

No, she didn't want to ever become that Luna, even if... she had so many of the same desires. For power, for pleasure, to experiment and try new things and taste fruits that were supposed to be forbidden. To make those who she cared about strong, to reward those who served her loyally... to create things that would terrify and punish those who would hurt anything she cared about.

Innocence looked curiously over her shoulder at Luna, and the sapphire mare shook her head hurriedly as both Twilight and Scrivener fought back the urge to shiver, even as the stallion stepped up and touched the sapphire mare's shoulder reassuringly. But no matter how hard they pushed them away, those same worries always ended up gnawing at them, and he didn't really know what he could say or do to try and push them away.

"I apologize. It's just such a pleasure to see you all, I forget myself. Please, follow me." Eventide gestured to them, and Luna grunted, letting the Greater Nightmare take the lead. Innocence ran up beside her, and some of the worries were washed away by that clear companionship: the trust Innocence had in the entity, and the love that Eventide had for their daughter.

As they walked, Innocence chattered happily away to Eventide, who only smiled and nodded, studying the young mare with fascination and warmth. Luna followed with her partners to either side of her, returning the greetings they were given by other servants of darkness that they passed and just mulling things over, deciding to let Innocence and Eventide catch up for now.

The sapphire mare was surprised when they ended up at a dressing room: it was brightly lit, with mirrors almost covering one wall, and tapered, cushiony furnishings to rest in. Delegates or councilors probably sat around in here while waiting for meeting rooms to open up, and Scrivener looked awkwardly around as Luna looked into one of the mirrors and made a face at herself before asking: "So what is going on, Eventide? I can no longer be patient."

"Your son is going to be arriving shortly with a delegate from Heaven, to discuss the assassination attempt that occurred. Mistress Morning Glory thinks that while we have everyone together, it would be beneficial to have a strategy session." Eventide replied politely, and then the Greater Nightmare glanced over at the violet mare and added: "That box is for you, Lady Twilight."

The Lich tilted her head curiously as she turned her attention to the wooden box resting on a nearby table, and the mare trotted over to it as Innocence frowned a little and asked uncertainly: "But why is Heaven even interested in that? I mean... there's supposed to be... well..."

She looked over at Luna, and the sapphire mare sighed a little, smiling a bit: none of them had really discussed the full scope of what was going on with their daughter yet, because... none of them really knew what to say. "Well, Innocence, I do not know what would catch Heaven's attention here, but I do know that they would not reach out to us over a silly failed assassination attempt. So unless the Whistler is a miserable failure of a destruction entity, I do not know why they would have any interest."

Twilight nodded as she pulled the lid off the wooden box, then smiled: there was a spool of thick black string and a few different needles inside, along with some ribbon, combs, and a few other odds and ends. For now, the Lich pulled out just a large needle and the string, glancing over her shoulder as she added softly: "They might just be checking in, though, especially if Antares is coming down to talk to us."

Scrivener nodded, walking over, and Twilight smiled at him as he took the string and needle out of her telekinetic grip just as she finished threading it. The Lich shrugged off her cloak and began to open her armor vest, as Eventide turned her eyes to Innocence and said softly: "I am sure it is nothing serious, but rather... preventative. Ever since Lord Kvasir disappeared, Queen Terra has been working hard to look out for all of us."

Innocence nodded a little, looking reassured before she glanced over at her mother, wincing a bit as the Lich dropped the gemstone vest and glanced down in distaste at the damages that had opened across her body. There was a little bit of bleeding, but not much... although Innocence supposed that didn't really mean anything either way. "Are... are you okay, Momma?"

"It just looks worse than it is. And Scrivy, you don't have to..." But Scrivener ignored her, already starting to stitch up the large, Y-shaped cut in her chest. The Lich blushed a bit, shifting awkwardly before she tilted her head back to gaze up at the ceiling, trying to keep her eyes away from the stallion as she felt his claws gently guiding the needle through her body, piercing hide without pain, the string sliding through, then tightening to draw flesh together, like lips...

She blushed deeper, then shook her head hurriedly as she managed to ask quickly: "Do you uh... Eventide, why are we waiting here? We're not waiting for Hecate, are we?"

"Aye, she is not supposed to be here until tonight, I had thought." Luna added curiously, even as she looked over at Twilight and Scrivener and grinned a little despite herself. Acting as if feeling no pain and instead finding pleasure in such things is bad. How silly my pretty mare is!

"Shut up, Luna." Twilight mumbled under her breath, keeping her eyes steadily upwards as Innocence made a face beneath her mask at her parents, then quickly turned her attention back to the pondering Greater Nightmare.

"That is odd. Hecate arrived here an hour before you did, and has already been speaking to artificers to help her prepare her new projects." the Greater Nightmare said, and Luna grumbled and rolled her eyes, feeling strangely unsurprised. But it wasn't like Hecate was eager to share all her plans with them. "But we are waiting here because the delegates from Heaven are currently engaged in a meeting with an ambassador from Helheim. Hel also appears to be very interested in what is going on."

The sapphire mare frowned at this, tilting her head before she asked distastefully: "And since when has Subterra become a neutral hub for Valhalla and Helheim to meet and discuss what has happened to my family behind my back?"

Eventide bowed her head politely, responding gently: "I am sure they mean no disrespect to you, Mistress Luna. The meeting was not scheduled, but it seems that Hel learned of the delegates coming to Subterra and decided to force an impromptu discussion session."

"We are being foalsat again, Scrivener Blooms." Luna grumbled a little, and then she shook her head slowly before stomping her hooves childishly, glowering over at the stallion and the Lich as he continued to calmly sew her wounds closed. "Now I am cranky. And it does not help that this stuffy waiting room is boring. And thy flirting is annoying me, cease groping her and stitch her up, Scrivener Blooms, she is not some twisted fetish doll for thou to frolic with."

Twilight sighed tiredly, keeping her gaze towards the ceiling as Scrivener Blooms only grunted, and then Innocence turned her eyes to Luna and asked curiously: "Well, can you teach me magic or something, Mutt? Or maybe Eventide can teach me something and we can practice on you so you're not bored anymore."

"Nay, thou shall practice on Scrivener Blooms. I shall begin." With that, Luna flicked her horn firmly to send a blast of lightning into Scrivener, and he winced as his back arched and Twilight's eyes bulged as he accidentally stabbed the needle deep into her breast before flopping backwards.

Luna giggled stupidly, energy sparking along her soulstone horn as Innocence stared and then covered her muzzle hurriedly to try and hide her grin. Scrivener, meanwhile, was glowering invertedly at Luna from where he was sprawled on his back as Twilight only sighed tiredly and reached up to slowly pull the needle out of her breast, saying tiredly: "Let's please just try and get along until the meeting, okay?"

"No." Luna said stoically, and Scrivener groaned as Twilight looked moodily across at the starry-maned mare, both wondering how they could so deeply care about a pony who often caused them both such immeasurable amounts of frustration.

Chapter Eleven: A Meeting Of Different Minds

~BlackRoseRaven

It wasn't the most awkward meeting Scrivener Blooms had ever attended, but it was very close. The stallion looked back and forth slowly as he lightly tapped a tattoo against the polished black stone tabletop, and then Twilight leaned over and grasped his shoulder, giving him a pointed look through the fresh stitching over her features... which only made Luna, sitting on the opposite side of the table, drum her hooves much more loudly against the furnishing.

Then she stopped, and Morning Glory slowly, sourly turned her eyes from where she was seated at the head of the table towards the grinning sapphire mare. Scrivener and Twilight both winced as Innocence giggled on Luna's other side.

Celestia smiled slightly, reaching up a hoof to half-cover this as Hecate rolled her eyes sourly: the two were ironically placed to the left and right side of Morning Glory, armored winged unicorn seated and disembodied head floating eerily on its strange little saucer. And at the foot of the table, a nervous-looking, gray-white unicorn was looking apprehensively up over the group, dressed in a regal-looking violet half-robe with a gilded-black mantle. His mane was a rough, wooden brown, almost the same dark color as the clipboard he was nervously jotting notes over.

Antares was seated beside this unicorn, the delegate from Heaven. The glossy-black stallion yawned loudly and visibly as silence continued to fill the air, and then he sat up and dropped his own front hooves against the table, asking mildly: "What are we waiting for, again?"

"I'm waiting for you all to die. Preferably slowly. Hopefully in a way that lets me harvest your bodies for research purposes. Or eat. I'm not sure which I'd prefer." Hecate said grouchily, and Morning Glory closed her eyes slowly, looking pained.

Antares was clearly unperturbed by this response, the stallion only reaching up and poking pointedly at his throat as he said mildly: "Wouldn't anything you tried to eat just... fall through? Or get stuck in your neck, since like. There's that cap there and all? Doesn't that make you like an evil purse?"

"Aye, Antares has a point! Hecate, we should stuff thy giant mouth full of coins, and thou shall finally serve a use. Thou can be my changepurse. Or Scrivy's, I hear that changepurses are carried only by mares these days." Luna said positively, and Scrivener and Twilight both glared at the sapphire mare as Hecate bared her fangs at the winged unicorn.

The floating head opened her mouth, beginning to float down the table... and then Morning Glory's front hoof swung down and squashed the head into the table, knocking her loose from her saucer and sending the disc-shaped object flying away. All eyes stared as Hecate wheezed a little beneath the enormous metal hoof squashing her down into the stone, and then Morning Glory picked the head up and turned her around, meeting Hecate's eyes evenly. "Don't."

Hecate tried to glare back, but then Morning Glory simply flung the head over her shoulder, Hecate cursing as she hit the ground behind the demon and bounced away from the table. Luna coughed loudly behind a hoof as Innocence and most of the others stared, and then Antares called cheerfully: "Thanks, Morning! I like you too!"

"Be quiet, Antares Mīrus. I did not do that for you and your precious little feelings." Morning Glory said sourly, and then she shook her head slowly before saying distastefully: "We are waiting for a status report to arrive. If you desire to speed things up, however, perhaps Excelsior can grace us with whatever message he is here to deliver."

The unicorn delegate shifted nervously back and forth, then he winced when Antares grasped his shoulder, smiling supportively. "Hey, that sounds like a good idea, why don't you start with... or... okay." Antares winced at the sight of Excelsior going dead pale, and the glossy black unicorn awkwardly reached out and gently slid the clipboard on the table in front of himself. "Nevermind, I'll read it myself then.

"Uh... let's see... okay. The assassin you reported bears a striking resemblance to the assassin that Lord Kvasir fought. That's a large part of what interested us." Antares began, and Celestia looked up sharply, frowning slightly as the glossy-black unicorn continued: "No one realized that right away because... Aunt Tia, you were the one who drove it off in Heaven, and no one else got a good look at it. Mom's descriptions probably weren't the best to go by when it attacked again."

Luna huffed loudly at this, but she didn't otherwise interrupt, leaning forwards and looking intent herself. Scrivener and Twilight were both looking up, and Morning Glory only looked moody, tapping a hoof slowly as Antares continued: "There was also an energy flux not long after the assassin vanished... it was very small, but very powerful, like a singularity. It looks like something created some kind of escape portal for it... but it didn't originate from this world. It came from somewhere else, and drilled into Looking Glass World."

"Which points to someone watching us, tracking the Whistler. Maybe using the Whistler as not just a scout, but a relay, getting information from it in real time instead of simply waiting for a report, like a search construct." Celestia stopped, then frowned a little, lowering her head and murmuring: "But for something to be capable of that kind of magic, it would require some kind of special link, or incredible psychic power..."

Luna grimaced at this, becoming serious before Hecate's voice floated moodily up from behind Morning Glory: "Incredible psychic power is more likely here. You're all worried about the patchwork theater watching us after all, right? Then stop operating on the assumption none of these things are connected. Stop feebly hoping for a coincidence."

Celestia sighed, shaking her head slowly before she turned her eyes towards Hecate... and then winced backwards when the head flung itself with telekinesis in an arc, landing with a bang on the table. Hecate gritted her teeth as she bounced once before managing to awkwardly stop herself by swinging her horn down into the table, and then her eyes flicked crankily upwards as Celestia said quietly: "I still don't believe these events are connected directly. What we have to do is prepare the best defenses we can, get ready but not try and focus on any specific-"

"The coward's way and the fool's way. But I always suspected that you were both of those things." Hecate said icily, then she slowly glowered towards Luna when the mare reached out to awkwardly poke at the cap on the base of her neck. "Keep your grubby hooves to yourself, Brynhild."

Celestia shook her head slowly, and then she leaned down and said gently but firmly, treating Hecate with unexpected compassion: "I understand where you're coming from, Hecate, but my instincts tell me that this assassin isn't involved with whatever's coming, with... what has the Draconequus of Ginnungagap so excited and afraid. That's why I want to reach out to them, to ensure that-"

Hecate rolled her eyes, then said acerbically, wiggling a little so she could better glare up at Celestia: "Oh, yes, chaos entities. Just because one of them is willing to have sex with you doesn't mean the other Draconequus are going to fling themselves all over you when you open the window, Celestia."

Innocence winced as Luna cleared her throat loudly and Morning Glory sighed tiredly, and then Antares held up a hoof and said in a mild voice: "There's. Kind of a lot more information in this report, guys. So, Hecate, if you could stop being head bitch, then that'd be, you know, really great."

Hecate attempted to wiggle around to glare at Antares, and then Luna leaned forwards as she cocked her front hoof back, saying cheerfully: "Allow me!"

With that, she slapped Hecate hard down the table, the head whizzing past Antares and Excelsior to whack into the back of the chair at the foot of the table and flop down into the seat. Luna grinned widely as Scrivener slowly shrank down in his chair and Twilight rubbed slowly at her face, but as Hecate mumbled disconsolately, Morning Glory only dropped her head back and said in an exasperated voice: "One day you will find some foolish Pride demon to replace me. And then I will finally be able to walk out of these idiotic charades of 'meetings.'"

Luna Brynhild huffed at this, but before anyone could speak, Eventide appeared beside Morning Glory and drew the Destroyer's attention as the Overseer grumbled: "Finally. Make it quick."

Eventide nodded, then leaned forwards, murmuring quietly to Morning Glory as the demon frowned and looked down meditatively. Luna only caught a few words, but it was the way the Overseer shifted, how her eyes darkened, that told her far more about what she needed to know than her words could have.

Then Eventide bowed her head politely before vanishing from the spot, and Morning Glory sighed as she looked up and said distastefully: "I had a team of Hunter-Trackers dispatched to see if they could find any anomalies in the area. Unfortunately, reality in a fairly wide zone around Ponyville has become a little damaged, just as it is around Canterlot. Too many uses of the Bifrost and other methods to travel between worlds. It's made it impossible to track any magic resonance or psychic footprints."

She glared over at Antares and Excelsior, and the diplomat from Heaven whimpered and tried to hide as Antares only glowered over at Morning Glory. "Oh, yeah, sure, blame the dudes working for Heaven. Really doing a great job avoiding your stereotype there, Morning Glory."

"Shut up, messenger boy, or I'll rip that flapping tongue of yours out and use it to tie your muzzle shut. You're becoming too much like your arrogant mother." Morning Glory's eyes flicked moodily to Luna as the sapphire mare shouted indignantly at this. "Believe me, Luna Brynhild. I could call you much worse."

"Perhaps Antares should continue to read the report, and then we can discuss things." Celestia suggested calmly, and there were grumbles around the table, but soon enough everyone present fell quiet again as all eyes turned to the young stallion.

He grumbled a bit, but flipped through the pages of the clipboard to find more information before continuing: "It says that uh... we did construct a timeline of resonances, even though Morning Glory was just complaining about the fabric of reality being damaged. Well it's not damaged enough to not be able to spot when and where holes are being torn, even little ones. We've got all the energy signatures, too, and now we just need to kind of sort out who is what, since there's two weeks of jumping around."

"And no guarantee you'll get any useful data. More of Valhalla's posturing, although it's at least better than Hel's excuses and mockery." Morning Glory muttered, and there was some grumble of possible agreement from Hecate. Antares rolled his eyes as Excelsior shifted uncomfortably, and then the Overseer looked over at Celestia and asked with more respect, if also abruptly: "Why do you think that these events aren't related, Valkyrie?"

Celestia lowered her head for a moment, likely to think of the best way to present it... and then Hecate's voice floated tiredly up from the foot of the table: "Inconsistency, that's why."

The chair at the end of the table took on an eerie, pale glow, and then it lifted itself into the air, carrying Hecate upwards, then dumping her gently off onto the top of the furnishing. Her head flopped along the flat surface before she grumbled and wiggled herself straighter, looking moodily around the table as she said sourly: "During the attempted assassination of Kvasir by this... Whistler, if it is indeed the same assassin – and 'cloaked figure with knife' is not a strong indicator it is – there was no major upheaval from any of the planes. No stupid patchwork dolls watching, no demons drooling, Heaven did not tremble even with its King under attack.

"Furthermore, Kvasir was reported to be... extra. That's the only real bit of evidence that supports the idea these assassin attacks are from the same creature: the habit of trying to bite off more than it can chew." Hecate continued, her eyes grouchily flicking back and forth. "Even if it was sent as an advance scout, it returned home and there's been no other contact with it. If I had to argue that these events weren't connected, I'd say it was working for another god who's eying Valhalla, and before you whine that theory makes no sense because of Looking Glass World, when you're looking to put the king in check, the first thing you do is check the position of the queen."

Luna and Scrivener traded grimaces, and Twilight frowned before she asked hesitantly: "Wait, but you were just saying-"

"Yes, and I still don't believe these things aren't connected. I think what the Draconequus are so delighted about is that a big bully of another universe is coming to gobble down ours." Hecate grinned widely, her eyes lighting up with a malicious passion. "Some new wannabe ruler who's been hiding under the rug is coming out to play. Coming to try and make our Heaven, Hell, and all the crap sandwiched in-between his."

"And you clearly also think that either we will have to wipe out the enemy's entire world or let them take over our own." Celestia said quietly, and Hecate turned darkly-entertained eyes towards the ivory winged unicorn, who shook her head slowly and murmured: "That's insanity."

"It's preparedness." Hecate retorted, and then she sniffed loudly before adding disgustedly: "And don't look at me like that. You know as well as I do: when you're dealing with insects, you burn the whole hive and don't spare a single life. Wasps, maggots, eggs and all... you want to make sure no new queen rises out of the ashes."

"Actually I'd throw you at the hive and then laugh at you." Antares muttered, and Luna grunted in agreement before the glossy-black unicorn added mildly, as he flipped through pages of the report attached to the clipboard, saying finally: "There's not a lot of other real information here, though. Just indexes and appendices and a few notes from Terra."

Excelsior mumbled something to the stallion beside him, and Antares frowned a little in surprise as he glanced up, then looked down when the nervous stallion from Valhalla hurriedly tapped the side of the clipboard a few times. Antares flipped through a few pages, looking over the notes and ignoring Luna as she complained: "Damnation, Excelsior, thou could just speak! We are mostly friends here, Blessed of Heaven!"

The unicorn only shrank down at this as Scrivener looked dryly over at the starry-maned mare, and then Antares answered finally: "Here we go, okay... so on the assumption this is the same guy, Terra's building up a profile. I got everything on here from 'rotten breath' to how he attempted to maim Kvasir, lots of weird details..."

Celestia's eyes sharpened even as she didn't speak, while Innocence frowned a little and asked uneasily: "He's not... you don't think he's blending in somehow, do you?"

"Oh shut up and stay quiet. You're more annoying than Thesis ever was." Hecate said crankily, and then Luna growled and lunged down the table, knocking chairs aside before she swept the head up, then smashed it face-first into the table before spinning Hecate around and glaring down into her eyes.

"Keep thy horrid mouth shut." Luna growled, but Hecate only glared defiantly back before the sapphire mare grumbled as she turned around, cradling the head under one foreleg and returning to her seat to sit with Hecate awkwardly cradled to her chest, Antares staring, Innocence blushing a little, and Scrivener and Twilight only looking crankily at the starry-maned mare.

Luna only grumbled, then said moodily: "'Tis not my fault. Hecate requires a foalsitter, 'lest her mouth go out of control."

"If you don't put me down, I'm going to electrocute us both until one of us dies." Hecate growled, her horn sparking... and then her eyes bulged when Luna reached up and calmly grasped her spire, twisting it firmly a few times before there was a small spark as the base of the head's crystal-and-metal horn popped out of place and the hum of energy stuttered out from it.

Hecate sulked visibly, the cables of her mane twitching as her living-electricity mane sizzled uselessly, and Luna sniffed disdainfully as she cradled the head a little closer and remarked: "'Tis actually oddly comforting. 'Tis like holding an angry, bitey little badger. It is so cuddly despite being so vicious and dangerous."

Innocence giggled a bit as Antares rolled his eyes, and then Morning Glory sighed and gestured down the table at Antares and Excelsior. "I want two copies of that report. And before we break, I want solutions to this problem and I want a damage appraisal."

"Hecate and I will work together to build a scrying lens that might let us reach Ginnungagap with Discombobulation's help. It will let us know more. Apart from that, I suggest sending out Greater Nightmare messengers across Equestria. We should contact the wild and neutral demons we know of as well, and perhaps consider reaching out to the Strange Ones." Celestia said quietly, raising her head. "We have to ready ourselves for whatever's coming, and we have to assume it's going to happen soon."

"Yes, perfect. Rile everyone up with a false alarm, because you're so afraid of what's going to happen and jumping at shadows." Hecate said distastefully from Luna's forelegs. "Prepare a false front. Assemble the conscripts and the weak, to sacrifice as a buffer in the event we are attacked shortly. Demons can maintain a state of high alert longer than soldiers, but eventually they'll start to relax, to get sloppy. They're not like Clockwork Ponies.

"Let me get back to work. And useless as it is to ask this, get the Clockwork Ponies out of the Skin Walker's prisons and sent here. Let me upgrade them for combat purposes, since you won't let me make more." Hecate said moodily, and then she winced when Luna shook her violently.

"Thou art an idiot." Luna declared, and then she looked up and said firmly: "Set up thy... fancy demon sensors and send message to Valhalla, tell them to watch for any signs of those coming or leaving. Without doubt, the force will come for us, as it always does... has the Whistler not already expressed interest in us, after all? Then we shall simply pummel it. The Draconequus get their show, evil shall be repelled, and I shall get to pummel something. My solution is the best because 'tis a victory for everyone."

Morning Glory grimaced at these solutions, and then Excelsior leaned over and mumbled something hurriedly to Antares, who blinked in surprise before he looked at the delegate. Excelsior nodded rapidly to him, and the glossy-black unicorn shrugged after a moment before he cleared his throat loudly and turned, saying: "Excelsior says we should try and coordinate efforts between Hel's Archives and Heaven's Watchers. Working side-by-side, they could create some kind of massive network, give us all kinds of information about what's coming and going."

All eyes turned expectantly towards Morning Glory, who frowned and lowered her head in thought before she nodded slowly and looked meditatively upwards. "I think we're done here. At least one or two of you had good ideas."

Luna grumbled, then she firmly screwed Hecate's horn back into place, the head wincing a bit as there was a small spark before the artificial spire thrummed with energy. Then she cursed when Luna flung her easily across the table to Celestia, who grimaced and leaned back slightly even as she caught the less-pleasant alternate version of herself. "Very well then. Innocence, as we still have most of the day let us make good use of it. We shall take thee down to train."

"I'll come with you guys. Excelsior, you can at least handle copying the reports by yourself, right?" Antares looked almost pleadingly at the delegate, who shifted back and forth before he finally sighed and nodded, sweeping up his clipboard and half-hiding behind it as the glossy-black unicorn smiled and slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Great, thank you!"

Scrivener and Twilight traded looks and shrugs, then the violet mare turned her eyes to Celestia, who had carefully put Hecate's head down on the table for the moment. "If you guys need any help, just let me know... I'm sure between training, I can-"

"Your help isn't wanted or needed." Hecate said rudely, and Twilight shifted away a little before the head added nastily to Luna when she caught her glare: "And you should watch yourself, Luna Brynhild. I swear that the moment the chance presents itself, I will make you feel what it's like to be groped and bounced around like a foal's ball."

"I do not think of foals in that way and nor am I fat enough to be considered a ball, but I am rather certain I have more experience with groping and bouncing than thou does!" Luna shot back, then she paused and looked reflectively at the head as Hecate growled at them. "Well. In thy current state, 'twould be very awkward. But 'tis even more awkward to think that in the past thou got thy gropes and bounces from Valthrudnir."

"We never did once." Hecate said coolly, and then she added in a moodier voice: "And even by your standards that was a low blow, Valkyrie. Like me talking about how you still have problems when it comes to your taste for your husband's blood."

Luna froze up for a moment, baring her fangs as Innocence frowned over her shoulder in confusion and the others reacted with everything from shocked nervousness to suppressed anger... and then the sapphire mare suddenly relaxed and took a slow breath before muttering shortly: "Perhaps 'twas. I apologize."

Hecate only snorted, and Luna turned her eyes ahead and strode sharply past Innocence, quickly leading the way out. Daughter uneasily followed quickly after her Móðer, not understanding as she asked slowly: "What did she mean, Mutt?"

"Nothing... nothing, 'tis..." Luna shifted, then she shook her head and murmured a little more honestly: "'Tis nothing I want to talk about."

Innocence shifted a bit at this, looking a little surprised and... maybe a little upset, too. But then Antares stepped up beside her and smiled, nudging the mare firmly with his shoulder and saying easily: "Always asking so many damn questions, Sin. And look at you, you already got a shiny new set of armor, you trying to figure out a polite way to ask for more?"

"I am not." Innocence huffed, and then she firmly tried to bodycheck her sibling, but Antares quickly rose a hoof and caught her side, clearing his throat loudly. Innocence glanced awkwardly back at herself, noting the sharp edges of her armor, and then she cleared her throat before saying lamely: "Sorry. Not used to the whole. Well. You know."

Antares only nodded, and Luna paused as she smiled over her shoulder a little at her children, then glanced up to look at Twilight and Scrivener, who were trailing a few feet behind their son and daughter. Scrivener smiled supportively to her as Twilight nodded with a soft look in her eyes, and the sapphire mare grunted before she moved her eyes to Innocence. "Perhaps for the rest of today, we shall... practice the basics, get thee better acquainted with thy gear. Antares, thou art wearing nothing but frills, so thou and Innocence may go ahead and begin training whilst I bring my mares to throw off all our extra equipment."

Luna patted her armored breast lightly, and Antares huffed as he reached up and tugged lightly at the simple cloth uniform vest he was wearing. "Look, you see this? This is not frilly. This is the uniform of a real stallion. You're frilly."

"Thou art frilly!" Luna retorted immediately, and then she poked quickly at Antares with her horn, but the stallion fended her off with his own. It made Innocence feel a prick of envy for a moment, glancing up at her own curved horn: it was wider, more-blade like, almost as if deigned to cut and slash... and yet she was nowhere near the level of her Móðer or sibling. She just kind of swung her head around until she hit something.

That was probably why they had put horn foiling out of mind for now and were just concentrating on her magic. But all the same, seeing Luna and Antares playfighting again...

Innocence remained oddly quiet as they broke into their two different groups, parents going one way and kids the other. They were plenty of quiet places around Subterra where they could just run some drills together, and Antares was certainly more than happy to work with his little sister.

It wasn't until they were walking down the road together that Innocence really realized where they were: she had been thinking too much. About horn foiling, training, all the scary stuff that was going on and Mutt's odd reaction to Hecate's weird taunt. The young unicorn bit her lip, looking over at Antares, and he sighed as he caught her look in the corner of his eye. He didn't need his acuity to know what she was going to ask, so he preempted her by saying softly: "Luna wasn't mad at you. She was just a little upset. And look, you saw how quick she cheered up."

"Yeah, but that's Mutt. The worst possible thing could happen to her, and she'd be really sad and depressed and then... five minutes later, she could be happy or angry or anything else. She has those big mood swings all the time." Innocence halted, then added softly, eyes gazing at him insistently from beneath her faceplate: "And you know what I'm going to ask."

"I do. And I don't know how to answer or what I should say." Antares replied honestly, shaking his head a little before he smiled at his sibling. There was silence between them for a few moments, and then the glossy-black unicorn said finally, as he glanced up: "Móðer has a problem."

Innocence frowned at this, then awkwardly looked ahead herself down the packed dirt road, as they passed between the dark and strange and beautiful architecture of the buildings that filled Subterra. They passed demons, and spirits, and ponies with sharp teeth and cloven hooves and all kinds of other strange things, but it all felt so natural that Innocence was able to keep all her focus on Antares, asking quietly but insistently: "What problem? What problem, Tarry?"

Antares sighed, then he shook his head and looked up at Subterra's dark cavern ceiling, far, far above. Enormous crystals were embedded along the roof and hung by heavy chains, all of these enormous gemstones glowing like powerful lanterns and casting warmth and energy and tainted-blue light throughout the underground city, supplying a constant flow of power that helped feed and energize its inhabitants, and also served to create a buffer that stopped the raw presence of so many demons from filtering upwards and having adverse effects on the emotions of the ponies above.

The stallion looked at one of these crystals, focused on it, and on the faint darkness he could see twisting through it: they had added more of these enormous feeders over the last few years because of the swelling population in Subterra, and some of these gemstones had been modified by adding infusions of corruption to them. Corruption that amplified the effects of the crystals... "You know about the Clay of Prometheus, how Dad can control it, and what it can be used for. It's an amplifier and a power source. But I don't think anyone's ever told you... what can happen when someone drinks it or... injects it into themselves or... well, I know our parents wouldn't want to scare you. I don't want to scare or worry you, or make you think..."

He looked over at his sister, and dammit, now she really was scared. The glossy-black unicorn grimaced a bit, then he shook his head quickly before saying softly: "Listen, Sin. I think partly because of the connection they have... Dad's corruption has always had a kind of a different effect on Luna. And after... many too much time of being exposed to that constantly, well, Móðer now craves to have that in her system. Dad's blood."

Innocence frowned over at Antares at this, biting her lip before she asked: "And well, what does that mean? Dad's blood, but Mutt's not... I meant she doesn't, and Dad doesn't-"

"Why is this so hard to explain?" Antares mumbled to himself, and then he shook his head hurriedly and looked over at his younger sibling almost pleadingly as they slowed to a halt at an intersection, letting several large, bull-like demons pass. "Okay, listen. I'm just going to say it. Mutt used to be addicted to the corruption. Móðer... I guess she still is addicted to the corruption, but she also... she doesn't... I mean I don't think she does..."

Innocence shifted on her claws, gazing up at her big brother, and the stallion looked back at her before he sighed and mumbled: "This is really hard. I don't know why I can't just tell you, none of us are ashamed of her or anything. It's just maybe hard to think that... our mom has that kind of weakness, when she's so strong at the same time."

The young mare and her brother stood in silence for a few moments, and then she looked down at her own claw and flexed it slowly, asking quietly: "So like... it's like a drinking problem or something or... drugs? But Móðer never... I mean, I've never seen her..."

"Like I said, Luna is strong." Antares said firmly, leaning towards his little sister, and Innocence blinked in surprise and reared back a bit before the stallion blushed and shook his head, mumbling: "Sorry. I know you don't mean anything bad, it's just... sensitive and I hate that I'm doing such a bad job explaining all this. Remember, you're still kind of a kid, kid."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Innocence frowned at this, raising her head and glaring up at Antares. "What, I don't get to know the family secrets yet, or I'm not to be trusted or... what? What?"

Antares was only grinning, though, and then he shook his head before he turned down the road to their right, heading calmly away as Innocence hurried after him and he said mildly: "Now you're starting to sound like I used to, Sin. Just... trust me. Of course Mutt and Dad aren't going to talk about it, and Twilight's always respected their privacy. When things are in the past, sometimes you just leave them there, in the past, and don't disturb them anymore. The only reason I'm telling you is because I don't want you asking our parents all kinds of questions about this and upsetting them. It's... it's really hard for Luna to talk about."

Innocence sighed, lowering her head as there was an awkward quiet, and then the young mare looked up and said grudgingly: "It's really weird when you use our parents' names. I never do, like a good little filly. You're a bad filly."

"I'm a bad filly." Antares agreed mildly, looking ahead and smiling despite himself. Then he glanced over at his sister as Innocence ran up beside him before he nudged her lightly with his shoulder, saying easily: "You just make sure you stay a good little filly, okay? I put our parents through enough problems as it is."

"You still do." Innocence informed, and Antares looked at her meditatively before he suddenly snapped his horn down, unleashing a bright flare of light in her eyes that made her squeak and trip over her own hooves. She blinked several times, then scrambled to her claws and glared as Antares ran down the road with a wide grin, the young mare shouting furiously at her brother's retreating back: "I'm gonna get you for that!"

With that, the mare bolted after her brother, stumbling a little now and then in her heavy armor as Antares only laughed, looking over his shoulder with warmth in his eyes, silently reaffirming his promise he would do anything to protect his baby sister and help her find her way through life.

---

Luna Brynhild shook herself briskly out as they approached the front of the gorgeous palace: from the lush, flowering vines that covered it, to the red stone and softer curves of its architecture, it was very different from most of the other buildings that filled Subterra. Behind her, Twilight and Scrivener were arguing over something, as usual, but Luna only rolled her eyes before she complained: "Thou art both tremendous idiots and tremendous prostitutes. Tremendous. Cease flirting with each other. Thou art always flirting with each other. I am thy mistress, thou should both be flirting with me."

Scrivener and Luna looked sourly at Luna as she glared back at them challengingly, and then they both calmly strode along either side of the winged unicorn and walked past her, heading up the steps towards the open gates as Twilight resumed: "So that's why you're wrong. It's contemporary reflective prose and it's not meant to be taken so seriously, Scrivy. You're being more sensitive than me, which is weird, because you're the one who always makes all those nasty jokes about unicorns."

"There's a huge difference between when I tell a joke about a unicorn and actual discrimination." Scrivener replied mildly, shaking his head quickly. "I mean, I might make some... disparaging horn comments. But I would never talk about unicorns as my lessers. They're not my lessers. In fact, they're better jerks than I am, oftentimes. But you can't write something that says 'all unicorns are genetically-wired to be indolent scumbags' in so many words and then hide behind 'oh, but it's a philosophical treatise, so I can say anything I want and anyone who argues with me is stupid,' that's cowardly. And dumb. And yes, I feel dirty for taking the unicorn's position on this."

"Did somebody say a unicorn's getting into position?" asked a roguish voice as the two stepped through the gates with Luna grumbling along in their wake, and all three ponies looked up to see a tall, handsome stallion striding towards him with a wide grin. He looked like a unicorn, with his rune-covered horn, but his coat shifted through different hues like magma and his mane and tail were made of radiant flames, his ruby eyes drawing over them with excitement. "Violet! Scrivener! Luna! Oh, it's such a pleasure to have you all here!"

He laughed loudly, and Scrivener and Twilight both smiled warmly even as they did their best to keep their eyes forwards: where this bottleneck hall widened out, either wall was lined with all variety of statues of mares, perfect to the last, awkward detail and all of them in sultry, compromising, and often downright debauched positions. But that was to be expected, really: this First Tier demon was a Passion, a mix of Lust and Greed with a penchant for physical pleasures.

"Burning Desire. It's great to see you too." Twilight said softly, and the two traded a tight, warm embrace. Then she felt the demon's hooves tickling down her sides, and Twilight pushed him away even as she laughed despite herself, shaking her head and looking up at him warmly. "You'll never change, will you?"

Burning Desire only shrugged cheerfully, and then he gestured to them quickly, saying positively: "Well, come on, come on inside! Ersatz Major is just finishing up your rooms... your cousin, I swear sometimes, Scrivener, she's more interested in you than she is me!"

Scrivener only sighed and shook his head, and Luna said mildly: "Thou has such an awkward obsession with family. 'Tis a wonder thy little sister Morning Glory hasn't yet punched thee into a pulp for how often thou skirts such a dangerous subject with her, really."

"Well, she has punched me into a pulp many times, actually, which is why I don't make those jokes around her anymore. She's not a believer in letting things go through humor and I've learned that now." Burning Desire said carefully, and Luna grinned despite herself before the fiery stallion pranced towards the doors at the end of the hall. "But come, come! Oh, and where is sweet little Innocence? I have a gift for her here somewhere!"

Luna looked up brightly at this, but Twilight winced and shook her head hurriedly, saying awkwardly: "No offense, Burning, but... I would please like to double-check what your gift is before you give it to her. I know that... well..."

Burning Desire only glowered at the Lich as the three followed him out of the entrance hall and into the corridor, the fiery demon sniffing disdainfully as he said mildly: "I would like to point out that was a joke gift, for one thing. For another, Innocence got a great giggle out of it, and so did Luna. As a matter of fact, I think you secretly enjoyed it yourself, violet, you simply didn't want to lose your strong maternal composure. Which is very attractive, by the way."

"Thank you. I think." Twilight said awkwardly, and then she cleared her throat and shook her head before saying finally: "I do trust you, Burning Desire. And I like you. I really honestly do. You're just... not what I'd call 'child appropriate.'"

"But I am very good with children." The fiery stallion grinned... then faltered when Scrivener coughed loudly, Luna giggled, and Twilight looked a little horrified. "I... I didn't mean like that! I mean that I like foals, I'm very... no, not like that!"

Luna cackled and fell over, and Scrivener covered his muzzle to suppress his grin as Twilight slowly closed her eyes. Burning Desire stumbled lamely around in a circle in the middle of the hall to look at them pleadingly, and then he groaned and stomped his hooves childishly as he whined: "You three are always so mean to me! And yes, I include you in that number, violet, because you encourage these... these rapscallions!"

"I think that makes us rapacious." Scrivener said over to Luna without even knowing why, and the sapphire mare only laughed harder as Twilight looked flatly over her shoulder at the two, feeling their amusement, their mischief, their... lunacy.

Twilight realized after a moment what a ridiculously-apt word that was for her partners, and she mentally groaned to herself before turning her eyes towards Burning Desire. He looked at her with large eyes, seeming more like a pouty little dog than a powerful, handsome demon lord, and the Lich shook her head a little before saying finally: "Okay, okay. Then... I'll trust you. Just... please. It's not another 'joke' gift, right?"

"You have my word." Burning Desire straightened and smiled warmly, nodding firmly to her before he glared at Luna and Scrivener as he added: "I'm glad at least one pony here has the sense to be kind to your honorable host!"

Scrivener only shrugged, and Luna huffed as she popped up to her hooves, shaking off the last of her giggles as she strode forwards and replied firmly: "Well, thou should be happy I even let thee live, pest of a demon! Do not forget how courteous and generous and... goodess I have been to thee and thine, for 'twas well within my power to simply smite all thee wicked demons and devils and night-bumpers!"

"Now hey. I know you like night-bumping as much as I do." Burning Desire said pointedly, and Luna paused and nodded thoughtfully in agreement after a moment before the fiery stallion continued mildly: "And you can't say we haven't done great stuff for you. I gave you that candy machine once."

"'Twas a stupid kettle and some stupid glass!" Luna retorted, and then she poked at Burning Desire with her horn, making the demon wince and skitter backwards. "Damn thy handsome face, demon. Come here so I may punish thee."

"Are you going to spank me?" Burning Desire rose his head with a grin, and Luna huffed and glowered, then paused and looked meditatively over at Scrivener Blooms.

The charcoal stallion winced away from her, not liking the look on the sapphire mare's face, and even less the thoughts that were starting to form in her mind, but he was saved from dealing with any further awkward comments by the approach of another unicorn from down the hall. The sound of cloven hooves gently tapping against the floor caught Burning's attention as well, and he smiled warmly over his shoulder, saying easily to the moss-green, slender mare drawing close: "Now, darling, we were just coming to see you."

"Well, forgive me for being eager to see our friends." Ersatz Major smiled slightly: her mane was a mix of white and blonde, styled in gorgeous waves, and her horn was tall and gold and metallic-looking. She was so beautiful it was almost painful to look at her, and her eyes were a vivacious, glowing blue. And unlike most demons, she had a clearly visible cutie mark: the profile of a unicorn in black, framed against a burst of flames. It was the sign of a pony who'd made a contract with a demon, but that stamp had never faded out because that demon had never claimed her soul... or at least not in the usual way demons did.

She was adorned with a simple gemstone choker around her neck, and several simple bands of gold that jingled quietly when the mare leaned forwards to share a tight, quick hug with Scrivener for a moment before the two drew apart, gazing at one another warmly. "It's good to see you, cousin. And I hear that you'll be looking into meeting with Xeric while you're here. I'd like to see another book come out of this."

Scrivener smiled despite himself at this, shaking his head and saying softly: "Well, I think you're about the only one who wants to see that. I'm not popular these days... a momentary spark, and then everything was gone."

Ersatz only shook her head in entertainment, and then she smiled over at Twilight Sparkle, saying gently: "And you look marvelous, Twilight Sparkle. I'm eager to see little Sin... she's growing up so pretty."

"She shall be pretty, and she shall be strong as well." Luna said firmly, nodding and straightening. "And how art thou, Ersatz Major? No further troubles, I pray?"

Ersatz shrugged at this, trading a soft look with Burning Desire before she replied gently: "Nothing important, let's put it that way, darling. I'm learning more basic magic and simple polymorphs, and I think I'm getting better at... focusing, as well as prettying myself up."

Ersatz reached up and brushed at her coiffed mane with a small smile, and then she stepped aside and said kindly: "I set you up in the usual set of rooms. It's clean and tidy, and there's a few presents for Innocence. But it seems she's... out with Antares right now?"

The mare tilted her head curiously, and Scrivener smiled despite himself, shaking his head as he said mildly: "I really wish you wouldn't practice your emotional reading on us. Even if you are getting pretty good at it."

"Well, it's a talent I'd like to develop. It's very useful for a pony of my persuasion." Ersatz bowed her head politely, and then she smiled softly over at Burning Desire when he grinned at her. "I don't need emotional reading to know what's always on your mind, Burning, but not in front of guests. Let's try and be appropriate hosts, shall we?"

"Oh, what fun is that? Besides, I'm quite sure Luna would loathe to have us acting all... 'appropriate.'" Burning Desire said mildly, and the sapphire winged unicorn grunted and nodded thoughtfully in agreement, even as Scrivener Blooms and Twilight Sparkle walked past, heading towards the familiar guest rooms. Then the Passion grinned, the demon sneaking forwards on the tips of his hooves and whispering loudly to Luna: "I can't help but notice that your mares seem to be more interested in each other than you..."

"Oh, stop causing trouble, Burning." Ersatz laughed as she caught up to the demon, nudging him lightly, and he only gave her an innocent look, ignoring the dry expression Twilight favored him with from over her shoulder. "You'll have to excuse him. He thinks that being 'playful,' as he calls it, impresses me. He really is quite wrong, though."

"I don't think I'm wrong at all. Why, you seem to just delight in all the mischief I make, really." Burning said cheerfully, and then he and the Envy demon halted as the three ponies turned into their room, the fiery stallion shaking his head with a smile and calling: "We'll wait out here while you strip down, but do feel free to invite us in if you need help or want a few extra hooves on hoof for... oh, just about anything, really!"

Ersatz snorted in amusement and gave the fiery stallion an amused look, and Luna rolled her eyes inside the room before striding across the plush carpet, between the comfy-looking couch in a little sitting area and the enormous bed resting against the wall, and then she seized Scrivener Blooms and yanked him around so she could kiss him slowly and firmly.

He blinked dumbly, and then Luna dropped him before he could kiss her back before the sapphire mare turned to Twilight and repeated the affection, with much the same result. Then the starry-maned mare stepped back and rose her head proudly as both ponies looked at her with dumb smiles, declaring. "And that is why I am the most important pony in the universe."

"Yes. Yes, that's you." Scrivener Blooms said wryly, and then he shook his head slowly before clearing his throat and awkwardly pushing himself up to his hooves, turning to head to the mini-bar in the back corner of the room and mumble: "We really are the weirdest family ever."

Luna only shrugged amiably at this as she began to shake herself quickly, her soulstone horn glowing and her polished-black armor lighting up before the belts suddenly loosened themselves and the buckles snapped open, plates and other pieces of equipment bursting off her body almost in a wave as the rest fell loose. Pieces of gear clanked loudly down around her as her sheathed rifle spun lazily in the air above her, and then Luna tossed this onto the bed with her helm as she climbed out of the last of her gear. "I do not think so. It could be much weirder. Twilight Sparkle could be a stallion for example, and then her pregnancy with Innocence would have been something of legend."

Twilight sighed at this, shaking her head slowly as she pulled off her gemstone vest, cloak, and the holstered Andlitstingar, the Lich taking a moment to absently feel along her new stitches and make sure none of them had popped open before she replied mildly: "I don't think that's even possible, Luna. There are a few anatomical differences you might want to look into."

"Oh, what does thou know? Magic makes all things possible... nay, my battering ram is fierce enough that 'twould inspire any stallion lucky enough to feel its terrible hammer pregnant!" Luna paused, then she peered over at Scrivener, saying slowly: "Perhaps we should test its potency..."

Scrivener only gave Luna a flat look, throwing one of his pauldrons at her, but she huffed and batted it away, saying flatly: "Take care of thy armor, Scrivy! Thou should be caring for thy armor better than thou cares for thyself!"

"Says the mare who just used magic to explode her armor off her body, and left it covering half the room." Scrivener said dryly, gesturing at the large puddle of metal and mesh over the floor before he went back to removing his gear and other equipment, and Luna looked contemplatively back at this for a moment.

Then she turned her eyes back towards Scrivener Blooms, sniffing loudly once as she declared: "For one, 'tis not even a fifth of the room that I have covered. For another, my armor happens to like laying upon the floor. But thou would not know this because thou ignores my armor when she tries to speak to thee. Thou art an abuser. A neglector."

Scrivener slowly dropped his head into a hoof, closing his eyes and looking pained before Twilight Sparkle interrupted: "So shouldn't we hurry over to see Innocence? And... well, Luna, about... what Hecate said..."

"I do not need thy sympathies or condolences or... pah." Luna grumbled, blushing slightly and dropping her head before she mumbled: "The damned witch knows too much, that is all. And I am sure that... if Innocence has questions, we shall all answer them honestly, aye? 'Twill be tough but... 'tis what our daughter deserves. Honesty."

Twilight and Scrivener both smiled, but Luna only grumbled and spun around, striding towards the doorway and absently kicking off one last bracer that was still stuck on her hind leg. Then she poked her head through the open door and glowered over at Burning Desire and Ersatz Major, who both looked back at her inquisitively. "Spies."

"We're not spying, Lady Luna. We're just... waiting here, and we want to offer to help however we can, that's all. You know that-" The mare demon was cut off by Luna blowing a loud raspberry at her, before she sighed a little and turned her eyes towards Scrivener Blooms when he and Twilight emerged from the room. "Can I help with anything?"

"No, it's okay Ersatz. We're just going to go and find Innocence and Antares now and hope that they haven't gotten into too much trouble." Scrivener paused, then he made a bit of a face and glanced over at Twilight, saying mildly: "Remember when Antares used to be more like you than us? Those were good days. It's amazing how he can spend most of his time in Valhalla and he attracts more trouble towards us than he ever used to in the past."

"Aye, 'tis a good sign, I think. It means he is growing up." Luna said positively with a nod to the stallion, and then she turned her eyes back towards Burning Desire and said firmly: "When I return, I expect for there to be many prostitutes in my room. For... massage purposes."

Scrivener and Twilight both glared at Luna's back, and Burning Desire sniffed loudly before he straightened and said pointedly: "They are not prostitutes, Luna Brynhild, they're..." A pause. "Well, alright, maybe one or two. But they're mostly not prostitutes. They are... specially-trained servants, who are adept at sharing physical comforts. Not prostitutes."

He paused, then winked over at Luna, adding cheerfully: "But they do live to serve. So I'll ensure that you have my very best at your disposal. They're very fond of you three, after all, even if they tell me it always takes them a while to get Scrivener to warm up to them."

The fiery stallion winked over at the charcoal earth pony, who gave a dry smile before he pointed awkwardly at Twilight as the Lich glowered a little. "Twilight's possessive. That's not my fault. I like your uh. Not-prostitutes, really."

The violet mare gave a sour look to Scrivener Blooms, who shifted and shrugged lamely before the Lich sighed and shook her head, saying finally: "I'm not that possessive. I just. Really don't like the idea of... you know. Just... can we go and find Innocence now?"

Ersatz smiled kindly at Twilight, and it just made the Lich feel all the more awkward and embarrassed as she shifted uncomfortably, but thankfully all the Envy demon said was: "Don't worry, Twilight Sparkle. I'll make sure that they all know to respect your boundaries."

The Lich smiled embarrassedly, and then she glanced towards Luna as the sapphire mare grunted and jerked her head quickly. "Well, then let us move forwards and find our children. There is much to be done before we can surrender ourselves to the pleasure of prostitutes."

"They're not prostitutes! And anyway, what about Innocence and Antares? Or should I have separate rooms prepared for them, you know that's really no trouble at all. I could even find some handsome young demons to-" And then Ersatz reached up and covered Burning's mouth with one hoof, the green mare still smiling pleasantly.

"What Burning means is that we'll set up the room across the hall for them. It's no trouble at all, and it's a divided room, so they can have some privacy. Besides, Antares seems to spend a lot of his time wandering around Subterra when he's here." Ersatz said softly, nodding once. Luna nodded thoughtfully at this as Twilight looked up with a smile, and then the sapphire mare turned to stride past them with a grunt.

"Then thou hast our thanks, Ersatz. 'Tis most appreciated." Luna paused, then she looked over her shoulder as both Twilight and Scrivener lingered, the sapphire mare huffing a bit. "Well, thou wert the two so anxious to leave, but now I see thee are loitering like... like ducks."

"Ducks never loiter, Luna. They're quackers about being on time." Scrivener said mildly, and all eyes stared at him for a moment before Luna turned around, strode over, and firmly bopped him with her horn, making him wince and shrink his head back. "I may have deserved that."

Luna grunted, and then Twilight shook her head slowly before she said softly, glancing almost shyly at Burning Desire for a moment: "I'm... really happy to see you happy, Burning. Maybe when I get back, you can help with my daughter a little... she needs some magic training, and you did so well with Prestige, after all..."

Burning Desire smiled softly at this, then he nodded firmly once before replying gently: "It would be my honor, Twilight Sparkle. I'm always more than happy to help out you and your wonderful family. We both are, yes, dear?"

"Of course. They're our family too, after all." Ersatz said softly, smiling as well, and then she and Scrivener traded a quick hug. "Don't let yourself get beaten up too badly, Scrivener. Even if you very strangely seem to like that sort of thing."

"Scrivener is a very good mare." Luna agreed with a wry grin, leering over at the stallion for a moment, and he winced as Twilight glowered before the sapphire winged unicorn spun around again and strode quickly down the hall, calling: "But fear not, we shan't break the important parts, Ersatz Major. 'Twould be a waste of good pony parts."

Scrivy only sighed as he shook his head and followed, and Twilight Sparkle gave one last, quick smile to the two, then she hurried to catch up to her partners. Burning Desire and Ersatz Major watched the three as they headed away down the corridor, and then the fiery stallion chuckled quietly before he turned his eyes towards the mare, saying softly: "It's good to have friends."

"It's good that things have worked out." Ersatz said in agreement, and the demons traded smiles before Burning leaned over and kissed the base of Ersatz's golden horn. Then the fiery stallion turned and pranced away, and Ersatz Major chuckled quietly and shook her head slowly, gazing down the hall for a moment after her cousin and feeling both the faint tickle of envy as well as the soft wonder of admiration for her strange family. A family she cherished more with each passing day, and desired only the best for; a family, she had promised herself, she would one day be as important to as they were to her, no matter how long and hard that path would take.

But she had all the time in the world to make up for past mistakes now. And she was determined to make the most of every second of it.

Chapter Twelve: Teaching Innocence

~BlackRoseRaven

Innocence grumbled to herself as she slowly picked herself up off the sand, shaking her head as she regained her senses little-by-little. Her whole body ached, and her armor felt like it was too hot and too heavy for her to manage anything apart from stumble around like an idiot.

She wheezed loudly as she rose her head and glowered at Antares, who was grinning widely, bouncing spryly on his hooves some thirty feet away on the other side of this sandy arena. They at least had privacy, thanks to the ten foot high stone walls that fenced them in, and the heavy iron gates Antares had simply forced open with magic. From the sand and the burn marks on the walls here and there, they were in some kind of training area, likely used by the academy next door, and it didn't help that Innocence kept expecting some big demon to tromp through the gates and chase them off the property.

She tossed another nervous look at the entrance, and Antares rolled his eyes before he said mildly: "Every time you do that I'm tempted to throw something at you or shoot you with magic. Keep your eyes on target, Sin, you really gotta learn that lesson."

Innocence grumbled again and glared over at Antares, starting: "I know that lesson! I just... I don't think we're supposed to be here and... I mean..."

Her eyes nervously flicked to the side, and this time Antares couldn't stop himself from snapping his horn firmly upwards, sending a short, weak burst of purification at her. It hit Innocence square in the face as she looked back at her brother at the last minute, and she squeaked in pain as she was knocked on her rump.

Antares only looked at her pointedly, and Innocence bared her fangs at him through her facemask before the young stallion said mildly: "I just warned you, didn't I?"

"Dammit, Tarry!" Innocence snapped, glaring furiously over at the stallion. "I thought you were going to help me, not just... what the hell am I even learning here?"

Antares shrugged amiably, then he said wryly: "I dunno, not sticking your face into stuff? Keeping your eye on our opponent? That wearing heavy armor all day is not nearly as glamorous as it seems, especially when half the things we fight can just rip right through it?"

Innocence continued to glower at her brother, and then her horn began to glow as she said crankily: "Do me a favor and stay still."

Antares only grinned slightly at this, and then he said mildly: "That's a really dumb idea, Sin. You don't make direct attacks on your enemy, particularly after announcing them first."

The younger unicorn only grumbled, and then the mare snapped her horn suddenly forward. But it wasn't nearly fast enough to catch Antares off guard, the stallion grinning wider and flicking his own horn easily backwards to deflect the bolt of magic energy and send it hurtling away.

The ball of condensed magic flew high, arcing backwards over the wall behind Antares before there was a loud bang and flash... and this was followed by a frustrated growl, Antares and Innocence staring at each other before something punched the wall behind them with enough force to rattle it.

Awkward silence fell, then was punctuated by the sound of heavy, dragging footsteps making their way slowly around the exterior. The siblings shared a wince, then both looked wildly and uselessly back and forth for somewhere to hie before an enormous demon lumbered in through the gates, the rugged hair around its features singed.

Its dark eyes glared at them balefully as its claws tore moodily against the ground, all six of its powerful limbs flexing as if eager to rip them apart. A long and thick plated tail slapped ominously at the sand behind it as it bared large fangs at them, then hissed: "Which one of you dumb punks just threw the magic bomb?"

"Uh... sorry, that would be me." Antares said awkwardly, stepping hurriedly forwards and waving a hoof lamely at the demon, big brother automatically putting himself between giant demon and his younger sibling as she shied uncomfortably away. "Just doing some practice and all, and it kind of went out of control, sorry."

The demon glowered at Antares, sizing him up slowly as the stallion smiled lamely at the behemoth. The last thing Antares wanted was to pick a fight with an angry Wrath demon, and he could see this one was just looking for any excuse to try and turn him into mush...

But thankfully, the demon nodded and grumbled: "Yeah, good. Make sure it doesn't happen again, short stuff. Or I'll come back for you and the little ho."

"Hey! At least I don't look like a six-legged beaver!" Innocence snapped before she could stop herself, and the enormous demon snarled as Antares groaned loudly at this much-less-pleasing change of pace.

"Uh. Let's talk about this. She's definitely got um. Some kind of mental disorder or something." Antares pleaded in a last-ditch effort to stop things before they could escalate further. He held up his front hooves as the demon approached, grinning lamely and continuing: "I mean, really, are we-"

The demon's response was to simply slap him aside like a toy, sending the stallion flying through the air with a yelp, and Innocence stumbled backwards in shock.

She stared up at the demon, paling beneath armor that felt more like a cage now than anything else as the demon loomed forwards and glared down at her. She shrank back, whimpering a little before the demon began to reach for her with one enormous claw...

Something firmly poked it in the back of the leg, and the demon scowled over its shoulder at the sight of Antares prodding at him with his horn, before the stallion looked up and said mildly: "Hey. Okay, look. That's enough. Don't make me not be sorry, and then kick your flank."

"Really, short stuff?" The demon sneered at him, and then it looked back at Innocence and mocked, claws tickling through the air above her head: "Ain't that cute how your boyfriend's sticking up for you, little girl."

"Okay, she's my sister, so that's gross. And you're clearly stupid, too. Two strikes is bad enough pal, don't go for gross, stupid, and uglier than you already are because I've had to break your face." Antares said flatly, and the demon growled loudly at this before it turned around, glaring furiously down at the stallion, raising itself higher to make itself all the more intimidating.

Antares only looked defiantly back, not shaking in the slightest even as the immense demon loomed over him. It only served to make the Wrath demon angrier, however, as it snarled: "Drop your eyes, punk, before you really piss me off."

"Or what, you gonna talk me to death, you giant bag of hot air?" Antares shot back fearlessly, and the demon looked almost stupefied for a moment before it roared in fury, eyes flashing with rage.

It pounced forwards, swinging four limbs down at Antares to try and cage the stallion in to pin it beneath it, but the Antares smoothly leapt forwards and then lunged straight up, smashing a hoof into the softer underbelly past its solid breast hard enough to make the creature's back arch. The demon's eyes bulged as it wheezed and grabbed instinctively at its stomach, and Antares leapt up to catch one of its limbs, using it like an axle to swing upwards and vault neatly onto the demon's back.

It shouted in fury, lunging forwards, and Antares only grabbed tightly onto its ridged shoulders with a whoop. It flung itself back and forth, bucking, kicking and flailing as it tried to shake the stallion off, but Antares clung stubbornly on, his cheerful yells and taunts frustrating the demon further as it bounded around the sandy arena.

"This ain't a game, kid!" the demon roared in rage, shaking itself violently before it suddenly flung itself backwards to try and crush Antares beneath its body, but the stallion swiftly threw himself straight up into the air, almost seeming to float for a moment in the sky as the demon crashed painfully down on its spine to no avail. Then Antares spun and dove straight own into the demon's exposed stomach, slamming like a hammer into its gut and making it yelp as it half-curled skywards around the stallion as it gaped wordlessly.

It stared, and Antares leaned slowly forwards as he tilted his head slightly, replying in a mild voice: "Oh, I know. Do you?"

Then the stallion leaned forwards in a hard punch into the demon's nose, knocking its head back with a hiss before it swiped viciously at the stallion in response with a snarl. But Antares dodged with ease, flinging himself backwards in a long, nimble flip.

He landed gracefully on his hooves before waggling his eyebrows at the gaping Wrath demon,... and humiliated, hurt, and boiling with anger, this last tiny provocation was just enough to push it over the edge, the demon howling as it scrambled madly to its claws to charge carelessly straight at the stallion, eyes glowing with berserk hatred.

And Antares met the demon fearlessly, grinning widely as he leapt up and slammed a stunning volley of blows across the Wrath demon's face before he smashed an uppercut under its jaw powerful enough to send the creature rearing onto its hind legs with a gurgle. The stallion seized his chance, leaping upwards as his horn glowed with energy, the stallion scaling the disbelieving demon like a staircase before his horn flashed as he flung himself above the creature's head, white fire bursting into life around his hooves as he swung them down in a savage tomahawk to the Wrath demon's face.

The enormous, six-legged creature was crushed down onto his back, crumpling like a piece of paper as the lithe stallion neatly landed on his hooves, grinning widely at his fallen foe. He breathed hard in and out for a moment, then laughed and shook his head, reprimanding: "Hey, pal, next time don't lead with your face. Now get out of here before you do something else stupid and I have to shove your head up your ass."

The Wrath demon groaned loudly, then crawled slowly to its claws. It shook itself out, then flushed and hurriedly tried to make itself small as it slunk away, shooting short, disbelieving looks at Antares as it left, too confused and humiliated by the beating it had taken by the pony who hadn't even broken a sweat to try and continue the fight.

Innocence, meanwhile, was staring with awe at her big brother, and he posed for a moment when he caught he looking before winking over at her, saying easily: "And that is why I'm your big brother, Innocence."

"I'm pretty sure it's actually because you're old." Sin said after only a moment, and the stallion gave her a flat look. She blushed a little, then shifted awkwardly before saying in a mumble: "I'm sorry. And... thank you. You're amazing."

"Hey, don't apologize. That's just Móðer coming out, right?" Antares replied easily, and then he smiled slightly as he walked over to her and gently poked her chest. "But it might be good for your health if you could learn where and when it's better to let that side of you take over, too. Now come on: if you wanna be as good as me one day, then we need to get back to work, no more distractions."

Innocence nodded firmly, gazing up at her brother with both warmth and the faintest hint of envy for everything that he could do. Her whole family was so amazing, and she was determined to be just as good as they were one day... if not even better.

The young mare took a breath and straightened out, raising her head high as Antares smiled at her approvingly, glad to watch her already shaking herself out and getting ready to go back to business. Then the stallion stepped forwards and lightly knocked on her facemask, saying easily: "Try to charge yourself with your magic while I take a breather for a second here. Then we'll get back to movement drills."

His little sister nodded quickly, and the glossy-black stallion sat back as he took a slow breath, letting his body relax as he shook himself out a little. He still felt... charged-up, so to speak. Alive, strong, proud of himself for being... different than he'd used to be. For being able to step in and stop a bully from picking on his kid sister, even if they'd kind of started it. But they'd also ended it, and he had more than strength now: he had the courage to speak up, and to put that strength to use instead of just... whining about it. And he was most proud of himself for being able to speak loud and clear now, not for actually taking on a Second Tier Wrath demon like he had.

After a moment, he turned to Innocence with an easy grin, nodding to her with a wink. "Alright. Let's see what you can do."

The young mare smiled warmly, then she nodded firmly back before she rose her head and said hesitantly: "Can... well... I don't know, maybe practicing horn foiling instead of more drills?"

Antares cocked his head in surprise at this request, and then he shrugged thoughtfully before saying finally: "Well... yeah, I suppose we could, sure. Do you... I mean , are you sure about that though, Sin? We're supposed to be doin' mobility stuff. Practice the basics and all that."

"These are the basics!" Innocence argued, and Antares gave her a dry look, making her huff. "Well, it's not magic or anything. It's swinging your horn around and bashing your head into stuff. I think that's still pretty basic."

"It's because you think of it like that you're so bad at it." the stallion said mildly, and his little sister gave him a grumpy look.

"Then what should I be thinking? That this is some majestic traditional martial art like you and Mutt are always saying, when I think you two just have swivel-necks and thick skulls?"

"Hey, we have a lot more than that, you butt." Antares gestured pointedly at the open gates the humbled Wrath demon had left through, and Innocence huffed a bit before she nodded grudgingly. "It's all about visualization. And knowing yourself. And it is an elite combat form by the way, because unicorns sure as hell don't do this kind of fighting naturally."

"Yeah, I'd never think to hit something with my horn of magical power that's also nearly indestructible. It's clearly just for poking cans open like Móðer does with it." Innocence said wryly. It earned another dour look from Antares, and the young mare cleared her throat after a moment and mumbled: "Uh. Sorry. Just... eager to get started and all that, that's... that's all."

Antares grunted, and then he motioned absently up at his horn as he began: "Well, the first thing is to focus magic into your horn. Alicorn may be the strongest substance there is, but-"

"Gianttooth is stronger. So is..." Innocence petered out and closed her mouth when Antares glared at her, leaning forwards and tapping a hoof pointedly against the sand. "Sorry, sorry."

The stallion grumbled, then said grouchily: "Fine. Gianttooth and other mystical metals aside, the alicorn that makes up our horns is tough, but yours is still growing in and a bit softer than mine, so fortify it with a magic charge. I don't want to bend or scar your horn. Well, you know, any more than it already is, banana-face."

"Bite me." the young mare grumbled, and then she rose her head as her horn lit up with its distinctive dark aura. "There, like that, right?"

Antares nodded, smiling a little as his own horn took on its own luminescence. "That's right. Now, when you're ready, come at me, and I'll-"

Innocence didn't wait, charging brashly forwards with a sudden, wild yell, and Antares sighed and rolled his eyes before he sidestepped when she tried to pounce on him. She hit the ground instead, squawking as she skidded through the sand as Antares remarked: "You think you would have learned something from me just beating up that giant demon you pissed off."

"That was completely your fault!" Innocence retorted, scrambling up to her claws with a huff. She spun around and lunged spryly into a wide, wild swing of her horn, but Antares easily parried it with his own and knocked her back.

"Sin, do you ever listen when we lecture you about direct attacks and all that?" Antares asked mildly, and Innocence growled at him in irritation, then flung herself forwards again... only to yelp when Antares caught her by the facemask with one hoof. "Direct attacks are bad. Try to flank or sweep in from the side."

"Mutt and Daddy always run right at their enemy. Hell, you just did, too!" Innocence complained, and the glossy-black unicorn smiled despite himself as he shoved her lightly backwards by her face.

"Yeah, after I made him go crazy, though." he answered easily, and then he shook his head and continued: "And you shouldn't even be working on melee anyway, you should be focusing on magic and mobility. Even your horn foiling should reflect grace and skill, not stopping power."

"I'll try and keep that in mind, oh wise one." Innocence grumbled, and then she added grumpily: "Momma can horn foil too."

"Yeah, but Twilight only does so when she's forced to close with the enemy for one reason or another." Antares paused, then added: "Also, Twilight ads in plenty of magic to all her-"

"You know, you're not being fun right now." Sin said, and Antares touched his own chest as he glowered over at the young mare. "Well, you're not."

"We're supposed to be working here, it's not always going to be fun. Look, just... try to flank me, aim for vulnerabilities." Antares said finally, shaking his head quickly.

The young mare grumbled, then readied herself... but then she brightened, eyes drawn by the cheerful shout of "Innocence, Antares! Thy parents have arrived!"

"Hey, Mutt!" Innocence called brightly, relaxing and gazing over at the three ponies as they strode in through the open gates. Antares rolled his eyes at Innocence, but then he smiled and let himself relax a little, too. He could lecture her more on keeping up her guard later.

Luna bounced cheerfully over to her daughter, then she paused and looked up, sniffing at the air before declaring: "There has been a fight here, not just a spar... Antares, thou did not beat up thy little sister again, did thou?"

"No, Móðer, not even if she did something to deserve it." Antares looked at Sin pointedly for a few moments, then shrugged when he saw Twilight's concerned look and turned his eyes to her, soothing: "It was nothing, honestly. Just a jackass demon with a big mouth."

Luna grunted and nodded at this, then she asked seriously: "And thou pummeled it, Antares? Thou pummeled it well?"

"I pummeled it well." Antares agreed almost solemnly with a quick nod, and the sapphire mare gave a grunt of approval.

"Good." Luna drew her eyes towards Innocence, smiling at her. "And what art thou practicing here, my child? I am glad to see thee still in thy armor, though, especially when we may not be setting the best example being so quick to shed our own."

"Horn foiling." Innocence said proudly, unaware of the fact that the print on her mask testified towards precisely how well that had been going so far. Luna grinned widely at this as Scrivener and Twilight traded amused looks, and then the young mare scowled over at Antares. "But he keeps trying to make me go back to running around like an idiot."

Antares only smiled at this, replying easily: "No, no, Sin, just the running around part is all you have to practice. You definitely have the idiot part down pretty well."

"Oh, ha ha." Innocence scowled over at her big brother, Scrivener clearing his throat as Twilight looked pleadingly between her children. "You're one to talk, Tarry. You're also the one who hit the magic bolt into the big demon's face."

Antares huffed at this, opening his mouth to reply, but Scrivener cleared his throat and leaned forwards, saying dryly: "I'm glad you guys are getting along so well, but uh. We should probably try and move on. Luna, maybe you can work out some of your own crazy energy doing horn foiling with our daughter."

Luna nodded agreeably as Innocence warmed visibly to this idea, and Antares gave his father a lame smile. But Scrivener only looked back with a small smile and shrug of his own to show it was okay, as Twilight said softly: "And later tonight, Innocence, we can probably work with Burning Desire. He and Ersatz also offered you and Antares a room separate from ours-"

"Good, because Mutt's creepy." Antares said loudly, and Luna huffed and glared over at her son, her soulstone horn glowing before she leapt forwards suddenly and swung at him.

Antares blocked it with his own as it glowed brightly, and the two began to slash at each other rapidly, Innocence watching with amazement... and oh, how much she longed to one day be able to do that, to fight like that, to be so... so strong. Because even if they were playing, they moved so fast, struck so hard, had such skill... and mother was still superior to her son, as Luna smashed Antares' horn suddenly upwards and then tackled him onto his back, pinning him beneath her with a wide grin.

Antares stared up at her, then he winced when she rose a hoof, the stallion saying hurriedly" No, no, wait, you can't hit me, I'm your kid!"

Luna paused thoughtfully at this, then she lowered her hoof and nodded seriously... before suddenly leaning down and grinning widely, declaring cheerfully: "Thou art correct! I must do something far more humiliating than simply pummeling thee!"

With that, she began to tickle wildly over his body, and Antares yelled and squawked and tried his hardest not to laugh, turning beet red as he flailed violently in every direction to no avail. Innocence cackled, and Twilight and Scrivener traded looks before the charcoal stallion dropped his face in one hoof, mumbling: "Well, at least no one's around to see just how screwed up our family is. Luna, he's... he's forty years old!"

"And he still squeals as he did when he was but a foal!" Luna shouted cheerfully, as Antares rolled over onto his back, but then yelped when Luna tackled him with a wide grin. She pinned him down, then sat primly on top of him with a warm smile, as Antares wheezed into the sand and mumbled disconsolately, still a bright, fire-engine red... but after a moment, he couldn't help but smile a little himself, glancing wryly over his shoulder at his mother.

"Thanks for... helping me not grow up." Antares said softly after a moment, and Luna smiled wider down at her son as he smiled back... then suddenly bucked her off his back, sending her down with a squawk as he popped to his hooves and said mildly: "And for being so off-balance. You're a really bad example for Sin, Mom."

Luna huffed loudly at this, crossing her forelegs, and Twilight smiled warmly over at the two as Innocence continued to giggle and Scrivener glanced up with more amusement than exasperation in his eyes. Perhaps his family would always be a little creepy... but he didn't think he'd change even the most embarrassing parts of them for anything. And he was only glad that it seemed like the rest of their weird little clan agreed.

---

They trained for an hour, and afterwards, Antares parted ways with them so that he could go and check on Excelsior and see if there was anything that needed to be dealt with at the Thorn Palace. Twilight said she was going to check on Hecate and Celestia, so Luna and Scrivener decided to take Innocence back to Burning Desire's, using a side entrance to avoid the awkward entrance hall of mare statues that Twilight didn't want Innocence to be too exposed to.

They talked for a little while after helping Innocence out of her armor, and then Scrivener Blooms sat down to work on a manuscript while Luna painted. Sin sometimes liked to sit and watch her Móðer when she worked on her artwork... it was just such a funny hobby for her, she thought. Luna was so excitable, irascible, problem-making that it seemed like her hobbies would mostly consist of breaking and burning things, but Luna was surprisingly calm when it came to sketching, drawing and painting, trading out her usual mania for concentration and dedication to her work.

But today, instead, Innocence slipped carefully out of the room while her parents were working, and headed down the hall. She looked back and forth at the sensual art pieces on the walls, the erotic but mostly-pleasant décor, and smiled at the servants she passed. Almost all of them were pony-like demons, in shapes pleasing even to her eyes: most of them were Lust archetypes that strutted about their duties with calm confidence, many draped in gorgeous jewelry and silken clothing.

Eventually, Sin wandered her way into a library through a pair of invitingly-open doors, and she looked up with a slow whistle: she had never actually been here before. They visited often, but usually Twilight Sparkle spent most of her time herding her around, trying to stop her from looking at all the nudity and art pieces and studying all the other parts of Burning Desire's lifestyle. So she was never able to stray very far from her rooms... or at least, she never had been until now.

The young mare gazed wonderingly back and forth over the books, then frowned uneasily: knowing Burning Desire, these could be... 'romance' novels. She approached one of the large, gently-curved shelves and glanced at the titles over it... and then her eyes widened in surprised as she saw they were mostly texts on magic and the history of Helheim.

"Well, I see a gorgeous little filly has frolicked her way right into one of my favorite rooms." said a friendly voice, and Innocence smiled over her shoulder as Burning Desire trotted into the room, winking down at her. "And what a pleasure it is to see you here, I must say. Usually your mother keeps you far away from this wing of the castle."

Innocence shrugged a bit, gazing up at him and replying cheerfully: "Well, Momma isn't here right now. And Daddy and Mutt are a lot more relaxed about that kind of stuff... well, Mutt is, anyway. Sometimes Dad gets a little grumpy."

Burning Desire nodded and winked. "Well, don't blame him, Innocence, he only has the very best interests of such a pretty filly as yourself at heart. After all, I'm sure there must be plenty of young colts just head over hooves for you, wanting to do all sorts of inappropriate things to your body."

Innocence snorted in amusement, blushing slightly as she looked away, and then Burning grinned slightly before he looked up and gestured out at the expansive shelves that filled the room and lined the walls. "But this place is one of the few places, my sweet, where even I prefer a little bit of peace and quiet instead of groping and grasping and fondling. This is a place to expand one's mind, not one's... well... other parts."

The young unicorn looked with amusement up at the fiery stallion, and then he gestured to her as he trotted forwards, and the mare followed him through the shelves as Burning continued to ramble in his cheerful, amiable way, helping Innocence to relax. "I'm very glad, by the way, that you haven't polymorphed or disguised yourself at all. You're very pretty as it is, and I think that you should perhaps work on taking your polymorphing in a different direction, Innocence. Your mother is going to be very mad at me for this but... violet is always prettier when she's mad."

Burning Desire sighed dreamily as they reached a large oak table, and then the fiery stallion hopped into a seat and gestured at the young mare to sit. Curious, Innocence took the spot beside him, then looked up as the demon's horn glowed and lifted several books free from the shelves, dropping them onto the table in a neat pile as he said kindly: "These are texts on transformation, shapeshifting, and other neat little transfigurative doodads. And yes, before you ask, I have books on every realm of magic in here, Innocence, but why don't you start with these?"

"But... I dunno, I don't have the strength to do a major polymorph yet, I don't think. Even if I'm in all advanced classes, that's way above my level." Innocence said awkwardly, shifting a little, and then she added finally: "And... well... I'm not an adult. Doing polymorphs and large-scale transformations, practicing that too much..."

"Oh, that's an old nag's tale." Burning Desire huffed, shaking his head firmly before he continued: "Now, look. You're a very intelligent young mare, and you have a very bright future ahead of you. You know that, I know that, your parents know that. And as a demon, Sin, I can smell other things about you too... you want power. You crave strength. You have a few... well... let's call them quirks, shall we?"

The young mare shifted awkwardly, and Burning Desire softened, reaching up and squeezing her shoulder gently. "Don't be hard on yourself. We all have those feelings sometimes... some more than others, some less. What matters is what you do with them, and with yourself. One day, you'll probably grow out of those desires. And even if you don't, well, take it from me: nothing you long for has to control your life. You control your life."

He gently nudged her, and the young mare smiled a little as she looked up at him, shifting silently before the fiery stallion chuckled quietly and reached out to pull the top book off the pile, passing it over to her as he said quietly: "But I think part of your problem is you don't realize how pretty you are, dear filly, and you try to cover it up when you don't have to. When we polymorph ourselves to hide something, though, all we do is amplify those insecurities. You shouldn't shape yourself to hide who you are: you should use your abilities to express who you are."

Innocence looked up at him with a small smile, even as she murmured: "That's easy for you to say. You're a big handsome demon. You like who you are."

"Not all the time, Innocence. And what I look like now is not at all what I looked like as a mortal..." Burning Desire shook his head with a quiet chuckle. "And it's funny. I may be, oh, handsome, and strong, and handsome, and... well, you get the idea..." Burning Desire grinned, posing and flexing for a moment as he winked at the young mare. "But at the same time, if I could have my old mortal self back? I think I might be tempted to take it... as much a shame as it is to take all this away from all the world's mares."

Burning Desire gestured at himself with a theatrical sigh, and Innocence giggled a little before she looked down at the book in front of her, rubbing a hoof over the cover before she nodded a little and glanced at him, asking hesitantly: "Express who I am... do you really think that... that's a good idea? I'm..."

She stopped, looked down... then slowly looked up, and smiled faintly after a moment. She trusted Burning Desire, this big, silly demon who was such a close friend of her mother's, who had an awkward rivalry she semi-sensed with her other parents, and who lavished all kinds of love and attention and gifts on her every time they met. He treated her sometimes like a little sister, sometimes like a spoiled daughter, sometimes like an adored friend, and she didn't entirely understand it, but... at the same time, she thought she sort of did. And most of all, she knew that she could trust him.

The mare bit her lip for a moment, then asked finally: "Would it even be a good idea to express myself, Burning? I don't... I don't think a lot of ponies would want to see that. Who I am... inside. I think who I am inside might be scarier than... what I look like now."

"My dear, you don't look scary at all. You're pretty." Burning Desire said softly as the young unicorn rubbed slowly at her scaled features, and then he reached up, gently taking one of her claws between both of his hooves as he said softly: "You are a very pretty, growing-up filly. Why, in my day, you'd have been an adult already, probably married, or with all kinds of suitors knocking at your door.

"And it's not like we don't all have our... demons, if you'll excuse the pun." the fiery stallion said softly, chuckling a little at his own joke before he calmly touched his own chest. "Why, just look at me. I'm not always such a handsome stallion, after all. Sometimes I'm fierce and frightening as any Wrath demon! And a lot of the time, well..."

Burning Desire winked, then he suddenly burst apart into a wave of red flames that swirled upwards and reformed into a firebird that flew quickly up towards the ceiling, Innocence gazing up with awe as she watched Burning fly high through the air before he spun around and dove smoothly down, landing on top of a hollow brazier near the shelves.

The firebird flapped his wings a few times, and then the polymorphed demon preened for a moment before saying cheerfully: "Now you can't pretend that this doesn't show a few silly things about me, Innocence. But it's better to express yourself than bottle it all away."

With that, he flapped his wings firmly, releasing a gush of flames that set the brazier alight before the demon hopped off the metal bowl, transforming in a burst of fire in midair back into a stallion that strode calmly over to the other side of the table and sat across from Innocence, gazing at her kindly.

She gazed back up at him, smiling widely even as he felt that... all-too-familiar prick of envy in her soul again. That desire, to become stronger, to do everything that her family, her friends, all these people in her life could do. After all, it was well-known that her Móðer in particular was very good when it came to polymorphs, and Innocence imagined Luna could easily transform into anything Burning Desire could if she really wanted to... and her father...

Innocence hesitated, then she looked down at a claw before asking slowly: "Burning, well... what if... because of what I am, one day I'm... I don't just polymorph myself through magic. I transform myself entirely because of the corruption or something, I become..."

Burning Desire only chuckled quietly at this, and then he said softly: "You're no monster." He paused, then smiled slightly and added meditatively: "And well, that's not to say your father is any beast himself, of course. I mean, Luna's always going on and on about him – when she's not mocking him, I mean – but I'm quite certain that darling violet wouldn't have anything to do with a monster. Therefore, none of your parents, nor you little one, can be monsters. Violet simply wouldn't stand for it, and quite honestly, neither would I."

The stallion reached up and lightly punched her shoulder, and Innocence smiled in return up at him, feeling strangely reassured by this odd demon. She nodded a little before he said gently: "Good. Try and keep that in mind... and remember your honor is your greatest source of strength, little filly. If you lose that honor, then it doesn't matter how great and powerful you might be. You'll still be left with nothing."

"Momma and Mutt and Dad always say that, and so does Antares..." Innocence bit her lip for a moment, hesitating as she looked over at Burning Desire, before she asked finally, a question she was always afraid to ask her parents or family because of how strongly they believed in the concept: "Is honor really all that good?"

Burning Desire looked thoughtfully at the young mare, and then he reached up and rubbed thoughtfully at the underside of his muzzle before murmuring: "I suppose that depends on how you look at things, Sin. I would like to say yes. I would like to honestly believe that yes, honor elevates us, is greater than strength, is key to helping us become... more than who and what we start out as. But because I know you're growing up...

"Honor is strength, perhaps. But honor is also something that binds us, that can restrain us. Honor, and mercy both... part of what make them so important, that they are signs of such strength, is that sometimes we have to willingly sacrifice things to maintain our honor. We have to give the upper hoof to people who might harm us; we have to reach out to people we would rather leave in darkness; we may sometimes leave ourselves vulnerable. If you want to maintain your honor, then you cannot be selective with it."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Burning Desire shook his head and chuckled quietly. "So it's a little tricky. But what honor guarantees you, Innocence, is companions, friends, and that others who value honor will be drawn to your side. And we have greater strength in unified numbers than we ever will standing alone and apart."

Innocence nodded slowly, licking her lips before she asked uncertainly: "But what about... I mean... warlords? Or the old demon lords who used to create deathless or... other things like that? And I mean... I've read a little bit of Because Love Conquers All..."

Burning Desire shook his head, saying softly: "Yes, and they were loved, in a way. But a sad way, Innocence, a way that... wasn't entirely real, I think. There's no way to tell how much free will anyone in that story really had, at the end of the day, any more than you could say that the evil Scrivener and Luna of that story didn't eventually craft their own demise. They couldn't even raise a child between them: and as we've heard, after they became Gymbr, they eventually consumed everything they cared about. I think that... for all his power, Innocence, Gymbr must have been very much alone, and very sad. I of all ponies understand that there's immense pleasure at first when it comes to buying strength and power and making your dreams come true... but it... it sours."

He quieted, licked his lips slowly, then gazed at her softly. "Now, Sin. I'm not asking you to promise me anything, but as a word of advice: try and always remember that your friends, your enemies, we're all just people. It's very hard at times, I know, but... I know you've been taught a lot about empathy and reaching out to others, too."

Innocence smiled a little at this, shaking her head and mumbling: "Well, I don't see why I should bother to try and emphasize with some bully or some jerk, or even try and reach out to people outside of who I know and care about..."

"Well, that's part of honor, filly." Burning Desire sat back, tenting his hooves with an amused look. "But don't worry. You don't have to be a big, mature mare for another few years yet, I think."

"Good." Innocence flipped the book in front of her open, and then she hesitated before looking up and asking quietly: "Burning, I... well... but do you think that if I don't be honorable enough... Mom and Dad and... Mutt especially, would they... I mean..."

"Your parents, your whole family, Innocence – and that includes me, little filly – are always going to love you and be there for you. No matter what you choose, what road you walk." Burning Desire said empathetically, and then he met her eyes, reaching up and touching her face gently. "Always. I only hope you don't take too much advantage of that, my little pony."

Innocence smiled a little, blushing and bowing her head forwards before she nodded a little and slowly rose her eyes, asking almost shyly: "So... can you help me with this stuff then, Burning? I... I want to get stronger. I really do."

Burning Desire shrugged easily, leaning over to look down at the open book. "Well, of course. You know that I've never been able to deny the request of a pretty mare, much less my own family!"

The young unicorn smiled wider up at the demon, and she felt herself settling in and relaxing in the minutes they spent together, oddly comforted in the presence of Burning Desire. But she trusted him, and she could always talk to him, and she just plain liked her eccentric godfather. Sometimes she wondered what had ever gone on between him and her mother, but she figured it was some romance that had never worked out, or never fully blossomed. She thought it would be awkward to ask for a whole variety of reasons, after all, so she was content trying to puzzle it out on her own by looking at their body language and listening to all the little stories they often told about each other.

Eventually, Twilight Sparkle herself showed up, sighing and striding over as she saw the two huddled over the book... but Innocence thought there was relief and approval, too. Burning Desire grinned at the Lich as she joined them, and the stallion slapped Innocence on the back as he said warmly: "She's got a mind as sharp as Prestige Luster's. Perhaps she even rivals your own fierce talent, violet... but then again, after how she got her cutie mark..."

Innocence blushed at this, clearing her throat awkwardly as Twilight sighed a little, but the gaze she turned on her daughter was soft as she murmured: "I know. And she's going to be strong one day, Burning. She already is, as a matter of fact... but I mean, you're going to find a different sort of strength one day too, Innocence."

The Lich paused, then she smiled a little and shook her head as the young mare looked awkwardly up. She often didn't want to remember the day she'd gotten her cutie mark: in her mind it didn't really stand out as some grand accomplishment or achievement.

It had been when she was being tutored still, just a filly, but big and almost a teenager. In other words, she was very, very late in finding her so-called 'special talent,' in spite of the fact she was damn sure it had something to do with magic. But she was getting worried, and she'd overheard some talk questioning whether or not she'd even get a cutie mark... and as if looking like she did wasn't bad enough, she knew that not having a cutie mark would truly leave her ostracized from the rest of pony society.

Her mother had insisted they go along with a field trip the schoolhouse was doing: there was some exhibition going on at a new environmental center in Canterlot, demonstrating how ponies used to be able to control all the weather and nature through magic. Innocence remembered how little she had wanted to go... how she'd gotten dragged along anyway... and how it had felt to be there, among a whole group of fillies and colts almost all smaller and younger than her, half of them with their cutie marks. And this had been before she'd learned how to polymorph, three people had already mistaken her for a half-dragon, half-pony child, and it only got worse when they found out Twilight wasn't a chaperon, but her mother.

So even if the subject had been an interesting one to her, she hadn't exactly enjoyed her time there. She felt too exposed and self-conscious and just plain embarrassed... and so she hadn't even noticed when the ponies giving the demonstration had begun asking for volunteers from the audience to give the nature-controlling magic a try.

Twilight had volunteered her before she even knew what was going on, and Innocence found herself pushed up to the front, humiliated, with a whole bunch of other foals. There were three unicorns, three earth ponies, three Pegasi... and her, shunted off to the side because they didn't know where the hell to put her. God, it had been humiliating.

And what she hated more was that they were inside this hot and magically-inundated greenhouse in Canterlot, and she could feel the layers and layers of enchantments and magic and everything else, fortifying the greenhouse and keeping the little 'nature' inside here suppressed and docile. So when the earth ponies planted seeds in the square soil garden and packed it down with their hooves like they were instructed, everyone was impressed by how the plants started to immediately grow... everyone but her, that was. This wasn't because of their innate connection to the earth. This was part of a parlor trick.

The Pegasus foals were able to create clouds from a small pool nearby, with the help of adults: one of the foals actually had to be lifted by one of the supervisors, and Innocence felt... all the more humiliated and embarrassed. Not just for her, but for these dumb kids who didn't realize even some passing butterflies would probably exert enough force to lift water out of the magically-charged pool and form it into clouds. No, this place was just a giant money-grab, a stupid sideshow attraction, a... theme park of propaganda. Just as the rain that fell from the clouds carried that same magic energy with it, and it was the magic that made the plants grow more than anything any of the foals had done.

The unicorn foals, lastly, used their magic to open a shutter and draw down a solar light. This was technology, not magic, but everyone was giving oohs and ahs of amazement like they were really moving the sun. It was not impressive to her, as the plants grew larger because the magic energy was being further amplified by the heat and shine...

They had grown several ugly-looking seedling trees. Innocence remembered how frustrated she had felt, before one of the supervisors encouraged her: "Why don't you put the finishing touches on? I'll even help you."

Innocence had never taken very well to having ponies hold her claws. She remembered her horn lighting up, and she remembered feeling all these wards and magics and parlor-trick charms around her, and she remembered being... inexplicably angry. She remembered her words, too, saccharine and sweet: "No thank you, I got it."

And then she had just... no, it wasn't 'lashing out,' so to speak. It was more than that. She had been focused, and she had felt something beyond these walls, striving to get it, and she had somehow... met it, and intertwined her magic with it, and there had been this sudden understanding in her when she'd lashed her horn upwards and focused all her strength into working with this immense, wild force outside the walls of the greenhouse...

Nature had roared, and the world had shook, and vines had blasted their way out of the ground and ripped through the walls of the greenhouse center. All the charms that worked to suppress and control the little gardens and nature had ruptured from the force of magic and primal nature, and in moments, the greenhouse had been covered by life, true life, devouring the attempts to control it and the false, synthetic nature.

She had brought chaos to order, put wild in the tame, brought new life... and as all the vines and the trees and the ivy and the other plants she had summoned up out of the earth burst into flower and bloom, her eyes had opened, and she had smiled proudly when she'd realized her emblem had finally taken shape: she had been right all along. Magic: she had just needed to feel that surge, show a big enough demonstration, summon it up in the right way. And she was determined to live up to what her emblem meant.

She was still proud of herself for what she had accomplished in wrecking the greenhouse and gaining her cutie mark. What she was much more uncomfortable about was what had followed, with the Royal Guard showing up and the threats of lawsuit and how people didn't celebrate what she did, they just yelled at her and pushed her away even more.

Things had settled after a few weeks, but... Innocence had never forgotten that. What bad had she really done? They hadn't even done any real explaining of how old Equestria had worked: their version was just cheap parlor tricks and ponies all working together as equals, when it had never really been that way in the past. And she had earned her cutie mark with a show of how to really control nature, and what real magic was: in return, she'd gotten made fun of and a slap on the wrist from the Canterlot Guards and gotten her parents in trouble...

She remembered the assessment that had followed. How she was 'troubled,' and how they wanted to examine her 'home environment,' although that had never gone anywhere because Aunt Tia had stepped in and fixed everything. There had been a lot of troubles, even though now... now things were better, or at least she liked to tell herself they were.

Innocence looked lamely up at her mother, but Twilight only brushed her mane gently back and said softly: "You're going to be incredible when you really learn how to harness your powers, Innocence. But... well, here, let me help. Those are transfiguration and polymorph texts, right? Let's take a look at moderate-level transformation, like adding wings and appendages."

The young mare looked up brightly as Burning Desire grinned slightly, glancing over at the violet mare and asking easily: "And just what do you know about adding-"

"Burning." Twilight smiled despite herself all the same as she looked pointedly over at the stallion, who held up his hooves innocently. Then the Lich shook her head and said softly: "No, I just think... my daughter deserves to learn to soar if she wants to. That's all."

Innocence blushed a little as she glanced up at her mother, surprised. She had always envied the fact that her maternal figures could all fly... they had wings and magic and even though part of her focused on the whole power and strength associated with being able to fly whenever you pleased, the rest of her admittedly just... wondered what it must be like to be able to leap into the air and take off whenever you wanted.

The only taste of flying she'd ever had was being carried by someone else through the air. The young unicorn smiled as she thought about this, then she asked hesitantly: "You... I mean... you really don't mind that..."

"We have to study everything anyway, Innocence, and... I think... I know you're ready to start learning more. To start... doing more, to go to places where... I might not always be able to catch you if you fall. That's part of growing up, even though I'm always going to be there for you and love you, no matter what happens." Twilight said softly, reaching up and touching her daughter's cheek... and for some reason, at this moment in time, it didn't make Innocence feel embarrassed or annoyed or like it usually did. It made her feel... happy. "You're my little girl. And you know that Scrivy, Luna and I... we put you first and foremost. It's important that we see you happy, more important still that you... well... that you're able to grow."

Innocence smiled warmer, nodding firmly, and Twilight Sparkle smiled back at her cherished daughter, wishing she could always be there all the same to protect her little girl... but at the same time, loving her enough to know she had to start letting her grow up into who she really wanted to be.

Chapter Thirteen: Business Interests

~BlackRoseRaven

Subterra was a pleasant escape, and Scrivener and Luna were both trying to put their problems out of mind as they lay side-by-side on the sloped roof of the Thorn Palace. The building itself was a strange design: a massive, U-shaped fortress that surrounded a step pyramid topped with a reflecting tool and a towering statue of Nightmare Moon, with bridges leading back and forth between various levels of the pyramid and the fortified, immense manse behind it.

Scrivener and Luna were on the high roof that overlooked the flat top of the pyramid, directly beneath one of the larger, more-recently installed crystal lamps that had been enhanced by corruption. The stallion couldn't help but look up at this meditatively behind the sunglasses he was wearing, reflecting that they were using this poison for more and more... he just hoped they really were turning this toxin to the use of good, and this wasn't some... subliminal subconscious evil desire.

"It likely is. But all the same, 'tis fine and well." Luna said mildly, her prosthetic horn pulsing in time with the massive gemstone above, hooves behind her head as she rested back on a large pillow, and Scrivener shrugged absently as the sapphire mare peered at him overtop her own black shades. "Well. Now that is quite the relaxed response from thou. Normally by now thou art whining."

Scrivener grunted, closing his eyes and replying after a moment: "I'm just. Trying not to admit you might not have had a stupid idea here, that's all. Now I know why the demons always try and do their whole... gemstone-bathing thing. That feels really nice."

"Aye, but the shingles are all scritchy. We should have a platform built up here, Scrivener Blooms." Luna paused, then she smiled slightly and rolled slowly across the roof until she and Scrivener were pressing together side-by-side, and she settled her head comfortably into the crook of his neck as she slid a foreleg around him and let the other tickle down his chest gently. "Or perhaps 'tis better because anypony can see..."

"Stop. Stop that." Scrivener slapped at her lightly, and Luna huffed before nestling herself closer, and the stallion shook his head with a slight smile as he closed his eyes. "Anyway, we're both... we gotta leave soon. It's almost mid-morning and I have all those appointments in Canterlot today."

Luna grumbled at this, then she complained: "And why does Twilight Sparkle get to stay with our daughter, and I have to come with thee?"

"Because, uh. Twilight doesn't die when she's more than forty feet away from us." Scrivener said mildly, and Luna huffed loudly at this. "Hey, it's not my fault. It's yours. You're the one who bound our souls together all those years ago."

"Well, yes, I did, but 'tis thy fault because thou stabbed mine own damned horn through thy own damned heart." Luna prodded him firmly several times, glowering at him. "As if I would not have eventually simply beaten Ignominious out of thee. The demon was no match for me, Scrivy."

Scrivener only smiled despite himself, then he leaned over and kissed her temple gently in reply, and Luna looked a little pacified before she said thoughtfully: "Technically, I suppose 'tis our bodies that must be always close. Therefore, I decree that Twilight Sparkle and I should switch bodies, and that way I can be free to work with our daughter and she can go with thee to deal with thy damned bookery, as she likes to do anyway."

"No one likes to deal with Underbrush, he's scary. And old now, so I'd feel worse about punching him again." Scrivener paused meditatively. "I can't believe you actually kept his teeth. They're still sitting in your stupid jar at home, with all your other creepy artifacts, you know."

Luna huffed at this, complaining: "They are important, Scrivy! For one, they are the first time thou ever really dredged up the courage to pummel a pony who well-deserved pummeling... outside of combat, I mean. Thou art a... a strawberry cream puff when thou art out of the fight. 'Tis frustrating how thou whimpers and cowers away so much."

"It's because you like to beat up everyone, Luna. I always figure that if I don't let you defend my honor, then you'll just beat me instead of them for taking away the fun of hitting things." Scrivener replied, and Luna looked thoughtful at this explanation before the stallion added: "And I've hit a lot of things since then, by the way. Also, I'm already rude enough as it is. I like to think that my words hurt people in ways my hooves can't."

"Great pompous writer. I shall hurt thee with words. I shall bludgeon thee with them." Luna grumbled, mashing her face against the side of his neck, and the stallion shifted with a smile despite himself before the sapphire mare shook herself quickly out and looked up at Scrivener with determination. "While we are here, we shall have a day of freedom, agreed? A day where we shan't restrain ourselves in the slightest."

"You never restrain yourself. I mean..." Scrivener halted and softened, looking at her, and Luna huffed and blushed slightly as she looked away with a grumble.

"I do not mean that, of course, I mean only... the other pleasures. Things we may find with ease and security in this place so dedicated and peaceful but... not in other places." the sapphire mare said finally, and then she glanced up and grumbled a little as she wiggled herself half on top of Scrivener, mumbling: "And now I hear Twilight Sparkle's worries in my mind. Tell her that we are fine."

The charcoal stallion smiled despite himself, reaching up and stroking his hoof gently along Luna's face before it quietly clicked apart into a claw as he slid it into her mane, and she closed her eyes with a soft sigh as her ephemeral, sparkling locks tickled silently around his digits. There was quiet for a few moments, and then the mare's eyes opened as they gazed at one-another tenderly, the sapphire winged unicorn finally saying quietly: "Damn us both, Scrivy. But thy evils shan't distract me from what I desire. For not just us, either, but Twilight as well... she must learn to relax, and spend at least a few hours away from Sin. For her own sake: she is doing well but I fear that all the same, Innocence... well, is becoming grouchy."

"I don't know, Luna. It's... they're doing really well together in this kind of place. There's less stress, less judging, Innocence doesn't feel that she has to... you know, hide as much. In any way, shape or form." Scrivener shrugged a bit, smiling a little at Luna. "I think you just want to hog Twilight to yourself."

Luna shrugged back agreeably, and then she bumped their muzzles together and smiled when the stallion drew his claw away and closed it tightly back into a solid hoof. "Well, then... let us try and make a promise to each other, Scrivener Blooms. We shall try and do what is good for us, without interfering too much with all the rest of our family. For at times we can both be very controlling."

"Yeah, that's me. Controlling." Scrivener said finally, and then he winced when the starry-maned mare punched him lightly in the chest before she sat up and poked at him a few times, making him flail and huff. "You know, we we were so close to just having a nice, quiet day together..."

"And that is boring. Come now, up on thy hooves: besides, thou must get ready for thy silly meeting, must thou not?" Luna poked him again, and the stallion grunted before he sat up and nodded grudgingly. "Precisely. Besides, I desire to make mischief in Canterlot. In many ways 'tis still a place rife with Celestianess, after all."

"Celestia isn't even rife with Celestianess anymore." Scrivener said pointedly, and then he winced when Luna grabbed him and hauled him forwards, sending him stumbling towards the edge of the roof before he cursed as he tripped and fell off, flailing violently as he fell towards the surface of the concrete bridge below.

Luna cheerily jumped off the roof after the stallion, childishly cannonballing through the air as there was a loud thump below. After a second of freefall, her rump collided with something soft instead of hard concrete, and she nodded firmly once as she looked at the mass of Nightmares that had popped into existence over the bridge, Scrivener blinking dumbly from where he sat amongst the herd of dark entities before Luna said cheerfully: "Thou hast our thanks. I may soon come to officially like thee if all thee keep up this wonderful there-ness."

"It is... a little difficult at times, Mistress, but we do live to serve. Please try and give us some warning next time, though." said one of the Greater Nightmares mixed in with the group of smaller smoky equines, and Luna shrugged amiably before she waved a hoof at them, and Scrivener winced as he landed on his rump as the mass of creatures vanished.

"Do you remember when a few Nightmares almost killed us? Well, we're going to get attacked by them again at this rate if you keep this up." Scrivener said mildly, and then he shook his head and grumbled, as he rubbed slowly at his flank: "And we might even deserve it. They're not... I don't even know what the word is for what we were just using them as. Safety mats?"

"All I know is that they do not complain when we land on them, buttocks-first." Luna paused to giggle, then she cleared her throat when Scrivener gave her a flat look. "Well, 'tis true. Besides, 'twas a long time ago, and we were not smart, nor strong, not well-prepared in those days."

Scrivener grunted, then he stood up and shook his head as Luna strode quickly up beside him, smiling over at him as she added: "And besides. They could not use the same trick upon me they did before. The darkness in me is no longer bottled away, after all."

The stallion looked thoughtful at this, then he shrugged a little before the two strode calmly over the bridge and onto the wide, square top of the pyramid, both ponies softening a bit as they walked around the massive, grinning statue of Nightmare Moon in her full, terribly glory. Selene has made that statue... and Selene had always spent much of her time resting on the reflecting pool in front of it. Not inside it, but rather standing on the water like it was glass, staring at herself, studying herself. But considering what the Pious looked like...

Scrivener and Luna traded looks, then smiled a bit as they headed to the steps that led down from the pyramid and into the gorgeous and dark undercity, Scrivener quickly pushing his sunglasses onto his forehead before he asked almost impulsively: "Do you remember when we first met her?"

"Aye, in our dreams. We thought it was nothing but a funny, linked dream... and Selene did little to contradict that notion." The sapphire mare shook her head, murmuring softly: "But she was studying us. Pretending she was Moon Blessed, hiding amongst our fantasies... perhaps she found her way into our mind from the very first time we visited Looking Glass World. For 'twas not long after that we began to imagine the Moon Blessed, was it?"

The charcoal stallion nodded a little, and he and Luna traded smiles, shifting a bit before the sapphire winged unicorn added softly: "And aye, Scrivy. At times I do... think there are candidates who would... enjoy being such, and I would enjoy making such. But I know that perhaps the world would not be comfortable with that and... we have much already, do we not?"

"I wonder if maybe the Draconequus are all watching us because we're going to destroy everything ourselves, Luna." Scrivener muttered, and the sapphire mare gave him a flat look, but the stallion only looked pointedly back. "Hey, it's possible. We've gotten... with Innocence growing up, and us having more time again and maybe being... bored from the lack of conflict, from being able to just hang around and do more on our own and not getting that reminder about why we act the way we do, fight for what we do, and try to avoid being terrible ponies..."

Luna only huffed loudly at this, then complained: "Oh, so what, we have made Greater Nightmares. We have created a facility where we may permit more dangerous things to be researched... but 'tis for the greater good! After all, think of the poisons we have gained the antidotes to, and the ways we have found to strengthen those frail and weak; we are not good ponies but we are far, far from doing terrible things."

Luna stopped, then she looked down and smiled a little, adding quietly: "And anyway, Scrivener Blooms, perhaps this is silly but... I believe that as long as we do not give in to our worst weaknesses, we shall always maintain a certain level of... rightness. Aye, Scrivy. We may be monsters, but we are far from losing our honor yet."

Scrivener nodded after a moment, and they shared a soft look before both ponies gazed ahead as they made their way slowly through Subterra's streets. The citizens of the dark city greeted them and called out to them with warmth and respect, and the two smiled a little at what they had helped establish: a place where demons and undead and things considered terrible evils all worked together in harmony, shared a civilization that was strikingly similar to Canterlot above... except there was also more of a sense of peace here, a sense of right over wrong. And that fascinated Scrivener: yes, the crimes that did occur were also often far nastier in nature than those that happened in Canterlot above, but they were also far, far fewer.

It didn't feel like a long walk through Subterra, but it never did: even with all the time they'd had to get used to all the sights and sounds, the sense of comforting darkness and sanctuary coming from the most unexpected of places, it was always fascinating to them. It still held that same sense of pride and warmth and community for them, and Scrivener thought it always would... at least until everything got screwed up, one way or another, but that might just be his cynicism talking.

Luna gave the stallion an amused look as they entered one of the few public access tunnels that led up to Canterlot: these were still warily-guarded, since not all the ponies in the city above this city were exactly happy to have an enormous metropolis of demons and dark creatures below them, but several of the entrances had become more accessible over the last decade or so, and more ponies were making their way down into Subterra, if only to try and show off to their friends how brave they were. Other ponies came down here to buy goods and services that were illegal in Canterlot; something that had caused quite a bit of consternation throughout the city.

All the same, Canterlot had learned to embrace Subterra: it attracted a lot of interest, and the demons also provided excellent protection and reinforcement. Equestria's military was strong and well-known to the world by now, but no one was pretending the fact these ponies also had demons and other creatures at their disposal wasn't a major reason why even the warlike griffins were trying to remain neutral instead of picking on pony settlements near the border.

Scrivener and Luna both glanced up as they neared the end of the wide, curving tunnel, and the sapphire mare grinned widely at the Royal Guard stationed at the mouth of the tunnel. They both looked a little strained... possibly because there was a large demon sitting complacently upside-down on the roof, its dark blue eyes looking inquisitively back and forth as large, bat-like wings fluttered on its back.

Luna paused beneath the demon, peering up at it, and the demon cocked its head to look back down at her before it suddenly smiled brightly, showing off needle like-teeth. It waved at her, and Luna waved childishly back as Scrivener rolled his eyes in amusement before he turned to keep going, saying mildly to the guards as he passed: "Good luck, guys. Try not to worry too much though, most Hollowjaws feed off carrion."

Then Luna bounded up beside him, the sapphire mare baring her fangs in a wide grin as her sapphire mane swirled backwards as she caught sight of a trio of foals near the entrance, the children looking up at her before she exclaimed: "Although all we demons do adore devouring little foals!"

The group of children yelled in terror and scrambled away – along with one or two adults who had been lingering – and Luna threw her head back and laughed. Scrivener sighed tiredly, then he looked pleadingly over at the mare, saying finally: "Please try and remember this isn't Ponyville, okay? These kids might actually be terrified out of their minds and. Not having fun."

Luna huffed at this, flicking her mane as she replied pointedly: "I am a champion of Equestria, Scrivener Blooms. I am an important pony. I am that which the universe revolves around. All know my name, just as all shall gaze upon me with delight when they see me. Delight, and terror."

Scrivener sighed at this, looking back and forth before he turned to walk down the sidewalk, glancing moodily up at the pretty architecture of the beautiful city around them as he muttered: "I really do wonder sometimes what it must be like in Luna world."

"Thou should know, thou lives in it." Luna grinned, checking him lightly as they walked along, and the stallion sighed again and shook his head, trying his best to resist smiling. Then Luna leaned over and blew a raspberry against his cheek, and the charcoal stallion laughed even as he shoved at her lightly, grinning and hating how much the mare made him enjoy even the dumbest things with her.

They strode easily side-by-side, finding that natural, easy pace with each other, both gazing around at the late-morning energy of the city. It was filled with ponies, many of them hurrying on their way towards lunch or hurrying back to work... or just hurrying because that was what most ponies seemed to get caught up in around this city, the hurry, the bustle, the... getting-thereness. It wasn't like Ponyville or Subterra, where you tended to think more about the journey than you did your destination.

Less ponies greeted them, but it wasn't like Luna was unknown here: the fact she was the previous Baroness' sister, combined with how well it was known by now that Luna Brynhild all-but-ruled over Subterra and the forces of the night across Equestria, made her quite a well-known figure. And admittedly, the fact that Scrivener had ended up with quite a bit of success with his book, I Am, You Are years ago now had probably helped her notoriety.

Scrivener liked that he had kind of sunk back into obscurity, and he was very content to just sail along until Underbrush got sick of him. Luna, on the other hoof, delighted in being infamous and getting herself noticed wherever she went, as she held her head high and proud. Something Scrivener was... was glad for, in spite of everything, as the sapphire mare's prosthetic horn gleamed.

Luna felt his eyes and his thoughts, and she huffed a little, looking grouchily over at the charcoal stallion as she said pointedly: "'Twas very quick that I learned not to cry over spilt horn, Scrivy, as thou should remember. Aye, there are problems, but... it has been quite some time since I accidentally damaged the soulstone now, has it not?"

"Yeah, maybe three whole weeks." Scrivener said mildly, and then he ducked when the sapphire mare swung her horn at him with a huff.

They continued onwards, making easy conversation until they reached a massive, imposing stone structure. Scrivener sighed as Luna took the lead, flicking her horn to throw the glass doors open so she could stride imperiously inside, and the stallion followed her across the wide, spacious lobby as ponies hurried to get out of the mare's way.

Luna poked the button for the elevator at the end of the hall with her horn, then fidgeted impatiently before glaring over her shoulder at the counter and the clerks behind it. All three hurriedly turned their eyes away, and Luna nodded firmly once before turning back around as Scrivener sighed tiredly. It hadn't taken more than two visits for them to quickly learn not to try and make Luna wait politely or sign the guestbook.

The doors dinged open, a few ponies filing out, and Luna hurried into the elevator, followed by a more-dour Scrivener. The mare had already hit the button for the top floor and was now standing at the ready, eyes gleaming and a wide grin on her features as the doors slowly slid closed.

The moment they clicked shut, Luna hopped into the air and began to flap her wings, hovering on the spot as the elevator rumbled, then began to rise. And Scrivener watched mildly as Luna seemed to 'fall' through the air until her rump hit the floor, her wings flapping one last time before she grinned up at him as he looked down at her with the same bemused expression.

Finally, the stallion reached out and gently bopped her nose, and she glowered at him, saying sulkily: "Well, 'tis like tradition now."

"This is why I'm scared of modern technology." Scrivener said dryly, and then he shook his head slowly before glancing up as the doors dinged open.

A pony in a suit began to stride into the elevator, then stopped and stared at the two ponies in the cabin. Luna and Scrivener stared back, and then Luna climbed up to her hooves and said pointedly: "If thou desires to use my magic lift, thou must sit in my husband's lap."

Scrivener glared at Luna, and the pony in the suit winced and hurriedly stepped backwards, letting the doors closed before the winged unicorn turned a grumpy look back at Scrivener Bloom. "Well, 'twould be nice if now and again thou would cuddle with a handsome stallion for me. I enjoy watching the squirming."

"You're squirming." Scrivener muttered, then he looked up as the doors opened... and sighed tiredly as in the elevator car, Luna rapidly pressed all the buttons on the elevator before bounding out just as the doors began to close, the charcoal stallion saying mildly as she hopped up beside him: "There really is too much wrong with you."

Luna only sniffed loudly at this, raising her head and replying firmly: "All that is wrong with me is that I am but one pony." She paused, then glowered around the empty, expansive waiting room before her eyes locked on the double doors at the end, and she strode towards these as the secretary at the desk only sighed tiredly, not looking up from the typewriter she was poking away at.

Scrivener followed the sapphire mare, knowing it was useless trying to stop her from barging in... and admittedly not entirely inclined to do so, anyway. All the same, he did feel a little bit of pity when Luna smashed the oak double doors open with her head before striding into the massive office beyond, the mare grinning widely at the moss-green earth pony seated behind a titanic desk, an expensive gray suit over his body that matched the color of his short, peppered mane, his hooded, dark eyes glaring fearlessly at the winged unicorn as she announced: "We are here!"

"I never would have guessed." Xeric Underbrush said sourly, and then he smoothed out the lapels of his suit, scowling as Luna flopped herself into one of the large chairs and Scrivener Blooms followed the mare in, giving a lame smile to the earth pony and feeling perhaps a moment of sympathy... and a little bit of that same old anxiety he always felt when it came to the mogul. Underbrush, after all, identified himself only as a publisher because he was a former 'slave hoof' from the north, where literature was considered one of the pursuits suitable only for a unicorn. In reality, Underbrush probably owned half of the businesses in Canterlot: he had begun at a newspaper, eventually become its owner, and then expanded rapidly through every other business earth ponies had been forbidden to touch by unicorns.

Scrivener Blooms awkwardly took the other large chair in front of the desk, and Underbrush leaned back in his throne-like seat. He glared at them, and Scrivener reflected moodily again how unsettling that was with the enormous portrait behind the publisher. A portrait from when he was much younger, but that fire in his eyes was the exact same.

"What do you have for me?" Underbrush asked in a sourly-expectant tone, and Scrivener opened his mouth... then slowly closed it and paled slightly as he realized that, like an idiot, he and Luna hadn't brought the goddamn manuscript with them.

But Luna grinned widely at this, looking almost excited as she rose her soulstone horn as it began to glow. Underbrush gave her a sour look, but admittedly Scrivener Blooms was impressed by how the mogul didn't flinch like most people would. "Fear not, I shall call for aid. Scrivener Blooms, explain thy new silly little story, I am busy."

The charcoal stallion sighed tiredly, and then he began awkwardly: "Well, uh... it has to do with. Um. I mean, the main hero is an earth pony, who... it's a fiction story..."

Underbrush was glaring him into the ground, and Luna was attempting not to laugh as her horn gave short, rhythmic pulses. Scrivener cleared his throat and sat back, then he forced himself to look up at the mogul as he recited: "A hundred and twenty thousand words, divided into sixteen chapters, plus prologue and epilogue. And Luna already sketched some cover art and some internal pictures."

Xeric Underbrush closed his eyes tiredly, reaching up and rubbing a hoof slowly at his forehead before he asked crankily: "And what is the story about?"

"Uh... a pony... he becomes a detective and... there's demons." Scrivener cleared his throat, and Underbrush scowled at him past his hoof. "I know you hate detective stories. I really worked hard on this though, I did all kinds of research and... you know I have a lot of-"

"You are not a suspense writer. You write romance and fantasy and stories that are taken as fiction, whether they are or not. And you write your sappy little poems." Underbrush said distastefully, and Scrivener Blooms' features slowly puckered. "I asked you for another book of poems."

"I... well... I didn't want to write another book of poems." Scrivener said defensively, and then he looked over his shoulder dumbly as hooves strode calmly into the room, Luna looking pleased with herself as the glow died out from her soulstone horn.

The hooves belonged to a gorgeous sea-green mare with glowing blue eyes, who looked almost like a beautiful pony... except her mane and tail were made of thick seaweed, and she had sharp teeth that were currently lightly biting into a sheaf of papers bound with a simple string. Not to mention her hooves were cloven, and the way she moved was almost too liquid, too graceful to belong to any mortal mare.

Scrivener Blooms reached up as one of his hooves clicked apart into a claw, taking this from the familiar demon as he smiled at her gratefully. "Thank you, Hevatica."

"It is my pleasure, Scrivener Blooms." the Kelpie replied with an easy nod, then she sat primly down, politely nodding to Underbrush but otherwise clearly intending to hang around for the rest of the meeting. And Scrivener sighed, since he wasn't exactly in a position to ask the demon to leave, and Luna looked like she was ready to veto any attempt to kick the Kelpie out anyway.

So instead, the stallion tossed the manuscript onto Underbrush's enormous desk, and the publisher reached out and swept it up as Scrivener said mildly: "You know, I should be dealing with your editors, not-"

"I invested a lot of money into you. I am the one who made you famous in the first place, and who continues to control how the public perceives you." Underbrush answered in an icy voice as he ripped the string off and paged through the script, and then he looked up darkly. "And this isn't what I wanted or intended to present next."

Scrivener shrugged, looking challengingly over at Underbrush... but after a moment, the publisher rolled his eyes and shook his head, looking back down at the sheaf of papers before he asked finally: "Is this it?"

"I... guess. If you're asking if I have any other additions or any further plans along this line, then no, it's just this one-shot. And I don't have anything else good for publishing right now..." Scrivener bit his lip, shifting a little before he said finally: "Well, I mean. I have a few poems I could mail in, since you own like... what... twenty magazines?"

"Twenty-three. Have your idiot agent mail them to me." Underbrush said moodily, and Scrivener nodded awkwardly. Then the publisher looked up and frowned as he drew his eyes slowly from Scrivener to Hevatica.

The Kelpie only smiled, staying seated calmly back between the chairs, and after a moment Underbrush turned his eyes back to Scrivener and asked distastefully: "If I ask you to write a nonfiction collection about demons and Subterra, will you do so? I need it done within a few months, but it's becoming a hot topic again. It would be very easy to capitalize on, especially with your experiences."

"Money money money." Scrivener mumbled, but all the same he tossed a questioning look to Luna and Hevatica. The demon nodded to him encouragingly, while the sapphire mare only pointed at herself a few times hurriedly, and the charcoal stallion rolled his eyes before turning back to Underbrush and saying finally: "I'll do it, but you know I'm going to have to interview Luna and Twilight for it, too. And you know that's going to be miserable."

"Then I'll assign you a collaborator to make it seem like you're not biased." Underbrush shook his head slowly, almost patronizingly. "There's always a market, and the right advertising and reviews shape the rules of the game.

"One last thing." Underbrush sat up, frowning a little as he looked over at Scrivener Blooms. "These Pious. I visited their Sanctuary recently with some business partners and was less than pleased with what I saw. What are you going to do about them?"

Scrivener tilted his head at this as Luna looked at the publisher with surprise. "Thou gained an audience with the Pious? But 'tis said that only their believers are permitted in the Sanctuary, and they have denied every request that-"

"Money talks." Underbrush said shortly, and then he grinned, showing off perfect teeth... several of which Scrivener knew were fake purely because he'd punched them out of the publisher's jaw a long time ago. "They're just another stupid religion. Religions run on the same lifeblood any other corporation does: money."

"Horses of Heaven, you really do make me look pleasant some days." Scrivener said dryly, and then he hesitated and added: "And the Pious always seemed... I dunno, very zealous. Like true believers in their own faith."

"They are. But they're looking for pony followers, now, and some of these ponies that have joined have the same business interests as I do. They know they need money if they want to get this brand new religion that's come to Equestria off the ground." Underbrush replied with a shrug, shaking his head slowly. "They need advertising, to influence powerful ponies, to ensure that they can convince the right people to spread their influence for them. Exactly the same way I sold millions of copies of your stupid book."

Scrivener didn't exactly know what to say to that as he cleared his throat awkwardly, then he said finally: "That's... I don't know if I should be touched or freaked out or what."

"Try saying 'thank you' some time then, you ungrateful whelp." Underbrush growled, and Scrivener glowered back at him as Hevatica sighed and Luna grumbled. Then the business mogul sat forwards and said moodily: "Let me put it this way. The Pious are trying to sell a product. Ponies, other business ponies like me, are now moving in to help them try and sell that product, in the hopes that they can benefit from the 'profit.' I recognize that all these big words and concepts might be going over your heads, but take a moment and try to use the little brainpower you have."

Luna bared her fangs as Scrivener looked darkly at the earth pony, but Hevatica surprisingly rose her head and said softly: "So it's just like the days of the past, is that what you're saying? When the Equestrian Templars ruled by power and wealth, declaring anyone who stood against them sinners... and the merchants..."

Underbrush nodded, looking with what seemed almost like the tiniest amount of approval at the Kelpie. Then he grunted and turned his eyes towards Scrivener picking up for the demon: "The merchants would join the church and praise god alongside the Templars, for protection from them. Of course, the 'church' would always take a cut of their prophets, but unicorns... they've always been greedy and stupid."

Luna rolled her eyes, and then she leaned forwards and asked ironically: "And what about thou, Underbrush? Need I point out the decadence and treasure thou girds thyself with?"

"The difference between me and the unicorns is that I'm not stupid." Underbrush replied, and then he sat back and looked down at the manuscript, tapping at it slowly. "That's why I can sell even garbage like this. That's why I can seize any and every opportunity that comes my way. That's why I continue to put up with an asshole, mediocre writer like you, Scrivener Blooms. Because even though you're a moderate investment, I can find a way to sell you to an audience, and unlike any other writer part of any other publishing house, you're not going to get old, you're not going to suffer disease, you're not going to decide one day to stop writing."

Scrivener blinked slowly at this as Luna snorted and Hevatica smiled slightly, and then the charcoal stallion asked awkwardly: "You know I fight monsters all the time, right? And... I mean, I live with Luna. That's pretty dangerous too. And... how do you know I won't suddenly stop writing one day, just because?"

The publisher snorted at this, shaking his head slowly as he bared his teeth in an almost-nasty grin. "No, you won't. Because you're too stubborn to die, and because I've seen you at work. You're neurotic, and broken, and probably brain-dead, but all that crap you go through, slave hoof... it bleeds into your writing and it's what makes you not entirely a failure at what you do."

"I'm. I'm going to leave now. Before I either hit you again or have to thank you, and I don't know which is worse." Scrivener Blooms said after a moment, and Luna grunted in agreement as Hevatica only shook her head with a soft smile. "Are you... were you serious about the-"

"I don't joke. It somehow fails to surprise me that you haven't learned that by now, though." Underbrush said irritably, and then he gestured dismissively at them. "Get out of here. You have ninety days to get me at least a hundred pages of information on Subterra and two interviews, and it better be goddamn interesting. And send those poems in."

"Yes, sir, master, sir." Scrivener intoned sourly, and Underbrush only grunted, already turning his attention completely away from the three. Luna narrowed her eyes and slowly began to raise her horn as it glowed, but the charcoal stallion sighed as he reached up, grasping the soulstone prosthetic and gently turning her head away as he gestured at her lightly.

She grumbled but nodded, falling into step after him as Hevatica turned and joined them, gazing kindly over at the two before she dropped her head towards him and said pleasantly: "You are a very patient person, Scrivener Blooms. It's no wonder we can't help but admire you so: it's the virtue of a worthy king."

Scrivener smiled lamely at this as Luna huffed loudly, leading the way through the waiting room. "Oh shush, foul demon." She paused, then poked at the elevator button with her horn even as she pushed her sunglasses back up her muzzle, adding: "Tis good to see thee, though. Even if thou art a terrible flirt."

"Well, I can't help but feel grateful to you both. And you are very good friends and allies." Hevatica said softly, smiling between them before she looked over her shoulder towards Underbrush's office. "Although you do keep strange company, but I think that itself is testament to the kind of people you both are, and the lengths you'll go to for this world."

Scrivener grunted at this, shrugging a little as Luna grinned wryly and replied easily: "Or 'tis perhaps simply testament to the fact that my husband is a great wimp."

"You're a wimp." Scrivener retorted lamely as the elevator doors hummed open, and then he winced a bit when the mare huffed and glowered at him, stepping quickly into the open car. "Okay, okay. You're not a wimp. You're. Horrible."

"Aye. I am." Luna said proudly, raising her head as she and Hevatica joined the stallion in the elevator. It began to descend, and the sapphire mare hurriedly leapt high into the air , flapping her wings as Hevatica and Scrivener both winced before the winged unicorn seemed to slowly rise up through the air until her head thudded into the roof, and then she winced even as she giggled before dropping to the floor.

Hevatica and Scrivener Blooms both winced as the elevator shuddered, but thankfully it seemed otherwise unhindered as Luna shook herself out and said mildly: "These magic boxes should be fixed, Scrivy. I wish to be able to hover inside one without bumping either head nor rump."

Scrivener sighed as the doors dinged open, and then he strode out of the elevator, mumbling: "Let's just go back to Subterra and see if we can find Innocence and Twilight. I can probably get Sparkles to do most of the research for me on that new book. I hope."

---

"Not if you're going to be a jerk, Scrivy." Twilight mumbled as she glanced upwards, feeling a distinct train of thought run through her mind, and then the presence twitched awkwardly before the Lich smiled a little despite herself, adding softly: "Hey, it's true. Now hurry back. Innocence wants to work with the mire and I don't think I can keep her practicing magic for much longer."

Twilight paused, then she gazed through the training room with a small smile. It was little more than open, flat stone with iron girders crisscrossing the ceiling, but the plain-looking walls were regenerating the magic damage that had been done to them from Sin's spells that missed target, and there was more than sixty feet of open space: more than enough to accommodate the thick glass globes Twilight had charged with magic and left to fly wildly and randomly around the room, sometimes bouncing off the walls and ceilings as Sin attempted to hit them with magic.

The crux of the exercise was that Twilight was making her use only the magic reserves in her armor: it forced her to work with the gemstones that stored her energy, and she cursed as she was forced to recharge them over and over as she fought to find a balance, and to figure out what kinds of spells she could even fling from the reserves alone.

It was frustrating, and Innocence glared as she rose a foreleg and concentrated on it: a bolt of magic was released from the gemstone on her bracer, but then the light faded out from inside the ruby. And more annoyingly, the magic bolt missed hitting anything except the ceiling above: the glass orbs were simply whipping around too fast for her to manage to target them.

The young unicorn growled beneath her facemask, then looked at her other foreleg, but it had lost its charge as well. And the magic battery over her breast didn't really seem to work all that well: any magic released from it seemed to go in a straight line, and it was hard as hell to try and aim her entire body in one specific direction.

Innocence shook her head angrily, then stomped her front claws down as she lowered her head, her horn glowing as she recharged the magic batteries on the bracers. Unfortunately, the act of pulling in so much magic energy had a nasty side effect: it drew the attention of the charged spheres buzzing around and made them all twist towards her.

The young mare looked up too late and took one sphere straight to the face just as she finished charging the magic spheres, squeaking as it bludgeoned her backwards and she was knocked flat on her back. Then she cursed and covered her face with her forelegs as the other various-sized spheres, smashed down into her body and around her, making her wheeze before she snapped angrily: "Mom! Come on, just let me use my magic properly!"

"No, Innocence. Please, you can handle this. I know you can." Twilight encouraged, smiling a little before she began: "Use your mind, that's your most powerful tool, Innocence. Try and think about how you can-"

"How can I think when these stupid things are pummeling me? Why'd you make them so fast?" Innocence cursed as once bounced high over her head, and then the mare leapt up and clawed wildly at another sphere as it passed, but all she managed to do was knock it off course.

"You can do this! Just concentrate!" Twilight encouraged, and then she winced a bit when her daughter glared furiously up at the buzzing orbs and her horn began to glow. "Innocence..."

For a few moments, it looked like the young unicorn was going to lash out anyway, but then she grumbled and lowered her head, the glow dying out as she instead rose one of the bracers and growled: "Fine. I'll do it this way. I'll prove that I can do it."

Twilight sighed in relief, then she suggested, not wanting Innocence to get too frustrated: "Why don't you try and use-"

"I got it, Mom!" Innocence swung a claw outwards, unleashing another bolt of magic that drained the battery entirely, and it missed the sphere she was aiming at by several meters, making her curse before she sat back and started to focus her magic as one of her eyes twitched, a wild, almost desperate idea striking her. She couldn't fail... she refused to fail!

As she concentrated her magic, the spheres were drawn in towards her... and on a last-ditch effort, the mare threw her head back as she focused on releasing the built-up magic energy in the gemstone batteries on her armor in one raw, fierce wave. Electricity blasted through the air around her, hammering through the glass spheres and shattering them into powder as they were drawn in like magnets.

Then Innocence grinned as she dropped back to her claws, shaking herself out and raising her head proudly. Her horn was still crackling with power, and Twilight sighed even as she began to smile warmly... and then a glass orb hammered firmly into the back of the mare's head, knocking her flopping forwards with a yelp and sending her facemask flying off before she blinked stupidly and looked up, staring at the last lone orb whizzing through the air.

A snarl passed over her features, and then Innocence leapt to her claws and snapped her horn viciously outwards, and the sphere simply exploded in a tremendous blast of light and electricity, Twilight wincing away at the surge of raw power before Innocence cursed under her breath and stomped a claw angrily several times. But slowly, her anger settled until she slumped a bit with a grumble, shaking her head moodily and muttering: "Fantastic."

Twilight Sparkle sighed softly, then strode towards her daughter as Innocence picked up her fallen facemask, the young unicorn looking down at the snarling motif... and thinking silently about how really, she wasn't a unicorn at all, was she?

"Innocence. You have to learn to control your temper... I know it's hard, but..." Twilight bit her lip, seeing the way her daughter stiffened, glared over her shoulder, looked so... frustrated. "I know. I know you hate it when I say that. I'm just trying to help."

The young mare sighed quietly and lowered her head, then she closed her eyes and murmured: "I know. I know. And I know you and Mutt and Daddy... you're different too, but... you weren't always different, were you?"

"I don't know, Innocence." Twilight smiled a little, shaking her head slowly. "I wasn't always a Lich, and I wasn't always a winged unicorn. I was always a little different, though, from everyone else... and people notice it when you're different in here..." She tapped the young mare's forehead gently. "More than when you're different because of your looks.

"I have a lot of expectations for you. I know it's stressful. I know that you don't like me floating around, watching you and pushing you to be better." Twilight hesitated, then bit her lip again and looked down. She wanted to say things like 'but I'm not that bad a mom' or 'I spoil you' or other pseudo-defenses that were emotional, not logical. That whether true or not, really had no bearing on the situation: she didn't want to say things to her daughter solely with the intent of making her feel bad or that things could be worse, because... things were already going to get worse, and her little girl...

Twilight reached up and touched Innocence's scaled face, tilting her head up and meeting her eyes. "But I think you need that, whether your like it or not. You're going to make mistakes, Innocence, and... I know that whether I like it or not, you're not going to always take my advice and... maybe sometimes I'm even going to say the wrong things to you, do the wrong things for you, because it can be really hard to acknowledge you're your own person. And I'm so happy that... it seems like all the good parts of me, and Luna, and Scrivy were passed down to you. And it worries me sometimes that all our bad parts were too."

Innocence blushed and lowered her head awkwardly, and there was quiet for a few moments before the mare looked up and said softly: "I'm not gonna be a disappointment. I can handle myself, and I'm going to be strong, and..."

The young mare shook her head quickly, before she smiled a little, seeming to loosen up as she gestured awkwardly with her mask. "I just don't want anyone to... to force their ideas on me or to try and push me a certain way, I guess. I want to follow my own path, make my own mistakes. I want to find out for myself what should be important and... how I have to live."

Twilight sighed a little, and then the violet mare nodded hesitantly before she said finally: "Okay. I'll... I'll try to let you do that, Innocence. But try and listen to what I have to teach at least, alright? I want to help make you strong, teach you how to take care of yourself and others."

Innocence nodded hesitantly, and then she looked down and scratched at the floor with a claw before she finally cleared her throat and quickly put her facemask back on. "Okay, Momma. I'm... I'm gonna try, then, I just..."

Twilight only nodded in response, giving a small smile. She studied her daughter for a few moments, then finally shook her head before turning and saying softly: "Well. Let's get out of here then. Your Dad and Mutt are coming back from Canterlot, and I'm sure Antares must be around here somewhere, so maybe we can get him to help, too. He can help us out if you want to work on learning to control the corruption again."

Innocence nodded grudgingly, even as she complained: "I like Antares and all, Momma, but... do we really need his help? Can't Daddy just... I don't know, tear it out of me if it's really starting to go that bad?"

"That would probably hurt you even more than Antares purifying you." Twilight said gently, and Innocence grumbled under her breath before the Lich smiled and leaned over, nudging her daughter gently as they headed for the steel door leading out into the halls of the Thorn Palace. "Don't worry. Antares really does want to help you as much as possible."

"Well, I don't want help, like I said." Innocence grumbled, and then she sighed a little and dropped her head, adding despondently: "It's not like I have any friends or anything, anyway. So why should I even bother to care?"

"Innocence, you have lots of friends." Twilight encouraged, and the young mare only grumbled before Twilight hesitated, then ventured: "I'm sure that Clinker, well... still wants to spend time with you... he and you seemed..."

"It was... it was nothing, I really don't want to talk about any of that." Innocence grumbled, looking ruffled, and the Lich decided to drop the subject. They walked on in awkward quiet, heading for the front of the palace, and then Innocence mumbled: "Anyway. I'm pretty sure that after what happened I'm not going to have any friends in Ponyville. Ever."

Twilight smiled awkwardly, then she cleared her throat before saying finally: "Well, when I was just a foal, I accidentally destroyed a lecture theater in the magic academy. And I still... well... that was how I was made apprentice to Celestia, back when she was Princess of Equestria!"

"But did you have any friends?" Innocence asked pessimistically, and Twilight shrugged lamely, which made the young unicorn sigh grumpily. "Exactly. And I'm pretty sure you probably never did anything like that again."

The violet mare looked mildly over at her daughter, and then she said: "You really do think I'm kind of... boring or something, don't you?"

"No offense, Momma, but well, you're... you're my Mom." Innocence looked a little awkward, clearing her throat as she looked over at the violet mare. "You're... all about books and learning and... making sure I eat right and well... you know. Mutt's Mutt and Daddy at least goes along with her. You just kind of... well..."

"I'm boring." Twilight said flatly, and Innocence grinned lamely up at her mother, blushing slightly as she shifted on her claws, then she nodded a little. The violet mare grumbled under her breath at this, then shook her head and muttered: "I just like structure and... when things make sense and all. I'm not that boring. I mean, look at us, we're in Subterra, I'm a Lich, and-"

"And most of the time we spend... reading, or at the library, or studying theory and magic and all that and it's not... I'm sorry, Mom, but I really don't find that interesting." Innocence complained, and Twilight looked at her daughter with dumb surprise.

"I... I thought you liked studying things like that, though, you always told me that you really enjoyed reading with me." Twilight replied, feeling strangely hurt, and Innocence sighed and gave her mother a faintly-exasperated look and a bit of a smile.

"When I was a filly, Mom. But I'm... you know, I'm not really a kid anymore. And... you know. I want to be more... active." Innocence said finally, and then she looked ahead and hurried forwards, mumbling something about getting the door despite the fact the end of the hall was some thirty feet away.

Twilight slouched a little, dropping her head with a tired sigh and looking morbidly up after her daughter, still feeling a little hurt. She wasn't boring, after all, and she made a face before she promised herself childishly that she was going to prove to her daughter that she wasn't boring. And maybe, finally, that would help her really get through to the little girl she cared for so much.

Chapter Fourteen: The Return of the King

~BlackRoseRaven

Scrivener Blooms and Luna Brynhild shared awkward looks before the charcoal stallion cleared his throat and said as tactfully as possible: "Twilight, maybe... maybe it's not such a bad thing that Sin thinks you're boring. I mean, really, should our kids know about half the stuff we get up to? That would kind of ruin us as role models for them. We'd have to give her away to... I dunno. Do we even know anyone who's responsible, now that Celestia's kind of going back to being Freya?"

"So now I'm the boring stuffy one, not Celestia. Great." Twilight grumbled, and Scrivener and Luna traded looks again, then they both shrugged lamely, before attempt to hide in the covers of the large bed together with a shared wince when Twilight Sparkle glared at them.

"It wouldn't kill you two to try and be a little helpful, you know." Twilight said flatly, and then she shook her head and muttered: "Boring. How am I boring? I'm not boring at all. I'm just nice."

"'Tis so adorable how much this is bothering thee." Luna said with relish, and even as she shrank down a bit at the horrible look Twilight focused on her, she also grinned wider. "Well, 'tis true! Look, we always call thee boring, Twilight Sparkle, how is it just now thou art actually beginning to fear thou art? 'Tis like thou forgets that a teenager like Innocence is says anything and everything, and lives for excitement and adventure the like that would make even I shudder with... well, nay." Luna looked meditative. "Nay, there is no thrill too great for me."

Scrivener grunted at this, and Luna glowered and grumbled back, the two shoving at each other as Twilight paced uneasily on the other side of the room. Then the Lich sighed and shook her head, saying pleadingly: "Guys, come on, will you please..."

And then the violet mare twitched, her breath catching as she felt like a hammer slammed into her mind as Scrivener's blood boiled and Luna's eyes snapped upwards, staring in disbelief as her soulstone horn pulsed with black, ill light. A ripple passed through the three ponies, from a shockwave that had just torn through Subterra, lighting up emotions and sending demons scattering, many of them fleeing the city in a mass exodus.

It didn't go unnoticed above: not only did Canterlot feel the terrible pulse as something entered their world, they saw the flocks of black smoke shooting towards the twilit sky, and citizens panicked as more-physical demons ripped out of the sewers and the tunnels, many of them thinking that this was the uprising, the rebellion, the surge of evil many of them had imagined would always come one day... except when the demons fled past, there was only a moment of relief that quickly became even deeper horror when they realized they weren't attacking: they were running away.

"Innocence!" was Twilight's first word, the Lich looking up sharply, and Luna and Scrivener gritted their teeth and sprung off the bed, the three ponies rushing for the door of Burning Desire's estate. Innocence was at the Thorn Palace, and Antares was likely still helping her study and train: in fact, they both hoped they were together, and Antares was smart enough to make Innocence stay put.

The trio bolted through the halls and onto the street... and were joined by both a grim-looking Burning Desire and a trembling but determined Ersatz Major. There was no time for words, either to thank them or tell them to get away: there was only time to run down streets that were almost entirely abandoned.

But that wasn't to say every demon had fled, every servant of the night had run... and it wasn't like Luna could blame the ones that had, either. Her horn was still glowing like a beacon, the soulstone excited by whatever the hell had just torn its way into their world, and it didn't feel like anything they had ever... no, no, it wasn't that. The problem was that it wasn't alien. It was so familiar that their minds refused to process it, couldn't accept it, couldn't even identify it. It was something so... so close to them that they kept looking right past it when they tried to grasp what the hell was emanating that... power...

As they made their way in a straight charge for Subterra, all Luna could think of was fortifying the palace and making sure everyone was safe. Then they could find whatever had sent out that pulse, whatever the hell was emanating that awful power, and find out what the hell it was doing here.

She was barely aware of the army of demons forming behind her, any more than she was aware of the servants of the night still scrambling for any possible exit while others remembered friend, and family, and duty. The ache in her mind from this presence was growing worse, and Scrivener and Twilight felt it too, to the point where the stallion's body was rippling unnaturally as the corruption became more and more excited in his veins, and Twilight's stitching groaned and twisted and began to pop here and there.

They reached the Thorn Palace, and Luna led the charge up the stairs, the army behind her breaking apart into Greater Nightmares and winged demons that took to the air as the rest of the pack broke up into three groups. Two of the group began to move around to either side of the step pyramid, heading for other ways into the massive, fortified manse that encircled the temple in a U, while the remaining group fell into position along the front of the Thorn Palace, ready to defend the heart of their dark sanctuary, and more importantly, the ponies they looked up to as their true leaders.

Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight leapt up over the top of the steps... and before they could decide where they were going to begin their search, a soft voice said to them: "It has been so long since we last were in your presence..."

The three stopped, feeling that ripple pass over them, but they felt frozen, paralyzed by that voice... and by the sight of the winged unicorn it belonged to as the gunmetal gray entity strode forwards, it black wings furled at its sides and head held proudly as a black fire mane and tail burned high. Emerald green eyes gazed out at them almost affectionately as its silver hooves strode along water like it was solid glass, exactly the same as they had all remembered the creature...

Except for one thing. One terrible thing: standing out of its breast, like a staring, horrible eye, was a domed blue surface that could only be soulstone. It was covered in runes that glowed in short pulses, in perfect time with the throb of painful light at the core of the entity's crystalline heart; in perfect time with Luna's own soulstone spire, as if they were synchronizing with each other.

"Gymbr." Scrivener whispered, and the entity smiled at them before it sat calmly back on the reflecting pool... on Selene's reflecting pool. It made fury want to rise in the stallion for a reason he couldn't entirely explain... but at the same time, horror and terror and disbelief at the impossible entity across from them completely suffocated any other emotion at the moment, made him incapable of doing anything but stare.

Twilight was trembling violently, but the words rose in her throat even through her disbelief, as the thought of Innocence pushed out her fear of this... this entity she remembered all too well... "Where's... where's Innocence?"

"We thought it would be rude to try and see her without you present. We know you are very protective of her, after all, Twilight Sparkle." Gymbr said softly, and for some reason it just made the Lich shiver harder as Luna and Scrivener struggled to recover their senses.

Then the entity smiled at them again, bowing its head forwards as it asked in a strangely-excited voice: "But is this not good? We are reunited... all of us. We have longed and feared for this day, but we are proud to say that we are here... only with the best intentions. There is a force on the horizon that would undo all our work... but together, we shall be able to destroy it. We shall be able to stop a force that desires, in its disgusting way, to save our universe."

"What... what art thou... damnation, monster, we thought thou must have died! We have not seen so much as a hair from thy head!" Luna halted, glanced up at the black flames that burned from Gymbr's skull, and then she grimaced and muttered: "Perhaps 'twas not the best of phrasings but... where hast thou been?"

"We were saved many years ago, by Kvasir. He treated our wounds, made us strong again." Gymbr answered almost proudly, and the three ponies were again dumbfounded by this answer. "He hid us in Valhalla. He kept us safe, and made us powerful. He helped us to replace our dying Kundalini, and helped see us through the worst of our madness... and after that, he came with us, to see the force that would save this universe, and agreed that it must be stopped."

"I... I don't understand! Thou makes no sense! Kvasir never could, never would... he was only a politician!" Luna snapped, and Gymbr frowned at the sapphire mare, focusing something like disapproval on her. It made Luna bare her fangs in response, leaning forwards as her starry mane flared up and she snapped: "Avert thy eyes! I shan't be gazed upon like I am some errant, stupid child by a... a freakish fairy tale such as thou art!"

"Yes, you remember our origin well, it seems. But do you remember our power, Luna Brynhild?" asked Gymbr in an even voice, and Scrivener winced as Twilight swallowed and stared almost pleadingly over at Luna. "Our loved ones do, it seems."

Luna growled at this, then she shook her head and took a slow breath as her eyes narrowed at the beast, saying slowly: "Aye, we remember thee well. All of us, but in the years since we met, creature, I have grown stronger and my patience for riddles shorter. I do not fear, not even fear itself: it is fear that must fear me."

Gymbr chuckled quietly, shaking his head slowly as he murmured softly: "Such pride. Such strength. Such foolishness; we are both pleased and disappointed, Luna Brynhild. But we suppose that you have accomplished feats even we must be impressed with... defeating not only Valthrudnir, but mastering yourself. Making allies of creatures so powerful as Kismet, Hecate, and even Hel. You have been busy... but so have we.

"Ask your questions. We are friends, are we not? We are even closer than that, closer than family, closer than kin..." Gymbr rose his head high, smiling and supreme. "We are you."

Scrivener shivered, then he looked back, taking a slow breath as he steadied himself and tried to make the world make sense, tried to get his reeling mind in order. But it felt almost impossible with what they were faced with. Gymbr: a self-described god, with powers that seemed beyond limit, without boundary. A creature that shouldn't exist, that had come out of a story as a Tulpa and had eventually become as real as they were. A monster, born of nightmares, from Scrivener and Luna's darkest parts all meshing together into one terrible being.

Luna was snarling, but holding herself in check, and Twilight was simply afraid. And Scrivener felt a wild urge to laugh as he realized that maybe he was right after all: maybe the calamity that all the Draconequus were gathered to watch really was them... only it was a different version of them, back from... from death? Could something that had never really been born, ever really die?

The charcoal stallion forced himself to breathe, forced himself to steady his thoughts enough that he could look up and ask: "What happened to you? What do you mean, Kvasir looked after you? Kvasir was always..."

"He was a good friend. He was stronger than we think you imagined: he had many fears, and many enemies, and was responsible for more than you can understand, but he held up without complaint. He kept our secrets, and he helped renew our strength, asking little in return... asking only for us to fulfill our end of the deal." Gymbr shook his head slowly, saying softly: "He treated us as family... and perhaps we were, more than we believed. For you, Luna Brynhild, are Valkyrie. We are Valkyrie, too, even if we are also god. We are of the same great name, the same divine blood."

Luna didn't know how to respond, how to even feel... but Twilight was the one to pick up this time, a tremble running down her spine before she whispered: "Was?"

Gymbr smiled faintly, shaking his head slowly before he said softly: "Yes, was. And it was our fault... he asked to see evidence of the coming threat, the enemy, the 'savior,' and so we brought him to see. We showed him worlds that you cannot imagine: we opened his eyes to the true meaning of the universe, but sadly... we failed to protect him."

"What?" Luna stepped forwards, and then she snarled, shaking her head and snapping: "Speaking of a mysterious enemy, now telling us Kvasir is dead... nay, 'tis all so convenient, so perfect! But saying thou comes to stop the 'saving' of the universe... is there no way thou shan't taunt us, monster? Is there anything thou holds sacred?"

"Yes. There is much we believe is sacred. And there is also much we believe must be destroyed for the universe to continue to function. At times, these things overlap." Gymbr retorted after a moment, his strange, echoing voice taking on more feminine tones before he closed his eyes tightly, bowing his head forwards and shaking it as if in denial. "Please, stop this. We are honest in what we desire... Luna Brynhild, Scrivener Blooms, Twilight Sparkle, please. Help us."

Scrivener shivered again at this, looking away as he saw another stallion for a moment, begging for his help, as machinery gleamed out of his back and his twisted family loomed around him... and then the charcoal earth pony clenched his eyes shut and whispered: "No. I won't go down that road again, Gymbr. We turned down Thesis when he came begging for help, even before we knew what he would do with it, and he proved right off the bat how right we were to tell him no. You, Gymbr... we know what you do with power. How could you expect us to want to help you?"

"Because we aided you in the past. And yes, in a sense... we aided you because we owed you much, and we owe you still. And we have hidden much from you, and understand that you must be afraid of us, of what we are after... but do not fear. It is not your family." Gymbr smiled almost tenderly, then he rose a claw and gently beckoned with it. "We have our own family."

A portal tore open, a gaping wound in reality behind Gymbr that three ponies strode out of to join Gymbr. Luna's eyes widened, and Twilight's words caught in her throat as Scrivener slowly, weakly shook his head in disbelief, the three ponies barely able to believe what they were looking at.

One was almost a mirror image of their Twilight, a violet winged unicorn with raven pinions, and clearly a Lich. But despite how much she looked the same beneath the regal black cloak that covered her body, the grin on her face, the glow in her eyes, the malevolence she exuded... she was also completely different.

Another looked like Celestia, but her teeth were large and sharp and deadly, and her mane and tail were not a pastel rainbow but glowing gold and white flames that twisted like liquid. Her eyes had turned a hellish amber, and she was adorned not in armor, but gorgeous, loose chains and jewelry and a tight golden collar that was locked around her throat. The ivory mare studied them with an intense eagerness that made Scrivener shudder, and she stood proudly at Gymbr's side, so devoted to him she seemed to have trouble keeping her eyes off the entity in spite of all the curiosity she clearly had over the ponies before her.

But the last... the last they hadn't anticipated. It was another Luna, wearing only simple, lightweight black armor, her head high and her mane and tail both dark and swirling, no stars twinkling in her blue-and-black flame locks. Her eyes drew over them hungrily before she leaned forwards, stamping her hooves against the ground as her natural horn pulsed with energy, saying eagerly: "Look! Look at them! Gymbr wasn't lying!"

"As if the Master would lie to us, Myre." the Celestia said softly, and then she smiled as she looked at the entity beside her, asking softly: "May I introduce us, Lord Gymbr, Emperor of All?"

Gymbr laughed quietly at this, gesturing towards the ponies as he said softly: "You may. But do not refer to us by that title in their presence. Our friends shall not like it, and I must bow my head to their wishes."

The terrible, gold-fire-maned Celestia nodded politely once in agreement, and then she stepped forwards and turned her eyes to the staring Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight, bowing her head low as she greeted: "It is my honor to meet you. My name is Dusk, and I am the First Concubine to Lord Gymbr, and Commander of his forces. Twilight Shadow, the Grand Vizier, stands on my master's other side, and this is my little sister and the Champion of our army, Myre."

Luna Brynhild shook her head in disbelief, and then she murmured weakly: "What... what hast thou done, Gymbr?"

"Lord Gymbr freed us, and made us strong. He made us his family!" Myre said firmly, stepping forwards and nodding before her eyes widened in surprise, turning towards Scrivener Blooms. Then she licked her lips eagerly, whispering: "Oh hello you. Oh my, oh my, Lord Gymbr was right..."

"Patience, Myre. I smell it too, but... let's wait for them to adjust. We must be quite a surprise for them." Dusk said gently, raising a hoof and giving a soothing smile to her little sister, who glared back up at the ivory mare. And none of the three ponies of this world knew what to say, staring at these ponies who were just like Luna and Celestia... but at the same time, so completely, clearly not.

Gymbr looked at Twilight Shadow, who nodded quickly once before she bowed as well. When she rose, her eyes drew automatically to Twilight Sparkle... and both ponies, both winged unicorns, both Liches stared at each other for a few moments before Shadow said softly to Sparkle: "We're here to help. Lord Gymbr has spent a lot of time taking with me, telling me his story, and warning me you might not be the most receptive to his appearance here, especially with us. My job is to reassure you that we are serious about the coming storm, and proving we're friends, not enemies. That we have become Lord Gymbr's family of our own free will. And to help you... become more."

Twilight Shadow's features broke into another grin, the undead pony raising her head, and Twilight Sparkle stumbled backwards with a tremble, shaking her own as she almost quailed as the Grand Vizier extolled: "Because now we are strong, and free of the tyranny that was brought down on us! And because we want you to feel this same freedom, this same strength, this same direction we have... to bathe and glory in darkness, and be honored by our servitude to our masters!"

"We are not Twilight Sparkle's masters!" Luna shouted, stepping forwards with a snarl as Scrivener gritted his teeth, and these... these monsters, these victims from some unknown, terrible place all looked surprised before the sapphire mare snapped: "Gymbr, step out from behind thy puppets, sick and pathetic wretch! Face us as a stallion, not as a coward!"

Immediately, Gymbr's 'family' all stepped forwards, all of them looming forwards over Luna... but then, as suddenly as they had moved forwards, the three all looked sharply over their shoulders at Gymbr and then parted for him, stepping quickly back into place on either side of him.

Gymbr, terrible beyond-god thing, stepped slowly forwards as if uncertain. He was frowning, looking confused as he studied them before he asked quietly, gesturing over his shoulder with one claw: "And what is wrong with this? We have given them power. We have given them happiness. We have helped them to feel satisfied and strong, and in return we ask only their love and loyalty. Under our watch, they shall never grow weak, or old, or die. They are our chosen goddesses: we have named them our Three Fates, in defiance of the foolish Norns that tried to control us. And they are powerful tools... are you not?"

And terribly, Dusk and Myre and Twilight Shadow all smiled brightly, as if this was a compliment: as if this was what they hoped and dreamed for, as if this was the one thing they desired to achieve in life. To prove strong, useful tools to their master... and Gymbr smiled at them like they were pets performing a trick before he looked forward and said kindly: "Even if you disagree with our morality... they are happy, and strong, and they are free enough to make their own decisions. They could decide to hate us if they wanted to, but they will not. They love us, and we love them."

"You love them like toys. Like... playthings." Scrivener shook his head, then he drew his eyes slowly over the Three Fates, whispering: "Look at them. How could you do this to them?"

"Gymbr, thou art... does thou not remember thy own origin? Thou tried this before! And what happened?" Luna asked almost desperately: her anger wanted to rise, but for now, she wouldn't let it... and for now, despair was what was choking her anyway, making her feel so... so disappointed even through the shock she felt, through the confusion ripping through her mind as she tried to understand how any of this was even possible.

The entity frowned at them, and then he looked uneasily towards Myre and Dusk, then over at Twilight Shadow... but after a moment, his Grand Vizier reached up, touching his shoulder and reassuring him gently: "It's okay, master. They just don't understand, that's all... maybe you should give your gift of understanding to them. Make them strong. Make them like us."

Immediately, the three linked ponies set themselves, and Twilight's mind flared up with a single horrified question: that if Gymbr wouldn't hesitate to try and turn them into his new toys, then what would he do to their children?

But to Twilight's surprise, Gymbr shook his head slowly, saying quietly to Shadow: "No. It is different, Twilight Shadow. We freed you from a terrible force... Luna, and Scrivener, and this Twilight we seek to gain the friendship of... even if we are very hurt by their treatment."

Gymbr looked evenly over at the Lich, saying in a softer voice: "Have you already forgotten that we were the one to supply all the power and skill to save you, but did not perform the ritual ourselves? We did not wish to bind you to us, Twilight Sparkle, to leave you indebted to us... so instead, we allowed Celestia to do this. And even now, we feel the string that still ties you to Celestia after all those years, hidden amongst the many other bonds you share with her... not least of all the power she granted to you, long, long ago."

Dusk tilted her head with interest as Twilight Shadow looked up with a soft smile, but Twilight Sparkle only lowered her head and closed her eyes. She took a few steadying breaths, then slowly forced her eyes to open and her gaze upwards, meeting the emerald irises of the god. "I remember, Gymbr. But I also see what's in front of me, and remember who you are... and... I see that soulstone you've implanted in yourself as well."

"It was not our doing. It was our plan, yes, but Kvasir and Terra helped greatly with its placement." Gymbr replied softly, and then he smiled at the surprise he saw, laughing quietly and saying in an almost tender-voice: "How little you all know... how much has been left to happen, behind the scenes. That is all the more reason why you should trust us as we try and reach out to you... we will not keep secrets from you, and we will not lie, or hide. And we will give you power... as much as you desire. And we shall even bow our head to you..."

Slowly, Gymbr emphasized this by lowering his head for a moment, even as his Three Fates looked surprised... and then the god calmly rose his gaze and said softly: "But you must agree to come with us. To help us. We are not the foolish child, Thesis... we do not seek completion, nor have we harmed others for our own selfish ends. We have only done what is necessary."

"How do you know about Thesis... were... were you watching from Valhalla, that entire time?" Scrivener asked incredulously, and then he and Luna traded looks before they both glared furiously back at Gymbr. "What the hell did you do to Kvasir to-"

"Nothing. He helped us of his own free will, and out of the need to protect Valhalla, for who is better than us to protect Valhalla? Especially now, with the cohesion and the strength our soulstone core grants us..." Gymbr halted, then he smiled, his eyes sliding to look back over his shoulder as he added: "Do not hide, Celestia. And Discombobulation... another friend. And even more, the foals we shall never have... Antares Mīrus, Innocence. We wish to gaze upon you all."

"Stay away from my daughter." breathed Twilight, and Gymbr turned a mild look on her, but the violet mare only shook her head fiercely, then stepped forwards and shouted, even as Celestia slowly strode out of the shadows with her eyes narrowed at the god and his disciples: "If you were really here to help, if you were really here because you were worried about something coming, then you wouldn't be trying to bribe us with power and showing off your... your toys!"

Luna nodded in agreement, then added sharply: "And I do not believe Kvasir would simply make a pretty bed for thee in Valhalla, where thou could hide away for all these years and... scheme, as thou art apparently wont to do! Nay, I shan't believe it, Gymbr, but I do know thee well... too well, as I have had to learn just how weak I can be."

Gymbr glared at the sapphire mare, before Scrivener finished coldly: "You either stop showing off and dancing around, and give us some evidence, or things are going to get ugly. We're not scared of you, Gymbr. And we're not sure we even want to be friends with... you."

The god rose its head high, black mane and tail flaring as the Three Fates set themselves, bristling with fury as Gymbr whispered: "You insolent fools. We have come here to save you, to help you... and this is how you treat us? It is no wonder that war with Thesis escalated so quickly, with how you... speak down to us, patronize us, treat us with such disrespect, and... we shall not stand for it ourselves! We are Gymbr! We are beyond god, beyond Jötnar! We are living glory!"

Scrivener, Luna, and Twilight all leaned furiously forwards, and Gymbr spread his wings, that soulstone core in his chest glowing brighter as he loomed over his chosen disciples as they snarled like hunting animals... and then Celestia's cold, clear voice cut through the air: "All of you. Stop."

There was surprise at this, and all attention was drawn to the ivory mare as she halted a short distance away, careful to position herself so she didn't seem any closer to Luna's side as she did to Gymbr's. She was frowning at the god, but her tone was neutral as she asked: "What is coming?"

"A light. A blinding light that will make the universe into one ordered, structured thing. That will destroy everything we have all fought for; we must fight and destroy it before it victimizes these worlds with its sick idea of 'salvation.'" Gymbr replied, relaxing slightly as it nodded slowly. "We have seen what it does. We have seen the effects of its curse, and the poison it desires to spread. It wants to unify and conform all things and we must not allow this to happen!"

Celestia frowned at this, then she asked slowly: "The enemy wants to save us... but in a way that will... force order. The unity you keep talking about... you mean everyone, the same. As part of one thing, be it a culture or a hive mind."

"The universe cannot be saved. The universe must not be saved, Celestia... anyone who tries is either doomed to failure or genocidal." Gymbr shook his head slowly, eyes cold. "We will not entertain the notion of either. And we will stop this light from spreading, because now it seeks to infect our world, our ponies, all the things that we seek to protect."

"How can we trust you?" Celestia asked quietly, and Gymbr narrowed his eyes at this before the ivory mare continued quietly: "Why hasn't Hel mentioned the possibility of this threat? Why hasn't Valhalla – or any of our allies, for that matter – made any mention of this? And why did Kvasir agree to leave with you in the first place, knowing you were bringing him to find the evidence of a foe?"

There was silence for a few moments, and then Gymbr looked up and said softly: "You should trust us, Celestia, because you must trust us. You must trust us if you desire to get through the times ahead. As to Hel and our other allies... they are not as effective as you would wish for them to be, and Hel has little interest outside of maintaining her own icy domain. Nor do we... agree with her on many things. We have different methods by which we would attempt to battle the coming plague."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Luna darkened as she asked slowly: "So thou art hinting... that the witch Hel knew of thee."

Gymbr smiled calmly at this before he replied in a calculating voice, even as his Three Fates all frowned and shifted moodily around them: "Hel knew of us, but does not like bowing to us... and yes, we are powerful enough to make her bow. Now, she has come to disapprove of us, because she is paranoid, and jealous... and weak."

"I wouldn't call her weak. She may be strange, and the traditional enemy of Valhalla... but those are only all the more reasons why I would hesitate to call her weak." Celestia replied candidly, and then she drew her eyes slowly over the mares around Gymbr before she asked in a surprisingly-pleasant voice: "Are you trying to create an heir?"

"No, we are not foolish enough to attempt that." Gymbr answered calmly with a simple shake of his head. "We know that our children would be like Midnight Hour: monsters, no matter what kind of triumph they might seem at first. And that is why Antares Mīrus and Innocence are such miracles in our eyes... and how we long to see them..."

Gymbr slowly looked over his shoulder, and then he laughed quietly as he murmured: "Please, come to us. We desire to see you. we have such glory and gifts to bestow upon you..."

Twilight gritted her teeth, glaring at the god as Luna and Scrivener set themselves, but it was Celestia who spoke up, saying in a quiet voice: "Please leave their children out of this, Gymbr. Because more and more, you're starting to sound like the Gymbr I remember reading about in Because Love Conquers All."

The god darkened at this as the three mares around him looked up uneasily, and then the creature said with contempt: "We were hoping, Celestia, that you would be wise enough not to judge us. But we see that already you believe that we are nothing but the sum of the sins of our past."

"I don't just think only you are, Gymbr. That's what we all are." Celestia answered evenly, and Gymbr narrowed his eyes at her before the rainbow-maned mare shook her head slowly and looked calmly across at her counterpart, the gold-fire-maned Dusk. "How did you come to join Gymbr? What did he 'free' you from?"

Dusk's eyes flicked towards Gymbr, and the god gave his disciple a calm nod, the chain-adorned pony turning her eyes back towards Gymbr and answering calmly: "He saved me from myself, and he saved me from the infection of the light."

"And what is this light?" Celestia prodded, keeping her eyes on Dusk, but Dusk only remained silent as she smiled calmly. After a few moments, Celestia finally was forced to turn her questioning eyes on Gymbr, gesturing towards him and repeating the question with her body language.

There was silence as all eyes turned towards Gymbr, and the creature straightened as he said softly: "The Pious bring it. They carry the plague, like rats: they are the forerunners who have led the light right to us, unbeknownst to these foolish drones. They are disease-riddled, doing the work of their puppetmaster even as they think they flee before the wildfire..."

Luna and Scrivener traded uneasy looks... but to their surprise, Antares strode up beside Celestia, joining them. Behind him was a worried-looking Innocence with her facemask removed, but their son was smiling, surprisingly-casual... strong, as he said calmly: "That's an interesting idea. I mean, hell, I want to believe you, Gymbr... I really do. In fact it's how much I want to believe you that kind of worries me a little... they're a pretty easy scapegoat, aren't they?"

"You have grown up." Gymbr said softly, and he looked both pleased and disappointed at the same time, his wings fluttering a little before he said calmly: "It is not the Pious' fault. It is the power they serve. They both adore it and flee from it: they seek to feed it even as they seek to find safety from the beast that they themselves created."

"Their ruler. Their so-called 'God of Greater Heaven.'" Celestia and Antares traded frowns, before the ivory mare returned her eyes to Gymbr. "So now it's not the Pious, but the power they serve. And what about this power that they serve, Gymbr? You're still avoiding the question."

Gymbr shook his head, his emerald eyes drawing towards Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight, then roving towards Celestia, Antares, and Innocence. His eyes lingered on the latter two, studying them slowly before he murmured: "Look at them, so young still... but growing strong. Still, if they are not allowed to develop... if they are not protected... they will be pruned."

"Do not speak of our children. Do not threaten our children!" Luna snarled, stepping forwards, and she didn't back down even as the Three Fates all loomed in towards her, setting themselves aggressively. But Luna only glared past them, shouting: "I shall not be intimidated by thee, and I shall not be blinded by the prejudice and hate thou attempts to blind me with!"

The god frowned, but before he could reply Myre snapped in return: "It is not our fault if you are too weak to accept the truth! They stand in our master's way and they must be eradicated!"

"Be quiet, Myre!" Gymbr said sharply, and the dark-armored mare flinched and shrank back with a quick nod. But the damage was already done, and Gymbr clearly recognized that as he looked up with his teeth grit. "It is not what it seems..."

"What it seems like, more and more, is that the Pious are standing between you and something you want." Celestia said quietly, studying the Three Fates. Her eyes hardened a little as they locked on Twilight Shadow, before her horn lit up with golden light.

Magic sizzled through the air, and all three of them looked icily at Celestia as their own horns all glowed in response to the quick burst of magic, and the ivory mare murmured: "You've tied them all to you somehow. That also goes against our idea of 'free will.'"

The creature bared its fangs in response, its mane and tail both flaring up with dark fire before it growled: "We have asked you to stop. We have asked you to reserve judgment. And more and more you continue to act like we are the villain, but we have not come back as the enemy! We were not your enemy before!"

Scrivener snorted at this, replying moodily: "Yeah, but we didn't exactly ever seen you as a friend back then. Even now we don't really see you as a friend... or maybe I should say especially now."

"Gymbr, just tell us the truth: what are you doing? And how can you even be risking these things when you remember how it ended up in the past? When you were responsible..." Twilight looked at the creature with something like sorrow in her eyes, shaking her head slowly.

"It was only a story. It was a story that we broke free of." the god retorted coldly, looking at them with fury as his emerald eyes flashed, and then he took a slow breath, stepping back and clenching his eyes tightly shut as it forced its wings to furl closed, its head to lower. "No, we will... we will not... we will not give in to our anger, and we will not turn our rage on you. We will make you listen, but through reason and logic. We will make you understand."

Scrivener couldn't help but shiver, and Luna looked up with a grimace, her own dark-green eyes flashing. Thesis had promised that too, right before he'd turned on them. "You know, it's been around sixteen years, but it's been way too short since the last time we heard that."

There was silence for a few moments as Gymbr visibly struggled with his anger, and Dusk, Twilight Shadow, and Myre all seemed to feel the same fury, to react alongside him as they fought to suppress their own rage. And then Myre cursed, shaking her head fiercely before she said harshly: "You need to listen to us! We're here to try and help you, and you're not doing anything but making yourselves look stupid!"

Luna Brynhild growled in response to this alternate version of her, and Antares said quietly: "We aren't the ones who look stupid right now, lady. But Gymbr, I... I do still want to trust you, to believe in you, even if you've shown up like... like this. So let me ask you a question: the Pious, what do they call their churches?"

"Sanctuaries." Gymbr answered quickly, raising his head and nodding before he continued almost eagerly: "There is much we have learned about them. We can tell you that they all think you unworthy, until you become purified, like them. Their Holy Word is but one method by which they spread their faith, and it stems from their Sacred Book. They worship He Of The Many Countless Faces, their terrible God of Greater Heaven, who they proclaim is the greatest god of all... but they are wrong! Compared to us, his glory is nothing!"

Gymbr rose his head proudly, eyes glowing as the soulstone core in his chest thrummed, and then Antares asked quietly: "And what powers the Pious, and their faith?"

The god smiled calmly, nodding as it leaned forwards and replied: "Yes. They claim they are powered by 'faith,' by their numbers. The more there are, the stronger they believe they become as a whole. Because they believe themselves to be one, to all be part of their self-same 'god.'"

Silence spun out for a few moments, before Antares said with almost gentle seriousness, that made his words cut all the deeper: "So really, you're just afraid of something that's not even stronger than you, but rather something that has a different kind of strength than you, right? You're panicked over the idea that there's something that might one day be able to challenge you."

Gymbr frowned at this, as Celestia said softly: "The Pious are different from us, alien from us. But the Pious have never been hostile towards us and have been the victims of attacks ourselves; I'm curious, Gymbr, what does your army comprise of? How many servants do you have at your beck and all, and what kinds of creatures are they?"

"We do not need an army to conquer." Gymbr said icily, shaking his head slowly before he calmly gestured at the Three Fates. "These three are more than powerful enough to achieve my aims. And we will achieve them with or without you."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Dusk stepped forwards, raising her head as her mane flared and twisted around her before she said coldly: "You are not what we were told to expect, at all. I expected you to be more intelligent, Celestia. And more and more, I question why my master would want to have anything to do with you."

Celestia smiled grimly at this, then she replied equably: "Well, considering what you seem like, Dusk, then I think I'll choose to take that as a compliment. Besides, I feel the same way: there's little that any of us want to have to do with you."

Dusk narrowed her eyes dangerously, and Twilight Shadow dropped her head forwards, looking almost pleading for a moment as she said quietly: "Please just listen. We should work together... you should be honored by the fact our Lord Gymbr desires to work with you. That Lord Gymbr has asked you to be equals alongside him when he could easily be your masters."

Luna snarled at this, baring her fangs as Scrivener Blooms narrowed his own eyes dangerously and Twilight Sparkle looked up in disbelief before she whispered: "How could you be... how could you think like that? How can you even imagine that anything like this is okay?"

"Because this is freedom. This is strength, and now we have a place where we belong. Because Lord Gymbr has saved us, and granted us power." Dusk picked up, then she looked over her shoulder at the god, saying almost tenderly, her rage seeming to vanish at the sight alone of her proclaimed master: "He has become everything to us."

Myre and Twilight Shadow both nodded firmly, and then all Gymbr turned his eyes back to look from Luna to Scrivener, balancing its cold gaze between them before it said softly: "We have come to you, and asked you to be our allies. We have great plans, and we are here to defend you from an enemy. An enemy who will threaten us all... who does threaten us all, whether you will recognize this or not."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Gymbr closed his eyes and bowed his head. The creature tried to make itself humble, tried to drop itself low... but it looked awkward, uncomfortable, like it was trying its hardest to pretend for their sakes but it couldn't quite manage it.

They all gazed at it, as the Three Fates looked at their master with surprise, then all shifted uncomfortably before sighing and lowering their own heads. There was silence for a few moments as they studied each other, and then Gymbr forced out, in spite of how much it clearly hurt him to do so: "We are asking for your help, and for your faith. We are asking you to help us fight a threat that is coming to all of us... in the only way we know how. With darkness, and suffering, and hatred. With raw power. You must help us destroy it. You must help us... consume it. You must help us... bring chaos to the universe, instead of order. Chaos is growth; order will destroy."

But neither Luna nor Scrivener felt moved, as Twilight Sparkle only shuddered... then her eyes flicked worriedly up as Innocence uneasily stepped forwards, the young mare licking her lips slowly as she whispered: "What... what are you? Why do you want my parents so badly?"

"I don't just want their aid. I want all of you." Gymbr said quietly, slowly straightening and turning around... and if the way Gymbr looked so hungrily at Innocence wasn't bad enough, the Three Fates made it all the worse by the way they formed a wall with their bodies, not just between Gymbr and Innocence's parents, but their daughter as well.

Innocence stared at Gymbr, and Gymbr looked back, a slow smile cresting his muzzle before he whispered: "You want our power, don't you? Yes, look at you... Antares was born the antithesis to Midnight Hour, but you are even greater: you are Midnight Hour reborn, but tempered, earthen, stronger, you are-"

"Stop it!" The shout didn't come from Luna, any more than it was the sapphire mare who launched herself forwards: it was Twilight Sparkle who crashed down between Gymbr and the young unicorn who had begun to stumble almost dreamily towards Gymbr. Innocence was startled out of her daze, flinching backwards as Twilight snarled at the god, her stitches pulsing over her body as her wings trembled and her eyes glowed. "She is nothing like Midnight Hour, nothing! And she is a thousand times better than you could ever be!"

"I want to save your children. I want to help you. You are the ones who will not allow me to do this." Gymbr replied quietly, but he looked strangely hurt by Twilight's reaction, even glancing nervously back at Twilight Shadow as if to try and reassure himself. His Twilight, his twisted disciple, gave him a loving, servile smile, visibly fawning over him, and the others shuddered at this even as Gymbr didn't seem to think anything was wrong with this. All he did was relax a little, then turn his eyes back towards Twilight Sparkle, gesturing over his shoulder at Shadow and saying eagerly: "See the happiness I want to bring? The strength I want to bestow? Meaning and power, I promise it to you all. And all I ask is that you stand beside me. That you allow me to prove I am not your enemy."

Luna and Scrivener traded looks as Celestia stepped up beside Twilight Sparkle, and Antares strode forwards to lightly pull his little sister back, the glossy-black stallion's eyes locked on the god. Gymbr's emerald gaze was trying to stare through Twilight Sparkle, trying to gaze at Innocence, and the young mare didn't seem to know what to do: whether to draw back behind her brother or step forwards towards this monster that... she wanted to believe in. That offered gifts and temptation she could barely resist...

"I do not desire to be thy enemy, Gymbr... but we do not desire to be thy friends, either." Luna said quietly, straightening slowly as her eyes locked on the god. "So I will propose this. We do not interfere with each other. We shall remain neutral while thou does thy business, and we shall see to ours and investigate these claims against the Pious. As much as I am concerned over what thou hast done and what thou asks... I shan't deny further contact. But 'twill be on our terms, and not in such a great show of power that it sends my minions of darkness into such panic."

"You should thank me, Luna Brynhild. All I did was show you who your true friends were... who you should give gifts to, put your trust in. And why you should have done more to bind the cowards to you, teach them to bow to your will." Gymbr responded even as he continued to stare towards Innocence, and then he straightened as he turned slowly to face Luna Brynhild, shaking his head slowly as he met her eyes. "We may accept your terms. But we will not alter our plans. You may not approve of what we have decided is the best course of action to ensure we are capable of defeating the light when the time comes... to ensure that this world will not be taken over by forces of self-proclaimed good."

"And if you go too far, Gymbr, we won't hesitate to stop you." Scrivener Blooms said quietly, stepping forwards. The emerald irises of the creature turned towards him, and their gazes locked, both fearlessly meeting one-another's eyes. But even though this was a god likely far beyond both his strength and comprehension, this was also a creature half-him, half-Luna: this was made up of everything he knew and loved and hated, and that was why he couldn't let himself be afraid of it.

Finally, Gymbr gave a cold smile, raising a silver hoof that clicked loudly apart into a gleaming claw. It gestured calmly to the side, and the Three Fates looked up in surprise before they all nodded in synchronization, turning similar smiles over their shoulders towards their master.

Then they all turned and strode calmly off in a line as a portal ripped open in reality, the three mares passing into this. Dusk and Twilight Shadow held their heads high and straight, gazes ahead, but Myre tossed a sour look over her shoulder before she vanished into the swirling rift of energy.

The portal sparked closed, leaving Gymbr standing alone on the pool of water, his eyes roving back and forth before he said softly: "We will not hesitate to do what must be done. We hope that you will reconsider your position and assist us in the future. We hope that you will do better to reserve judgment when we next meet, and accept the gifts we desire to give."

Scrivener and Luna both growled at this, and Twilight Sparkle shook her head, taking a step backwards towards her daughter. The Lich only tensed all the more as Gymbr turned calmly towards her, and then the creature smiled, leaning forwards and saying softly: "We hope that you will benefit from our teachings in the future. We shall pass on to you all our strength."

It was all too clear that the creature was speaking to Innocence, and Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight all gritted their teeth. But then Gymbr lowered his head, shaking it slowly as he said softly: "We shall leave our invitation open to you all. We shall hope that you change your minds, and decide to join us in the future. We will be waiting."

Then, without wasting any further words, Gymbr flung himself upwards and flapped his wings hard, soaring high into the air before he vanished in a burst of radiant energy. All eyes were drawn upwards, staring into the space where the god had simply vanished before Twilight shivered and wheeled around to face her daughter.

"What are you doing?" Twilight whispered, and then she shook her head quickly and looked at Antares, saying hurriedly: "Take your little sister back inside. I want you to look after her and... and someone's going to have to take a message to Heaven, is Excelsior still here?"

"Morning Glory!" Luna shouted, and the demon emerged from the darkness almost immediately, approaching and looking serious and ready to accept whatever orders that the sapphire mare was about to give. "Send out this message, all who fled are no longer welcome in Subterra! Not unless they are willing to pledge loyalty anew and promise to aid in the defense of our home!"

Morning Glory bowed her head low as Antares stepped forwards and squeezed Innocence's shoulder, beginning to pull her away. Innocence barely budged, however, before she looked up and asked almost desperately: "What's going on? Gymbr, I... I thought that Gymbr was supposed to be an ally, or... why did we..."

"Because Gymbr was an ally, but never a friend." Scrivener said quietly, then he shook his head and instructed quietly but firmly: "Go with your brother. Twilight, maybe you should go with them, too. Celestia and Luna and I... we can handle talking this over right now. We'll figure out who to get in contact with."

Twilight nodded after a moment at this, turning worried eyes towards her daughter as Innocence shifted under her brother's grip, beginning to open her mouth... but then Antares firmly squeezed her shoulder again, and the young mare closed her mouth when she looked over her shoulder and saw the look that her sibling was giving her. Instead, she just kept her head down and stayed quiet even as the Lich approached and murmured: "Come on. Let's go, okay? Let's go."

Scrivener Blooms and Luna Brynhild both watched as Twilight hurried over to their children, protectively ushering them away as other demons nervously began to come forwards. Celestia only stood with her head bowed, lost in her own thoughts for the moment as Morning Glory studied the soul-linked ponies for a few moments, then said quietly: "That foe is a foe beyond even my strength. It's the kind of enemy even I would be hesitant to pick a fight with, unless I wanted a glorious death."

"Glory be." Scrivener muttered, and then he shook his head slowly before trading a quick look with Luna, exchanging thoughts and images and ideas with her before they both looked up and the charcoal stallion asked: "Before you leave... what did you sense from Gymbr?"

Morning Glory halted, frowned for a moment as she lowered her head... and then she smiled icily and shook it slowly, saying ironically: "Familiarity."

With that, the Destroyer turned and headed back towards the Thorn Palace, and the two ponies turned towards Celestia as she drew herself out of her thoughts and looked up towards them, saying quietly: "We need to do more than just warn Heaven and Hell. We need to set up meetings with both Hel and Terra to discuss what's happened and find out what they know. We also need to search Valhalla for any possible clues, with or without Terra's permission. Gymbr is a threat not just to us, but to everything we've built if he's returned to his old ways."

The others nodded, and then the charcoal stallion added in a mutter: "And that goddamn soulstone core in his chest..."

"Aye, I could feel its pulse in mine own horn..." Luna shivered and shook her head quickly, her starry mane swirling uneasily around her as she tried to block out the eager whispering from Nightmare Moon, who wanted to sample Gymbr's gifts... "We... but damnation, Kvasir was... was nothing more than a paper pusher! How could he have hid-"

"He hid a lot of himself, Luna. And he was the rightful King of Valhalla." Celestia said quietly, before she lowered her head and frowned, muttering: "Do you remember the wedding?"

"Oh, aye, that is a great argument for Kvasir having any personality whatsoever. His wedding to Terra was an Ironjaw ceremony, Celestia, 'twas not really-" She halted, then frowned when the ivory mare held up a hoof sharply and cut her off.

"There was a unicorn present at that ceremony that I've never heard of, who played the role of Kvasir's best stallion. His name was Gemini. He talked to Kvasir alone, shortly before we found out about the attack that took place in Valhalla." Celestia said slowly, and Scrivener and Luna traded surprised looks before the ivory mare gave a grim little smile. "Don't worry. I remember you were both occupied with causing trouble."

"Aye. Do not remind me, 'tis shameful that I was not at Valhalla's aid when she needed me... damnation." Luna gritted her teeth, then she shook her head and muttered: "And what brazenness; what fools we were to miss the creature, especially under such a... a mocking name, a foolish disguise!"

Scrivener only shook his head, closing his eyes tightly before he grumbled: "Yeah, and it knew we weren't going to catch on to it. But what worries me a lot more is whatever the hell he's got in his chest, that... that Kundalini."

"That's a precise word to use, Scrivener. And I'm getting the sense it might be an accurate one as well, which is all the more worrisome." Celestia murmured, shaking her head slowly as she looked uneasily at the stallion, then she turned her eyes towards Luna, adding in a hesitant voice: "And it's not that I want to say anything... it's not that I believe there's anything wrong with your daughter, Luna..."

"Then say nothing." Luna said forcefully, her eyes flashing as she looked over at Celestia... and to the surprise of both her and Scrivener Blooms, Celestia only nodded and lowered her head politely. Luna shifted a little uncomfortably in surprise at this, and then she sighed quietly and lowered her head, mumbling: "Well, thou... hast my thanks for not arguing with me. But I suppose too, thy words have already found their mark."

Scrivener Blooms smiled faintly as well, and the ivory mare said softly: "Ultimately, I trust you both, which is why I'll respect whatever you decide. And I adore your daughter, but Innocence... was drawn to Gymbr. I don't mean anything bad by it: after all, Antares was drawn to Gymbr when he was younger, too, wasn't he? He trusted him... I think he still trusts him."

"Because Gymbr is us." Luna murmured, and then she sighed quietly and lowered her head, closing her eyes tightly. "Gymbr is us. Damnation. I know neither what to say, nor what to do. I do not even know whether or not Gymbr is enemy or friend... only that his words chilled me, Celestia, and I fear what he may do next. For as bold as I may speak... I know well that Scrivener and I are no match for his power."

Celestia lowered her head in thought, and then she shook it slowly and said hesitantly: "His words are bothering me, though. If he wanted to attack us, he would have done it then and there... Gymbr doesn't mince words or waste opportunities. He clearly doesn't need an army, but he hinted that he had one... maybe more. And with his ability to simply open portals, he could bring those forces anywhere he wants. But he's acting like he needs more... I can't tell if he's honestly afraid of something that his powers or sheer numbers couldn't overwhelm, or if maybe it's pride and prejudice driving him..."

Scrivener and Luna both shivered, neither liking the thought of this as they both looked across at Celestia, but the ivory mare only shook her head before turning and gesturing silently for them to follow. And Scrivener and Luna did, knowing only that they had to figure out what was going on and come to a decision before Gymbr returned... and only hope that they were able to deal with the consequences of whatever choice they made.

Chapter Fifteen: Too Many Questions, Too Few Answers

~BlackRoseRaven

"So much for a calm little vacation." Scrivener muttered, and Luna grumbled in agreement, the two ponies trading quick looks as Twilight sighed quietly, but felt like she had to grudgingly agree all the same. "Well, at least we started getting Innocence into training, and Antares and Excelsior got us that emergency meeting with Terra, but..."

Scrivener didn't have to finish, as Luna lowered her head meditatively and Twilight Sparkle closed her own eyes. The three were resting in a private bedroom at the Thorn Palace: Celestia was in the next room, and Excelsior and Antares were across the hall. Innocence was in a smaller room, a little further down, with Eventide and Hevatica: at all times now, the young mare was to have a bodyguard with her. Just in case.

Not that they were fooling themselves that it would even slow Gymbr down... rather, they only hoped that it would be enough to alert them if something happened. And the Greater Nightmare and the demon could both keep an eye on Innocence and keep her company. Innocence was a little... confused right now, after all. She didn't know what to make of Gymbr, and she almost seemed upset that her parents weren't ready or willing to give the strange god a chance.

Twilight shook her head a little, then the Lich asked quietly: "But we're making the right choice, aren't we? Gymbr hasn't... we know the way he works. Or at least, we all think we do... and we can't really afford taking a risk , can we? If we help Gymbr exterminate the Pious, and he hates them because... well..."

"Aye, and as Celestia said, the Pious were attacked by what was likely the Whistler." Luna frowned and lowered her head, muttering: "But the puzzle only gets more complex if that is true. And I am loathe to admit what an easy scapegoat the Pious make... aye, we will have to speak to Hel and Terra. Terra I am very tempted to pummel for whatever she has kept from us."

Scrivener smiled wryly at this, glancing up and saying dryly: "Terra is an Ironjaw and the new Queen of Valhalla. I think she'd probably pummel us, Luna."

"That's funny, isn't it?" Twilight murmured, and the Lich glanced up with a faint smile and a slow shake of her head. "I remember how there was all that... stupid yelling and fighting and debate over Terra even being at Kvasir's side... now they won't let her even give up the position. They're all so scared, but she's big and tough and a demon they can all hide behind, just like everyone always was scared of us but then hid behind us when the going got rough..."

"Wow, Twilight, that's uh... a little bitter for you. You okay?" Scrivener asked awkwardly as he sat up on the bed, looking over at the armchair Twilight was curled up on as Luna rose her head with her own soft concern from beside her husband.

Twilight only shook her head a little, then she slipped out of the armchair to cross the distance to the bed and slip into it, wiggling herself between the two. Scrivener hugged her gently as Luna smiled a little down at the sapphire mare, and there was silence for a few moments as Twilight mumbled: "I just don't like that... everything's dumb. Everything is dumb."

"Everything's dumb." Scrivener agreed, sliding his forelegs around her and hugging her gently back against his chest. Twilight settled against him, closing her eyes as she reached up a hoof to touch the stallion's own, and then the Lich smiled a little when Luna flopped over and nestle her head against her, soulstone horn gently rubbing along scratchy stitches.

They rested together in quiet and comfort, all closing their eyes, just trying to sift through things. There wasn't much else they could do right now, after all: Morning Glory was gathering their allies, Celestia was working through other channels, they still had at least ten hours before Antares and Excelsior could open the portal to Valhalla and they would join them to meet with Terra.

Their thoughts twisted together, trying to reassure each other, sharing all the information they had between them. Luna's instincts, Twilight's intellect, Scrivener's powers of observation spoke to one-another beneath the conscious mind, as images and emotions played between them, simultaneously calming the three as it helped sort out all the information they had to process.

Luna was proud enough to believe they could fight Gymbr. Maybe they couldn't win... hell, they definitely couldn't win if he had his Three Fates around... but in a three-on-one confrontation, Luna thought there was a slim chance that their numbers could overwhelm Gymbr's power. Assuming, of course, Gymbr was around the strength they'd seen in their nightmare memories of him, and that soulstone core in his chest didn't grant him some kind of extra protection or other abilities.

Twilight was more cautious, and was a lot more concerned about the soulstone core: she had done a lot of research on the substance over the years, since Luna was more into stressing her prosthetic until she managed to damage or break it than she was in doing any theory work. But in theory, soulstone could massively amplify any source of energy pumped into it: it wouldn't shatter or become damaged by any charge of magic or energy running through it, but only antimagic or physical force could hope to break it.

Scrivener Blooms thought that the way Gymbr was showing it off, though... it was like a challenge. It was a false draw, meant to look like some gaping 'weak point' that someone would want to charge at and try to punch in, only so Gymbr could use that opportunity to rip them apart at close range. Scrivener didn't just remember Because Love Conquers All and the nightmares Gymbr had showed them of its decadent and vicious life... he knew himself and Luna inside and out. And he knew that if Gymbr was anything like them, even if he had all the magic power in the world he'd still want to get up close and personal in a fight.

And they were all well-aware of their greatest advantage, and what would give them that slim but all the same still-there chance, if things came down to a head-to-head: Gymbr was made from some evil version of Luna and Scrivener that had existed in a twisted story, but he was all the same only one entity. There was only one of him, but there were three of them, sharing mind and soul: they couldn't match Gymbr's power, but they could outwit and outmaneuver him.

The three shifted together before Twilight hesitantly bit her lip, then she asked quietly: "Twilight Shadow... you'd never... I mean, I'm linked to you two, but you'd never..."

"We'd never do that to you. Besides, it didn't..." Scrivener hesitantly looked past to Luna, who nodded uneasily, the stallion not needing to finish his sentence. Something about Twilight Shadow seemed completely different from Twilight Sparkle... something about all of Gymbr's so-called 'Three Fates' seemed... strange.

"He might have... if he really has started to go back to his old ways, then he might have used some kind of enslavement charm on them..." Twilight shivered a little, shaking her head a bit before she murmured: "That scares me, a lot. To force someone to become dependent on you, to make it so that they literally can't live without you... the way they looked at him and they always smiled..."

Luna grunted, shaking her head and shivering a little as she muttered: "Aye. 'Tis sick. 'Tis an act of great evil. And I do not desire to think what has happened to the Equestria Gymbr must have attacked, or how it could have gone unnoticed..."

"If it was within the last few years, he might have been able to... or maybe he was able to confuse the Watchers somehow." Twilight suggested, glancing up and shaking her head a little. Then she sighed and closed her eyes as Scrivener hugged her up against his body and Luna mumbled and nuzzled into the Lich's body.

They lay together in silence for a little while before there was a gentle knock at the door, and Luna groaned loudly before looking moodily over at the entrance, shouting: "This had best be important! Or strippers! Or food! I shan't accept anything else!"

The door clicked open, and Celestia poked her head in with a mild look at Luna, making the sapphire mare huff and say dryly: "Please tell me that the appearance of Dusk has not revived thy silly dreams of one day being Whore Celestia."

"I'm not your First Concubine, Luna. And I highly doubt you'd impress me in bed." Celestia replied mildly, making Luna glower as Twilight and Scrivener traded amused looks. Then the ivory mare shook her head quickly before saying quietly: "Morning Glory has returned, and Subterra is filling back with demons. A lot of them are anxious, and want to know how to swear their loyalty to you again. Morning Glory has also selected several demons she thinks should be allowed to undergo... enhancement. Including herself."

"Greedy prostitute that she is." Luna paused, then looked wryly up at Scrivener, saying mildly: "Well, 'tis nice, Twilight Sparkle, that everypony desire my husband's liquids. My husband's hot, black liquids. Is it not nice, Twilight, how many-"

"You made your point." Twilight gently dropped a hoof on Luna's head, then she looked up and asked hesitantly: "How much Prometheus Elixir do we have left? I'm not saying we should use it, but... well, Scrivy, maybe we should make more."

Scrivener nodded slowly, sighing and burying his face between Twilight's ears, inhaling the scent of her mane: like flowers and that soft soap she liked. He didn't know why, but it comforted him, helped him think and decide on what he felt comfortable with, even though it was Luna who answered in a loud, brazen voice: "Scrivener Blooms shall donate more blood, and we shall look at select Nightmares first. I still do not desire to grant much of the elixir to any demons. Not until we have studied its effects more in depth."

Celestia smiled a little at this, and Scrivener and Twilight both nodded in agreement before the ivory mare said softly: "I think... that we should give in to Morning Glory's wishes. She doesn't just want to be strong anymore, Luna. She wants to be strong for us. She's dedicated to us."

"'Tis funny to hear thou say we should empower a demon. Particularly a Destroyer such as Morning Glory." Luna said wryly, and then the starry-maned mare chewed on her lip for a moment before grumbling and nodding. "Aye, perhaps. But still, I am more comfortable with the thought of feeding it to Nightmares. The Greater Nightmares do not lose their minds... if anything, they seem to become more loyal, although 'tis perhaps just because they are all the more eager to receive my gifts, and know that if I so please, the corruption can be drained back out of them. For my husband does have some certain talents."

The sapphire mare smiled slightly up at Scrivener, who only grumbled as he squeezed Twilight closer and muttered: "I really think you should just go away sometimes, Luna. Twilight and I are going to... I dunno. Put you in a box or something."

Luna huffed and leaned up, attempting to poke past Twilight with her horn at Scrivener Blooms, but the stallion managed to lean away before Celestia politely cleared her throat and said calmly: "One more thing. Kismet is here, and has agreed to lend the assistance of a few reapers. He also said he'd be very happy to see if he can trace where Gymbr came from... but I told him to hold off for now. I think it would be safer if we wait until we're in Valhalla, and if the Watchers can see anything from there. We don't want to put Kismet in danger."

"Oh, I do not care if Kismet is in danger or not, 'tis a death entity. 'Tis a Great Reaper. He can well take care of himself in danger." Luna retorted grumpily, and then she shook her head and added hesitantly: "But aye, 'tis smart all the same. I would rather not have the eyes of Gymbr drawn to our friendly death entity. Gymbr may tear him into tiny pieces and send him back to us, and 'twould be incredibly frustrating to try and piece him back together."

"You're always so compassionate, Luna. It never fails to impress me." Celestia said gently, and then she shook her head and smiled a little. "I want you to keep one thing in mind, by the way. I'm not your First Concubine, but I am your big sister. I'm here to fight by your side, don't forget that."

The sapphire mare laughed quietly, bowing her head and nodding a little, and there was silence for a few moments before Twilight glanced up and questioned: "I just had a thought... can Kismet reach a place like Ginnungagap?"

"Oh ho, aren't you a smart one?" Discombobulation's head poked in through the doorway above Celestia, and the ivory mare sighed as the Draconequus pushed the door open, comfortably perched on the white winged unicorn's back. "But there's a little problem with that idea, too, Twilight Sparkle: you see, we Draconequus are like greasers. We're great in musicals and fights and fixing cars. Sometimes motorbikes. Kismet is like... he's a nerd. Completely different school. Greasers and nerds don't get along very well, that's all there is to it. I mean, on the bright side, he isn't a jock... then we really wouldn't be able to get along. But nerds and greasers still don't mix all that well, either. We're like orcs and... well... pretty much anything that isn't an orc. Or. Other orcs. Orcs are famously bad for getting along with others, too."

Scrivener sighed, and Celestia glanced up mildly at the Draconequus standing on her back. Discombobulation looked back down at her, then leaned forwards and twisted his head around until they were almost nose-to-nose and eye-to-eye, saying pointedly: "You are also a nerd. And very possibly a fascist. But I mean that in the best of ways."

"You always know just what to say." Celestia replied with a slight smile, and then she shook her head before reaching up and gently pushing Bob's head out of the way, saying softly: "Kismet is a force of natural order. The Draconequus would not take kindly to him being in Ginnungagap. Remember that our friend Discombobulation is... a little different from most chaos entities."

"Well thank you, Tia, it's such a pleasure to hear you think so very highly of me." Discombobulation said wryly, and then he straightened and cleared his throat, placing a hand over his chest and posing atop the mare's back. "I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying."

Celestia smiled amusedly up at the Draconequus as Scrivener Blooms nodded agreeably, and then Twilight said softly: "And I think we're all happy for that, Bob. I'd hate for you to be any other way than you are now... I wonder what it must be like for the other Draconequus who are still... bound by chaos, who haven't really gotten... free of Ginnungagap."

"I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything that I do." Discombobulation replied eloquently, and then gestured easily to the side as he continued: "I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do."

"And finally, after so many years, we hear real wisdom from thee." Luna said with a smile, nodding firmly a few times. "For that is precisely the way I believe life should be lived as well."

"Well, I think that's just gone and made that advice worth less instead of more." Discombobulation said dryly, and Luna glowered as Scrivener shrugged agreeably and Celestia smiled despite herself. "Then again, some hear wisdom in the barking of dogs and others just hear lies."

"I thought cats were liars, not dogs." Scrivener said mildly, and Bob gave him a dry look as Twilight nudged the stallion lightly, but he only nudged her gently back before kissing the side of her horn lightly, making her twitch and smile softly as her eyes slid closed and she curled back against him a little. "Okay. We promise to get up soon, but... I think the three of us need a minute or two longer."

"Look at thee, taking charge, dragging thy mares into bed in front of Bob and dear sweet sister. I am so very proud of thee." Luna grinned wryly, then she paused and winked over at the two, adding cheerfully: "Unless thou would both like to join us, of course. 'Tis nothing wrong with it as long as we are not touching, aye?"

Discombobulation cleared his throat loudly, tugging at an invisible collar before he suddenly swung a hand out to the side, a top hat appearing in this. He gestured at it calmly, posing on Celestia's back, then he neatly made the brim dance along his fingers before he rolled the hat down his arm to his shoulder, popping it up on top of his head, then reaching up and seizing it to yank down firmly as he hopped upwards, and simply seemed to vanish into the hat with a pop.

It glided slowly down through the air to land gently atop her head, and Celestia glanced up at this curiously before Luna remarked mildly: "Now thou looks like a burly dancer."

"Burlesque, Luna. I think you mean burlesque." Twilight corrected gently, and Luna sniffed loudly at this, shaking her head vehemently.

"Nay, I mean burly! Look at Celestia, 'tis an optical illusion, thou looks at her one way and sees only stringiness, thou looks another and sees naught but muscle! 'Tis no wonder she would break stallions." the sapphire mare declared, raising her head high.

Celestia only smiled at them, then she turned and called calmly over her shoulder: "Don't take too long. And try not to hurt yourself, Luna, I know sometimes you try a little too hard."

The sapphire mare huffed at this as the door closed quietly behind Celestia, and then the starry-maned winged unicorn sniffed loudly and looked up at her partners, saying mildly: "Now, decide between thee who shall feel my wrathful pleasures first. Make it quick or I shall decide for thee both."

Twilight and Scrivener both looked down at the mare, and then they both shoved a hoof against the sapphire pony's skull and gently pushed her down, Luna flailing at them childishly as the two sat up and shared a laugh. And sure, the future felt uncertain, they all still felt worried, but... the laughter was genuine. The enjoyment was real. They all felt... good together, and safe, and like no matter what happened, they would always be together and nothing would ever be able to take this little bit of sanctuary away from them.

After a few minutes of half-cuddling, half-shoving at each other, the three finally slipped out of the bed together. Or rather, Scrivener and Twilight got up, and then Luna half-flung herself onto Scrivener's back, the earth pony wincing a bit and then only sighing as the sapphire mare sat astride him imperiously.

They headed out into the hallway, and Luna lightly heeled Scrivener's sides to try and make him go faster, earning a horrible glare from him as Twilight rolled her eyes. The sapphire mare cleared her throat and grinned lamely, but was saved from having to make any kind of response by a door opening down the hall and Innocence hurrying out, with Eventide in her wake.

Her parents looked up in surprise as the young mare stumbled to a stop in front of them, then gazed up almost pleadingly as she asked hurriedly: "Can... can I please come with you guys, please? I want to understand what's going on and... and I'm supposed to protect the world, right?"

"Not yet, Innocence, thou art no Valkyrie quite yet." Luna said with quiet amusement, and then the sapphire mare hesitated before glancing over to Twilight. The Lich looked uncertainly back up, their eyes meeting for a few moments, speaking to each other through their gazes... and then the two traded nods, and the violet mare turned her eyes to her daughter.

"You can, but you have to promise to listen. And Eventide, I'd appreciate it if you could come with us." Twilight halted, then she smiled a little, adding quietly: "And Innocence, we might have to ask you to leave at some point, okay? Just so you're aware. Some of the conversation we might get into might be a little bit sensitive for us."

Sin didn't look entirely thrilled with this, but she nodded awkwardly all the same before smiling up at her Móðer as the sapphire mare said kindly: "Fear not though, daughter. Thou shall still have many of the answers I am sure thou art eager for, and we have no secrets from thee. Rather, 'tis simply... to avoid frustrations."

Innocence nodded, and Eventide bowed her head politely, staying back to trail behind the family as they began to make their way down the hallway together. The quiet was a bit awkward with Innocence shooting them glances constantly but never quite daring to ask a question... until Luna, finally, said pointedly: "Simply staring... 'tis not quite the right way to go about find out information, Sin. Thou can ask whatever thou likes, just bear in mind that we may not answer."

Innocence smiled lamely, nodding hurriedly as she licked her lips nervously before plunging forwards and asking the question bothering her most of all: "Why don't you trust Gymbr?"

There was silence for a few moments, and then both Twilight Sparkle and Luna Brynhild looked down at Scrivener Blooms, who groaned mentally. Even though he felt their thoughts twisting with his own, aiding him, he hated always being the one who got to deal with the fun questions like this.

He shifted a little, then looked up and hesitated. He didn't know how to phrase it, because so much of it was instinct; so much of the rest was based on their previous knowledge of Gymbr, what he had done and the kind of creature he was. But finally, the stallion thought he found the words, as he said softly: "It has to do with... what we know about Gymbr, and what Gymbr warned us about himself. In the story he came from, he lost himself to his hungers, and his attempts to try and right his wrongs only made everything worse. That's the thing that... worries us all the most, I think. The fact that Gymbr's good intentions never seem to work out well."

"He did manage to aid us greatly in Decretum... but 'twas not really his good intent there, was it?" Luna mused, and then she shook her head slowly and murmured: "Aye. He did not desire to redeem himself, only not to fall deeper into darkness and to put his evils to use... now he returns, seemingly with the intent to drag us down into the shadow with him..."

"Is it really... a question of right and wrong?" asked Innocence quietly, and her parents looked at her as the young mare shifted uncomfortably, then gazed back up with a faint smile. "I mean... would it really be so bad if... I'm not saying that we should, but happiness is happiness, right? Keeping everyone close to us safe, making sure everyone is strong, and feels good..."

"Sometimes pain is better than pleasure." Scrivener said softly, smiling a little back at Innocence, who only shifted awkwardly. "Freedom is important. Responsibility is important. And honor is important, too."

Innocence didn't say anything, only nodding a little, and there was silence until the group reached Morning Glory's throne room. Inside, they found Celestia and the Overseer, as well as a tall figure calmly cradling a thick black tome in his silver, segmented claws, black robes seeming to flow around him like liquid and a purple stole draped around his shoulders.

His silver-masked features looked calmly over at them, golden light glowing out of metal that had been hammered into the shape of a deer's skull, golden, rounded antlers standing up high out of this. He exuded a strange sense of serenity, now that they were used to his presence: when they had first met him, under far less pleasant circumstances, they had mistaken that peaceful feeling for the sensation of impending doom.

But now they were used to Kismet, and the death entity had long gotten used to all of them, too. He seemed to smile beneath his mask, bowing his head pleasantly and saying softly: "My friends. It is good to see you, even under these dire circumstances... I would like to say again I will do anything I can to help. Nothing against your partner, Valkyrie Freya, but I dislike feeling like the Draconequus have set their eyes on our world."

Celestia only smiled at this, shaking her head and replying softly: "It's alright. I'm fairly certain Discombobulation strongly dislikes it himself. Luna, Scrivener, Twilight, we were just discussing what we should try and focus on, and I think that after Terra we should attempt to get in contact with Hel. Assuming she's not watching us right now herself..."

"Of course she's watching us right now." Morning Glory said moodily, and then the Destroyer shook her head, stomping one steel hoof and muttering: "Hel likes to keep an eye on every little thing that happens in the layers, and we all know she has some kind of interest here in Subterra, whether any of you will admit it or not. She's probably waiting for us to beg for her assistance or send a messenger to her. Stupid games."

"Or she's waiting for us to go to Valhalla to get in contact with us there. It would be an opportunity to create a point of conflict between us and Terra, if what we've heard from Gymbr is true, and I highly doubt she would pass up the opportunity to try and play off our tensions." Celestia added calmly, shaking her head slowly. "She wants us to be more dependent on her than on Valhalla."

Luna grunted, then she turned her eyes curiously to Kismet, but the death entity only shook his head and said softly: "I know what you would ask, but I cannot do it: I can enter Helheim and pass between the slices as I please, but I cannot go into the Underdark, where Hel's fortified home is. There are too many defenses, and it is a dimension Hel created solely to serve her: it does not follow the same laws and rules as the rest of the worlds do."

"Wonderful." the sapphire mare grumbled, and then she shook her head slowly before asking distastefully: "And is there no other way to summon Hel for conversation? I am sorely not in the mood to walk into Valhalla, only to end up entwined in some stupid debate between Paradise and Punishment. And it frustrates me endlessly that there is no way to reach Hel's home, yet she can invade all ours' with ease! Wicked old ice witch."

Celestia sighed tiredly, but grudgingly nodded in agreement as Morning Glory muttered: "The people you can't kill are always the ones who are the most annoying."

Kismet only chuckled quietly and shook his head slowly, then he said gently: "It is only our perceptions that make things welcome or unpleasant. If we learn to modify our perceptions, then we change the entire world around us."

"Then why don't you make it possible to get to Hel and go and do that? In fact, why don't you just perceive Gymbr and Ginnungagap away." Morning Glory said icily, and she glared at Kismet as he only looked at her calmly, completely unfettered.

"Our perceptions augment reality, but never change fact... but all the same..." Kismet looked thoughtful, then he glanced over at Luna and said softly: "I cannot take you to Underdark. But I can take you into Helheim, and there is perhaps one place that with an ally's help, you might be able to gain entrance to Hel's dimension if you feel it truly is important to reach her."

Luna looked up in surprise, and Morning Glory smiled wryly after a moment, shaking her head and saying distastefully: "No, it wouldn't be that easy, Kismet. I know what you're thinking of: Cairnmór, where the Ironjaw Dragons gather. But to pass into that stone city, Luna Brynhild would have to gain the respect of the dragons... and getting respect isn't something she does very well."

Luna scowled over at Morning Glory, while Celestia looked down in thought before she nodded and murmured: "It's something to consider. Thank you, Kismet, I appreciate your input on the subject. I hope that we won't have to force a conversation with Hel, though..."

Twilight nodded slowly, then she hesitated before looking over at her daughter, saying softly: "Innocence asked earlier why we don't trust Gymbr, and... I've been thinking about it a lot, and I'd like to hear your thoughts on the subject, too, Celestia."

Innocence looked a little embarrassed, but Celestia only smiled and nodded, replying quietly: "Of course. It's something I've been thinking over myself, though, and right now the biggest problem I have is the fact Gymbr doesn't seem to be telling us the truth. The Pious don't seem to be making any moves to assimilate us, and Gymbr has a very clear hatred of anything that represents what he calls 'light.' The idea of Greater Heaven alone seems like more than enough to offend him."

Innocence shifted uncomfortably, and then she asked slowly: "But don't you and Mutt always say to trust your instincts? My instincts... I mean, I look at the Pious and they scare me. I look at Gymbr, and... I mean, well..."

"There is no shame in that, child. Gymbr is a dark reflection of your parents, but he reflects them clearly all the same. Whether good or bad, children tend to trust in their parents." Kismet bowed his head towards the mare, his tone gentle, but never patronizing, and despite herself the young mare relaxed a little with a smile up at the death entity. She never felt scared of him, for some reason, even with all he represented.

Scrivener nodded a bit, then he cleared his throat and looked pointedly up at Luna, who was still seated on his back. But the sapphire mare was only looking mildly at Kismet, before she asked dryly: "And who art thou to lecture others upon parentage? I doubt that death ever had parents."

"Nature nurtures us all." Kismet said kindly, and Luna groaned and rolled her eyes as Celestia smiled despite herself with a slow nod of agreement.

"Oh, aye, grand, 'ts no wonder thou and my much loved but much-stupid brother get along so grandly." Luna said flatly, shaking her head with a huff. "Great silly creature. Thou should be marshaling zombies and whispering in shadows, not... speaking so politely of the earth upon which we live. For I am not entirely sure thou lives thyself."

"Since I am not dying, Luna Brynhild, I must be living. And I think it is well-known by now that some rocks do a better job of living fulfilling lives than those of mind and society." Kismet replied equably, and Luna glowered at him before she heeled Scrivener's sides and yanked on his mane, attempting to make him approach the death entity. Scrivener only stumbled a little with a wince, though, then glowered over his shoulder at Luna and shook himself violently with a grumble, making the sapphire mare flail for balance.

Twilight Sparkle grumbled at the two, and then she turned her eyes towards Morning Glory, asking: "Who did you select for possible... enhancement?"

This subject caught Innocence's interest, and she looked up quickly, almost leaning in; Morning Glory clearly caught the mare's eager body language, her eyes flicking almost imperceptibly to the young unicorn for a moment before they returned to Twilight Sparkle, and the Destroyer answered calmly: "I'm still sorting out the candidates. I know you and Luna are hesitant to continue this research but... I'm afraid it's necessary. I'm sure we can rationalize all kinds of nice little loopholes to your moral quandaries, but at the end of the day it's what we're going to need to do, especially if Gymbr has forces of his own. I doubt they'll be willing to play fair, and I doubt they won't be strengthened themselves in some way."

"We have to do what's right, and what won't violate the honor code we've created for ourselves, first and foremost." Celestia said quietly, and Morning Glory grimaced at this, but nodded grudgingly all the same. "If we can't obey the rules and laws we set for ourselves in the worst of times, then we can't hold others to the same."

"I think we actually can, considering the power we have at our disposal." Morning Glory said moodily, holding up a hoof, but then she shook her head slowly and said finally: "But as you wish. I will respect your decision."

Luna cleared her throat loudly, glaring over at the Destroyer before she asked in a cranky voice: "And I forget, Overseer, to whom does thou bow thy head?"

"To the Valkyries. Both of them." Morning Glory replied sourly, and Luna grumbled under her breath before the Destroyer added distastefully: "You may be my Mistress, but you I unfortunately have no choice but to obey. Abeyance does not automatically mean 'respect.'"

"Well it should." Luna said grumpily, and then she heeled Scrivener's sides lightly, and the stallion grumbled under his breath before wincing when Luna kicked him firmly several times with one lower leg, scowling down at him. "Oh, damn thee, thou art worse than a damned donkey! Hex was a far more dependable horse than thou art, Scrivy!"

"Hex was a riding horse. I'm a pony. Kind of. Mostly. I don't really know anymore." Scrivener mumbled, and then he winced when Luna heeled him again before he looked up and complained: "Is this how you treated your goddamn steeds? Because seriously, you're being a bitch right now."

Innocence giggled despite herself as Celestia shook her head, and then Luna huffed and yanked on Scrivener's mane as her horn sparked, the corruption in the stallion's veins boiling and making him wince before he staggered around in a circle, cursing under his breath as Luna declared: "Enough talk! My horse requires a jaunt before we prepare to head to Valhalla! Now hie, away, Scrivy!"

Scrivener yelped as Luna drove her lower hooves against his sides, and then he leapt forwards and charged out the open doors and into the hallway, cursing loudly several times. Twilight stared with disbelief after the two as Innocence laughed and took off after her Móðer and Father with Eventide hurrying after the young mare, leaving Celestia to tap a hoof slowly against the ground before she said in a conversational tone of voice: "If I had ever caught a Valkyrie treating their riding horse like that, I would have tied the offender to the horse and sent it running from one end of the Vale to the other. To the underbelly of the horse, that is. And which way they faced would have been according to my discretion."

"I've always enjoyed the way you think. You would have fit in well in Helheim." Morning Glory said mildly, and then the Destroyer shook her head and turned her eyes towards Twilight Sparkle, saying quietly: "Watch out for your daughter, for her sake."

The Lich grimaced a bit at this, looking up and saying quietly: "Morning, she's... she's fine. She was just confused about Gymbr, but we've talked to her about it and we'll continue to talk to her about it. She knows better than-"

"I knew better than to believe in my own little brother. Look where I am now anyway." Morning Glory said moodily, patting her own chest. "Perhaps no one else will say it, but I will. Your little girl lit up at the promise of power from Gymbr, and she's questioning honor and everything you believe in. You can keep talking to her, but what's that going to accomplish? You have to set more expectations and be harder on her when she fails to live up to them."

"Please don't tell me how to raise my child." Twilight said quietly but firmly, and Morning Glory sighed and sat back a bit before the violet mare shook her head and murmured: "And I understand your concerns. I do. But Innocence is just going through a phase right now where she has to... question things, look at things differently, try and understand things. And I'd much rather have that than her acting like some kind of little drone, just doing what we tell her to do. It's part of growing up."

"It wasn't when I was a child. I was given a job and I did it. I was expected to become a shieldmaiden and to be the very best that I could be, and so I was." Morning Glory replied evenly, shaking her head slowly. "There was no questioning any of that. My brother was the one with questions, who didn't fall in line, who didn't know his place. And no matter what kind of stallion he is now, back then it only led to trouble."

There was silence for a few moments, then Celestia smoothly changed the subject, asking calmly: "But you now want to reward the free-thinking demons and nightmares, all the same?"

"There is a time and place for it. Furthermore, the candidates are all loyal, and all follow Luna Brynhild's... peculiar style." Morning Glory grimaced a bit, then she returned her eyes to Twilight Sparkle. "I think I well deserve a little more power, and I don't fear losing my lucidity. Also on the short list of demonic candidates is Ersatz Major: not because she's useful at all, but she quickly volunteered, she's loyal, and it would be an excellent way to study the effects of the Prometheus Elixir."

"I get so afraid that we're just doing what Valthrudnir was always doing... when does this go from acceptable research to monstrous experimentation?" Twilight murmured quietly, shaking her head slowly, and Celestia smiled faintly as she strode over and reached up to gently touch the violet mare's shoulder comfortingly.

It was Kismet who answered, though,the death entity saying softly: "Everything is about understanding and consent. You know this already though, young one: I think you just need to hear the words from someone impartial. Although I don't know if I can honestly count myself among that number... after all, I'm very fond of your Looking Glass World and you ponies that inhabit it."

Twilight Sparkle nodded a little, gazing up at the death entity before Celestia said softly: "We can't let our fears of what might happen overwhelm us. If we do, then we'll put ourselves at risk of not being prepared when the time comes: once upon a time, Twilight Sparkle, it was considered a terrible sin to examine the bodies of the dead instead of letting them rest in peace or burning them. But if we had never started perform autopsies and doing research on corpses, we never would have learned about hundreds, if not thousands of diseases, or been able to discover many of the secrets of our own anatomy."

Twilight smiled a little, glancing up and murmuring: "And I guess that I wouldn't be around either, would I? It just seems... different. A dead body is only meat, the casing that's left behind after our life leaves us. Living people, though..."

Celestia nodded, looking down into the Lich's eyes softly. "It is different. But what's different is what we've been over before. They can make that choice. And even though I'm not always comfortable with the thought of the Greater Nightmares myself, they are necessary."

Morning Glory grunted, looking up and saying moodily: "This petty morality often comes across more like a weakness than a strength we should be trying to uphold. I suppose as long as the demons like me continued to be annoyed at all the little hoops we have to jump through to get a single thing done, and all the hoof-holding and coddling, you'll never have to worry about losing your idea of honor and moral righteousness."

Kismet chuckled at this, opening his tome and looking calmly down at the page as he replied kindly: "If you really believed that, Destroyer, then why do you have so much respect for those who maintain it? More, why struggle so hard to imitate them?"

"Because it's what's expected of me. I think we went over that before." Morning Glory said icily to the death entity, but the way she shifted told them all a different story, the Destroyer glowering as she muttered: "Believe me. I was happier when the concept of honor didn't stretch any further than beating the enemy on the battlefield and proving you were stronger than the enemy."

Twilight and Celestia both looked up with smiles all the same, well-aware there was much more to the Destroyer than this, and both more glad than they could say they had the strong, straightforwards demon here to help them push through the harsher decisions they would have to make as they continued to trace the line in the shadows between wrong and right.

---

Innocence shifted moodily on the bed, then she sighed tiredly as she flopped back against the covers, staring up at the ceiling. Eventide glanced towards her curiously, and Hevatica looked up from the book she was reading with a small smile, the demon saying quietly: "I know you're anxious, Innocence, but please. Try and relax a little."

"I... I am relaxed." Innocence mumbled as she rolled over, and then she shook her head a little and sighed a bit, fidgeting again nervously before she finally looked up and said hesitantly: "I just... do you know why they... Gymbr was scary, but..."

"Do you know the story of Gymbr?" Eventide asked softly, and Innocence bit her lip, not knowing how to explain it: in a way she did, in a way she didn't. It was something she might brag she knew about but... really, she didn't... know.

Eventide seemed to pick up on this, and the Greater Nightmare gave a small smile after a moment, saying softly: "Then I will explain... what I feel I have the right to explain. Perhaps you can help me, Hevatica... you've always been good with stories, and close to Luna and Scrivener."

Hevatica laughed quietly at this, and the demoness shook her head slowly as she replied quietly: "Yes, but you know just as much as I do, darling Eventide... and you're just as close to our masters. But I think I understand what you need to hear, Innocence, and what has you so worried. It's understandable, don't worry... many of us demons were drawn in the same way by other masters over the years. But just because it's something that can happen to any of us, doesn't make it right."

Innocence blushed a bit at this, shaking her head hurriedly and mumbling: "It's... it's not like that at all..."

"Oh?" Hevatica put down the book and slipped over to the bed, leaning over it and giving a faint, sorrow-tinged smile to Innocence, looking at her like she was gazing into the unicorn's very soul. "There's trust, because you sense your parents in him... and he's handsome, and charismatic, and most of all, powerful. And he offered to share that power with you... and darling, we're demons. But whether or not we can read your emotions, it's as clear as the horn on your head, how much you were drawn to that... to power."

Innocence shifted uneasily, looking down awkwardly and mumbling a little to herself, but Hevatica only laughed quietly and shook her head slowly, closing her eyes. "That's a failing very common to every species, you know. A promise of power makes an easy lure..."

"But power should be earned. Your parents are just as capable as Gymbr of giving power to their loyal subjects and their friends and family... look at me." Eventide reached up and touched her own breast, smiling faintly. "But my powers were earned, Innocence. They weren't simply given to me, and I am grateful to Luna and Scrivener for it. If I had been simply... given power, I may have used it wrongly. Or I may have never valued it... started begging for more and more at your parents' doorstep."

"Power does ugly things to us." agreed Hevatica in a soft voice, and then she turned her eyes towards Innocence, who was keeping her eyes away from the Nightmare and Kelpie... but there was a hint of shame in her body language, as much as there was embarrassment. "Oh, darling. It's alright. The drive for power itself is nothing bad... it's how you choose to attain it that helps decide the kind of person you are."

"And what you do with it." Eventide added, and Hevatica gave a quiet laugh and a nod of acknowledgment as Innocence hesitantly brought her eyes back towards the two. "But you wanted to know more about Gymbr, and perhaps if you hear more about him... you'll feel less anxious about the way your parents treated him."

Innocence sat up a bit, and the Greater Nightmare tilted her head towards the demon, who gave a wry smile. "Oh, if you insist. Gymbr is a difficult subject, Innocence, and your parents and brother know much more about him than we do. He first came to your brother, Antares, when he was only a child... and he did help your parents in the final battle against Decretum. But whether or not he was ever truly a friend is... up for debate."

"But why? If he helped then, why would they be so worried he's not helping now? And I mean... those... other versions of..." She bit her lip, not wanting to say their names. "Those ponies he brought with him were scary, but they seemed like they... they more than just had faith in him. And they seemed happy... isn't happiness what's important?"

"Is it?" Eventide and Hevatica traded looks and slight smiles, and Innocence scowled a bit at them both before the Greater Nightmare gave a quiet laugh, bowing her head and saying gently: "Excuse us. But think about it for a moment, Innocence: would you trade away your freedom for happiness? What about your mind, your strength, your memories?"

The unicorn shifted a little, then she looked down and mumbled: "There's a lot of things I don't really want to remember, though. And I just... I wouldn't be happy without... you know."

"Then do you think they're truly happy? Or is it just a trick of their minds and Gymbr's powers?" asked Hevatica pointedly, and Innocence shifted a bit before the Kelpie reached out and gently touched one of her forelegs. "That is why your parents don't trust Gymbr. Your parents welcome darkness, but Gymbr brings more than just darkness with him... he brings destruction, and hatred, and suffering, and greed. Gymbr is malicious, and willing to do anything that will benefit himself in the long run, with no care or compassion for others."

Innocence made a face, and Eventide added quietly: "Gymbr made slaves of those ponies he called 'family,' Innocence. They are not willing servants, as we are to your parents... they are slaves, with no choice but to obey and to be loyal. While some would argue this is a fitting use of his powers... you would be wise to consider the price of such selfishness."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Innocence nodded a little before she murmured: "Okay. I... I guess I understand where you're all coming from. But still... he'd be a powerful ally, wouldn't he? And he wants to give us... he said himself, he wants us to be... equal to him, even better. I know that he's not one of the... 'good guys,' I guess, but... why is it so important to be a good guy?"

"It's not. But it is important to do the right thing, and your parents have always followed a code of honor. A strange one, yes, but honor all the same." Hevatica replied gently, giving a small smile to Innocence. "Gymbr lacks honor. That is why your parents are hesitant to make any deals with him."

The unicorn mumbled a little, and then she dropped her head and sighed, muttering: "Still. I don't... I guess I just don't get honor that well, maybe. And the Pious really are creepy and... they give me this awful feeling. It's not like Mutt is jumping to make friends with any of them, either... it seems really dumb to me, not to pick one side or the other."

Hevatica and Eventide both smiled again, and Innocence scowled a little before she buried her face down against the bed with a sigh. She fidgeted a little, her mind nervously playing through all kinds of different thoughts and scenarios, but she kept coming back to Gymbr... thinking about him, wondering how strong he must be, worrying that maybe... Hevatica and Eventide were being more affected by her parents than they liked to believe they were.

Maybe Gymbr just embraced the darkness more than her parents did... maybe they were just afraid of Gymbr's power, and what we could do or... well... she didn't know, really. Gymbr was a mystery to her, and he really was powerful and he seemed... he scared her, sure, but in a way that drew her all the more to him, what he could maybe offer.

But then again... those ponies. What he had done to those ponies... that frightened her, too. She would never want to end up like that... some kind of... toy to a self-proclaimed god. And hey, if her parents were afraid of him because they were afraid he was going to come in here and try to take over... she could understand that, too. She'd do anything to try and protect the little she had herself, after all.

The unicorn sighed a little, and then she finally sat up and rubbed at her face as she murmured: "It's too bad you guys can't come to Valhalla with us. I like having you both around. But I guess us freaks have to stick together, right?"

"You're not a freak, Innocence. You're a very pretty little girl. You just need to learn to be more comfortable with yourself, like Twilight Sparkle is." encouraged Eventide, smiling and nodding. "I know that it may be difficult at times, but believe us when we say you should never feel that you have to hide who you are."

Innocence smiled wryly at this, reaching up and rubbing slowly at her scaled features as she mumbled: "Easy for you to say. Hevatica, you're really, really pretty, and Eventide, you're a Greater Nightmare. All the other Nightmares look up to you as a big sister and both of you have a place where you really belong... and well... I'm just... I look like a dragon-pony baby."

Hevatica laughed quietly at this, saying softly: "Innocence, hiding your face won't change who you are. That's something we all learn, quickly: perhaps looking like a pretty, natural pony will help soften the first meeting, but if you have to continue to put on a mask just to spend time with these 'friends...' then are they truly friends at all?"

Innocence mumbled a little at this, then she complained: "Well, it's not like Mom goes out and tells everyone she's a Lich!"

"And nor does she hide it. She simply is what she is, and she refuses to allow others to dictate what she should look like or how she should act. You should be proud to have such a strong mother." Eventide said kindly, and Innocence mumbled and shifted a little bit before the Greater Nightmare soothed: "All things in time. You'll find what's right for you, Innocence. You'll understand that only very few opinions should be taken without a grain of salt."

The unicorn mumbled a little, then she sighed and flopped back on the bed disconsolately, nodding and closing her eyes. Still, her mind danced with a thousand questions, none of which she had any answers to... and she only hoped that soon enough, she'd start to figure things out on her own.

Chapter Sixteen: Visiting Valhalla

~BlackRoseRaven

There wasn't a whole lot else they could really do, apart from get a few things together after Luna rode Scrivener around on an embarrassing but surprisingly-informative patrol of Subterra. The winged unicorn was able to relax a bit, but also get a sense of how many demons had returned and how many were anxious to try and make up for running away.

Not that Luna could entirely blame them: Gymbr had clearly sent out that hostile pulse of power on purpose, perhaps to try and make them feel like their army of allies was going to betray them. What Gymbr probably didn't understand was that it had the opposite effect on Luna: the servants of darkness who had just run away had made her angry, not upset, and seeing how so many important friends and faces had stayed, had even joined her without question to investigate what was going on had renewed her faith in the allies she had here.

They had an uphill battle ahead of them, that much was certain. Even if they prepared as much as possible, got the assistance of Heaven and Hell, and passed on whatever gifts they could to their servants of the night, they still had to figure out what Gymbr was doing here, how honest he was being with them... and if they could even fight him head on.

Luna grumbled at this as she finished slipping on her armor, then she lifted her helmet with telekinesis, levitating it in front of her features before she muttered: "Well, Terra shall be practice. We shall pummel Terra for whatever she has neglected to tell us."

"I'm sure she had a good reason, Luna. I'm a little worried about her, actually... what if Gymbr threatened her, or Taruos?" Twilight asked softly, looking up uncertainly as she tightened her cloak, and the starry-maned mare grumbled at this and shook her head fiercely.

"Nay, I do not believe even Gymbr would resort to threatening the life of a child to get his way. But Terra, on the other hoof... aye. He would do whatever was necessary to silence her." Luna muttered, nodding a few times before she looked across the bedroom at Scrivener Blooms, as the stallion sorted through a satchel bag, already dressed and ready. "Do not be such a mare, Scrivy. We shan't need to bring that much with us, 'twill only be a short visit."

Scrivener looked up crankily, and Luna cleared her throat before awkwardly tossing her helm onto the bed, giving a lame grin as she said finally: "Well, thou... thou made a most fantastic steed?"

"And you are a fantastic ass. And I don't mean that in the good way." Scrivener grumbled, and Luna huffed loudly before she strode over to him and poked at him a few times with her horn. The stallion winced and flailed a bit in return at her, and then he tossed one last book into the satchel before closing it and saying sourly: "When something horrible happens while we're in Valhalla, I'm blaming it on you. You're determined to cause mayhem."

The sapphire mare only shrugged at this, then she poked a few more times at Scrivener Blooms before saying mildly: "We shall see, Scrivener Blooms. For thou art a greater magnet for trouble than I am. Thou art just cranky because I made thy lazy buttocks exercise, riding thee so hard."

Luna paused, giggled to herself, and then she squawked when Scrivener smacked her in the face with the saddlebag before he sighed and put it on, muttering: "I think we need a jar or something. You know, like the lie jar. But for being dumb."

"Thou art dumb." Luna shoved the stallion over, then she turned and looked pointedly over at Twilight Sparkle, who only gazed awkwardly back at the two until the sapphire mare asked plainly: "Between us, who is the dumber, Twilight?"

"I think we should probably just get going." Twilight said awkwardly, and Luna grumbled but nodded, then turned and headbutted Scrivener when he climbed to his hooves. Since she had decided not to wear her helmet and he was wearing his, however, the sapphire mare only succeeded in knocking herself stumbling dumbly, blinking a few times before Scrivener quickly reached up and smacked her soulstone horn.

It rang out loudly, Luna squeaking and grabbing at her head, and the Lich glowered at them before she asked dryly: "Do I have to separate you two or something?"

Scrivy and Luna both shook their head in awkward synchronization, and Twilight sighed a little before she asked pleadingly: "Then can you both please, please, please try and find something apart from each other to use as a stress ball? It always makes me nervous."

"Oh, come now, Twilight! Scrivy and I would never... well... we have rarely... what I am saying is that Scrivener Blooms and I are good for each other, even when we risk sustaining injury to one-another and ourselves. 'Tis healthy for us in its strange way to... play these games." Luna explained in as reasonable a voice as she could, even though Twilight could also hear all the things she was tiptoeing around: like how sometimes she and Scrivener did get more carried away these days, and injured each other. Physically, never emotionally or mentally, which... actually disturbed Twilight a little sometimes.

It was like they were still in the process of changing, and like all the years they had spent in peace had just let them steep in their own sadomasochism. They were used to pain, even welcomed it, and sometimes neither pony really noticed when they were actually starting to hurt each other, like they had lost track of the difference between pain and pleasure...

Twilight shook herself out, shivering once, not wanting to think of what it meant as she looked up and smiled a little. No, she was worrying too much, and now both Luna and Scrivener were looking at her with concern, but it was just... "I'm sorry. It's just... everything that's happened. It makes me look at every little thing that's wrong with us or that's changed over the years and... I get scared of what it could all mean."

"Aye, thou art worse than Scrivy when it comes to that." Luna said softly, and then she shook her head and traded small smiles with the stallion. "Very well, Scrivener Blooms and I shall do our best to restrain ourselves. Even if Scrivy is an idiot and I am not always the brightest star in the night sky."

"Nightlight." Scrivener said mildly, and the sapphire mare rolled her eyes and shoved him lightly, making him stumble a little with a smile before he caught himself. "Alright, alright, point taken. So... let's go."

Luna nodded firmly in agreement as Twilight looked up with a smile, and then she traded a quick kiss with Scrivener before beginning to turn. Immediately, however, Luna turned around, looking pointedly at the violet mare, and the Lich sighed but smiled a little more despite herself before meeting Luna's lips for a second quick affection.

Then the three headed for the door, pushing out into the hall and falling in natural step with each other. Innocence's door was ajar and the mare had apparently already left with Eventide, but Twilight wasn't too surprised: their daughter was probably more eager than they were to head to Valhalla and get to help look around for any clues.

They walked through the halls, taking their time and not rushing: there was no point in getting there too early, after all. It would just be more time for them to waste and Luna to cause trouble for everyone, so it was better to loiter a little, Twilight and Scrivener chatting a little on and off as Luna interjected things randomly every now and then and smiled at the servants that passed.

They arrived atop the pyramid of the Thorn Palace to find the circular portal ring was quickly being constructed by Morning Glory, Celestia, and a few loyal demons. The ring was made of several layers of segmented steel, covered in runes and set into a large, rectangular base. Excelsior was nervously hopping around as the demons and Celestia welded the pieces of the ring together, and Antares was standing further back, talking with Kismet, Innocence, and Eventide. The Greater Nightmare was armored in beautiful golden light plate that covered her body completely, features hidden by a featureless mask; Yamato Armor, normally worn by lesser Nightmares to protect against the sun's dangerous light and enhance their strength.

Innocence had polymorphed herself and was wearing her armor, minus the facemask, while Antares was only in his uniform. The younger sibling clearly was a little frustrated about this, glowering up at the stallion as she complained once her parents drew close: "Why do I have to wear full armor and Tarry doesn't?"

"Because Antares' job requires much primping and preening, not the proper preparations of a warrior." Luna said cheerfully, and then she grinned when Antares glared at her and made a few aggressive pokes at her with his horn. "Oh, oh? What, thou dandy, thou challenges me? Come on, come then, show me that I am wrong, I dare thee!"

Antares dropped low, preparing to pounce, but then both he and Luna looked lamely at Twilight Sparkle when she cleared her throat loudly and said dryly: "Maybe you two can save it for later, okay? It's a little crowded up here right now."

Twilight gestured at the mostly-assembled portal being set up in front of the staircase, and Luna Brynhild and her son grumbled before Innocence looked up and asked plainly: "Why are all of us going to Heaven if we have to make sure Subterra is secure?"

"Morning Glory is not, she is only here to assist us with opening the portal. As is Kismet, I suppose." Luna looked up curiously, and the death entity nodded calmly before the sapphire mare frowned curiously around. "And where is that damned Draconequus? Celestia, where is the beast thou enjoys attempting to make twisted little babies with?"

"I'm sure he's around somewhere." Celestia replied calmly without looking over her shoulder, her horn glowing bright gold as the same radiant aura surrounded a joint and fused the metal together little by little. Then she smiled and allowed the aura to fade out, lowering her head and nodding once as she murmured: "There. Finished."

Morning Glory nodded moodily in agreement as she stepped away from the other side of the ring, then she looked sourly over her shoulder at Excelsior as the unicorn fidgeted a bit and hurried up to examine the portal quickly. He began to open his mouth... then shrank down a little when he saw that Morning Glory had locked her sour eyes on him before she said irritably: "Will you calm down, Blessed? Nothing here is going to hurt you. You're not worth the time or energy."

Excelsior quailed further, offering a lame smile up to the Destroyer before he stumbled around and scurried quickly over to Antares, who sighed and fixed a pointed look on the officer of Valhalla. But Excelsior only shook his head hurriedly and mumbled something, the charcoal stallion grunting after a moment and turning his eyes up towards his parents. "He says we should take a minute or two to get ready and make sure everyone's here, then we should go. Timing should be great, Terra will be glad to see you guys so... please don't try and start a fight with her, Mom. She's kind of Prestige's mentor."

"I thought I was Prestige's mentor!" Luna said in a hurt voice, and then she glowered at Antares as the glossy-black unicorn closed his eyes and lowered his head slowly. "Thou art both traitors! Traitors, does thou hear me? Bah, so what, Terra is Queen of Valhalla, I care not! All know that the true Queen of Valhalla was always Freya!"

"I said that to Frigg once. And then I was bent over her knee and spanked like a child." Celestia remarked, before she glanced over her shoulder at a loud giggling that surprisingly didn't come from Luna, saying mildly: "I see you there, Bob. Come on out."

There was a huff, and then Discombobulation leaned up over the top of Nightmare Moon's grinning head, all eyes glancing up towards the Draconequus as he said mildly: "If we were ever playing hide and seek, Tia, you would be the champion. Well, when it came to seeking, anyway. I'm not so sure how good you'd be at hiding with how tall you are and all."

Then the Draconequus peered back and forth before slipping down off the statue's back, but a moment later hopping out of thin air next to Celestia, landing beside her with his hands neatly tented and heels together. Celestia smiled up at him, then she asked softly: "Are you going to come with us?"

"Wherever you need me, that's where I'll be." Discombobulation said gently, and then he glanced over his shoulder at Kismet, adding mildly: "Unlike you. Death is a very dull, dreary affair, and my advice to you is to have nothing whatsoever to do with it."

Kismet only shrugged, then he replied pleasantly: "And chaos is exciting, I understand. But I have always been curious: if you know nothing but excitement and madness, how can you ever value it without being first boring and sane?"

"Well, all chaos is born of boredom." Discombobulation retorted, and then he halted, blinked, and reached up to poke his own nose with his metal claw. "Wait. That makes me boring."

The chaos entity's shoulders slumped, and then he looked awkwardly to the side when Celestia touched his hip gently and smiled at him, saying softly: "I think you're anything but boring, Bob. As a matter of fact, I look forwards to showing you just how much you excite me later."

"I'll... I'm very happy with being boring, thank you." Discombobulation said awkwardly, rubbing slowly at his neck as he smiled lamely, and then he shifted slowly away from the ivory mare as she continued to gaze at him with a pleasant expression and a gleam in her eyes. Then he looked over at the other ponies, whispering loudly: "I think we should go before Celestia becomes Molestia."

"Molestia. This is a fine name for my big sister." Luna said with relish, nodding firmly a few times, and the rainbow-maned winged unicorn shook her head and laughed. "Now I require a new nickname. Something reflective of me and that-"

"Something that has to do with your oversized mouth." Morning Glory interrupted crankily, and Luna huffed loudly before the Overseer glowered at the demons that had helped set up the portal, making them wince. "Concentrate your energies onto me. I'll open the portal."

"Morning Glory is right, even if a little short-tempered. But we'll open it together" Celestia shook her head with a slight smile, then turned towards the portal, and Luna grumbled but grudgingly strode forwards, and the people spread out over the top of the Thorn Palace naturally broke into two groups: those staying behind, and those who would be passing through the portal.

Kismet calmly rose a hand as Morning Glory lowered her head towards the rings, her horn taking on a bright white glow as Luna and Celestia stood side-by-side, their heads raised high, their horns glowing brightly as they concentrated more energy into the ring. Runes all around the rings lit up one after the other, electricity crackling between the inside of the portal, and the several rings began to spin slowly, thrumming with power.

Scrivener Blooms felt the energy racing around him, and Innocence looked up brightly, her eyes glowing with amazement. Twilight Sparkle and Antares Mīrus were both pouring their own magic towards the rings as well, but they were being careful not to charge it with too much power: with so many strong people already pushing so much energy into the spell, they had to watch not to overcharge the portal and damage the frame holding it all together.

Between the rings, a bright light spread, forming a liquid-looking wall that rippled violently before flashing brightly. The wall of light that filled the rings transformed, becoming a window into another world as the runes pulsed along the framework that held it all together.

"Go!" Morning Glory snapped, and Celestia and Luna both nodded before leaping forwards and running side-by-side for the portal, Discombobulation wincing and diving forwards to catch the edge of Celestia's collar, dragged along through the air behind her like a flag. Twilight, Scrivener, and Innocence followed Luna, the young mare laughing as Excelsior and Antares followed last, the glossy-black unicorn grinning widely.

The column of ponies and Draconequus leapt through the portal, vanishing in flashes of light; they were seared with heat in the brief moment they spent between realities before they tore out the other side, running quickly along a dirt road beneath a gorgeous blue, sunny sky. Celestia and Luna both looked up, feeling that same blast run through their system: of familiarity, of the past, of... being back home.

Luna grinned and flicked her mane as it sizzled with energy, laughing and looking up with bright eyes as the others emerged through the window in reality behind them. Beside her, Celestia had her head tilted towards the sky and her eyes closed, basking for a moment in the air and the sun as Discombobulation sat astride her back and shook himself quickly out, then he said finally: "It's a lot like coming home to Zanarkand and finding out it wasn't all just a dream, after all."

Twilight and Scrivener traded amused looks at this, as Antares shook himself out and Innocence looked slowly around with something like awe on her features. Then Luna laughed again as she looked over her shoulder at her children, saying easily: "Now, aye, that is a feeling I have truly come to savor. The sense that against all odds, here we are; home."

"You can't have more than one home, Scrivener Blooms. Even if your parents are divorced. And if Odin is your father and Hel is your mother, something tells me you have one awkward family indeed. And the divorce must have been a nasty one." Discombobulation said mildly, and Celestia's eyes opened as she smiled slightly and looked thoughtfully ahead.

"I don't think that's quite what happened, even if Odin's particular habits make it seem... like it's a strong possibility. But there's a sense that something much different happened between Hel and Odin." Celestia said thoughtfully, and then she shook her head before drawing her eyes slowly down from the sky, looking first to the side of the road, over the flowing, verdant fields, then ahead, towards a beautiful, immense castle that stood a short distance away. A massive drawbridge was lowered and the gates stood invitingly open, the ancient walls and fortifications reaching high towards the sky, looking like fantasy brought to life.

The Halls of Valhalla, in the middle of the Vale of Heaven: all eyes turned towards this before Discombobulation cleared his throat and pointed ahead, beginning calmly: "And there the brave shall live, forever."

Scrivener Blooms smiled despite himself, then he rose his head and recited softly: "There it stands, brick-by-brick built, totem of the past; kings' bones the foundation, kings' hearts beat within its walls, and guided by the minds of the wise. Oh kingly estate, do-"

"Stop showing off, Luna Brynhild. I quote ten thousand things every single day, you quote one thing now and then, why is it more impressive when you recite some stupid old poem than me?" Discombobulation asked crankily, and then he reached out and flicked Scrivener's helm lightly, making a loud ding as the stallion blinked dumbly before the Draconequus primly turned and crossed his arms and legs, sniffing loudly. "Tia, let us leave."

Celestia sighed, but she was smiling all the same as she began forwards, and Luna grinned widely despite herself as she paced easily beside her sister, the sapphire mare saying wryly: "'Tis so sweet to see the rivalry forming between our respective pretty mares, Celestia. Mostly because I shall always be better than both of them as well as thee."

"Because that's what's important, little sister." Celestia said with a slight smile, and Luna nodded firmly several times in agreement as the two Valkyries led the way towards the castle, Twilight, Antares, Scrivener, and Innocence following in loose formation.

Discombobulation sniffed from where he was seated on Celestia's back, then he reached up and lightly patted her on the head, saying mildly: "I've always found it fascinating how many mares will demand to be treated equal... then fully expect a stallion to open the door for her, pull out her chair, and most important of all, pay her dinner bill."

"Now you know I'd never expect any of that from you, Bob." Celestia paused thoughtfully, then corrected with a glance over her shoulder and a slight smile. "Well, maybe dinner now and then. But I don't want you to pay, I just like to come home to a nice meal every so often."

"Well, the mare belongs in the kitchen or the bedroom, Celestia. That is where Scrivener always is." Luna said helpfully, and Celestia laughed and shook her head as Twilight sighed tiredly and Scrivy gave the sapphire winged unicorn a flat look.

Antares rolled his eyes at this, and then he said mildly: "Mutt, you know you're really setting a bad example here for Sin. I mean, what if she grows up to be just like you, treating mares like Dad the same way? That just ain't right."

Scrivener turned his sour look on his son as Luna grinned widely, but before anyone could say anything further, they were hailed from across the drawbridge, and Antares looked up with a wide grin before he leapt forwards out of the group, Celestia sighing and shaking her head and Luna smiling warmly as she murmured: "That's my son."

Antares ran across the bridge and leapt in a long tackle into the armored mare at the head of the line of soldiers waiting for them. The rich-green coated unicorn was knocked on her back with a wince, helm flying off to knock her coiffed metallic-colored mane loose, and then she glared up at the stallion with her silver eyes, making the red flaw in one stand out all the clearer.

She fidgeted beneath him in her tight, body-fitting golden-armor as Antares almost sat on top of her, grinning even as other golden-armored mares glared at him. Then the glossy-black unicorn leaned down and gently kissed the forehead of the pony he was sitting on, saying softly: "It's good to be home, Prestige Luster."

Prestige smiled a little even through her irritation, and then she grumbled and smacked him several times with her front hooves, making him wince and stagger off her. She hurriedly stood up and brushed herself off, flicking her horn to lift her helmet and drop it into place on her head as she scowled at Antares and said dryly: "It's great to see you too, hero. But try and show a little courtesy for now, I'm here on official business."

"Hey, technically I'm on business too, and also a higher ranking official than you new Valkyries." Antares replied with a tilt of his head, and Prestige and the four mares with her all glared at the glossy-black unicorn before he winked and dropped his head with a smile at Prestige. "But very well, Lieutenant. Are you going to search me?"

"Not on your life." Prestige shoved Antares backwards, then she turned to smile and sharply salute as Excelsior scurried towards her. The other new Valkyries did the same after a moment as Prestige became more professional, saying calmly "Sir. Queen Terra has asked me to inform you that Pipsqueak is waiting for you with several members of the Council. They want to discuss what's happened immediately. And Mistress Brynhild, Queen Freya..."

Prestige turned, keeping her pose proud, but bowing her head slightly as the new Valkyries behind her lowered in respect, Luna looking warmly over the mares and Celestia smiling slightly at the sight of these new Valkyries, these heroines being molded in the shape of the mighty warriors that they had once been... "It is an honor to see you here in Valhalla. Your rooms have been prepared, but Queen Terra is very eager to meet with you. She's waiting with the young prince for you in Kvasir's study."

Celestia studied Prestige at this, examining her words and tone before the ivory mare simply nodded and said softly: "Then we'll go to meet her there."

The ivory winged unicorn hesitated, then looked over at Twilight Sparkle, but the violet mare only smiled in return and nodded quickly, showing she understood Celestia's silent question. Innocence was marveling over the Valkyries, though, and the Lich thought that was a good sign: each and every one of them was a good role model for the mare, after all.

Prestige bowed, then she and the other new Valkyries saluted in perfect time before parting, letting Luna and Celestia lead the way through Valhalla's enormous gates and into the mighty castle. They both felt that same familiarity wash over them in these polished halls of stone that looked as if they had been built for giants... but there was a soft sense of sorrow here, too, and a feeling like while this was still part of what they called home, it wasn't where they belonged any longer. Others had taken charge of these halls, were protecting this sacred place: they had passed on Valhalla to a new, hopefully better generation.

Scrivener Blooms glanced over his shoulder, back through the open gates... and he smiled at the sight of Antares, who was cheerfully talking and gesturing to Prestige even as she did her best to ignore him. But she was smiling, too, and he knew that Antares was going to stay by the mare's side for most of this trip no matter what anyone said or did: he knew where he wanted to be, and Scrivener both understood and admired that.

He turned his eyes back ahead, and then couldn't help but give Twilight an entertained look when she said carefully to Innocence: "Maybe you want to go and look through the library, or see if you can train with some of the Valkyries... I'm sure Terra's going to want to go over a lot of diplomacy stuff as much as anything else..."

Innocence only shook her head quickly, looking mildly over at Twilight Sparkle as she asked: "You don't really think that's going to make me want to not come with you, right? I really want to find out more about what's going on, Momma."

Twilight smiled lamely as Luna and Celestia traded looks, and then the Lich finally shrugged a little and said awkwardly: "It's just... it's a very... sensitive subject, that's all. For all of us. And I don't know how much... I mean, it's not that Terra doesn't like you..."

The young mare looked dryly up at her mother, then Scrivener Blooms said gently, glancing back at his daughter: "Someone might ask you to leave at some point. You know that one of us is going to tell you everything anyway, it's just... I doubt that Terra wants to talk about this with any of us."

"Oh, that's a very polite way to tell me I'm uninvited too." Discombobulation said mildly, crossing his arms and looking sourly at the charcoal stallion, and then he paused and peered down at Celestia as the rainbow-maned mare shrugged. "What? Tia, you betray me!"

"I think we both know that when it comes to tact, you're not often the best person to turn to." Celestia replied gently, and Discombobulation shrugged a bit, looking as moody as Innocence did herself. "It's nothing personal."

"Nothing is personal. Not even pronouns. But all the same, everything is personal. I am a personal." Discombobulation grumbled, and then he shook his head wildly before raising a hand and declaring: "Innocence and I will not be treated like this! We shall not leave when you tell us to, but right now, right kid?"

Innocence only huffed, and Discombobulation looked at the young unicorn for a moment before he sprung off Celestia's back and landed on the young unicorn's, making her yelp and then glare up at him as she staggered to a halt. But the Draconequus only looked down at her pleasantly before he rose a foot, saying mildly: "You'll thank me later."

With that, he stomped down on Innocence's back, making her squawk before they both vanished in a puff of smoke, and Twilight stared dumbly at the space where her daughter had been a moment ago, before she winced and looked wildly back and forth, beginning to panic a little. But before her anxieties could take over, Scrivener grasped her shoulder and Luna turned around with a huff, complaining: "Oh come now, sweet mare! This is Heaven! Part of the reason we brought Innocence here is precisely because 'tis safe for her. Besides, Bob is a good uncle for her. Is he not, Aunt Tia?"

Celestia only smiled despite herself and fixed a pointed look on Luna, and Luna huffed at her before the sapphire mare turned to lead them onwards through the halls, now and then greeting the beings they passed. There were many ponies here, but also Nibelung, a few dragons, and even more than the expected share of demons: but then again, Heaven and Hell worked in conjunction together these days, now that they were no longer in a state of war with each other.

Luna and Celestia both remembered every turn of these halls like they knew their own hooves, and it didn't take them long to reach the study that Kvasir had taken over. It was marked by a strange circle of runes in red that still had a distinct pulse of magic alive inside them, keeping the study safe from intruders and curious eyes.

Celestia knocked twice on the door as Luna straightened, taking a slow breath and calming herself down. Part of her just wanted to kick the door open and storm inside; part of her wanted to be nice, even gentle, handling this situation. But she knew that she couldn't give in to either urge: first and foremost, they had to find out what Terra knew about Gymbr. Recriminations and sympathies could come later, once they knew more about what exactly had happened.

The door swung open, and a voice called from inside the study: "Come inside, friends; I think we have room enough for us all here."

Celestia and Luna traded looks, then led the way inside, and all four ponies looked towards the desk at one end of this little library of a room. Terra had pushed the old oak chair out of the way so she could sit in front of it and lean on it, a surprisingly humble expression on the features of the wingless dragon that was easily double Celestia's height and covered in steel scales that seemed to flex and ripple like liquid with her movements. The proud Ironjaw dragon was adorned with bracelets and a necklace made from polished teeth and bones, making her seem fiercer than she already seemed as her glowing blue eyes drew over them before she half-turned and instructed gently: "Say hello, lad."

With a mumble, a small, strange little creature looked up from the set of wooden blocks he was lackadaisically playing with. He was dressed in loose green robes and was smaller than a young foal, with a head that was bull-like and possessed tiny little horns that curved backwards like Terra's. His eyes were a soft blue and his body red, little dexterous claws grasping the tops of the towers he had built as he simply stared at the ponies.

Terra cleared her throat again, and little Taruos finally nodded a bit and mumbled out: "Hi."

"Hello, Taruos." Twilight Sparkle said softly, slipping carefully towards the child... the young god. She smiled down at him, and Taruos looked almost grouchily back up at her: something that made Luna grin a little. That reminded her all too well of Kvasir. "What are you doing?"

"Ruling Valhalla." muttered Taruos, and then he shook his head slowly and shoved one of his block towers over, before gathering up the spilled blocks and starting to make a wall with them, pointedly ignoring Twilight even as she continued to stand nearby with an awkward smile on her face.

"Now, Taruos, you should treat Miss Sparkle better than that." Terra said softly, and Taruos dropped his head a bit and nodded before he looked up with a sigh, and his mother smiled at him kindly. "That's better. Now say, Miss Sparkle, if it wouldn't be any trouble, perhaps you could take the young prince out for a little stroll around Valhalla? I'm sure Taruos can bring you somewhere nice."

Taruos grumbled, but when he turned his eyes towards Twilight, he nodded hesitantly. The little boy stood, then grouchily kicked his blocks over, and Terra sighed as she pushed away from the desk and leaned down, saying pointedly: "Now, none of that now, laddie-buck. Pick 'em up proper-like."

The child sighed, slumping a little before he quickly did as he was told, piling the blocks into a neat square. He stood up, then turned his eyes moodily towards Twilight before the Lich smiled and said maybe a little too eagerly: "Why don't I carry you, Taruos?"

Scrivener and Luna both looked mildly at Twilight Sparkle, wondering if she had any idea how creepy she sounded as the young boy scowled up at her, but then he squeaked when Terra easily bit into the back of his thick robes and hauled him into the air to drop him on the Lich's back, Twilight gazing warmly over her shoulder at the child as Terra said warmly: "Now, that's a fine idea! You behave for her, Taruos. Remember, a prince must be a role model for his people, even from a young age."

Taruos only nodded sullenly, and then he reached up and grabbed tightly into Twilight's mane, making her wince a bit even as she turned and headed for the door. Scrivener and Luna both watched the maternal mare leave with the child, while Celestia glanced up at Terra with a smile, saying softly as the door swung closed: "You're very good with him."

"Nay. I'm only trying my hardest." Terra smiled after a moment, shaking her head and quieting as Luna and Scrivener turned their eyes to the metallic dragon as well. "I was raised by the Clan, in fire and brimstone. I love my family and my Clan, but I cannot say it wasn't tough at times to do so. To remember we Ironjaw must be forged, not just raised. And now I have a child who is not Ironjaw, but who I love and adore and feel proud of and want to raise to be the best he can be all the same, and I just want to make sure I neither spoil him nor break him. For Kvasir's sake."

Terra quieted, then she looked towards the table and gestured at three large tomes piled on the neat surface, saying softly: "And these, my friends, tell Kvasir's story. A story that I know I have to share with you now, if what I've heard is true... Gymbr is here, and Kvasir is... is not. I never wanted to believe it..."

She looked down, and Luna stepped forwards, saying quietly but firmly: "Thou had best be honest with us, Terra. Whether or not thou art Queen of Valhalla, I do not know how thou can expect us to trust or accept what thou hast done unless thou has a damned good explanation. And I desire to hear it immediately."

"I'll do better than that, Luna Brynhild. That's why these books are here... two journals and a glossary, written by Kvasir himself. He wrote down all his thoughts, his fears, his analysis of everything from Valhalla to Gymbr to Hel. He recorded it all, and I've guarded it myself for all these years. But I promised Kvas, while he was still here, I'd never share these with anyone nor tell his story... not unless something like this happened. We believed in Gymbr..."

"'Twas a mistake, and one thou wouldst not have made if thou knew better where Gymbr came from. For even when we had Gymbr as an ally, years ago... we were very careful never to call him friend. We believed in him, aye, but only because there was something out there we all needed to work together to destroy, and we knew the beast was not stupid enough to betray us and risk his own destruction in the process." Luna shook her head slowly, muttering: "And now? Now who knows what Gymbr will do to achieve his goals..."

Celestia, meanwhile, had stepped forwards and taken the first text when it was offered, glancing over it and murmuring the title aloud: "'The Hermit's Tale...'" A pause as she flipped it open, studying the pages with interest and saying more to herself than anyone else present: "He used a simple recording enchantment, didn't he? And it seems that he was worried for a while before this about Gymbr, and what he might do..."

"Yes, but it wasn't Gymbr that had Kvasir worried. It was something else... and he was right, wasn't he?" Terra replied, shaking her head quickly, and Luna and Scrivener traded looks, admittedly surprised. It sounded like Terra still wanted to defend Gymbr, still wanted to even believe in the strange god despite everything that had happened. "You were attacked by it too, aye? The assassin."

"The Whistler." Luna muttered, and then she shook her head slowly and said finally: "Aye, we were. But damnation, Terra, thou cannot say that the Whistler is a greater threat than Gymbr, nor that we need the likes of one monster to protect us from another! And even if the Whistler is but a harbinger of something worse upon the horizon, I do not imagine that it could be any worse than Gymbr is."

Terra only smiled a little, shaking her head and replying quietly: "I don't know. And I don't quite dare to guess, either. But read Kvasir's journals and maybe you'll see why I feel the way I do."

Luna shifted uncomfortably, and then the sapphire mare sighed quietly before looking up and asking moodily: "And so thou hast not been threatened? There are no other reasons thou kept his existence a secret from us? Although... aye, a promise to thy husband... I suppose that I can understand the value of such. Even if I think that Kvasir vanishing without a trace would have also been reason enough to come inform us immediately."

Terra smiled and shrugged as Celestia glanced at Scrivener questioningly, and the stallion strode over to the ivory mare before she turned the book towards him, asking quietly: "Is there something strange about the text of this passage here?"

Scrivener frowned a bit, leaning in and studying the page she had pointed out before he poked at it awkwardly a few times, mumbling: "I don't read runic script very well, Celestia, but... yeah, the writing is different, there's more slant to the symbols... it looks recent, too."

"Did you edit these?" Celestia asked as she glanced at Terra, and the dragon frowned and shook her head, and the ivory mare returned her eyes and smiled wryly. "I didn't think so. There's a small edit here, in the second entry: a description that's a little praising of Hel."

"Oh, for the love of the Dragon Mother, I can't believe it. I haven't let these books out of my sight for more than a few minutes at a time!" Terra sounded more exasperated that surprised or angry, earning curious looks from Luna and Celestia, and the dragon grumbled as she shook her head and muttered: "Nay, it isn't any great shock. Hel still wanders around here herself whenever she pleases. She's gotten more and more bold..."

"Because she has to test boundaries. Even with Odin, she was like that." Celestia said softly, shaking her head slowly as Luna grinned wryly, even as her own eyes remained dark. "She would always push until she'd finally push too far, and cause someone to snap, to come after her in a rage... but since she's always acted through a puppet of ice or some other construct, all that did was fuel her amusement further. But she'd always back off then, as well. She never dared to push too hard, out of fear that all the gods she'd angered over the years would band together and force their way down to her manse for a taste of vengeance."

Terra grunted, and Celestia returned her eyes to the book, flipping through the pages quickly and reading passages here and there as Luna returned her eyes to Terra, measuring her slowly. The dragon calmly looked back at the sapphire mare after a moment, and there was silence between them until Luna said softly: "I need to be able to trust thee, Terra, and we need to be able to work together. Asgard, Midgard... and unfortunately, Helheim as well. We shall have to seek Hel's aid. And I have to know if thou will hesitate in the battle against Gymbr or not."

"You make it sound like war with him is inevitable, Luna Brynhild, and I'm not so sure it is. Part of Kvasir always trusted him, and I always trusted in Kvasir. So I want to trust Gymbr too, in spite of everything." Terra replied softly, before she leaned forwards, narrowing her eyes slightly down at Luna as Luna met her gaze fearlessly. "But you can do more than trust me and count on me, Luna Brynhild. If Gymbr has betrayed us, I'll lead the charge against him myself."

Luna Brynhild snorted at this, then she shook her head and said with a wry smile: "Aye. Then I shall hold thee to it, Queen Terra of Valhalla. 'Tis our way after all, is it not?"

Terra nodded firmly, and then Celestia looked up, asking calmly: "May we take these with us? I'd like to examine them in further detail in private, if it's at all possible."

"Of course, Valkyrie Celestia. I think that would be best, as a matter of fact... Kvas always said that if something were to happen to him, he'd want these books to somehow end up in your hooves. He always trusted you to do what was right, and I have to admit that you're likely more capable than me with all this." Terra smiled after a moment, bowing her head quietly. "I'm no great mind, after all. I've always used strength solve my problems... which is why I do so badly as Queen of Valhalla, I think."

Celestia only laughed quietly at this, shaking her head slowly and replying softly: "No, you're no worse a ruler than I ever was." She stopped, then smiled, looking up with an amused gleam in her eye. "Although to be honest, I'm not sure that can entirely be taken as a compliment."

"Thou wert a great Queen, Celestia. Thou wert just also extremely evil." Luna said positively, and the ivory winged unicorn chuckled quietly before the sapphire mare returned her eyes to Terra, asking curiously: "Has there been any hint of Hel in Valhalla lately? While here we were hoping to meet with the foul goddess."

Terra only shook her head, replying mildly: "I could send a messenger to Helheim, or ask the Archives to send word to her, but Hel rarely comes when beckoned or called. She prefers most to show up when I'd much prefer her not to be around... I'm beginning to understand more and more why Kvas was always so cranky on the subject of my old mistress."

Luna grunted, then she looked mildly over her shoulder at Celestia, saying thoughtfully: "Well, perhaps Hel will respond better to the call of the Valkyries, aye? Or perhaps we can at least entice her to answer a question or two about Gymbr, and what she knows."

Terra smiled slightly at this, the metallic dragon saying softly: "I don't know about that, Luna Brynhild. Hel has always been... peculiar about certain things. And she likes to keep her cards to herself... even if she helped both us and Gymbr more often than I like to admit to."

Celestia and Luna both glanced up at this in surprise, and Scrivener Blooms frowned before he reached up and touched his chest on instinct, murmuring: "The soulstone core..."

"You're a sharp one, lad. Aye, the soulstone core. It was forged by Hel's own hands, and charged with her powers." Terra said softly, and the dragon gave a small smile as Celestia and Luna both looked at her with disbelief, and Scrivener grimaced and shivered despite himself.

Terra only laughed quietly, lowering her head and closing her eyes as she murmured: "Gymbr was dying. I saw it myself... I don't know why or how, but he was falling apart, rotting away into nothing. He said he needed something... a core of soulstone, made by the hands of Hel herself, charged with her powers. And when Kvasir asked for it, she gave it to him, no questions asked; she even knew about Gymbr herself by that point, but... she gave it to us anyway, and together, we replaced Gymbr's core with that one of crystal."

Celestia, Luna, and Scrivener Blooms all stared up at Terra, and Terra lowered her head, closing her eyes and smiling faintly. "Is it wrong that still gives me hope, even now? I know that Hel would never endanger us... oh, hurt us, frustrate us, aye, but she would never give something like Gymbr such power without some kind of backup plan, or some reason to... to believe that such a creature wasn't unstoppable, do you ken?"

Luna and Celestia traded looks as Scrivener shifted uneasily, and then the stallion looked up at the dragon and asked quietly: "But you worked for Hel, and... all she ever seems interested in is chaos. I get that you know her better than us but... that also means you know her better than us. And what kind of a monster she can be."

Terra nodded a few times, then she replied softly: "That may be true, Scrivener Blooms, and she may thrive in chaos, but all the same... she's no fool. She wouldn't dare help to create something that could threaten her or do her harm."

Celestia nodded in agreement with this, as Luna Brynhild grumbled before asking uneasily: "Aye, but could Hel have possibly done something to the core, to make it so the beast would have to obey her? Mimir's head, I think of a Gymbr that could only be influenced and controlled by Hel, and it makes my blood as ice."

"Nay, I don't think so, Lady Valkyrie. For you see, the soulstone core was designed to work as a kind of leash..." Terra hesitated, biting her lip before she shook her head and murmured softly: "Kvasir was supposed to be the one who could control Gymbr, for he was the one who left his mark on the soulstone core. And Gymbr was the one to suggest it, to help keep himself... lucid."

"What?" Celestia asked in disbelief, and then she frowned, shaking her head slowly before she looked down at the book in her hooves, flipping quickly through the pages as she murmured: "That's not possible... Gymbr found it impossible to even try and bow to Luna and Scrivener..."

"Aye, not that we have ever been the humble sort ourselves, of course, but all the same. Imagining the creature attempting to swallow its pride enough to bow to Kvasir as master..." Luna muttered, and then the sapphire mare shook her head slowly before she turned her eyes towards Celestia, adding flatly: "And what, does thou expect to find all the answers in the pages of that silly book? Such useful information is never so easily obtained."

Terra chuckled quietly at this, the dragon gazing amusedly between the two as she said wryly: "For allies who are asking so much of me, I find it funny that you won't extend a little trust to my words. I am Queen of Valhalla, even if it's only because of my marriage to your former King."

"And Kvasir did choose worthily, Terra." Celestia said kindly, raising her hoof to quickly silence Luna before the sapphire mare could blurt anything offensive out. Then the ivory winged unicorn closed the book and looked across at Terra evenly, asking softly: "So then, speaking as someone we trust to tell us the truth, what do you think the chances are that Gymbr is telling the truth when he says the Pious are a threat?"

"I believe he is telling the truth, but not the whole truth. I believe he believes the Pious are a threat to him, and he is willing to drag us into his war with them. And I believe that as he has not returned with Kvasir, he has begun something he can't stop." Terra replied quietly, bowing her head forwards and giving a faint smile. "Aye, I hate to think of it. But I believe that he has chosen the Pious for... for some reason I cannot fathom. But I also believe..."

Terra bit her lower lip, looking uncertain for a moment, but when Celestia gestured at her politely to continue, the dragon said softly: "I've been thinking of the assassination, looking at the notes that Kvasir wrote on it, comparing it to what you called the Whistler... and I think that if they are one in the same, then the world it comes from must be the world Gymbr had set out to destroy."

"Why?" Celestia asked curiously, tilting her head, and Terra smiled a little as she shook her own slowly before looking towards the book in Celestia's front hooves, gesturing at it quietly.

"Because at the end of that story, it sounds as if Gymbr was going to protect the Pious from something... something that was hunting them, driving them before them. But now he's come back, claiming the Pious must be destroyed." Terra halted, letting them digest this before she looked up and said quietly: "The assassin was efficient with the Pious, but sloppy with the people of Valhalla it killed. It made a mess of them, and I don't think anymore that was just to inspire fear."

"You're extrapolating a lot... but the sense that I'm getting is that you think Gymbr has chosen to ally himself with whatever he was going to destroy at first. That he's decided the Pious are a greater threat... or maybe, he's destroyed the enemy he set out to, taken over, and now is looking to consolidate his power." Celestia said slowly, and Scrivener Blooms looked up dumbly as Luna stared over at Celestia with surprise, barely able to believe how quickly the white winged unicorn had put together what was only assumed possibilities.

But it all sounded very, very possible, considering what they knew about Gymbr, and what they had seen so far. Luna and Scrivener traded looks, their eyes locking and sharing images and memories and thoughts as Terra nodded a few times, before the Ironjaw dragon said softly: "It's all just supposition and guesswork, milady Celestia Freya, but... it's what my instincts say is all too possible. And from what you've told me and the little I've seen, the most you can imagine is what's all too likely with a god the likes of Gymbr."

"The most... and the worst." Celestia said softly, looking down for a moment before her eyes automatically slipped towards Luna and Scrivener as they looked up, and they both shifted uncomfortably before the rainbow-maned mare asked: "What do you think? Is it possible?"

The stallion looked over at Celestia, feeling like she already knew the answer, and then he smiled faintly and simply nodded, murmuring: "It could be. Like you just said, the most and the worst... Gymbr is like a god of dark creation, and you saw what he's already done."

Celestia nodded slowly, then she glanced over at Terra, saying quietly: "On that note, we need to find out what worlds Gymbr has already visited. He has to have stopped somewhere in order to have created his new... subjects. We need to find out what else he may have done to that world."

Terra grunted, then she shook her head and murmured: "You aren't going to like this, Celestia, but the only thing we detected in Subterra after that pulse drew Valhalla's attention was Gymbr... his presence alone was enough to create a distortion that blocked out everything else. There's no way to trace their signals back to whatever world they came from, and we never detected anything happening amidst the ninety-nine..."

Luna and Scrivener traded looks at this, and Celestia frowned before asking slowly: "Then can't you at least trace that same distortion Gymbr is emitting? If it's so powerful, it shouldn't be hard to find, assuming he isn't jumping to outer worlds."

"That's a bit of an assumption, Queen Celestia, which I suppose you must be basing off the chain of worlds theory, but we don't even know that that's true." Terra said mildly, shaking her head quickly, and Luna looked up with a loud huff at this.

"'Tis clearly true! We know already that the worlds are either closer or further from the core, and they change upon their proximity. It only makes sense that these worlds connect, one-to-the-other, in ways we do not yet understand because neither thou nor Celestia will devote any time to researching them." Luna complained, and then the sapphire mare shook her head and glanced mildly over at Celestia. "And thou underestimates both us and Gymbr if thou thinks that he cannot control that distortion. For he said himself, 'twas his intent to scare away the demons."

Celestia only smiled a bit at this, however, saying softly: "We have to start somewhere, little sister. And I still am not completely sure about your theory that all the layers of Midgard are connected, like a path. If they were, we wouldn't need to use the Bifrost and portals so often to hop from different layer to different layer, but I still don't know why you insist there's natural overlap between worlds..."

"Because 'tis what makes sense, Celestia." Luna said crankily, and then she shook her head quickly and turned her eyes towards Scrivener Blooms, who looked over at her lamely. "Explain it, beetle. Tell them my theory."

"You don't really have a theory. You just pretty much decided one day that worlds that share distinct similarities must form some kind of road between the core world and... whatever outermost world there is, with a few places like Endworld and Decretum sitting completely off the path and accessible only by portal." Scrivener said finally, and then he shook his head and looked awkwardly over at Luna when she glowered at him. "I think you're. Very smart though, dear."

Luna grumbled at him, and Terra sighed before the dragon said softly: "Perhaps instead of trying to chase Gymbr for now, we should instead attend to our own defenses and what little we can do to protect ourselves from him. You've all made it very clear that he's a powerful creature and a great threat, especially if for some reason he has gone off the deep end. What else do you know about him?"

The three ponies traded looks, and then Celestia shook her head slowly and said quietly: "We can guess at everything, but we're sure of nothing. I would actually appreciate some time to read through these books and see what information I can get out of them before we talk any further on the subject, and I'm sure that Luna has a few other things to ask you, Terra. Do you mind if I leave?"

"Not at all, Celestia. Your chambers are prepared, and go ahead to take all the time you need. You know how to find me." Terra bowed her head politely to the winged unicorn, and Celestia smiled as she picked up the books with telekinesis before turning towards the door to leave.

Scrivener and Luna traded looks, then returned their eyes to Terra as the Ironjaw asked kindly: "Now what can I do for you both, leavin' behind the subject of Gymbr for now? I know that you brought your daughter along, and of course your son is here. You know I'm very happy to make better accommodations for them both, I'm not quite as stuffy as Kvas in that respect."

Luna and Scrivener both smiled a little, then shook their heads in unconscious synchronization before the sapphire mare said softly: "Nay, fear not. I am sure that Antares shall find his own ways to make merry trouble with Prestige, and 'tis better if Innocence follows the rules set for all for now. But Scrivy and I... we do require audience with Hel, and know that thou can send word to her... or at least ensure that word reaches her ears instead of messengers vanishing upon the way."

Terra nodded meditatively before she said softly: "And both of you should know that Hel likely already knows you're looking for her. Sending message by any means won't do any good, and unfortunately you do have to consider the possibility that Hel might be backing Gymbr herself. She may have found some way to control or negotiate with him."

"If that's true, then we're in way over our heads." Scrivener muttered, and then he and Luna hesitantly traded looks and thoughts before they shared nods, the charcoal stallion adding after a moment: "But the chances of Hel getting along with Gymbr... thankfully, that's pretty damn low."

"Aye, I suppose we simply have to wait for Hel to come to us, then." Luna halted, then she looked moodily up at Terra, studying the Ironjaw dragon for a few moments before the mare leaned up and said pointedly: "I would like a chance at pummeling thee one day, Terra. For thou has created much great trouble for myself and mine, whether inadvertently or not. And well 'tis admirable thou wert helping Kvasir, it does not change the fact that Kvasir is a twit for what he has done here."

"Kvasir is not a twit. And while it's cute you want to fight me, Valkyrie, impressive as you are in battle I would probably end up picking you out of my teeth with this." Terra reached out and poked Luna's soulstone horn, earning a scowl from the mare before the demon grinned wider. "Well, it's true. Oh, sure, you might have brought down that Destroyer, Morning Glory, but I hear it was a close shave. I used to train with Destroyers regularly when I was part of Hel's honor guard: real Destroyers that is, not wild ones like her."

"Oh, thou should be careful. If Morning Glory catches wind of thee speaking ill of her, she will come and spank thee, Terra. And while 'twould be most entertaining to watch, 'twould also rob me of my chance to fight thee and possibly lose Valhalla her Queen, as Morning Glory is not the kind of demon who pulls her punches in the heat of battle." Luna said wryly, and Terra only laughed and shook her head, looking over Luna with entertainment.

"You fascinate me, Luna Brynhild, you really do! You're so sure of yourself and your kin, and you seem to think that just because you've seen the war, it makes you tougher and stronger than everyone else." Terra leaned down with a slight smile, almost pushing their noses together. "But I've seen Hell, lass. I've lived war all my life, and worse. I respect you as a warrior and I know the Valkyrie were elite, but come now. Do you really think you could match me in high combat, any more than an untrained Destroyer who now works as an administrator could?"

"I could do that and more." Luna said firmly, glaring up at the dragon, who narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked back down with a little more moodiness now. "Aye, I alone, in single combat, could more than match thee. Just as I and Scrivy would not be foolish enough to repeat the mistakes that thou and Kvasir clearly did!"

This made Terra glower at them dangerously, looming forwards a little more aggressively now as she rumbled: "You watch yourself now, Luna Brynhild. I know you've gotten away with quite a bit with others in the past, but I don't have half the patience that Kvasir does, and you haven't earned the right to order me around like one of your pet demons. I'm proud, strong, and fierce, Valkyrie."

"Aye, which makes me all the more eager to stomp thee in the face." Luna said challengingly, glaring back up at the Ironjaw, and they glowered at each other for a few moments as Scrivener awkwardly slipped away from the two, not wanting to get caught up in their fight.

For a few moments, the two continued to glower furiously at one-another... but finally, their eyes glanced away at almost the same time, the two grumbling and pawing at the ground as Terra said moodily: "But I suppose that we should try and... not kill one another quite yet. There will always be time for that later, after you've gone and shown off just what kind of strength you have to bear."

"Well, I suppose thou speaks true enough, creature." Luna grumbled in agreement, and then the sapphire mare shook her head quickly and added grouchily: "Although it provides me little in the way of satisfaction. Still, know this, great beast: thou shall one day feel the punishment of mine hooves, mark my words. And then thou shall understand why Luna Brynhild is the greatest Valkyrie that Heaven and Earth has ever seen."

"Well, if you truly are greater than Celestia Freya, it'll make it all the more a pleasure when you and I have our tussle and I come out on top." Terra replied comfortably, leaning forwards with a grin, and Luna slowly, dangerously narrowed her eyes. "Then I guess that will make me greater than all the Valkyries of Valhalla, aye?"

"Thou art truly begging to be pummeled." Luna threatened uselessly, and Terra only gave her an amused look, which made the sapphire mare sulk a little before she spun around and muttered: "Well, come then, Scrivener Blooms. Let us leave this accursed place and go and poke at Valhalla. Later, Terra, we shall return to discuss things, including when I shall bring hoof party to thy face's house."

"I'll be looking forwards to it, Luna Brynhild. I always do enjoy a good party." Terra said easily, and Luna groaned as she turned and stormed out, Scrivener awkwardly grinning over his shoulder at the Queen of Valhalla before he hurried out after the sapphire mare, half-glad and half-anxious over the fact that Luna had finally butted heads with someone larger and scarier than she was... although at the same time that left him worried about how long the stalemate would last before Luna finally decided to pick a fight with Terra.

Chapter Seventeen: The White Queen

~BlackRoseRaven

Twilight Sparkle smiled warmly as she helped Taruos build a castle out of blocks, the two sitting together in the grasses as Luna watched almost enviously and Scrivener went over some heavy study materials with Innocence. The charcoal stallion kept glancing at his daughter – who was still dressed in her armor, although the others had long taken their gear off – and smiling despite himself at the fact that she also seemed a little jealous of the fact her mother was apparently enjoying herself so much babysitting the young prince of Valhalla.

They were having a sort of little picnic out here in the courtyard, just enjoying the warmth in the air as tall trees swayed and creaked quietly in the windless air, as if trying to whisper to their guests. It was mostly quiet, with only the occasional person straying by along the dirt path that cut through the grasses, and it was a welcome escape from how hectic everything had started to get; a reminder that even where there was bad, they could still find little places of sanctuary.

At least, until something darkened their doorsteps, and insisted on bringing that beautiful sanctuary crumbling down around them.

Scrivener Blooms halted in his reading, looking up with a frown as a distinct chill cut through the air, and Luna looked sharply back and forth as well before she snarled at the sound of a quiet giggle. Nearby, a tall apple tree twisted as if in pain before its branches curled inwards and its leaves withered and died, tumbling to the ground among the rotten fruit in masses of blacks and browns flecked with the white of decaying frost.

Slowly, a tall, ominous figure slid its way around the tree, grasping the thick trunk and half-spinning itself forwards with a long, loud sigh of what sounded like pleasure. It was bipedal and terribly thin, with a dress made of blue-tinged snow swirling around a body composed of pale ice. Her fingers were long and dexterous claws, and her head was cow-like, with big teeth, gaunt and sunken eyes, and floppy ears that flapped away beneath short horns.

The cow-headed puppet of ice and frost danced towards them, and then she half-bowed almost mockingly before straightening and saying in a falsely-friendly voice: "Luna Brynhild, these little birdies keep whispering in my ears that you're looking for me! And you know I really, really, really would hate to disappoint a former Valkyrie and one of my new best friends. Especially now that a certain someone seems to have returned a day late and a Kvasir short."

Luna growled at this, but then visibly fought to control herself, taking a slow breath before she rose her head and said carefully: "We have been wanting to make contact with thee, aye. We are curious what thou knows about Gymbr."

Scrivener slowly closed the textbook in front of him and put it aside as Innocence stared up at Hel, and Twilight Sparkle had shifted to automatically try and protect Taruos. Not that the child even seemed the slightest bit afraid: if anything, he was glaring defiantly up at Hel, and as the goddess drew her eyes slowly over the group and their little blanket that was littered with bits of food and a few books, she giggled a little and said in a strangely-chipper voice: "Oh, yes! Such defiance! Such resolve! It's been a long time since everyone in the room hasn't been afraid to stare."

She paused, then clicked her tongue and turned back towards Luna, smiling and putting her hands behind her back as she said kindly: "You want answers, and you know what? I'm more than happy to give them to you. But I find it funny that you want all these damn answers when, sweetie-buns, I'm pretty sure you have plenty of them already. You just don't want to accept them."

Luna frowned as Scrivener stood up and strode over to the sapphire mare's side, the two ponies shifting themselves to stand between Hel and their daughter, as Twilight Sparkle glanced back at Taruos and murmured: "Go and find your mother."

"Oh, no, no, he should stay! He should watch!" Hel said enthusiastically, and with an absent gesture to the side, ice exploded out of the ground and spread rapidly up over the double doors behind Twilight and Taruos, sealing them shut. Then Hel grinned and snapped her fingers as she crossed her arm over her body, and the remaining set of door were frozen shut as well as massive claws and blades of ice tore free from the ground, the goddess saying softly: "And let's make sure we're not interrupted, either. Don't worry, you sillies, I'm not gonna hurt any of you. Not even the pissy little kid."

Hel paused, then the ice puppet burst apart into a cloud of sparkling, frosty mist before the goddess reformed laying on her stomach in the grasses in front of Taruos, one hand propping her chin up as the other reached up and poked the boy firmly in the nose. "And you really are a pissy little brat, by the way. Always sulking. You really gotta smile more, kid!"

Taruos only continued to glare, not shrinking away even as Twilight herself couldn't help but shudder, and then Hel laughed and shoved herself to her feet, prancing back towards Luna and Scrivener and skidding to a halt in front of them before leaning up and waving childishly at Innocence. "Hello there, little girl! Say hi to your Granny Hel now!"

"Thou art far too old and ugly to be her grandmother." Luna snapped, and Hel feigned a hurt look before the starry-maned mare asked coldly: "Now tell me, Hel. Did thou truly provide a core of soulstone to Gymbr? Why would thou take such a sordid risk?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Hel said mildly, shrugging almost cheerfully, and Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight all stared in disbelief before the goddess threw her head back and laughed. "Look at your faces! Oh, cinnamon, come on, it isn't that bad: I've got a wonderful backup plan, as a matter of fact, and all kinds of tricks or treats to keep me safe and maybe even stop the big bad wannabe god. Because you know, if you're not born a god, then you ain't never gonna be a true god. Isn't that right, ickle little Taruos-waruos?"

Taruos didn't respond: his eyes were still icy, gaze unblinking, and Twilight carefully slipped a wing around him as she said quietly: "Please, leave him alone, Hel. What did you mean, though, you have a plan to stop Gymbr? Did you expect something like this to happen?"

Hel only shrugged, sniffing disdainfully as she looked up towards the sky and crossed her arms, replying mildly: "Oh, sure, when I'm preparing all my plans, everyone's always saying, look at Hel, Hel is so paranoid, Hel is such a big crazy lady, Hel's nothing but a mad queen, and now look at you all, begging for my help, praising me for being so prepared-"

"'Tis not exactly praise I have for thee, goddess, believe me when I say this." Luna growled, shaking her head quickly before she added moodily: "And furthermore, it makes thee no less paranoid. Rather, it only makes us all the more glad that thou art so paranoid for such an insane meddler."

"Meddler! You're a meddler!" Hel said childishly, flailing her arms before she straightened and added sourly: "And I'll have you know, sweetums, that I really don't care all that much how much lives and how much dies. You know what I care about? Numero uno, number one, that would be me. You are not me. Not even the Lich-face over there is me."

Scrivener gritted his teeth as Luna's eye twitched with frustration, her soulstone horn sparking and her mane swirling violently backwards as she said harshly: "Well, 'tis no great surprise that a great coward like thee would deny us her help after starting the mess in the first place, and-"

Hel yawned loudly, covering her mouth with one hand and snapping the fingers of her other, and a thick layering of ice spread violently up the sapphire mare's legs and locked tightly over her muzzle, her eyes widening in shock as the goddess turned and said gently: "You should be careful, little muffin. You don't want to go picking a fight with someone you can't win against, do you? Why, I saw you were already pissing Terra off... what, Valkyrie, you think you can go after Kvasir's mistake all alone? Because really, I already applied a fix to it. He was the one who screwed up in the first place."

"My father was a great king." Taruos said quietly, looking angrily up at Hel, and the goddess rolled her eyes and turned around as Luna cursed and shook herself violently, uselessly pulling at the shackles of ice around her legs as Scrivener winced and attempted to pry one of the frosty manacles off.

"Oh please, brat. Your father was no better and no worse than a thousand other administrators out there, and that was all he was... an administrator. But I'm not saying anything bad here, squirt. I liked the guy, I really, honestly did: it's just that he made a major boo-boo and I'm not about to stand here and take the blame for it." Hel replied almost reasonably, and then she clapped her hands together and turned around, adding positively: "Now, Brynhild, back on subject-"

Luna snapped her soulstone horn forwards, sending a blue fireball hammering into Hel's stomach, and the upper half of the ice puppet exploded into frosty shrapnel. The legs stood dumbly alone for a moment as the waist twisted back and forth, and Luna cursed as she finally managed to rip herself free of the ice, the manacles and muzzle both losing some of their grip with their frosty master shattered.

But after a moment, the ice puppet rapidly reformed, larger pieces of ice flying back into place as snow spread almost like liquid through an invisible mold, then hardened into blue, crystalline body. Hel was left standing with her hands on her hips, looking down at them grouchily before she said mildly: "Now see, see that? Now you've gone and done it. I've played nice, I've offered to answer question, I even wasn't making fun of the big crystal dildo you have sticking right out of your face. But there, you had to attack me for no good reason-"

"Thou froze me to the ground! Thou... thou art Hel, here in Valhalla, in times past that was reason enough to attempt to execute thee, thou great and wicked bitch!" Luna snapped in response, shaking her head violently as she glared furiously up at the construct through which the goddess acted. "Damn thee, and... damnation, were this anything but Gymbr I would tell thee to shove thy plans right up thy bony buttocks, but... instead, I demand-"

"I demand you stop making demands of me!" Hel interrupted as she glared down at Luna, and then the icy goddess waggled a finger and said flatly: "You seem to forget, honeycakes, that I'm under no obligation to help you or your kind. And y'know what? I hear that you guys want my help, and gosh, I'm thrilled, really, I'm just so thrilled I take time out of my busy schedule to come on up here and play nice, and here you are, making yourself such a tremendous pain in my ass when I mean, come on, what have I really done wrong? No, no way, no how. So I'll tell you what, cinnabun. You want my help so badly? You think you can earn your way into my favor? Well, why don't we just throw together a quick and dirty little test to show you once and for all why I'm the one here who deserves respect, and you're the ones who should be doing all the bowing and pleading!"

With that, the goddess grinned as she stepped back and snapped her fingers, and a portal ripped open in midair, the vortex swirling violently as the ponies all looked up in shock. Then Hel threw her head back and laughed, hugging herself as an alarm began to blare through Valhalla, the skies above seeming to swirl with warning as a voice called clearly: "Level One! Level One!"

"That alarm, it means..." But the answer came before Luna could say it, as a massive shape fell out of the vortex and crashed to the ground on all fours. The walls of Valhalla trembled at the creature's arrival as Hel grinned and flitted quickly up beside the lumbering beast as it rose up, covered in massive, black metal plates that were locked together over its body to form impenetrable armor.

The monster rose its head, most of its features hidden by an opaque black visor and a heavy, head-clutching helmet: only its large lipless jaw was visible, filled with grinding teeth. It was massive, looming fifteen feet tall, its upper body gargantuan and limbs like the trunk of mighty Yggdrasil itself, huge hands shoved against the ground to help support its short, squat legs. There was no weak point visible in its armored body; there was little space left between its joints, and the plates that armored it looked as if they were fused together. Yet every single plate over its body and limbs was also etched with runes that glowed a faint gold, each forming a circle that surrounded a distinct, black divot: likely recesses where the bolts that held the armor into the monster's frame had been screwed in.

It growled as it straightened as much as it could, head craning back and forth as Twilight quickly grabbed Taruos and spread her wings, but before she could take flight, Hel simply flicked a hand towards her. The Lich cried out in pain as her wings were covered in ice, and Luna snarled furiously before the sapphire mare leaned forwards and shouted: "The fight is with us, monster!"

"Fight? Oh no, no. This isn't a real fight. This is just about teaching and earning respect, that's all." Hel said kindly, shaking her head slowly and reaching out to pat the armored behemoth several times, then she glanced grouchily up as the alarms continued to blare before raising a hand and snapping her fingers. A moment later, the alarms fizzled out, and Hel sighed peacefully before she gestured dismissively at the behemoth. "Theodore, Teddy honey, be a good little dear and mash those two ponies into goop. Keep them alive, though, sweetie."

Teddy roared loudly, straightening and pounding his fists against his chest like a gorilla before he lunged forwards, throwing himself at Luna and Scrivener. Both ponies immediately leapt to either side, then Luna's eyes widened in horror as Teddy smashed into the ground right in front of Innocence, the young mare staggering backwards with a scream before the monstrous behemoth swung one of its arms out as it spun towards the sapphire mare, swatting Innocence as it turned and knocking her on her back in a stunned heap.

"Bad, Teddy, bad! Get the Valkyrie and the homunculus pony, not the little girl!" Hel called in a frustrated voice, and the monster named Theodore looked up with a rumble before Luna smashed into the side of its head, knocking the giant staggering.

"Even if thou art supposed to be Hel's greatest weapon, we shall test how indestructible thou truly are!" Luna snarled, and then she snapped her horn down, unleashing a powerful blast of thunder and telekinesis that knocked Teddy's head back and sent the behemoth stumbling to the side with a roar of frustration. "I shall rip thee limb-from-limb!"

Scrivener grimaced as he hurried over to Innocence as Teddy uselessly swatted at Luna, snarling and growling at her as his arms swept back and forth through the air. Twilight gritted her teeth as she stayed back beside Taruos, before the Lich looked up with a wince as Hel seemed to all-but-appear beside them, the goddess grinning down at the violet mare and saying kindly: "I know you three are all linked together like a daisy chain, so take a listen to this, baby girl: if you can manage to even put a dent in my precious Teddy, then I'll help you girls out. But if Teddy puts a dent in you, then you can consider our deal off."

Luna cursed at this, hearing Hel's words as clearly as if the goddess was speaking into her ear, and then the sapphire mare kicked off Teddy's head and launched herself high into the air. The giant stumbled again, but there wasn't so much as a scratch on his armor from the impact, and it was only a moment before the monster's attention turned towards Scrivener Blooms, who was trying to wake up his stunned daughter.

Theodore roared and jumped forwards, and Scrivener looked up almost too late before he flung himself backwards with the young mare, cursing under his breath. Teddy's hand crushed in the ground where he had been a moment before, and then the behemoth flung itself forwards, clawing wildly after Scrivener Blooms with its other arm before it crashed down and skidded over the grasses with a growl.

The charcoal stallion half-turned and flung his daughter backwards as hard as he could before he rolled quickly to the side, watching as the faceless beast seemed to follow him with eyes hidden beneath that impenetrable visor. It began to drag itself to its feet... and didn't even seem to notice Luna when she dropped out of the air and crashed down onto its back, stomping furiously up and down as her soulstone horn glowed with energy. "Traitor! Coward! Fool! How dare thou try and make a deal like this with-"

Theodore half-spun and snapped one massive arm out, and Luna was knocked hurtling backwards with a cry of agony, her ribs cracking loudly and her wings refusing to catch the air. She crashed into the bough of a tree, gasping for breath before she looked up in horror as the titan charged with a roar, swinging an arm out at the last moment to smash the tree with such force that most of the trunk was reduced to splinters.

Branches and chunks of wood flew in all directions as Luna flung herself upwards, forcing her wings to spread and flap as she wheezed for breath, and Teddy grabbed at her uselessly as the sapphire mare glared furiously down at the monstrosity. Then she looked sharply up at Scrivener Blooms, their eyes meeting for a moment and trading a quick plan before the stallion nodded and ran forwards, gritting his teeth as he covered the thirty or so between him and Theodore in a matter of moments, and then he flung himself upwards, crashing into the monster's lower back just as it made another swipe at low-hovering Luna.

Teddy was knocked stumbling, and his massive arms worked against him as they both swung forwards and acted like weights, dragging the goliath down with a tremendous crash and bang onto its front. Scrivener quickly leapt backwards, slamming his claws into the ground as he lowered his head and pushed as hard as he could, as Luna snapped her horn upwards with a spell she hoped desperately would work.

As black mire spread in a wave through the earth, green, thorny vines and brambles tore upwards out of the ooze, seizing around Teddy's limbs and body and yanking them down to restrain him. The behemoth snarled in frustration, unable to stand as it sank slightly into the mire and the dark ooze seemed to cling to it with unnatural tenacity, vines and brambles constricting fiercely around its body and armor and attempting to drag it further down into the muck.

Scrivener Blooms tore his claws out of the mire and leapt forwards, running along Teddy's spine before seizing into the beast's head and using this as an axle. He spun his body as he flung himself overtop the creature, landing on his hooves and leaning forwards into a fierce double-rend of his claws against Theodore's visor.

Sparks flew and the stallion's claws were knocked back as he cursed in surprise, stumbling away as his eyes widened even as Luna slammed down into the creature's back again, attempting to hammer in the same place she had hit again and again as lightning sizzled over her body and her hooves glowed with blue flames that flared almost white on impact with the monster's armor. But she couldn't make a dent, couldn't even make the creature twitch as it roared and yanked at the vines, ignoring Luna as she hammered wildly away at its back and Scrivener Blooms as he leaned forwards and began a vicious barrage of blows against Theodore's visor-covered face.

Hel clucked her tongue in what sounded almost like disapproval, shaking her head slowly and saying mildly: "Now, this is just a damn shame, a damn shame indeed! They're putting all this hard work into fighting Teddy, and not stopping just to think for a moment... oh, haven't they learned anything over the years about being careful not to bite off more than they can chew?"

"Stop it! What's even the point of all this?" Twilight shouted, glaring up at Hel, and Hel smiled coolly in return as she looked measuringly down at Twilight Sparkle.

"It's exactly what I said it is, girl. I've been giving you three gifts so long you've gotten complacent and greedy. Now, if you want something from me, you're going to have to earn it, and I don't take credit. I only accept fear." Hel responded calmly, and then she looked up and shouted: "Theodore, Mommy is getting bored! Hurry up and squash them!"

Teddy growled, then yanked both of his massive arms firmly back towards his body, ripping his limbs free of the vines and brambles and sending black mire splashing in all directions, and a moment later he swatted Scrivener Blooms away like a toy before the shocked stallion could react. Atop the behemoth's back, Luna winced and stumbled, distracted for a moment before she yelped as Theodore shoved himself backwards and up onto his knees, catapulting the sapphire mare off his back.

Luna managed to flip her body in midair, twisting around and slamming down on her hooves to skid backwards, glaring furiously at Theodore's back before she charged forwards as Scrivener managed to stand and glare at the giant. The behemoth seemed to glare back despite his visor, snarling furiously as he crawled up to his feet... and then Luna slammed into the monster's back, knocking him staggering into the puddle of mire before she snapped her horn forwards, unleashing a tremendous surge of lightning that sent up a blinding flash of light when it collided with Teddy's body.

Luna grinned savagely as Scrivener shoved his hooves down into the edge of the muck, black, crystalline spikes erupting all around the creature as the black earth trembled and began to twist, to drag the giant down into cavernous, fanged jaws of earth... and then a huge hand shot out of the deluge of spikes and lightning, seizing into Luna's face and crushing her skull, bone fracturing and Scrivener's eyes bulging as he gagged and staggered. He felt the same incredible pressure as his back arched, staring mindlessly at nothing as the mire convulsed like it was feeling his pain, drops of red spilling from his nostrils, his eyes, his ears... and then Teddy turned and flung Luna like she was no heavier than a baseball, the mare crashing into Scrivener's stunned features and sending them both rolling backwards into a broken heap.

Teddy ripped free of the spikes, electricity still jolting over his metal-plated body, but the giant seeming completely unaware of it as he reached both massive hands forwards and seized into fallen stallion and mare. And Twilight cried out in denial as Innocence looked up with a tremble of disbelief from where she had woken up in a sprawl, staring as Theodore smashed her Father and Móðer together again and again and again like a tantruming child punishing unwanted toys.

Blood flew from both ponies as they were jarred again and again by the collisions, the monster's fingers crushing painfully into them even as every strike together threatened to knock them loose from its grip. Then, as it drew them back, Luna suddenly snapped her horn back, knowing she only had enough strength left in her body for one final, desperate attack.

A wild surge of telekinetic energy blasted through the air around her, loosening Teddy's fingers enough she was able to spring free into the air, then flap her wings and dive straight at the behemoth's chest as she lowered her glowing horn. She slammed herself into the giant's body like a spear, and Theodore flinched backwards at the impact as her horn sank into something.

She heard something clank before it sprang forwards with just enough force to dislodge her, knocking the mare backwards with a curse before her eyes widened in amazement... a moment before Theodore's hand hammered down on her and crushed her face-first into the mire, leaving her in a broken crater in the black ooze. She rasped for breath, tasting poison and earth before her eyes slid slowly upwards, and she saw it again.

Her horn had accidentally stabbed into the hole in the large plate that armored the creature's breast, and the magic from her horn had charged it somehow, caused the mechanism to activate and the plate to spring open.

It was glowing a faint gold, and there was something beneath it that Luna couldn't quite see: the plate was barely raised, some kind of slack netting holding it in place, apparently attached to the other plates. There was some kind of failsafe, and the mare gritted her teeth before she began to pick herself up... and then Teddy stomped viciously on her back, and the mare vomited blood as Scrivener cried out in agony... only for one of Theodore's massive fists to smash into his features a moment later, then hammer again and again into the stallion's head, mashing his head into an almost unrecognizable, bruised and bloody mess before the giant flung him disdainfully down.

Luna gurgled on the ground, choking on blood and mire that couldn't help either of them now as Theodore began to raise one huge fist... but then Hel touched his shoulder gently, and the monster automatically turned towards her with a grunt, the goddess tut-tutting and shaking her head quickly. "Now, don't be like that, Teddy! They're plenty squished, even if I see little Miss Brynhild almost tried using her brain for a second instead of her brawn. Little late though, cinnabun."

With that, Hel reached up and simply pushed the plate back into place, and it clicked shut before the goddess squatted with a grin over the two badly-beaten ponies. Luna breathed hard as she slowly forced her head to rise, but Hel only smiled before the goddess reached down and flicked the sapphire mare's horn, and Luna clenched her eyes shut with a moan of agony as the light sparked out of the soulstone and her mane and tail went from ephemeral, starry locks to light blue strands that fell messily around her, dipping in the puddle of blood and blackness surrounding her body. "I appreciate the strong face, sweetie, but you really don't have to put it on for me. I think you might need a new pancreas, and that's pretty urgent.

"Now, I'm a goddess of my word, as you know, Luna... or should I say Brynhild? You seem to respond oh so much better when I call you by that name, don't you?" Hel leaned back thoughtfully as Theodore only stood, rasping breaths in and out through his mouth, but otherwise as motionless as a statue as he loomed over them. "Oh well, I'll call you whatever I feel like at the time, how about that? It doesn't really matter, after all... our deal, after all, was that I would continue to help you if you managed to make a dent in Teddy here. And you didn't even put so much as a scratch on him before he squished you, and your little... what the hell are you again?"

Hel reached down and seized Scrivener by the back of the neck, the stallion wincing in pain as a chill ran down the back of his spine before the goddess hefted him easily into the air and examined him thoughtfully. "Puppet? Construct? Homunculus? Stud-boy? I really can't tell. I think you're more or less the same as the Lich, though... just another toy to this nasty little Valkyrie here who seems to be after my job. And I mean that as a compliment, sweetie."

"Shut up, foul... monster! I have no desire to... I am not..." Luna tried to scrabble up to her hooves, and Hel grinned before she simply flung Scrivener down on top of the mare, making them boy cry out in agony and their throbbing heads blur with light and sound for a moment.

They flopped over together in the muck, and Hel clicked her tongue and shook her head disapprovingly. "Now, cinnamon stick, chocolate tart, you two and vanilla sprinkles over there have a lot to learn! Just because you seem to be doing something nice, doin' what's best for everyone involved, doesn't mean you're not doing it out of selfish motives. Oh sure, they're happy with you, and sweetie, that's fantastic... but that doesn't mean you didn't do it because you happen to like having servants. Especially servants of the kind you can order to beat you up a little. You're into that, huh?"

Luna growled and glared up at Hel as the cow-headed construct licked her lips, then threw her head back and laughed. "Well, don't matter! Because you see, I've gone and proven my point. Teddy-bear here is insulated against magic and his armor in a composite of soulstone mixed with gianttooth. Nothing can pierce that plating, not even Gymbr! And in my dimension, rule number one is that you have to go in through the gates... gates lined with Ironjaw demons, Destroyers, and snipers with arrows that could kill Jötnar."

Hel mimed aiming a bow and pulling back on it, then she turned her smile down to Luna, putting her hands behind her back as she said pleasantly: "So I'm pretty much a hundred percent secure from Gymbr, because Gymbr doesn't have the time or patience to figure out a way past the fifty layers of security in what people like to call the Underdark and I call home sweet home. And since you girls just can't manage to be respectful for one damn fool minute, I'm going to go home, take off my socks, and call it a day. I've done all I can to earn your respect, Valkyrie, and now I'm a little tired of playing the game your way. You want answers? You want help? You want to know what my sure-to-work plan to defeat Gymbr is? Then you come and find me when you're ready. When you girls can finally earn my respect."

Luna cursed under her breath as she tried to force herself up to her hooves, and Scrivener rose his head, but neither were able to speak as Hel sniffed disdainfully and turned away. She strode across the courtyard as Theodore lumbered after her, not paying attention to the books he crushed beneath his large, flat feet or the muck he stomped through, only stopping when his goddess halted in front of Twilight Sparkle and Taruos.

She leaned slowly down, studying the Lich for a moment: Twilight was dripping with blood, badly maimed and wounded, her stitches popped and one wing hanging brokenly... and all just from shared damage through her link with Scrivener and Luna. Yet she was also still standing, still trying to protect Taruos, and Hel clucked quietly as she said softly: "Now, you poor little thing. You aren't going to be able to save anyone if you can't save yourself... and you can never save yourself if you remain leashed to the same fates as the Valkyire and Vally-wally's little pet project over there."

Twilight only shook her head, whispering in response: "Why are you doing this? Why won't you just help us if you're so strong? Why do you want to... to..."

"To push you? To challenge you? To make you better than you already are? I never realized that was a crime, little miss vanilla milkshake." Hel said kindly, touching her own breast before she turned her eyes to Taruos. "And you, sullen little brat. Let this be a lesson to you: keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer, and always have some heavy artillery on hand. Because look at how badly these mighty heroes have fallen under the fists of my big dumb robot. He don't got no smarts, but you don't need no brains when you pack a punch like a drunken Irish troll."

"You're a coward. Valhalla doesn't need the help of cowards." Taruos replied quietly, still defiant, still fearless in spite of everything that had happened, and Twilight almost recoiled at it, blinking in surprise as she looked down at this child who was so young but... so much tougher than she had thought at first.

Hel only smiled, however, shaking her head slowly and saying tenderly: "Just like your Daddy. Bigger balls than most people would ever give you credit for under that indifferent, whiny facade. You ain't half bad kid, but you're still pretty dumb, too... because your Daddy knew best that sometimes cowards were your very best allies. Remember that."

Hel straightened, then she paused and glanced at Twilight Sparkle, reaching out to poke her horn lightly and make her wince. "Sweetie, do me a favor. When cinnamon stick and chocolate cake have more than the glue that Theodore mashed them into holding them together, you go ahead and try to remind them I'm really just trying to help here. Even now, this is me, trying to help. Oh, sure, it's a little awkward maybe, and I probably need to work on my 'sharing is caring' lessons, but... hey, you can't fault a pretty girl like me for trying, right?"

"'Tis too bad thou art not pretty, then, for I am fairly sure I can fault an ugly old hag just for existing." Luna muttered, and then she flumped forwards into the muck, unable to lift herself to her hooves as her head swam, groaning in pain.

"I'm going to let you get away with that because you have a concussion and you're clearly not thinking straight." Hel said pettishly, and then she paused and pointed over her shoulder, and both Luna and Scrivener gasped and flinched in pain as the mire around them froze solid, sharp points of ice stabbing into their sides and bodies and making them twitch and shiver uncomfortably, Twilight cursing and hugging herself at the biting cold that ran through her own body: something extremely unfamiliar for her now with what she had become. "Or not."

Hel giggled, then she shook her head and smiled down at Twilight, reaching out to pat the Lich several times on the head before the goddess grasped Teddy's wrist childishly. She blew a raspberry at Taruos as the young prince only continued to glare up at her, then threw a wink over her shoulder at Innocence, who winced back before clenching her eyes shut as Hel's voice whispered silkily through her mind: Be a good little girl and help your parents see my way's the best way, and I'll reward you with something better than the Valkyries can, sweetie. I've got buckets of power and no one to share with, after all... don't you want that?

Innocence kept her eyes shut until she felt the icy presence fade, until Hel's laughter vanished into a blur of sound, and then silence... and then the young mare opened her eyes, trembling hard as she stared at the sight of Luna and Scrivener half-trapped in the frozen mire before she bolted forwards and slid to a stop in front of them, unable to stop herself from asking what she knew from the start was an incredibly stupid question: "Mutt! Daddy! Are you okay?"

"Oh, aye. We are only reclining here after a flawless victory against a terrible menace no others could ever hope to match." Luna mumbled, and then she grimaced as there was a thundering crash against one of the doors still covered in ice, before groaning as there was a second monumental bang, the doors shuddering but the glacial frost only just beginning to crack. "Oh damnation. Go... 'tis probably Celestia, tell her Hel is gone and we are fine."

Innocence shivered a bit, then she nodded, taking one last, long and worried look over her parents before the young mare turned and hurried towards the doors. Luna and Scrivener were unable to do anything in response, however: they couldn't speak, they couldn't move, they couldn't look up, even when they both sensed Twilight approach them and gaze down at them silently.

They heard Innocence trying to shout over the sound of whoever was smashing against the doors, and they felt Twilight studying them silently before the sapphire mare finally mumbled: "Thou can disapprove all thou likes, but for once, I do not believe Scrivy and I are quite to blame here. Thou can whine that we did not do our best but perhaps next time thou should have thy head squished like a ripe tomato, and then thou can brag about thy strength and skill in battle."

"I didn't even say anything. And it's not that, either... it's that you two are..." Twilight closed her eyes, then she shook her head slowly before the Lich lowered her head and sighed softly. "So what are we going to do? Hel was... I think she made a pretty nasty point."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Luna Brynhild laughed dryly before the sapphire mare sighed quietly and looked down silently. She noted an icicle of mire in front of her, and she hesitated only a moment before leaning forwards and silently suckled on it, closing her eyes as Twilight frowned worriedly down at the sapphire mare. But after a moment, Luna glanced up and gave a small smile, saying quietly: "Shush. 'Tis... I deserve a little pity, my sweet mare, at times like these. Even if 'tis self pity."

"I don't want to see you going down into that dark place again, Luna. Only you can pull yourself out of there but... only you decide to go down into that dark place, too." Twilight said softly, and the sapphire mare smiled faintly as she closed her eyes and shrugged a little, continuing to quietly suckle on the frozen black poison.

Twilight continued to look down at her worriedly, and Scrivener sighed as he rose his own head and gave a pointed look to Luna. The sapphire mare finally grumbled a little, and then she bit off the frozen mire-sicle and chewed it quickly up, swallowing the frozen poison back and shivering once, but then clenching her eyes shut as she felt the dark poison being rapidly pulled into her body, giving her a sparse, momentary pleasure, a twist of strength, and enough energy that her soulstone horn quietly lit back up and her mane and tail fluttered before transforming back into flowing ephemerality instead of light blue hairs. "There. Happy?"

"No. Not entirely." Twilight shook her head slowly, then she smiled faintly at the two and sighed a little, murmuring quietly: "It's funny how I can stay on my hooves these days even when you two can't. It used to be I'd be the one who fell over first."

Scrivener grunted at this, and then he slowly slid his front limbs out and grasped into the ground before gritting his teeth and carefully trying to push himself up. But he could still feel the ice grasping against his sides, and combined with the incredible pain twisting through his system, it was too much for the stallion to fight, and he sighed tiredly and let himself slump back to the ground. "Can you. Set us on fire or something? I think that might be for the best."

Luna mumbled in agreement, and Twilight sighed softly and shook her head slowly before she glanced up in surprise as Innocence yelped and leapt away from the double doors as they were blown off their hinges, the ice that had held them shut dissolving into blue flakes.

All three stared as Celestia strode quickly in through the destroyed doors in full armor, giving Innocence a quick glance and nod before she turned her attention towards Scrivener and Luna, walking over to the two and studying them silently. Twilight Sparkle, meanwhile, looked up with a faint smile at her former mentor and murmured: "It was Hel. Well, I guess really it was Teddy, but... Teddy is just a machine golem, isn't he?"

"Something like that." Celestia said softly, and the ivory winged unicorn shook her head slowly as she studied Scrivener and Luna before her horn glowed a quiet gold, the same aura surrounding the two and filling them with a heat that melted away the ice around them and helped relax their sore muscles, although Luna grimaced a bit as a bit more blood ran from her wounds and she groaned quietly, hugging her stomach with one leg.

Celestia only continued to focus magic over them, however, studying their reactions as the two fidgeted and shifted uncomfortably, before the ivory mare asked quietly: "So I take it that Hel has decided not to help us? Did you learn anything of any consequence at all?"

Twilight hesitantly looked up, opening her mouth, but then Luna shook her head vehemently as the glow finally began to fade out from around her, the sapphire mare carefully picking herself up as she muttered: "Aye, thou could say that. She said that we were not... appreciating her enough or somesuch, I do not entirely recall. I only remember that she sent her damned bodyguard after us and then it... cheated and that is how we ended up like this."

"I'm sure." Celestia gave a small smile despite herself, shaking her head slowly before the ivory mare sighed and turned her eyes towards Twilight. "Is this a challenge from Hel, or is this a denial?"

"I think it's a challenge. In fact, I know that it's a challenge." Twilight said honestly, looking up before she sighed softly when Luna and Scrivener both mumbled and carefully stood up. "Hel just... didn't take to being ordered around and interrogated very well. I think we maybe should have tried to be... a little more tactful with her."

"Oh, 'twas not that at all." Luna grumbled, shaking her head and glowering over at the Lich, and then she sighed and looked down at Scrivener Blooms as he mumbled a little on the ground. "Shush, it... thou knows that Hel is crafty and cunning and designs such arguments to try and be everyone's fault but her own. And get up off thy lazy rump, thou art as healed as I am."

"Yeah, I don't know about that." Scrivener Blooms muttered, and then he sighed and carefully stood up, shaking himself out a little before he gave an awkward smile to Twilight, relieved to see that she had healed up a little as well. But before he could say anything further, he blinked in surprise as little Taruos walked over to them and yanked at his mane, making the stallion wince a bit and lower his head awkwardly towards the young prince.

"I wish to find my mother." Taruos all-but-ordered, and Scrivener stared at him blankly as Innocence awkwardly approached. The stallion started to look up, but then the young prince yanked on his mane again, making him wince and drop his head back down before the boy scampered up to Scrivener's side and hauled himself onto the earth pony's back, making him twitch and shiver painfully as he gave a low groan of misery.

Luna winced and arched her own back, then she gritted her teeth and slowly turned a scowl on Taruos as he sat astride Scrivener Blooms, still clutching his mane like reins as he looked calmly towards the doors and said: "The Queen will be in the war room. We should head there immediately."

"Thou acts like a little Baron. And no, 'twas not a compliment." Luna grumbled, shaking her head moodily as Celestia sighed and Scrivener looked helplessly at Twilight, who only shrugged in return. Then the sapphire mare turned her eyes towards Innocence, asking in a softer voice: "And thou. Art thou hurt? Thou took a wicked wallop from that beast."

"No, it was just a glancing blow. I'm okay." Innocence smiled faintly as she felt Twilight's eyes on her, the Lich examining her for a moment before they returned to Scrivener and Taruos... and the young mare felt an odd twist inside her. Sure, she hated it when her mother jumped all over her, but... here she was, barely paying any attention to her, and sure, her parents traded information back and forth between them constantly so they all knew she was perfectly okay. She had just been stunned taking the hit from the giant: it had been so strong, and...

She shook herself out hurriedly as she felt Celestia's eyes measuring her, and then the young unicorn turned an awkward smile up at Taruos, asking the young prince hesitantly: "Why don't you ride on my back instead? I know I'm still wearing this funny armor, but-"

"No. I chose the stallion. The stallion is the most fitting." Taruos said calmly, shaking his head firmly, and Luna and Twilight both stared: this six year old had more seriousness and dignity than most officers they knew. "We've wasted enough time. Hel must not be allowed to trespass. Into Valhalla!"

The young child yanked firmly on Scrivener's mane, and the stallion winced as his head was jerked fiercely to the side before he groaned and began to trot forwards, not knowing what else to do. Luna and Twilight stumbled into step with him as Celestia shook her head slowly, then glanced over at Innocence before the young mare could leave, asking calmly: "Would you please wait for a moment?"

Innocence looked up with an awkward smile and a quick nod, hesitantly glancing over at Celestia, and the ivory winged gazed back quietly before she smiled faintly and shook her head slowly as the others left, Twilight casting a worried look over her shoulder but only faltering once before she focused head on walking with her partners.

Strange unicorn looked at white winged unicorn, and then Celestia reached up and gently touched the younger mare's face, saying softly: "Your polymorph has been damaged. You're only partly transformed."

"Oh, oops." Innocence smiled lamely, reaching a claw up and touching scales instead of hide, and she shook her head quickly before closing her eyes and concentrating, hurriedly repairing the damage done to her magical guise. Then she opened her amethyst irises and gazed up into Celestia's own similar-colored eyes, asking: "Is that better?"

"A little." Celestia smiled back, then she said gently: "When you fail to pay attention to details, Innocence... when you fail to react on the battlefield, that's when people get hurt. If you're lucky, it's just you... but more likely, your friends and family will suffer the consequences as well. Is that part of what happened here?"

"I... no, I..." Innocence bit her lip, then she realized she couldn't say exactly what had happened... she'd been stunned for most of the fight, after all. First she'd frozen up, and then...

The young mare silently reached up, touching the dented metal over her chest before she looked up and said finally: "I just... I guess that... I don't know what happened, Aunt Tia, but... I didn't mean to freeze up, and it wasn't after me... Dad was just close to me and Teddy was after him and-"

"That doesn't make the situation any better, Innocence. In fact, it makes it worse in some ways: it means you weren't paying attention to what was going on around you, and you put your father in danger." Celestia said softly, and Innocence flushed as she lowered her head a bit in shame. "If you want to be a Valkyrie, if you want to be like us, Innocence, you have to be prepared to rise to each and every occasion, even if that just means getting out of the way. And I'm only being so direct right now, Sin, because I went through this with Antares and I wasn't hard enough on him and his friends at first. Then, some would say I was too hard on him, even though that lesson was the one that finally got through to them, too."

Innocence glanced up and shook her head slowly, then she gave a small smile and murmured: "I hate being compared to Tarry, Aunt Tia. I know he's better than me. He's supposed to have been the hero, and he uses purification, and I'm just... darkness."

"No, Innocence, you're wrong there." Celestia laughed quietly and shook her head slowly, saying softly: "Antares was not always a hero. Yes, he was looked at as a shining beacon, but much of that was because he was thought of as the young prince. He's had a long time to grow up, to become strong, to turn into the pony he is today: on the way, I can confidently say he made more mistakes than you have so far, Innocence, and I just want to help you... not make the same errors. I and your parents understand that yes, you do have to make some mistakes, you do have to find your own way... but some mistakes aren't worth seeing made twice."

Celestia stopped, lowering her head for a moment and thinking of Cancer, of Psukhikos, of others who had taken so much from Antares and their family as a whole... and of herself, too. Then she looked up with a sigh and a gentle gesture of her head, saying finally: "If you could tell me what you recall from the fight here, I would appreciate it. Was it only Theodore?"

"Yeah... what... what is he?" Innocence asked uneasily as she strode forwards, and Celestia smiled faintly as she turned, aunt and niece falling in step and walking towards the shattered doors. Nibelung and ponies were examining the damage and staring out into the courtyard, but they parted for the two as Innocence hesitantly added another question: "And why... Mom and Dad, all it did was pound on them, but they're so strong... how..."

"In comparison, an ant is stronger than almost all of us, Innocence. The weakest can move ten times its body weight, their entire society can function flawlessly together like one superorganism, and they're capable of solving complex problems and teaching each other. They build nests with architecture that could rival our own military structures in function, if not form, and some can even cultivate their own food, terraform the world, perform tasks very similar to what we would have to use magic to do." Celestia smiled after a moment, glancing over at Innocence. "But an ant is still only an ant, in spite of everything it can do, and a plodding pony not watching where he's going could accidentally step on a group of their workers and crush dozens beneath his hoof without ever being aware of what happened."

"You always taught me numbers beat strength, though." Innocence said quietly, and Celestia nodded with a quiet laugh, gazing kindly down at the young unicorn.

"They do. A thousand ants will overwhelm a war elephant. But two or three won't be able to do much against it, unless they have superior strategy and a weakness to exploit." the ivory mare replied softly, and then she shook her head slowly and smiled over at the young mare. "Luna and Scrivener are very strong, but Theodore we now know for certain is physically stronger. And to answer your other question, I'm not entirely sure what he is: he seems like some kind of mechanical monstrosity, maybe a former project of Valthrudnir's that Hel took control of."

"Mutt and Dad couldn't hurt him. Couldn't put a scratch on his armor... Hel... Hel said it was gianttooth and soulstone. But both those things are really rare, I thought, almost impossible to get in big quantities. I know that Mutt's spear is made of it, but I thought she used up almost all of Subterra's store of it to make Prúðbikkja." Innocence said uneasily, and Celestia smiled wryly as she looked ahead down the hall.

"For us it is... and by that, I mean both Valhalla and Midgard. But don't forget that Hel has total dominion over Helheim, the one place where soulstone is produced. And I wouldn't be surprised if she knew how to mine gianttooth as well." Celestia responded with a short shake of her head, before she sighed and looked up as yelling filtered down the hall towards them, Innocence cocking her head dumbly at what sounded suspiciously like her Móðer.

They turned a corner to find Luna glaring up at Taruos as Twilight winced and tried to get the sapphire mare to calm down, while Scrivener was only looking dumbly ahead. Taruos, on the stallion's back, was only glowering back at Luna even as she raged: "-pompous little brat! If I had but a little less self control I would slap thee so hard that 'twould send thee back into thy mother's womb!"

"I am a prince, and you are a subordinate. My duty is to help run Valhalla, a duty I have been trained for my entire life, and you will assist in those functions." retorted Taruos, shaking his head firmly before the child straightened and looked calmly over at Celestia as she approached. "Queen Freya. Please get your soldier back in order."

"She is not my soldier, Taruos. She is my little sister. And the Valkyries are not subjects of Valhalla anymore." Celestia replied tactfully, as Luna yelled in outrage and did a furious little dance, and Scrivener Blooms only winced away from the sapphire mare, clearly concerned that she might take her anger out on the ridden since she couldn't punch the rider.

Taruos looked contemplatively at Celestia for a few moments, but then his eyes were drawn upwards, giving a very small start of surprise as a voice shouted his name. The others looked up to see Terra was hurrying towards them, looking both relieved and exasperated, her metallic scales slowly settling as she smiled warmly.

"Oh, Taruos, I was worried sick about you!" Terra leapt forwards, hugging Taruos fiercely with one forelimb and nuzzling into him, and the young prince winced and fidgeted wildly before Terra drew back with a sigh and a shake of her head, looking thankfully between the ponies. "Oh, blessings on you all for taking care of him while I had to settle down Valhalla."

"The Queen is supposed to be in the war room, you told me this yourself, mother." Taruos said, sounding half-exasperated, half-confused, and Terra gave her son a flat look before she huffed and reached up, firmly grasping her child by the scruff of his neck and pulling him off the stallion.

"Now, Taruos, you watch your tone. The Queen will do whatever she wants, and she has your welfare in mind as much as that of Valhalla, laddie." Terra lightly slapped Taruos' rump, making him wince and stumble forwards before she added: "And you best not be treating our guests foully. It looks like they just went ten rounds with Teddy."

"One round, actually. It wasn't really a fair fight, though." Scrivener Blooms mumbled, and Terra stared at the stallion before he slowly cracked his back, then wheezed loudly and shivered once. "Oh hell. I think that was one of my ribs, too."

"Oh shut up, Scrivy. It did not hurt that much." Luna mumbled, even as she reached up and rubbed slowly at her breast, and then her nose wrinkled up as she added: "And 'twas not our fault! Hel ambushed us with the damnable monster and... cheated! She is a cheat!"

Terra rolled her eyes at this, then she picked up Taruos and placed her son on her back, saying wryly: "I'm sure she did, Luna Brynhild. But do you now understand what I was saying before? Aye, you might be strong, and perhaps you've even conquered things stronger than I and many others could hope to. But you aren't the biggest fish in these parts."

Luna only growled in frustration at this, and then she shook her head vehemently before muttering: "Well, we shall see what thou says once we defeat Gymbr. And without the help of that... idiot hag, Hel! I shall not play her games, I shall not be humiliated like this, and I shan't go pleading and wheedling for her help!"

"I do not know if that's such a good idea, Luna Brynhild." Terra said warningly as she turned around, and Luna growled at the dragon's back as Scrivener grimaced a little and Twilight looked with concern over at her partners. Celestia had her own unsure look in her eyes, and as Innocence paced slowly behind the group, she shivered a little at all the disagreement, the confusion she felt. "It's not that I don't grasp your anger, I do. I felt the same fury many a time while working for Hel, with her games and the way she enjoys stirring the pot. But she's-"

"She is a bitch and a clown, and I shan't put up with either. And after I pummel Gymbr I shall pummel her." Luna grumbled, shaking her head sourly, and Scrivener winced a bit as Twilight Sparkle bit her lip, but the sapphire mare looked pleadingly back and forth between the two, saying almost sharply: "We do not need her help! Nay, we shall recover, we shall build our strength, and then the three of us shall meet Gymbr and whatever machinations he plans to bring against us head on!"

Celestia sighed softly at this, lowering her head a little as Twilight and Scrivener traded nervous looks past Luna... but when the sapphire mare gave them another frustrated, insistent look, they both nodded hesitantly. And Celestia was unable to do anything but give a short shake of her head before she murmured softly: "Then I hope you three know what you're doing."

"Aye, I do as well... and I hope you aren't too proud to at least accept our help in getting ready for whatever's to come." Terra said calmly, glancing over her shoulder, and Luna looked up in genuine surprise before the metallic dragon gave a wry smile. "My duty isn't just to look after Valhalla now, is it? Kvas was always firm that the first job was to take care of you little ponies."

Luna smiled despite herself at this, shaking her head slowly before she murmured: "Aye. I suppose that is the true point of Valhalla after all. Then I welcome thy aid, Terra, and think that we should begin our work posthaste. For we cannot allow ourselves to be caught unaware again, whether it be from Hel or Gymbr. I fear another meeting will not be so kind to us."

Terra nodded firmly and smiled as she turned her eyes back forwards, and Celestia did her best to smile as well... but as she walked through these hallowed halls with her family, she couldn't help but worry and wonder if they were making the right decision... or if Luna's pride wasn't going to cost them more than Hel's malice when the time came to face Gymbr again.

Chapter Eighteen: The Machineries Of Joy

~BlackRoseRaven

It seemed that they were going to end up spending more time in Valhalla than expected: three days had passed so far, and there was no sign they were going home anytime soon. But Celestia, Scrivener and Luna were training fiercely all hours of the day, and here in Valhalla they were able to heal faster than they would even in Subterra's energized atmosphere, and Luna and Celestia both just seemed... stronger. Better. It was like the air of this place was helping restore their Valkyrie instincts, like Valhalla itself was strengthening them and urging them on.

Sometimes Innocence and Twilight would train with them, but for the most part, Twilight kept Innocence busy with theory and magic training, and occasionally Prestige or one of the other new Valkyries would help out with more physical exercises and drills. Antares was always there for his little sister as well, but he liked to spend a lot of his time sitting back and watching his parents and Celestia, cheering for them occasionally and treating it a lot like a prize match... which, well, Twilight supposed from how rough and active the two got, it was.

Not that Antares was slacking off at all: he was running messages throughout Valhalla, helping out in the Archive Wing of Heaven, and training with Prestige for what felt like an inevitable conflict. After all, Luna and Scrivener knew the answer they were going to give to Gymbr the next time the god put in an appearance: a resounding 'no' to whatever plans he had. They couldn't trust him... even if none of them were precisely fond of the Pious, either, and they hadn't received any answer to the messages that Terra had sent to the Cenobium that stood outside Valhalla's walls.

The Pious inside Valhalla, on the other hoof, seemed... agitated. They weren't spreading their word to every unguarded pair of ears like they normally would, instead going about their cryptic business, coming and going from Valhalla constantly, and only hugging themselves and refusing to answer any questions the ponies had. Celestia and Twilight had both come to the conclusion that they were actually afraid of something... which didn't help Gymbr's case very much, Celestia had noted. If they were actually interlopers of some kind, now would be their only time to either strike or flee: for now it just seemed like they were in a panic.

Twilight sighed softly as she strode quickly through Valhalla, then she shivered a bit and halted for a moment, barely aware of the Blessed that passed her as she felt a twist of... it was hard to describe. It was like excitement and adrenaline, but that went through a sieve before it reached her, draining all the energy out of it and turning it into this strange, lethargic pleasure that made her muscles go wobbly. She hated it and she loved it: it was the thrill of feeling Scrivener and Luna as they smashed into each other like animals, and she could feel the poise and grace in their disciplined bodies but the way their primal minds roared at each other...

Twilight closed her eyes and tilted her head back, stitches writhing for a moment, almost threatening to pop... and then she shivered again and shook her head quickly, blushing a little as she hurried onwards and rolled her shoulders to adjust her sweater over her body. It got so awkward sometimes with the way they were all linked and how they were all continuing to influence each other...

She sighed a little, then glanced up as she reached her destination, knocking perfunctorily on the door before pushing it open and stepping into the office. Inside, a speckled brown and white earth pony glanced up with surprise at her, and then he brightened, tossing his messy chestnut mane. "Oh, Lady Sparkle! I've been waiting for you!"

The lanky earth pony almost tripped over his own robes as he hopped out of his seat, stumbling around the messy, paperwork-piled desk as Twilight smiled and said softly: "I didn't mean to keep you waiting, Pipsqueak. I've got some letters to mail down to Looking Glass World... it's not too much of a problem, is it? I just don't want anyone to worry too much while we're here."

"Oh, not at all, miss, not at all." Pipsqueak shook his head quickly, then he smiled and straightened, adjusting his robes as his eyes gazed almost fawningly over Twilight, and the violet mare gave him an awkward smile before the stallion cleared his throat hurriedly and strode out into the hall. "You... you really don't need my help though, Lady Sparkle, I'm very sure, more than sure that the Watchers would respect your status and all that..."

"Well, I want to do things properly, that's all. I don't like throwing my weight around." Twilight smiled over at the earth pony, nodding once as they began down the halls. "Besides, it's not that urgent... I just don't want any of our friends or family to spend too long without knowing what's going on. It's important we all stay in contact with each other."

"Yes ma'am, knowledge is power as they say, isn't that right?" The pony smiled at her brightly, and Twilight couldn't help but give him an entertained look: even for a Blessed, Pipsqueak was always so optimistic and cheerful. He was also an aide to Terra, and helped Excelsior out with a lot of his paperwork: apparently Kvasir had hired him after some kind of conflict with another former assistant, Aria. "Then I'm just very happy to help, Lady Sparkle."

"Twilight. Just call me Twilight." the violet mare said kindly, and Pipsqueak blushed a little as he nodded hurriedly several times, before the Lich glanced ahead and asked: "So, how have things been going around Heaven? I was... actually rather surprised to find out how much work Taruos does around here... or tries to do, I mean... I'm not sure how good he actually is..."

Pipsqueak only chuckled at this, shaking his head quickly. "Oh, you'd be surprised, Miss Twilight. He's quite the very talented little boy, as a matter of fact, very talented indeed, and I think that he's going to make a fine ruler of Valhalla one day, very fine."

Twilight smiled despite herself at this, then she asked after a moment: "Do you ever find it strange, taking orders from... well, a child? I mean, I saw that he even sits in on the Heavenly Council with his mother... I don't suppose all the angels and Blessed are as positive about that as you seem to be yourself, Pipsqueak."

Pipsqueak shrugged a little at this, saying thoughtfully: "Well, no, but he's the prince and everyone respects that, that's all. I mean, just speaking between you and me ma'am, not everyone here was really thrilled with Terra being Queen at first, but after Kvasir vanished no one wanted her to step down and they all certainly respect her, if only for the sake of public face. And whether young or not, Taruos is very competent, very intelligent, very strong."

The violet mare nodded, thinking for a moment of how brazen and bold the child was... but also how... no, not moody, but maybe sullen was a good word for it. He was such a mix of serious and sad... "It can't be entirely good for him, though... I mean, the way he behaves..."

"Yes, it's... it is rather rough, I'll be the first to admit that." Pipsqueak's smile toned down as he gazed over at Twilight, shaking his head a little. "But at the same time, miss, I don't think there's any real better place for him. There are precious few other children in Valhalla, and if I may be frank, the young prince isn't very good with them in any regard. He prefers to keep his own company, and he prefers to spend most of that time working. He seems so serious when he's busy but when he's not, he just seems to be so... angry."

"I think I understand what you mean." Twilight said softly, nodding a little and thinking of Antares: how after he'd lost his parents, all he'd wanted to do was... look for them, and do whatever he could to make himself stronger, better, more ready to try and find them when the time was right. And how when she tried to do something to make him take his mind off that goal, he'd gotten less focused, more frantic, more... angry. That really was a good word for it.

They continued on for a moment in quiet, Pipsqueak fidgeting before he suddenly glanced over at her and asked in a tremendously awkward voice: "So uh. Valkyrie Princess Luna, is... how's she doing, Miss Twilight?"

Twilight sighed inwardly, giving Pipsqueak an amused look before she replied gently: "She's very good, and you should ask Luna herself. Just Luna. Like I'm just Twilight, okay?"

"Yes, of course Miss Twilight." Pipsqueak smiled over at her, and Twilight felt both amused and exasperated before the young stallion gave an awkward grin. "And what about... Sir Blooms? Sir Scrivener Blooms, yes, her husband?"

"Scrivy is fine too. Honestly, you shouldn't be so afraid of them, Pipsqueak. They're good ponies." Twilight paused, then winced as she stopped in the hallway and she felt a twist of pain over her face, reaching up and absently rubbing at her cheek as a bruise slowly formed over it. Pipsqueak was staring at her with wide eyes, and the Lich blushed a little as she glanced over at the stallion, mumbling: "Sorry about that. They're sparring, that's all. I think Luna just managed to get a good hit in against Scrivener... she likes to use her hooves."

"I uh... I see then, Miss Twilight." Pipsqueak said lamely, and then he cleared his throat and gestured awkwardly forwards. "Shall we carry on then?"

"Yes, definitely." Twilight did her best just to nod in return, and the two continued on in quiet as the violet mare repressed a shiver as best she could. Not of pain... oh, it wasn't pain that had bothered her while they had tried to fight Teddy, it was the humiliation that had hurt... but the fighting itself...

She closed her eyes and shook herself briefly, then looked up in surprise when Pipsqueak announced in a positive voice: "Well, here we are, Miss Twilight! The Watcher's Temple!"

They had reached an enormous set of open silver doors, both beautifully patterned and with a massive eye decorating the tall archway. Blessed were flooding in and out through this, and Twilight smiled a little before following Pipsqueak through into the enormous, circular lobby beyond as he chattered away cheerfully: "You know, when I first came to Valhalla I thought this would be the most fantastic place, the most fantastic place to work at, but oh, there's so much paperwork, and of course it's so hard to enforce all the rules and keep everyone with their fair share and it really can be just an awful business. I really couldn't stand more than a few weeks here, making Blessed pay just to see how their loved ones were doing."

Twilight only nodded absently, looking first towards the enormous, dome-shaped structure in the center of the room: it was like an immense ticket booth, lined with windows where clerks were passing out schedules and tickets for the hundred or so 'Viewing Rooms' that lined the walls. The violet mare's eyes were soon drawn to these, slowly looking to the side, then up the immense, rounded walls: a massive, spiraling staircase surrounded them, stretching up toward the ceiling barely visible countless feet above. So many rooms, for ponies who had passed on to visit to get a few minutes to gaze into the simple scrying glasses contained inside each and see what their loved ones were doing with their lives... it was no wonder the Blessed were all in such a rush.

Pipsqueak politely cleared his throat, and Twilight Sparkle looked up in surprise before she smiled lamely as the stallion gestured towards a less-crowded area, where a long counter formed a squared off little nook. Only a few Blessed were there, quickly being attended to by the clerks. "Come along, Miss Twilight. You have your letters with you?"

"Oh, yes, right." Twilight's horn glowed brightly before she simply flicked it to the side, and a bundle of letters appeared in a flash in front of her, Pipsqueak looking surprised before Twilight blushed a bit as she easily levitated them beside her. "It's nothing special. Just a simple calling charm."

"I don't know about that... that really is quite impressive, Miss Twilight!" Pipsqueak said cheerfully, nodding as he bounced along beside her. "The only other pony I've ever met who could do things like that without any preparation beforehoof was... well, Lord Kvasir."

Pipsqueak quieted a bit, and Twilight softened as she asked almost hesitantly: "Did you know him well? I mean... you worked together for a few years, didn't you?"

"I'm not really sure. Excelsior certainly knew him better than I did but... I like to think that he was a friend, all the same." Pipsqueak replied after a moment with a firm nod, and Twilight nodded back, smiling a little at the stallion. Then the young stallion cleared his throat, raising his head and gesturing towards an open space of counter and an angel that was looking at them curiously. "Here we are, ma'am."

Twilight turned her attention to the angel, approaching and nodding politely despite the odd appearance of the creature: it was a true angel, not a Blessed, which meant that it had been born – or perhaps created, Twilight wasn't sure – in Heaven. The Blessed, after all, were all once-mortals who had passed on. Many of them referred to themselves proudly as 'angels,' but there was really quite a bit of difference between the two.

This divine being didn't even look like a pony, or a demon: it was tall, standing on two legs, but had no fur like the Nibelung, just smooth skin mostly covered by a thick cloth cloak. It had large wings and a slightly hunched posture, with most of its smooth face covered by a metallic horse's mask, dun-colored eyes looking through these with interest. Apparently they wore these masks to try and fit in a little more around Valhalla, which Twilight thought was a little funny. But it seemed to at least half-work, especially since many of them had long, flowing hair like manes, and they were friendly enough. More importantly, they were inquisitive, talkative, had emotions; they weren't distant and alien like the Strange Ones, or haughty and unapproachable like the Pious.

"My good friend Lady Twilight Sparkle would like to send a few letters to her friends in Looking Glass World." Pipsqueak proceeded, looking up at the angel as if nothing about him was strange, and Twilight smiled despite herself: she supposed that in time, you really could get used to anything. Then again, she should know: she had been a Lich for long enough now it had started to feel like her natural state of being. "My name is Pipsqueak, and my authorization is-"

"I know who you are, Pip. You've been here plenty of times in the past." the angel said mildly, raising a hand, and Pipsqueak huffed a little as Twilight smiled despite herself. She dropped the bundle of letters on the counter, and the angel picked them up, flipping quickly through them. "Alright... names and addresses, I can pass these on to a courier as is. Are you paying the service fee or does this count as a government expenditure?"

"I'll pay." Twilight flicked her horn, and a bag of coins appeared in the air beside her in a spark of violet light. Pipsqueak began to protest, but the Lich shook her head quickly, giving him a warm smile. "No, honestly, don't worry about it, I've got more than enough. Ten... silvers per letter, right?"

"That's right, miss." The angel nodded, and Twilight began to fish coins out of the tiny bag: it seemed like the little sack couldn't hold more than ten of the silver dollars she pulled out, but more and more simply floated up out of the bag until there were five even stacks on the counter, the angel nodding once before simply sweeping his hand to the side.

The coins neatly lifted into the air and formed into a silver dollar serpent that twisted past him towards a large bin presumably filled with more, clinking into this as the angel said kindly: "The next messenger leaves in three hours. These letters should be delivered within half a day's passage."

"Thank you very much." Twilight smiled as her horn glowed, the bag vanishing in another puff before she turned to leave, and Pipsqueak followed her with an enthralled look on his features. The Lich glanced awkwardly over her shoulder at the earth pony as he looked at her with awe, and she laughed lamely after a moment before saying finally: "Time-space distortion only sounds difficult, and... I mean, it's much easier to exponentially increase the size of a small bag than a larger one, too, of course, since making something smaller ten times bigger is like making something larger twice as big... and... it really isn't that impressive..."

"Oh, but it is!" Pipsqueak said brightly, nodding firmly a few times. "I've never seen any pony wield their magic so efficiently as you do, not even any of the Valkyries! It really is incredibly-"

But he was interrupted by Twilight wincing, her head twisting to the side more out of reflex than anything else as a large cut appeared over her features before she glowered straight ahead. Pipsqueak turned pale as he staggered to a halt and several passing Blessed stumbled and stared, but Twilight didn't see any of them as she glared into thin air, feeling a bit of blood leaking down her features before she said loudly and clearly: "I think that's enough."

And, on the other side of Valhalla, Luna and Scrivener Blooms both froze together, the stallion grasping the body of Prúðbikkja, the tip of which was digging into his skull just below the temple after leaving a long tear through his features. The wound was already healing, but it had been deep enough to leave a bloody gash over Luna's own features... and presumably Twilight's as well.

The two traded lame looks, both breathing hard, dressed in armor that had been dented and damaged and stained from their fierce sparring. They had taken over a sandy arena lot, parts of which had been turned to mire here and there, trampled and broken vines scattered through the sand along with broken pieces of crystallized black poison.

Luna stepped back, shaking her head briskly as Scrivener cleared his throat and yanked Prúðbikkja away from his head, then dropped it and gave the sapphire mare an awkward grin. There was silence for a few moments between them, and then they both looked dumbly up as Antares stood up in the seats above the low wall surrounding them, raising his forelegs high and cheering loudly as Prestige dropped her face in one hoof.

The sapphire mare huffed and half-spun towards her son, flicking her soulstone horn to send a sapphire fireball shooting towards him, but the spikes that ran along the top of the short wall glowed and a dim barrier sprung into life that absorbed the blue flames.

Antares grinned widely from the seats that half-encircled the arena, then he called cheerfully: "I think Dad won that round, Mom! You're kind of losing your edge!"

"Come down here and say that to my face! And then my hoof shall say... 'tis... time for a party... to thy face in response! A hoof party! And it shall be in thy face's house!" Luna shouted back up at her son, flailing a hoof at him uselessly, and Antares only blew a raspberry at his mother in return, making her grumble disconsolately and drop on her rump as she glared over at Scrivener Blooms. "This is all thy fault. I miss the days when our son was whiny but manageable. Now, now he is just like... well..."

"You." Scrivener said dryly, and then he winced when Prúðbikkja poked him several times, slapping at it crankily. Then he rolled his shoulders and grimaced a bit as he added in a mumble: "Although he did pick me as the winner, so I guess I can't really complain there."

"Thou art not the winner. Thou art never the winner, at least not when it comes to the everlasting war between us." Luna grumbled, shaking her head briskly before she glanced over at her floating spear, and her prosthetic horn gave a brief flash, the spear glowing with the same light before it shrank quickly down and spun towards her. It disappeared into her starry locks, and the mare absently rubbed at the bloody cut on her cheek, complaining: "Heal thyself, Scrivy. This itches. And 'twill itch more if sand gets in it."

"Then maybe you shouldn't rub your dirty hooves all over it." Scrivener said mildly, and Luna huffed before turning towards the stallion and attempting to shove her hooves into his face, Scrivy flailing at her with a wince before he tipped backwards and landed on his spine with a grunt of pain, cursing as Luna's hooves mashed down against his face and made him groan in frustration as she attempted to shove his head into the sand.

Antares snorted in amusement as he leaned over the wall, feeling the magic energy that filled the short but supple barrier tickling against his hooves before Prestige tapped his side lightly and said mildly: "You're going to get a nasty shock again doing that, hero. Come on, sit back here. Your parents will be done soon and then we can go down and train a little."

The glossy-black unicorn smiled at this, dropping back into the comfortable seat as he gazed across the arena at the other seating section, where Celestia was watching his parents tussle with what he guessed was exasperation... although he wouldn't be surprised if there was a bit of worry there, too. He was worried himself, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

The stallion glanced over at Prestige Luster, and she softened as she gazed back at him, seeing beneath his smiles as she asked softly: "Why don't you just go talk to them about it?"

Antares shrugged at this, looking back down at his parents and rubbing a hoof slowly against his face before he murmured: "Because I don't know what else to suggest, mostly. I mean, hey, I could go out there and say 'we really need Hel's help, and we should do whatever she wants to get it,' but... I don't think I really believe that. I don't trust Hel, Prestige. And part of me still wants to trust Gymbr."

Prestige nodded slowly, then she reached up and gently touched his shoulder. He studied her, then smiled a little as he silently reached up and stroked a hoof against the simple scarf she was wearing: it was a blue that seemed to reflect in her eyes, making them look like a stormy sky over the sea, but... in a pretty way. Especially with that red fleck she had... "You know, you're pretty weird."

"Thanks, hero." Prestige smiled despite herself, shaking her head slowly before she nudged him gently. "But try and be serious for a moment, Mir. I mean, I thought you were over this whole... 'I'm too scared to try and talk to my parents' thing."

"I... I'm not scared. It's not like that at all. Shut up." Antares said defensively, and then he added in a mumble: "Also, I have three parents who are all linked together so even when they're alone it's like talking to all three at once. Most kids, even grown-up-adult-kids like me, have trouble just talking to one parent about something."

Prestige shrugged a bit at this, then she reached up and ruffled the stallion's mane, making him huff. "Well, you're not most grown-up kids, are you? You're Antares Mīrus. Prince of the Night and the son of the mighty Valkyrie Brynhild and Equestria-reknowned author, Scrivener Blooms."

Antares snorted at this and shoved the mare lightly away, saying wryly: "And none of that translates to 'talks good with Mom and Dad and Mom.' Or Mutt. Horses of Heaven am I ever proud of Sin for coming up with Mutt. It's perfect for... well, Mutt."

"I can hear thou mocking me!" Luna shouted loudly, and Antares only grinned, turning his eyes down into the arena, where Luna was now sitting just in front of the wall and glaring up at him. "Be wary, Antares Mīrus. Thou art an adult. This means I can beat thee as much as I like and 'tis no crime or cowardice. And thou has a habit of making it truly oh-so-tempting."

The stallion only shrugged with a wry grin at this, looking entertained before he replied easily: "Hey, I wasn't saying anything that wasn't true, and you can't punish me for that, can you? I mean, you could, but then you'd be setting a really bad precedent. Aunt Tia might start beating you for all the true things you say about her all the time."

Luna pondered this for a few moments, then she nodded firmly once before stomping her hooves childishly. "Well, come down here anyway, Antares, I desire to pummel thee a little for old times' sake! And thou, Prestige, thou must come down too, but thou art not required to accept my love-pummels, although 'tis very impolite if thou does not."

Prestige sighed tiredly, then she winced when Antares leapt over the magic barrier and easily landed in the arena in front of his mother in a puff of sand. They glared at each other challengingly for a moment, then both suddenly laughed and leaned forwards, sharing a fierce, tight hug as Scrivener smiled despite himself and Prestige headed for the stairs with an amused roll of her eyes.

Mother and child parted, then they looked at each other warmly before Luna leaned forwards and asked kindly: "Now come, child. What hast thou been talking about? What is worrying thee? Thou must know that thou can speak to us about anything by now, for Mimir's sake we share jokery most foul often enough."

"I know, Móðer. But I respect you guys and I don't want to make it seem like I'm subtly calling you stupid. When, you know, I prefer to just call you stupid out loud." Antares replied reasonably, and Luna poked at him with her horn, but the glossy-black stallion easily slipped backwards before he softened and hesitated as his mother looked up, then he said quietly: "I'm just not sure that this stuff with Hel is coming from the right place. I might not be as old as you, but... I have learned a few lessons about pride along the way."

The unicorn's eyes flicked towards Prestige as she pushed open a small gate leading into the arena, and Luna grumbled a bit, but lowered her head and nodded grudgingly as she studied the approaching new Valkyrie. Prestige was toned and strong and fit, even her cutie mark of three interlocked swirls of red, blue and white seemed to glow with her strength.

But more than that, she had grown wise; to this day, Luna could still barely believe that apparently in the past, this same unicorn had once been a racist, proud mare concerned only with the purity of her bloodline. The winged unicorn supposed they had all changed, though, to one extent or another: after all, Scrivener Blooms had begun his life in the northlands too, treated as nothing better than a slave... although really, his strange story started before that, with a plan of Valthrudnir's and a needle containing dark and terrible life...

Luna shook her head quickly, and both she and Scrivener looked awkwardly up out of the shared reverie they had almost fallen into before the starry-maned mare asked impulsively: "Prestige, what would thou do in this situation?"

"Seeing as I've been humbled more than once in the past, and I know that I'm better for it... I would honestly stop and consider everything that's happened. Why I ended up in that situation and... if this advice is worth following, or in your case, if the game with Hel is worth playing." Prestige halted, then she smiled a little and bowed her head. "And I hate to say it, Luna Brynhild, but... sometimes what hurts the most is the best thing for us."

"Thy advice is stupid." Luna grumbled, but she looked down thoughtfully all the same, clearly considering her options before she sighed and shook her head slowly, mumbling: "Honestly, I do not know what to do, though. Aye, Hel would be a powerful ally, but 'powerful' does not automatically mean 'useful,' and... I fear what gifts she would bring us, and what the cost of such would be. Thou knows already that she tried to tempt Innocence. Furthermore, Terra has informed me that Heaven has been running much smoother without fear of one of Hel's puppets popping up to do harm."

Antares grimaced a little at this, nodding slowly. "Yeah, I remember. And that's definitely not something Sin needs to be going through right now... she's already confused as hell as it is about Gymbr. And speaking of Gymbr, Mom..."

"Oh, do not say it. I am frustrated enough as it is with Hel." Luna groaned, shaking her head quickly before she looked sourly over at her son. "Speak honestly. Speak honestly, Antares, can thou honestly tell me that Gymbr can be trusted, that Gymbr is not pursuing something selfish and wicked that shall perhaps have dire consequences for our entire universe?"

"Even the actions we take for the sake of others are selfish if it makes us happy to see them happy. And every single day we take actions that could bring harmony or despair to the universe in someone else's perceptions." Antares said mildly, and Luna stared at her son with disbelief before she huffed and turned to Scrivener Blooms, firmly bopping him with her horn and making him flinch away.

"What the hell did I do?" the charcoal stallion complained, and then he awkwardly ducked out of the way when Luna swung her horn at him.

"Listen to our child! 'Tis thy fault that he acts like this!" Luna grumbled, and then she glanced moodily at her son as he rose a hoof pointedly.

"Actually, it's from a book I'm reading on Taoist philosophy." Antares corrected, and there was silence for a moment before Luna turned and whacked Scrivener with her horn again.

"See? 'Tis thy fault! Thou taught him to read, and to read such rubbish as that!" the sapphire mare grumbled, and then she and Scrivener Blooms slapped at each other like foals for a few moments before Luna finally managed to shove the charcoal stallion over.

Antares rolled his eyes at this, then he said dryly: "I'm just pointing out that even if, yes, it seems like Hel and Gymbr are both complete assheads... there might be more to this than it seems. Maybe Gymbr really is trying to stop something, I dunno. I just know that we need more information. And probably about everything, at that."

"I think we have all the information we're going to get, though." Celestia said softly as she approached, and all eyes turned towards her, Luna grinning slightly at the sight of a pint-sized Discombobulation sitting placidly on the rainbow-maned mare's head. Celestia glanced up to show that she was aware of the Draconequus before she returned her eyes to Antares, asking curiously: "But even now, you still think that Gymbr..."

The glossy-black unicorn nodded, shifting a little as he gave a small smile. "Yeah. I know it probably doesn't make any sense, but... for some reason, I still can't help but think that Gymbr is here to try and... and help us. I still want to believe in him."

"Kvasir said the same thing many times in his journals, and eventually Gymbr betrayed that trust." Celestia said pointedly, and Antares shifted a little before the ivory mare hesitated and turned her eyes towards Luna. "But I will admit the timing is strange. During his first entry, Gymbr attacks Kvasir... but it's also one of the last times on record that Gymbr does so, apparently out of many occurrences in the past. I don't just find it incredible that for so many years this was going on right under our noses, that Kvasir must have been... far, far stronger than we ever gave him proper credit for... but it just doesn't seem like Gymbr's mounting insanity would be enough alone to drive Kvasir to writing the confession he did. It's framed that way, but..."

Luna frowned at this as Scrivener picked himself up, then the stallion asked hesitantly: "You think there's something else? That Kvasir maybe sensed something else on the horizon?"

"Kvasir himself says as much." Celestia nodded, then she added softly: "There's a lot of information to be mined out of the main journal, and I'd like your help with that, Scrivener Blooms... you're better at close reading than I am. Twilight Sparkle and I can handle the appendix, but you should likely look through the personal journal, too. A lot of it seems irrelevant, but I don't want to risk missing any clues, and more than that... Kvasir does describe several meetings with Gymbr that aren't in the main journal. Meetings where they seem much more like friends than anything else..."

Antares smiled a little at this, and Celestia turned her eyes to the charcoal stallion, saying softly: "Unfortunately, I don't think that confirms anything either way. It could be that Kvasir's feelings of friendship weren't truly returned by Gymbr, or the book could have been edited by Hel or possibly others, and of course they might just be literary exaggeration. Authors overemphasize their own life events all the time, don't they, Scrivener?"

"Ouch, Celestia. But yes. It sounds like Kvasir was just recording information, though..." The charcoal stallion hesitated, then he and Luna traded a look, sharing thoughts back and forth before the sapphire mare nodded firmly, and Scrivy turned his eyes back to Celestia. "Does it ever list a moment where Gymbr gets angry at Kvasir?"

Celestia nodded, saying softly: "The first moment that jumps to mind is before Kvasir was attacked by the assassin. After his wedding with Terra... do you remember when Kvasir stepped aside for a moment? First Hel threatened him because she believed he was trying to gain the loyalties of Terra's entire clan to use against her, and then Gymbr threatened him in some kind of... temporal distortion. From what I've read, his power must be incredible."

Scrivener nodded back, looking down meditatively before he murmured: "You can learn a lot about people from how they treat you when they're angry. I'll take a look at that passage tonight. Antares, maybe you can help me with some of the reading."

Antares only snorted at this, shaking his head and saying dryly: "Hey, I might sound smart, but there's a lot of pictures in my philosophy book. I don't know if I'd be a whole lot of use to you, Dad."

The charcoal earth pony only smiled, though, and after nudge from Prestige, Antares finally nodded hesitantly, saying finally: "Well... I guess it can't hurt to try at least, okay. Just don't be surprised when I don't figure anything out."

"Then let that be enough thinking for now. Bob, do something amusing, I require amusement." Luna said mildly, looking up at the Draconequus: he rolled his eyes sourly at the mare, but after a moment rose his hand, and with a snap of his fingers, a pie fell out of thin air and splattered over Luna's features, sliding slowly off her face and leaving her staring through a mask of thick whipped cream and lemon-scented filling.

Slowly, the mare gritted her teeth, then she yelled wildly and threw herself at Celestia's face: Discombobulation hurriedly vanished from the spot, however, and Celestia winced as she ducked low, then caught Luna with telekinesis and tossed her quickly over her shoulder, sending the sapphire mare flying backwards to collide with the sand and roll up to her hooves, cursing and spitting pie filling and sand in all directions. "Oh damn thee both! Thou art truly made for each other, Bob and Tia!"

"That has nine letters." Celestia said before she could stop herself, and Luna froze before she slowly, creakily turned her head towards the ivory mare, who did her best to try and look innocent even as she said calmly: "'Bob and Tia.' Nine letters. And as you and I both know, the number nine is-"

Luna shouted in frustration, then she lowered her head and charged straight at Celestia, and the ivory mare smiled despite herself before she sidestepped at the last moment. Scrivener Blooms winced at the sight of Luna hurtling towards him, and then he simply covered his face with a curse when the sapphire mare leapt forwards and flipped her body gracefully, kicking off him like a springboard and knocking him flat as she launched herself at Celestia's back... only for the ivory mare to easily, smoothly duck, and instead the starry-maned winged unicorn shot uselessly through the air where her head had been a moment before. "Oh damnation!"

Luna Brynhild spun her body around and dropped to her hooves, skidding backwards through the sand and opening her mouth... and then she gagged loudly as Discombobulation appeared beside her and shoved a large grapefruit into her jaws, the mare cursing and shaking her head wildly back and forth as the chimerical creature said mildly: "I was going to go with a ball gag, but I was afraid that might just give you awful ideas, Scrivener Blooms. The last thing I want to encourage are kinky bedroom antics, after all."

Celestia smiled slightly at this, the rainbow-maned winged unicorn tilting her head towards Discombobulation and asking mildly: "Are you sure you're talking to my little sister, or is that a sly comment towards me?"

Discombobulation turned, pondered for a moment, and then said mildly: "Sometimes I wonder what Twilight Sparkle's letters would have been like if you had tried to raise her in the image of the terrifying you of now instead of the all cordial you of then. I imagine her letters would have gone something like 'Dear Princess Celestia, today I taught Applejack a new set of knots with her rope... you could say that we were tied up for hours!'"

"Can you not talk about my one sane parent like that, please?" Antares asked mildly, and then he shrugged awkwardly at the pointed look Scrivener Blooms gave him. "Sorry Dad but. You kind of married Mom and all. That's kind of scary in and of itself. At least Twilight took two decades to feel out the territory first."

Scrivener grumbled at this, and Luna huffed loudly and pawed at the sand before she finally narrowed her eyes and forcefully bit down, the grapefruit exploding in a hail of juices, fruit-flesh, and torn rind as her teeth clacked together and all eyes stared at her. Then she spat to the side several times before raising her head proudly and declaring: "All of thee are stupid. Scrivy, we are taking our leave of them to find Twilight Sparkle and Innocence."

"Where is Sin, anyway? I was looking for her myself earlier, couldn't find her anywhere." Antares said, glancing over at the sapphire mare, and Luna smiled slightly at this.

"With Terra, as a matter of fact. As young... Prince Taruos..." Luna made a sour face. "Is 'busy' overseeing mighty Valhalla from his playpen... Terra said that she would be glad to take some time to help train our daughter. I both like and dislike Terra, but this was admittedly much appreciated. There is quite a lot she can learn from the great fat dragon."

Prestige laughed at this and shook her head slowly, then she said mildly: "With all due respect, Luna... I wouldn't go trying to press Terra's buttons if I were you. She's got a lot more than just raw physical strength, after all, as an Ironjaw-"

"Yes, yes, yes, Terra is a magnificent specimen of a magnificent race." Luna huffed loudly, turning to stride away as Scrivener smiled despite himself and fell in step behind the mare. "Ironjaw, Ironjaw, Ironjaw. 'Tis all we hear about now, Scrivy, and 'tis preposterous!"

The stallion shrugged a bit as he fell into pace beside the sapphire mare as they headed for the arena's entrance, and then he began to glance over his shoulder... but then Luna poked at him with her horn, and instead he looked at her with a huff, shoving at her grouchily as she said moodily: "Oh, do not give them the satisfaction of looking back, as if thou misses them already. Especially Discombobulation. And our wicked, evil child."

"You're just mad because Antares is going to have Twilight's brain and your... fun-ness. Without your douche-ness." Scrivener said mildly, and Luna huffed and poked at him a few more times with her soulstone prosthetic, making the charcoal stallion wince a little.

"Thou art a doucheyness." the sapphire mare grumbled, and then she glanced up before wincing a bit as she heard a soft whisper in her mind, muttering: "No. No, no, no, thou can go and bugger thyself, Nightmare Moon. I have been ignoring thee for a reason. As a matter of fact, all of us have. And we are in no mood for a conversation with thee now."

And I have been patient. Nightmare Moon murmured softly to them, as they stepped out of the arena gates and into the narrow field between them and a set of open gates leading into the labyrinthine halls of Valhalla. But my patience is wearing out, and our time is growing short. We need to have a short chat, Luna Brynhild... with or without our beloved King of the Night and Twilight Sparkle...

Luna growled in irritation at this, shaking her head moodily... and then she cursed as there was a flash of light in front of her eyes, a sensation of something trying to drag her down, and she stumbled to a halt in the middle of the field. Scrivener felt it, too, but there was less pressure for him, and more the allure of a soft caress, the feel of a muzzle in his mane, of a tongue licking slowly up his neck before sharp teeth nipped against his ear as a seductive voice whispered: You need my help to understand Hel and Gymbr because I am closer to them than you are right now...

"Monsters?" Scrivener muttered, and there was a soft laugh in his mind... that then bled into reality through Luna's mouth, and the charcoal stallion winced as he looked to the side and watched as Luna's eyes began to glow, turning envy-green as her pupils became slits.

"No. Gods." Nightmare Moon said softly through Luna's mouth, and she smiled... even as her mane sparked and whipped around the winged unicorn, limbs quaking and shivering as Luna visibly fought to take control back over her own body. "I've been a good girl. Nice and quiet, even through all your hardships. And maybe that was cruel of me, too, to not be there to offer you advice, to leave you out on your own... but that's what you both wanted, too."

Scrivener Blooms gritted his teeth, and he could feel Luna's fury and Twilight Sparkle's own concern as she felt what was going on, and the stallion wanted to shout, wanted to tantrum, wanted to just... run away when he felt all that pressure coming down on him. Because as Twilight's anxiety filtered in and Luna's anger twisted through his mind, he could feel them depending on him to make the rational decision, to make the choice, because Nightmare Moon seemed to listen to him the most... and he cursed under his breath before muttering: "Let Luna go, and... we'll find a quiet place to come and talk to you. But no games."

Nightmare Moon smiled widely at this... and even though Luna's features, it looked so cruel, so predatory, and yet so needy, as the dark passion entity whispered lovingly: "Then we will be waiting, my King of the Night. Please don't keep us waiting very long."

Those poisonous and sensual eyes slipped closed... and then Luna's shivering body stilled before she gasped as her eyes opened, shaking her head roughly and gritting her teeth for a moment. Scrivener Blooms only looked at her quietly as they stood in front of the open maw to the sacred halls, and then Luna shuddered once and murmured: "It has been a long time since Nightmare Moon has forced control over me... has even been able to do such a thing. She... she truly must have something important to tell us, Scrivener Blooms... or perhaps..."

Luna shook her head slowly, breathing slowly before she looked up at the stallion and hesitated, then leaned forwards and kissed him quickly. Scrivener kissed her softly back, but as they parted, he felt her nip his lip: just enough to draw a droplet of his black blood, that she swirled back into her mouth and painted her gums with, shaking herself briskly before she smiled at him with the faintest blush in her cheeks.

He looked at her silently for a moment, knowing he shouldn't, couldn't encourage her. He loved her with all his heart, wanted to give her everything, thought of themselves as one person... and yet at the same time he was a living poison to her. A living, addictive poison that, on the bad days, when she was stressed or hurting, Luna still had the habit of turning to... of... trying to sample. And he hated himself because part of him... enjoyed it, craved her needing him as much as she craved the corruption.

But that's what it was. Corruption. Poison. And he was here, letting her feed off it, letting her try and drown her worries and emotions in it, and he, all he could do was... "Let's... let's go. Maybe Nightmare Moon might actually have something useful to say."

Luna nodded, studying him silently as he looked back at her, their eyes meeting, trading emotions and images and thoughts and so much more and... even with their link, Scrivener couldn't say and share all the things he wanted to, just as the sapphire mare couldn't explain herself, couldn't reassure the stallion she loved so deeply, needed so badly... and honestly had this maybe-sick, perhaps-twisted, but so very real happiness that she was glad that need was literal in more than one way.

They strode quietly into the halls of Valhalla together, and Luna silently slipped herself closer before she closed her eyes and buried her face against Scrivener's neck. She nestled into that perfect spot she had long ago found to take comfort in: right above the collar, feeling the soothing, almost soft-textured metal against the side of her head and feeling her pulse, how his heart beat in time with her own against the side of her muzzle. Every th-thump, th-thump helped soothe her all the further... the thought of that black blood racing through his veins, poison made not to take life away but give life, make it better, racing through his veins almost made her giddy...

She swallowed a little as she felt Scrivener's mental touch brush against her mind, silently push at those thoughts, and a faint blush rose in her cheeks even as she snuggled closer against him. It was half in defiance of him, half in challenge to herself, and the stallion sighed softly but didn't push her away with mind or body, and she closed her eyes as she murmured: "I am not weak, Scrivener Blooms. I am not. I am merely a little... a little confused now and then, I simply need a little... reassurance, in this special form. That is all... and 'tis not so bad, is it? Nay, it could be far worse."

Scrivener Blooms didn't respond only looking softly down at the mare before he shook his head a little and turned his eyes ahead, murmuring: "I don't know if you're right or wrong, Luna. I do know that you're not weak, but... I don't think you're well, either. I don't think either of us are very well. And you know Twilight's going to be angry and Celestia's going to know."

"'Twas only one drop. I am sure even the drunks are allowed to drink one drop now and then." Luna grumbled, and Scrivener Blooms sighed tiredly and gave the sapphire mare a dry look, but she only sniffed loudly and rose her head high, saying crankily: "Well, thou all look down on me like some damned addict all the time, so I should be damn well allowed to mock other addicts as I see fit. Drunks and junkies and... sexomaniacs like Celestia included."

Scrivener Blooms sighed tiredly at this, shaking his head slowly as Luna grumbled under her breath, and they only pushed and prodded at each other a little as they made their way up to their private quarters. For now, they would just hope that Terra wasn't pushing Innocence too hard... but it was better that they had a little bit of privacy for this part.

They pushed the door open... and then both ponies smiled a little at the sight of Twilight Sparkle already sitting on the bed and waiting for them, the violet mare sighing softly and shaking her head slowly before she murmured: "You two really don't need to protect me anymore... as a matter of fact, Luna, I'm starting to think that I need to be the one protecting you."

The sapphire mare shrugged a little, and then she said softly: "'Tis not as if I can rightly argue, Twilight Sparkle. I am... I understand that I am more than a little damaged, after all. But... well, 'twas only one drop, and-"

"A single drop of basilisk venom can kill an entire town. A single phoenix tear is said to be able to heal any wound. And a single drop of that poison is enough to put your hungers into overdrive, Luna." Twilight said quietly, and Scrivener and Luna both shifted awkwardly before the violet mare smiled faintly and shook her head again. "Look, I... just please. Please try and resist it, okay? I know it's hard, but... you have to."

Luna mumbled a little at this, dropping her head a bit: she wanted to make all kinds of arguments, but saying things like 'you can't understand what I'm going through' became too childish even for her when the ponies you were saying it to were soulbound to you. So finally, she just nodded a little, then glanced up and asked almost pleadingly: "Then can we at least focus upon the more-pressing concern at hoof for the moment? Nightmare Moon demands an audience."

Nightmare Moon laughed quietly in her mind at this, and Luna grumpily did her best to block the force of passion out as Twilight Sparkle nodded hesitantly. The Lich glanced over at Scrivener Blooms, and the stallion shrugged a little before he awkwardly rubbed at his armor and mumbled: "Let's at least get out of this stuff first. Then we can settle in and talk to your... better half."

"Hilarious, Scrivener." Luna grumbled, and the sapphire mare shook her head briefly before she sighed tiredly and muttered: "Aye, I suppose that there is no longer any need for this gear. And perhaps I should put down Prúðbikkja, lest I am tempted to drive it into mine own skull to try and pry out Nightmare Moon from wherever the coward hides."

Scrivener Blooms gave an awkward smile as Twilight Sparkle shook her head slowly, and then the Lich slipped off the bed and strode over to the sapphire mare as she began to pull off her gear, the purple pony murmuring: "Here. Let me help you."

"Oh damnation, I am an addict, not an invalid." Luna huffed, and then she winced a bit at the glower Twilight gave her, the larger mare clearing her throat and saying lamely: "Blame Scrivy. 'Tis his fault. His whole 'take nothing seriously' quirk has rampaged into my mind and made an idiot of me, my gorgeous mare."

Twilight muttered under her breath as she helped pull Luna's armor off, grimacing a bit as they removed the breastplate and pausing to look down at the dents and scratches through the etchings. Her eyes roved to Luna almost accusingly as the sapphire mare tugged off the layer of cushioning maille beneath her plated armor, saying quietly: "Look at how much damage you did... and Scrivener's is banged up almost as badly. You two are supposed to be sparring, not trying to kill each other."

"Well, Antares enjoyed watching our attempts to kill each other. This means our son either knows and trusts us more than thou does, or he enjoys the idea of his parents attempting to maim one another. It makes him either a very good or very bad son." Luna replied mildly, and when Twilight only looked at her darkly, the sapphire mare shrank her head back and mumbled: "I shall leave the humor to Scrivener Blooms."

"We're okay." Scrivener soothed, and Twilight made a bit of a face as she looked over at him. But the stallion only gave a small smile in return as he pulled off his breastplate and set it down, saying softly: "Well, maybe we're not... you know, okay-okay, but we are... okay. Okay?"

Twilight sighed softly at this, shaking her head slowly before she finally, slowly gave a nod in return, then murmured: "Okay." She stopped, watching as the two finished taking off their gear, and then she murmured: "Horses of Heaven. We all have problems, don't we? You two with your... everything, and me, with... you two."

Luna and Scrivener both only gave mirroring shrugs, then they slipped back onto the bed, and Twilight Sparkle smiled faintly as she slipped forwards and joined them. She slipped into that space between the two where she fit perfectly, her eyes slipping closed as she dropped her head back against Scrivener Blooms and felt Luna slipping up behind her to sandwich her into that safe little place where she belonged, even as she murmured softly: "There's so much wrong with all three of us, though."

"Yeah, well. I don't mind most of the time." Scrivener squeezed her gently, and Luna laughed quietly before the two traded looks as the Lich mumbled and closed her eyes between them, silently reaching a hoof up to tightly grasp one of Scrivener's as her other hoof slipped down, forelimb half-embracing her body as it caught one of Luna's front hooves without looking.

The sapphire mare stretched her other foreleg up as Scrivener reached down, the two locking their free hooves together to complete their link, both slipping closer in around Twilight before the starry-maned winged unicorn murmured: "Well, Scrivy. There is no time like the present, aye? We have a meeting to attend."

Scrivener Blooms grimaced a bit, then he nodded a little, and Twilight sighed softly as all three ponies closed their eyes tightly and lowered their heads in tandem. Luna's soulstone horn vibrated, giving a faint, singing pulse... and then the three opened their eyes and gazed upwards, no longer curled together but now standing in the middle of a black forest, and in front of them there was a massive, sacrificial altar of stone that had been stained red from all the death and use it had seen over who knew how many years of Nightmare Moon slaughtering dream and nightmare and imagination on its back.

The dark entity herself was standing on the other side of the altar, smiling at them with excitement in her eyes before she bowed her head forwards and murmured: "Let me begin by showing you something, my love, my ruler, my self. You look at me with such worry and fear and contempt, but you've always mistaken my intentions... allow me to demonstrate."

Calmly, deliberately, Nightmare Moon slid slowly onto the altar, smiling lovingly at them as the trees around them all rustled with unnatural life, and a poisonous vitality gasped through this altered reality. Twilight shivered, eyes widening as she leaned back, while Luna only snarled and shook her head, then snapped: "I thought thou said no games, wretched monster, but I see thou has again lied to us about that, which I suppose by now-"

"Now, now, Luna... this is important..." Nightmare Moon smiled coyly as her starry locks twisted past, spreading her limbs over the altar to grasp the edge of it in her bladed, cloven hooves. "I just want to take a quick moment to teach a short, simple lesson, that's all. About who I am, and what I will do for you three, and why you need my help... and why all of us are going to need the help of Hel, if we're not going to take the simple solution and ally ourselves with Gymbr..."

Nightmare Moon closed her eyes, and then the three ponies winced backward as the torture implements buried through her back all began to shiver. Then, one-by-one, they yanked free from their imprisonment in the mare's flesh to float above her like grisly ornaments, dripping with red blood and black ichors.

The ponies stared, watching as the trails of blood and darkness dripped from the blades as they began to slowly sway through the air, twisting in a grisly ballet that sent swirls of red and black painting over the sacrificial altar around Nightmare Moon. Runes were painted into being all around the smiling, blissful-looking passion entity, the altar thrumming with unnatural power and a terrible, growing eagerness.

Luna realized what the ritual was, and it only made her shiver all the harder as Nightmare Moon's eyes slowly opened, gazing at them as if she was in ecstasy even as, one by one, needles and knives, screws and sawblades all began to sink slowly back into place along either side of her spine. As the torture implements pushed with sensual slowness into the open lips of her wounds, as the red and black liquid bubbled up from the stretched hollows in her body and spilled down taut and gorgeous ebony hide to the stone below...

Scrivener Blooms swallowed thickly: the air was thick with the scent of flesh and blood and sweat, and as Nightmare Moon slowly arched her back and rose her head, her whole body flexed, features that were still beautiful despite the scars that crisscrossed them stretching into a sultry smile. "Erotic, isn't it? Wonderful, isn't it? Have I made myself clear now? I only want what is best for you all. I want to make you stronger. And I am you, Luna Brynhild: I am all your darkness, made beautiful and powerful. I am the pleasure in the pain."

The stallion and Twilight Sparkle traded uneasy looks, and they both shifted a little before Luna murmured: "Thou makes promises I do not know if thou could keep, creature. Oh, sure, thou says thou art our sacrifice... and aye, I know that it is because of thee that we have become stronger. But thy existence alone makes us more animal, as well... makes us hurt each other..."

"No, I have simply opened up new facets of pleasure for you to explore." Nightmare Moon replied calmly, and then the creature slowly stood up on the altar as runes glowed and pulsed around her slowly. "Blaming me is pointless. Considering me an enemy is foolish. And refusing to bow your head, even falsely, to Hel... will not turn out well, Luna Brynhild. Apologize to her: you do not have to mean the words, and I do not expect that Hel means you to, either. But she does want to see you pretend humility: she wants to feel a moment of superiority and control."

Luna growled moodily, then the sapphire mare shook her head slowly and said sourly: "'Tis funny how thou sounds almost eager to give Hel what she wants, at that. And perhaps a little sickening as well, Nightmare Moon. I am not like thee, though... so... eager to please. Eager to be cut. Eager to bleed... especially not for a false master."

Nightmare Moon only smiled calmly, then she flicked her eyes towards Scrivener Blooms, saying softly: "Have you not learned anything from how we conquered Valthrudnir together, my friends? Sometimes we must simply give the appearance of seeming weak to deceive our enemy... and then, when they become complacent... we will strike, and teach them who are true master is."

She licked her lips slowly, and Scrivener winced a little before Nightmare Moon's eyes turned lovingly towards Twilight Sparkle. "And you. Our beloved mare... don't you appreciate all the gifts we've lavished upon you? Don't you feel fortunate with how generous, how tender we have been? We have taught you much, and you have learned well from us..."

The Lich shifted uneasily, and Luna looked up with a growl, saying moodily: "Watch thyself, creature. Do not try and wheedle thy way-"

"I am doing no such thing. Scrivener Blooms is our beloved King of the Night, but Twilight Sparkle is our masterpiece. We have no desire to harm her, in any way, shape or form." Nightmare Moon said softly, and then the sapphire mare laughed quietly and shook her head slowly as she looked tenderly at Twilight, who swallowed thickly and lowered her head. "And you are being selfish, Luna Brynhild. It is for the sake of Twilight Sparkle and Scrivener Blooms that we should bow our heads to Hel. You desire to keep them safe, do you not?"

"I do not trust thee, monster. Thou desires..." Luna shuddered a bit, then she shook her head slowly and looked up, growling: "Hel's gifts do not come freely! Thou art a fool if thou thinks-"

"Nothing comes without a cost. But you have chosen to make an enemy of Gymbr. Therefore, we must work not to lose allies, Luna Brynhild. Otherwise, the cost could be higher than you expect." Nightmare Moon replied calmly and quietly, and then she smiled as she said softly: "I've made my feelings clear now. I hope in time you come to understand that those who seem like your enemies may in reality be your closest friends. Thesis was our opponent, but both Gymbr and Hel are more complicated than a child who wants to deny his parentage."

Nightmare Moon slipped backwards, her form becoming black smoke and starry mist as she whispered softly: "We are always here to advise you, little Luna Brynhild... do us all a favor, and try to listen to us in the future."

And with that, the dark entity of passion faded away, leaving the three standing huddled together for comfort in the dream world in front of the sacrificial altar. Luna gritted her teeth as she stared at it, and Scrivener swallowed thickly as Twilight tried to draw her eyes away... but even when she closed her eyes, she could still see the glow of those runes written in blood and shadow in her mind, whispering promises of power. Promises that they would always be safe in her dark embrace... no matter how Nightmare Moon had to lie, cheat, and torment the outside world.

Chapter Nineteen: A Fatal Flaw

~BlackRoseRaven

They had spent nearly ten days in Valhalla now, and Twilight Sparkle was taking a break from sorting through the immense glossary of information Kvasir had recorded over the years. Instead, she was laying back on the bed in the quarters she shared with her partners, reading over a letter she had received from Looking Glass World.

Pinkamena had sent it up to them, although she recognized the hoofwriting as Pinkie Pie's. The Lich couldn't help but smile a little to herself as she glanced slowly through the letter for the third or fourth time since she'd received it, feeling a welcome warmth run through her body.

Apparently Avalon had moved into Sweet Apple Acres and was getting used to running the farm now, and she was apparently determined to try and keep the business going... although no one was really sure if the mare wanted to actually live and work on a farm, or if she was just going to keep things going until she had the chance to wind the business down and sell it off. Rainbow Dash and Applejack didn't seem too concerned, though: as a matter of fact, they had already left on the pilgrimage they had long planned to take around Equestria.

They were also a little concerned about Gymbr, Subterra, and Hel: apparently Aphrodisia was back in Looking Glass World on leave, worried about Luna. Helheim was thankfully still allied and cooperative, but apparently Hel's Archives and her Inquisitors had all been told Luna was no longer in their goddess' good graces. All aid was to be rescinded specifically from Luna and her two soulbound companions, and that admittedly had Twilight a little worried: the last thing they needed was for Hel and Luna to be at odds and forming two distinct factions of darkness, especially with the problem of Gymbr lurking just beyond the horizon...

But Luna was being as stubborn and ever, and if anything, Nightmare Moon had only reinforced the notion that accepting any help from Hel would be a bad idea. She had refused to send any messengers to Helheim, to try and start negotiations, to do anything but keep plowing forwards on her own, and while Twilight understood some of her concerns were valid – like how Hel might really have no intent of helping them at all, and she just wanted to cause more trouble for everyone and spy on them – she also didn't think just ignoring Hel was a long-term solution.

She was also worried about what it might mean for them and their friends: she was afraid that if Luna just kept trying to deny Hel, eventually the malicious goddess would start targeting their friends and allies as well. Likely starting with people close to them, like Innocence, and Twilight Sparkle didn't want her daughter to have to go through that on top of everything else...

The violet mare shook her head a little, then she folded the letter closed and put it aside for the moment. She rested back on the bed, resting her front hooves on her stomach and gazing quietly up at the ceiling before her eyes slipped closed, sensing out Luna and Scrivener: they were sparring again, but this time with Celestia.

The Lich smiled a little, almost able to see their movements in her mind, the profiles of Luna and Scrivener white-bordered shapes in the blackness. When something hit them or they collided with something, the sound and sensation made her mental images ripple, take on flashes of color and life, like she was seeing through echoes.

Slowly, a hoof caressed across her sweater, feeling out the stitching beneath it. The more she concentrated on Luna and Scrivener, the clearer she could feel their bodies... the flex of their muscles, the way Luna's wings would make almost imperceptible movements and motions to better her agility, the way Scrivener's claws flexed and grasped and moved with such precision and speed...

Twilight Sparkle rolled her head back as she felt Luna concentrating magic: so far away, but it was like she could feel the energy building in her own horn, sparking through it, and it was hard to remind herself she was really here in reality, not out there with them. But concentrating like this, she felt Luna's and ferocity twisting through her mind, just as she felt her blood boiling like Scrivener's did, that strong, potent corruption that filled his veins making his muscles thrum...

The violet mare flushed and shook herself quickly, reaching a hoof up and touching her features with embarrassment as she realized how much she was... losing herself to daydreams, to put it politely. She pulled herself awkwardly away from her partners and out of those thoughts as she sat up, then looked down at the hoof still silently rubbing over her breast before she closed her eyes and tightly squeezed into the sweater above her breast.

The only thing she missed anymore was her heartbeat. It was strange, to have a body kept working by magic, to have blood that only stayed hot and flowed because of her movement and body temperature, and to have organs that were there mostly for aesthetic purposes. Well, mostly aesthetic: she could still do pretty much anything a normal pony could do. She could eat, and sleep, and cry, and make love...

Twilight shook her head a little, then she slipped quietly out of bed, feeling... she didn't know. A little moody, maybe, a little... distracted. All this business with Gymbr and Hel had her worried, and spending all this time in Valhalla was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable for her. Especially because, somewhere out there, in the Vale of Valhalla, her parents were living their afterlives peacefully away... or who knew, maybe they'd gotten word that their daughter was in Valhalla and they were waiting for a visit, and well, she hadn't yet found the time, really, to go and see them, and it was always so damn awkward because she was so damn not normal and-

"All thy thoughts are making it impossible to concentrate!" Luna shouted furiously, and Twilight, halfway across Valhalla, winced at this. Scrivener, meanwhile, stared stupidly over Luna in mid-grapple with Celestia... and then he was promptly flung on his back before the ivory mare pinned him beneath her armored body, making him squeak in pain.

Luna, meanwhile, was only glowering at the sky: they had taken over the sandy half-arena for their sparring session, and it was once more marred by both mire and magic, some of the sand turned to glass in places from the ferocity of Celestia's spells. But the sapphire mare had apparently lost interest in training for now, and Celestia shook her head slowly as she continued to keep Scrivener helplessly pinned on his stomach beneath her, the ivory mare saying mildly: "It's both bad etiquette and bad form to not pay attention to your sparring partners."

"Oh shut up, Celestia." the sapphire mare grumbled, and then she huffed a little as she turned towards them, complaining: "'Tis Twilight's fault anyway! And I thought thou wert supposed to be... reading thy silly books, why art thou out here attempting to molest my husband?"

"So that's what that is." Scrivener mumbled before he could stop himself, and then he cleared his throat when Celestia gave him a dry look. "Uh. Sorry. Luna's moods and... you know."

Celestia only shook her head with a sigh, then she stepped back off the stallion and allowed him to climb to his hooves, and then she returned her eyes to Luna. "Twilight needed a break. She's been working non-stop, Luna, and you clearly know that she's frustrated and a little... worried. Not just about what's going on now, either, I take it, but about the future is going to hold if we... keep on this course."

Luna sighed softly, lowering her head before she closed her eyes and nodded moodily once. "Aye. I know. And do not hide behind Twilight, Celestia. Thou art clearly worried about me and my decisions as well, but... come now. Thou must see for thyself that there are many reasons not to trust Hel, and to stay the course against Gymbr."

The ivory mare nodded hesitantly, and then she said softly: "But Hel also extended a warning to us through the narrative itself, as I've gone over with you. She knew that this was going to end up in the hooves of others, and so she spoke to us through Kvasir in more than one segment, making it clear she was talking to 'all of us.' And likewise, I've been reconsidering my stance and I've concluded that Antares is right. Let's get more information before we make any final decisions. We'll question Gymbr about his methods, his plans, what he's seen, in as much detail as possible, and if he actually gives us answers, let's consider listening to them before we label him an enemy or not."

The sapphire mare shifted back and forth crankily, and then she shook her head vehemently and grumbled: "I do not know, Celestia. The damned creature is like us, but without honor. And even with honor I still cause enough mischief as 'tis. I do not want to imagine the lies I would spout to serve my purposes if I did not have any."

Celestia smiled despite herself as Scrivener Blooms brushed himself off, then he looked up and added, as he approached the starry-maned winged unicorn: "Or the lies you would tell if it wasn't so easy to tell whenever you were lying?"

"Shut up, Scrivy." Luna gave him a sour look, then she shook her head and returned her eyes to Celestia. "As loathe as I am to say this... I know that between us, thou art the wiser, the more knowledgeable. And Antares has instincts that perhaps are sharper than mine... but Gymbr was also Antares' childhood protector, and what I fear most is that Gymbr is us, and thou art... we are a vulnerability to thee, Celestia."

The ivory mare smiled faintly at this, then she shook her head slowly and said softly: "Gymbr isn't you, though. Yes, I know he's... made from the evil Luna and Scrivener from that story, but at the same time he's long become his own... life, he has a personality of his own. He's not you. And I'm also not as blind to you both as you seem to think."

"Maybe it is that very assuredness that assures me thou surely are blind." Luna retorted, and Celestia gave her little sister an amused look. "Precisely. The wise cannot say they are wise, Celestia. For 'tis not wisdom to do so."

"The confident can say anything they want, Luna." the ivory mare replied calmly, and then she hesitated before murmuring: "I just want us to be prepared for what's coming, Luna. It feels like this is just the beginning, that Gymbr isn't just a possible threat, but a herald of something even worse that's on its way..."

"Paranoia. That is all, paranoia." Luna grumbled, but she shifted uncertainly as she and Scrivener Blooms traded uncomfortable looks, and then they both sighed and lowered their heads at the same time. There was silence for a few moments, and then the sapphire winged unicorn leaned over and nudged the charcoal stallion lightly, mumbling: "This is all thy fault."

"I somehow knew you would say that." Scrivener said dryly, glancing over at her mildly, and then he sighed and shook his head a little before he and Luna both dropped their heads forwards, skulls gently clunking together.

Celestia shook her head slowly, and then she frowned a bit and looked up as a Knight of Valhalla hurried through the gate. The pony stumbled to a halt in his distinct silver armor, then he dropped his head low, bowing deep and saying hurriedly: "Lady Terra requests your presence urgently, Queen Freya! She's in the war room now, with Prince Taruos!"

The ivory mare only had to glance up, but Luna and Scrivener were already standing at the ready, both nodding firmly to the winged unicorn. Celestia smiled at this before she turned her eyes to the anxious-looking Knight, saying calmly: "We'll go there immediately. Are there any details about what's going on?"

"I'm not sure, ma'am. All I know is that an alarm of some kind has been triggered." the Knight replied quickly, and Celestia nodded before striding forwards, nodding calmly to the pony as she passed. Scrivener and Luna both fell in step behind her, the sapphire mare looking up with a mix of anxiety and frustration at her older sibling, but refused to hurry her pace any faster than she was already moving... although with her long strides, Scrivy and Luna already had to jog to keep up to her as she walked with purpose towards her destination.

"An alarm... if it was something already in Valhalla, it wouldn't be a messenger telling us. That means either something happened on one of the physical layers, or there's some other signal that's been detected." Celestia said quietly, shaking her head quickly. "If Twilight hasn't already picked up on what's happened from your minds, you should send a message to her. Perhaps tell her to find Innocence and Antares and to meet us at the war room."

"Aye, it's already done." Luna replied quickly, and then the sapphire mare grimaced and muttered: "I have the feeling that 'tis the latter, though... perhaps this is Gymbr's way of knocking at Valhalla's gates."

"Why would Gymbr come to Valhalla, though?" Celestia murmured even as she kept her focus straight ahead, leading the two ponies quickly into the halls of the fortress of Heaven, the possible answers made both Luna and Scrivener grimace and trade uneasy looks. But the three kept moving and tried not to leapt to any conclusions before they knew more about what was going on, even if it felt like there was only one possible answer.

The war room wasn't that far away, and Celestia was glad to note on their short walk through Valhalla's halls that while it seemed like there was a sense of anxiety present, there was no panic, nor any blaring alarm. It was hopefully a good sign: it meant that it wasn't something that had started to interrupt daily life in Valhalla... or at least not yet.

The door to the war room was open, but Knights were positioned to either side of it: and these weren't ponies, but bipeds who were covered from head-to-toe in plate mail that made it impossible to know what was really beneath their equipment. Their eyes were hidden behind grills in their masking helmets, but they both struck rigid salutes when Celestia approached, the ivory mare nodding calmly in acknowledgment as he passed into the room beyond.

The main section of the room was shaped like a large oval, but the ivory mare knew there was a hidden offshoot to either side, and both had stairs that led up to a second floor overlooking the first. The design was such that you wouldn't know you were being spied down on from a balcony above until it was too late, thanks to the slanting roof.

Celestia's eyes were drawn automatically to the round table in the center of the room, where an enormous, magical lens in the center of the furnishing was projecting a three-dimensional map of a section of Valhalla Halls... the section that contained the portals for movement between worlds, Celestia realized even as she called clearly: "What's our status?"

The ponies, demons and angels clustered around the circular table all looked up, and Terra grinned widely before Pipsqueak looked up from beside her and blurted: "Ma'am, Celestia, miss, it's an energy surge... but, but it's not from any of the known layers! Valhalla's defenses automatically kicked in to shield us from it, but something is attempting to force open all our freestanding portals to force its way into Valhalla! I've never seen anything like it!"

"Then the portals have to be either shut down or destroyed." Celestia said calmly, and several of those gathered looked up in surprise. "It's the fastest way to deal with this problem; this might be Gymbr, this might be whatever Gymbr was pursuing. Who is in the area?"

Terra frowned at this, but before the dragon could speak, Taruos grabbed the edge of the table and hauled himself up onto it, standing and glaring over at Celestia with that defiance he seemed to show absolutely everything. "No, that is not acceptable. Those portal rings are the only means we have of traveling to restricted layers. If we destroy them, we severely impede our own mobility."

"Lad, please, get off the table." Terra chastened, and when Taruos looked at her with frustration, she sighed and shook her head, picking him up by the back of the robes and plunking him down on the ground. "You're a bright boy, Taruos, but this is not your area of expertise. I'll leave administration to you so long as you remember to respect your mother and leave dealing with Valhalla to me."

Then the dragon turned her eyes upwards, adding calmly: "And aye, Celestia, I already have engineers working on it. But even if they were just going to smash the rings to bits, there's no way they can get to all of them. The power surge has caused that entire section of Valhalla to go into lockdown: I can either focus on getting civilians to safety or have the soldiers trying to pry those portals open."

"Lockdown? But it seems like most of Valhalla is unaware of what is going on." Luna said with surprise, and Terra smiled faintly at this, nodding slowly.

"Blame Kvas for that, Valkyrie. The different sections of Valhalla have been arranged so that even if chaos were to run rampant through one, the others would be unaffected. The moment the power surges started, security doors fell closed and our soldiers and escort teams moved into positions. Even the civilians getting pulled out of the portal chambers likely don't know what in Hel's name is going on." the Ironjaw explained with a brief smile. "Kvasir always believed one hand should wash the other, but none should ever have to suffer for lack of the other parts."

"I understand that you don't want to cause a panic, and I'm impressed by the system in place, but I think you may want to consider broadcasting an alarm all the same." Celestia said quietly, and Terra frowned at this. "If it is Gymbr, you're taking a great risk by not sending out an alarm. You need to treat this like you would a Level One event."

"Kvasir would want to maintain order, and I'm no coward, Celestia Freya. I am Queen of Heaven, and I am striving to rule this place as my husband would want to see it ruled." Terra replied firmly, shaking her head sharply. "I will not have my people be intimidated into running and hiding just because something bad might make it through that energy surge, and by the sacred stones, if something does make it through, I'll smash it myself!"

Celestia looked evenly across at Terra as Scrivener and Luna both winced, and then the golden-armored mare asked softly: "And was Kvasir willing to risk his people being hurt to maintain order?"

Terra's eyes widened slightly, and then she slowly rose a claw... and Scrivener realized that on one of the digits, there was a ring, hidden between the metal of her scales. A strange, golden ring, with an ornate crown decorating it... and the dragon cursed as she suddenly balled her claw into a fist before slamming it against the table and nodding once, calling curtly over her shoulder: "The Valkyrie's right! Excelsior, raise the alarm, have everyone withdraw to safety until we know what's here!"

"Thank you." Celestia said softly, and Terra smiled wryly even as Excelsior saluted hurriedly from the balcony above, then spun around and staggered hurriedly out of sight. Then Queen of Heaven and Queen of the Valkyries locked gazes again, and the ivory mare began: "I want to take Luna and Scrivener with me and see what's going on for myself. Maybe we can stop this."

Terra shook her head, opening her mouth, but then only glancing up as the eyes of many of the others gathered here all did the same automatically at the sound of klaxon blaring, and an amplified voice calmly warning all civilians to find a safe zone. Then the dragon shook herself out briefly before returning her eyes to Celestia, replying slowly: "I'm hesitant to let you three go waltzing off into there. My teams are already working as fast as possible, and these lads aren't mortals. These are demons and angels, the very best at my disposal."

"This isn't a contest of strength, Terra, or of utility." Celestia's voice rose a little, the mare raising herself higher... and in response, Terra proudly rose her own head, the two glaring at each other a bit. Luna and Scrivener were both surprised by it, staring between the two as the rainbow-maned mare continued firmly: "If it is Gymbr, my siblings are similar to him... all of us, in a way, are similar to him. That will make us that much more effective in interrupting his magic, especially if we pool our efforts together."

But Terra only shook her head again, shooting back: "Aye, but he will be just as receptive to you, and for all any of us know your presence is acting like a beacon to him even right now! And we don't even know that this isn't some Hræzla-"

"Don't say their name! The last thing we need right now is to attract the attention of Terrors from the Void!" Celestia snapped, her eyes widening slightly as Luna and Scrivener both winced at the way the air itself seemed to curl at the use of the word, feeling a surge like static run through the room as several officials stared up in shock.

The Ironjaw only rolled her eyes, however, shaking her head and scoffing: "Oh, come on now, that's not but Valhallan myth! Now I've asked you to this table and respected you enough, lass, you can at least have the self-respect to not be afraid of a word when we're discussing the Hræzla them-"

The alarm suddenly cut out, and all eyes stared upwards as there was a distinct crackle of energy through the air as the lamps lighting the room flickered. It felt like reality itself had twisted for a moment at the invocation of the name of the things from beyond the Void...

Then all eyes turned to the table as the floating image vanished, replaced by a crackling, distorted voice that yelled as the gemstone pulsed: "S-Something... unknown... need reinforce-"

And then the communication was lost, and Terra paled beneath her steel scales as she shook her head weakly before Celestia looked up and said coldly: "I am not afraid of the monsters from the Void. But I am also not stupid enough to hammer on a door that the enemy is trying to break down. Luna, Scrivener, let's go. We'll find out what's happened ourselves."

Terra winced, beginning to scramble around the table, but Celestia shook her head shortly and said quietly: "You are Queen. You have to remain here. We'll deal with this ourselves."

The Ironjaw gritted her teeth, but she didn't say anything as Celestia turned to stride out into the hallway, Luna and Scrivener Blooms quickly following after her. As they moved, the sapphire mare flicked her head to the side, tiny Prúðbikkja springing out of her mane and bursting up to full size in a blaze of blue flames as Scrivener's hooves unfolded into claws.

They ran through the halls of Valhalla, and were shortly joined by Twilight Sparkle and Antares, the young stallion with a buckler over his back as he said wryly: "I think Innocence is following behind us. I tried to get one of the Valkyries to look after her, but she'll pull her sweet little filly act and then use an invisibility charm the moment Brill looks away."

"Aye, 'tis what I would do. Well, the most we can do is hope that we are able to deal with whatever is head before Innocence finds her way to us, then." Luna Brynhild muttered, and Twilight grimaced even as she gave a short nod, and the sapphire mare gritted her teeth as several large gemstone lanterns along the wall suddenly went from dead and dark to too-bright a moment before they exploded in surges of energy. "By Mimir's head..."

"Magic pulses. Immense magic pulses, at that." Celestia said quietly, not looking back at the ponies behind her as they ran through the dim halls, her eyes instead watching the flicker of the gemstone lanterns that lined the walls. "These aren't aftershocks. Something must have established a link... reality was already frayed around the portals, that extra push from Terra finished the job."

"'Tis not like thee to blame others, Celestia, don't start such a bad habit now." Luna called up to her sister, and Celestia smiled faintly after a moment, giving a short nod before her attention refocused ahead as they locked on a massive set of closed armored doors. She began to lower her head as Luna grinned widely... but then the group of five skidded to a halt, falling into battle formation out of habit and luck more than anything else as the doors both swung open in a burst of sapphire light.

The radiance faded, but electricity continued to spark between the invitingly-open doors as several ponies and angels ran out between them, yelling and panicking. The five set themselves, and Twilight shuddered as she noted that one of the doors had partly melted despite being who knew how many layers of what looked like tempered steel... "The energy..."

"We have much to talk to you about, our friends. Our family..." It was Gymbr's voice... and there was no surprise, Luna realized, as she bared her fangs and she felt Scrivener and Twilight both tensing up... and yet at the same time, the tension wasn't real. They were posed for battle, they could put on a good show, oh yes... but would they really fight if push came to shove? Was it even possible for them to deny Gymbr, when there was that... that surge not of power, but eager familiarity?

Celestia and Antares both looked uneasily at the three soulbound ponies: Luna's eyes seemed... terribly afraid, in spite of the snarl on her lips. Scrivener was breathing hard as his claws clenched against the ground, and Twilight was shivering as her stitching writhed over her features. And they could both feel Gymbr's draw as well... that strange charisma, that allure he was exuding even without being in sight, that made Antares feel like there was an old friend waiting just ahead and around the corner, and Celestia like... like...

She shook her head quickly, then stomped a hoof, startling the others out of stupefaction before she said calmly and clearly: "Keep your eyes open and your minds focused. I don't know what's going on, but Kvasir described again and again being drawn to Gymbr: it's possible that Gymbr has found a way to affect people's emotions. To create a lure he's attempting to bait us all with."

"You wound us, Celestia." came Gymbr's voice softly, and the glow coming from between the doors faded further... but there was still something in there casting a powerful, supernatural light. And while Luna thought she could see Gymbr standing in there, there were more shapes than just him... and she didn't think they were his allies, either.

Slowly, the five made their way forwards, entering into what had once been an enormous, rounded lobby of some sort, and was now... it was hard for any of them to believe what had happened. Once beautiful marble and polished golden metal had been melted and scorched by energy, several security gates were nothing but mangled twists of metal. But the worst part was the black gemstone that had spread like lichen over the walls and floor.

It had crushed in furnishings here, and formed into totems and strange pillars... except it only took a moment of looking at these statues of black crystal to realize there were actually people, trapped inside... and it was impossible to know if they were alive and dead. It made it much easier to throw off Gymbr's strange allure as Luna looked forwards with a snarl, striding faster to walk side-by-side with Celestia as she shouted: "Damned, stupid monster! What has thou done?"

"Nothing irreversible." Gymbr said softly, and he smiled calmly from where he was seated: in front of a pair of enormous shutters that had been smashed open to reveal the room beyond, where an immense portal ring was glowing with energy as a swirling vortex of blues and whites cycled inside the frame. "We do not desire to harm any of them, any more than we wish to harm any of you. But we will do whatever is necessary to move our plans forwards, and it is crucial that we speak to you now... that we try and make you understand, one final time, that we are not the enemy. That we are trying to save you all from the enemy."

"So what are you planning on doing? And... you did this just to talk to us?" Scrivener shivered as he glanced back and forth, making a face at what had once been the the hub through which Valhalla had sent its messengers through countless worlds when it was necessary, and now... now it just looked like a broken playground for bad-tempered giants.

"No. This, unfortunately, is a necessary first step." Gymbr glanced over his shoulder at the thrumming portal behind him, before he smiled and turned his eyes calmly back forwards. "We will be direct, my family. We require a base of operations... and we require the resources that Valhalla has available. We ask you to join us, and we ask you to help us negotiate with Terra to build a facility here... or we will be forced to be... persuasive."

Celestia narrowed her eyes slowly at this, leaning forwards as she asked in a deathly-serious voice: "Are you daring to threaten Valhalla? Do you dare to say that you should be the master of Valhalla, that somehow... giving you the keys to the kingdom of Heaven is the only way that you can save us from... this 'light?'"

"No. Only a small piece, Celestia... only a small piece." Gymbr said softly, and then he smiled gently when Celestia stepped forwards, her horn flashing as three golden swords formed in front of her in bursts of flame, and Luna snarled as she and Scrivener leapt up to either side of the ivory mare, the sapphire winged unicorn with Prúðbikkja ready to strike and the stallion with claws flexed and ready to pounce. "Please. Listen to us."

"No. No, I told my little sister that we should listen... I was willing to give you a chance, after time and thought. But now you force your way into Valhalla like this, threatening what was my home for so long... threatening Odin's legacy..." Celestia bared her own teeth, leaning forwards as lightning sparked through her ephemeral locks. "I will not stand idly by and allow you to threaten Heaven!"

Gymbr only shook his head slowly, closing his emerald eyes as he bowed his head forwards, silent and unresponsive. Antares was staring with disbelief, and Twilight had her head raised high, horn glowing and her body trembling as she looked at this... this monster across from them. This creature that was so arrogant to think... "Stop. We can feel your emotions, your thoughts... all of you think so little of us, that we are nothing but destruction still... but we are more than that now. So much more... we are trying to help you. You must accept our help."

Gymbr halted, then slowly rose his head, eyes opening to glare at them coldly before he murmured softly: "But even if you do not... we will still do what we must to save you. Even if we must break each and every one of you first."

"Gymbr... what are you talking about?" Antares whispered, and then the glossy-black unicorn shook his head in disbelief before he stepped forwards, saying almost desperately: "Don't you remember what happened when you tried to take over the first time, when you thought you knew what was best for Equestria in your own story-"

"We are free of our story!" Gymbr shouted, its black mane and tail flaring up violently as it rose its head sharply, and the creature's eyes flashed before it shook its head slowly and bared its teeth. "We are free, Antares Mīrus. We are free. And you are no longer a child that we must protect..."

Antares set himself with a curse as Twilight stepped quickly up beside her son, dropping her head forwards and spreading her wings slightly as Luna and Scrivener's eyes both burned with fury, but Gymbr gritted his teeth before one of his silver hooves snapped apart into a claw, the god reaching up and grasping at his skull as he visibly swallowed back his anger. All the same, there was a tense, terrible feeling in the air before the creature looked slowly up and whispered almost pleadingly: "Please. Please listen to us. Please stop trying to fight us, even if just for a moment... we are trying to help you. We only want to help you... especially you, our family. But we are... frustrated. we know you may not agree with us. We feel you set against us already. And we know that we must carry out our plans anyway. It hurts us..."

"Is that all thou can think of? Thyself?" Luna asked with disgust, and then she shook her head slowly, her eyes locked coldly on the strange, monstrous god. "Even when thou talks of how worried for us thou art, thou always comes back to how it affects thee. Oh, I know thy kind well, Gymbr: all things are only a reflection of thee. And if we cease to bring thee happiness one day, thou will doubtlessly discard us like so much garbage."

Gymbr's eyes narrowed at this, and then he shook his head slowly and murmured: "That you think so little of us... it angers us, Luna Brynhild. But we are better than anger. We know what is best, and we shall not waver from the path we have chosen. We shall save all of you, and we shall ensure that Valhalla is safe first and foremost from the claws of the coming light, which will doubtlessly attempt to stretch its poisons into his sacred place. But we shall fortify it. We shall make it anathema to self-proclaimed 'good.'"

The god stood and stepped forwards, and behind him, the portal crackled with energy before his Three Fates strode out of it one after the other, all of them glowing with energy and eagerness. Myre was grinning widely, Dusk had a calm, confident smile on her face, and Twilight Shadow was looking almost hungrily over at Twilight Sparkle as Gymbr said softly: "Do not fear us. Do not resist us. We shall not allow this universe to be made safe. We shall not allow peace. We shall not permit order. We will fuel everlasting chaos."

"We shall not permit thee to." Luna growled, and the five ponies all stepped forwards as one line, setting themselves as the Three Fates immediately moved in front of Gymbr, forming their own ready battle line. "Thou shall have to go through us, Gymbr. And thou art in the house of the enemy: others will come, and if we cannot best thee with skill and strength, then we shall suffocate thee with numbers alone."

The god only shook his head slowly, studying them almost with disappointment before he said softly: "And you accuse me of arrogance. No, Luna Brynhild. At my back is a tunnel not into another reality, but into a dimension that I created myself. Where I have built an army of puppets and constructs... and where I have shaped the ponies I have already rescued into beings greater than they once were."

The Three Fates all smiled and bowed their heads as if in gratitude for this creature behind them, and Luna shook her head weakly as Celestia's eyes widened as she caught what the god was really saying, but it was Antares who spoke first, whispering: "You... you did this to more of them... how could you think ponies want to become like... like them?"

Antares almost spat the last word, but Gymbr only laughed quietly before he responded calmly: "Perhaps because of the happiness that they now feel. Because we have given them meaning as well as power, and while you would say that it is better to suffer in the truth than be ignorant in bliss... I doubt that you have ever experienced the latter."

"I do not need to in order to know 'tis nothing but poison." Luna replied sharply, and Myre grinned widely at this as she stepped forwards.

"Yeah, you know all about poison don't you, Luna Brynhild?" she mocked, and Luna snarled as her eyes slid over to this twisted version of herself, as the corrupted mare leaned forwards and continued cruelly: "The way we hear it, you've got an addiction to sucking up your husband's blood, and that makes me wonder whether or not you also need to suck-"

Luna roared furiously before she snapped her horn forwards, Prúðbikkja sparking as it was flung with all of the mare's strength and telekinetic rage backing it. The spear tore through Myre's head as it easily as it tore through the air, leaving more than half of the spear sticking out the back of a skull that had been almost torn in half.

Myre was only staring with her remaining eye, her shoulders slumping, whole body seeming to slouch as her body quivered... and then Scrivener Blooms saw it. The black droplets, slowly dripping off the spear; the way her skull began to melt, and the way even her armor seemed to turn from metal into sludge...

And then Myre blinked a few times before she shook herself briskly and reached up, seizing the body of the spear and slowly yanking Prúðbikkja back, inch-by-inch, then foot-by-foot until she was able to toss the spear to the ground in front of her. It clattered and rolled back towards a staring, horrified Luna Brynhild, the polished metal smeared and stained with blackness that wasn't blood as Myre looked up and grinned widely, as the stuff she was named after rapidly filled in the wound and transformed back into solid features. "Alright. Maybe that was a bit of a low blow. But you don't have to get so snippy about it, Brynhild."

"We are not fools, my family." Gymbr said softly, shaking his head slowly as he stepped calmly forwards. "We knew there was a chance you would deny us. So I have not just modeled my Three Fates in your image... I have given them powers you can only dream of. That you do dream of; they will be more than a match for you."

"We'll see about that." Celestia said quietly as she stepped forwards, her eyes narrowing. "Our negotiations seem to be at an end, Gymbr."

Gymbr looked strangely disappointed even as he gave a nod of agreement, and when the Three Fates all looked back at him, he said softly: "Engage them. Do not kill them: humiliate them and hold them at bay until Imago arrives with our army."

"I've always wanted to beat you up, Mom!" Antares said with a wry grin, and Luna only had to give her son a quick glance before she nodded sharply and flicked her horn upwards, Prúðbikkja bursting into blue flames as it snapped back into the air to fall in beside her.

And without another word, Antares' horn gave a bright white flash and he flung himself backwards as a slanted platform of energy formed behind it. It sank backwards under his weight, then catapulted him forwards as he snapped his horn out, the glossy-black unicorn streamlining his body before he collided with Myre headfirst like a cannonball, tackling her out of the way with a squawk.

Dusk snarled, and her eyes made the mistake of looking away: it was an opportunity Celestia immediately took, lunging forwards and snapping her horn to the side, a wave of golden flames smashing into the twisted twin of the ivory mare. Dusk stumbled with a curse, looking forwards, but Celestia was moving fast, flanking in from the side and ramming into the bejeweled mare to send her crashing backwards with a curse of shock.

Twilight Shadow winced as Dusk was almost smashed into her, ducking backwards before her eyes widened as Scrivener Blooms and Luna Brynhild charged straight for Gymbr. She tried to get between them and her master, but Luna only slapped her out of the way with her spear, the Lich staggering to the side before a snarl of fury crested her features.

She began to turn... then arched her back with a howl of agony when blue flames burst into being over her body, charring her cloak and searing her flesh until she was able to snap her horn almost wildly outwards and dispel the magic. Her eyes turned with fury towards Twilight Sparkle, who was looking across at her dark twin steadily, the violet mare saying steadily: "I think you should worry more about yourself than your master."

Twilight Shadow bared her fangs, her horn glowing as she set herself: and for all their similarities, no two ponies ever looked more different in that moment than Shadow and Sparkle did, as one pony stood with quiet grace and looked calmly at a Lich who was snarling and glowing with fury and malice, growling: "You're nothing to me! You're what I once was: too weak to acknowledge my own power, or the strength the anger, the hate, the darkness gives me!"

"You have no idea what true darkness is." Twilight Sparkle said quietly, and Shadow hissed before lunging forwards, snapping her horn back and forth to send blades of black flame rending through the air towards her alter-opposite. Sparkle allowed herself to be driven back, moving nimbly on her hooves and only needing to deflect the occasional attack with her own horn, luring Shadow away from where Gymbr was fighting its own opposites.

Luna was driving forwards with a snarl, horn lashing out and spear thrusting and snapping back and forth, but even when she thought her weapons found purchase, Gymbr only seemed to shrug off the attack or deflect it to the side. And all the while, he was watching her with those terrible, poison-green eyes, as Scrivener tried to circle around towards the god's back... but like he could see what Scrivener was doing in Luna's eyes, Gymbr kept sidestepping or reversing away, making it impossible for the stallion to get into position.

The sapphire mare drove suddenly forwards with her spear... and then her eyes widened in horror as Prúðbikkja halted in midair just inches from Gymbr's features, the spear quivering violently as if confused. And then the alicorn speartip trembled before the weapon suddenly reversed itself, the butt of the spear smashing into Luna's face and knocking her stumbling backwards as Scrivener skidded to a halt with a wince.

Both ponies stared incredulously at Gymbr as he looked at them calmly, Prúðbikkja shivering violently in the air before the god simply rose one silver claw and flicked it to the side, and the spear spun wildly up into the air to vanish in a crackle of electricity. Luna and Scrivener both stared in disbelief at this, and Gymbr said softly: "We share all things. We are Gymbr. And one day, you too... shall be Gymbr."

Luna and Scrivener both shuddered even as they glared at the god, at its terrible certainty, its callous undeniability... and then both ponies did the only thing they could do, throwing themselves at the god, the monster, the thing that was made up of all their darkness and fears as Gymbr only waited patiently for their attack.

Gymbr's Fates weren't faring quite as well as their master: they were all powerful, and they all clearly retained the knowledge and expertise of the lives they had lived, but none of them real warriors. A fact that infuriated Celestia all the more as her golden swords hammered cruelly away at the barrier Dusk was attempting to protect herself with, the bejeweled mare cursing as she tried to focus more magic into the shield in a vain attempt to keep it stable.

All three of Celestia's short swords stabbed into the barrier, a spiderweb of cracks forming in the magic-made-almost-solid before the Valkyrie's horn flashed as she focused her magic through her swords, unleashing a powerful blast of golden fire that tore the barrier apart and peppered Dusk with magical energy. She cried out in pain, shaking her head wildly back and forth as her aureate mane snapped and wove around her, and Celestia leapt forwards to slam a hoof up under her chin, knocking Dusk rearing before one, two, three swords slammed into her chest like darts.

The last thrust with enough force to knock Dusk sprawling and rolling, her body going limp, and Celestia looked coldly down at her opponent before she yanked all three of her swords free with a flick of her horn. Dusk convulsed once on the ground, breathing hard... and then her sharp teeth bared in a snarl as her amber eyes opened, glowing with hatred and fury even as Celestia said quietly: "No matter how precise the imitation, cheap plastic can never compare to the real thing."

Dusk leapt up to her hooves with a cry of fury, snapping her horn out and sending a golden fireball rocketing at Celestia, but the ivory mare only smiled slightly and easily sidestepped. The sphere of flames missed her by bare inches, shooting across the room... and directly for Antares Mīrus, who grinned widely as he swung one hoof out in a wide, hard slap as his horn glowed white.

The fireball ricocheted straight into the face of Myre, who didn't even have enough time to slow her charge before she was blown backwards in a hail of muck by the explosion. Antares winced in surprise, staggering backwards as well: he hadn't expected Dusk's attack to carry so much magic power. It made him afraid that they might be underestimating their foes...

As the smoke cleared and Antares steadied himself, he saw that Myre was laying in a broken pile, her body and armor both melting slowly into a pond of black ooze around her, her starfire mane and tail both gone. Then the mire trembled before it twisted quickly into her body, reshaping itself rapidly as her dark ephemeral locks sizzled back into existence, the mare picking herself up as her black armor was simply absorbed into her blue-black body as she flexed slowly. "You little asshole..."

"Your mouth might be worse than my Mom's." Antares commented, and Myre snarled at him before she charged forwards. The stallion only grinned, however, snapping his horn upward and ending out a short wave of white flames that rippled over the ground and struck Myre's charging hooves, the Fate howling in pain and frustration as the purification immediately neutralized the corruption that apparently composed her entire body and turned her hooves to stone.

She managed a few clumsy steps before tripping over her own hooves and landing on her face in front of Antares with a loud splat, black ooze flying in all directions as the stallion said mildly: "Watch your step."

Myre gave a long, loud growl of frustration before she all-but-exploded, black fire flying in all directions as she erupted in a geyser of corruption. Her body became nothing but a vague, pony-like upper torso stretching out of a long tail of liquid smoke, her mane nothing but hell-blue fire and her eyes glowing pits of the same as she roared: "I'll rip our your heart and eat it!"

"That's probably pretty fattening!" Antares shouted back fearlessly, and then he leapt upwards, grinning widely as his horn glowed and his hoof lit up with white energy as Myre dove at him before he swung a hoof savagely into her features.

The monster howled in shock and agony as she was repelled, Antares' blow turning part of her face and upper body to stone even as it smashed her backwards, and the monster was knocked crashing and rolling over her back before she snaked quickly back up to her legs, long, serpentine lower body twisting uncertainly behind her as rock slowly crumbled away from her semiliquid form and she stared at the stallion with disbelief.

Antares looked across at her, confident, strong, leaning back as if he was relaxed... but she could still see the white glow around his horn. He outmatched her in skill and his purification neutralized anything and everything she had to throw at him, despite the fact that he looked and sounded like some dumb kid... but he didn't act that way, oh no. She was starting to see there was a lot more to him than that.

Myre's serpentine body folded in on itself as she became bluer in hue, letting herself return to winged unicorn shape and texture as she narrowed her eyes at him and said coolly: "I'm going to rip you apart when I get the chance, kiddo. You might be able to hurt me, but I don't think you have enough strength to kill me."

"No, I have enough strength to not kill you. I don't want to kill you, Myre." Antares replied evenly, and the Fate looked surprised, raising its head and clearly knocked off guard by this response before the stallion winked at her. "I just want to kick your ass."

The Fate couldn't even form a coherent response, staring dumbly at Antares before the stallion grinned as he ran straight at the mare. Myre cursed and leapt forwards as she snapped her head upwards, dark goop erupting upwards out of her own body and forming into black blades that shot in a torrent towards Antares, but without slowing, the stallion dove forwards as he spun his body in an agile spiral, the blades of corruption only managing to leave scratches and rip minor wounds through his body before he landed in a low crouch, then flung himself forwards and smashed bodily into Myre in a tremendous flash of ivory radiance.

The burst of light was almost enough to blind Twilight Sparkle, and Twilight Shadow grinned as she saw the mare ahead of her wince, the savage Lich framed in the white light for a moment before she snapped her horn forwards to send a black fireball rocketing at her twinned opponent. But Twilight Sparkle quickly swung her horn to the side, slashing through the magic and dispelling it, and Shadow snarled before she stomped her hooves viciously into the ground.

Massive, dark vines ripped out of the earth all around Sparkle, and she hurriedly leapt straight upwards and flapped her wings, snapping her horn down at the same time to hammer the floor with raw magical force. The ground rumbled and shattered as section of stone were knocked loose and rocky shrapnel flew in all directions, slicing apart the whipping vines and knocking them tangling into one-another as the Fate looked up and shouted angrily at her twin: "Fight me! Stop using all your weak defensive magic and fight me!"

Twilight Shadow snapped her horn out, and there was a crackle of power before a gust of wind ripped through the air, powerful enough to rip several of the vines out of ground and lift several small stones as it twisted around on itself and became a miniature tornado, Twilight Sparkle wincing as she was pulled into this. Shadow grinned, the darker Lich looking up eagerly as dust and debris obscured the air for a moment before the tornado dissipated... and then she stared in disbelief at the sight of Sparkle braced against a platform of magic she had created, her wings and mane only looking slightly ruffled and her own horn glowing, the broken pieces of stone she had caught with telekinesis levitating around her.

Shadow didn't have the time to react before the chunks of stone shot at her one after the other, smashing with pinpoint accuracy into the base of her horn and cracking her skull. The vicious Lich staggered backwards under the sharp hail of attacks, then she snarled furiously and snapped her horn out, a tremendous blast of lightning ripping down from the sky and hammering into Twilight Sparkle with enough force to drive her back through her own barrier of energy with a cry of agony, the mare crashing down into the ground and bouncing several times as Shadow shouted: "I am not here to play games with you, weakling!"

The Fate began to approach her fallen twin, then she snapped her horn sharply outwards to blast Sparkle backwards with a psychokinetic hammer, knocking her crashing and rolling in a puff of feathers and charred sweater to land painfully on her side. Then Twilight Shadow lashed her horn out again, a torrent of black flames flinging the Looking Glass World pony almost into the wall as the furious, more-animal Lich hissed: "Just stay still and let me do your masters a favor..."

"They're not my masters." Twilight Sparkle said quietly, slowly looking up, her eyes fearless despite the fact half of her face had been burnt away, leaving raw skull exposed as charred feathers floated down from one broken wing. "And between us, you're the weak one."

Twilight Shadow bared her fangs before she lashed her horn down, unleashing a flare of dark magic... and calmly, almost casually, Twilight Sparkle flicked her horn out, knocking the blast of black energy back at Shadow and amplifying it with all the energy she had stored up in her body over the course of the fight.

The blast hammered straight into Twilight Shadow's horn, and the Lich's head snapped back as she screamed in agony as the top of her skull was almost ripped off as the spire was blown loose from her head, flying in a high arc to hit the ground some thirty or so feet away. Twilight Shadow looked over her shoulder in shock, then she turned disbelieving eyes back towards Twilight Sparkle as the mare slowly stood up, cracking her neck and looking grimly across at her counterpart as she said quietly: "All the power in the world doesn't matter if you don't know how to use it."

Twilight Shadow stumbled backwards, and Twilight Sparkle's horn began to glow as she narrowed her eyes, readying herself as she said sharply: "I'm not going to just sit back and let you threaten this world!"

She snapped her horn out, and Twilight Shadow screamed as a blue fireball smashed into her and engulfed her in a sapphire inferno that began to devour not her flesh, but her spirit, the Looking Glass World mare leaning towards her and pouring all the strength and energy she could into fueling the flames.

Shadow's legs wobbled before she fell with a gasp, her eyes glowing as her body began to thin rapidly beneath the cloak, her blood evaporating from her veins and entire form starting to shrivel up as more and more of her strength was eaten away. But Twilight Sparkle was as merciless as she was calm, even if her eyes were not without a spark of sorrow and pity for this creature even as she burned away all its energy, all its magic, all its life...

And then Twilight Sparkle gasped, her back arching as blood sprayed from her mouth, her eyes widening in horror as the aura flickered out from her horn. The blue flames flickered out from Twilight Shadow's body, and the emaciated Lich staggered up to her hooves, glancing hurriedly over at Myre and screaming: "Switch!"

Without hesitating, Myre flung herself up into the air, flapping her wings hard and snarling as she snapped her forelegs down, black goop springing out of her body and forming into a hail of spikes that rained down around Antares. The stallion winced as he flung himself out of the way, and Myre used the moment it gave her to shoot hurriedly through the air and dive towards the still-stunned Twilight Sparkle.

Antares immediately turned to try and help his mother... and he almost ran straight into Twilight Shadow. On instinct more than anything else he was able to turn his run into a lunge, slashing his horn down, but the Lich blocked the attack with her surprisingly sturdy forelegs before she seized into his shoulders, attempting to drag him inwards as her jaws gaped open and her eyes glowed unnaturally, Antares' eyes widening in horror as he felt the magic energy being ripped out of his body and horn and drawn into the Lich.

He snapped his horn down, and a flash of purification jarred Shadow loose, making her snarl and cover her eyes as Antares retreated to a safe distance... but then the Lich laughed quietly as she dropped her foreleg away, and he stared at her with horror: she had absorbed the magic from the spell he had hit her with, and just from that and the little she'd managed to rip out of him, much of the color and shape had returned to her body. "You're going to be delicious."

Myre, meanwhile, dropped in a dive towards Twilight Sparkle, who was still almost paralyzed with pain. She could feel it in her chest, and behind her clenched lids, she could see what was happening: Gymbr's claw had torn through Luna's armor and was rending into her flesh as he pinned her to the floor, while his other claw held Scrivener tightly by the throat.

She wanted to run to them, to help them, to save them, but her body was paralyzed by the sudden shock, and she wasn't even able to avoid Myre's divebomb. The Fate hit her full-on, slamming the Lich onto her back before Myre stomped her hooves savagely up and down against Twilight Sparkle, who cried out in horror as spikes of corruption ripped through her body with every contact.

Twilight barely managed to kick Myre off, and then she dragged herself up to her hooves, flinching and then cursing as she realized the crystalline spikes were acting like iron rods, refusing to bend or break and making it harder for her to move or concentrate. Worse, she felt like... like the corruption was attempting to spread out, forming into barbs and hooks in her muscles and veins, impeding her even further as Myre growled: "The rest of them we're not allowed to kill... but you, we were told to tear apart."

The Lich cursed weakly... and across the room, Celestia glanced over her shoulder and gritted her teeth at the sight of how the tide of the battle had changed for her family. She wanted to run to them to help... but the fight had changed for her, too, as her eyes flicked back towards Dusk as the Fate slowly ripped one of Celestia's swords out of her foreleg, then tossed it to the ground with a furious glare at her counterpart.

Dusk was no warrior, and she was no Lich, either... but she was more than some brainwashed version of her, too. There was magic, powerful magic, protecting and empowering her: Celestia's swords couldn't sink deep into Dusk's body, and as the Fate grew angrier, her magic was growing stronger. And more, Celestia could swear that her body was changing in places, that there were tips of horns poking through her writhing, golden-fire mane now...

The Fate snapped her horn towards the Valkyrie, but Celestia deflected the predictable attack before her own horn pulsed, raising her three short swords back into a ready position. She set herself, her eyes locked on Dusk as the perhaps-not-entirely-pony snarled at her furiously. "Why won't you just give up and die?"

"Because it seems to upset you that I won't." Celestia replied calmly, and Dusk looked further infuriated at this response before the ivory mare lowered her head slightly as she murmured to the air: "Her hide is too thick for these swords alone to cut through it. I'm going to need something heavier."

"If you're praying, then let me remind you that Odin is dead. I've been told that's all your fault." Dusk said coldly, and Celestia's eyes narrowed dangerously before the Valkyrie reined her emotions in, giving a calm smile.

"And I see that even with all your jewelry and finery and the title of First Concubine, Gymbr seems to pay you less attention than he does himself. But I suppose you already know your so-called master has no interest in a dress-up doll." Celestia responded clearly, and Dusk's eyes glowed with her fury before she roared and charged forwards, her horn glowing and her body bursting into golden flames as she sprinted straight for the Valkyrie.

And without hesitation, Celestia stepped forwards and then smoothly slipped to the side as she slashed one of her golden swords down: the blade struck the mare's leg with such force that it shattered into pieces after tearing to the Fate's bone, and Dusk was knocked off her hooves, flying forwards... and straight into a vicious, two-handed swing of Tyrfing as Discombobulation appeared in mid-slash.

Dusk was knocked flying backwards in a fine spray of crimson blood, landing on her back with a gargle, chest caved in and eyes bulging as she rolled to a dead sprawl. The Draconequus wheezed as he slumped forwards, and Celestia smiled over at the chimerical creature, saying quietly: "It's a good thing the curse on this weapon is very specific."

"Well, I am no man of woman born." Discombobulation muttered, and then he looked up and grimaced, dropping the sword and stumbling backwards as Dusk slowly began to crawl to her hooves, snarling in fury. "Tia, this is the part where you charge up the railgun."

Celestia's sharp eyes were already focused on the creature, however, locked on its breast: through a long, large rip in her hide and a broken cage of bone, there was something visibly moving inside Dusk. Something twisting and turning as it pulsed, and it wasn't a heart, but...

A terrible, red eye rolled open to stare at them through the wound in Dusk's chest, and the Fate snarled before her flesh knitted itself quickly back together, her thick hide healing... but becoming scalier now as larger horns pushed up through her mane and she rasped: "You have no idea the gifts my master has given me... the power I possess... or what I am going to do to you for continuing to insult my master by denying his gifts!"

Dusk charged straight at Celestia, who gritted her teeth as she snapped her horn out, flinging both swords at the scaled features of the no-longer-winged unicorn, but Dusk completely ignored the swords bouncing harmlessly off her scales. Celestia's eyes widened as Dusk dove at her, but Discombobulation leapt forwards and winced even as he slammed his metal fist as hard as he could into Dusk's cheek, knocking her crashing and rolling along on her side as the chimerical creature said hurriedly: "Unless you've got some spare kryptonite, I think it's time to run!"

Celestia shook her head almost desperately, picking up her golden swords even as she looked back and forth, seeing Antares struggling just to keep Twilight Shadow at bay, and Twilight Sparkle had lost one of her wings and a back leg to Myre, who was savaging her with attacks, and Scrivener Blooms and Luna Brynhild and Gymbr were... were...

There was no hope. Luna knew there was no hope, and yet she and Scrivener kept fighting, even if neither of them was entirely sure of why. But they were both covered in blood and wounds, and Gymbr was spotless. He was just playing with them, and this battle was nothing more than a pointless game they were destined to lose... but all the same, they both fought.

Luna leapt at Gymbr's side, her soulstone horn glowing with energy... and Gymbr ducked low, moving with sinuous grace to avoid a punch of her hooves before the heel of one claw slammed into her chest and knocked her upwards with a gurgle, her limbs flailing uselessly outwards. Then the god leapt up, seizing Luna's forelegs and yanking her through the air like a pillow... a pillow that weighed almost a full ton in her armor, which he slammed down into the back of Scrivener Blooms to crush him into the ground.

Both ponies cried out in agony, and then Gymbr threw Luna up into the air like she weighed no more than a feather, her body flipping like a circus acrobat's before Gymbr seized her back legs this time and slammed her down on top of Scrivener Blooms again. The pain was bad enough, but the sense of vertigo and nausea from being whirled around was what left Luna unable to respond as Gymbr yanked her into the air again and roughly flipped her one more time, catching her again and slamming her a third time cruelly down towards the crushed stallion.

Scrivener gritted his teeth, and as much as he hated himself for it, he flung himself out of the way: Luna both cursed and approved, but most of all he felt her telling him to take this opportunity, this one vulnerability. And even though he was dazed and he felt the same agony that Luna did when she was smashed into the hard ground, the stallion flung himself upwards, both claws stretching out towards Gymbr's face, determined that whether or not they were going to lose they could still make this god bleed-

Scrivener's claws were caught and intertwined with something, and the stallion's eyes widened as he saw that somehow, Gymbr had gotten his own silver claws up to grapple with Scrivener. Stupefied chestnut irises stared into burning green eyes, and Gymbr said softly: "One good turn deserves another; you wanted to make us humble, to make us bleed, to leave a scar on us so we would remember your power, remember that we are not above you... well, we are above you. Above you both. And one good turn deserves another."

With that, Gymbr's claws clenched... then he twisted savagely to the side, crushing down, and Scrivener arched his back and screamed in agony as he felt his digits snapping, ripping, breaking, being simply destroyed. Blood burst from Luna's hooves as her own cracked, her eyes bulging in horror as she gasped and stared up with disbelief, and across the room, Twilight Sparkle's eyes widened as one of her own hooves exploded and the other shattered, sending her spilling onto her face as Myre stepped backwards with surprise... and then a cruel grin.

The fighting stopped as all eyes turned to see Gymbr crushing down on Scrivener's shattered claws, and then the god yanked cruelly back as he crushed down again, and the ends of Scrivener's limbs were left almost completely unrecognizable as he collapsed forwards on his face, staring sightlessly and trembling on the ground as he gasped weakly for breath. Luna snarled, tears running down her cheeks as she slowly rose her head towards Gymbr, who gazed down at her calmly... and then, in a terrible, disdainful gesture, he simply swatted her soulstone horn, shattering it into pieces as Luna arched her back with a cry of agony as her mane and tail sparked, then lost their glow and became nothing but smudged and bloodied hairs.

There was one powerful pulse from the broken base of the prosthetic, and Gymbr winced back in distaste as his own soulstone core gave a thrumming reverberation, energy sparking over his body before he settled calmly. Twilight Sparkle gargled weakly on the ground as blood ran from the base of her horn as cracks slowly formed through it, and Antares turned away from Twilight Shadow, stumbling back and shaking his head weakly as Celestia closed her eyes tightly and Discombobulation touched his lips, staring at the broken ponies.

Then Gymbr glanced up and smiled as a black pony strode out of the swirling vortex, but no one could really focus on the newcomer as Gymbr said pleasantly: "Imago. We appreciate your good timing... Fates, our army will shortly arrive. Celestia, Discombobulation, Antares Mīrus... the game is over, and you shall now leave. You may take Twilight Sparkle with you, but... leave Scrivener and Luna. We must speak to them for a moment."

"We will not back down... bring on your armies, and lead them yourself if you dare, Gymbr, but I will not leave Luna and Scrivener in your claws!" Celestia shouted, stepping forwards, and the god sighed softly as he shook his head slowly, looking almost disappointed.

"How foolish you have grown. You do not need to prove either your bravery or your loyalty, Celestia... we know you have plenty of both." Gymbr said softly, shaking his head slowly before he rose a claw calmly as his soulstone core started to glow. "Very well. Because we do not desire to see anyone here hurt any further because of pride and blind emotion..."

Celestia began to step forwards... and then she simply froze, the air around her rippling strangely. A moment later, Discombobulation was caught in the same grip, and then Antares... and lastly, Twilight Sparkle, halted in mid-reach towards Luna and Scrivener, as if she was going to attempt to drag her broken body towards them. Her eyes were pleading, and Luna and Scrivener could feel her pain: she wanted to stay with them. She wanted to be together with them, as an equal, to share even in their suffering at the claws of this creature; to be excused from it was a worse punishment than anything that Gymbr could put them through together.

But in a blink, she was gone, along with the others, and Luna and Scrivener both forced themselves to look up as best they could. The stallion lay on his side in a pool of black, and Luna was on her stomach, barely able to raise her tearstained face from the ground to stare up at... at this awful, terrible god looming over them, looking down at them with palpable sadness in his desolate green eyes.

The Three Fates encircled them as Imago sauntered up to Gymbr's side, almost pressing against the god with a sultry smile. Straight blue-green hair spilled over one side of her pretty features, and her coat was black and smooth, yet somehow chitinous. And as they looked up at her, they realized her body was segmented, like an ant's, with a fat, wasp-like abdomen instead of a tail. Likewise, her wings were long and slender and dragonfly-like, almost forming a gorgeous cape over her body, but her horn was a twisted lightning bolt, a memento of the chrysalis this oversized insect had likely emerged from.

"Are you going to make them like us, Lord Gymbr?" she asked eagerly, but Gymbr only shook his head, and Imago looked disappointed as she turned her eyes towards the two, before she licked her lips slowly as a new, more-vicious light glowed in her eyes, asking hungrily: "Then can I have them? I'm sure there's a hundred things I could do with them..."

"No. We must not kill them. We are going to protect them and save them." Gymbr said forcefully, and then he shook his head slowly and looked down at the soulbound, silent ponies. "They will eventually come to understand that they are hurting only themselves by trying to fight us... that we are not the threat they think we are. Until that day comes, though, Luna and Scrivener... we will defend ourselves vigorously against you and yours. We will do whatever we have to in order to continue our plans. We will not let you interfere... and in the future, we shall allow our Fates and our armies to fight you with all the strength they have. We will never kill you, no... but we may not be so compassionate with your other friends and allies."

Luna snarled at this, shaking her head, opening her mouth... but there were no words. What could she say? What could she do? There was nothing... and she trembled as tears filled her eyes at that feeling of helplessness. She wanted to fight, she wanted to scream, she wanted to temper-tantrum... but she couldn't even stand up. She smelled of blood and mire and sweat and death and suffering, and she could feel Scrivener beside her, laying half-dead with his claws so... so mangled, and broken...

She felt a silent caress, and Luna looked up in surprise, startled out of her thoughts as Gymbr frowned. Scrivener Blooms felt the presence too, but Gymbr didn't seem to sense it... not even Twilight Shadow did, the Lich frowning in confusion even as Twilight Sparkle's spirit clung quietly to Luna's back, unseen by all but the ponies she was soulbound with. Then Gymbr simply shrugged, saying softly: "You have no tricks left, Luna Brynhild. Give up. We are superior. We are Gymbr. And we shall do what must be done to protect our universe."

"The universe is not protected by a cage." Luna whispered, forcing her eyes up... and then she smiled faintly as Scrivener slowly rolled onto his stomach, the stallion gasping in pain, but using it to force his head up and glare at Gymbr.

"We're not going to stop... you can keep breaking our bodies, but we'll keep coming back as long as we're alive... and even if you kill us, we'll crawl out of Hell and find a way to drag you down with us." Scrivener looked up... and it wasn't fearless, because there was a lot of things he was afraid of this monster doing to him. It wasn't confident, because he knew their chances of stopping Gymbr were slim to none. But it was determined, because he felt Luna and Twilight beside him, and all of them were focused on one thing: putting a stop to this god before it was too late.

Gymbr looked down at them silently, and then he shook his head slowly before he rose a claw, his soulstone core beginning to glow as he said quietly: "Let's hope that you learn, or at least your friends do in time: we will not always be this merciful in the future. Now, we have much work to do, so we are going to say goodbye."

Luna and Scrivener both snarled as Twilight's eyes widened before the spirit vanished, taking quick refuge inside her soulmates: and a moment later, as Gymbr's soulstone core flashed, both Luna Brynhild and Scrivener Blooms were simply gone.

There was silence, apart from the thrumming of energy from the portal as the Fates and Imago looked lovingly up at Gymbr, and then he god's green eyes roved up curiously before he smiled, inviting gently: "Come here, child. Come and speak to us. None of us will hurt you."

For a moment, there was no response... and then Innocence uneasily stuck her head around the doorway, trembling, staring inside the ruins of the room before she hesitantly stepped through the portal. Her mouth was dry, her heart thudding, but... her eyes were locked on Gymbr, and he stared back at her with fascination and tenderness as he rose a silver claw to her, beckoning gently. "You do not need to be afraid. We bring gifts. We bring strength. We bring glory."

Innocence stared at the god, licking her lips slowly, breathing harder as her eyes roved over Myre and Dusk on one side of the god, and then Twilight Shadow and Imago to Gymbr's other... and then her eyes widened in awe and horror as a column of metallic ponies and other creatures began to emerge through the portal, the young mare staring in disbelief before Gymbr spread his claws slowly as the column split into two, their ranks beginning to fill the room.

Innocence began to stumble away, terrified, and then she froze as Gymbr said softly: "Come to us, and listen. We shall not force your hoof, Innocence... but if you agree with us, then you can help us. Help us make your family safe, your friends strong... help us protect this world. And all of our power... can be yours."

The young unicorn stared, swallowing thickly, her heart thudding in her chest as those intense emerald eyes gazed into her very soul, saw her in a way she felt no one had ever seen her before, made her feel weak and lightheaded and like she craved, hungered for, needed, needed, needed him...

Innocence took a step towards Gymbr, and Gymbr smiled.

Chapter Twenty: Crippled and Cast Out

~BlackRoseRaven

One moment they were in Valhalla: the next, Luna Brynhild and Scrivener Blooms were falling through the sky, feeling like their insides had been ripped out and unable to process anything that was happening to them as vertigo and nausea and agony thundered through their bruised minds.

All they knew was that they were falling: in what direction, neither of them were sure. A moment later, however, they received a rude answer to that question when they smashed into what felt like the tops of trees, the two ponies crying out in agony as they crashed back and forth down a rickety ladder of boughs and branches until they flopped out of the evergreens and slammed into the hard, root-netted earth below.

Scrivener gasped for breath on his back, and then he slowly closed his eyes as Luna shook her head weakly before she coughed hard twice, spitting out a bit of blood. Her bruised eyes opened, and she looked across at the charcoal stallion as he rasped in and out before muttering: "Well, at least things can't get a whole lot worse."

Luna made a face at this... and like an omen, there was a crack from above before a large branch fell, rattling several others loose in a hail around the two ponies. Luna winced and did her best to lean away as Scrivener felt one bounce off one of his destroyed front claws, white-hot agony so intense he couldn't even shriek running through his body... and then, to top it all off, an speckled egg fell out of some ruined nest above and splattered over his cheek.

The stallion slowly blinked several times, then he sighed tiredly and looked moodily over at Luna, who gazed back at him for a few moments before she gave a faint smile and shook her head. "Thou great idiot. Come then. Up on thy... thy..."

Luna halted, then she slipped silently forwards, reaching out to gently take one of the stallion's ruined front claws. She studied it quietly, shifting it back and forth in her bloody and cracked front hooves before she murmured softly: "Oh Scrivy..."

"That's never a good sign." Scrivener looked up at her with his own small smile from his back, and then he laughed a little as she reached forwards and gently stroked egg away from his face, the earth pony asking quietly: "Are you okay? How are your hooves?"

"I can feel some of thy pain in them, but 'tis not as excruciating as I suspect thou feels." Luna answered quietly, and then she shook her head slowly before shivering once and slumping against the large tree they had fallen through, the mare silently looking back and forth. "I do not recognize this place. Nor do I feel either Asgard's energies or the familiarity of Looking Glass World..."

"Great." Scrivener muttered, and then he looked up at her quietly, studying her silently. They both rested together, neither saying anything, both feeling that temporary surge of strength and adrenaline that had come with surviving a fall from the skies fading quickly out and leaving them just with pain, and tiredness, and...

No, not anger. Scrivener wished it was anger, but it was more like disappointment in themselves. They had been no match for Gymbr, who had even been able to take away Luna's spear... who had humiliated them in combat, despite the two of them being sure that together, they would have been able to make some mark against him... but they supposed they had underestimated him. And it seemed like Gymbr had no weaknesses: nothing had been mentioned in any of Kvasir's narratives about any sort of vulnerability, after all, apart from antimagic energies...

Luna sighed softly, and then she and Scrivener glanced up with relieved smiles when Twilight flickered into being nearby, the specter quickly checking herself over before Scrivener murmured: "You're fine, Twilight. There's no need to worry. You didn't get ghost-dismembered or anything."

The ghost, the Pale of Twilight Sparkle, gave him a mild look, and then she shook her head and glanced over at Luna. While she couldn't communicate through words like this, Twilight could still share her emotions with them... and Luna nodded in agreement to the sentiment she felt coming from the specter, muttering: "See? 'Tis precisely what I said, Scrivy. We are not in Looking Glass World."

"I never argued that point with you." Scrivener replied tiredly from the ground, and then he shook his head briefly before shifting backwards, reaching down to absently try and push off the ground with his front claws... and he immediately arched his back and flopped backwards in agony, pulling his wounded limbs up against his chest and clenching his eyes shut. "G-Goddammit..."

Twilight turned a worried look to the stallion, and Luna stepped forwards, leaning down... and cursing as her mane of light blue hairs spilled into her face and her broken soulstone horn only sparked weakly, muttering: "Oh, what a fine mess we are in... Scrivy, I... I am going to have to take a drink."

Scrivener winced a little at this, looking between Twilight and Luna: Luna looked staunch, but her eyes had the faintest glitter, her features the faintest tremble, and he could feel that mix of both... shame and eagerness coming from her. And Twilight was clearly emanating concern, but he could also feel her helplessness... that there was no other real solution. The knowledge that this wasn't even a solution itself, but... it was the only thing they could do right now, too.

Luna and Scrivener looked at each other silently, and then the sapphire mare gave a faint smile, saying quietly: "I am not weak. Trust in me, my beloved... please. Just... a little trust, for a little taste... we need this. Thou knows that if we are caught unawares, even by a wild animal..."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Scrivener closed his eyes and nodded as he let his body relax a little. And Luna licked her lips slowly, swallowing thickly, trying to repress how... how eager she was, how thirsty she felt, as she slipped forwards and opened her mouth, fangs glinting...

She bit into the side of Scrivener's neck, just above his collar, and Scrivener grimaced and bit his lip, flexing a little before he forced himself to relax. It hurt at first, but the pain was never the worst part: it was this pleasure he felt from it himself, as Luna took one measured drink, one larger gulp... and then her body slipped forwards more, and she was trying to open her jaws wider as she shoved herself forwards, greedily guzzling down his black blood.

She pushed herself over him as her body grew hot with pleasure and strength and that raw, primal satisfaction that was like devouring a full meal after days without food, a drink of cold water after hours of being roasted beneath the sun... it was delicious. It was exquisite. She wanted more, and more, and more, even as she felt the corruption doing more than just making her mind insane with pleasure and desire, she felt her muscles beginning to grow, her body beginning to change, her-

Hooves pushed at her, but they weren't Scrivener's: it was Twilight, and Luna looked up as her eyes almost glowed with a burst of frustration, black blood running down her chin and dripping from her maw as she glared at the ghost and snapped: "I am fine! I am fine, let me drink in peace!"

Luna greedily began to lower her head forwards again, opening her mouth wide as drool mixed with the black blood running from her maw... but Twilight's spirit quickly leaned in front of her. The sapphire mare snarled, eyes flashing as she looked up, raising a hoof that had almost healed as if to strike the specter, but the Pale threw herself forwards and hugged Luna tightly around the neck, trembling violently, clinging to her... and the sapphire mare trembled before she slowly closed her eyes and her mouth, dropping her hoof forwards and wrapping her foreleg around Twilight's ghost, hugging the spirit as best she could back against her body.

Scrivener sighed softly as the euphoria faded out of his own mind, shivering a little as he lifted one of his mangled, broken claws... and then he bad-temperedly slammed it down against the ground beside him. The agony it sent through him was almost indescribable, and Luna gasped quietly as her forelegs sank through the Pale with how tightly she tried to clutch the incorporeal specter against herself... but it wasn't from the pain that a tear slid down the stallion's cheek, or that made Luna give a quiet curse as she clenched her eyes shut.

Twilight's spirit flickered, reappearing on the other side of Scrivener and silently putting a hoof over the broken claw he had just further injured as she gazed down at him quietly, and he nodded a little, looking up at her with a faint smile and a silent promise to treat himself a little better, at least for the moment. After all, Twilight would still feel some of their pain, even as a spirit... and while he and Luna might deserve to suffer, Twilight Sparkle never did.

Finally, Scrivener relaxed a little as Luna reached up and wiped black blood from her features, spitting a few times to the side before she shook herself out. She absently patted over her mangled armor, grimacing at where it had cut a bit into her body... but she was standing strong and tall, and while Scrivener Blooms could feel plenty of aches through his body and like he had no energy left, he knew that most of his own wounds had sealed shut.

The sapphire mare sighed quietly as she touched the large hole in her breastplate and then she attempted to concentrate... but her nub of soulstone horn only sparked painfully, making her twitch before she dropped her head forwards and grumbled: "This is ridiculous. Of all the places for Gymbr to fling us... into the middle of some unknown forest in some unknown world..."

Scrivener only grunted, closing his eyes as Twilight Sparkle's spirit vanished, but they could both feel her presence still. The Pale was just going to take a look around, and Luna sighed quietly as she glanced back and forth before murmuring: "Strange, though. Gymbr... he risked Twilight's existence. He did not seem to realize her spirit was with us, and he attempted to cast us apart from her... if we had really been separated..."

"She would have been ripped apart." Scrivener shivered a little at the thought, then he shook his head and looked down, saying quietly: "Maybe it's not just that. It's that... he doesn't understand that she's equal. How much we love her. How much... I don't know..."

"No, thou does so. Speak, poet, thou art on to something... and besides, 'tis not as if we have anything better to do." Luna said pointedly as she turned her eyes towards the enormous tree Scrivener was half-resting against, and then she sighed and walked over to him, grasping him and making the stallion groan as she firmly dragged him upwards and sat him back against the trunk.

She grimaced a little at the pain in her own system, then turned around and flopped back beside him with a sigh, dropping her head against his shoulder and closing her eyes as she ignored the twisting feeling in her gut, and the desire to turn, to taste the corruption, to push herself against Scrivener Blooms, to give in...

The stallion softened as he looked over at her, and he licked his lips before drawing his eyes forwards and murmuring, if only because he knew that Luna needed the distraction: "Gymbr might be nearly omnipotent, but he's not omniscient and he lacks... he lacks understanding of anything outside his own little world and how he looks at things. Maybe we can't take him on in a fight but... he must have some kind of weakness..."

"Aye, but... what? Nothing was mentioned in the damned narrative, aye? And I cannot generate antimagic with my soulstone horn... even if I could, 'twould probably shatter my own stupid head." Luna grumbled, reaching up and knocking firmly twice against the broken prosthetic before she winced as it sparked a little. "Purification is also clearly out of the question, Antares... Antares and Morning Glory are the only ponies we know who can concentrate it so well."

She fell quiet, looking down, and Scrivener closed his eyes as he felt the same twist of worry in his stomach. They wanted to reassure each other... but with what? They had just had the crap kicked out of them before being dumped in some alien, unknown world. Attempting to reassure each other that everything was going to be okay felt a little bit impossible right now, and neither pony was much one for false promises.

The two dropped their heads in perfect time, and then Luna shook her own before she asked quietly: "So thou thinks he does not love Twilight as we love her."

"Did you see any love for any of his creations? Or did he just seem to enjoy the fact they were all 'his?'" Scrivener questioned in response, glancing up with a small smile, and Luna grimaced a little but nodded slowly in agreement. There was silence between them for a few moments, and then the stallion sighed softly and mumbled: "What really bothers me is that I don't think he was kidding when he said they were holding back..."

"What truly bothers me, Scrivy, is that he has them at all." Luna said dryly, shivering once. "From whence could he have stolen them? Imago I did not precisely recognize, even if I think we must have crossed paths with her alter ego at some point ourselves... but to have kidnapped Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and a version of myself from another layer and transformed them into those monsters without Valhalla knowing..."

"Maybe Valhalla just isn't as watchful as we think... I mean, if there really are more than ninety-nine layers out there, or if they're... reviving themselves or splitting still or who knows what..." Scrivener shook his head a bit. "Even Hel wouldn't be able to watch them all. I mean, we monitor all these layers, but... who's to say that there's not some other Valhalla, or another Helheim? Or maybe those layers we don't know about don't feed anywhere at all... they just become Pales or go to the Void or... you know. We can't know, you know?"

"Aye, I know." Luna replied with only the faintest hint of irony, and then she shook her head and murmured: "Thou has such a way with words, poet, truly."

Scrivener Blooms only grunted and shrugged a little, and there was silence between the two for a few moments before Luna looked moodily back and forth through the forest around them. The trees were large and widely spaced, and the ground felt rough and the air was cold, and even the plants seemed strange to her. She could hear the calls of birds from somewhere, and at least that sounded somewhat familiar... but until they got a better look at the wildlife, Luna wasn't willing to make any further guesses on just where the hell they might be.

Then both ponies looked up curiously as Twilight Sparkle flickered into reality in front of the two, smiling encouragingly and pointing at them... no, past them. She wanted to head... south, if that was actually moss Scrivener was resting against and that old piece of advice was actually right.

Luna and Scrivener both only looked at Twilight's Pale all the same, and the ghost frowned at them before gesturing firmly a few times, but Scrivener Blooms only mumbled and Luna grunted, raising a hoof and gesturing moodily with it. "We know, we know. But we are not all devoid of physical pain here, Twilight Sparkle. I pity the fact thou art without a body, but I am also severely annoyed that thou art without a body, for thou does not feel as sore and achy and... broken-armory as we do."

Twilight sighed silently, shaking her head slowly as the charcoal stallion closed his eyes and Luna nestled herself a little closer, and then the spirit fidgeted a little in place before she stepped forwards and vanished. A moment later, the black pearl in the hollow of Luna's collar gleamed, and the sapphire mare smiled a little as she felt a welcome warmth emanating from the stone, murmuring: "'Tis no better place for thee, my darling, then here in our heart."

Scrivener Blooms laughed despite himself, and then he glanced over at her and said softly: "And there you go again. Being all poetic-like."

"Shut up, beetle." Luna replied in a mumble, even as she pushed deeper against his form. The stallion wrapped a foreleg tightly around her, squeezing her closer, and the sapphire mare sighed a little as she mumbled: "All things are stupid."

"All things are stupid." Scrivener agreed quietly, and the two rested together, the stallion feeling his energy slowly beginning to restore itself as Luna tried her best to relax, the aches gradually fading from their systems.

They spent about thirty minutes resting together before Scrivener frowned a little as he felt a tickling on his other shoulder. He opened his eyes to look at Luna, and she grumbled at him and squeezed her hooves into him to make him flinch a bit and show that she was nowhere near his other shoulder... before both ponies slowly looked over to the side to see a large, fuzzy tarantula was crawling lazily from the tree onto the stallion.

His eyes widened in horror and he went dead pale, and Luna blinked in surprise, then huffed and blew at the tarantula. In response, the arachnid rose its forelegs, waving them threateningly as Scrivener reared back slightly and hissed: "What the hell are you doing?"

"Oh stop it, great idiot." Luna grumbled, swatting Scrivener, and then she flailed her hoof at the enormous tarantula and growled at it. In response, the tarantula took a few swipes at her with its front claws as it set itself gamely on the stallion's shoulder, and Scrivener whimpered a little before Luna complained: "'Tis barely the size of a Birdeater. Thou art such a great and whiny-"

And then the tarantula suddenly spun around and made a hard kicking motion, and a mess of hairs was propelled through the air, most of them hitting Scrivener's face and landing in his eyes. They burned where they landed, the stallion squawking and flailing violently as he threw himself sideways, the arachnid flung in one direction and Luna yelping as the stallion crashed into her before he grabbed at his face, rolling wildly back and forth as Luna felt a burning pain flare through her own head.

"Oh god what the hell did it do?" Scrivener clawed at his face despite how much it stung his broken hooves, blinking wildly as his eyes teared up from the painful hairs, his voice strangled as he snapped: "This is your fault!"

"Thou art the one who attracted the damned bug in the first place!" Luna shouted back, and she slapped furiously at Scrivener's features before shoving him off her and glaring at him... but her broken soulstone horn only sparked uselessly, and she winced in pain at the thrum that went through her head.

For a few moments, the two continued to writhe in agony, until Twilight Sparkle's shade appeared with a wince and carefully pushed at the two until she managed to get their attention, the two settling a little until they both grumbled and allowed the mare to untangle them. Then Scrivener Blooms cursed under his breath when Twilight reached up and slowly brushed a hoof along his features, the spectral mare sweeping the barbed hairs carefully up with her ghostly hooves.

The stallion winced as the Pale looked at him pointedly and tapped his temple, and then he grumbled and forced himself to open the reddened, swollen-looking eye as wide as he could, then he flinched back slightly and gritted his teeth when Twilight slowly reached forwards and pushed her hoof quietly against his eye.

Luna grimaced and blinked her own several times, then rubbed childishly at her features as Twilight's hoof was able to carefully sweep up the hairs stuck in the stallion's eye with minimal pain, Scrivener watching with a morbid fascination as the hairs were literally pulled up the Pale's limb and harmlessly allowed to sift through her spirit. Thanks to being connected to them and all the magical power she had as a Lich, she was able to do a lot of things that normal Pales weren't... although she still had that faint, misty sparkle around her that all Pales did.

"I guess that's why you're called Twilight Sparkle." Scrivener mumbled, and Twilight twisted her hoof slowly against his eye as she pushed a little harder, making him wince. "Okay, okay, okay, I take it back."

Twilight nodded and gave a small smile, and Luna grumbled a bit as she continued to rub at her own eye with a hoof, muttering: "Well, at least we are recovering little-by-little, despite the fact thou hast already attracted trouble to us, Scrivener Blooms. Great idiot."

"Yes, I know. I'm monster-bait, apparently." Scrivener muttered as Twilight finally stepped away from him, and he rubbed absently at his features before he smiled a little and nodded to her. She nodded back, giving him a tender look before she vanished from sight, and the stallion shook his head a little before he glanced over at Luna, asking finally: "So uh... do you think we should get moving then? I mean, the creepy-crawlies are apparently moving in, so..."

"Aye, the spiders do not fear me as they do in every other world..." Luna frowned and looked down moodily at this, shaking her head slowly. "Strange. Everything from mites to Bitterweavers know to obey me in every other place we have been to."

"Abeyance does not equal fear." Scrivener said mildly, and Luna gave him a glower that made the stallion wince and shrink back a bit. "Nevermind."

"Good." Luna said comfortably, and then she turned and began to head south, calling mildly: "Now come. We shall try and follow Twilight's directions. And perhaps we shall stop to commune with her for a few moments and find out more, but... I do enjoy surprises."

Scrivener Blooms grumbled a little at this, then he nodded with a sigh as he fell in step behind the sapphire winged unicorn. He bit his lip, trying to ignore the throbbing in his front hooves as he hobbled a little, and Luna softened a little as she glanced over her shoulder at him and nodded supportively, slowing her pace a bit to try and make it a little easier on the charcoal stallion.

The two made their way through the shadow-strewn forest, not knowing where they were going, or even entirely sure of what time it was. When they were able to see the sky through the canopy, Luna estimated that it had to only be around noon... although the sun seemed to be in a strange position compared to where she was used to seeing it.

The stallion glanced curiously over at Luna, and she shrugged a little in response to his unasked question: everything still felt unfamiliar here. For all she knew, Gymbr could have dumped them in some world outside of the known layers... and Scrivener Blooms grimaced a little as he thought of the places they had seen before, outside of their...

No, that wasn't really true, was it? Even if their set of layered worlds where here... who was he to say they weren't all part of one universe? They knew nothing, really, about the cosmos, or deep dark space, or... anything. Luna had once been exiled to the moon, sure, but as Nightmare Moon she remembered it as being locked inside some terrible white room, a lonely, empty cell. Celestia hadn't simply flung her onto the surface of the rock that circled their planet: Nightmare Moon would have just found her way back, possibly by using her powers to drop said moon right down on top of Celestia's head.

Luna grinned widely at this, looking with amusement over at Scrivener and remarking wryly: "Thou hast the most wonderful ideas at times, Scrivy. I shall have to try this at some point. I shall have thee know, if I desired, I could easily teleport us all to the moon so we could prance about its surface."

"I don't like places where you have to use magic to keep us alive. I also remember that space was cold, even for me." Scrivener muttered, and then he shook his head a little and looked up with a frown as something stirred through the bushes ahead, before a large, shaggy brown beast lumbered out, heading toward a patch of berry bushes further south. It looked like a large brown bear, waddling and making Luna giggle childishly at the sight of its rump.

The bear halted at the sound of Luna's giggles, large, tufted ears rising up, and Scrivener cocked his head a little as he noted it had some kind of shaggy bib that had just puffed out. It slowly rose itself higher, pushing itself up onto its rear paws as the stallion pushed irritably at the sapphire mare, who was still giggling away... before both ponies yelped and reared back when the creature's head twisted entirely around on its neck, staring at them with glaring, hateful owl eyes through featured features, its beak opening to scream a warning cry at them.

"Oh Horses of Heaven this is the worst world ever!" Scrivener almost fell over as he scrambled backwards, staring in disbelief at the creature as it reared around, slamming down what weren't front paws but instead large, wicked talons.

The... the owlbear screamed at them again, and then it simply charged, barbed beak glinting, talons ripping up the ground as it moved with terrible speed. Luna snarled, stepping forwards as she ordered Scrivener sharply: "Support!"

The stallion groaned, then he set himself, cursing in pain as his broken claws spasmed against the ground... and then he gasped and flinched, falling over and hugging his aching claws against his chest as black blood bubbled out of them and they flexed with sickening crackles, struggling not to whimper at the utter agony that filled his system.

The pain was bad enough to make Luna gasp, flinching forwards... and then she stared up just in time to see the owlbear lunging in with its beak, going right for her eyes. She barely reacted fast enough, drawing her head back and hissing in pain as the owlbear ripped a swathe through her cheek before she snarled and swung her right hoof up into the beast's chin.

The owlbear's head snapped back, saliva and blood flying from its cracked beak as its eyes bulged with surprise before Luna kicked off the ground with her rear hooves, using the pain to feed the battlerage that took her over as she flapped her wings and launched into the air to hover above the creature's face, slamming punch after punch down into it before a final haymaker sent it crashing down onto all fours.

The owlbear screeched as it scrambled hurriedly backwards to a safe distance, then it lowered its shoulders and shrieked at Luna as the sapphire mare landed, teeth bared. She roared furiously back, and the owlbear winced before the sapphire mare charged straight at the beast.

The creature stumbled back a step... but to Luna's surprise, it then lunged forwards, swiping both claws at her. The mare dodged backwards, but the beast followed up with a lunge and slash of its beak... which Luna instinctively attempted to block with a horn that wasn't there.

Its beak tore through her scalp and down her face, the sapphire mare crying out in agony as Scrivener gasped, head snapping back as the same bloody wound formed on his own features before his eyes widened. The owlbear threw itself forwards, sensing victory as its claws seized into Luna and it tried to drag her in close as it drew its head back... but a moment later, needles of black crystal peppered its features, and it lost its grip on Luna as it drew back, shaking its head wildly to try and get the splinters of gemstone out of its face.

Luna stumbled backwards as the creature withdrew, then she bared her teeth and leapt forwards, slamming her head viciously into the owlbear's lowered beak. It hurt like hell, but the reward of the sickening sound of the beak cracking far outweighed the pain as the owlbear stumbled, unable to even open its jaw as it gave a muffled squeal before Luna leapt forwards and slammed her hoof into the side of the cracked protrusion, shattering most of it.

The owlbear squalled miserably as it hurriedly stumbled backwards, then it flung itself quickly around and fled, Luna growling after the beast before she cursed under her breath as blood from her cut scalp slid into her eyes. She shook her head roughly, and then glowered as she felt her mane fall over her features, hairs sticking in her blood and pasting themselves against her skin. "Oh damnation."

She sighed tiredly, then looked moodily over her shoulder at Scrivener Blooms, who was carefully picking himself up... but his front legs were trembling, and his claws felt broken and sensitive and simply agonized again.

He closed his eyes, breathing hard in and out before he sat back and looked down at his front claws. They were both flexing weakly, dripping his black blood as well as thicker mire, and he shivered a little before shaking his head slowly as Luna hesitantly glanced down at one of her own hooves.

There were still cracks in her hooves, and they stung... but there was no blood. She could feel Scrivener's pain, though, how badly it was pulsing through his lower legs, and she murmured quietly: "We need to get that healed, Scrivy. Will the mire..."

"No. I... I don't think so in this case. They're too... mangled." Scrivener looked up at her silently, and then he smiled faintly as Luna reached up and gently scrubbed along the cut on his features. As she pushed his black blood and mire back around the wound, it began to slowly heal, dark liquid filling the trench and slowly repairing itself little-by-little.

As his wounds healed, Luna's did a little as well; enough to stop the bleeding and the worst of the pain, anyway. She sighed a bit and reached up, grouchily pushing her mane away from her face before she muttered: "Hair is stupid. I cannot begin to express my overwhelming joy at having earned my special mane, Scrivy."

"Right. Because having magic hair is the greatest honor someone can get." Scrivener said dryly, and Luna blew a raspberry at him. Then the two smiled a little at each other before he sighed a bit when she reached out and gingerly touched along one of his front limbs as she mentally, gently told him that he was a stupid idiot, in that weirdly-tender way only she could.

"I'm not arguing with you there." Scrivener mumbled, and then he carefully put his claws down and grimaced a bit as he tested putting some of his weight on them. "Can you... splint them?"

Luna looked down at his mangled claws, then she shivered a little and shook her head, hating how... awful they looked. Worse was the fact she knew that the lack of pain wasn't exactly a good sign: his forelegs looked swollen, and considering the damages...

"No. We have to get thee to a safe place." Luna shook her head, then she turned around and murmured: "Come, Scrivy. And let me know if the pain grows too fierce. Sometimes the husband must carry her wife, after all."

"You've always been sexist in the most wonderful way." Scrivener muttered, but he nodded a little before taking a few careful steps forwards. It hurt to get going, but the pain soon became an uncomfortable thrumming: as long as he kept himself moving at a good pace, it didn't have the chance to grow too terrible, like he was somehow walking faster than the pain could keep up.

"Well, sometimes pain is lazy and selfish." Luna said softly, smiling a little over her shoulder at the stallion as they strode past an immense, curled tree and began to climb a gentle slope, and the sapphire mare looked thoughtfully up and murmured: "It looks as if the trees thin past here... perhaps we are on our way towards civilization after all. Or at least, what passes for it."

"Too bad you can just summon a demon or something." Scrivener said moodily, and Luna grunted meditatively, making Scrivener Blooms wince a bit. "Please don't get any ideas."

The sapphire mare only rolled her eyes, then she softened as she looked over her shoulder at him again and said quietly: "Thy welfare is important and there are more ways than one to call a demon to me. Besides, wounded or not, we are more than a match for any wild demon, aren't we? Especially with Twilight Sparkle to assist us."

Scrivener grimaced a bit, then he sighed and nodded a little, murmuring: "Alright. I can't really argue with you when you say things like that." He stopped, then looked up as they reached the top of the slope, looking out down a short, gentle decline that plateaued out into a thinner patch of younger trees. "Maybe we're almost out."

But after ten more minutes of walking, both ponies strode into a verdant prairie that stretched south towards what looked like... more trees. To the east there was nothing, to the west looked like mountains, and Luna groaned and rolled her eyes before she mumbled: "Grand. This is grand, Scrivener Blooms. Maybe this world has nothing but beasts."

The stallion only grunted at this, shivering a little as he shifted his weight to his rear hooves and closed his eyes. He could feel the pain growing worse again, and Luna looked up at the sky before she murmured: "When a riding horse was injured as thou art, Scrivy, we would have to put him down in the old days. Not even magic can always restore such damages, after all."

Scrivener turned a dry look towards the mare, and she only shrugged and smiled a little over at him, informing kindly: "I will not kill thee, Scrivy, fear not. I am expressing concern for thee."

The charcoal earth pony continued to look at her, then he sighed and lowered his head, murmuring: "I think I'd prefer to be dead than put up with pain like this for the rest of my life. Especially if I can't use my hooves anymore... I'll..."

He halted, looking silently down at one of his mangled claws, and Luna softened, stepping over to him and nudging him gently with her muzzle. "Now, cease that, foul idiot. Thou art not allowed to think these thoughts whilst we are stuck in an alien world like this."

"Yes I am." Scrivener mumbled, and when Luna glared at him, he smiled a little and shook his head a bit. "Hey, you know it helps in its weird way. I'm apparently fueled by depression and douchebaggery. It's when I'm happy I get all... stupid."

Luna sighed a little, but then she leaned over and headbutted him lightly, murmuring in return: "Thou art such an idiot. But aye, I suppose 'tis true. Now let us speak to Twilight Sparkle, perhaps she can tell us why she guided us here."

Scrivener nodded, and both ponies began to close their eyes before Luna's snapped open and she looked sharply up as she caught a glint in the air above. Then she cursed and leapt forwards, tackling Scrivener into the high grasses a moment before a javelin slammed down into the ground where they had been a moment before.

Immediately, Luna spun around and yanked the short spear out of the earth, spinning it around with surprising ease in her hooves. She glared up into the sky above at several low hanging clouds, shouting: "Show thyselves! I know thou art there!"

In response, something was lobbed over the edge of one cloud, and Luna's eyes widened: from the sparking fuse on the red, spherical object, the only thing it could be was some kind of explosive.

Luna flapped her wings and launched herself upwards as she lashed the spear out in a wide swing, whacking the bomb back on a high arc and launching it back towards the sky. It didn't quite reach the cloud before it exploded with a bright flash and bang, but the power of the explosion was more than enough to blow away most of the cloud cover above and drive a trio of creatures into the air.

They weren't ponies, like Luna had expected: instead, she growled as she found herself glaring up at three griffins as they hovered in the air above, all of them glaring furiously down at her. They had the heads of eagles with thick, white plumage that spilled down over their breasts, and while their bodies, rear legs, and tufted tails were all leonine and golden-brown, their front limbs ended in powerful, dexterous talons, and their brown-feathered wings held them easily aloft as they beat the air almost viciously.

One had a quiver of javelins over his back, and another was armed with a satchel that looked as though it was stuffed full of more explosives. The last had a buckler over one foreleg and a mace clutched tightly in one talon, snarling down at Luna and shouting: "You are not welcome here, pony! Your kind belongs on the other side of the world!"

Luna's eyes widened in surprise as she looked up, but before she could ask anything, the griffin bomber held up an explosive and what looked like some kind of crystalline wand: when he flicked it quickly against the fuse, the string caught alight before he flung it quickly down at the mare.

The winged unicorn flapped her wings hard, flying upwards and booting the explosive with a rear hoof to send it shooting at the three griffins, and they immediately scattered with squawks before it went off with a tremendous bang. The sapphire mare snorted at this, then she called up to them irritably: "I am in no mood for games today. My husband and I have already had much in the way of trouble and have been dumped here in the middle of we-know-not-where by a monster the likes thou would not believe. Cease throwing explosives and help us, or I shall pummel thee into submission."

Scrivener sighed tiredly at this as the three griffins all flitted uncertainly back and forth above, before the warrior with the mace rose this threateningly. "And who are you to threaten us? Another Pegasus who thinks she's the same as the moronic myth she was named after?"

"Why are you guys always such jerks? Why do you have such a... a jerk culture?" Scrivener Blooms inquired moodily as he slowly picked himself up, and the griffins turned their glowers to him as the earth pony shook his head and continued flatly: "I mean, okay, I get it. Pride and strength, griffins are warriors, you value rough and tough and your concept of honor is 'he who beats others in the face is worthy of much respect,' but. Seriously. Who throws bombs at random strangers?"

"Shut the hell up, stupid little mudwalker!" snapped one of the griffins, and Luna's eyes narrowed dangerously before he added nastily as he rose his javelin: "Look, sky-traitor, you might be good at playing kickball but I'm going to shove this through your slave hoof's face if he doesn't-"

Luna shot immediately into the air with a snarl, and the griffin barely had the time to react before the winged unicorn lashed out with her javelin, with so much force it tore through the body of the short spear when the griffin feebly attempted to block with it before the tip ripped a swathe through his breast and tore apart the strap of the quiver hanging over one shoulder and the broken rawhide tangled into one wing.

As he was overbalanced backwards with a scree of pain, Luna half-spun, the spear in her hooves a blur as she windmilled it and then drove the butt of the weapon over the shield of the griffin warrior, knocking him senseless and sending him plummeting. The last griffin was panicking, grabbing wildly at his bomb satchel, but in less than a second Luna was right in front of him, driving a hoof into his face and knocking him out of the air.

The three crumpled to the field below in a hail of dropped equipment, and Scrivener Blooms smiled despite himself as Luna hovered in the skies above. She had a murderous look on her face still, but it only made him feel all the more amused... and in a strange way, touched. He liked the fact that she was so protective more than he really should, even if he'd been long used to being called those kinds of things before they'd even met. "You're so cute when you're angry."

"Shut up, Scrivy, or the spear goes right up thy rump." Luna grumbled, and then she flung the javelin down into the ground in front of him, but the stallion only shook his head with a snort of amusement before Luna let herself slowly descend on the other side of the groaning griffins.

She dropped to the field and glared at them as they picked themselves up: the bomber still seemed stunned, his explosives laying all around him and his crystal-tipped wand laying broken on the ground. The warrior was snarling at Luna, but hadn't quite regained the courage to say anything, while the last griffin was still moaning away and clutching at the large gash in his chest, whimpering: "She killed me! She killed me!"

"All I did was put thee in thy place, stupid little birdie." Luna grumbled, glowering at the griffin, and then she shook her head and added sourly: "'Tis something thou should perhaps thank me for, by the way. For I could have been much more ruthless had I wanted to. Now, if we can put the savagery aside, my husband and I require assistance."

The warrior growled, then flexed a talon as he glared at her, but Luna met his eyes fearlessly. And after a few moments, the griffin finally lowered his gaze, saying sourly: "You're still no friend to us, pony. Why should we help you and the groundwalker?"

Luna narrowed her eyes moodily, saying distastefully: "Because if thou does not, then I will beat thee. I will beat thee with my hooves. I will beat thee with sticks. I will beat thee with that mace. I will beat and bludgeon thee with each other's limbs after I tear them off. Do I make myself clear?"

The bomber paled at this as the warrior lost some of his bravado at the sheer malice radiating off the winged unicorn, and then he finally grumbled: "What do you want?"

The sapphire mare looked more pleased at this, nodding once before asking: "Where is the nearest settlement or base camp? Scrivener Blooms requires medical attention. And where, precisely, are we? I do not recognize this place at all."

"Right, because I suppose you fell out of the sky." muttered the bomber sardonically, and then he only stared when Luna nodded seriously. "Are you completely out of your-"

"We're in Epoche." interrupted the warrior griffin moodily, looking irritably at his companion. "Far northeast of the griffin homeland. And far, far away from your Equestria and your Princess."

Luna nodded, then looked pointedly at the griffin until he sighed and rolled his eyes, sounding exasperated as he said: "Our camp is two miles away. It's a military camp, ponies: you won't be welcome there, and I would much rather die than be the griffin to bring ponies into the camp who aren't tied up and in their proper place."

The sapphire mare growled at this, and the warrior glared back as the wounded griffin finally unsteadily picked himself up. Then the mare huffed and spat to the side, saying grouchily: "What a useless flock of birds thou art. Very well. Get thee hence, I have other ways to acquire what I need."

The griffins traded moodily looks, and then the warrior picked up his mace and gestured with it threateningly. "Go back home, pony, to wherever you came from. Epoche is our territory, and we're not about to give it up to you greedy Equestrians."

With that, the griffins took to the air and flew quickly off, and Luna scowled at how many bombs they left behind, along with the fallen pile of javelins that had tumbled from the quiver. The sapphire mare walked over and leaned down to try and poke at them with her horn, then she cursed as she remembered it was broken, stomping on the objects instead as she grumbled to herself.

Then the mare shook herself out before looking over her shoulder at Scrivener Blooms, who was uneasily watching the griffins fly away. He hesitated, then turned his eyes towards the sapphire mare, asking finally: "Did they seem... I dunno. More hostile than usual to you?"

"Somewhat. We shall have to be wary: I have no doubt they will exaggerate our encounter to their encampment. Likely 'twill be ten powerful ponies that they fought against valiantly, instead of being swatted like flies by one mare." Luna grumbled moodily, and then she softened as she looked over at Scrivener and saw the black blood dripping onto the ground from his broken claws, murmuring: "Well, we shall hopefully have more cooperative allies to speak to in a moment. Come, Scrivy."

Luna paused, then she turned and picked up several of the explosives that had been left behind, tucking these under one wing and holding them firmly to her body. Then she shoved a few javelins into the torn quiver and picked it up with her teeth, making a face around the rawhide strap and mumbling something about griffin sweat.

The two ponies retreated into the forest a little ways, then settled down in a grassier area. Luna looked pointedly over at Scrivener Blooms, and the stallion grimaced before he sighed tiredly, raising a foreleg and muttering: "We'll do it the hard way."

The sapphire mare only smiled a little, and then she tossed down the quiver and the explosives before lifting a javelin free. And, not letting herself hesitate, she slashed the spear down to cut Scrivener's foreleg open, the stallion cursing in pain as a similar wound formed on Luna's own limb and made her grimace.

Scrivener's black blood splattered down over the ground, and the stallion pushed the little that he dared with his powers, gasping in pain as more of his blood spilled out of the wound and a bit of mire dripped from his broken claws. He flexed in pain, then dropped the claw into the small puddle of blood, cursing weakly: it hurt even to focus his energy into it, but he forced himself to all the same as he muttered: "Come on... come on..."

At first, the puddle just rippled... and then, slowly, it expanded, the soil and grass melting into mire before Scrivener Blooms gasped and sat back, his claws trembling with pain. Luna nodded to him with relief before she reached up and touched his shoulder, and the stallion smiled faintly to her. "Just... give me a minute, then I should be okay. Just need a minute."

He breathed slowly, closing his eyes and shivering a little, then he looked down and carefully rested both claws against the mire. He was careful not to push with his powers this time, instead only concentrating on shaping the dark ooze, and it became like soft stone after a few moments.

Luna carefully maneuvered the javelin between her hooves to push into the mire, tracing out rough symbols over the dark substance and forming a circular pattern with them. It wasn't exact, but it didn't need to be, either, and the sapphire mare studied the shapes before she tossed the javelin aside and rubbed vigorously at her open wound. It hurt like hell, but blood dripped out, splattering over the runes as the mare murmured quietly in the old language: "Hear thy mistress, servants of the night; I offer thee tribute of my own blood in return for thy presence alone..."

Twilight Sparkle flickered into being beside Luna, looking back and forth attentively as Scrivener Blooms grimaced a bit, feeling the very air around them seeming to darken. Luna's broken soulstone horn gave a faint, strange glimmer, and then sparked painfully, but it carried just enough magic to send an extra pulse resonating through the air around them even as it made the winged unicorn's mind ache.

A silence fell through the forest, no birds singing, no insects chirping, no wind daring to whisper through the trees... and then, all at once, there were sounds. Growls and hisses, and clashing and the faintest flashes of light and shadow through the air around them, as all three felt the presence of the demons that had been called by the short ritual.

A normal pony would have panicked, but Luna recognized what these noises really were as she looked up coldly. Twilight Sparkle was watching with a look of mixed horror and fascination, and Scrivener Blooms grimaced as he felt his eyes automatically adjusting, unable to stop himself from seeing what was just below reality as he winced, and then leaned away with a grimace when several incorporeal demons rolled past. They weren't growling and hissing at them: they were struggling wildly with each other, to try and be the first to answer Luna's call.

"Enough!" Luna shouted, seeming to look straight at the fighting demons, and they all froze before the sapphire mare snapped: "Step into reality and present thyselves to me!"

The demons all glowered as they parted, but they were quick to obey, all three of them studying Luna with interest. Scrivener Blooms looked moodily at the trio, blinking his eyes a few times as he tried to force away his half-curse of seeing 'beneath the masks,' as he always called it: looking into a demon's emotions wasn't always pleasant, because their emotions, their passions, were so powerful.

One demon looked like a gorgeous, light-purple earth pony, but with a ram's horns and cloven hooves. Her mane was the same pink as her eyes, which were currently glaring at the enormous, muscular black goat beside her, who looked sourly back down at her as he pawed a hoof slowly at the ground. His size was what truly marked him as a demon, more than the small bony thorns sticking up out of his shoulders and all down his hunched back... well, that and the sharp maw of teeth.

The last demon was a little apart from the two... and Scrivener Blooms realized after a moment that it wasn't actually a demon at all, but some kind of evil spirit. Or maybe 'evil spirit' was going a little far: the creature looked like the skeleton of a deer, but brambles and thick vines twined around its limbs and through its ribcage, many of these thorny, and a few with dark, dried-looking blossoms. It had no antlers, and it eyes glowed with strange, poisonous blue light as Luna asked sourly: "Well, Scrivy. What mighty servants of the night have we here?"

"Such a powerful darkness... and oh, what a handsome stallion..." purred the demon mare, and she stepped forwards, her eyes locked with interest on Scrivener Blooms. "And he's not at all afraid of us, even though he's... oh, your poor hooves..."

The demon slipped forwards, then blinked and hissed over her shoulder, glaring furiously at the goat as it grabbed her tail and said sourly in a rumbling baritone: "Knock it off, teeny-bopper, I was here first. Besides, shouldn't you be scared of what your false goddess Hel will do to you when she finds out you helped Luna Brynhild?"

The mare – a succubus, Scrivener was easily able to identify her as – turned quickly back forwards, and then her eyes slowly went as round and large as plates as she began to shiver violently in excitement, grinning so wide Scrivener though the top of her head was going to pop off. Twilight Sparkle looked less than comfortable, and the goat demon rolled his eyes before the strange, dark spirit that was lurking off to the side asked in a squeaky hiss: "What is Brown Hilt?"

"Brynhild." Luna enunciated slowly and sourly, and then she shook her head with a grumble before frowning over at the strange spirit, asking after a moment: "What precisely art thou, creature? I sense... demonic magic about thee, but also the power of nature herself. It makes for a strange amalgamation in thee..."

Both demons looked sourly at the dark spirit as it only slowly cocked its head, staring at Luna before it rasped: "Brown Hilt."

"Brynhild... Brynhild!" Luna snapped in a frustrated voice, and when the dark spirit only continued to stare at her, she groaned and rolled her eyes, then looked grouchily over at the other demons. "And a succubus and an... ogre."

"I am not an ogre, I am a Knight of Hell." the goat demon said moodily as he straightened imperiously and touched his own chest, glaring down at Luna. "I am Sunder. And I do not fear you, Luna Brynhild... this is not a world where you are well known and Hel herself has no power."

"Then how does thou know of me?" Luna asked grumpily, and then she shook her head slowly and sighed tiredly, dropping her head forwards and mumbling: "The dregs of the teacup. And apparently 'twas a weak tea at that."

Sunder glared, and the dark spirit stared, and the succubus giggled before she waved a hoof and looked happily at Luna. "I'll be anything you want, Luna Brynhild! You just ignore Sunder here, he's just still mad about being exiled a few centuries ago, and that silly spirit is just a piece of leftover necromancy. But oh, I used to pray to Hel, you know, and here you are!"

"Yes, Volus, and as I just said, Hel has declared Luna Brynhild is not be aided." Sunder growled, shaking his head sourly.

"I thought thou just said this is a world where Hel has no power, ogre." Luna frowned, and the goat demon ground his teeth together in frustration, glaring at her. But before he could speak, the sapphire mare turned meditative eyes back to the succubus, asking slowly: "And thou art a wild demon, art thou not? No, more than that, thou art a heretic."

"That's mean." the succubus pouted a little, shaking her head quickly before Volus touched her own chest, staring almost pleadingly at Luna. "It's not my fault I was born here instead of in Helheim! My parents were exiles too... but I was always a good girl. I always tried my hardest to remember to pray to Hel and to ask her for forgiveness, but now that you're here... it must be a sign!"

Luna blinked slowly at this, and then Volus awkwardly looked up and pointed at the broken soulstone prosthetic, asking hesitantly: "Hel didn't do that to you, right?"

"Hel did not do that to me, no." Luna said crankily, and then she jerked her head at Scrivener Blooms, who winced a little as Luna said blandly: "If any of thee truly desire to aid me, thou will help me heal my husband. We were engaged in a battle with... a terrible foe, who dropped us into this world for more reasons than I see were clear at first. This planet is not directly connected to the other layers of reality, is it?"

Sunder shook his head, the goat demon measuring Luna with his eyes before he answered slowly: "Not precisely. Hel has a one-way portal that she pushes her... undesirables into. Those who displease her personally for some reason, who she decides on whim not to have her Inquisitors deal with. There is no way back for the demons who are thrown here, and neither Heaven nor Hell have any real power here."

Luna nodded and shivered a little as Scrivener Blooms muttered: "So there are worlds that Valhalla would be blind to... and Gymbr can clearly access them. Hel seems to be able to, too, but... maybe Gymbr can actually see us..."

"I do not want to think about it. Cease thinking about it, poet." Luna grumbled, then she shook her head quickly and turned with a quiet sigh towards the demons. Volus was still looking at them like they were a godsend – no pun intended – while Sunder was carefully sizing them up and... well, Scrivener wasn't entirely sure what the last creature was doing. Drooling a little, it looked like.

The stallion leaned awkwardly back, shaking his head a bit before the sapphire mare turned her own eyes on the dark spirit, sizing it up again before she asked moodily: "So if thou art some... failed necromancy, does that mean thou wert tossed into this world and simply left to wander? And who created thee and for what purpose?"

The strange creature only stared at them, and Volus gave a roll of her eyes as Sunder grumbled: "You'll get no useful answer from him. He's nothing but a failed project from Helheim... a fusion of necromancy and nature. We call him Decay."

"Decay." Luna repeated in a moody voice, and then she shook her head slowly before the sapphire mare frowned moodily over the two demons, realizing... "The three of thee seem awfully familiar with each other. Why is this, ogre?"

Sunder fixed a horrible look on Luna, and Scrivener Blooms slowly looked over at the sapphire mare before Volus piped up: "Because in order to survive in this world, we demons have to form bands. There are powerful elementals, guardian spirits, and other bigger, meaner demons who are always trying to prey on us. And if we're destroyed here, there's nowhere to go... at least, none of us think there is. Oh, I know! You should come to the Red Altar! That's where we hold prayer meetings for Hel, and you're like our divine answer to our prayers!"

The sapphire winged unicorn scowled at this, shaking her head shortly. "I am no answer to any prayer, and while I would not mind finding better demons than a few misfits who were apparently in the area, I also do not serve Hel."

"As I've been repeating to you, idiot child, Hel has decreed Luna Brynhild and her companions shall be excommunicated." the goat-demon growled, and Volus looked grouchily up at him before he shook his head slowly and grumbled: "You need to better choose your alliances, little girl. Although I want to make it clear here and now that I have no interest in working with you over the long term, Luna Brynhild. But if you can make my life a little easier, and all I have to do in return is fix the broken stallion, then we can work out a fair deal."

Volus snorted at this, shaking her head quickly before the succubus turned her eyes towards Luna and Scrivener, looking at them almost desperately and not seeming to really see the Pale of Twilight Sparkle as the ghost studied the demons with more... curiousness now than anything else, Scrivy thought. Which would normally be a good thing, but... his mangled claws were really starting to hurt like hell, and he wasn't able to find the antics of these three quite as amusing as she probably did. "No, no, no! I prayed to Hel for salvation, but Hel never came... but Brynhild is here. That must be a sign, Sunny, a sign that we should follow them, not Hel!"

Luna sighed tiredly... then frowned when Decay strode suddenly towards her, staring over her with his strange, glowing-pit eyes. The sapphire mare looked steadily back, muzzle wrinkling up slightly in distaste, and then the dark spirit's eyes roved towards Twilight Sparkle, staring at her as she stared back. Sunder seemed to realize something else was there as the demon-goat rumbled uneasily, while Volus was only smiling widely, clearing hoping she could somehow impress them... and then Decay flopped doggishly down on his stomach, looking up at Twilight with clear servility.

The Lich winced and shifted over towards Luna, looking at her anxiously, and Luna only grinned slightly... before she looked down in surprise as Decay turned towards her, cocking its head for a moment before settling and looking up at her with the same almost-serene submission. Volus and Sunder both stared down at the dark spirit, and Luna cleared her throat awkwardly before she asked slowly: "Art thou... my servant?"

"Yes." Decay answered without hesitation, and when his eyes turned back to Twilight's spirit, Luna realized that Decay seemed to be taking his cues from the Pale. She didn't know why or how, but since Decay had seen Twilight turning to Luna for silent advice, Decay himself – or itself, or... well, Luna really wasn't sure precisely how to refer to the creature – was looking at Luna as a leader to follow. As someone to obey.

The sapphire mare grimaced, then opened her mouth... before closing it slowly, looking thoughtfully at Decay. He was corrupted nature, death-made-alive... and hesitantly, the winged unicorn pawed against the mire before saying almost abruptly: "Scrivener Blooms is hurt. Do what thou can to tend to his pain."

The dark spirit picked itself up, then calmly strode over to Scrivener Blooms as the stallion winced backwards, shaking his head and saying awkwardly: "Uh, Luna, I don't think that you should be sending the evil spirit named 'Decay' to try and-"

Without hesitating, Decay rose a hoof, and vines stretched suddenly off his limb and tangled around one of Scrivener's forelegs, yanking it up and twisting rapidly around around his claws and lower leg as the stallion's eyes bulged with agony.

He could feel thorns sinking through his hide as the brambles constricted his limb, the stallion giving a curse of pain as his eyes widened in horror. He tried to yank backwards as Luna bared her own fangs in pain, clutching her limb up against her chest as bloody divots formed over it, but Decay clung tenaciously on, the dark spirit only continuing to gaze emptily at Scrivener until the stallion finally felt the vines loosen, and he was able to tear free.

He looked down at his foreleg, staring at it for a moment before he glared up at Decay, opening his mouth and pointing at the creature... and then he stared slowly down. It looked even worse than before, it was mangled and bleeding, but there was no pain. Decay had numbed his nerves and at least taken away the pain for now.

The charcoal earth pony started to open his mouth... and Decay simply swept up his other foreleg with his vines, nearly yanking Scrivener off his hooves as the earth pony shouted a curse and Luna Brynhild winced, then dropped her head with a tired sigh. Maybe these new allies weren't entirely useless after all... but as Twilight stared at the sight of Decay's idea of being helpful and Luna Brynhild rubbed moodily at a freshly-bleeding foreleg, she wondered morbidly if they would be better off trying to make friends with the griffins after all.

Chapter Twenty One: A Dangerous Road Home

~BlackRoseRaven

Late that night, Luna sat in front of a burning blue fire, looking a little more satisfied with their situation. They had been joined by no less than four Nightmares, and Volus had made herself useful and gotten them food, while Sunder sat grouchily on the other side of the flames, the giant goat demon eying the Nightmares distrustfully.

Decay was... well, he wasn't sleeping, Luna thought, but he was flopped down beside the sapphire mare, resting complacently on the ground. Twilight Sparkle had retreated for the moment into the black pearl in the mare's collar, and Scrivener Blooms was sitting on her other side, chewing slowly on a cooked fish as Volus gazed at him with eagerness.

Then Luna glanced up quickly at a flickering through the trees, but she settled after a moment as she realized it was just a Pale, silently wandering the forest. Then a Nightmare leaned in, saying tenderly: "Do not worry, Mistress. The griffins do not wander the forest at night... they are afraid of the spirits that wander here."

"Ghosts are too well known in this world; in our world, the existence of Pales are still questioned. Apparently 'tis easier to believe in demons and that the living dead are made through magic than that our loved ones may wander the world when we die, instead of rising to Heaven or falling to Hell." Luna halted, then reached up and caressed her black pearl gently, murmuring: "Or maybe that is it. We simply do not desire to believe our loved ones may become trapped in purgatory."

"But you know and appreciate the truth, Luna Brynhild. Sometimes that too can be paradise." said one of the Nightmares softly, and the sapphire mare looked mildly over at the smoky equine before she simply grunted and shrugged.

There was silence for a moment, and then Scrivener tossed the mostly-eaten fish into the fire with a sigh, watching the way the blue flames charred it but didn't actually begin to burn and break it down. Then he winced a bit when Volus leaned in and dabbed lightly at his mouth with a cloth, almost purring: "And now what would you like for dessert, Lord Scrivener?"

Sunder only rolled his eyes, saying moodily: "He doesn't want you, prostitute. You know what amuses me about all of you, though? You all expect to go with Luna Brynhild when she leaves, to join her mythical world of demons. Well, Luna Brynhild is neither a savior nor a messenger of Hel. You will be committing blasphemy."

Volus huffed at this, looking up and retorting: "How do you know, Sunder? You can't see into our Mistress' mind, and furthermore, how can you even be so sure that your crystal ball doesn't just tell you what Hel wants you to hear?"

Sunder looked sour at this, and Luna grumbled and shook her head before she said pointedly: "I have yet to decide precisely what I am going to do, Sunder, so do not speak for me. Volus, thou art annoying." Luna moodily looked over the two as they both sulked, then she absently started to stroke along Decay's spine, the dark spirit's skeletal frame relaxing completely as the sapphire mare continued: "First, we must gather the materials necessary to build a snare. Then we must lure in a Reaper to the trap to take away its scythe. 'Twill not be easy without my horn."

Scrivener Blooms grunted, and then he looked uneasily down at one of his claws; they were in terrible shape, and they were starting to hurt again, and his forelimbs were beginning to look... infected... but Decay was able to numb his nerves for hours at a time, which let him kind of use his powers and move around the few digits that still worked.

Luna had rebroken all his claws, and one was wrapped completely in cloth bandages the Nightmares had stolen from somewhere, while the other was partly splinted, but with only a few of his digits wrapped up. And both he and Luna were afraid of what was going to happen to him if they couldn't get this taken care of soon...

But they didn't have a lot of choices at the moment open to them: he and Luna had discussed heading to the Red Altar, where demons apparently gathered, but getting in a fight with some higher-tier demons right now would be a great way to get themselves killed. So they had decided to rely on their misfit band here, and the Nightmares that were apparently drawn to Luna and were eager to think of her already as 'big sister.'

Scrivener Blooms flexed a claw slowly as he looked over at these dark shapes: life was such a strange path. He smiled briefly when one Nightmare turned its eyes towards him, and felt only a little creeped out by how much the Nightmare seemed to light up at that small gesture of kindness from him.

Then the stallion dropped his gaze and asked hesitantly: "Are you sure about this, Luna? My powers aren't working properly and I'm still losing blood. And this plan you have with Twilight is... a little bit stupid, to be entirely honest."

"Aye, 'tis. But aren't all our best plans nothing but stupid hope?" Luna asked ironically, and then she looked down at Decay as she realized she was petting the dark spirit, and she halted for a moment... then grumbled when Decay rose his head and stared up at her, and the sapphire mare went back to stroking along his spine, muttering: "Oh, great idiot. Thou had best be useful against a Reaper thyself. Thou art... living death. I cannot wait to see Kismet's reaction."

"His reaction is just going to frustrate you." Scrivener remarked mildly, and Luna huffed loudly at this before the charcoal stallion shook his head and looked moodily down at one aching claw. "I hate that you have a point, though. Every time we try and act smart something bad happens. Every time we act dumb we seem to get away with things."

The sapphire mare nodded a few times in agreement, and then Luna sighed and turned her eyes towards the Nightmares, gesturing at them moodily. "So far, thy kind has proven the most useful. I would like if thou could continue to be so, and fetch us some important materials. Can thou carry iron and silver if 'tis wrapped in cloth?"

"We can levitate it, although it's difficult... but anything you desire, we shall find the way to do." one of the Nightmares murmured, bowing her head low, and the others nodded.

"I can touch it!" Volus said quickly, waving a hoof brightly, and Luna scowled over at the succubus, but the demon only smiled brightly. "No, I can, I really can! Daddy was a mortal. I have a lot of half-demon traits."

Luna looked surprised at this, but then she nodded hesitantly and said finally: "Then perhaps thou can be of some use to me after all. Reapers are not servants of darkness, so 'twill require more than dark magic to draw one in. Fetch me the trappings used for funeral rites from a temple, it matters not the religion. Only that they are consecrated and real."

Volus nodded eagerly, smiling brightly before the succubus leapt backwards and transformed into a black mist that shot up into the air. Luna nodded firmly at this, then she turned her eyes towards the Nightmares, saying softly: "And thou should know thy job as well. Fetch me rods of iron and silver... if the griffin camp is as large as thou hast said, I am sure thou shall find an abundance of such 'round the smithy."

The Nightmares all smiled and vanished, and Sunder only shook his head with a grumble, then he glanced up sourly as Luna asked flatly: "And what of thou, ogre? Can thou do anything at all that is useful, or art thou just going to sit there and sulk?"

Sunder gave a sour rumble at this, and then he replied shortly: "I have already done more than enough for you, I think. I am not a friend of Hel, but I do not wish to make an enemy of her, either. Neutrality is a cherished treasure."

"Aye, especially after thou hast been exiled by thy former queen, and now thou works as a merchant of knowledge like a greed demon instead of following thy actual nature, foul beast." Luna said grumpily, leaning back against Decay. Then she paused and looked thoughtfully down at the dark spirit, before sitting up and saying firmly: "Play dead."

Decay stared up at her with his blank eyes... and then the light whiffed out before the skeleton collapsed, the vines going still and silent over the jumble of bones. Luna covered her muzzle and giggled childishly as Scrivener Blooms looked sourly at the sapphire mare, before she hurriedly cleared her throat and patted Decay awkwardly. "Thou art performing admirably. Well done, creature. That is very well done, and precisely part of how we shall draw in the reaper."

Decay's bones shuddered, then the vines over his body spasmed before the dark spirit's body tightened, the creature picking itself up and simply nodding to Luna before it complacently settled itself back beside her. Scrivener Blooms sighed and shook his head, and Sunder looked less-than-pleased before he said grudgingly: "If it will help get rid of you faster, then I will be more than happy to supply a few other tokens from Helheim to attract Pales."

"And a reaper will be drawn by the energy, aye." Luna nodded slowly, then she sized Sunder up meditatively: "And what does thou want in return, ogre?"

"For one, I desire for you to stop referring to me as that." Sunder said crankily, and then he pointed at Scrivener and said moodily: "For another, I desire two vials of blood from him, and two vials from you, Brynhild. A trophy of sorts."

"I think not. One vial, each, to ensure thou does not sell the other vials of our blood to some overeager Blood Seer." Luna said crankily, and the creature growled in irritation, but then nodded grumpily. The sapphire mare nodded firmly at this, then she said pointedly: "And thou had best not attempt to call upon us some time in the future for thy own amusement. 'Twill not go over well, hear me clearly. We are not servants to be summoned."

Sunder snorted at this, retorting: "As if I would willingly call on your help, even if it meant being dragged back to Helheim in order to take part in one of Hel's 'circuses.'" Sunder replied acidly, and then he shook his head before simply vanishing from sight, although they could still hear him as he trudged away, muttering sourly: "Stupid ponies and their stupid, self-centered ideas..."

The creature's voice faded quickly, and Luna huffed a little before she looked over at Scrivener Blooms. The stallion looked back at her, then the two simply traded shrugs and awkward smiles. There was silence apart from the crackling of blue flames and what sounded almost like Decay breathing, until finally Luna leaned back with a slight smile as the black pearl in her collar glimmered for a moment before Twilight Sparkle flickered into being.

The Pale yawned quietly, stretching out slowly before she gazed warmly between the two, and Scrivener was unable to repress the tender look he gave the spirit. Seeing her just... helped him, somehow, no matter what else was going on, and even if she wasn't physically here, just a spirit... she was still present. They could still feel her with them.

Scrivener Blooms and Luna Brynhild both smiled at her, and the Pale seemed almost to blush before she turned her eyes to the blue flames. She studied them thoughtfully before concentrating visibly, and both Scrivy and Luna glanced with smiles towards the blue fire as it flared suddenly upwards when Twilight's ghostly spirit pulsed.

But just that exertion made the Pale flicker in and out of reality for a moment before she shook herself firmly, but looked relieved all the same. She could do some minor magic as a spirit, but it was far, far more exhausting for her, since she had no body to naturally contain and channel the flow of her energies. Just existing as a Pale was like keeping water in the shape of a pony with her mind alone: attempting to use magic while a Pale was like trying to not only maintain that shape, but rip out a piece of that same essence and transmogrify it into whatever she was trying to do.

So even Scrivener couldn't downplay how impressive Twilight's powers were... much as he'd like to, sometimes. And the Pale turned an amused look on him as she sensed these thoughts, but Scrivener Blooms only shrugged a little before he noted Decay was staring over at Twilight almost eagerly from the ground, and the stallion swore that if his bony tail was more than a stub he'd be wagging it. "At least the dog likes you."

Twilight rolled her eyes at this, and Luna looked thoughtfully down at Decay, which made Scrivener wince and shake his head hurriedly. "No way, we already have a pet."

"What? No we do not, Antares is usually in Heaven." Luna scoffed, and Scrivener dropped his face in a hoof as Twilight laughed silently despite herself. "And Abaddon is more like our child, Scrivy. Thou art so cruel, truly, to thy own little boy whom thou gave birth to."

"I hate you." Scrivener Blooms said flatly, and Luna huffed loudly before the stallion sighed and sat back, then he hesitated as he looked over at Twilight, asking finally: "So... are you sure about this? I mean... you're the one who's going to be in the most danger and all."

Twilight looked softly over at the stallion, and Luna huffed loudly, flailing a hoof and grumbling: "Oh, aye, Scrivener Blooms, go ahead and flirt with Twilight Sparkle so. Go ahead and make me look like I am the terrible one here, willfully putting our beloved mare at risk. Who I love far more than I love thee, by the way."

"That's fine, Luna, I feel the same way." Scrivener said mildly, and Luna glowered at him before the charcoal stallion shook his head and said finally: "I'm just worried, that's all. It just feels like something's going to go wrong, you know?"

Both mares nodded a little, and then Luna shook her head and murmured: "Aye, but either way, there is nothing we can really do, Scrivy. Only push forwards, and hope for the very best... 'tis not a good situation to be in, but it could be far worse, too, I think. We have allies... allies I even dare to trust, for the most part."

Twilight Sparkle nodded with a smile, and the charcoal stallion grunted before he flexed a claw slowly and grimaced a little. Luna sighed at this, shaking her head before she glanced down at Decay, saying softly: "Scrivy requires another injection. And be gentle this time, creature."

Decay picked itself calmly up, then strode around the fire, eyes locked on Scrivener Blooms as the stallion grimaced before sitting back and awkwardly holding up his front hooves, mumbling: "Thanks, really. I think."

The creature only halted and stared at Scrivener Blooms for a moment, then it sat heavily on its bony rump and reached both front hooves up. Short strands of vine snaked out along its forelimbs, reaching and curling around Scrivener's claws and the joint before they both squeezed firmly, and the stallion cursed quietly under his breath, dropping his head forwards as he felt the thorns sinking through his hide.

But he shortly felt his nerves going numb, and the stallion closed his eyes and forced himself to relax despite the fact he could feel pulses of pain traveling from his elbows to his shoulders. He could also see those... ugly blue lines that were his veins growing, worsening, and he was as well aware as Luna was that Decay might be able to take away the pain, but he also seemed to be making the infection growing through his forelegs worse.

After a few minutes, Decay's vines slithered back around the creature's own limbs, and it stepped back, studying Scrivener intently. The stallion looked awkwardly back, then he nodded a little and mumbled: "Well, uh. Thank you."

Decay only nodded slowly again, and then it turned around and simply flopped over peacefully, resting its skull across its crossed forelegs. Scrivener looked moodily down at the creature, then he sighed a little and absently reached out to stroke along its spine, muttering: "Maybe I should lay down a patch of mire while we have the chance. It doesn't seem to be taking very well, though, but... I don't know if that's because this world feels so weird, or if it's because my own powers aren't exactly... functioning very well right now."

Luna Brynhild nodded slowly, then she glanced over at Twilight Sparkle as the Pale caught her eye, then hesitantly pointed at her broken soulstone prosthetic. The sapphire mare blinked in surprise at this, trying to look up before she shook her head quickly and said finally: "Well... I do not know..."

Scrivener frowned as well, as he caught enough of Twilight's thoughts whispering through his mind to know what she meant. "That's... well, I dunno. I guess it couldn't hurt to try... but I highly doubt you're going to be able to do a whole lot with it, Luna..."

Twilight nodded encouragingly all the same, and Scrivy and Luna traded lame looks before the stallion sighed as he stepped back a bit, a little away from the fire, and he pushed one claw against the ground. He winced as he concentrated his powers downwards, creating a small puddle of black mire as his veins sizzled with pain and he felt his nerves warning him against using his powers much further even through the numbness that had shrouded them.

But thankfully, he didn't think it would take a whole lot more anyway, as he carefully made a slow upwards-pulling motion and concentrated. The mire trembled, then crystallized as it twisted upwards, transforming into a false horn in the shape of Luna's old prosthetic before the stallion grasped this and pulled it free as Luna approached.

He didn't have to say anything as she quickly lowered her head, Scrivener turning and plugging the dripping, not-as-solid base into the broken end of the prosthetic, the semisolid goop acting like cement and melding corrupt crystal to shattered soulstone. Then both Luna and Scrivener flinched and gasped at the spark of pain that ran through Luna's skull, before she arched her back, eyes widening in shock as the black gemstone lit up with nightmarish luminescence.

The dark energy pulsed through the field, Decay staggering up to its hooves and hissing as it drew hurriedly back, and Twilight Sparkle only gaping and staring, a shiver of... was that excitement? Because Luna could feel it, too: excitement, adrenaline, energy pounding through her veins as she shuddered before grinning widely, raising the black crystal horn higher as her eyes began to glow...

And then the light fizzled out of the dark crystal prosthetic, and Luna and Scrivener both stared dumbly upwards at this before the winged unicorn frowned as the excitement and energy faded. She reached up and knocked twice against the horn, then grimaced in surprise, drawing her hoof hurriedly away as she felt something... sticky.

She stared dumbly as she realized that the prosthetic had partially melted just from the energy running through it, and Luna groaned and shook the waxy corruption off her hoof, looking disgusted. Scrivener winced as well, reaching up and touching the horn gently, and it shivered at his touch... which caused Luna's whole body to quiver before she blushed slightly as she glowered over at the stallion, mumbling: "'Tis... 'tis sensitive."

Scrivener Blooms smiled despite himself at this, and Luna blushed deeper before her mouth fell open and her whole body quaked for a moment when Scrivener stroked up the black crystal, making it reverberate as it rehardened into dark gemstone. Euphoria burst in waves through Luna's mind before she turned scarlet as she shoved Scrivener away, mumbling: "Thou... thou art not allowed to do such things, foul Scrivener Blooms. Touch me not."

Twilight Sparkle herself was swaying almost delightedly, a silly smile on her face before she cleared her throat silently as Scrivener grinned over at her. The Pale hurriedly shook herself out, then awkwardly reached up and poked her own horn, and both Scrivener and Luna managed to become a little more serious as the sapphire mare nodded and muttered: "Aye. The cap cannot survive the full extent of my power, but perhaps 'twill survive long enough to allow for some magic..."

Luna reached up and absently brushed through her light-blue hairs of her mane, then she shook her head briefly as she muttered: "Damnation. If only 'twas enough to get rid of my stupid mane, 'twould be enough. Scrivy, find a sharp rock and let us shave this ridiculous mane away."

Scrivener Blooms sighed at this, then he gestured moodily at Luna to turn around, and the mare huffed but did so. The stallion stepped up behind her, then grimaced as he slowly pulled her mane back and began to twist the hairs into a rough braid. "You can't shave with a sharp rock, Luna."

"Can so. I have done it before." Luna declared, looking forwards as Twilight Sparkle shook her head slowly, then the winged unicorn smiled a little before she asked softly: "Would thou mind scouting the area, sweet Twilight? 'Tis easier for thee than us, and I am lazy. And our wife is busily taking care of my hair, as thou can see."

The Pale smiled and shook her head slowly, then she simply vanished from sight, and Scrivener sighed a little as he tugged gently on the mare's mane, murmuring: "One of these days, Luna, I might actually be offended by something you say. Then I'll have to divorce you."

"I will kill thee before I allow such a thing to happen. Were we divorced, thou would be entitled to half my treasures. 'Twould be a crime to allow all that candy to be stolen away." the sapphire mare responded softly, and Scrivener Blooms smiled despite himself before he fumblingly knotted her braided mane, cursing under his breath at how much it stung his claws to do so.

He sat back, and Luna shook her head out, then smiled over her shoulder at him before turning around and quietly bopping him with her crystalline horn. Scrivener winced, and yet felt strangely reassured by the gesture at the same time before Luna said softly: "I will need thou to push through the pain at least a little bit for me, though, Scrivy. Thou will do so, aye?"

Scrivener gave her a quietly-amused look, and Luna shrugged, giving him an entertained look. "Well, thou always does thy best when thou art a little patronized and a little frustrated with me. Thou becomes very determined. 'Tis rather delightful, really."

The stallion sighed a little at this, but he nodded after a moment before looking down at one mangled claw, studying it silently, and the poisoned veins radiating along his foreleg. Then his eyes roved up, and he asked quietly as their gazed locked: "And what about you, Luna? Do you promise to do the same?"

Luna huffed at him, but then she nodded and smiled faintly after a moment, murmuring: "I do, Scrivener Blooms, damned idiot. I shall do whatever is necessary to make our way home, and afterwards to fight against Gymbr... even if it means..."

Luna bit her lip, looking down... and then she grumbled and closed her eyes, mumbling: "Even if it means we must ally ourselves with Hel. The thought is loathsome, but all the same... aye, we do not have the luxury of picking and choosing our allies, so much as we might like to."

Scrivener Blooms smiled, and the sapphire mare huffed at him before mumbling: "I am not a complete fool, Scrivy. I know that sometimes I must do what is in the interests of others, and not just what mine own foul pride calls for."

The charcoal stallion only shrugged a bit at this, then he leaned forwards and kissed the base of her horn gently, and Luna smiled a bit before stepping forwards and burying her face against his neck as he slipped a foreleg around her and held her close. And there was only silence for a little while as the two rested in the flickering blue firelight together, hoping against hope that they would be able to find a way back to their own world before Gymbr could bring his plans to fruition.

After Twilight returned, she went back to rest: this time inside the ponies she was soulbound to. It was dangerous for her to spend too long inside her living phylacteries, but short periods of time would rejuvenate her much faster and more effectively than just lingering in an object close by.

Volus was the first of the demons to return, and she came back with quite a few relics taken from the griffins. The Nightmares arrived shortly after, looking proud of themselves: two of them were wearing satchel bags filled with iron bars also taken from the griffin base, and Luna reflected wryly that it was fortunate, really, they had run into that patrol: she was always more hesitant about stealing from strangers, but she didn't mind ripping off an encampment likely composed of rude, self-proclaimed masters of the skies.

Sunder loitered his way back an hour or so before the sun was to rise, bringing with him a strange incense burner shaped like a coiled golden serpent. He set this up while ignoring all of the insults Luna flung at him for taking so long, continually shoving Volus away as she tried to poke at the different parts of the burner.

They had already set up the 'stage' that the snare would rest on, so to speak: a pond of mire that Decay was already sitting calmly in, waiting to be given the order. Not that he could leave even if he wanted to: Luna had submerged the iron rods an inch or so into the mire in a circle. Normally it was a kind of snare meant only for demons and spirits, but Twilight Sparkle would hopefully have enough strength to cast a spell that would allow it to hold a reaper at bay long enough for them to take away its scythe and pummel it into submission.

After Sunder lit the incense burner and the sweet-smelling perfume began to cloy the air, Luna turned her eyes to the Nightmares, saying softly: "Twilight Sparkle can perform the initial spell, but she will not be able to hold the barrier for long, as she has a much-different task. That is where thy aid shall be required. I do not think I have to remind thee that the reaper will not take kindly to being attacked, and if it escapes that trap, it will seek to claim all our souls as punishment."

"We know, Mistress. But we are not afraid." one of the Nightmares said softly, bowing its head and smiling almost tenderly. "We know you shall succeed. And we have no desire to fail you."

Luna grunted and nodded moodily, then she looked over at Volus and said mildly: "Light those candles, and sprinkle the holy water thou hast brought, and speak a prayer: it does not matter to whom or what. Then, and only after these things have been done, light the mixture I have left in the black bowl in front of the phoenix pinions thou hast brought me."

Volus nodded eagerly, turning to hurry and begin lighting the candles around the perimeter of the snare. Pales were already beginning to appear, drawn by the strange smell but staying to watch what was going on with silent curiosity, and Luna felt a strange twist in her stomach: both from guilt, because she was sure some of these specters thought they were opening a path for them to move on, and from memories rising of when she and Scrivener Blooms had helped in reviving a world they had thought lost forever.

She shook her head hurriedly before glancing over at Decay, ordering calmly: "Play dead. Do not stir, even if the reaper begins to drain thee. Do not move until Twilight Sparkle raises the barrier. Then thou may aid us if thou can, but the reaper must not be killed, and the scythe must not be damaged, does thou understand?"

"Yes, Brown Hilt." Decay nodded several times, and Luna rolled her eyes before the skeleton simply collapsed into the mire, vines settling around the loose bones. She studied this moodily for a few moments, then shook her head slowly as she felt Twilight Sparkle stirring inside her.

She heard her whispers; less a voice, more like... emotions, images made into a blur of sound that just made some strange kind of sense in her mind. Scrivener could hear it too, and he smiled a bit as Luna soothed gently: "'Tis fine yet, Twilight. Scrivy, keep thy eyes open... Sunder, get thee hence. The reaper may not care about us being here but thou art useless."

Sunder growled loudly, then he simply vanished from sight, his heavy footsteps moving quickly away from them. Scrivener Blooms looked mildly over at Luna, but the sapphire mare only grunted, looking pointedly back. "He is not actually leaving, thou and I can both hear the great plodding idiot. Besides, either way he will certainly linger behind. He will want his prize, after all. Now open thy eyes. Thou and Twilight Sparkle are the only ones who will be able to see the reaper."

Scrivener Blooms nodded after a moment, closing his eyes tightly and taking a slow breath as he felt his mind twisting and a spark of pain in his brain. And when his eyes opened and he looked around, he saw the Nightmares now looked like beautiful black ponies, and Volus was glowing and rippling with an odd, pure energy, and he could even make out the hoofprints left behind from Sunder...

But it was the Pales that drew his attention most of all. They weren't just ponies, but also griffins and other creatures, and he could see so many details in them, read their emotions, almost hear the stories they had to tell about the lives they had lived...

Then the stallion winced a bit when Luna pointedly poked him with her black-crystal horn, and he looked over at her lamely as he snapped out of his reverie. It was hard not to become distracted just by the sight of her alone, though: she was so darkly beautiful in his vision, like she was made out of the night sky and thrumming with power...

He shook his head hurriedly, then he quickly scanned the area as Luna studied him for a moment before nodding with a grunt of approval as she double-checked that everyone was in place before reaching up and slowly stroking her black pearl in a nervous gesture as Twilight shifted silently inside of her.

The congregation of Pales was growing, and Volus was humming a prayer softly as she smiled to herself, clearly enjoying her role. She was taking her time, but it was a good thing, Luna thought: it gave them all the time they needed to settle in, and helped bait the trap.

The succubus flicked her claws over the black bowl filled with a compound Luna had carefully created from what she'd been able to scavenge and taken from her more-than-willing helpers. With only the barest spark of magic, the bowl burst into sapphire flames, flaring sharply before it quickly settled into an almost-liquid pool that swirled and twisted with a beauty all its own.

Volus cooed at this, and then looked up as Luna said clearly: "Retreat, succubus. We do not wish to give the reaper any hint that there is a trap laying here in wait, nor any provocation. We must make our bait look as appetizing as possible."

The succubus smiled, then she pranced quickly around the snare and headed over towards Scrivener Blooms, sidling right up to him, and the stallion winced back a bit in surprise at the strangely-glowing demon. "Is this far enough away, Lady Luna?"

Luna grumbled moodily, and Scrivener cleared his throat as he looked up, pointedly ignoring the demonic mare. He went back to scanning the area even as he felt the succubus attempting to slip herself against him, half-drawing his attention with how strangely... bright she was. She wasn't like any demon he had ever seen before, with her aura...

"Thou art distracting my husband." Luna said grumpily, and when Volus looked at her sulkily, the sapphire mare rolled her eyes and beckoned at the succubus. "Oh, fine, little harpy. Come here and cuddle up with thy mistress, if thou must."

Volus almost squealed in delight, bouncing happily over towards the winged unicorn, and Scrivener couldn't stop his eyes from following the demon, seeing an earnest desire to please mixed in with silly, almost filly-like excitement and simple optimistic cheer...

And then Volus collided with a dark shape floating slowly through the area, and Scrivener's eyes widened at how the demon passed through it without seeming to notice the presence. And likewise, this dark thing, this living absence of light and form, paid no heed to the Nightmares or the ponies or even the Pales, even though the ghosts were all staring at the dark shape with a mix of awe and supplication.

It was a reaper, a force of reckoning and death. It was a creature that lacked the same emotions of those same beings it was supposed to ferry between worlds and into the Void, and who were drawn to congregations of spiritual energy and particularly-potent lost souls, seeking to remove them from the fabric of physical reality; sometimes to simply bring the to the next stage of life and death, other times to present these captured energy forms as payment and tribute to whatever forces they served.

Scrivener Blooms could see it – even if only as an amorphous shadow with how far outside reality it was at the moment – and through her husband, Luna saw it too, her eyes locking on a creature that could step further into the ether than most demons or spirits could, although the Pales were aware of its presence. They watched as the reaper was drawn towards Decay, lured by the energy in the air and the magic they had performed.

It passed over the stage of the snare, and Twilight Sparkle flickered into being beside Luna, the Pale setting herself and beginning to glow with energy as the shadow stretched down towards Decay... then suddenly halted. Luna and Scrivener both frowned... and then, before anyone could react, the reaper suddenly shot away from Decay and straight for Twilight Sparkle, apparently sensing her intent as it flickered into reality.

Silver claws drew a long scythe back as its smoky, tattered cloak rippled through the air with its speed, its eyes pits of blue flames burning out of a metallic beast-skull mask. The Nightmares all immediately panicked at the sight of this thing in reality, stumbling back and forth all over each other as Volus shrieked in surprise and Luna snarled, stepping forwards and sweeping her horn out as she poured all the magic she had into one spell-

Her horn exploded, sending shards of crystallized corruption and a few flecks of soulstone in all directions as the mare was knocked backwards, features badly seared and one ear bleeding. She couldn't even scream, landing on her back and skidding over the ground as an enormous wave of blue flames ripped through the air. The Pale of Twilight cried silently out as she was nicked by the spirit-eating flames, white mist bursting up from the wound in the specter, but the reaper took the hardest hit from the blast.

It was knocked flying out of the air with a rasping howl of pain, scythe flying from its grip and cloaked body bursting into blue fire as it crashed to the ground and rolled violently backwards. Without its scythe, the reaper was left almost defenseless and trapped in physical reality, rolling wildly back and forth as Luna managed to shout through the ringing tearing through her mind: "Hold... hold it down!"

Scrivener Blooms staggered forwards despite his own blurred vision and the pain thundering through his body, the stallion gritting his teeth as the reaper managed to shake off the last of the blue flames and fling itself in the direction of its scythe. But Scrivener leapt forward as well, and he managed to snag its cloak and firmly yank it face-first into the ground.

But the creature was fast, hurriedly wriggling out of its grip and jumping out of the way when Scrivener tried to tackle it, the stallion instead skidding face-first through the field as the reaper lunged for its scythe again. A Nightmare, however, plowed into the reaper in midair, knocking it away from its scythe before the other semicorporeal creatures smashed into it one after the other.

All the same, the reaper managed to quickly regain its claws, scurrying once more for its weapon... but finally, Volus managed to tackle the reaper from behind and shove it face-first into the ground, denting in its mask before she firmly dropped her rump and full weight on the back of its skull. The reaper's head was almost crushed into the soft ground, flailing its arms wildly as Luna and Scrivener both stared, and the succubus asked brightly over her shoulder: "Did I do good?"

Scrivener Blooms sighed tiredly as he shut his eyes, feeling the pain in them gradually fading before he opened them and blinked a few times, everything once more seeming normal... and as two Nightmares helped restrain the reaper and the other two picked up its long scythe to proudly carry it over to Luna, the stallion finally nodded and said wryly: "Yeah, I guess you kind of did."

Volus beamed brightly, clapping her front hooves childishly together as Luna rolled her eyes, but then smiled as she was offered the scythe. She sat back, taking it and cradling it easily in one foreleg against her shoulder, then she gestured easily with her over hoof at the entities restraining the reaper. "There. Get thee gone. Twilight Sparkle, art thou alright? And... damnation, Decay, so much for the loyal hound thou art supposed to be!"

The charcoal stallion looked mildly for a moment at the dark spirit, which was still playing dead in the trap, and then he turned more-concerned eyes to Twilight Sparkle. But the Pale smiled a little, shaking her head briefly at the faint scar in the leg of her spirit, and the two nodded hesitantly. She was okay, just a little embarrassed by the way everything had gone to hell, but Luna only laughed quietly as she murmured: "Nay, fear not, my gorgeous mare. 'Tis not at all thy fault, 'tis my own for not taking into account the energy thou must emit when charging thy magic. It must have understood what thou wert doing."

Twilight nodded, then she silently reached up and touched the shattered base of soulstone horn, and Luna smiled faintly and closed her eyes. "Nay, that too is mine own fault... I knew 'twas fragile and all the same I put too much power into the magic. But it saves thee from having to use thy magic to pin the reaper down and... I am sure Scrivy is happy that the danger for thee 'twas less after all."

"Or more, technically. But it wasn't your fault at least, Luna." Scrivener said mildly, and Luna gave him a dry look as Twilight sighed silently, then turned her own worried look on Scrivener Blooms as the stallion approached . But the earth pony shook his head a little, reaching up and rubbing at his face as he murmured: "I'm perfectly fine, don't worry. We're not out of this yet, anyway."

Luna grunted in agreement, and Twilight nodded slowly. There was a moment of quiet, and then the sapphire mare finally looked over at the demon and Nightmares restraining the reaper and said calmly: "Allow it to stand. 'Twill be a good boy now, shall thou not, creature? Aye, for thy scythe contains thy very soul, and if I smash it, then I smash thee."

Volus giggled as she sprung off the reaper's head, and the Nightmares drew back with much more composure, letting the reaper crawl up to its... well, Scrivener wasn't really sure if it had feet or not in the depths of its cloak. But it stood all the same, looking at them and rasping quietly through its dented mask as it stared at them with as much intensity as Decay did, and Scrivener Blooms grimaced a bit as Luna huffed and knocked firmly twice on the pole of the scythe.

The reaper dropped its head silently, and Luna nodded with a grunt before she sighed tiredly and rolled her eyes as she noted Decay was still playing dead, the sapphire mare shouting irritably: "Stupid idiot, Decay, get up on thy hooves and come here!"

Decay snapped itself back together and stood up, arching its back for a moment as the vines over its body writhed, and then it calmly strode forwards... and bonked almost comically into an invisible barrier, stumbling backwards before it attempted to walk forwards again. It once more bumped into the invisible wall formed by the iron snare around it, and Luna groaned loudly and shook her head slowly.

"I'll get it!" Volus trilled brightly, bouncing happily over to the mire platform, and she giggled a little at the sight of Decay continuing to calmly attempt to drag himself through the barrier. Scrivener watched with dry amusement as the winged unicorn slowly rubbed at her features, looking exasperated, and then she quickly turned her attention back to the reaper, who was simply standing with one of his claws pressed against the ground, the other flexing slowly.

He was just staring at Luna, but there was no hostility there... just a strange sort of curiosity. It wasn't completely emotionless, despite the strange distance the creature had between itself and them, but it didn't look at them with hatred, either. It seemed to simply acknowledge that it was in the worse position, and it was less than happy about this fact.

Luna glanced up uneasily at the sky, noting that it was beginning to lighten. She didn't want to spend much longer here: not just because she was so worried about what might have happened with Gymbr, but because she had a feeling the griffins would be coming to look for the ponies who had attacked one of their patrols... especially since she had no doubt the griffins would be blaming ponies for all the gear that had vanished from the encampment.

The sapphire mare's eyes drew back down to the reaper, and she leaned forwards, saying clearly: "I require thee to open a portal for me. We need to go to Valhalla, does thou understand what I mean by this? It is a Heaven, upon the world of Asgard."

"Yes." the reaper whispered, bowing its head forwards, and it was silent for a few moments before it shook its head slowly. "No."

Luna frowned at this, tilting her head before she asked sharply: "What does thou mean?"

There was silence for a few moments as the reaper only breathed slowly in and out, seeming to gather its thoughts before it looked up and said in its strange, rasping voice: "There is a warning. A Great Reaper has marked this place as... poisoned. We must not enter it."

"What?" Scrivener Blooms stepped forwards, his eyes widening slightly before he asked sharply, as Luna and Twilight traded worried looks. "What do you mean? What happened?"

The reaper only shook its head, murmuring softly: "I do not know. It is marked; that is the warning. It is poison, that is the warning. I do not know anything further, and I do not ask."

Luna cursed quietly at this, then she leaned forwards, saying coldly: "So thou art not saying thou can't; thou art saying thou does not want to, is that it? Well, I am not asking thee for what thou prefers to do, reaper, I am telling thee-"

Then she glanced up as Twilight silently touched her shoulder, looking at her both imploringly and... almost angrily. The sapphire mare shifted back a bit at this, and both Scrivener and Luna felt Twilight's emotions, Twilight's thoughts, rollick through them: how she wanted to go to Valhalla herself, how she wished they could charge straight to Gymbr and make him answer for what he'd done, how terrified she was of what could have happened to their family, especially Innocence... but they couldn't just rush in. They had to trust that Celestia had saved everyone she could, that Terra maybe was still there, fighting, leading Heaven's armies against their foe... and for now, return home, to heal and prepare. An emotional charge right back into the heart of the conflict would be dramatic... and ultimately a lethal mistake.

And, Luna realized, it also confirmed that they needed help. Help she didn't want to go begging for, but knew that she was going to have to humble herself in order to get. Help from the only entity who could possibly match apparently almost-all-powerful Gymbr, as much as Luna wanted absolutely nothing to do with the Queen of Helheim at this moment.

They would have to head home, heal their wounds, and prepare for the worst. Because doubtlessly, Hel wasn't about to just up and give them whatever they wanted: she was going to make them play some bizarre game to earn her assistance. The sapphire mare gritted her teeth at this thought before she met Twilight's eyes and nodded slowly, and Twilight Sparkle gave a faint, small smile and nodded back with a clear look of relief.

Scrivener Blooms sighed quietly, but he nodded slowly as well, lowering his head and knowing they really didn't have much of any choice. But it bothered him as much – hell, maybe even more – than it bothered Luna, as the stallion dropped his head and muttered: "Maybe we should just let the griffins kill us."

"Oh shut up, beetle." Luna said sourly, although she had to moodily admit it was a bit of an enticing idea. Then she sighed and shook her head slowly, turning her attention back to the reaper. "If I say Looking Glass World, does it have any meaning to thee?"

The reaper only stared at Luna with the smallest tilt of its head, and the winged unicorn made a face before she frowned a bit when Twilight Sparkle looked at her pointedly, nodding after a moment in agreement and turning her eyes back towards the harvester of souls. "Does thou know of a Great Reaper named Kismet?"

"Kismet." the reaper repeated the name, lowering its head as if this was a difficult question. It seemed to drop off into pondering, and Volus groaned loudly as the Nightmares traded looks between themselves and Decay simply continued to stare at Luna and Twilight from where he was standing.

Eventually, Scrivener couldn't help but finally suggest in a sour voice: "The Great Reaper that left that warning, that mark on Valhalla, could you take us to him?"

The reaper looked up, then gave a slow nod, murmuring in response: "Yes. He is in one of the Odin-God's worlds, with others like you. That look like you, and at least one that is like you."

Luna grinned wryly at this, then she looked up mildly as Volus bounced on the spot, wildly waving a front hoof as she asked pleadingly: "And you're bringing us, right? Right? Right? Oh please, Mistress Luna Brynhild, I'd do absolutely anything to come with you, be with you, join you, I'll be the bestest filly ever, you'll see, you'll see!"

The Nightmares all looked up with anticipation and hope as well, and the sapphire mare and Scrivener Blooms traded looks before the winged unicorn grumbled and turned her eyes towards the reaper, asking: "How long can thou hold open a portal to Looking Glass World for?"

The reaper only looked at Luna, and the sapphire mare finally closed her eyes and said tiredly: "The world with the ponies. Where the Great Reaper is."

"I shall not create portal there. I shall ask the Great Reaper to open a rift to here." the reaper said quietly, and then it extended a claw calmly towards the mare. "I require my scythe."

Luna grinned wryly at this, and then she leaned forwards as she asked calmly, keeping the scythe resting close against her body for the moment: "And do I have thy promise thou shall not flee, and nor shall thou attack us? Do I have thy promise to do the deed I bond thee to, and contact the Great Reaper of the pony realm?"

"Yes." the reaper said simply, and that was enough. Like most demons, the creature's word was its bond, and Luna was satisfied enough by the answer to toss the scythe towards the entity: the moment its weapon drew close, the scythe spun itself easily into the reaper's grip as the creature floated up into the air and lost its sense of distinction, hovering silently above the ground.

It looked at them for a few moments, studying them, but Luna looked fearlessly back, and after a moment the reaper simply nodded shortly. Then it floated a little higher into the air as it cradle the polearm up against its body with one claw, calmly raising the other as its silver gauntlet began to glow with a faint, soft luminescence.

A spark of energy rippled through the air, then formed into what looked almost like a sphere, humming quietly as it floated quietly at roughly head level with the reaper. The creature gazed calmly at this, then simply reached up and touched it with one claw, a tremor rippling through the hovering orb before it suddenly expanded into a large, glowing rift in reality, the reaper murmuring: "The Great Reaper has agreed to hold the rift open. He calls you, urgently."

"That is not a good sign." Luna muttered, and then she gestured quickly to the Nightmares and Volus, saying curtly: "Go through. Decay, follow them."

Volus trilled with delight before she turned and happily charged for the portal, the Nightmares following with more composure but just as much eagerness through the portal. Decay lumbered after them, and Luna and Scrivener started forwards before Sunder cleared his throat loudly, glowering over at the two.

The ponies halted and glared as Twilight Sparkle shook her head and vanished from existence, retreating into her living phylacteries as the goat asked sourly: "My payment. Or are you trying to renege like the mortals always want to?"

"Great foul creature." Luna huffed, then she rose a foreleg and bit into her own limb savagely, making Scrivener Blooms twitch and wince in pain as a wound tore in his own limb. "Well, I hope thou has a container, or I shall simply flick a vial's worth of blood at thee."

The goat demon growled at them in irritation, and then he gestured grumpily at the piled-up funerary artifacts, pointing in particular at a cup likely meant for blessings. "Fill that. And-"

"Scrivy, bleed in... a hole or somesuch, thy blood is everywhere anyway." Luna grouchily gestured with her head at the mire all around them as she quickly approached the cup, then she swept it up and firmly pressed it to her wound, gritting her teeth in faint, visible pain as her blood dripped into the goblet. She looked uncomfortably towards the rift, but the reaper was only floating silently, one claw seeming to grasp the top of the glowing portal as it stared into the swirl.

Scrivener Blooms sighed tiredly, then he awkwardly pawed at the mire with one aching claw, wincing a few times as he scraped bit of a hole that he simply held his claw over. Dark essence was already dripping out of his wounded forelimbs, after all, and as Scrivener stared down at these, he realized how... shriveled they were starting to look, as large veins pulsed eerily and painfully through his flesh. He shivered and shook his head slowly, then muttered: "There. We gotta go."

"Aye. 'Twas nice dealing with thee, Hell Knight. We shall put in a good word for thee if and when we see Hel." Luna said mildly, and the goat demon scowled at them before nodding grudgingly to their backs as they made for the portal.

Luna and Scrivener passed into the rift side-by-side, and they both gritted their teeth as they strode quickly through the tunnel of light and sound before there was a flash as they emerged through the other side, and both ponies looked up in surprise as they emerged into... actually, Scrivener Blooms wasn't entirely sure at first.

The sapphire mare looked back and forth in surprise, then she glared at the sight of the Nightmares clustered in one corner with Volus and Decay, quailing and shivering and surrounded by Greater Nightmares and First Tier demons. The lesser Nightmares were so afraid they were actually beginning to smolder as their own fear acted like a poison in their systems, draining their energy, and Volus had her eyes wide and her skin was drawn tight against her body, staring back and forth wildly. Decay, lastly, was just standing there, although the vines over his body were writhing almost angrily.

"Cease!" Luna shouted angrily as the rift closed, and the Greater Nightmares and demons looked up in surprise before hurriedly withdrawing. Luna spat to the side, then she glared around the room they had entered: a presentation theater in the Magic Academy. They were fenced in by slightly-curling walls on all sides, and plate glass window-walls encircled the top of the room to give the audience safely gathered above a safe look down into the circular area below.

"Our apologies. But Valkyrie Freya and I both agree that... it is best to be cautious for now." said a familiar voice, and Luna looked over her shoulder to see Kismet, the Great Reaper bowing his head to them politely his claws tented in front of himself. "We were beginning to grow worried. You've been gone a little more than a week, my friends."

"What?" Luna looked up in disbelief, and she and Scrivener Blooms traded disbelieving looks before the mare shook her head vehemently, blurting: "No, 'tis not possible! It was... it was less than a day that we were gone, we ensured we returned as fast as possible, and-"

"Where's Antares and Innocence and Scarlet, what happened to Valhalla?" Scrivener Blooms asked sharply, and Luna nodded violently at this interruption, even as the two ponies talked over each other, stumbling and blurting further questions before Kismet politely raised his metallic claws.

But it wasn't until the double doors at the side of the room opened that the two halted, both ponies looking up as Celestia strode inside. Luna began to brighten at the sight of her older sister... but it faltered quickly at the sight of the bandaging along Celestia's neck and over her face, and the terrible marks over her breast that scrawled all the way onto her side that looked as if some dragon had ripped its claws through her body after dipping them in magma.

Luna and Scrivener both stared at Celestia, and Celestia gave a small smile as she bowed her head slightly, and both ponies knew in that moment that nothing was okay. "I'm glad to see you back. We need to talk."

"Wait." Luna glanced over at the uneasy creatures that had come through the rift with her, instructing quietly: "Greater Nightmares, these are new sisters. They are welcome here with us, so I ask thee to treat them well. Take Volus to Subterra and introduce her to Burning Desire, he is... familiar with succubi. Decay... thou may come with us, I suppose."

The Nightmares bowed their heads and Volus smiled brightly, dropping into a respectful bow. Decay, meanwhile, just trotted doggishly over to Luna, the vines over his body settling back into calm as Kismet tilted his head and studied the creature intently, then murmured: "I do not know if this creature should be pitied or admired. I will have to speak to you later, Decay."

Decay only acknowledged Kismet with a look, and Celestia frowned at the dark spirit before she shook her head briefly and turned her eyes towards Luna, gesturing at her silently. "We need to talk now, Luna. Don't want to rush you, but... this is important. In private."

Luna frowned worriedly at this as Scrivener Blooms nodded quickly, and Celestia gave that faint smile again that made her insides twist up and her heart thud in her chest with fear. Then she turned around and headed into the halls, and both ponies shivered a bit: she was limping, too. But the wounds all looked several days old, at least... except that wasn't entirely reassuring. Celestia and Luna both healed abnormally fast with their Valkyrie heritage: for something to have left the scars it did and Celestia to still look so badly beaten up...

"What happened to thee?" Luna asked quietly, and Celestia smiled faintly as she shook her head slowly, leading them down halls that seemed... tense, and afraid. The sapphire mare looked back and forth with a grimace, shivering a little as several Royal Guard passed, focused on a tight patrol: for some reason, the first thing that came to mind was... "'Tis like the last great war with the dwarves... when Fjalar and Galar brought their barbarian hordes against Canterlot."

"But we drove them back, killed the brothers, and chased the Nibelung into the tunnels beneath Equestria, where they faded into legend." Celestia said softly, shaking her head and smiling faintly before she lowered her head, murmuring: "Valhalla is lost, little sister. Asgard... is lost. We held it for three days, but Gymbr's power was too great. We attempted to quarantine him and his army in a section of Valhalla, but... he turned our barrier against us. He was able to do magic I've never seen before, taking over the barrier we had set up around him and turning it into a protective shell instead of a prison. He..."

Celestia halted in the middle of the hall, then she closed her eyes and lowered her head with a sigh before smiling weakly over her shoulder. "He corrupted Valhalla as he herded and divided our forces up until he was able to capture us all. He..."

Celestia stopped, and Luna felt Twilight Sparkle twist inside of her desperately as the sapphire mare looked up and whispered: "Innocence... what of Innocence, Celestia? What has happened to my little girl?"

The ivory mare only gestured silently to the side at a classroom door, and Luna gritted her teeth before she nodded shortly and turned, punching the door open and heading inside. Scrivener Blooms followed her through, and both ponies turned... and winced in surprise at the sight of Decay, as the creature gazed at them strangely before it simply flopped down beside Luna.

The sapphire winged unicorn sighed tiredly as Celestia strode into the room and quietly closed the door behind her with one hoof. It was a small thing, but it made Luna all the more worried as Celestia leaned sideways against the door, not looking at them for a moment before she murmured quietly: "Innocence... was with Gymbr. Willingly."

"No." Luna trembled a little, then she snarled and punched the floor savagely, leaning forwards and shouting furiously as Twilight cried out in pain inside her: "No! She is smarter than that, Celestia! She... she must have... no!"

Scrivener Blooms only swallowed thickly, trembling a little before he opened his mouth... then slowly closed it, shuddering harder. He could feel Twilight's despair and protectiveness and fear, and he could feel Luna's wild anger, and it was blurring with his own... disappointment.

He rose a claw silently as Luna continued to curse and shout and Celestia just stood there, looking at them with such... such sadness in her eyes. The stallion studied his own mangled claw silently, thought about how he and Luna were when it came to power... thought about Twilight, and how they had changed her, and the secrets that had perhaps always been hidden inside of the now Lich.

And finally, he reached his claw out and touched Luna's shoulder, and she turned a furious glare at him that he met with silent eyes. Their gazes locked, trading thoughts and images and memories back and forth, seeing their daughter's face in so many of them before Luna swallowed thickly, her shoulders slumping, her head rising a little as her lip trembled a little and her eyes became almost pleading.

It hurt. It hurt like hell, and yet all the same Scrivener Blooms forced himself to turn towards Celestia, taking a slow breath before he asked quietly: "What happened?"

Celestia looked back at him for a few moments, and then she lowered her head as she murmured softly: "I think she followed us. I think after Gymbr finished with you and sent you away, he must have found Innocence... or she found him. I'm sorry, Luna, Scrivener... and Twilight Sparkle, I can't... apologize enough for not protecting her."

The ivory mare closed her eyes, then murmured softly: "She was... acting as Gymbr's messenger and ambassador the next time we saw her, alongside Twilight Shadow, and... I'm not sure if it's better or worse that she was asking for peace. Begging us to help Gymbr... I think he wants us all to submit to him. The last time we traded communications, he was still claiming that the light was coming to destroy us, that he was trying to save us... but Innocence already seems to be... changing..."

"I do not care what Gymbr says or promises." Luna said quietly, trembling... but in spite of the tears in her eyes, her gaze had become cruel, determined, cold. "I do not care about myself, or mine own pride. I do not care about the light; if poisonous 'good' comes, we shall kill it, too. But first, we will destroy Gymbr. We will break this god and drag him through mud and pig-mire. We shall hurt him. We shall hurt him badly."

Luna halted, then traded looks and sharp nods with Scrivener Blooms before the sapphire mare turned her cold eyes back to Celestia, asking calmly even as tears spilled down her cheeks: "What is the quickest way to make contact with Hel?"

Celestia frowned in surprise, but both Luna and Scrivener rose their heads with the same cold look in their eyes. So after a moment, the ivory mare only nodded shortly and turned around to lead them back out into the hall, the ponies and Decay following... and inside the soulmates, Twilight Sparkle trembled with despair and anger, wanting to save her daughter... and punish Gymbr.

Chapter Twenty Two: The Storm On The Horizon

~BlackRoseRaven

There was little cheer in the air in Canterlot: the Magic Academy was currently in a state of high security, although few people were aware of why, and Subterra had been locked down and fortified as well. The worry was that Gymbr might come for some of them... although he clearly had no interest in invading their world. It was ironic: Heaven had fallen, but it seemed like at least for now the mortal world wasn't in any danger.

Celestia had set up a base of sorts in the Magic Academy, calling in all sorts of favors in order to temporarily take it over. But she needed access to the laboratories and control over the sensitive instruments used to measure magical effects and scan for anomalies in the area surrounding Canterlot.

The ivory mare was still in terrible shape partly because of the fact she had been spending so much time tinkering in the laboratories instead of resting. The little time spent not working in Canterlot was spent down in Subterra, where she had half-threatened, half-reasoned Hecate into cooperating with them and now had Cowlick working hard in a laboratory.

Cowlick and Hecate were working on a multitude of projects together: even if it seemed like it was a little late, Hecate was finishing up the window that would let them create a connection with Ginnungagap, and Cowlick was helping the unpleasant head cobble together a better body and a few other things that normally Celestia would balk at. But in this case, they had no real choice, no other option... and right now, they could use a few mechanical horrors to fight Gymbr's own synthetic terrors.

Luna and Scrivener wanted to help, but even a few days after their return from the exile world, the most they could do was help keeping things organized and simply... rest and recover. They had removed the broken soulstone prosthetic from Luna's head for now and fitted her with a simple iron cap to keep the hole from trying to heal closed, and Celestia had promised to help them make a new horn, even if it seemed like the ivory mare was already doing the work of a dozen ponies.

Celestia had also already helped them secure a new body for Twilight Sparkle, and at the moment, the Lich was slowly trying to adjust to this as she rested silently in a pool filled with nearly-scalding, tea-colored liquid. It seemed almost gelatinous, not rippling around the bodies of the three ponies that rested in it together even when they shifted.

They were in a recessed pool beneath glowing, focused lamps with crystalline lenses, showering them with more energy to help them all heal faster. This sanctuary of metal floors and shelves and equipment made for mending broken bodies was beneath the Thorn Palace, and over the years had become more and more like a home-away-from-home instead of just a sterile laboratory where Twilight came to change her body, or Luna did to fix her soulstone horn.

Now there was a bookshelf with more than just medical texts in it, and a gramophone that was currently playing a bit of soft music, and a few photographs on the wall. And Twilight kept staring over at the portrait of Innocence, trembling a little as he worried for her daughter: no anger, no disappoint, not even really fear... just worry. And if she was upset with anyone, it was herself.

"Now shush, 'tis not at all thy fault." Luna soothed quietly, squeezing the violet mare supportively around the waist, and Twilight Sparkle smiled faintly and shook her head a little. Then she dropped it quietly against Scrivener's shoulder, and the stallion gave his own small smile, looking silently at the Lich.

It was taking a while for her to adjust to this new body, but her horn had mostly grown in, and her wings had strengthened and changed, even though her hide had torn in places from her body growing and expanding. Her coat looked more bruised than it did purple, but her eyes had changed... her eyes were always one of the first things to truly become her own, and Scrivener smiled faintly into them as she looked quietly up at the stallion.

She reached through the dark liquid to silently touch one of his forelimbs, and Scrivener winced a bit but carefully rose a front leg that was wrapped in a thick, porous brown bandaging. His claws were currently closed tightly together and thrumming faintly inside little plastic boots he had to wear for the moment, and Twilight sighed softly as she stroked slowly over this, whispering: "Every second we take to heal feels like another second Innocence gets... gets closer to making a mistake I'm scared she's going to regret forever. I just wish... I wish..."

"I know, Twilight, but... incredibly difficult as 'tis for me..." Luna smiled faintly over at the mare, reaching up to caress her cheek tenderly. "We must be patient. Thou said so thyself, and thou knows the truth of the matter too. But I know that thou needs a reminder too now and then, especially when thy mother's instincts are in play."

Twilight nodded a little, silently shifting a bit before reached up and took Luna's hoof silently in her own, and they met one-another's eyes as Scrivener looked up at the glowing lamps, thinking quietly of the few things they could do, the steps they could take while still recovering from their ordeal. The steps were small, but at least one was important... although it was a rather sensitive issue, since they would have to talk to Terra.

Terra herself Celestia had been forced to all-but-literally drag out of Heaven, and the only reason she had finally been able to convince the Ironjaw to leave was because Taruos had already lost one parent, and the child needed to be protected. Especially since one of Gymbr's messages had subtly threatened the young prince.

Her son was safe, but Terra had been forced to abandon what had been the life's work of her husband to a monstrous god she had been powerless to fight against. Who had humiliated her and betrayed her trust, and now the Ironjaw dragon found herself an unhappy refugee with her son in Subterra. The fact she was now forced to accept the charity and protection of the very ponies she had once boasted she could easily overpower the strongest of had done a lot of damage to her ego, but it was also further fuel for her desire for revenge against Gymbr, and had at least helped convince her to stop underestimating just what ponies like Celestia and Luna and others were capable of. After all, in spite of her proud heritage, she had been even less effective at fighting Gymbr's soldiers than many of the Valkyries had been.

Except now almost all the Valkyries were lost: either killed or taken prisoner, with very few who had survived the onslaught. Too little of Heaven had managed to escape and take shelter in Subterra, and Gymbr's first order of business had been to seal the Vale of Valhalla, preventing anyone from opening portals into Heaven: the only way in now was by dying and ascending into what was no longer paradise.

That hurt all three ponies to think about: now good souls, who believed in Heaven and life after death, were rising to what they thought would be the Vale of Valhalla... but was instead a slowly corrupting, nightmare playground that Gymbr was transforming into some kind of dark training ground.

They had already sent messengers across Equestria, to other encampments of demons, to the Strange Ones, to allies they knew that would listen to them, warning them about Gymbr and Heaven's current state. Celestia had also asked Rosewood to push the rest of the Barons on healthcare issues, looking to do something, anything, that would keep ponies alive: right now they needed to keep as many souls as possible from reaching Heaven, after all.

Kismet had reapers netting souls to place them in limbo or repositories, but even they could only do so much: a reaper was only one creature, not even a true force of death but a cogwheel meant to keep things running smoothly, and the Great Reaper wasn't entirely comfortable with going against his task of ferrying souls from one plane to the next. The only reason he was doing it at all was because of how Gymbr had poisoned Heaven, and he had been assured several times over these souls would all be allowed to depart, not shuffled back onto the mortal coil.

But many, many souls were still making it through. There were hundreds of deaths across Equestria every day: old age, accidents, violence both premeditated and random, disease and stupidity. There was no way a hoofful of reapers could flit around, capturing all those souls before they floated into the ether and began their journey for Heaven or Hell.

"I have never felt so screwed." Scrivener Blooms said finally, and Luna grunted moodily in agreement as Twilight smiled faintly even as she tried to make herself small as he curled up between her lovers. He sighed softly as he slid his foreleg around her shoulders, pulling the Lich closer as he murmured: "But I guess we'll... find a way to get through."

"And we will save Innocence. We will. This cannot be her fault." Luna said firmly, looking over at the two, and both Twilight and Scrivener gazed quietly back at the winged unicorn, both giving small smiles even as they both felt a pang of sorrow, and that twist that went through Luna's gut; the knowledge that she was talking out of a hope she herself knew was most likely vain.

Innocence was made up of their good qualities and their bad qualities, after all... and how could someone with Twilight's thirst for knowledge, Luna's pride in being the best, and Scrivener's desire for power resist the temptations of a god like Gymbr? Especially since Innocence didn't understand that Gymbr was willing to say and do anything to get his way: that even if he was telling the truth, there was no way he wanted to just destroy this coming 'light' and then peacefully... what? Be best friends? Hang out, have non-alcoholic drinks together? Take up a hobby and whittle away his days, or go back to whatever dark world he had come from and make everything he'd done wrong, right?

Scrivener grimaced a little at this, shaking his head slowly before he attempted to splash the liquid of the pool disconsolately. But it didn't give more than an awkward blurp, and the stallion shook his head a little as Luna mumbled: "Oh, do not be a foal, poet. 'Tis my job. But, loathe as I am, Twilight Sparkle... perhaps we shall leave thee here while we go and find Terra. We will need her help to make our way to Hel, who is still treating this like a silly game..."

Luna growled in irritation, but she couldn't muster up much real anger: she knew how Hel worked, after all. She knew this really was like a game to the dark goddess, and one that Hel was probably watching with glee... just as much as she knew that this was also Hel's way of testing precisely how 'worthy' they were.

Twilight nodded a little, and then the Lich looked up Luna and gave a faint smile, murmuring: "Just... you two make sure you take care of yourselves, okay? I'll stay here and put the finishing touches on the elixir."

"Don't strain yourself. We can get to that any time." Scrivener said quietly, and when Twilight only smiled up at him, the stallion sighed before he nodded a little as Luna gazed down at the Lich with affection and a little bit of exasperation. "Alright. Still... just... try and focus on taking care of yourself, okay? You've already done a lot for both of us."

Twilight nodded a little, sitting up before she quietly took one of Scrivener's hooves, rubbing gingerly along the hard plastic as she murmured: "I know. But I like to help, Scrivy. It helps me keep my mind off everything else and... it's so hard to..."

The Lich shook her head quickly, then smiled after a moment up at Scrivener, murmuring: "But I still have a lot of faith that our daughter isn't Midnight Hour, and that together, we can... bring her back. She just made a mistake."

"I know. I know." Scrivener replied quietly, and then he leaned forwards and gently kissed Twilight's forehead as Luna hugged the Lich from behind, and Twilight Sparkle trembled as she clutched Scrivener's hoof tightly before steadying herself and simply nodding once.

Scrivener and Luna pulled themselves up out of the pool, the heavy fluid spilling off their bodies freely before they traded small smiles as Twilight turned around, gazing up at them and saying softly: "I'll be waiting for you two here, so... take care of yourselves. And please don't pick a fight with Terra right now."

Luna huffed at this, reaching up and pointedly knocking on the cap stuck in her skull as she said wryly: "There is no better reminder of that than this, Twilight. The large piece of metal sticking out of my skull that feels much like a rock lodged in my brain."

"Technically your soulstone horn is that too." Scrivener said mildly, and Luna gave him a flat look before the stallion shrugged and smiled despite himself as Twilight laughed a little and gazed up at them with the smallest smile on her face. "No, don't worry, we'll... try our hardest to be adults, Twilight, at least for the next day or so."

"Good." Twilight said softly, and Luna and Scrivener nodded to her before they turned reluctantly away and strode towards the exit. Twilight watched them go, staring after them longingly as all other thoughts slowly drained from her mind... and then she frowned a little before suddenly shivering and looking down, thinking about how moments before, she'd been so sad. Now she was just staring after the ponies she called her lovers, wistful, thinking about them more than her own lost daughter... was she really that dependent on them, or...

Scrivener and Luna both closed their own eyes as they felt Twilight's mental shivers, and both ponies wanted to turn back, to reassure her, to acknowledge her somehow... but instead, they kept themselves moving forwards. It was something Twilight had to work through on her own, and the irony was that if they went back and helped her feel better it might only worsen that anxiety. In all likelihood, it was because all of their emotions were in such a goddamn jumble right now, and the Lich was settling into a new body...

The two ponies traded looks, studying each other... and then Luna rose her head slightly and said quietly: "No, it is no crime if we feel happiness even while... such awful things are happening. As my brother says, Scrivy: 'if we do not seek joy during times of strife, then of course no joy will be found.' We must strive for happiness, even when... it feels... impossible."

She nodded firmly, and Scrivener smiled after a moment before he looked ahead through the earthen tunnel they had entered, the stallion saying softly: "And it was because I had been to the depths of the pit of ignorance that I understood how truly high I was, when I ascended the mountain of truth."

"Shut up, beetle." Luna said gently, and then she stepped closer and mashed her face into his neck, mumbling: "Stupid, damnable idiot Scrivener Blooms. Thou art so damned... thou."

"I am. I am me." Scrivener agreed softly after a moment, and then he winced a bit as he looked down along his bandaged forelegs and over his plastic boots, mumbling: "And these are crap. It feels like my claws are turning into broken glass."

Luna mumbled against his neck, but when she shifted to look at him with one eye, there was worry in her dark iris as she murmured: "I know, but... thou must bear through the pain, Scrivy. We must be in top form when we go to Helheim and seek our way down to Hel herself: and even if we still have... much time to pass before then..." Luna ground her teeth together in frustration at precisely how long Celestia and others had asked them to wait. "Thou must still rest thy hooves first and foremost 'Twill do us no good if we are forced to amputate thy stupid forelegs."

"I wonder if your forelegs would come off if mine did." Scrivener mumbled, and Luna made a face at this thought before the stallion shook his head a little. "I know, I know. Not helpful thoughts. I'm just worried, and you know how I get."

"I do. 'Tis annoying." Luna said mildly, and then she headbutted the side of his neck gently before sighing and straightening, saying softly: "But it shan't come to that, Scrivy. Thou shall just have to... rebuild the muscle that has been torn apart and destroyed, and build back... everything else."

Scrivener grunted and nodded, doing his best to believe her words... but they were uncomfortably silent as they made their way up into the Thorn Palace. Once they reached the Eastern Wing of the massive structure, however, Luna gained a bit of her mood back and smiled faintly at the sight of young prince Taruos sitting in frayed robes, playing by himself in the middle of the hall.

Well, not precisely by himself: there were a few invisible Nightmares lurking around, and Terra was never far away from her son. The little god was grumbling angrily as he built up block structures, then knocked others down, not looking up at Luna and Scrivener until they were right in front of them.

He only scowled up at them, then picked up a block: for a moment Scrivener thought he was going to throw it at them, but instead the child simply slammed it down on top of a tower of blocks, almost knocking the structure over as he asked acidly: "What do you want?"

"We are looking to speak to thy mother. She promised to help us with Helheim business." Luna replied after a moment, keeping her tone as cordial as possible. Taruos looked up at the sapphire mare, frowning at first... but when he saw Luna was only looking at him calmly, not talking down to him, not patronizing him, the child settled a little and nodded grudgingly.

"She's in her room." Taruos said moodily, and then he knocked over the block structure before beginning to rebuild it, muttering: "She won't let me help with anything. Infrastructure, analysis, placement... those are supposed to be my jobs, but she just spends all day working with Excelsior and Pipsqueak. Who insists on telling me all about being a little foal every time we meet, and how much he wanted to be a pirate, and then an adventurer, and then he developed a sailing hobby. I don't care."

He swung a hand out, knocking down the blocks he had just set up, and Scrivener Blooms was unable to stop himself from asking: "If you don't care, then why exactly do you remember all that?"

Taruos scowled horribly up at the charcoal stallion as Luna cleared her throat loudly, then she reached up and squeezed his shoulder quickly, saying kindly down to Taruos: "We are going to see thy mother now. And let me remind thee, young prince, thy duties are not just to thy kingdom, but to support thy family as well. I fully understand thy frustration with thy mother, but one of thy duties as prince is to support her all the same, even when thou disagrees with her. For we mothers find it very hard to let go of our children, or accept that they no longer need our advice."

Taruos and Luna looked at each other for a few moments, and then the child frowned and said sourly: "You don't sound like the same dumb horse I talked to before."

"Dumb horse! What? Damn indolent little child, does thou think I will not bend thee over my knee and spank thee just because thy mother is Queen of Heaven? I will spank her too!" Luna snapped, glaring furiously down at Taruos as Scrivener dropped his face in a hoof.

The young prince only snorted, not in the least bit perturbed as he grumbled: "I guess you are the same dumb horse after all."

"Taruos! You'd best not be insulting our hosts now!" scolded Terra's voice, and the dragon herself emerged from down the hall, looking ruffled as she approached. Taruos grumbled and dropped his head forwards, then he winced as his mother grasped his skull lightly and shook him gently back and forth, looking pointedly down at her child. "Don't be making a bigger fool out of us now than we've already both done a swell job of doing. Be polite, child."

Taruos muttered to himself, but he nodded even as he sullenly crossed his arms when his mother let go of him. The Ironjaw looked up meditatively at Luna Brynhild as the winged unicorn looked pointedly back, and after a moment Terra sighed and gestured at her son. "Go ahead and help Pipsqueak and Excelsior, lad. They could the assistance of sharp eyes like yours."

The young prince nodded, looking a little... well, it wasn't quite happiness, but Luna thought it was close. The sapphire mare smiled wryly as she looked up and watched the child stride quickly off, looking as professional and calm as Celestia, and the sapphire mare sighed after a moment as she shook her head and murmured: "Thy child is an absolute nightmare, Terra. But all the same, I feel great sympathy for both him and thee."

"We don't want nor need either, Luna Brynhild." Terra replied almost stiffly, and when both ponies looked up at the dragon with faint amusement, she grumbled and dropped her head, muttering: "With no disrespect intended, of course. You just have plenty enough on your own plates as it is."

Luna and Scrivy traded looks, then shrugs, before the sapphire mare returned her eyes to Terra, saying quietly: "Well, as much as I dearly would enjoy continuing to poke at thee, Ironjaw, I have promised Twilight Sparkle I would be adult, if not professional. So instead, let us talk about what thou knows I have come to talk about. Hel will not respond to any personal messages I send and refuses to aid us. She has not withdrawn her support, but nor will she extend any further assistance to us. Assistance we direly need, I have learned. And as much as it hurts..."

"You're doing a wise thing, Luna Brynhild. Well... wise in a very stupid way." Terra said after a moment, smiling a little before she gestured easily with one claw. "But I like to walk around this place. Tarry with me a little and I'll tell you all about Underdark."

"Tarry..." Luna softened, looking down for a moment, feeling strangely struck by this word. Terra frowned and cocked her head curiously, but Luna only laughed a little and shook her own, glancing up after a moment with a small smile. "'Tis nothing. 'Tis just that... well, 'tis silly, but that is what Innocence calls Antares."

"Aye. I see..." Terra's features became a little grimmer as she looked down at the two, but then she only shook her head when they both frowned a little at her, the Queen of Heaven murmuring: "Nay, don't think badly of me. I think badly of myself for even thinking poorly of your daughter, for I know from you lot you raised her dear and well. And even I felt the strangeness that Gymbr exuded..."

"Our daughter is strong. She has just... made a mistake. We are going to save her." Luna said quietly but firmly, and Scrivener Blooms nodded slowly in agreement as Terra sighed and smiled faintly, the dragon studying them intently.

"And if saving your daughter means... doing what no parent should have to do, then will you?" she asked quietly, and Luna gritted her teeth as Scrivener closed his eyes tightly, and there was silence for a few moments. Then, surprisingly, the dragon gave a small laugh and shook her head, murmuring: "I apologize again. This whole experience has just put me in a right foul mood, that's all. Beaten up by ponies and then forced to den here in Subterra and accept the help and blankets of others. It's hard."

Luna nodded a little, and then Terra strode past them and gestured at them to walk with her, and the two ponies let themselves fall in on either side of the Ironjaw, keeping pace with her. Terra looked off into the distance as they walked before she cleared her throat and began: "Now. I was going to tell you two about Underdark, aye? Well, first off, as it is right now you can't get in. And even if you could, there's nothing but dead, open space in front of the perimeter wall: a wall of lodestone, completely impermeable and guarded by never less than ten Destroyers and dozens of my Clan brothers and sisters. There's only one way in and out, Luna Brynhild, and that's right through the main gate.

"Inside Underdark, you'll find at least thirty more Destroyers, and dozens, mayhaps a hundred of my Clan siblings, all of whom will fight to the death to protect Hel. And even were you to find your way past them, through the Snow Gardens and the mansion that makes all of Subterra look small, even if you dealt with the First Tier demon servants and her golems and that monster, Theodore... you'd still find all of Hel's traps and toys between yourself and her. And by that point, you'd be so drained and tired from fighting, you'd probably just throw yourself into one of the lightning grids."

Luna scowled at this, shaking her head in disgust as she asked disbelievingly: "And all this and more guard the abysmal witch in her lair? Have any ever made it through?"

Terra chuckled at this, then she grinned widely as the three pushed through a large set of doors to head out onto one of the bridges leading to the top of the flat pyramid. "Oh no, lass. No invader has ever made it past the first line of defense. It isn't enough that we're all trained to work together, or all of us powerful enough to take on an army by ourselves. Nor that we're all armed to the teeth with weapons that carry curses that could level a Jötnar. No, the very air of Hel's world empowers those who have made a pledge to serve her. Makes them stronger, tougher, harder to kill... and freezes the blood of those who would stand against her. You can't begin to imagine the kind of danger you want to throw yourself headfirst into, whether you're supposed to be some Valkyrie reborn or not."

"The Valkyries fought worse odds. The Valkyries lived worse odds, and we always came out on top." Luna replied firmly, looking up at Terra challengingly as they halted on top of the pyramid, and then the winged unicorn grimaced a bit as she looked up at the grinning statue of Nightmare Moon, studying it silently. "Thou forgets that I have powerful allies of my own, Ironjaw. The passion entity inside me... I think she is more dangerous than many realize."

Terra only laughed at this, then she shook her head and said wryly: "Really? Do you truly believe that the demons in your heart are capable of giving you power enough to rival the demons in reality?"

Luna grunted at this, her eyes sliding meditatively towards Terra as Scrivener Blooms replied mildly: "Change the world inside, you change the universe outside. Or, you know, make yourself immune to pain you can keep punching someone no matter how much they hurt you, to skip all the philosophical crap."

The Ironjaw dragon looked at them with amusement before another voice said with grudging agreement: "As much as I want to disagree with them on principle, I've learned myself it's best not to underestimate what they're capable of. I thought you would have learned that after all the time I heard you spent on your back in Heaven, Queen Valhalla."

The dragon slowly turned a glare in the direction of Morning Glory as the Destroyer approached, her metallic scales rippling before she rose her head proudly and retorted: "Well, Queen Subterra, you'll pardon me for being a little out of sorts. I was only attempting to defend all of Heaven and all of Heaven's guests as well, seeing as how the great and mighty demons like yourself were busy hiding out down here, whimpering at the mere thought of fighting the enemy."

The Destroyer didn't rise to the bait, only looking contemptible as she replied evenly: "And many in Subterra are still afraid... and I'm glad they are. Only an arrogant fool would have walked into war with something like Gymbr without fear. Fear of Gymbr is what will make my soldiers be cautious. Fear of what I will do to them if they fail me is what will make them be bold. One day, you'll understand that, even if I have to make you understand it myself."

Luna looked back and forth between the two demons as they glared at each other, and then the sapphire mare said thoughtfully: "There truly is quite a resemblance between the two of thee. Thou art like twins. Angry twins." She paused, then leered between them and rubbed her hooves together as both demons glared at her. "I bet thee could have the most delicious of angry sex."

"I would never lay with another lass!" Terra huffed at this, and Morning Glory snorted in amusement, the dragon turning a sour glower to her. "Especially not such a girl-child as this one, blessed with so much power and yet naught but a wee little waitress still, taking orders and serving demons less used to war than she is."

Morning Glory slowly narrowed her eyes, and then she cocked her head and asked calmly: "So did Kvasir enjoy your attitude, or did he choose to leave with Gymbr just to get away from you?"

Terra snarled and leapt forwards in a flash... and just as fast, Morning Glory had her by the throat, crushing the Ironjaw's armored neck in as the demonic dragon gargled in surprise. Her claws began to rise, her maw to open to breathe out a gout of flame as Morning Glory's chains rose up and her horn started to glow, but Luna slipped quickly between them and shoved them both apart with a grumble of frustration.

They both staggered backwards, looking surprised at the strength of the mare, and Scrivener gave a silent sigh of relief: she was still energized from the Pool of Tears in their little sanctuary, and that and built-up frustration was giving Luna a bit more raw strength than usual. Enough to startle the two demons, who continued to stare as the sapphire mare snapped: "This is all useless! Morons, if thou want to duel, thou shall do so honorably... but Terra, I still require information from thee on how in Hel's own accursed name I am supposed to breach her mansion, and Morning Glory, I strongly suspect and hope thou art not here simply to harass the Queen of Heaven and do not admire this momentary lapse of professionalism on thy part."

"I apologize, Luna Brynhild. I simply take issue with those who would consider themselves my superiors... when I do not know if I should even consider them equals." Morning Glory responded, and she looked moodily across at Terra as the Ironjaw growled and rubbed at the visibly-crushed scales of her throat slowly. "Hecate wants to see you about something. The tinkerer is with her."

"Then we shall go and see the accursed head in a moment. Morning Glory, thou art excused. I do not need thee acting like me, after all." Luna said dryly, but the Destroyer only grunted and glowered over at Terra, who narrowed her eyes in return before spitting to the side and muttering a curse in her own language. "Oh, idiots."

"Two hours. Training grounds." Morning Glory said shortly, and the Ironjaw grinned wryly, leaning forwards contemptuously.

"Are you really that scared of me, lass, that you have to pretend to pick a fight when you know I'm going to be busy?" Terra asked mockingly, and then she said calmly: "Five hours' time, we meet here and you can take me anywhere you like, fair enough? We can waltz right on into some genius trap of yours, little lass, if you so desire."

Morning Glory looked meditative, and then the Destroyer nodded once and turned without another word, Luna rolling her eyes before she turned a sour look to Terra. "Perhaps 'tis not my place to say... but thou art a bit of a bitch."

"I am not! She started it!" Terra complained, reaching up to rub at her throat moodily again before she huffed and added: "Besides, I like to think I'm doing you a favor here. After all, you cannot have an administrator who cannot back up her own words. Kvas taught me that."

Terra looked down, softening as she rubbed at her features briefly, and then she shook her head quickly before turning a small smile towards them. "But I suppose you're less interested in these little follies and much more in how to get to Helheim, aye?"

"Aye." Luna grunted, looking moodily up at the draconic demon. "And it must be as fast as possible a route as well. We must not give Gymbr time: I dare not to dream what the god will do if he has all the time in the world and no weaknesses."

"No weaknesses you can exploit, you mean." Terra replied pointedly, and Luna scowled up at this as the demonic dragon gave a wry smile. "You'll have to excuse me, but all my time with Kvas has left me with an eye for details. It's a little disappointing, though, to know you couldn't affect that soulstone core in any way."

"What does thou mean? Striking it?" Luna asked slowly, and Terra looked at the sapphire mare with surprise, cocking her head curiously as she studied the pony.

"Are you daft? I mean the overheating." Terra said plainly, and when Luna and Scrivener both stared up at her blankly, she scoffed at them. "Did you not read even Kvasir's final entries? That and the index both had a wealth of information on Gymbr, how he's learned to master his weaknesses, but antimagic does great harm to him, and he cannot use his powers for long periods of time before his core starts to heat up and harm him."

"I read his journal cover-to-cover at least three times and never saw any information about that." Scrivener said with a quick shake of his head, and when Terra looked surprised, the stallion lowered his head and muttered, as Luna gritted her teeth: "The edits..."

Terra frowned at them, and the sapphire mare cursed under her breath before muttering: "Oh damnation... so that is why Gymbr was not using his powers against us, and what Hel decided to try and hide from our eyes..."

The Ironjaw stared in disbelief, and then she shook her head, muttering: "No. No, that can't be right. I am no servant of Hel, but I trusted her not to put us at great risk... why would she hide Gymbr's vulnerability from you? Why would she help or protect him?"

"In order to make us reliant upon her, and it has worked." Luna growled, looking down and shaking her head slowly. "Aye. Much as it sickens me, even if this makes me all the more loathe the thought of trying to work with this foul goddess... we cannot afford to pick and choose our allies. We must make the most use of Hel we can."

Terra grunted, studying the sapphire mare moodily before she said finally: "Then, seeing as you're serious about this... when you've healed up, I'll take you to Helheim and Cairnmór. There, you and your husband shall earn the respect of Clan Isernertos, the clan that protects Hel. Through Cairnmór, you can reach the Underdark: and through Cairnmór, if you can hold your own and earn the respect of the clan, you can also earn a way into Hel's mansion."

Luna and Scrivener both frowned at this, looking up curiously, and Terra grinned wryly before she said softly: "We do our duties, aye. But as legend goes, Hel is both goddess and trickster: hundreds of thousands of years ago, she is said to have stolen the Ironjaw from their true gods through gifts and treachery. We serve her, because we are loyal, and because of our sense of honor and duty... but we have never forgotten that we are slaves to her, too, that she cheated our Clan. So we have always been eager to pay her back the favor: if you earn the respect of Isernertos, then I have no doubt the Ironjaw will let you march right in to Underdark. And even if we cannot help with the traps and Teddy, the Destroyers have always bowed their heads in respect to our clan, and we can help you through to find Hel herself, even if we cannot raise a claw against her ourselves."

Luna nodded slowly, looking down meditatively and furrowing her brow in thought. Scrivener Blooms looked awkwardly over at the mare, and then he lamely turned his eyes towards Terra, asking finally as he rose a plastic-booted hoof: "How uh... precisely how are we supposed to earn the respect of a whole bunch of Ironjaw dragons? I mean, Cairnmór... that's literally a city of Ironjaw, right?"

"Aye." Terra grinned widely, looking with entertainment at Scrivener Blooms. "Aye, 'tis. And you will earn the respect of my brothers and sisters the same way you would earn the respect of any tribe of proud warriors. By accomplishing a series of tasks to show your strength, your skill, and your honor. If you succeed, then you'll be accepted into the Clan; if you fail, then my brothers and sisters will likely kill you and eat you."

"Oh. Oh, that's fantastic, then." Scrivener said dryly, looking sourly up at the bright, cheerful-looking dragon. She only gave a positive nod in return, and the stallion sighed and looked morbidly over at Luna as the winged unicorn looked slowly up. "Please tell me you're not actually considering this. I don't know how we're even supposed to fit in with a bunch of dragons."

"Kvasir did it. And I have never been prouder of him." Terra replied firmly, and Luna gave Scrivener a pointed look, which made the stallion sigh tiredly and drop his head.

"Great. I guess that means we have to now. Thanks, Luna's pride, for getting us maimed and possibly killed and eaten." Scrivener muttered, and then he winced when the sapphire mare reached up and swatted him lightly.

"Have a little faith, poet." Luna said grumpily, and then she turned her eyes back towards Terra, saying calmly: "It will be a few days while my partners and I finish healing before we are prepared to make the journey. I believe it will be a few days before thou art able to make the journey as well. Excuse us, now: we must not keep Hecate and Cowlick waiting."

Terra snorted at this, saying loudly as Luna and Scrivener headed for the stairs leading down from the palace: "There's a difference between confidence and naivety, Luna Brynhild!"

Luna smiled slightly over her shoulder, calling back mildly: "And precisely upon which side of the fence does thou sit, Terra?"

The Ironjaw only shook her head and turned away, and Luna turned her own eyes back forwards as she and Scrivener strode down the stairs together. The stallion grimaced a little at every step, and by the time they reached the end of the stairs, he was frowning so horribly that Luna couldn't help but laugh at the expression on his face, in spite of the faint stinging in her own hooves carrying over from Scrivener Blooms.

He gave her a cranky look, and it only made Luna laugh more as they walked into Subterra... and it felt good to laugh. So good, that even Scrivener couldn't help but smile after a moment, lifting what felt like years of wear away from his features before he sighed and shook his head a little when the mare leaned in and kissed his cheek suddenly. "I guess I should count myself lucky, really. How can we be so lucky and so horribly not lucky at the same time?"

"Because life is stupid." Luna answered after a moment, and Scrivener shrugged meditatively in agreement, nodding a little before the two turned their eyes forwards as they strode down the road together, both ponies smiling a bit. The streets of Subterra weren't very busy, but the demons that remained here were all working hard, training, putting together weapons and armor, preparing for the conflict ahead, whether they were scared or eager.

And it was both a thrilling and terrifying challenge ahead: not just Gymbr, but the fact they would be staging an attack on Heaven, with their Mistress backing them... and of course rumors were already swirling about how Luna was seeking the aid of Hel herself as well.

So the fear and the excitement were both understandable. And it was likely that both were just going to continue to build as time went on, until they were finally prepared, but Luna had faith that her loyal servants would help her see things through until the very end. And that, if they worked together, they would be able to force open Heaven's gates... except from there, Luna wasn't entirely sure what they were going to do.

She tried not to think about it, though: for too long now, she had been thinking and worrying about Gymbr, while not knowing how they would possibly take the monster on. Thinking about it any more, with so many possibilities and holes in the future, wasn't going to do anything but frustrate her and make Scrivener give her that look that always made her feel like a filly in a way that she kind of hated even if it wasn't entirely a bad thing.

He gave her that precise look after a moment as he heard her thoughts and saw her grouchy expression, mouth quirking in a smile, and Luna glared over at him before firmly butting her head into his with a loud clunk of metal on bone, the stallion seeing stars and staggering stupidly as Luna's eyes bulged in pain at the feeling of the cap shifting. Then they glared at each other for a moment before both ponies continued onwards, heading out of the tunnel they had entered and stepping into another cavern of Subterra.

This cave was smaller, although still more than enormous enough to contain several large structures. They could hear machinery and rumbling, and fewer but brighter crystal lamps were all along the roof of this area, making it seem a little more ghostly, and a little more... synthetic, and sterile. This was where much of the machinery that helped power Subterra was kept, and it showed.

They headed towards a steel structure that had been expanded so many times and grown so large it was literally fused and built into one wall and the ceiling of the cavern. Several Nibelung were standing around in front of an open shutter, one of them smoking and all of them dressed in heavy coveralls that marked them as part of the engineering crew.

The ponies passed by them and through the open shutter, Luna glancing back and forth around the small workshop they entered and smiling at the sight of the half-constructed mechanical monstrosities they passed: two motorcycles, and some kind of larger framework that for some reason scared Scrivener even more.

Luna shoved through a door at the back before leading the way down the narrow hall, shivering a little at how cold it was. On the bright side, she at least had a vague idea of where they were going, as Scrivener muttered: "I think I'm a little afraid of what those two have likely put together..."

"Aye, precisely." Luna grunted and nodded in agreement, then she tossed a slight smile to Scrivener Blooms. "The funny thing is, poet, that is a large part of what makes me so excited to see what our friends have created."

Scrivy made a face, then looked up in surprise as an armored door slid open and Hecate's head buzzed out on its little flying saucer, then sharply banked and ascended almost to the ceiling, narrowly avoiding a wrench as Cowlick's voice ranted: "-on your side of the goddamn lab!"

Hecate glared in response through the open doorway, then she turned her sour eyes towards Luna and Scrivener, saying acidly: "Oh good, you're finally here to try and help save your pretty little Heaven. It's incredible how fast you move when something you care about is in danger."

"Shut up, Hecate, or I shall swat thee like the buzzing fly thou art." Luna said grumpily, looking pointedly up at the creature, and Hecate only snorted as she dropped slowly down until she was just above head level with the winged unicorn.

Then Cowlick poked her head out of the doorway, and the engineer grinned at them, gesturing quickly with a front hoof. "The hell took you two so long? Come on, get your asses in here and take a look at the... at what..."

Cowlick broke off into a short fit of coughing, then she made a horrible retching sound before spitting off to the side, Scrivener Blooms wincing a little before the engineer rubbed at her lips and retreated back into the room. Luna gave her husband an amused look as Hecate floated through the doorway, muttering: "I suppose I should stay to make sure you idiots don't break anything."

"Yeah, right. Us, break something. All you know is how to break things." Cowlick grumbled moodily, and Hecate scowled, the head hovering towards the earth pony as her horn began to glow dangerously, but Cowlick looked unperturbed, only glaring fearlessly up at the foul-tempered pseudo-immortal. "Go ahead, shoot me. I'll shoot you right back. And mine'll be a lot worse."

Hecate grumbled, then she suddenly spun around and said sourly to Luna and Scrivener as they approached: "We've managed to do what you and the Draconequus and Celestia were all too weak to: create a window that can see into Ginnungagap."

Cowlick swung a hoof absently in the direction of the head, but she was grinning as she gestured calmly behind her, towards the massive portal ring that sat in the center of the monolithic workshop. Even with the strange machines and tools lining the walls and scattered over the tables, it was on this central project that all attention automatically focused, thanks in part to how many cables were feeding out of the ceiling and the floor into the enormous, cylindrical power stations to either side of the portal.

Luna scowled a little at this, and then she asked slowly: "Thou art entirely sure it works? That when thou turns it on, it simply isn't going to turn into a great black hole that will devour us all, after sucking up all the power from Subterra and Canterlot?"

"Hey, screw you, Luna. I know my business." Cowlick retorted, patting herself on the chest. "Besides, most of this is from Hecate. And while I hate her a different way for every hour of the goddamn week, she seems to know her stuff."

"A half-compliment. Touching." Hecate gave a grumpy look towards Cowlick, and then she shook her head; a simple gesture made much more awkward by the fact her head was essentially her entire body. "It will work. But I need a Draconequus to activate it and translate Ginnungagap's chaos. Preferably the idiot love-toy of the Good Little Princess."

Luna grunted moodily, then she nodded hesitantly before meeting Hecate's eyes and saying quietly: "And I take it thou hast been busy with other projects as well, aye?"

The head looked coldly back as Cowlick shifted awkwardly, rubbing slowly at her features as she cleared her throat nervously... and then Hecate suddenly smiled icily, saying softly: "But, it may surprise you, this is not entirely where I want to be. I've done the hard work, the theory and the layout. Any slave hoof can pick up the pieces as indicated on the schematics and put them together, once the more delicate synthetic nervous system has been attended to. The blustering Nibelung can handle the body work and I am confident that Kilby Kwolek can do a satisfactory job with the rest of the parts."

Cowlick looked up in surprise at this, her head rearing back as Luna and Scrivener both frowned as well, but Hecate kept her eyes on them as she said steadily: "I've spent most of my long, long life working with Clockwork Ponies and other forms of bio-organic warfare. Let me do what I do best: I can empower your demons, upgrade the Clockwork Ponies you've captured, and build a signal tower that will let me call the rest of Decretum's toy soldiers here to help."

It was tempting... but terribly dangerous, too. Luna gritted her teeth as Scrivener frowned at Hecate, and her eyes coldly roved to him before she promised quietly: "And I can make you stronger, too, and make sure every Clockwork Pony is loyal to you, Replicant. You have no idea how well I understand that sometimes you have to cast off your pride and find a place in the enemy's camp. I worked for Valthrudnir for countless years, after all."

Scrivener and Luna both shivered a little, and then the sapphire mare looked down before she murmured quietly: "No. I shall not permit thee to experiment on my servants, nor pursue the rest of thy treacherous arts... not yet, at least. Even after all these years I know I must tread lightly with thee, and 'tis not even because I do not trust thee, even though I certainly do not. 'Tis because, Hecate, I fear very much that we could easily become best of friends. And I fear what I would let thee get away with. And I fear, most of all, what thou would do for me."

Hecate frowned darkly at this, but there was a strange glimmer in the head's eyes before Luna looked up as she felt Scrivener's uneasy agreement, the mare saying calmly: "But I shall speak to Celestia and have the Clockwork Ponies freed and put in service here in Subterra, and the ones who serve the Strange Ones as well. Thou may repair their damages, but I ask thee to refrain from any... 'upgrades,' as thou calls them."

"Except Shiny. If you want, and so long as I'm present, and he agrees... and he has to honestly agree, you can't intimidate the poor bastard... then I think Shiny could use the fixes." Cowlick said quietly, looking up and nodding firmly once. Luna grumbled, wanting to argue, but Cowlick shot her a scathing glare, and the sapphire mare sighed grouchily as she understood it was useless: Shiny, after all, wasn't just a machine-pony to Cowlick, but a lot like a son. She knew better than to mess with another mare's plans for her child.

Hecate looked moody, then she nodded grudgingly before asking insistently: "And what about the signal? Subterra has more than enough resources for me to easily reprogram this Ginnungagap window into an amplifier."

Luna and Scrivener traded looks, and then the stallion uneasily looked at one of the towering power stations next to the ring, asking finally: "What the hell really is it, anyway? We're not going to go through that, right?"

"I would not recommend it." Hecate smiled thinly. "It will serve as a window into another reality. We'll have to get the attention of something on the other side, but that will be easy if we have a Draconequus here with us. The only danger, of course, is that once we make contact... we could let something in."

"Personally, I'm less worried about that and more about what this thing is made with." Cowlick muttered, shivering once as she looked over her shoulder at one of the cylindrical towers. "Blood, demonic crystal, bones. How the hell did you learn to stick a bone in there to conduct magic better?"

Hecate only smiled contemptibly again, and Cowlick grimaced... then leaned to the side, covering her mouth and coughing hard several times. Scrivener and Luna both frowned as Hecate rolled her eyes, the head lifting higher into the air and buzzing quietly away through the enormous workshop as Cowlick continued to hack and wheeze.

Luna stepped forwards uneasily, but the engineer grumbled and rose a hoof, spitting to the side a few times and muttering: "I'm okay. I'm fine, okay?"

"I don't think you are." Scrivener said quietly, and Cowlick frowned before she reached up to touch her lips... then slowly wipe the speckling of blood off her chin. She didn't look surprised, though, glancing down at it and shrugging a bit before simply wiping it off against her vest.

"Yeah, so what? My throat hurts like hell and my lungs are sore." Cowlick grumbled, then she reached up and pulled out her box of cigarettes... and glared when Luna caught her hoof, stopping her from raising them to her muzzle. "I said, I'm fine."

"No, thou art clearly not. What is going on?" Luna asked sharply, and Cowlick shook her head and looked at her with something like amusement, which only made the winged unicorn scowl deeper. "Damnation, Cowlick, I am thy friend and-"

"Look at me, you idjits." Cowlick gestured moodily at herself, sighing and shaking her head slowly as she shook Luna's hoof away, then rose the box to her muzzle and nuzzled into the open top to pull out a cigarette. "I'm old. I'm old, and I've spent roughly half my life wasted out of my mind. I don't take amphetamines anymore to excite myself, but because my dumbass body now needs 'em just to get up in the morning and stay awake to lunch. I got three ulcers and I can't drink a cold beer anymore without my teeth starting to hurt. I've been smoking at least a pack of cigarettes a day since Rusty died and... I ain't no demon. I'm just a pony. And I got pony problems and pony diseases, and like every other pony, I'm gonna die. And I'm probably gonna die soon."

Cowlick chewed on the end of her cigarette slowly as she tucked the box back in her pocket, and then she closed her eyes as she murmured: "Cancer. Lungs. Found out two months ago. Which is about a month longer than I was supposed to live. Frigging doctors, don't know nothing, though..."

Luna and Scrivener both stared in disbelief, and then the sapphire winged unicorn shook her head violently before whispering: "Thou... thou never told us? Why not? We are thy friends!"

"I was gonna say something, but... I wanted to wait until I knew that... it was over. It took some time to sink in, and..." Cowlick shook her head slowly, murmuring: "There's lots else to worry about, other than me, anyway, you assholes. Besides, look at me, on my hooves and helping you guys put a stop to that bastard up-top. And every goddamn day I stay alive, I stay strong, that's another day where those assholes were wrong and I was right."

Cowlick grinned and stomped a hoof, and Luna snarled as she stepped forwards, snapping: "This is no laughing matter! We can help thee, stupid, foul idiot! We have magic, and powerful allies, and much else that-"

"I'm not letting you carve me open and stick something else inside of me. I've lived my goddamn life, Luna. A good life, and I'm just sticking around as long as I can now until I hear one of those reapers coming for me." Cowlick argued staunchly, shaking her head and looking stubbornly back at Luna. "And once things start... getting bad, I got something just as good as your magic to take away my pain. 'Cept mine is going to do a hell of a lot better job."

Luna stared at Cowlick, mouthing wordlessly for a few moments as Scrivener shook his head in disbelief, whispering: "You can't have... Cowlick, this is your life you're talking about-"

"Yeah, and it's going to be my death too, and I don't give a crowbait's flank if you agree or disagree with me." the engineer retorted, and then she reached up and poked her lighter out of her vest, flicking it and touching the flame to her cigarette. She inhaled, then blew out two ribbons of smoke from her nostrils, saying quietly: "This is my life. I'll decide how the hell I live, I'll decide what I'm going to do with myself... and I've decided how I'm gonna die, too. Between then and there, you can either cry about it like a little bitch or you can just accept it, and we can enjoy each other's company before I go."

Luna gritted her teeth at this, then strode forwards and slapped the cigarette out of Cowlick's mouth before punching her across the jaw, making her wince and stumble with a curse. She snapped her head back up, baring her teeth, and then Luna snagged her by the neck and yanked her in as the engineer winced...

Then she blinked, looking surprised as the winged unicorn clenched her eyes shut and embraced her fiercely, whispering: "Stupid, foul idiot. Aye. I know... this is thy life. But thou art my friend and I... I do not like the culling that we cursed with immortality must bear witness to. I do not like watching all my friends die, for thou will not be the first... thou will not be the last... and this process is hard. I hate thee because I am selfish; I admire and love thee for the pride thou faces this adversity with."

Luna halted, then stepped suddenly backwards and shoved Cowlick away, glaring at her. "But how dare thou keep it a secret! Thou hast chosen thy life and death, but the rest is not about thee, 'tis about how thy loss will affect those around thee! Thou art important... not just a friend, but a leader, and... and thou must hold off death as long as possible, for if thou dies-"

"I'm not going to Heaven, Luna." Cowlick said quietly, and Luna slowly closed her mouth before the engineer smiled a little and looked steadily across at the mare, whispering: "But I gotta ask you one thing, in case I don't make it. When you find your way into Heaven... find my boy. Make sure he's safe. Get him out of there, if you can't stop Gymbr."

"We're going to stop Gymbr, Cowlick." Scrivener promised quietly, and then he hesitated before reaching up and touching Luna's shoulder: "We should go. And... I'm sorry."

"So am I. Don't worry... I'll keep you all updated." Cowlick nodded to them, then she reached down and picked up her cigarette, studying it before simply shrugging and putting it back in her mouth when she saw it was still lit.

She turned away, and Scrivy and Luna lingered for a moment before turning to leave themselves, both understanding that even if they could stop a god like Gymbr, they could never stop the universe from continuing its relentless, endless march.

Chapter Twenty Three: Even More Chaos Theory

~BlackRoseRaven

Discombobulation stood with his arms crossed, moodily looking over at Celestia as she simply smiled back at him, gazing at him almost imploringly. Finally, he gave a long, theatrical sigh, then said wryly: "I suppose I'm supposed to say 'yes ma'am' to all of your plans in the future, aren't I?"

"Not at all. If we don't argue, what's the point of having a relationship?" Celestia asked kindly, and the Draconequus looked thoughtful at this before the ivory mare leaned over and gently placed a hoof against his side, saying softly: "But I think this is important. And Hecate asked for you specifically, not Discord."

"Now you're just stroking my ego. Like a cat. Stop that, get your mind out of the gutter, Tia. I most certainly didn't mean that as a euphemism." The Draconequus awkwardly pushed at her a little, but she only smiled amusedly in return as she slipped herself a little closer towards him, before Luna Brynhild loudly cleared her throat to get their attention.

The sapphire mare was on the other side of the small reading room they were in: it was almost a miniature library, with a few soft furnishings to lounge and read in, and shelves lining the walls that stretched high, high, high to the ceiling above. Every time Scrivener Blooms was in here, he wondered what the hell could be on the top shelves and just how he could reach up and get them, but he also refused to ever ask anyone for help, so he figured it would remain a mystery forever. Or at least until Twilight Sparkle came in here and decided to read every book in this room, too.

Luna looked sourly over at Scrivener, then she rammed her head into him and knocked him sprawling stupidly on his side, the sapphire mare stumbling dumbly backwards before she quickly set herself and turned as professionally as possible back towards Celestia and Discombobulation. "So, thou shall do it, then? We could truly use thy aid, Bob. And fear not, we shan't send thee back to Ginnungagap. Or at least not without Celestia."

"Oh, don't even joke about that." Discombobulation shivered, hugging himself and turning a moody look towards Celestia. "I don't even want to imagine what would happen to you in a world of chaos and infinite delights. Or what you'd do with all those other Draconequus around. They'd treat you like a toy, you know, a fancy, shiny new toy of mine that they'd want to take away from me. Not that I think of you like that, I'm just saying they would, but like a toy you have to woo and coo and try to earn the favor of. So a pet, really. Like a puppy."

"Would they all be as handsome as you?" Celestia asked pleasantly, and Discombobulation stared at her and slowly leaned away from her before the ivory mare turned a smile and a nod towards Luna. "Give us a few hours. I'd like to try and talk to Discord, too. He might be more effective at getting answers."

Discombobulation huffed at this, but Celestia only soothingly rubbed his arm before Luna nodded and said softly: "Very well then. I am not entirely sure what Hecate is up to... if thou sees her, tell her we shall meet in the evening. I am also going to have her marshal and repair the Clockwork Ponies, and would like for them to be freed, Celestia."

The rainbow-maned mare didn't look surprised: if anything, she seemed to soften a little, nodding slowly and silently. Luna frowned at this response, and Scrivener tilted his own head, unable to stop from asking: "Did you... expect that?"

"We have to use every resource. They are a resource... one I feel more sorry for these days than anything else." She stopped, then looked over at Scrivener, saying quietly: "But while we establish them in Subterra, I want you present when they're outside of predetermined safe zones. The last thing we need is a Clockwork Pony going on a rampage."

Scrivener Blooms nodded hesitantly, trading looks with Luna before he muttered: "Busy days ahead. Well... Luna, do you want to go and see if your horn is ready?"

"Aye, I can sense Twilight's thoughts... she has been going through the full process of repairing it, silly mare." Luna sighed and shook her head with a small smile, then her eye flicked over to Celestia, hesitating for a moment before she said quietly: "Thou knows thou art not going to be invited to Helheim with us, aye?"

"I know." Celestia sighed tiredly and shook her head slowly, murmuring: "But we will be accompanying you to Heaven, and to Gymbr. And I've been getting a lot of very urgent, very worried messages from Ponyville. Scarlet Sage wants to come and help as well, and I don't think we're in any position to refuse her aid."

"Yes we are, she has to care for my grandchildren." Luna said stoically, and then her mouth slowly puckered as she mumbled: "Grandchildren. Oh Celestia, 'tis a wondrous thought. A wondrous thought that makes me feel terribly, terribly old."

Celestia only gave a quiet sigh and a small smile, and then she said softly: "And would you deny her helping the mother she still idolizes and not allow her to help protect her own children, just to selfishly make sure that she's safe with foals who are old enough to take care of themselves?"

"In our time, maybe. These days, they are still only children in need of parents, not adults." Luna replied with a firm shake of her head, giving her older sibling a dry look. "Although thou has cheated horribly and... aye, I see thy point. 'Tis funny, though, Celestia. I did not think there was any pony more glad than thee when we found out there were no Blood Seers in this world apart from mine own daughter... or at least, that we know of.'

The ivory mare shrugged a little, then she said softly: "Well, I wasn't always smart, Luna. And even worse, I didn't always fully appreciate the value of being a little stupid."

Celestia turned a small smile towards Discombobulation, and the Draconequus shrugged a bit before asking seriously: "Do you have a little Draconequus in you?" A pause, as Celestia looked up at him with entertainment, and then Discombobulation waggled his eyebrows as he asked seriously: "Do you want to?"

Luna frowned at this, looked up... then giggled stupidly as she got the joke, and Scrivener Blooms slowly closed his eyes and dropped his head forwards. Celestia's eyes were glittering with entertainment, however, as she leaned up and said softly: "I never realized the key to getting you in bed was just telling you how stupid you make me."

"Yes, you're making me so excited I may just burst out of the pants I'm not wearing." Discombobulation said mildly, gesturing down at himself, and Luna paused as she peered pointedly at the lower half of the Draconequus, making him wince and cover himself as he stepped backwards. "There is nothing to see here, Scrivener Blooms!"

"Aye. Thou hast done a remarkably good job of keeping thyself covered up, I must say. Oft from time-to-time there are losses of control and accidents around mares so beautiful and arousing as I am, after all." Luna replied mildly, tossing her starry mane and posing for a moment as she raised her head high, and then she grinned widely over at Celestia, remarking: "Remember the town we found where the Lust demons were passing out love potions? Except thou wert boring then, so thou did not find it nearly as fun as Sleipnir and I did!"

"I still think you two were being incredibly stupid. The potion might not have been a poison, but it wasn't right to take advantage of the situation like you two did." Celestia paused, looking meditative. "Even if we did find out from that experience that Sleipnir is immune to most... diseases."

Luna grunted, absently rubbing at herself as she muttered: "Aye, but he carried that terrible case of crabs back to camp and infested us all with the wicked things. Then thou, as always, overreacted and burnt down the tent and destroyed all our sleepware, and scalded both of us for good measure."

Scrivener glanced over at Luna, and Luna looked pointedly back, sharing a few distinct memories of her and Sleipnir yelling and attempting to shield themselves as a furious Celestia pummeled them with blasts of boiling water from a cauldron over a fire. "Oh. You. Really did mean scalded. That's... one way to deal with it."

"It was easiest. I could kill and wash out most of the lice and the eggs, and then, while Luna and Sleipnir's nerves were still sensitive, scour them with magic." Celestia smiled slightly. "Not that the boiling water was entirely necessary. But it made me feel much better."

Discombobulation looked mildly at the ivory mare, and then he nudged her lightly and said kindly: "A person who is not nice to the waiter is not a nice person."

"I know. But I think you like that about me. I think I like that about me, not having to try and pretend that... I was always kind and perfect." Celestia replied softly, giving a small shrug before she turned her eyes towards Luna, asking curiously: "Do you want me to come with you, help you fit your new prosthetic horn on?"

"Nay, I want thou to stay here, flirt with Bob, possibly make... disgusting little babies that would have smiles like the damned." Luna replied mildly, shaking her head, and Celestia smiled slightly as she turned a pointed look to Discombobulation, who only looked at her moodily. "Well, thou has to do something with thy time. And Celestia is sure not to get pregnant from thee, Bob... but when thou art sure of anything with chaos..."

"Oh, don't even joke about that, Scrivener Blooms. That's awful." Discombobulation shivered a little, looking pointedly away up towards the ceiling as he mumbled: "My one defense in regards to trying to kill a conversation is making racist jokes in the hopes that everyone in the room will be driven away. Or they'll laugh at them, and then there'll be that awkward silence where we all look at each other, knowing we should feel worse than we do about all the things we just said."

Scrivener and Luna traded mild looks, and then the stallion said wryly: "Unicorns are so proud of the horns on their heads because they have nothing but nubs between their legs."

Luna coughed loudly at this as Celestia sighed and shook her head and Discombobulation sniffed loudly, then replied mildly: "There are two things a unicorn is good for: whining about his betters and complaining about all the good things he has in life."

"Proud horns should be proud of themselves. No one else is ever going to be." Scrivener continued amiably, and then he winced when Luna punched him lightly and shook her head slowly, grinning despite herself.

Celestia gave Discombobulation her own gentle look, and he quieted and grumpily crossed his arms as Luna said with marked entertainment: "While normally I would encourage thee, Scrivy, we have better things to do at the moment. Besides, need I remind thee that thou art technically a unicorn?"

Scrivener Blooms huffed at this, saying dryly: "That's hitting below the belt, Luna. Besides, I'm not really a unicorn, either. I'm a Replicant. A Clockwork Pony."

Celestia looked up thoughtfully at this, and Scrivener Blooms frowned a little as he glanced up as well before the ivory winged unicorn said softly: "That's perhaps the first time I've ever heard you refer to yourself as that, Scrivener Blooms... and actually sound like you've come to terms with it."

The stallion smiled a little at this as Luna softened herself, and then she shook her head slowly and murmured: "Aye, my big sister has a point. Stupid idiot Scrivener Blooms. But I suppose that... in a strange way, all we are faced with now helps. Gymbr, after all, is no Clockwork Pony... he is just us, made evil. It is not Decretum nor Valthrudnir that made him this way... only our own sins, our own crimes. Not what we are, but who we could have been..."

Luna looked down meditatively, and then she shook her head and smiled awkwardly, glancing lamely up. "I apologize. Many heavy thoughts run rampant through my mind and... I have worries for Twilight Sparkle, and for Heaven, and for... my poor lost daughter. I need to put my horn back in my head to quell all these loathsome thoughts, for this cap is not holding them all in mine addled brain."

"Alright. Let me know if you need my help, though... I'm here to do whatever I can for you, Luna." Celestia said softly, and Luna grumbled a little, but nodded grudgingly all the same after a moment before she turned around and strode quickly towards the exit, Scrivener giving a last nod to the odd couple near the shelves before he hurried after the sapphire mare.

They made their way silently through the Thorn Palace for a little while, descending level-by-level towards the closest route leading down into their little sanctuary before Luna said abruptly: "This is all thy fault, Scrivy. I never used to be so thinkery. Thou has made me thinkery."

"That doesn't sound like an adjective." Scrivener said mildly, and then he winced when Luna huffed and headbutted him lightly, the stallion wincing a bit before he shook himself out and muttered: "As happy as I am that you're so good at expressing yourself, Luna... you really need to work on learning how to use your words. Not just your face."

"Thy face." Luna grumbled in response as they continued to make their way downwards, the smell of earth filling the air as the ground turned to soil beneath their hooves, vines and thick plants growing through the brick walls. And yet in spite of how enclosed they were, how deep in the earth they were heading, they felt safe down here, never claustrophobic.

They reached their little sanctuary and found Twilight Sparkle was puttering around the room instead of in the pool of tears, and the Lich looked only a little embarrassed when Scrivener and Luna caught her, saying awkwardly: "I'm fine now, really, and the rest of my body can heal on its own and... well, I wanted to make sure your horn was coming out well."

"Aye. But thou art still an idiot." Luna said gently, and Twilight blushed and smiled a little as Scrivener and the sapphire mare approached, heading towards the large cauldron that sat in a recessed nook in the wall, resting on a heated panel. They had thought many times about replacing this heavy old thing with something a bit more new, but... the old ways were sometimes the best ways, and this was how they had always made the elixir and repaired Luna's prosthetic horn.

Twilight removed the lid, and the three gazed into the bubbling black liquid before the Lich smiled a little and said softly: "It should be just about done. I used a little more soulstone than usual to try and make it heavier."

"So long as it is still balanced. Besides, no matter what, my horn is solid." Luna said mildly, gesturing up at her currently hornless head, and then she huffed and reached up to start poking and pulling at the iron cap, making Scrivener wince and Twilight awkwardly reach up and touch the sapphire mare's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down.

"Just wait a minute more, let's make sure it's done before we pull it out. And if there's more soulstone in the mixture, it should channel your magic better... but since all our soulstone came from Helheim, and we've lost our alliance with Hel for the moment..." Twilight smiled faintly, not having to finish the sentence as Luna scowled a little, holding onto the edges of the iron cap. So they were out of soulstone... which meant, if she lost this horn...

"Oh damnation. So I shall have to be careful now, fantastic." Luna grumbled, and then she shook her head moodily before carefully twisting the iron cap and pulling it loose with a hiss of pain, a bit of blood leaking out of the hole in her skull as she muttered: "Damnation. Scrivy?"

The stallion was already removing his plastic boots, however, smiling awkwardly over at the mare, and she nodded firmly to him as Twilight Sparkle shook her head before picking up a pair of tongs from a nearby table with telekinesis. She lifted these over, then dipped them into the liquid and fished around for a moment before managing to grasp something and carefully pulling them up and free from the elixir.

She pulled a long metal case free from the dark depths of the cauldron, then she extended her telekinetic grip to the metal box and undid the locks along the side, pulling the tongs back as she popped the case open to reveal a fully-formed soulstone horn inside. It was thrumming with power, the base created from the remains of Luna's old prosthetic horn and the rest new material, a strange core of almost-black light pulsing quietly through the center of the artifact.

Twilight Sparkle used the tongs to gently lift this free from the case, shaking a bit of excess elixir off it before the Lich turned and carefully guided the horn forwards. Luna looked up steadily, breathing slowly as she dropped onto her stomach and rose her head high, and Scrivener stepped over her body, half-pinning her in place as his damaged hooves unfolded into claws that grasped either side of her head tightly.

It stung: he was barely able to bite back a grimace as some of his dark blood ran from the damaged digits and flowed over Luna's cheeks and features. The mare shuddered herself, both in pain and anticipation as she forced herself to keep steady until she felt the base of the soulstone horn slide into the hole in her skull, and she bared her fangs and clenched her eyes shut as Twilight shivered a little, forcing her telekinetic grip to remain as steady as possible as she pushed the horn forwards, until Luna rasped: "Scrivy, now!"

The stallion's claws clutched against the mare's skull, and then he pushed his powers forwards, even as the pain made his back arch and outweighed the throbbing in his own skull. He gasped as Luna spasmed, then groaned loudly as corruption twisted through her mind and all that pain became pleasure, even as she felt Twilight twisting the horn as it locked into place in the base in the sapphire mare's skull and was cemented and connected by the corruption flooding around it.

Then Scrivener's claws fell away, his body falling over hers as he half-caught himself against the ground with his damaged front limbs, but it only made a pulse of agony tear through his body as Luna shivered beneath him. Twilight Sparkle was sitting back herself, a trickle of blood running from the base of her own spire, but light was pulsing in time from her horn with the aura thrumming around Luna's own as the sapphire mare shuddered again... then let out a soft, low moan as she arched her back, whispering: "It gets better every time..."

And in a way, it did. There was the pain and the pleasure, the welcome and the hated, the good and the bad; it was a mix of sensations that Luna feared and wanted to avoid but also... craved and adored. The pleasure, and the way pain was absorbed and overcome, became delight that mixed lustfully with the sensation of Scrivener's heavy body pressing down overtop her own; the heat, and a need being fulfilled, and having dark, forbidden knowledge tease through her mind and power fill up her body, flood her veins...

She shuddered, then slowly rolled her shoulders and flexed, arching her back before her eyes opened to gaze hungrily up at Twilight Sparkle, and the Lich looked back and shivered a little before she leaned forwards: their mouths met, the two trading a slow, sensual kiss before they parted, and then Luna closed her eyes with a long sigh as the pain faded and the... the pleasure, so strange and good it was like madness... she felt that draining out of her too.

Scrivener eventually awkwardly pushed himself up, and he shook himself quickly out before grimacing as he looked down at his damaged claws: they were still bleeding a little, they still ached, but... he felt like they were stabilizing a bit now, at least. Luna, meanwhile, shook herself fiercely out as well... then sighed in relief as her mane and tail both shuddered and became blue, ephemeral locks once more as she felt her magic and energy returning as her horn synced up with her body.

The mare turned her attention towards the cauldron, and Twilight Sparkle shook herself hurriedly out last, blushing a bit as she realized she was just standing and staring. The Lich almost tripped over herself as she turned away, tossing the tongs down and picking up a simple, clear glass of crystal to quickly offer to Luna as she faced her again, smiling embarrassedly as she murmured: "Here. But only one cup, Luna."

"Aye, mother, I know." Luna smiled a little all the same in return as she took the glass with her own telekinetic hold, studying it for a moment and relishing even that small bit of magic she could once more perform. Then she nodded once and turned, dipping it into the dark elixir and scooping up a full glass of the black liquid, letting the excess drain cleanly off the crystal before she murmured: "Well, here's to us, my family."

She rose the glass to her lips and tipped it back, drinking down the dark, hot liquid in a few quick swallows before gritting her teeth as she felt it taking effect almost immediately. That power spread through her veins again as her body flexed, and her eyes clenched shut as her horn glowed with energy, the crystal cup in her telekinetic grip squeezed so fiercely she threatened to crack it.

She could feel it, spreading through her muscles, creating a network between her nerves, fully restoring the nearly-lost connection with her horn before she snapped her soulstone horn upwards and bared her teeth in a grin at the pulse of power that rippled through the room. She could swear that every time they traded out her horn, repeated this wonderful but dangerous ritual, she grew stronger, her magic was amplified further... but as the euphoria began to fade again, she was left with that feeling of what was almost shame as she shivered a little, her eyes lowering as she felt her whole body almost whimper for more.

Scrivener and Twilight both gave faint smiles to the sapphire mare, but Luna shook herself quickly out, then turned and tossed the cup at Scrivener, the stallion blinking dumbly as it bounced off his head before the sapphire mare said firmly: "I am fine, and thou art dumb. Twilight Sparkle, do not make me repeat myself to thee as well."

"Alright, Luna." The violet mare shook her head with a small smile, then she asked softly: "Well, what are we going to do now? We should at least go clean up a little, I think... you're all... well... a little bit messy."

Luna absently reached up and touched her face, smearing dark liquid and blood over her own features before she grumbled a little. "Damnation. Foolish blood cannot stay in its proper place. Very well, then let us bathe."

And with that, Luna spun around and headed for the Pool of Tears in the center of the room, Twilight wincing and babbling out: "Wait, Luna, no no, you can't just jump in there and use it like a-"

Luna huffed and popped off her hooves, cannonballing into the heavy water... and barely making a splash as the liquid seemed to devour her, Scrivener and Twilight both staring at the shape of the sapphire mare visible beneath the surface. Then the stallion wheezed as Luna began to writhe wildly around, clawing her way up until she finally shoved through the jelly-like liquid with a gasp, blinking dumbly several times as her starry mane sparked weakly.

Scrivener and Twilight both traded looks, then glared down at the sapphire mare, who grinned lamely in return before poking her own face several times. "Well, look, I am clean. And feel very tingly. And will remember in the future that this is not swimming water. Now both of thee, get in here if thou desire so heartily to keep me safe."

The stallion sighed as the Lich shook her head tiredly, and then the two ponies traded mild looks before Twilight muttered: "Sometimes I really wonder how we're even all still alive."

---

Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight made their way back to Cowlick's engineering lab after a Nightmare came and told them everyone was gathering there. On the way, they ran into Antares, Aphrodisia, and Prestige, who had managed to escape crumbling Paradise alongside the stallion, and they lingered for a few moments in the streets of Subterra to catch up with each other on what was going on.

Antares was relieved to see Luna had repaired her prosthetic horn, and Luna was glad to hear that Antares and Prestige were both helping to get angels and Blessed to help out the demons of Subterra: but they all had a common enemy, after all, and they would only win if they put aside their differences and worked together to defeat Gymbr.

Aphrodisia was also able to tell them a little about how things were going in Helheim, as well as inform Luna that her parents were both demanding they be allowed to come and help, and that they were tired of holding down Ponyville. Luna agreed with this after a moment of thought: after all, Ponyville didn't seem like it was in much danger, and since Avalon was there now, she could help hold things down in the event something did happen.

The group made their way onwards: somehow, no one was surprised to find Celestia and Discombobulation were already in front of the portal ring, talking with Cowlick as Hecate moodily floated around. A few Nibelung were present as well, workers who were hurrying around the room to make last minute adjustments and ensure that everything was working properly, and Luna looked curiously back and forth before she said thoughtfully: "Well, at least if it explodes, we shall not die alone. That is always good."

"A wonderful way to think. Are we done wasting time?" Hecate asked sourly as she floated down, and then she glared at Aphrodisia as the demon giggled behind a hoof up at her, while Prestige only did her best not to stare and Antares smiled complacently. "Shut up, demon child."

"But you're a head! A floating head! I'm never going to get over that." Apps looked up with a bright smile, and then she huffed when Antares nudged her firmly, shouldering him back with a huff.

Hecate only rolled her eyes, then the head turned and floated calmly down in front of the portal ring, facing away from the audience as they formed a semicircle and she explained calmly: "The ring will take a short time to power up, but it will force the connection to Ginnungagap by itself. Discombobulation, you are here because I require a Draconequus to translate the chaos: the creatures we are going to speak to likely won't make sense, and we may not even be able to precisely see through the window. Or at least, we won't be able to make sense of what we see."

There were a few nods at this, and then Bob sniffed disdainfully before he gestured towards the mirror, asking mildly: "And what can your muggle machinery do that my wizardry can't?"

"Everything." Hecate said coldly as she floated around in a circle, her horn glowing brightly before both power stations lit up with runes and bright dots of light. Cowlick cursed and staggered away as electricity blasted over the pillars and the ring supported between them, before energy began to coalesce inside the ring, Hecate framed by the glowing light with a brutal grin stretching her features as she said coldly: "Watch and learn."

There was a thunderous blast as the power in the room flickered, several of the cables sparking and twisting violently as the electricity around the ring leapt and swelled, making Hecate's mane of living lightning and cables dance and twist as the flying saucer supporting her sparked and rumbled.

A crash like thunder tore through the area as the electricity was all drawn into the glowing wall that had formed inside the ring... and then this barrier of light shattered into motes that left them looking at what seemed like a hole in reality: not an normal portal, but a gaping wound that had surfaces dripping slowly with what looked like sludgy black ink coating ripped, torn papers. And halfway down this passage, there was a barrier of what looked like heavy, blurred glass, through which indistinct colors and wild shapes could be seen twisting and moving on the other side.

Discombobulation reached up and touched his throat silently, and a moment later, there was a crackle of green lightning before a second Draconequus appeared, who stared with disbelieving red eyes towards the wound in reality held open by the ring framework. He reached up, eagle talon and lions paw both grasping at the mismatched horns sticking out of his head, whispering: "No, that's not possible. Puppy, what in Loki's name are you doing?"

"This isn't me, big dog." Discombobulation gestured moodily at Hecate as the head laughed loudly and turned around, grinning almost challengingly at Discord, and the recently-arrived Draconequus winced and hopped daintily backwards on one leg, hoof clicking against the tiles as his other clawed lower limb kicked awkwardly in Hecate's direction, bat and feathered wings on his back flapping madly to try and keep balance as his red-scaled dragon's tail snapped back and forth.

"Cowards. But fine, you're both here. Discombobulation, get their attention. Discord, make them listen." Hecate said coldly, and Discord snorted at this, crossing his arms as he dropped to a standing position and looked at her sourly.

"Okay, what makes you think I would ever listen to someone like you? For one thing, I don't know if you technically can count as a someone without a body. I think you're a something. And that something is bad." Discord said pettishly, shaking his head briskly, and then he swallowed slowly as Hecate slowly floated over to head level with him, baring her metallic fangs and making him shrink down a little. "But I can learn to love you."

"Hecate, stop. Discord, please help us. We would be indebted to you." Celestia said gently, and then she glanced up and nodded briefly to Bob when he gave her an uneasy look. She smiled reassuringly, and the metal-armed Draconequus sighed tiredly before he gave a grudging nod and turned to head towards the so-called 'window' into Ginnungagap.

He halted in front of it, peering into the tunnel before he reached carefully through the framework... and somehow, it hurt Scrivener's head to see the Draconequus reaching into the wound in reality, even as nothing happened. Discombobulation looked relieved by this, and then he sighed as he drew back before muttering: "Well, there's one thing that always gets the neighbor's attention."

He flicked his hand to the side, a baseball appearing in his grip before he leaned forwards and slung it hard, and it smashed into the glass with a dull clunk: for a moment it seemed to get stuck, and then Celestia leaned forwards as her eyes narrowed intently, Luna seeing after a moment what her sister did as her jaw fell open. The ball was actually slowly forcing its way through the glass, making it ripple and distort, before-

It was gone, and the surface of the glass was back to normal. There was silence for a moment as Discombobulation awkwardly tented his hands together uneasily... and then both he and Discord jumped, wincing backwards as there were several loud knocks on the glass, followed by...

They were bombarded by an unintelligible flurry of sounds, even if it sounded like there was some kind of message in the static. Most of the ponies shifted uncomfortably, Luna growling as her soulstone horn vibrated and Hecate only laughing even as her flying saucer spluttered in the air, but both Discombobulation and Discord traded looks of surprise.

Then the.. whatever it was, was gone. Scrivener looked up, and he frowned in surprise as he realized there were indistinct figures on the other side of the blurry glass now, and he thought he could see one poking at it slowly, creating a gentle tap-tap-tap that was just the slightest bit out of time.

Discord gestured wildly at Discombobulation, and Bob grimaced and flailed childishly back for a few moments before Celestia asked quietly: "What's the problem? What did they say?"

"Oh, you know. Just some polite greetings, and some polite trash-talk, and they were politely telling us to... well, I won't finish that sentence. Apparently there's something very good on TV and they want to go back to watching it." Discombobulation said mildly, shaking his head briefly before he added mildly, jerking a thumb at Discord: "They also don't want to open the door for Discord. Precisely because if he asks, they have to. In Ginnungagap, we're all still bound to him."

"Yes, give away all my secrets, puppy. Besides, they're much angrier at you than they are me." Discord replied pointedly, nodding firmly a few times, then he crossed his arms and added mildly: "There's no way they're going to help us. Why do we even need to try and talk to my old school buddies anyway? This is stupid. You're all stupid. I'm going to leave."

He began to turn around, and found himself face-to-face with Hecate, who glared at him before she headbutted Discord and knocked him flat. He landed with a yelp that turned into a much-less-comical scream of pain as Hecate's horn glowed, arcs of lightning twisting from the soulstone and zapping over the Draconequus as she shouted coldly in the direction of the portal. "Unless you answer our questions, I will force Discord to force one of you to create a connection, and then I will drag you all, kicking and screaming, into a world where I can physically maim, mutilate, and torture you."

"Oh, now that's really not necessary, not at all, no no no." said a kind voice before there was the sound of snapping fingers, and a moment later Hecate was trapped in a bubble, her magic silenced and her eyes bulging in shock before the head fell out of the air and bounced harmlessly away.

The ponies in the room spun around, many setting themselves, others only staring in disbelief at the sight of the newcomer. He stood on two legs and was dressed in a mishmashed suit that was ripped and torn in places, rumpled gloves covering his hand and a top hat with the sales tag still sticking out of the brim. His eyes were white, and he had the head of a horse, with a spiky blonde mane and a terribly-pale coat that had the faintest tint of some natural color to it.

He swept off his hat and bowed low to them, then straightened and brushed his hair back before plopping the hat jauntily atop his head, saying warmly: "Now, if I may give a bit of advice, you should be careful about opening windows: you never know quite whom you might let inside, dear friends. But perhaps my advice will have a little more effect if I introduce myself: I am Theophilius Carter, and you are many different people, all with names of your own. Some with just one, others with two, a few with even more! What fun!"

He laughed and clapped his gloved hands childishly together as he did a short little dance on the spot, and Discord paled as he crawled slowly up, tugging at an invisible collar as he asked weakly: "Now, you wouldn't happen to be selling hats, would you?"

"Two for a penny, but three for a pound! And while that might not sound like a great amount of savings to you, consider all the wear and tear you'll avoid on your pocket. For everyone knows that if you line your pockets with money, it won't be long before the tax man sees it's all taken away." Theophilius replied glibly, and then he chuckled and clapped his gloved hands a few times before reaching up and adjusting a strange object around his neck: a crystalline choker, in the shape of a horse's head.

"The Hatter's here." Discombobulation said quietly, and then he closed one eye and tilted his head, murmuring: "But we shouldn't be afraid of him, oh no. We should all be afraid of what drove him Mad in the first place. Because even if the Mad must bow to the Hatter, the Hatter can only be made by Madness. Where's Alice when you need her?"

"Away with the March Hare and the Dormouse, I presume. Although one is just so wild and the other always so quiet!" The strange creature that had joined them clucked his tongue and shook his head a few times, then he rubbed his hands together and said thoughtfully: "I should go and look for her. For all of them, they would be good to see. It's been oh so long since I've seen them..."

He reached up, absently playing with the buttons of the rumpled dress shirt beneath his suit jacket, and then he smiled and looked over them all, clapping his hands together. "Where were we, though? I forgot... who are you? What am I doing here?"

Luna frowned, and Celestia responded in a calm voice: "My name is Freya, and I am a Valkyrie. Are you a chaos entity from Ginnungagap?"

"I'm not from there, and I don't know much about chaos. Not that I suppose anyone really does. It's chaos, after all, it does what it wants." Theophilius paused, then absently rose a hand, adding: "Unless you ask it politely, of course."

With that, the creature simply snapped his fingers, and there was a loud pop before both Discombobulation and Discord had dropped painfully all all fours, scrunching themselves up into awkward-looking positions on their arms and legs before Discord wheezed: "I don't like being a table."

"What did thou just do?" Luna asked incredulously, staring at the Draconequus, and Theophilius only smiled kindly at her, shrugging and looking at her pleasantly.

"I just asked them politely to do something." Theophilius paused, then he turned around and vanished... but a moment later, all eyes were drawn towards a loud clicking to see him now seated on top of Discord with his booted feet up on the bubble that contained Hecate, slurping loudly at a cup of tea before he looked up with a beaming expression. "Won't you all join me for tea? Oh here, oh here, let me get you all seats!"

And with that, Theophilius made several easy gestures at the portal ring, and Hecate shouted silently inside the orb as the metallic framework began to vibrate violently and the wall of glass inside the tunnel trembled. A moment later, there was a terrible bang and a blast of green lightning, Celestia and Antares both leaping forwards with winces and snapping their horns out to create barriers of light that blocked the wave of force and emerald electricity.

Luna winced, then looked up... and stared in disbelief through the walls of light protecting them, the sapphire mare mouthing slowly as she saw the circular framework of the portal had been blown apart into a smoking wreck, and one of the pillars powering it had been knocked over, while the other was half-melted and sparking weakly. But most striking of all was the floating hole in reality that was bleeding black ink and amber tea... and letting Draconequus after Draconequus leap free, landing with winces and then twisting themselves into unnatural positions as Theophilius giggled and kicked his feet childishly.

"Seats for everyone!" he declared, and then he snapped his fingers, and the rift in reality closed before he rubbed thoughtfully at the underside of his muzzle, looking curiously over the several dozen chaos entities that had just escaped through the hole he had torn into Ginnungagap. "Oh, maybe I set out one too many... well, we can always remedy that by inviting more guests, of course!"

The Mad Hatter laughed at this and shook his head with a childish smile, and Discombobulation mumbled: "Tia, if you sit on me... I will die. I just want you to know that."

"I think you should let them stand up. And I think you should take your Draconequus and leave. We're looking for solutions to a problem and I don't get the sense that you are the answer to what we're looking for." Celestia said evenly, but her eyes were glowing even as she allowed the magic barrier she and Antares had created to drop, her expression cold.

"Oh, yes, the coming of chaos... and that's not a rock ballad, oh no, oh no." Theophilius hopped to his feet, holding his saucer in one hand and teacup in the other before he absently booted Hecate aside, the translucent ball she was trapped in bouncing loudly across the room. "That's part of a great Draconequus prophecy, I'll have you know! Scary stuff, it is, when chaos ends up predicting the future, usually all that is the realm of you orderly types..."

"What art thou talking about? Gymbr?" asked Luna sharply, a frown cresting her features, and Theophilius looked almost perplexed at this, knitting his fingers together.

"Gymbr? I'm afraid I don't know any Gymbr, no. I know of the Gryphon, and the Mock Turtle, and oh, don't we all know the White Rabbit and the Red Queen... but no Gymbrs here, not a single one." Theophilius looked thoughtful, rubbing at the underside of his chin. "But no, eternal chaos will only come for a very single short moment, you see... after order rises, before order purges. Oh, yes, my friends. Why would we care about the coming of chaos unless it symbolized the very alter-opposite!"

The Mad Hatter shrugged, then he tossed cup and saucer aside before clapping his hands together and smiling kindly to them. "But that's all in the past now, isn't it? Oh yes, the past and the future, all at once. We don't have to worry about it quite yet, and that is very fortunate, for it seems you already have many worries of your own to try and deal with."

Twilight Sparkle frowned at this, but surprisingly, it was Prestige who stepped quickly up, asking worriedly: "But what about Heaven? Do you know anything about Valhalla?"

"I know that you, my dear, are a flower from that very garden." the Mad Hatter said gently, smiling at her benevolently before he reached up to slowly toy at his choker. "I know of many things. I know about living and dying, and about fighting and fleeing. I know all about cowards and bravery, although I must confess to being one most often and rarely the other."

"Make sense. And let Discord and Discombobulation go." Celesta said quietly but firmly, and the strange creature smiled as he touched his own breast. "I won't ask you politely again."

Theophilius sighed loudly at this, rolling his eyes and shaking his head slowly. "Oh, dear me. Very well, very well, if you have to insist so heartily, my dear... my, but you're not at all like any other White Queen I've ever had the pleasure or not of knowing. But I suppose that's why you're Red."

With that, Theophilius flicked his wrists, freeing the Draconequus of the strange hold he had over them before the strange entity smiled and straightened, holding his arms out wide as he said kindly: "I think, Miss Freya, we knew each other a very long time ago; a time when you had five fingers, and probably more than one toe."

Celestia's eyes widened slightly at this, and Luna snarled as she stepped forwards, the creature's eyes roving towards her as he added politely: "And for you, little Brynhild, I do confess: you knew my brother until recently, even if under duress."

"Jötnar." whispered Twilight Sparkle, looking disbelievingly at the entity, and then she stared back and forth at the chaos entities that all had their unique heads lowered towards the creature in respect. "But... but you came out of Ginnungagap, and Valthrudnir, he..."

"Well, the Jötnar do not die. We simply... go on." The creature made a fluttering gesture with his fingers, and then he smiled kindly and bowed his head forwards. "Sometimes we go one way, sometimes we get a little lost and end up on the wrong side of the universe. But where there's a will, there's always, always, always a way... but oh, don't you worry. I don't want to hurt anyone, I just want to sell hats, drink tea, and... not see the entire universe end. Then when will we have cake?"

"The cake is a lie." Discombobulation muttered, and then he winced when the Mad Hatter spun towards him and shushed him violently several times, the Draconequus half-covering his head with a wince. "Don't throw me in the incinerator!"

"No, no, definitely throw him in the incinerator. Not enough to kill him, I certainly would never want to fry my puppy, but I wouldn't mind having a hot dog. Get it? Get it?" Discord grinned... and then another Draconequus smacked him, almost knocking him over before he turned a glare on the offender and shouted: "Hey, workplace violation here! I'm still the boss!"

"We have a union!" called another Draconequus, and there was a collective gasp before the group of Draconequus simply broke down into a wild brawl, Discord yelling and charging into the middle of the fight as Discombobulation dropped his face miserably in his hands and slowly dragged his fingers along his features.

Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight all slowly tilted their heads, staring with disbelief as Antares looked blank, Prestige gaped, and Aphrodisia simply cheered and giggled, clapping wildly as she bounced on the spot like a foal at the circus. Then Celestia bared her teeth and stomped on the floor as she snapped her horn up, an echoing boom ripping through the air and the thirty or so Draconequus leaping up into several tight lines, all of them saluting and staring with terror at the ivory equine as she shouted: "That is enough!"

She turned her eyes to glare at Theophilius, then she strode quickly towards him, saying coldly: "Giants were the enemies of the gods. And I have never heard of a Jötnar returning to life without the aid of either a god or one of his fellows. This is your last chance to give me an explanation for what you're doing here, or I'm going to have to take more aggressive measures."

Theophilius slowly reached up and straightened his hat, then he rose his fists gamely, saying seriously: "So it's a fight you want, is it, Freya?" He began to bounce from foot-to-foot, narrowing his eyes at her as he revolved his fists back and forth with comically. "Now you listen here, you listen to me, you listen and listen good, little missy, I'm the best darn fighter this side of-"

Celestia stepped forwards and punched him in the stomach, her hoof sinking deep into his gut, and the creature's eyes bulged as he was almost bent in half and hefted up to his toes. Then he whimpered, wrapping his arms around his stomach and stumbling backwards as he retched, then overbalanced and landed on his rump, at the same time coughing out a stream of tea.

He sat, looking absolutely dejected as he blinked a few times, but despite the tears in his eyes Celestia only loomed over him, glaring down at the entity even as Luna said awkwardly: "I would like to pummel the creature most fiercely as well, Celestia, but... well, I do not wish to tell thee how to do thy job, of course, as thou art Queen of the Valkyries..."

Celestia's eyes flicked sourly over her shoulder, and Luna cleared her throat and shut her mouth before Celestia's eyes then turned towards the Draconequus. They all immediately leapt into one-another's limbs, staring at her with terror before she returned her cold glare to Theophilius.

He coughed out a bit more tea, then looked up at her and whimpered: "Oh, it doesn't taste nearly as good coming out as it does going in, mum. Can. Can you give me just-"

Celestia seized him by the collar and yanked him forwards with a squeal, the mare's eyes hard as she glared down at him and asked coldly: "Who revived you? Was it Gymbr or was it Hel? And for what purpose?"

Luna and Scrivener looked surprised, but Antares only narrowed his eyes, leaning forwards intently. Theophilius, meanwhile, was staring up at Celestia with something like amazement, whistling slowly before he remarked: "You must have really eaten a lot of fish as a child, Celestia, because I have to say... that is quite the cunning observation. But you did miss one thing, I fear."

Celestia frowned at this, and then the Mad Hatter politely tipped his hat to her before he simply vanished from her grip in a crackle of green lightning, the ivory mare stumbling in surprise, then glaring upwards as Theophilius popped back into existence high above on the ceiling, the creature doing a little jig. "Cheers, friends! Away we go! All aboard the crazy train!"

With that, Theophilius pointed towards the ceiling, a rift ripping through reality before he giggled and leapt into the air, cannonballing in defiance of gravity into this... and then Celestia shouted a denial as the Draconequus leapt up one after the other to follow into the rift, some of them flailing wildly as if trying to resist, others diving straight for the portal as the ivory mare shouted: "Block it!"

Prestige and Antares both snapped their horns upwards in almost perfect time to create a barrier over the hole, as Twilight gritted her teeth and attempted to dispel the magic... but then she cried out in pain as she was lashed backwards by chaotic energies, knocked skidding along her spine into the wall before she bounced off with a dumb blink and a shiver of pain. Both Luna and Scrivener cursed at this, twitching before they looked up in shock as the Draconequus continued to pass through the wall of energy Antares and Prestige had created... except something else was trying to corrupt the magic, and both ponies were fighting to try and contain and control the barrier.

Then both ponies were knocked backwards with shouts of surprise as recoil blasted over their horns, and the barrier they had created transformed into a large, curved donut around the hole, several Draconequus bouncing off the sides of this with loud, comical pings and clangs before vanishing into the rift.

In moments, only Discord and Discombobulation were left, both Draconequus huddled on the floor and covering their heads... and then both peering up with sighs of relief when they realized the other chimerical creatures were gone and they had been left behind. "Well, puppy. Another fine mess you've gotten us into now."

"Oh, right, because clearly none of this is your fault. You're not the one who took such pleasure in bossing us lowly minions around, and now we're not suffering the irony of your situation at all." Discombobulation said dryly, poking at the fellow Draconequus, and Discord stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry at him.

They were spared any further argument by Hecate buzzing back into the air, the head shaking itself out roughly before she said crankily: "You idiots can't do anything right, can you? How hard is it to hold down a single god of chaos?"

"There's no such thing as a god of chaos. And a Jötnar that can control Draconequus, after spending so long in Ginnungagap instead of the Void... it barely makes sense to me." Celestia murmured, lowering her head with a frown. "Someone has to have helped him. Fused the Jötnar's spirit into that body... maybe even created that body for him."

Prestige looked uneasily up, asking worriedly: "If it was Gymbr... could Theophilius have something to do with his plans? Gymbr said he wanted to bring unending chaos... did we just... did we just let that chaos into our world?"

"Draconequus, my dear, aren't tailors. There's no reason they would willingly hang out with the Hatter: but the Mad must serve him, as I know I've said before, and we're all mad here." Discombobulation explained gently, looking pointedly over at Discord, and the fellow Draconequus nodded moodily a few times as he crossed his arms. "Or, to put it another way, he's the Digimon tamer and we're the helpful little guys who have no choice really but to listen to him."

Discord looked mildly over at Discombobulation, tilting his head slightly as he asked dryly: "Seriously? That's the best you can come up with? No Pokemon references, no... talking about that other game where you capture demons and fling them at other demons? I have to say, I'm almost disappointed, puppy."

Discombobulation opened his mouth to reply, and then both Draconequus winced and flailed wildly when Hecate chained a bolt of lightning between them, glaring furiously between the two as she snapped: "Shut up! We have a more important topic to discuss than your pointless little theater!"

"If you do that again, Hecate, I'm going to break your horn. Consider it your second strike." Celestia said evenly, and Hecate gave her a dark look but slowly hovered backwards, and the ivory winged unicorn shook herself out quickly before turning her eyes towards Scrivener, Twilight, and Luna, saying softly: "You've been unusually quiet. Is it what he said?"

"We did not know many Jötnar." Luna murmured softly, nodding slowly and giving a faint smile as she nodded slowly to Celestia, her eyes cloudy. "Of what Clan does thou think he was? True Jötnar, or Fire or Earth?"

"The Ice Giants came first. Ymir was an Ice Giant, and is said to be the true creator of all things, to have made the first gods by accident..." Celestia looked down, shaking her head briefly. "Then came Surt, out of Muspell, with his monstrous Fire Giants. And last, our three tribes breeding together is what created the Earth Giants... he can't be pureblooded Jötnar. He has to be Earth. It's the only thing that could explain his powers."

"You're talking about Ginnungagap, Tia. Nothing explains everything there." Discombobulation said mildly, and Celestia smiled faintly over at him as Luna traded looks with Scrivener Blooms and Twilight Sparkle, already sharing her memories with them in an effort to figure out precisely who it was they had just seen.

What made both Scrivener and Twilight uneasy was just how desperate Luna seemed all of a sudden... but with the flurry of memories also came understanding of why she was so worried. The Jötnar had always tended to be of two varieties, after all, no matter how they acted or what they appeared to be on the outside: brutes who just wanted their way and would stop at nothing to get it, or loyalists who would serve their chosen leaders until the very end.

What Luna was afraid of was that both of these options could be bad: Theophilius could be a smiling lunatic who was going to attempt to bring eternal chaos to the world in his own way – even if Scrivener and Twilight both somehow had a strange, almost positive feeling about the strange god-giant-thing, even with his absurd power over the Draconequus – or he was loyal to whoever had revived him and would do anything in his power to help his master. If that was Hel, they were in trouble; if it was Gymbr, they were in even worse trouble.

Both ponies tried to reassure her even as they felt so many memories entering their minds, shifting through them in a flurry to try and isolate all the Earth Giants that the Valkyries had known in the past... before all eyes were drawn with surprise as a throat cleared itself loudly and Cowlick said sourly, from where she was standing by the base of the now-destroyed portal: "So we got no answers, we just let a bunch of Draconequus into our world, and that fancy-ass portal that took forever to build just got blown to hell. I think it's safe to say we're FUBAR."

Hecate snorted at this, whirling towards Cowlick as her eyes blazed coldly. "No, not yet we're not. I will not be made a fool of by another pedantic, idiotic Jötnar. In three days I will have this machinery rebuilt, and then I will reconfigure it to send out a wide-scale signal to every Clockwork Pony currently in dormancy or awaiting orders. An army of patchwork dolls is no match for an army of machines and monsters."

All eyes looked uneasily up at Hecate as her electric mane crackled, cables twisting back and forth as her glowing eyes slid to look behind her, whispering: "I will not go through what I was forced to with Valthrudnir again. I will not bow my head to another pathetic giant, any more than I will bow my head to a god who only wants to bring chaos and anarchy. I will have order."

Celestia shivered a little, forgetting everything else for a moment as she looked up at this terrible version of herself, and Luna smiled faintly, shaking her head slowly. But Hecate was oblivious to all the eyes on her as she turned slowly around, her features twisting into a grin even as her eyes remained almost afraid as she looked at the framework of the broken ring, and didn't see the broken and melted metal, the useless scrap that was... she saw the obelisk she was going to make in the future, and the army of the Jötnar she had loved and hated more than anything else in this entire universe that she was going to wrestle away from his cold, dead hands.

Chapter Twenty Four: Two Steps Into Hell

~BlackRoseRaven

Scrivener Blooms wasn't wearing the stupid little plastic boots anymore, but his forelegs were still heavily bandaged, and he had grouchily consented to taking some painkillers that a demon had mixed up for him. They worked well enough to let him melee with his claws despite the fact they looked... almost fragile these days, but he had to be extremely careful about using his mire powers now. Something seemed to be wrong with whatever strange vessels let him exert the corruption: anything more than calling up a trickle of his powers made his forelegs feel like they were on fire and his claws start bleeding.

Luna, on the other hoof, had healed fully... if anything, she seemed stronger than she had been before. She had also not only repaired and polished up her armor, but gone the extra mile during one sleepless night and done some further trimming and modification to better her gear. Nothing that was entirely noticeable, but rather she had tightened plates in some areas and trimmed some of the excess insulation: but every little bit counted.

Twilight Sparkle, lastly, had been helping Celestia out, occasionally dropping by to check on Hecate and Cowlick, and she had also been working on her own body armor. It was rare that the Lich went into battle with equipment: generally the things they fought tended to tear through their armor like paper, and there was no point in overburdening herself when she could sew most wounds closed and reattach severed limbs. Plus, if they were fighting something strong enough to really send them south, she liked having the option of detonating herself to hopefully take down or drive off whatever it was they were dealing with.

On some occasions, though, it was better to take precautions... so with a little help, she had put together a lightweight set of armor that wouldn't interfere with her mobility, and more importantly, would insulate her against magic and attacks that targeted her spiritual energy. Kismet had been kind enough to help her with a lot of it: the Lich and the Great Reaper were on particularly-amiable terms, and not just because of Twilight's odd ability to make friends everywhere she went with everyone she met. The two just liked each other, and all their quirks and oddities.

And now, Twilight Sparkle was checking over this heavy, silver-and-black armor that was designed to match Scrivener and Luna's, made of segmented scale-like plates. The front of her armor was engraved with the symbol of a rose blossom in front of a full moon, cradled by a wreath of thorns and brambles. The rest of her armor lacked details or decoration: even the small, cleat-like obsidian spikes that stood out of the sides of her armor here and there had a purpose. They would absorb hostile magic into the thin plates of crystal that insulated her gear, converting it into a protective charge.

She was only wearing a simple helm, with a ring of similar black crystal that cradled her horn to enhance her magic and prevent any excess energy from going unused. The violet mare smiled a little as she reached up and touched this quietly: all the black crystal was made from painting voltaic topazes with the Prometheus Elixir. So much of what they used these days was made from... darker sources...

"Aye, but we are still ponies who always strive to do what is right, are we not?" Luna asked softly as she pushed open the door to their room, and Twilight smiled out at her companions: they were both dressed in their own gear, and Luna had Sting Mk. II holstered over her back... although she still hadn't been able to recall Prúðbikkja from wherever Gymbr had exiled it. "Well, Celestia has an idea to attend to that, as a matter of fact. She wishes to see us and try it before we go."

Twilight simply nodded with a small smile, half-hating how... comfortable she was with the fact that Luna and Scrivy could both read her mind and emotions so easily. But it made her feel... fuzzy inside when they did, too. Like it was a reminder of how much they loved her...

She blushed a little as she shook her head hurriedly out as she realized both ponies were smiling at her amusedly, and then she gestured awkwardly at the rings Scrivener was wearing around his claws, asking finally: "Are those helping?"

"They're a pain in the ass since I keep trying to close my claws into hooves when I clearly can't, but... otherwise, yeah, I think they are." Scrivener absently rubbed at the rings one one claw: they felt a little uncomfortable and made his claws feel stiff, but it was better than hurting when he walked. "But are you ready then? Got Andlitstingar?"

Twilight nodded, raising one wing to reveal the collapsed spear in its sheath beneath it before she smiled a little. "I do... really appreciate you sharing this with me, Luna, but I don't think it's quite my kind of weapon."

"Nay, 'tis not. Thou art awful with it. But all the same, 'tis receptive to thee and thou can channel thy magic through it, so for now 'tis the best we can do." Luna replied kindly, and Twilight laughed a little before Luna turned and gestured at them to follow. "Come, I am growing more and more anxious to leave by the minute. It has been a long, long time since I have raided Helheim itself."

"Valkyrie days, huh?" Scrivener asked mildly, and Luna huffed at him and bopped him lightly with her soulstone horn, but the earth pony only winced out of reflex as it banged painlessly against his heavy helm. "Am I ever glad to be wearing a helmet."

Luna grumbled, then she poked him firmly in the cheek instead with the spire, and the stallion cursed at her as he stumbled away as Twilight shook her head and smiled despite herself. She watched the two affectionately as they bickered on their way down the hall, glad that things had... never really changed. None of them ever really grew up, and it made things... so much easier to deal with.

The group emerged onto the top of Subterra to find Celestia was waiting for them, smiling kindly and standing in front of a circle of runes she had written in some red substance: likely her own blood, from the knife resting in the small pail beside her. Luna whistled a bit at this, studying the mare with surprise before a grouchy voice said: "Not to rush you at all, but can we make this quick? I'm eager to see my kin and drink away my shame."

Luna turned amused eyes to Terra, who was looking vindictive and sour as Morning Glory sat calmly nearby with the slightest smile on her features. Terra tossed a scowl over at the Destroyer, but didn't quite dare say anything further: the demons had fought a fierce duel a few days ago, and while Terra had managed to almost eviscerate Morning Glory, the Destroyer had broken both of Terra's front legs and then roasted her alive with purification inside her own metallic armor. Unable to move and suffering massively under the torment of the holy fire, Terra had been forced to surrender.

The Ironjaw had spent the last few days sulking: she didn't deal with losing very well. And Morning Glory probably wasn't helping matters much by calmly following Terra around, hovering over her, not needing to speak. In fact, her silence probably drove Terra even more insane: the dragon tried to fill it with scoffing and insults and promises of retribution, and Morning Glory just... smiled calmly and looked down on the dragon and showed just how malicious she could be.

Celestia shook her head slowly, then she said softly: "In a moment. First of all, my sister and I are going to perform a short summoning ritual together. As you can see, I've written out most of a Raven's Key... I need you to finish the symbol with your own blood. Then we'll use the old magic side-by-side and... see what happens."

The sapphire mare looked thoughtful at this, and then she nodded slowly before raising a foreleg, her horn glowing and undoing the locks that held a bracer in place over her foreleg. She pushed back the insulating mesh beneath, then, without hesitating, used her horn to slice open her limb and spill out a thin stream of her blood, grimacing a bit... but not at the pain, as her eyes flicked uneasily up to the statue of Nightmare Moon, feeling strangely like it was watching her somehow.

She shook her head hurriedly out, then returned her eyes to the trickle of blood: her horn glowed as she used magic to open the wound a bit wider and keep the red essence flowing, and she used her other hoof to crudely paint the rest of the diagram, gradually forming an eight-pointed star and several crescent-shaped runes inside the circle.

Finally, she sat back and nodded firmly, tossing one awkward glance up at Celestia: the ivory mare smiled in agreement, and then she lowered her head... and in perfect time, Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight all lowered their own as the Valkyries both murmured softly: "By my blood and honor, by my spirit and soul..."

Both winged unicorns took slow breaths, then lapsed into their old language, eyes closing, speaking what was half-prayer, half-command. The bloody symbol they had painted began to bubble and visibly flow, circulating along the lines they had drawn, and Terra and Morning Glory both forgot their rivalry to lean forwards and watch with interest.

Luna and Celestia's voices rose in their chant, their horns glowing and sparking with energy, but this magic was far older, far more powerful than unicorn magic: it was power that thrummed up from their hearts and souls, that came from their glory days as Valkyries, that called on powers that had been long forgotten across most of the myriad worlds Odin had seeded...

Both winged unicorns rose their heads slowly, eyes opening, energy rippling around them before they both gritted their teeth and snapped their heads downwards, and there was a tremendous ripple through reality, followed by a bright, sharp flash of light.

And a moment later, Luna was grinning in delight, her eyes gleaming as Prúðbikkja floated in the air above her head, sparking with electricity. She licked her lips slowly, then turned her eyes towards Celestia... and laughed, her grin stretching all the wider as said warmly: "Now there is a sight that stirs memories inside me! Dómr, Drengr, Gæfa... if it warms my heart to see thee, I can only imagine how thy mistress must feel!"

Celestia had her eyes closed, but she was smiling softly as she breathed slowly in and out, her head lowered, her expression almost content as the three weapons floated silently around her... and then, slowly, she opened her eyes and looked up, answering softly: "Complete."

Scrivener and Twilight both stared in surprise: while Celestia's swords created through her hjorleikr were all identical short swords, these three weapons were all very different. Even though they were clearly all part of a set, with each was inscribed with a series of runes over either side of the silver blades that Scrivener guessed was their names, and a long, smooth steel grip wrapped in hide, they were also all shaped uniquely and meant for different purposes.

One was thin and sickle-shaped, the hook wide and long and reaching and so sharp it hurt Scrivener's eyes just to look at; another was almost rectangular, with a flat tip instead of a point and growing thicker near the end, the design more bludgeoning than it was sharp; the last was both elegant and savage at the same time, the upper half of the blade double-edged and smooth, but the lower half serrated teeth meant for sawing into other weapons and flaying apart armor and flesh. Gæfa, Dómr, and Drengr: the stallion could catch glimpses of what Celestia had done with these weapons in the past, and it made him both eager and terrified to see what she would do with them in the future.

The ivory mare was smiling radiantly at Luna, and Luna was still grinning widely back before they both stepped forwards and swung a foreleg out, front hooves punching together as their weapon clashed in midair. They both leaned forwards, then clashed their weapons again as they roared together before stepping back and nodding proudly to one-another.

"Aye, very cute. Now can we get going?" Terra asked after she managed to regain her composure, but she was smiling in spite of herself, shaking her head slowly and looking impressed beneath the grumpiness she was attempting to hold onto as she said wryly: "I would dearly like not to waste any more time, after all. Nice as it is to see the Lady Freya has regained her old playthings."

"I just needed a little help, that's all. Valkyries... sisters... stick together." Celestia looked down warmly at Luna, who gazed ardently back up at her sibling. "Now get out of here, little sister. My swords are already complaining that we won't be joining you in Helheim. If you don't leave soon, I might have to go with you anyway."

Luna laughed and shook her head at this, saying easily: "Nay, thou has to stay here until Sleipnir arrives, then play the role of diplomat with Canterlot, does thou not? Aye, but I must say, Celestia... thou hast never seemed less like a monarch and more like a Queen then thou does now."

Celestia smiled warmly at this, clearly touched before Luna turned away, winking over at Terra. "Now, Ironjaw. We are ready to leave. If thou needs any aid opening the portal, however, I am sure that Morning Glory shall be glad to assist thee."

"You keep this up, Luna Brynhild, and I'll feed you to my clan brothers myself." Terra grumbled, and then she turned around and rose her head high, saying calmly: "Nay, all Ironjaw know the way home, lass. Unlike your wretched magic portals, it's simply a matter of openin' the door and walkin' the right path."

With that, Terra took a deep breath, then leaned forwards and spat out a blast of blue flame that seemed to strike against the air itself, seeming to catch against some invisible wall it greedily spread over, then burned rapidly away into ashes that collapsed away and revealed a rectangular doorway framed in sapphire flames, leading into a swirling crimson light.

She began to grin... then frowned even as Luna started forwards, raising a claw and saying sharply: "Wait, something's not right... there's something..."

Terra leaned towards the doorway, then her eyes widened before the Ironjaw snarled and cursed as she was blasted backwards by a flare of crimson fire. Morning Glory leapt immediately to her side as Luna snarled and set herself, her partners dropping into position on either side of her as Celestia's swords snapped into position around her.

Then Luna shivered, her eyes widening as Twilight almost fell limp when a familiar figure stepped through the portal, the young unicorn shaking her head slowly as she murmured softly: "Gymbr was right... you were going to try and go to Hel."

"Innocence..." Twilight whispered, and she began forwards... before stumbling to a halt, staring weakly as Twilight Shadow calmly walked out of the portal and strode up to Innocence's side, the dark Lich dressed in a heavy cloak and smiling coldly.

Twilight trembled as she stared at her daughter, who looked back up calmly at her mother, with that doppelganger by her side. And as mother studied child, she saw all the differences in her... not just the cape and the lightweight armor that had replaced the Valkyrie gear they had worked so hard to make for their daughter, or how her coat looked darker, her eyes brighter, how her features seemed older... but how her polymorph was so much better, giving her softer curves, looking less synthetic. And the sense of magic from her...

Innocence smiled softly, leaning forwards and opening her mouth... and Luna stepped immediately forwards, shouting angrily: "Say that we should come and join Gymbr, Innocence, and whether thou art my daughter or not I shall pummel thee into the ground!"

The young mare looked shocked by this response, and then she shook her head in disbelief before sighing quietly, looking with disappointment across at her mother as she rubbed a hoof – a hoof, for the first time Innocence had hooves, not claws, and how Twilight couldn't help but stare! – against the ground. She studied the three of them, then shook her head slowly and said softly: "And he was right about that too, I guess... but Momma, Móðer, Daddy... I don't want it to be this way. I want us to be together."

"Then come to us. Don't ask us to come to that monster." Luna said quietly, shaking her head and leaning forwards, and Innocence closed her eyes tightly. "Sin, thou does not know what thou art getting into... what he is capable of..."

"But I do. He's capable of great things. And terrible things, and wonderful things... and things that you would not believe." Innocence smiled faintly as she gestured at the swirling crimson portal behind her, saying softly: "For example. He knew that you'd try and get to Hel... and that the only way you possibly could do that was by passing through Cairnmór. He knew that Terra would open a portal for you... and he helped Twilight Shadow create a distortion on the Dragon's Way that we could use to intercept you. To choose us instead of her."

There was silence until Celestia asked quietly, striding slowly forwards and lowering her head politely, even as he kept her weapons at the ready around her: "And what does that mean, Innocence? Are you prepared to declare war on us for your new master?"

"Gymbr is not my master. I love him, but he's not my master. He's my teacher, my mentor..." Innocence closed her eyes, a faint blush and a strange smile cresting her muzzle as she murmured: "And we've spent so much time together... years. I've missed you so much, but he knows how to make me feel good... feel better, and remember that one way or the other, we'll all be together one day. He is my god, and my patron... but not my ruler, or my master. I'm free to decide whatever I want for myself; I could take his power and leave but..."

She shook her head slowly, then looked up as Twilight shivered in disbelief and horror, almost whimpering in her throat as Luna stared and Scrivener trembled, a sick, twisted feeling in his stomach. Innocence only smiled at them, though, looking at them with pleading eyes as she whispered: "Please. You can't win. Gymbr's taken me to other worlds... shown me dimensions you wouldn't believe. He's made us all so powerful... even compared to First Tier demons and monsters, we're godlike. He's transformed Valhalla into a true warrior's paradise, and in only a few short years he took control of the entire Vale. How can you stop that?"

Celestia frowned at this as Twilight Sparkle laughed weakly, shaking her head. "Innocence... what's... no, it's only been days since..."

But Innocence only smiled softly, shaking her head slowly and saying softly: "Gymbr is more powerful than you can imagine, Mom. He's tapped into Valhalla's energy... with that added to his own, he's changed the very flow of time in Asgard. In Heaven, it's been decades since we last saw you. I've been training with him for decades. And every day, he makes me stronger."

Innocence hesitantly strode forwards as the ponies stared in disbelief, and Terra shook her head in denial, saying urgently: "Nay... nay, lass, you fool. Your god Gymbr is no great magician, but only a silly illusionist, playing with Heaven's gears... but those gears will strip, lass, unless you tell him that he has to reset the flow of time in Valhalla! 'Tis not something to be played with at will!"

"The Hourglass. But only the King of Valhalla can access it..." Celestia whispered, and then she leaned forwards and said sharply: "It was never meant to be used for longer than a few days, to give us the necessary time to build up our defenses in case we heard about giants or Hel coming to attack! It's an ancient artifact keyed to Valhalla alone, Innocence! If the Gates of Valhalla are opened into Asgard while the Hourglass is running, all of Heaven will suffer consequences you cannot begin to imagine!"

Innocence only shook her head at this with a tired sigh, replying quietly: "I know you mean well. But your ways of thinking are outdated and... afraid. Gymbr knows what he's doing... and I'm an adult now. Older than Tarry, as a matter of fact." Innocence looked up calmly, shaking her head briefly. "I have power, and I am Champion of Valhalla now... I love Gymbr. And he loves me."

"Gymbr doesn't understand love. He's using you." Scrivener said quietly, and Innocence smiled faintly over at him, studying her father silently.

"No. He does. He's taught me... a lot." The young, corrupted mare laughed quietly as she reached up and silently stroked a hoof over her own features. "Power is all that matters. I'm generous to the people who are good to me, and cruel to those who won't listen. I do whatever I want, whatever I please, because I have the right to. My strength gives me the right to do anything I want, to anyone I want. But I still care about people... I still try to be good to people, patient, and I haven't entirely... forgotten all those lessons about 'honor' and 'doing right' you guys taught me... I've just... I'm trying to look at the big picture now. If I'm going to be part of what saves this universe... I have every right to treat all the slaves and mortals beneath me however I want. But I still love you all so much, you're family, friends, and..."

Innocence strode slowly forwards, gazing almost hungrily at her parents as Twilight trembled and leaned back, shaking her head weakly. "Come with me, let me... let me show you. Join us. I want you with us. I won't even complain if Gymbr makes you stronger than he has me... if he loves you more. I want to love you too..."

Innocence leaned forwards as she turned towards Twilight, lips moving forwards, brushing tenderly against her mother's, making the Lich pale further... and then she stumbled backwards a moment before Innocence could kiss her, and the unicorn looked strangely hurt as Twilight Sparkle shivered, then whispered: "Oh... oh my little girl... no, no, I... no..."

"Innocence... stop. Stop. Listen to thyself. Thou art better than this..." Luna swallowed thickly, shaking her head weakly before she stepped forwards, gazing silently into her daughter's eyes... but if her daughter was in there, it was buried deep, beneath this greedy, immoral, self-proclaimed goddess. "Thou art not... thou cannot be..."

"We have to go, Innocence. Too long will have passed in Valhalla... and they're not going to change their minds." Twilight Shadow looked coldly over the group, then she smiled icily. "But it doesn't matter. When they find out how wrong they were about everything, that we really are trying to save all their lives... I'm sure they'll be falling all over themselves to make it up to you."

Innocence sighed softly, then she nodded briefly as she gestured at the Lich, saying softly: "Go back to Gymbr. Give him a kiss for me and tell him that I'll be there soon."

Twilight Shadow nodded and turned, heading into the portal... and immediately, Terra leapt forwards, clearly moving to seal it closed. Innocence only flicked her horn, however, and massive spikes of dark crystal ripped out of the ground, making Terra skid to a stop with a curse of surprise before the unicorn snapped her horn upwards, and a tremendous blast of force slammed the Ironjaw onto her back with a gasp of shock.

"Don't. I'm stronger than all of you." Innocence said quietly, shaking her head slowly before she straightened and looked silently over at her parents. "I just want to make you strong too. I want to share with you what I've learned: we're free, and above everyone else in the entire world. We're gods, and we make our own rules, choose how to live... and who should entertain us, who should suffer, who should be given gifts, who should die. Mom, Dad, Mutt... I don't want to lose all of you. I don't want to hate all of you. I want to love you. But you have to accept me, and you have to accept Gymbr."

"Then the die is cast." Luna whispered, and she slowly straightened before shaking her head slowly as Prúðbikkja shuddered in the air beside her as if in pain, her features hardening even as Twilight looked at her desperately, and Scrivener clenched his eyes shut and lowered his head. "I swear Innocence... we will save thee. And I swear, we will stop Gymbr... for no matter what thou says, what is truth and lie... he will be the death of the universe if the so-called light is not."

Innocence lowered her head a little, closing her eyes, and then she said softly: "Fine. Then I'll go back to him... and I'll get stronger... and one day, I'll put a stop to you before you can hurt him. And I'll bring you to him, and I'll help him make you see, whatever it takes."

The mare's eye flashed as she looked up coldly at them, and then she smiled as her eyes roved over her parents. But for all her words, the malice she clearly wanted to exude, the strength she thought she had... this mare who was still their daughter somewhere inside faltered instead of saying something else, finishing either threat or promise, and she simply turned and strode into the swirl of crimson.

Luna looked slowly down, and Scrivener opened his eyes, looking up and not knowing what to say... before both ponies looked with surprise at Twilight as she said in a rough whisper: "Let's go."

"Twilight... wait, we can take a moment, and..." Luna began soothingly, and Twilight Sparkle whirled around, her eyes blazing with almost feverish light, her head raising high.

"I'm fine, let's go!" Twilight shouted, and Luna winced slightly as she heard her own anger in that voice, and Scrivener was startled out of the misery he had let himself sink into. Both ponies stared at Twilight as she breathed hard in and out, the Lich trembled violently before she stormed around in a circle and glared at Terra as the dragon picked herself up, the violet mare asking harshly: "How quickly can we get this done?"

"'Tis... a straight enough route lass, fear not." Terra said after a moment, shifting awkwardly as she stared at Twilight herself before the dragon shook her head and started uneasily: "I don't dare imagine what you're going through, Miss Twilight, but if I can suggest-"

"If you can't imagine the answer, then don't ask the question." Twilight retorted, and then the Lich clenched her eyes shut and lowered her head, taking a shuddering breath as all the rage and sorrow and the fury and the... the hate, oh, the hate boiled inside her, threatened to make her either break down or lash out before she whispered: "I have to keep moving. I have to keep moving, okay? I just have to keep moving and... we have to get to Gymbr as soon as possible. We have to stop him. We have to... to hurt him."

Scrivener and Luna both looked up in silent agreement, Luna doing her best to swallow back her rage as the stallion attempted to fight down his own despair... and beneath that, the animal. All three of them were affecting each other, but Twilight was the one being hit hardest, hurt most, twisted so much by their emotions... emotions that Luna and Scrivener themselves had no idea how to deal with, or what they should even be feeling.

Then Celestia strode forwards, pushing past the two ponies and settling her hooves on Twilight's shoulders as she turned her firmly to look up at her. Twilight rose her eyes, opening her mouth, not even knowing what she was going to say, but it was cut off as Celestia said quietly: "If you want to save Innocence, don't lose yourself."

Twilight clenched her eyes shut, feeling her stitches writhing... and then she took a slow, shuddering breath before she simply nodded once and relaxed slowly, turning her eyes quietly upwards and whispering: "He corrupted my daughter. He turned her into his... his toy. She's..."

"We can't change what's happened... but we can still change the future, and save her." Celestia promised quietly, and Luna and Scrivener both smiled faintly as they stepped forwards, nodding in agreement. And little-by-little, they felt Twilight Sparkle settling down, coming to her senses even as tears began to flow down the Lich's cheeks... but maybe that was the best sign of all.

She took a shuddering breath, then reached up and wiped at her features even as Celestia hugged the violet mare tightly, closing her eyes and squeezing the mare silently into her body as she silently pulled her head into her chest. Twilight went willingly, and Celestia smiled faintly despite everything, feeling her former student responding to her, letting herself be held.

Celestia looked up across at Terra, and Terra shook her head briefly, murmuring: "Fear not. The door will stay open for a long time... there's nothing else I can see in the way, either. But the time distortion... it will make them unstoppable..."

"No, it won't." Celestia said softly, looking down at Twilight and soothingly rubbing along the Lich's back. "The Hourglass can adjust how Valhalla's time flows in relation to the mortal world, but at a cost. When it flows out of synchronization, the Gates cannot be opened without causing a massive backlash, which means time in Asgard is actually flowing normally. Rifts can't be opened, either, without running the risk of turning them into wormholes as slow time and fast time collide. And Innocence thinks she's strong, and in Valhalla, she would be... but that energy gained and gathered in Valhalla's fast time will bleed out of her body in a normal environment. Time itself is just a concept, a measurement: the Hourglass doesn't control time, but the flow of energy and particles in a static atmosphere."

"Complicated. And stupid." Morning Glory muttered, shaking her head in distaste. "Then it's like an arena of blood quartz."

"Which thou kept thyself, if I recall." Luna remarked ironically, and the Destroyer gave her a sour look. "Well, in thy defense, thou wert indeed insane when thou ruled from there. But all the same, the point still stands that thou art a silly hypocrite."

Morning Glory growled moodily, and Terra shivered and lowered her head, murmuring: "I cannot believe Gymbr has done this... this is not just madness, but idiocy. Why would he risk this?"

"Because he believes he's powerful enough to stop anything that might happen as a consequence. And because he wants to spend decades playing with his toys, not just build an army." Scrivener Blooms said bitterly, shaking his head slowly before he looked up. "Twilight's right. We need to get to Helheim as soon as possible. Because in the few seconds Innocence has been gone..."

"Perhaps it has been hours in Heaven. Perhaps days. Perhaps longer." Luna cursed, and Prúðbikkja sparked as if in agreement before the sapphire mare shook her head and looked up at Celestia, saying quietly: "Thou must help Hecate prepare the Clockwork Ponies. And thou must... we must make allies everywhere we can. We must be prepared."

"We will be." Celestia promised quietly, nodding slowly before she let Twilight slip away, and the ivory winged unicorn looked down, saying softly: "By the time you get back, I promise I'll have a way into Valhalla. We're going to put a stop to Gymbr, and we're going to do it before he can hurt anyone else or bring chaos to the world."

Twilight nodded silently, then she looked up with trust at Celestia: trust that the ivory mare was not going to break or violate, no matter what it meant she had to do. There was silence for a few moments, and then Twilight Sparkle turned towards the portal, shaking her armored body out before she looked over her shoulder at Scrivener and Luna.

They both strode forwards, nodding to her, giving her promises and reassuring thoughts, and the violet mare took a slow breath before she faced ahead towards the crimson portal again, murmuring: "Okay. Let's... let's get moving. I'd rather be moving than crying."

Scrivener smiled a little at this, and Luna nodded as she approached and traded a fierce, one-limbed hug with Twilight for a moment, dropping their heads together. The Lich smiled faintly at this, then closed her eyes and dropped her head against Scrivener's neck when he strode up to her other side, feeling her partners on either side of her and trusting them to keep her moving, to keep her focused, to keep their eyes on the mission.

Terra looked hesitant for only a moment longer, and then she grunted and jerked her head at the red rift, murmuring: "Well, into the breach, my friends. Hopefully 'twill be a boring enough walk... just don't go wandering off now, you hear?"

The ponies nodded, and Celestia and Morning Glory both watched silently, the Destroyer with her head high and Celestia with her swords lowered and a faint smile on her features. But as Terra led the three into the rift, the trio did its best not to look back, even as the red flares of light threatened to blind them, even as pain and heat sizzled over their bodies as they stepped into the doorway of fire.

They couldn't look back. They could only move forwards, and hope that they could put a stop to Gymbr before he corrupted anything else they loved.

---

The walk through the Dragon's Road was a strange one: it was like a floating, wide road of dirt in the sky, over a void of vast redness and a thousand other intertwining paths. Here and there were patches of forest, and in other places they seemed to pass through massive tunnels of rock and wild gemstone, these often filled with strange, reptilian life.

But mostly, it was boring, enough that Luna eventually hid her spear away: they saw a few other Ironjaw dragons, but these were always too far away to really make out the details of apart from their metallic frames. And at the end of it, it was surprisingly anticlimactic: there was simply a set of crystalline pillars at the end of the long and winding dirt road, which Terra breathed life into with her sapphire breath, and between them a hole in reality ripped open.

Then they stepped out into Helheim, and immediately, things got interesting.

The moment the three ponies followed the Ironjaw dragon into Helheim, a horrible screaming rose through the air before massive claws of ice ripped out of the frost covered ground, seizing into the portal and ripping it apart like it was ribbons of paper, not a distortion in the fabric of reality itself. Luna and Scrivener immediately set themselves as Twilight shivered and looked back and forth in shock, feeling a chill in her bones that she almost never felt these days: but worse than that, was feeling almost like... she was home.

There was nothing but frost and snow and rock, and high above, a ceiling of cracked and desolate gray stone. It was dark, and yet not: the atmosphere was simply heavy, making all light seem faded, and the twinkling of snow and gemstone that stood here and here amidst the broken, barren tundra seem malicious.

Almost as malicious as the glint of light off the three monstrosities that had encircled them. Icy, blue-white ponies, except they were terribly tall, with terribly long-legs that ended in flexible claws. Crimson smears surrounded lipless mouths twisted into cruel grins, and soulless white eyes stared at them with hatred beneath manes that whipped back and forth, made of frost and blowing snow.

"Windygoes?" Twilight Sparkle asked in disbelief, staring at these monsters, and then one leaned forwards and screamed at them as Terra snarled and set herself, and Luna gave a short laugh, her eyes blazing with fury.

"Oh nay, these are neither the North Wind nor foal's bedside fable! These are Wendigo, Twilight Sparkle, and they can only be harmed with fire!" Luna replied sharply, flicking her soulstone horn to the side, and Scrivener gritted his teeth as he set himself, feeling enchanted flames spreading rapidly over his claws and forelegs.

"Aye, and they're far fiercer here in Helheim than they are in the mortal realm. Even we Ironjaw try to avoid them." Terra growled, snorting smoke out of her nostrils before she added sharply: "Do not let the creatures sink their claws into you: what's lethal upstairs is much, much worse here!"

One of the Wendigo leapt forwards with a terrible wail, seeming to glide through the air as it stretched its gangly limbs eagerly towards them, but Luna was quick to snap her horn out, sending a sapphire fireball shooting into the monster's face. It was blown backwards with a howl of misery, but if anything, it only seemed to excite the others further, one monster sprinting in to try and flank them as the other leapt in an impossible pounce at Twilight Sparkle's side.

Scrivener gritted his teeth as he turned towards the last, leaping forwards and using Twilight's back like a step to launch himself into the air, and he slammed a claw home into the Wendigo's face, spiking it straight down into the frozen earth like a volleyball. It shrieked as it bounced painfully, and then Twilight snapped her horn towards it, a crimson fireball smashing into the creature.

It exploded in a tremendous bang, knocking it backwards as natural fire began to rapidly devour the monster, the Wendigo howling and writhing as it hurriedly withdrew. The others, meanwhile, were driven back by Terra's fire and Luna's fireballs, both charring away the spirits of the monsters before one of them snarled and lunged straight through Terra's breath, rushing straight towards the dragon-

Terra's eyes glowed as she grinned and stomped the ground, and a massive wave of cold and ice rushed over the Wendigo, freezing it solid and leaving it trapped helplessly in the glacier. It still glared at them with absolute hatred, but the creature couldn't move out of its frosty prison.

The last Wendigo hissed at them, then rose its head and roared to the rocky sky of Helheim, and all three ponies winced as a biting wind ripped past them, carrying with it a blinding flurry of snow... and when the ponies and dragon were able to look up again, the monsters had simply vanished, ice prison and all. Terra grimaced and spat to the side, then she shook her head and gestured quickly with her head at a mountainous region behind her, growling: "Come, we'd best make haste. It's only ten minutes or so to walk to Cairnmór, but the Wendigo will take much shorter than that to regroup and give chase. And once they have your scent, they never forget it."

"Then we should move quickly. Such foes are too dangerous to face in unknown territory such as this." Luna muttered, nodding and making a face over her shoulder before she nudged Twilight Sparkle gently, and the Lich nodded a little as the sapphire flames died out from around Scrivener's claws, the stallion absently flicking these a few times.

Terra turned to lead them onwards, and the three ponies followed after the dragon as she strode quickly in the direction of the mountains: soon enough, it became clear that she was following a path of some kind, one that was faintly marked among the snow by the position of rocks here and there. Every now and then, Terra would stop and breathe flames onto a charred-looking crystal here and there, and the stone would burst into flames, turning into a miniature torch that sent curls of brimstone smoke rising through the air.

"A signal to my clan... and to slow down any pursuers. The Wendigo loathe the smoke and heat." Terra explained after a few minutes, and then she gestured ahead with a slight smile as they began up a mountain pass, gesturing at a billow of smoke in the distance. "Aye, there. They know we approach, so there won't be any panic at the sight of you three. But they won't be quite as polite to you as I am, you know. We are a proud clan, Isernertos."

The dragon paused, then she looked thoughtfully over her shoulder as they made their way up the rise, beginning to open her mouth... and then grimacing as her eyes flicked up, muttering: "We'd best pick up the pace. More Wendigo are coming, and it looks like they've rounded up some thralls to thicken up their hunting party."

The ponies winced, looking over their shoulders to see shapes in the distance hurriedly approaching, and then they focused ahead and ran after the dragon as she broke into a run, growling: "Damned animals, far more dangerous than any demon lord... they've lost their minds and neither fear nor can be controlled by the Archives. All they do is follow what their instincts tell them to."

"And I take it that means most of them just want to murder and devour whatever they come across, right?" Scrivener Blooms asked moodily, and Terra grinned and shrugged a bit as the group hurried onwards up the pass. They could hear the monsters behind them gaining on them little-by-little, but as they ran Terra spat out blasts of flame to either side, lighting up more of the strange stones and setting the ice itself aflame here and there.

Within a minute, they crested the top of the pass, and Terra let out a sigh of relief as the ponies stared down in surprise: the mountains formed a natural ridge around a deep, bowl-shaped valley that was filled with large stone dwellings that were mostly square in their construction, and bonfires burned on top and around immense statues, filling the frosty air with a strange cheer, all the more alien for being here in Helheim.

They slowed as they jogged down the hill, and Terra grinned over her shoulder as she came to a halt some twenty feet away from the massive statues that formed the entrance to the city. The Wendigo were simply standing at the top of the hill, not daring to come closer as they snarled down at their quarry, and Terra blew a loud raspberry in their direction before she shouted: "Not so tough now, are you? Great stupid cowards, the lot of you!"

"I am starting to understand why some ponies may not find me as cute as I like to believe I am." Luna said wryly, and then she shook her head slowly, murmuring as she gazed up at the creatures in the distance: "So either they still have some trace of intelligence there, or thou and thy clan truly are as terrifying as thou likes to brag."

"I'm glad you're finally starting to understand that." Terra replied with a wide grin, and then she shook her head and straightened, turning around and smiling as she strode fearlessly towards the monolithic city, her mood clearly lighter than it had been in days. "Now come, friends. Never you fear, I'll take you straight to the Chieftain so he can determine your worth and what you'll have to do."

Luna nodded firmly as Twilight smiled faintly, although she already looked like she was distracted by worries and other thoughts. Scrivener Blooms nudged her gently, gazing at her softly, and the violet mare looked back and nodded to him reassuringly: she was still ready to move forwards, and focused on what they had to do.

The three ponies turned to follow the dragon onwards, looking back and forth at architecture that seemed both primitive and somehow beautiful, and at the other Ironjaw dragons that were emerging from the buildings and pausing in the street to gaze with interest and frowns at the ponies. Some seemed simply curious, while others were baring their fangs in challenge as metallic scales bristled, but the one dragon that stepped towards them aggressively was quickly driven back by Terra leaping forwards and snarling back, her frame seeming to double in size as her metal scales rippled, her eyes glowing with challenge.

The smaller Ironjaw skittered backwards, wincing and scurrying away down the road as several other dragons laughed, and Terra blew a smoke ring after him before she said with a mild glance towards the ponies: "Don't you worry none. Those who have newly been anointed or have come to us from the few rare places in Midgard where mortal Ironjaw live tend to be a little soft behind the ears for a little while. Especially if they've yet to earn a few trophies."

Terra reached up and jangled her necklace of teeth and claws absently, and Scrivener Blooms winced a little as Luna only grunted and nodded, before Twilight asked hesitantly, both curious and wanting to try and focus on something other than her daughter: "So Ironjaw... even though you worship and serve Hel, you're born... mortal?"

Terra smiled over her shoulder, then she started forwards, leading them onwards through the massive stone city... but loitering a little now so she could answer with pride: "Some are, aye... I was, for example. And while we're mortal, we're referred to as 'softskins...' partly because 'tis what we are. Our scales do not turn to metal until we're exposed to Helheim's energies... 'tis said to be a blessing of Hel's. Furthermore, it is said that only those Ironjaw who fight in Hel's name and spend their lives following the laws of the Clan will be blessed to come to Helheim.

"For us, after all, Helheim is not punishment... it's our paradise, it is where we are meant to go, to serve our Mistress Hel. For us, our mortal lives are not about living well, or happiness, or trying to please some unknown creator: a mortal life is about training ourselves to be the best we can be, learning to commune with Helheim and the rest of the clan, mastering the ways of our ancestors so that when we die in battle, we are prepared for our pilgrimage to this place. To Cairnmór."

Terra smiled warmly as she rose her head proudly, gesturing around at the massive city of stone before she grinned and pointed ahead at a palace made from gorgeous, polished crystal, the ice around it shaped into enormous sculptures of dragons dressed in armor and posed as if in the midst of battle. "And there, the Chieftain's palace!"

Scrivener looked awkwardly at the building: it was enormous, but almost dome like... no, more like a stubby cone. There were large, curved spikes of ice jutting out of it here and there, but apart from those and the statues, there were no other real decorations, and the windows were nothing but large holes and the doorway a curtain of hide. "Palace, huh?"

"I hear that note of scorn in your voice, pony, but just because we don't live in some gorgeous den of gold and metal, it doesn't make us any less civilized than you damned ponies are." Terra grumbled as she led the way onwards, and the stallion winced as Luna grinned over her shoulder at him and Twilight simply shook her head slowly. "Now, the Chieftain must be treated with respect. But not in the sense that you silly ponies seem to think respect works. 'Tis not respectful to keep your elders and betters at a leg's distance and always depend on them for every little thing; you must heed their words, listen to their orders, but treat them as friend."

"Excellent. Fear not, I am very familiar with this." Luna said positively, nodding firmly once, and Scrivener and Twilight traded uneasy looks. But before either pony could say anything, Terra was already leading them through the heavy curtain and into the so-called 'palace;' which, in reality, was nothing more than a single massive room. The walls were carved with murals and depictions of hundred of different dragons, and several guards stood at the ready, watching the newcomers warily.

At the back of the room sat five dragons on enormous crystalline beds, forming a semicircle: the Ironjaw in the center was clearly the Chieftain, his necklace composed not just of fangs and claws, but several small skulls. A narrow crown of gold rested atop his head, shaped to hook into his horns: Scrivener noted that one of these was broken near the base, and that there were quite a few other scars over this dragon's body as well... and yet he was only a little larger than Terra, even the other four elders that sat with him all larger and stronger and much-younger looking.

Terra approached and performed a quick little curtsey before she looked up with a warm smile, saying easily: "Daideó! It's good to be home, even if 'tis on business! I've missed you... and what I hope I bring you now aren't just friends, but worthy people, even if they not be Ironjaw."

"Terra, proud daughter of Isenertos. Here I set my eyes upon you and what do I see, but you dragging in more of the little ponies of Odin." The Ironjaw Chieftain studied them with interest all the same, smiling before he nodded to the three ponies as Scrivener and Twilight both bowed, then the stallion quickly punched Luna in the side, making her grumble and at least nod in respectful acknowledgment. "I suppose 'tis to be expected, though. I cannot say you have not done well for yourself in their world. I did question Goddess Hel's wisdom in this matter, but am glad to see she was right all the same."

"Thank you, Daideó." Terra smiled and nodded again, then she gestured to the ponies, introducing: "These are friends of us, and friends of Isenertos. Allow me to introduce Valkyrie Luna Brynhild, Scrivener Blooms, and Twilight Sparkle. Friends, this is my Chieftain and my grandfather, Stiúir."

Stiúir smiled, bowing his head forwards as Twilight and Scrivener both nodded awkwardly, then stared as Luna strode forwards and lightly punched the Ironjaw in the forelimb, looking up at him with a smile. "'Tis nice to meet thee."

The guards were glaring, and the other four elders stared as Terra slowly closed her eyes and lowered her head in disbelief, while Scrivener and Twilight both mouthed wordlessly at the sight. Stiúir was looking curiously down at Luna, as Luna looked fearlessly back up at the Ironjaw... and then the Chieftain through his head back and laughed loudly. "Oh, bold as a hungry Frostshark! Aye, we're going to get along either very well or very badly, aren't we, Luna Brynhild?"

"'Twill be very well so long as we may move forwards. For while I would enjoy making pleasantries here with thou and thy kind, Lord Stiúir, I fear I have much to ask and very little time to ask it." Luna stopped, stepping backwards and looking at Twilight for a moment before she turned her eyes back upwards, meeting the steady green irises of Stiúir. "My family is in danger. And every moment we spend here, 'tis not seconds lost, but perhaps days or weeks in the place where my daughter is being kept. We require the aid of Hel to save her, and to get to Hel, we require the assistance of thy clan to enter the Underdark."

There was silence for a few moments, and then the Ironjaw Chieftain nodded after a moment before he said calmly: "Then aye, I understand your hurry, Luna Brynhild. But for all the pity and sympathy I have for you and yours, I cannot offer you neither mercy nor exception: but Terra would not bring you here if she did not think you worthy and ready to pass our tests, so I will not question you here much further."

The Chieftain sat back, and Terra sighed in relief as she stepped away: Luna, meanwhile, was only continuing to look up at the dragon as Twilight and Scrivener both shifted awkwardly, neither entirely sure of what was going to happen... what they could even do. They thought Terra was large and fierce, but by a dragon's standards, she was small: many of the other Ironjaw they had seen made her look tiny in comparison, and even some of these elders had clearly molded and forged their own scales into fierce armor over their bodies.

"You three are soulbound, are you not? Aye, Terra's told me much about you..." The Chieftain looked thoughtfully back and forth, and then he leaned down and said gently: "But I do wonder. Has Terra mentioned that our rituals are meant only for other dragons? You must be Ironjaw to take these tests, or at least a softskin of another tribe."

Twilight looked up almost desperately, and Terra leaned forwards, saying pointedly: "But you allowed Kvasir to take the tests, Daideó, did you not? And that was not exception, was it?"

"Aye, but Kvasir came on his own terms, not because he was either desperate nor coerced by the world around him." replied Stiúir, the dragon shaking his head briefly as several of the elders rumbled, two of them looking disapproving, but Stiúir only looked over his shoulder and said pointedly: "And he was Ironjaw inside, and was able to make himself dragon outside."

"I am equal to any Ironjaw inside." Luna Brynhild said suddenly, raising her head high and proud, and this gained several growls from the elders even as Stiúir turned his eyes towards her curiously, before Luna grinned widely as she stepped backwards, Scrivener and Twilight both staring at her with disbelief as her horn began to glow. "But if 'twill settle thee, then I shall wear my face outside as well, and we shall see how thou feels about me then."

With that, Luna arched her back, her mane and tail both sparking violently as her body was engulfed in glowing light, her armor popping free of her frame and swirling towards the ceiling as Scrivener Bloom and Twilight Sparkle both winced away. The shape consumed by light grew and transformed, the glow growing all the more intense before there was a single loud rumble, and then the light faded rapidly away from the creature that was left behind.

A grinning blue dragon now sat complacently where Luna had been, covered in dark blue scales that lightened over her chest slightly, and Scrivener and Twilight both stared in disbelief at the polymorph: Luna had modeled it after Scrivener's own Tyrant Wyrm form, but her body was a little more slender, and instead of the bone pistons she had a set of enormous, leathery wings that were stretched high into the air, but slowly furled down against her as she shook her head and the tall, crystalline unicorn horn still standing tall from her forehead gave a glimmer.

"There. See?" Luna winked, now almost the same size as Terra. The sapphire now-dragon straightened and licked her sharp teeth as she absently rose a claw and flexed it, saying positively: "I had forgotten how much fun it is to shapeshift so freely."

The Chieftain laughed at this, shaking his head and looking entertained... but when all four dragon elders immediately began to rant away in their own language, he groaned and rolled his eyes, looking over his shoulder and snapping something back at them.

Two of them settled, and one sulkily flopped back on his crystalline bed, but another stepped off the raised dais of gemstone to snarl something challengingly at Stiúir. Terra's eyes narrowed as she growled, and Scrivener grimaced a bit: he had no idea what the elder had just said, but it was clear that it hadn't been something pleasant.

Stiúir looked unperturbed, though, gazing steadily back before he gave the briefest nod, and then he turned his eyes to Luna Brynhild, saying calmly: "Aye, that is a fine trick. But even if you are soulbound, and I would gladly count you all as one... the other elders disagree with me. They say this is nothing but an illusion to try and gain our Clan's trust."

Luna only smiled calmly in return, however, before she glanced up and pointed at her armor, which was still swirling slowly in the air near the ceiling. "Nay, that is a parlor trick. And aye, perhaps I am no great dragon... but thou hast recognized we are soulbound, so we are all one in the same, we all share each other's blood, spirit, strength... so permit me ask thee this. If my husband reveals his own true nature, and 'tis fitting enough to stand beside Ironjaw in thy eyes, shall thou allow us to take the tests to join thy Clan?"

The Chieftain looked meditatively over at Scrivener Blooms, and then he said mildly: "But it had best be no trick, lass. I fear these old rustbuckets do not have nearly as good a sense of humor as I do, you see."

Luna only winked at this, then she looked pointedly over at Scrivener Blooms, who groaned and dropped his head before he muttered: "Great. Well... uh..."

The stallion looked grumpily down at the ground, pawing awkwardly at the floor as he realized it was just some kind of soft, mashed-up gemstone, and then he looked up lamely as he asked: "This is an awkward question, but... do you guys mind if I ruin your floor?"

"Are you that great and fierce a dragon, lad? Should I fear for the walls and ceiling as well?" Stiúir asked teasingly, and Scrivener grumbled before the Chieftain sat back with a curious look on his face, as the other elders frowned and studied the charcoal stallion moodily. "Let's see what you've got inside you, little one."

The charcoal stallion sighed tiredly, then he nodded awkwardly and strode a short distance away, Twilight smiling supportively as Luna grinned widely. He began to pull off his armor piece-by-piece, muttering to himself before wincing when he felt a burst of magic run over his body, then yank suddenly back, undoing the belts and buckles holding his gear on and flinging his equipment into the air to join the slowly-swirling maelstrom of metal above.

Scrivener glared over his shoulder at Luna Brynhild as he was left in only his collar, who looked pointedly back at him before the mare-dragon simply shrugged and said mildly: "'Tis not my fault, Scrivy. 'Tis thine own fault for being so slow. Now hurry up, we do not have all day."

The stallion sighed tiredly, then he simply gave a nod as he turned back around, shoving his claws against the ground as he looked moodily over them to make sure the rings had come off. "This is going to hurt. And I'm glad. Because it's going to hurt you too. Because you're a jerk."

"Thou has such a way with words, Scrivener Blooms. Truly." Luna said dryly, and the stallion only shrugged with a grunt before he closed his eyes, digging his claws into the pebbly floor and breathing slowly as he pushed with his powers and turned the earth around him to dark mire.

Now Stiúir was leaning forwards with marked interest as the elders growled and grumbled to themselves, but Scrivener Blooms kept his focus on the mire and the task at hoof. He breathed slowly in and out, his head lowered, his eyes closed as he focused, and little-by-little he felt the puddle of mire expanding even as the pain in his claws worsened, the stallion gritting his teeth before he muttered as the pond of darkness began to ripple: "Okay. Here we go."

He closed his eyes, dropping his head forwards as he pulled on the shared energies of himself, Luna, and Twilight, and he gritted his teeth before arching his back, the dark mire surging upwards and washing over him as it coalesced into a solid dome.

For a few moments, there was nothing but that strange sensation that was both comforting and suffocating, like being wrapped in the tight embrace of a womb. He could feel his body already starting to change, his eyes clenching shut as hide turned to scale, and spread as flesh grew, muscle thickened. He could feel the changes, even though he was almost resisting them, as something thudded and writhed in his chest that wasn't precisely his heart... was more than that, was less than that: Kundalini.

The stallion gritted his teeth... and then he shoved upwards as he drew on all the energy from the mire that he could, sending flecks of gray in all directions as he stood tall. His draconic head rose as he growled, shaking off the excess sludge as the rest of the bog-like gunk around him crumbled away into gray dust.

He breathed slowly as he straightened, in full Tyrant Wyrm glory. Stiúir looked impressed as the elders looked up, but the one who had come down off his crystalline bed immediately began to make... well, Scrivener thought it was pretty clear they were denials and accusations and probably threats.

The black Wyrm snorted out blue smoke from his nostrils, looking grumpily in the direction of the objecting elder, and Stiúir seemed to agree with Scrivener's irritation as the Chieftain turned and said something sharply to the protesting Ironjaw. The elder looked almost surprised, and then he huffed and dropped his head, mumbling some last remark before falling quiet.

"Well now... and since you're no unicorn and I saw no telling glow from either lass' horn, I suppose that means that came under your own power. And strange as it may be..." He looked pointedly over his shoulder at the other elders, enunciating clearly: "He still wears the shape of our brothers. Whether or not he has the spirit worthy to join the Clan, however, we shall have to test."

There were grumbles from the others, but after a moment, nods of consent and agreement from three of the elders, and the last was smart enough to simply drop his head and sulk. Terra sighed in relief as Scrivener strode forwards with a wry smile, before Twilight hesitantly looked up and said quietly: "I don't... I mean, I can't transform myself."

Stiúir looked down at the Lich, then he smiled kindly, leaning down and saying gently: "No, you cannot. So you cannot take part in these tests, lass... but I see the bond between you three all the same, lass. So here is the deal I will make with you: if these two pass the challenges we have for them, they shall be named clan brother and sister, and you shall be called cousin."

Twilight began to smile a little, before Luna looked up and said firmly: "No. That is not acceptable. Twilight Sparkle shall be a sister to thee as I shall be, or Scrivener Blooms and I shall not run thy tests. Instead, we proud creatures shall show thee what true dragons we are in spirit and pummel thy entire spirit. Then thou shan't call us siblings, but masters."

Stiúir looked less amused at this, leaning forwards and saying mildly: "You have a habit of overstepping your bounds lass, don't you?"

Luna only grinned wryly at this, however, shaking her head and replying easily: "Believe me, thou has no idea. And thou does not want to challenge me and see what I am capable of."

Terra shifted uneasily as Scrivener and Luna traded awkward looks, and there was silence for a few moments before Stiúir chuckled quietly, lowering his head and saying softly: "We do not accept non-dragons as sisters, Luna Brynhild."

"Aye, but does thou have to be a great lizard in order to be a dragon?" Luna asked calmly, raising her head and quirking one eye, and the Ironjaw Chieftain gave her a mild look. "Oh please, thou knows as well as I do there are many dragons who are naught but newts in disguise, and many others who would be better off by the name of 'glutton' or 'beast.' What is a dragon to thee, Caoránamac?"

The elders all growled, but Stiúir rose his head in thought, frowning across at Luna before the sapphire now-dragon said quietly: "I will not have my wife be any less an equal than I am. To myself, or to my husband."

Stiúir nodded slowly at this, and then he gave a smile, saying softly: "Aye, you should have said so in the first place. Now I understand this connection between you all the better, and what you mean to each other. Very well, Valkyrie. If you all are as one, then it's only fair to treat you all as one. But the tests will be that the much harder now: we will treat you two dragons as three, and you shall not be allowed to compete, Twilight Sparkle.

"We relish the challenge." Luna said firmly, and then she winked as her horn glowed brightly before there was a crackle, their equipment falling out of the air and swirling quickly into a pile on the floor, Luna's weapons landing neatly on top. "I shall trust all of thee not to poke our armor too much then. 'Tis very rude to poke a mare's armor while she is not in it, I shall have thee know."

"We have a similar rule." Stiúir said mildly, and then the Ironjaw Chieftain stood, Luna and Scrivener both facing him as the elders all bowed their heads and Terra looked up in what was clearly excitement. "Then let us waste no further time. Terra, as they are your friends you may stay and witness the trials. Let's just hope they continue to bring honor to your name, shall we?"

Terra nodded firmly, and Luna grinned as Scrivener looked up with a small smile... but it was a smile all the same as Stiúir looked from sapphire dragon to Tyrant Wyrm before he declared: "Luna Brynhild, Scrivener Blooms... may Hel's luck be with you, and the challenge of Clan Isenertos begin!"

The elder dragons all rose their head and roared, soon joined by Terra and the guards stationed around the room, until the entire city of Ironjaw shook with it... and not knowing what else to do, Scrivener and Luna both threw their own heads back and joined in the chorus, as Twilight Sparkle lowered her head and only prayed they could make it through all of this in time, before Gymbr could unleash any more horrors upon Paradise... or even more importantly, her daughter.

Chapter Twenty Five: The Trials of Clan Isenertos

~BlackRoseRaven

Scrivener and Luna both followed the Chieftain through town, Terra bouncing beside the male she treated with so much respect not because he was lord of the tribe of Ironjaw, but because he was her grandfather. Others called out loudly to Stiúir as if he was a good friend instead of a respected official, but Stiúir always returned it with a friendly greeting of his own.

Ironjaw lined the streets, gazing with interest at these new dragons... well, dragon-lookalikes, since Scrivener was fairly sure Tyrant Wyrms had little to do with dragons despite their appearance, and Luna, no matter what shape she was in, was still Luna. Twilight Sparkle was nervously walking alongside Terra, but all the attention for the moment was on the dragon strangers, the Lich feeling almost surreal at how well she was blending in alongside these giant Ironjaws and how... welcome she felt here all of a sudden.

Scrivener Blooms was trying awkwardly to keep his head down, while Luna Brynhild had her own raised proudly, all-but-basking in the attention from the metallic demons. Everyone seemed to be aware of what was going on, but for some reason that didn't surprise Scrivener: everyone had probably heard the roars, after all, and in a place like this he didn't imagine much went on that escaped the attention of everyone else.

The Tyrant Wyrm looked awkwardly back and forth as they made their way down the street, and Stiúir glanced over his shoulder before he asked easily: "Are you mocking our primitive cultural ways again, black drake? Well, I fear I can't quite see how a boggy creature like yourself can look down upon us wee metal beasties."

"I... I wasn't. And I'm not a Marsh Drake." Scrivener said flatly, although he did his best to restrain his sarcasm: he figured somehow it wouldn't have quite the same effect on Stiúir as Luna's brash temperament did. Then again, Luna could somehow get away with being a jerk even when he couldn't. "I'm a Tyrant Wyrm."

"Oh, a Tyrant Wyrm?" Stiúir's voice was dripping with false awe, and he grinned and winked over his shoulder at the sour-faced male. "Well, do excuse me, but I wasn't aware you came in snack-size varieties, friend. I suppose we were all wee babes once, though."

Luna giggled, and Scrivener shot her a foul look, but the blue-scaled dragon only huffed and said defensively: "What? 'Twas funny!"

"You're funny." Scrivener muttered, and then he winced a bit when the sapphire dragon bodychecked him before poking at him with her horn, and he slapped at her grouchily, biting back a wince at how much that made his claws sting.

He flexed them as they continued along, and Luna softened a bit, studying him for a moment before she turned her eyes forwards to ask a question... but she saw her answer ahead, so instead she only whistled slowly, surveying the massive stone coliseum in the distance and saying mildly: "I suppose that is what we are headed towards, aye?"

"Aye" Stiúir agreed, nodding and smiling over his shoulder at Luna. "And I hope neither of you fear being watched, for there will be quite a few gathered in the seats already. These trials are great entertainment for our Clan: in recent years, only Lord Kvasir passed, out of the hundred or so warriors we've seen. Demons and dragons of all shape and size seek us out, after all, but few earn the right to attempt the Trials... many die in the attempt to simply gain entrance, and the rest in the challenges themselves. They are nothing to be taken lightly."

Scrivener winced and Twilight looked up worriedly, but Luna only smiled wryly and remarked: "Then 'tis fortunate with us we are friends with an Ironjaw ourselves, I suppose. So what dangers shall we face ahead?"

"Oh, I cannot ruin the surprises for you now, can I? No favors, no mercy, no exception: no Ironjaw would ever ask for it, no Ironjaw would ever blur the rules. We are bound by duty and honor." Chief Stiúir replied calmly, looking up and nodding once before he smiled pleasantly over his shoulder as they approached a set of massive iron gates in the wall of the colossal coliseum. "But don't fear. We Ironjaw waste not and want not: should you die, we'll hold a great feast in your honor, ,where you'll have the... place of honor, so to speak."

"Oh. How. How nice." Scrivener said finally, and then he cleared his throat before asking impulsively: "Also, not to stir the pot, but if you don't ever make any exceptions or anything... why was Terra able to bring us right to see you?"

Slowly, the Chieftain looked over his shoulder at the Tyrant Wyrm, and Scrivener gave a lame smile as Luna glared at him and Twilight Sparkle sighed tiredly. The black-scaled reptile shrank a little as Terra cleared her throat awkwardly, and Scrivener felt all too aware of the fact that the Ironjaw along the sides of the road and following behind them all had their eyes focused on him as well.

But finally, Stiúir smiled and turned an amused look towards Luna Brynhild, saying mildly: "I suppose that your husband has taken a knock or two too many to the head, aye?"

"Well, that is usually what we tell people, but the truth is simply that Scrivy cannot resist saying things we shall all regret later." Luna said pointedly, turning a glower towards the Wyrm, who only mumbled a little in awkward agreement. "I suppose 'tis different for family, isn't it?"

"Isn't it always?" Stiúir smiled again, before he turned back ahead and gestured at the enormous Ironjaw dragons to either side of the heavy portcullis. "That, and of course, proving to a seasoned Ironjaw that you're worthy of joining the clan is one of the first steps. I know Terra wouldn't come to me, and tell me that you two were worthy unless you truly were... and unless there was no better hope to save her own noble clan."

"You mean Heaven." Twilight Sparkle said softly, and Stiúir only nodded before all eyes looked ahead as the guards to either side of the portcullis grasped heavy chains hanging beside them, growling as they yanked claw-over-claw at the same time to quickly raise the enormous portcullis.

The Ironjaw Chieftain gestured to them politely, and Luna and Scrivener both took the lead. Twilight began to hesitantly follow, but Stiúir gently caught her and smiled down at the Lich, saying kindly: "Nay, this is where you must part ways. Terra, take our friend 'round the side and up into the stands. I'll escort Scrivener and Luna the rest of the way myself."

Terra smiled, then stepped forwards and traded a quick hug with the Chieftain, Twilight wincing and ducking awkwardly back to avoid being squished. Then they parted, and the Ironjaw dragoness smiled over at Twilight Sparkle, saying kindly: "Daideó will take good care of them, fear not. Come along, Twilight Sparkle, we'd best be moving ourselves if we want to get good seats!"

The Lich nodded uncertainly, turning to follow Terra... while meanwhile, Scrivener and Luna were being led down the tunnel that led into the coliseum by Stiúir, who had his eyes ahead, but somehow made both transformed ponies aware that he was sizing them up as he said softly: "You might not entirely agree with the customs we have... but I can feel that you're all determined to push through the tests you're about to face, and I appreciate that. I warn you, though: there will be killing ahead, and there will be the very real possibility you will die."

"Aye, we figured thou wert not kidding about us being made into meals should we fail." Luna said mildly, and Stiúir gave her an amused look before the dragon mare traded looks with Scrivener Blooms, and then they both nodded firmly. "We are ready to do whatever we must. Bring on thy challenges, and we shall rise to each and every one of them."

The three halted in front of a smaller gate, only one guard standing at the ready here, but this dragon was wearing heavy battle armor over his steel scales, making him all the more imposing. He saluted Stiúir when the Chieftain looked at him, and Stiúir smiled before his eyes flicked back towards the two, saying softly: "Then very well. I have no more advice, no more warnings for you. Out into the arena with you, greet the crowd, and I'll announce that it is time to begin the trials."

Both Luna and Scrivener nodded as the guard yanked down a lever, the gate creakily rising, and Wyrm and sapphire dragon breathed slowly before striding out into the snowy field of the coliseum. Immediately, they were met with roars of excitement from all sides, and both looked up in surprise, gazing back and forth: Ironjaw dragons of all shape and size filled the stands and were leaning eagerly over the high, pockmarked walls, and Luna and Scrivener both were amazed by how much energy they could feel in the air, and how even now, more dragons were arriving to push into the enormous seats and gaze eagerly down at the newcomers below...

"Well, at least some of them seem to be cheering for us." Luna said mildly as the gate rolled shut behind them, looking up over the audience before the sapphire mare shook herself briskly, then absently leapt into the air and flapped her leathery wings several times, hovering and giving a sigh of relief. "For a moment I was afraid we would both be stuck upon the ground. But nay, 'tis not too heavy to fly... and I am rather attractive even like this, am I not?"

"Yeah, you fit in very well with everything else around here." Scrivener remarked absently, looking back and forth before he shook his head briefly as he surveyed the arena: it was massive, and he could feel solid ice beneath the thin veil of powder. The Wyrm could also note a few large chunks of rock and icy, teeth-like banks here and there... "Probably to keep things interesting..."

Luna dropped to the icy floor, shaking her head briskly and adding: "There is also a charge of energy in the air... I do not believe I can fly out of here. High, yes: probably quite high at that, but likely not high enough to vanish towards the... rocks. I suppose I should say rocks instead of sky."

"Technically you should say 'air,' but that's another conversation for another time." Scrivener said dryly, and then he muttered: "Something tells me what we're getting into is going to be a lot more complicated than just playing gladiator, though..."

The blue dragon grunted, eyes flicking moodily back and forth before she said thoughtfully: "Well, 'twould be rather disappointing otherwise, aye? Even if thou keeps acting like such a picky fruit, Scrivy, being so hard on them for their traditions."

"I am not being... did you just call me a 'picky fruit?' What the hell does that mean?" Scrivener glared over at her, and the sapphire reptile snorted in amusement and waved a claw at him, then giggled and looked down at her own digits, grabbing her face with her claw and peering through them to giggle harder as the Wyrm slowly closed his eyes.

"I hate everything." Scrivener Blooms muttered, and then he sighed and dropped his head, saying almost pleadingly over to Luna: "Can you please remember why we're here? I feel Twilight almost herniating with the emotional overload."

"Aye, and that is why I must be a little silly. Why I must try and find a little good amidst these times, which are among the worst we have all ever seen." Luna softened, becoming more serious as she dropped her claw away from her face, and Scrivener quieted as he looked over at the dragon. "What will being sad and upset and panicky accomplish? Nothing. What will trying to rush these dragons in their ceremony accomplish? Nothing. What will smiling accomplish? Perhaps nothing. But perhaps 'twill be a good sort of nothing... the sort of nothing that leads to nothing bad, instead of the bad nothing that leads to nothing good."

There was silence for a few moments, and then a small smile quirked at Scrivener's mouth as he looked up and said softly: "You used that word so many times it means... nothing to me anymore."

"Very funny, poet." But Luna smiled back all the same, before both Wyrm and polymorphed dragon rose their heads as the roar of the crowd rose when the Chieftain took his seat on a balcony across the arena, Terra and Twilight both beside him and leaning over the short wall with anticipation.

"My kin! Today, these dragons have come to prove their strength to us! They and one other seek to become kin and join our clan today, to earn our loyalty and respect... shall we test them?" Stiúir shouted, looking back and forth as he rose a claw, and there was a roar of approval from the audience before Stiúir waved his forelimb. "I hear you, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters! Then let the trials begin!"

Another roar of excitement, and Luna and Scrivener both stepped forwards and set themselves before Stiúir grinned, leaning forwards and calling easily: "Then let's show our hospitality, and allow our new friends to warm up with a simple game of catch, first! Aye, send out the Frost Pixies!"

There was laughter at this, and Scrivener looked up sourly as Luna winced a bit, dropping low and concentrating her magic to shield her entire body with magic as the Wyrm said dryly: "I swear, all he seems interested in is making fun of us. Pixies. What the hell are pixies going to do?"

Before he could check on what Luna was doing, the Wyrm's attention was drawn by the sound of panels in the walls sliding open, and there were several odd flashes of light as Scrivener frowned and cocked his head curiously. Then he blinked in surprise as something insectile and tiny appeared suddenly in front of his eyes, the Tyrant Wyrm staring blankly at this before he snorted and said dryly: "Oh yes, just terrifying, really."

He studied the dancing shape of light, which had little, spindly limbs and dragonfly-like wings as it seemed to blink back and forth with a faint crackle of energy, emanating a blue glow. Then the Wyrm frowned in surprise as another shape appeared: this pixie looked the same, but this one was surrounded by a bright crimson aura.

Scrivener looked back and forth, then he cleared his throat as several more appeared, most of them glowing blue and a few others thrumming with crimson energy. They seemed to communicate through flashes of light, and the Wyrm frowned a bit as he studied them: he was aware that some pixies could be nasty little creatures, but he was fairly certain that as an enormous Tyrant Wyrm, there wasn't a whole lot they could do to him.

He began to turn towards Luna, then grimaced when one of the pixies landed on his muzzle, drawing his attention. He wrinkled up his snout, then huffed and swatted at it, slapping it firmly aside-

Promptly, the swarm of pixies began to dart violently back and forth around him, leaving thin trails of ice where they hit and sucking up his body heat instead of trying to physically hurt him, the Wyrm shouting and dancing back and forth as the crowd roared with laughter. He pranced around in a circle, but the pixies were far faster, and much, much swifter than he could move, feeling like he was trying to grab them in slow motion with the speed they whizzed around him.

Thin sheets of ice were spreading over his scales, and he could feel them devouring his energy quickly, draining strength from him with their touch alone. He gasped and cursed, then roared furiously as he snapped his head around, filling the air around him with toxic blue mist.

Other pixies were swarming around Luna, but the sapphire dragon was simply sitting contently, an amused smile on her face as she watched Scrivener writhing and flailing around. His toxic breath was able to kill the pixies off, but they were agile enough to dodge around the poison for the most part, which seemed to only be serving to frustrate Scrivener further.

Luna, meanwhile, had electrified her own body: every time a pixie dove into her, it squeaked and simply fell out of the air. The sapphire dragon calmly stomped them after they fell, the process a slow but sure one as she called mildly: "Do not allow them to form larger plates of ice, Scrivy! They will use them to bind thee down!"

"Dammit!" Scrivener danced back and forth, then seized one of the pixies in a claw and yelled in frustration and pain when it fought back by trying to suck all the warmth out of his arm. He immediately slung it down and squashed the pixie, then he cursed and danced back and forth as the nasty little creatures continued to harry him with attacks, calling in a strangled voice as the last of the pixies hovering around Luna was electrified and crushed: "Do something!"

"I could tell a joke?" Luna suggested positively, and then she grinned widely at the flurry of curses from Scrivener, laughing even as she felt faint pains starting to tickle her own body from the loss of energy Scrivener Blooms was suffering. "Oh very well, but thou art the one who always takes such pleasure in warning ponies of the danger of fairy tales. One would think thou would take thine own advice, but... thou never were very smart."

Luna paused, then she grinned and simply flicked her horn, and the netting of electricity dancing over her scales was launched from her body, striking into Scrivener and ricocheting off him to chain from pixie to pixie. A moment later, Scrivener landed on his back with a groan, the pixies falling in a hail of smoldering, tiny bodies around him.

This was followed by laughter and cheers from the crowd, Luna making a half-playful bow to the audience... which only increased the merriment and applause. Scrivener sighed tiredly and blew a dead pixie off his face, then he muttered: "Pixies. You have to be kidding me."

"Oh shut up, Scrivener Blooms. 'Tis thine own fault, anyway, assuming pixies of Helheim would be the same as flesh-eating pixies of our world. Nay, Helheim is a place where most predators have evolved to attack the spirit; the spirit in most creatures is softer and easier, after all." Luna strode over to the Tyrant Wyrm, then grasped him with a claw and shook him firmly once before smiling despite herself. "I enjoy these."

"Good for you." Scrivener mumbled, and then he picked himself up and shook himself absently off, tossing a few pieces of ice away from his body as he grimaced and looked up at the cheering crowd. "This is all starting to make me nervous. I've got a bad feeling about this."

Luna glared at him, but before the Tyrant Wyrm could say anything further, Stiúir leaned forwards and shouted, as the roar of the crowd quieted: "Friends and kinfolk! Now, was that not an interesting show? The Marsh Drake and the battlemaiden make good partners, don't they, much like the training dummy and the sword!"

There were laughs at this, and Luna grinned over at Scrivener Blooms as he sighed and dropped his head forwards, saying sourly more to himself than anyone else: "I'm not a Marsh Drake."

The sapphire dragon gave him a flat look, but before she could say anything or he could respond, the Chieftain of the Ironjaw continued clearly: "We have witnessed how they deal with what are nothing but pests, so now let us witness how they handle something a little more dangerous, shall we? Aye, we have at least one strong dragon in our arena today, and another who has succeeded even with some... little help..." A few more laughs, and Scrivener glowered. "But now let's see how their strength holds up against not just the strength of numbers, but unity and teamwork!

"Unleash the Hellhounds!" The crowd roared its approval at this, and Scrivener and Luna both grimaced and quickly got into ready positions beside each other, setting themselves: they both had the feeling this next set of demons wasn't just going to be a few vicious hell-beasts.

A large gate beneath the Chieftain's balcony slowly opened, and the cheers increased in volume until a pack of Hellhounds can charging out, barking and baying. There were at least seven of them, all large and slavering eagerly, blue hellfire eyes glowing in faces of polished bone. Their skulls were exposed, and their ribs were likewise naked to the eye... and more frightening than that, the frosty organs beneath, pulsing with terrible vitality as claws like diamonds scraped the frosty earth and black, rubbery-looking hide flexed and rippled over their limbs and backs.

And every one of the Hellhounds had a tight collar of iron locked around their necks that was inset with a bright crystal. Twilight leaned forwards worriedly as she looked down at the backs of these creatures, studying them intently as Stiúir declared: "Let the trial begin! And fight with honor!"

There were roars of agreement, of eagerness, of dragons urging them on and dragons wishing them luck... and both above and beneath it all, a silent plea from Twilight Sparkle. She didn't just want them to be careful, or do their best: she wanted them to not hold back, to tear their way through these demons as fast and hard as they could. She wanted them to do more than survive: she wanted them to pass these Ironjaw trials with flying colors, so they could move on as soon as possible to find a way into Underdark, to get to Hel... to save their daughter.

Scrivener and Luna felt their minds locking together, felt Twilight passing information on to them even as the Hellhounds snarled and organized themselves quickly into their own aggressive formation, fearless of the sapphire dragon and Tyrant Wyrm across from them. But alone, Hellhounds were used as dangerous hunting animals for both animal and intelligent prey: a pack of beasts as large as this one...

The lead Hellhound roared, then leapt forwards, leading a charge straight towards Luna and Scrivener. Tyrant Wyrm and sapphire dragon both turned their bodies slightly, tensing themselves and recognizing the tactic as he felt Luna's mental order to hold on, hold on...

Then they both leaned forwards, roaring furiously: the Hellhounds skidded to a halt, dropping low in a V-formation, all of them setting themselves and snarling back. The Alpha seemed surprised that neither reptile had panicked, and there were laughs and cheers from the crowd, as well as a few shouts clearly trying to get them to hurry up.

But Luna and Scrivener weren't paying attention to the crowd: only the enemies across from them. The sapphire dragon already had an idea of what those collars were, and her horn was glowing faintly as she tested her theory with the barest bit of magic.

A faint spark sizzled through the air around the Alpha, and Luna growled in irritation: the collars were shielding the demons from magic. She straightened, baring her fangs before muttering: "They will attempt to sweep us from all sides and make us panic. We must not strike out at them, but counter their attacks. Speed is more vital than strength."

Scrivener simply nodded, and then both transformed ponies set themselves as the leader of the pack bayed before barking loudly several times. The other Hellhounds seemed to listen attentively, shifting their positions as they shared growls before the Alpha suddenly leaned forwards and roared, cold blue mist bursting out of his jaws in a wave towards the two.

Luna flicked her horn as it pulsed, a blast of icy wind ripping apart the freezing smoke before her eyes shifted to the side, narrowing as two Hellhounds sprinted past. Three others were flanking in towards Scrivener's side, aiming to drive them in that direction as the Alpha and another Hellhound paced forwards, growling, looking to corner.

But Scrivener refused to budge, snapping at the Hellhounds and raising one claw, and he felt the sapphire mare take several slow, careful steps backwards as she faced the Alpha. She was leaving Scrivener's side exposed, but the Wyrm trusted her plan, even if it was a little dangerous.

Luna could hear the two Hellhounds starting to creep up behind her, and she knew her timing had to be perfect. If they screwed up, the Hellhounds were going to start ripping into them and drive them straight into the wall, where they would use their numbers and teamwork to tear the two apart.

The sapphire mare narrowed her eyes as she tensed her body, half-shielding herself behind Scrivener Blooms as the Alpha seemed almost to grin greedily at the sight of the male's exposed side. The Wyrm himself was trading quick claws and nips with the three ice wolves in front of him, keeping his attention forwards: but he could see through Luna's link, feel what she was about to do, and Twilight above had her eyes locked on the group, feeding them every detail before she mentally cried a warning as the Hellhounds attempting to sneak up behind Luna lunged at the dragon's back.

Without hesitation, Luna leapt forwards, her tail snapping out more by accident than skill to smash one of the beasts out of the air with a yelp. Her wings spread as her front claws shoved down against Scrivener's back and her hindclaws kicked as hard as they could against the ground, flinging herself into the air before she flapped her wings, pouncing out of the sky to crash down right on top of the surprised Alpha.

The Hellhound was surprisingly-strong, and Luna bared her fangs as it attempted to wrench free of her claws as the other demonic beast lunged onto her back, clawing at her and trying to find a place to bite into. But Luna reared, flinging it off before it could do too much damage as she yanked the flailing Alpha into the air with her, then she spun around and slammed it down onto its back as she put all her weight on her front claws... and beneath those, the monster's chest.

The Hellhound howled in misery, clawing, biting at the air, vomiting out frosty blue smoke... and then Luna shoved down hard, snarling, and there was a sickening crack as the creature's ribs collapsed into its own frosty organs, crushing and ripping them apart.

The Alpha screamed before it exploded into shards of ice and bone, knocking Luna onto her back with a curse as Scrivener Blooms gritted his teeth and arched his own in pain, and then he snarled and batted a Hellhound out of the air when it attempted to pounce for his neck. The demon was sent rolling backwards, and like it was a signal, the other Hellhounds leapt forwards, attacking both reptiles ferociously... but now lacking the teamwork they had shown before, only flinging themselves at the Tyrant Wyrm and sapphire dragon as viciously as they could.

Scrivener slapped another of the icy demons backwards, even as he hurriedly backpedaled to avoid being tackled before cursing as another of the Hellhound leapt onto his back, trying to scrabble its way on top of him. The Wyrm responded to this by quickly bucking forwards, launching the Hellhound over his head and swinging a wild claw at the beast that struck it across the face, sending it crashing down on top of another Hellhound with enough force both demons were bounced backwards like coins.

Then Luna smashed another of the demons through the air with a fierce hammer blow from one claw, the demon flipping rapidly towards the Tyrant Wyrm before Scrivener smashed his own claw into it, the monster exploding into chunks of icy shrapnel. Without slowing, Luna was already pouncing onto another Hellhound, crushing it down before she leaned away with her teeth grit as her claws simply snapped its neck and the demon burst apart.

Four were left: two of these were badly injured, and one of them was hissing at another Hellhound as if trying to goad it forwards. One of the demons was whimpering a little and trying to keep itself low, shivering more out of fear than anticipation, but the other three seemed ready to fight: looked, in fact, like they were trying to organize each other a little.

Scrivener and Luna didn't want to give them that chance: they didn't even have to trade a look as they both rushed forwards, and only one of the Hellhounds managed to react in time, leaning forwards and breathing a blast of icy smoke out to try and slow their charge, but the Tyrant Wyrm simply leapt over the stream of toxic smog, crashing down on top of the Hellhound and crushing it beneath his body as Luna charged straight into the middle of the remaining three, scattering them in all directions with yelps and barks.

Luna grinned as she looked back and forth, and a Hellhound made a sloppy leap at her throat, but the sapphire dragon half-spun to meet it, slashing it with one claw and knocking it away; and, moving in perfect rhythm with the transformed mare, Scrivener dragged the crushed, dying Hellhound out from beneath him and flung it into the trajectory of the dazed demon.

They collided in midair, and the already-crushed demon exploded in a hail of icy shrapnel and bone fragments that knocked the wounded Hellhound to the ground, leaving it rasping for breath, its organs and body peppered and punctured by its ally's remains. Luna and Scrivener were already moving forwards, the sapphire mare tackling one of the remaining Hellhounds onto its back as Scrivener chased after the other, which was fleeing with a series of yelps and whimpers.

There was no mercy here: even if Scrivener grimaced as he pinned the Hellhound by the spine with one claw and grasped the back of its skull with the other, even if he always felt dirty when it came down to this... all the same, he pulled hard, cracking its upper spine and almost tearing its head from its body. Quick, mostly painless... and it gave the Tyrant Wyrm enough time to step quickly back and cover his face as the Hellhound died in a burst of shrapnel and frost.

Luna had already dealt with the other Hellhound, grimacing a bit as she brushed shrapnel off her body before looking up at the roar of the crowd. The last Hellhound was still twitching a little as the last of its life spilled out of it; close enough to death that the crowd roared its approval as Tyrant Wyrm and sapphire dragon both gazed up at the eager audience.

Then Stiúir stood and rose his claws, and little-by-little the applause died down to an excited chatter. Stiúir smiled back and forth at this, then leaned over the wall of the balcony and declared: "Strength is in unity! As one we are strong, but it is our Clan that makes the Ironjaw indomitable! We are all one family, we are all of Isenertos, and these two have shown that... and how to break that in the foe! They have passed this trial, and so, my kin, let us give them the true challenge of Isenertos: send out three of the traitors! Let us see if these two truly carry honor in their veins!"

There were roars at this, and Scrivener and Luna both felt that now the real challenge was beginning. And after a moment, that large gate beneath the balcony slid open again, and it wasn't monsters or captured beasts that strode out, but three Ironjaw dragons, and the crowd roared and booed and shouted at their entrance.

Stiúir remained calm as these three Ironjaw looked up with growls at him, the Chieftain meeting their glares without fear as he said evenly: "If you win, you will be freed, and allowed to escape into Helheim. If you lose, you will be dead. Do I make myself clear?"

Luna gritted her teeth as she and Scrivener studied their opponents for a moment: their scales looked rusted, their bodies were thin and emaciated, and each of them was marked by a large burnt patch on their bodies or faces that looked as if acid had been splashed over them. In a way, they were miserable more than they were threatening, but then one of them turned and gave a cruel grin, whispering: "I'm going to have my way with the bitch before I kill her."

The sapphire dragon's eyes slowly narrowed as Scrivener Blooms grimaced, then he carefully anchored himself as he started to gently push with his powers into the frosty earth, as Stiúir looked up and declared: "Let the trial begin! Prove your strength and honor: if you are truly worthy to join our clan, then first you must overcome those who have failed to uphold our name and laws."

One of the Ironjaws snarled at this and spat a blast of blue flame at Stiúir, but it was repelled by some invisible force as the crowd booed and writhed with disapproval and anger. Scrivener could hear more of the Ironjaw urging them on, and he gritted his teeth as the three prisoners turned towards them, the Tyrant Wyrm muttering as the ground around him slowly began to turn to black mire: "Well, now we really are playing gladiator, aren't we? Not to mention executioner..."

"I do not mind, Scrivy. 'Tis better than playing the role of murderer of good dragons." Luna replied in a growl, her eyes locked on the dragons and sizing them up: one had that strange acid-marking on his face, and one was missing large patches of his scales, and the last was the smallest, lingering behind the others.

Scarface was the most aggressive, leading Patches and Runt forwards: Scrivener and Luna both set themselves as they sized up their opponents, choosing to lock onto the front two Ironjaw. Not that they wanted to underestimate Runt, either: he was a marked prisoner of some kind, and whether or not he really was afraid and uneasy, he was still an Ironjaw, a dangerous dragon-demon. They couldn't afford to underestimate their foes.

And Luna felt... excitement, too. The rest of the Clan was cheering them on, watching them, and her Valkyrie instincts were alive with the need to prove her strength... to do more than that, to crush and humiliate her opponents. And she bared her fangs and snarled even as Scarface roared furiously, his rusted scales bristling out before he set himself, eyes blazing as his body flexed and grew larger, his burnished metal claws scraping hungrily against the ground as he hissed: "Make it easy on yourself and beg for a quick death..."

The sapphire dragon responded by snapping her horn towards Scarface, and he cursed and staggered backwards as spikes of ice jutted up all around him, scraping off loose scales and denting his natural armor even as they shattered on impact with his metallic body. Scarface growled in fury, but Luna only looked evenly back, saying calmly: "Does thou desire to keep wasting our time or shall we move into the main event?"

Both Ironjaw roared in fury at this, then lunged forward, charging side-by-side for the polymorphed pony. Runt followed in their wake, stumbling a little and keeping his head low, clearly not wanting to be involved.

But there was no turning back, no surrender... and neither Patches nor Scarface knew or wanted mercy. They both dove for Luna, meaning to try and tear her apart, but Scrivener Blooms leaned forwards with a roar that unleashed a toxic blast of blue mist, washing over Patches and driving him backwards in surprise with a howl of pain as Luna met Scarface in a grapple.

They pushed and struggled against each other, locked claw in claw as Scarface leaned in and bit at her face like an animal, but Luna drew her head away before slamming her skull into his muzzle. There was a crack and a gush of blood as Scarface hissed... before Luna's horn gleamed with energy before she rammed it forwards and straight through Scarface's eye.

The crowd roared its approval as Scarface screamed in pain, then yanked himself quickly away from Luna, skittering backwards and bleeding heavily from his socket. Luna only smiled coldly as the Ironjaw's blood trickled from her horn and down her features, the sapphire mare saying quietly: "It looks like I have been the first to penetrate thee, coward. Maybe thou should be the one to whimper and beg for a quick death."

The Ironjaw trembled with rage, and then he charged straight for Luna, remaining eye blazing with hate and fury and fear... and meanwhile, Scrivener Blooms was wrestling with larger, bulkier Patches, the two rolling through the mire together before Patches managed to fling the black-scaled reptile onto his back.

Scrivener bounced twice, then covered himself with a snarl of pain as Patches leaned forwards and breathed a stream of ravaging blue hellfire over him, the Tyrant Wyrm feeling it charring his scales and his spirit as the dragon spat something at him in the Ironjaw language.

He pounced forwards, looking for a fast kill, and Scrivener reacted on instinct as he slammed one of his claws into the mire, hissing in agony at blood burst from his frail appendage even as crystalline spikes erupted up out of the blackened earth around him, and Patches screamed in agony as landed directly on these, the spears of hardened poison tearing through his mostly-bare flesh and his weight only dragging him deeper onto the spikes. Scrivener winced as he was pinned... but above him, Patches was unable to fight, unable to move, unable to do more than weakly try and brace one leg against the ground and scream in agony from the crystal buried through his body.

He could feel the dragon's blood spilling down over his scales, over his body, could feel that crushing weight and smell the creature's scent; like rust, like sweat, like savagery. The Tyrant Wyrm bared his fangs as all those sensations mixed together and made his instincts writhe and tremble, made the animal inside him rise up before he buried one claw into the dragon's stomach and shoved the other against the mire beneath him.

Patches gasped, then arched his back with a howl of misery as the spikes of crystal began to twist as they grew larger, ripping further through the Ironjaw, shedding more of his blood as he felt poison rushing through his veins. His head snapped back and forth as black poison began to drip from his jaws and his eyes rolled in his head, and Runt gave a cry of disgust even as he ran forwards to try and yank the Ironjaw free-

Scrivener's jaws lashed up and bit through rusted metal and into the throat of the dragon before he ripped cruelly back when Runt yanked at the same time, trying to save the prisoner... and instead, helping the Tyrant Wyrm's teeth to rip out the Ironjaw's throat. The spikes of poison shattered as the heavy Ironjaw's body was yanked off the Tyrant Wyrm, and the crowd roared with mockery, with laughter, with anger as Runt was almost dragged beneath the much-larger Ironjaw, and Scrivener was freed from where he'd been trapped.

He grinned, his eyes backed by a faint blue light, covered in dragon's blood he felt working its way into his pores. He could taste the Ironjaw blood in his jaws, mixed with his own poisons, and Patches' corpse was trembling on the ground as the crystalline spikes of mire began to dissolve into poison that would further flavor and concentrate inside the corpse...

Scrivener's eyes roved with animal hunger towards this, licking his teeth slowly as he lumbered forwards... and Runt whimpered and tried to drag himself backwards. Unfortunately, he dragged himself right on top of the half-frozen corpse of the Hellhound, tripping over it and landing heavily on the creature's remains, and the Hellhound shattered with a sound like breaking glass.

It was more than enough to get Scrivener's attention, the Tyrant Wyrm's cruel grin stretching wider as his eyes locked on what part of his mind told him was the enemy, and the baser, primal mind beneath told him could be a delicious meal. And both parts wanted Runt dead.

Runt looked towards Scarface... just in time to watch as the Ironjaw was flung backwards by Luna before the sapphire mare tackled the dragon and stabbed her horn through his throat, then ripped fiercely to the side. The Ironjaw gargled, blood spurting out over the sapphire dragon as his eye bulged in horror before her teeth sank into his sliced-open neck, then her jaws twisted... and it was over. Two Ironjaw prisoners lay dead, and their killers were dripping with blood and barely wounded as Luna breathed hungrily in and out, eyes glowing out of her bloodsoaked features as she whispered: "And what a pathetic little lizard thou art... crying already?"

Runt scampered backwards as the crowd shouted and roared, egging them on, watching as the two transformed ponies strode slowly forwards as Runt shook his head weakly, whimpering: "D-Don't hurt me... don't hurt me... please don't hurt me, I'll... I'll do anything."

Luna growled, then leapt suddenly forwards, and Runt tried to turn to run. But the sapphire dragon was on top of him in moments, seizing his hindquarters and yanking him around in a circle to fling him in Scrivener's direction. The Ironjaw crashed down on his front and skidded over the frost, then looked up before whimpering when the Tyrant Wyrm's claws seized into his throat, crushing in the rusted scales before he leaned down and breathed slowly over Runt's face.

Runt stared back up with terrified eyes, and Scrivener's jaws opened slowly... before he frowned as he felt a tremble run through his mind. He and Luna both halted, looking up in the direction of the balcony... and while Stiúir was only watching intently, Twilight Sparkle was trembling, giving the faintest, smallest shake of her head.

Slowly, Scrivener and Luna looked back at Runt: at how he was crying, broken, defeated, and... past the scars and the torture it looked like he had suffered, they saw that he was just a kid. A stupid kid, with tears streaming down his cheeks and blood running from were Scrivener's claws had sunk into his neck, as he stared up at them pleadingly, whimpering piteously.

The Tyrant Wyrm closed his eyes as he felt the glow fading from them... and then he flung Runt to the ground before looking up and asking clearly, as a strange hush fell over the audience: "What was his crime?"

"He is not Ironjaw. You can see it for yourself: he's a coward, weak. He is not of our proud race, and not welcome to be part of our proud clan." Stiúir replied calmly, and then he pointed down at Runt. "And his only redemption will come with dying an honorable death! So stand and fight, Airid! Aye, they are stronger than you can hope to be, they are true dragons, but you can at least die on your claws instead of your knees!"

Runt... Airid... only covered his head, shaking it violently as he huddled up, and Luna grimaced at this before she strode forwards and shove the Ironjaw over. He curled up, whimpering, staring at her with terror, but then the sapphire mare looked up and said coldly: "We do not kill in cold blood. Send other prisoners against us if thou must have us play the role of executioner... but this is only a fool. A weak, stupid fool. In our world, 'tis no crime to be a fool, or a coward... 'tis only a failing. We do not jail fools, nor kill cowards, as tempting as it is sometimes."

"Isenertos must be kept strong. This is Helheim: weakness is not just a failing, it is a crime. All weakness will be stomped out." Stiúir replied, but his voice wasn't sharp or angry, only continuing to remain calm, as if he was simply trying to explain how their world worked. And somehow, that made it all the harder to listen to, as Scrivener closed his eyes and shook his head briefly, and Luna looked coldly up.

Then she turned her eyes down to Airid, and she studied him as he looked up with a tremble before the sapphire mare turned her eyes upwards and said coldly: "Then kill him thyself. I will not interfere with the ways of thy Clan, and I will not plead for his life. But nor will I chill my hooves with his cold blood. We are not thy executioners!"

There were roars at this, and shouts of disbelief and denial, but Luna and Scrivener only looked up calmly as Stiúir gazed back down thoughtfully. Airid trembled on the ground, looking weakly up before Scrivener Blooms muttered: "I really hope we don't have to fight our way through here, Luna. I shouldn't have to point this out, but those two idiots were... well, idiots, and weak. They must have spent years in captivity."

"The Ironjaw won't kill their own... prisoners are drained of strength and tortured for hundreds of years, then sent out into the wilds to die... or killed here, in the arena. They give us... potions, to enhance our strength, to make us feel like we have a chance... but..." Airid trembled, slowly looking up. "I just don't want to die..."

"Oh, be miserable somewhere else." Luna grumbled, and then she turned her eyes upwards uneasily, growling and shifting slowly on her claws. They could hear the elders talking to the Chieftain, and Twilight making her own pleas for them, and the sapphire dragon grumbled under her breath before she muttered: "What a wonderfully twisted little society. 'Tis little wonder Terra is so strange herself."

Scrivener only grunted at this, not quite knowing what else he could say, but then their eyes were quickly drawn upwards as Stiúir rose both claws and said clearly: "Enough!"

The arena went silent, the Ironjaw all leaning forwards, and slowly, Stiúir reached down to rest his claws on the edge of the balcony, studying the two below intently. Then he gave the briefest nod to them before he said quietly: "We do not see much in the way of mercy here... it is an alien concept in Helheim, one that is not welcome in this place. So I will ask you one last time: do you relent? Or will you kill this prisoner?"

Luna and Scrivener both only looked steadily up, and then Stiúir nodded, saying calmly: "Very well. Then I suppose I have no choice, but-"

"It's my fault." Twilight interrupted quietly, and Stiúir frowned, turning: the audience rumbled uneasily as they saw their Chieftain turn away, unable to hear what was going on, but Luna and Scrivener still could... could feel Twilight's dedication, as the violet mare looked up with a small smile. "I suppose... I'm not a dragon inside after all. You know my soul is linked to them: they can hear my thoughts, feel my emotions. I pleaded with them to spare him, and... I think sometimes that I'm what makes Luna and Scrivy weak. They have... they have a hard time saying no to me. It's one of those flattering and worrying things, you know?"

She laughed awkwardly, then looked down and closed her eyes. "There were three prisoners. Luna killed one, Scrivener killed one... I demanded Airid be spared. So it's only fair that I fail the test, and they continue."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Stiúir nodded once before he turned and said clearly: "Brothers and sisters, my kin and family... the waters are murky, the metal blemished. Some of you I see declare them weak-" A roar from the crowd. "And some of you think them strong!" Another roar, and none of the trio could tell if it was louder or not. "So I propose we skip the games and move on to one final trial: we shall pit the strength of our Clan against the strength of these dragons that want to join Isenertos! Let us see if they can overcome a true Ironjaw warrior!"

There were roars, yells, shouts, and then a chanting began: a single name, that rose louder and louder through the air as Stiúir grinned slightly, then he straightened and pulled off his crown, looking back and forth. "Do you insist?"

Another roar, and Stiúir shook his head slowly, but he looked entertained all the same before he leapt suddenly forwards off the balcony, landing on the frosty earth below and raising himself calmly to full height. Airid squeaked and bolted across the battlefield as Luna grinned slightly and Scrivener cocked his head, before the Chieftain said kindly: "I hope you don't find us too barbaric, friends. We are an old people that live by old ways... even if I can appreciate your act of mercy, I also do not know if it's in the Clan's best interest, or your silly 'modern morality' getting in the way."

Luna only snorted and shook her head, saying wryly: "Oh believe me. 'Tis no great shock to me. Besides, 'tis all Scrivener's fault, really. Thou should blame him, not Twilight."

"Shut up, Luna." Scrivener looked moodily back and forth, noting the body of the dead Ironjaw that he could feel in his mind pulsing with corruption, while the other corpse was flayed open, laying brokenly on the frost as he said softly: "I get it. Animals and weakened prisoners, to make us cocky. Then you send a real Ironjaw warrior or two in. If we thought the Ironjaw were really that weak..."

"No, never more than one. And rarely a seasoned warrior. It's unfortunate that we're going to have to fight now, friends... there are much more to the Ironjaw that tooth and nail and metal." Stiúir said softly, and then he rose his head proudly and shouted to the arena: "I am Isenertos! I am the Clan! And now, let us see if they are worthy to join us!"

"We must fight to kill, Scrivy." Luna said calmly, and the Tyrant Wyrm nodded as Stiúir faced them with his same calm in his eyes and the slight smile on his features, all three combatants ignoring the fierce roars of the crowd as Airid did his best to simply hide in a corner.

Slowly, Stiúir set himself, his head lowering, stretching out his body as far as he could as he pushed himself low to the ground; Scrivener and Luna both anchored themselves in place, but the Tyrant Wyrm could feel his claws aching, and he knew he wouldn't be able to risk much in the way of combat. Luna only grinned at this, however, her eyes gleaming with the challenge ahead: the idea of fighting the Chieftain of the feared Ironjaw dragons one-on-one in melee thrilled her. And the handicap of having to remain in dragon form the whole time only added an extra spice to the challenge.

Then they both stared in surprise as Stiúir gritted his teeth and slowly rose his head, flexing... and his body growing, doubling, then tripling, then quadrupling in size as the audience roared with approval. Suddenly, they weren't looking at a metal dragon who was small in comparison to most of the species: they were looking at a metal dragon who was a behemoth even by draconic standards, as enormous metallic scales trembled and twisted themselves half-off his body like blades and barbs, his eyes glowing pits of power as smoke floated slowly up from his jaws.

Scrivener and Luna both stared blankly up at their immense opponent, and then Stiúir rose his front claws before slamming them down against the ground, and the frosty earth erupted into a freezing hell of icy spires and blades of frost. Both Tyrant Wyrm and dragon were flung into the air, but Luna managed to flap her wings and catch herself, launching herself higher with a curse as Scrivener Blooms crashed painfully down through a spire of ice before he managed to roll and catch himself on another thick pillar of frost, scrabbling quickly up it even as the ground shook violently and new chunks and blades of ice began to rip up out of the quaking earth.

Luna shot straight for Stiúir's face, and he leaned forwards and snapped at her with jaws that could probably bite her in half if he managed to catch her: Luna, however, halted herself quickly in midair and swung a claw out, putting all the momentum from her acceleration into the blow and slamming it in a downwards hook against Stiúir's nose.

The Ironjaw's head was knocked towards the ground as his eye bulged in surprise, losing his concentration on the magic he was channeling through the earth, but then shifting his weight forwards to try and slam his skull into Luna. The sapphire dragon shoved both forelegs out and did her best to deflect the attack, but she was still knocked zigzagging backwards before the giant dragon's jaws stretched open as he lunged up towards her-

Luna snapped her horn down with a wild grin on her face, shooting a blue fireball straight into his throat, and it erupted with enough power to not just knock his head back but fling Luna backwards as well. Scrivener cursed in pain as Stiúir choked and shook his head wildly, then he swept a claw up, lightning-fast, and attempted to bat her out of the air.

This time, he managed to catch the sapphire dragon before she could catch herself, and she hissed in agony as one of her wings was flayed almost in half and the others left deep rips over her body, sending her out of the air to bounce painfully over the spiky, uneven ground on her back. Stiúir began to lean down as a dark glow poured out of his jaws, but Luna flung herself backwards with the last bounce and landed smoothly on her claws, her horn glowing brightly as she snapped it upwards.

A translucent barrier formed in front of her just as Stiúir breathed out a ravaging blast of black flames, the fire deflected around the shield for the moment, but the barrier was already cracking and melting under the barrage, even as Luna cursed and poured more magic into the spell. Scrivener Blooms, meanwhile, looked back and forth in desperation before his eyes locked on the corpse of Patches, and he leapt over to this before ripping it free of the frosty earth by the hind legs and dragging it violently around in a circle, building up his momentum before he flung it with a roar at Stiúir.

The Ironjaw's eyes widened even as he reached up to bat the body aside, and Scrivener lashed out with his powers, his eyes flashing as he concentrated on the corruption inside the body-

He'd meant to turn the corpse into a giant wrecking ball, possibly with spikes. Instead, the body of the Ironjaw exploded in a massive blast of metal scale, boiling black poison, and shards of crystal that ripped through Stiúir's polished body like paper. The enormous dragon was sent crashing backwards from the blast as both Luna and Scrivener gaped, Stiúir bouncing bonelessly off the arena wall with enough force to crack the stone and make a magical barrier spark into being, and then he flopped limply forwards even as his size rapidly decreased.

He crashed down to the ground, once more his normal height, and the crowd went silent as Stiúir lay brokenly on the frosty earth. Scrivener and Luna traded looks before the sapphire mare shook herself briskly, silently studying the mirrored wounds over Scrivener's body... but his were only bleeding a little, which told her that even if the slashes on her own form looked nasty, she was pretty much intact.

Then, both ponies looked up as Stiúir shifted, before he picked himself slowly up and shook his head out, grimacing and glancing moodily up at his one whole horn. It had become cracked and damaged, and there were black veins of poison already pulsing through his veins as he shivered a little, badly scalded from the blast before a wry grin twisted over his face as he remarked: "And you call us the barbarians, Scrivener Blooms."

The stallion groaned and rolled his eyes, and a roar of approval rose up from the audience, the Ironjaw all leaning forwards eagerly as Luna laughed and set herself. Stiúir cracked his neck as he shook himself out a bit, and then he licked his lips slowly and looked down thoughtfully as he muttered: "Yes. I'm going to have to try and make this quick. This poison is trying to get... into my mind... it's making me..."

He frowned, then shivered as he reached up and grasped his skull for a moment before straightening quickly, eyes studying the two sharply before he muttered: "So one truly is the other. Let's see if that applies to death as well as life."

Stiúir dashed suddenly forwards, and Luna snapped her horn up, creating a wall of ice... but the Ironjaw simply barreled through it and crashed into Luna, knocking her rearing before he smashed several vicious claw swipes against her, then slammed her down on her back with a vicious double hammer, tackling her onto her back as his jaws lunged down-

Luna smashed his head to the side with her horn before he could hit her neck, and Scrivener rammed a shoulder into Stiúir's side before the Tyrant Wyrm leaned over the sapphire dragon, roaring furiously and unleashing a stream of both concentrated sound and toxic mist. Stiúir was driven back several steps before he roared in return, his own black-fire breath burning away the mist before both Wyrm and Ironjaw were driven back several steps, Stiúir's jaws smoldering and Scrivener spitting black blood to the side.

Luna leapt back to her claws, breathing hard, feeling her body trembling, the pain and the surprise both nearly enough to overwhelm her and drive her into reverting her polymorph. But she kept it under control as she studied Stiúir: he was a powerful warrior, fast and agile, matching the strengths of both herself and Scrivener with his own. But those black veins of corruption were spreading further through Stiúir's body, pulsing so powerfully they were sticking up through his metal scales and popping them loose in places, and much as Luna loathed it...

Her soulstone horn began to glow as Scrivener Blooms concentrated his own powers through her, and Stiúir frowned... then gargled, grasping at his throat before he snarled and leapt forwards. He did an impressive job of overriding the pain, despite the way he half-staggered, half-flung himself at them... but Luna's magic was enhancing the potency of the corruption, making it rush faster through his veins, turning the poison into something even more cruel and dangerous...

Stiúir threw himself at her, and Luna gracefully caught one of his front limbs in her own before half-turning, flipping him onto his back before she twisted viciously and ripped the limb out of its socket. Stiúir cursed in pain, then did his best to bite back a cry as Luna leapt backwards and snapped her horn out, a sapphire inferno bursting up over the Ironjaw's body... but more than hurting him, it distracted him. It made all his attention focus on her, and allowed Scrivener Blooms to slam a claw down on Stiúir's chest and focus all the pain in his own body straight into Stiúir's own.

Stiúir arched his back... and then he screamed in agony, his eyes glowing bright blue before he attempted to cover them, shaking his head in denial as he writhed on the ground. His disjointed limb flopped uselessly as Scrivener stepped quickly backwards... but there was no need for it, as Stiúir writhed back and forth as blue flames continued to burn around him and speckle his body, as black poison pumped through his veins, as his heart twisted with enough pain to stutter its beats, as his mind danced with phantoms and voices and terrible images.

The Chieftain of the Ironjaw covered his face and choked back sobs as Scrivener and Luna stood over him, then slowly rose their heads to look up at the silent audience around them. They both grimaced after a moment, wondering uneasily if they had gone too far... given too deeply in to the darkness, fought too desperately, too savagely...

And then, Stiúir reached a claw up and seized into Luna's shoulder, and the mare looked down in surprise at the Chieftain as he rasped for breath before whispering: "Go ahead. Finish the job."

"The job is finished, Stiúir. Thou cannot stand, thou cannot fight us. Thy body is broken, thy mind ravaged..." Luna closed her eyes, lowering her head and giving a faint smile. "For which both Scrivy and I feel we should perhaps apologize. With most creatures, his bittersweet poison empowers, but forces loyalty. It seems with someone as strong-willed as thou art, however, it has only caused... madness and pain."

Stiúir breathed hard in and out, and then, as Luna and Scrivener stared, the Ironjaw rolled over and slowly pushed himself up to all three limbs, and he gritted his teeth before saying harshly: "Now I am standing. Now, will you kill me?"

"As I have heard, Stiúir... Ironjaw do not kill other Ironjaw." Luna said calmly, straightening as Scrivener smiled despite himself, and the sapphire dragon rose her head proudly before she looked up and shouted: "Nay, Ironjaw do not slay their kin! And I am Ironjaw!"

Silence greeted this for a moment... and then Stiúir laughed after a moment, shaking his head slowly before he murmured: "You are strange, Luna Brynhild. And so are you, Scrivener Blooms... I'd call you monsters, but you give us this childish mercy. I'd call you idiots, but you argue with reason. I'd call you naïve... but I agree, that aye. You are Ironjaw. These are Ironjaw! These are worthy of the name of the Clan Isenertos, and any who disagree are more than welcome to come down into this arena and challenge them, and challenge all who would stand with them!"

There were rumbles through the crowd, which built little-by-little until the dragons were all roaring and shouting... and after a moment, Scrivener looked up in disbelief as he realized they were shouting their names. His, and Luna's... and Luna grinned widely before she turned her eyes to Stiúir and asked evenly: "And Twilight Sparkle, she is a dragon too, is she not?"

Stiúir shook his head slowly, shifting... and then he fell forwards, gasping in pain before grimacing when Luna half-caught him. The dragon resisted at first, and then he sighed and slumped a little when she grouchily shoved herself against him and forcefully propped him up before the Ironjaw turned an almost-apologetic look on Scrivener Blooms. "I had no idea of what you must go through with this lass every day, friend. Had I known, perhaps I would not have underestimated you in the first place."

"I get that a lot." Scrivener Blooms smiled and shrugged a bit, and Luna rolled her eyes as Stiúir laughed. And all around them, the audience roared, and Twilight Sparkle and Terra both sighed in relief before the Lich closed her eyes, hoping that now they could continue forwards on their journey into Underdark, to find Hel... and she already knew that no matter what happened there, she would convince the goddess to help save her daughter.

No matter what she had to give up, no matter what it took. They were going to stop Gymbr, cleanse Heaven... and save Innocence.

weakened prisoners

Chapter Twenty Six: Hel Beneath Hell

~BlackRoseRaven

Luna Brynhild stretched slowly out with a sigh of relief on the heated bed: she had shed her dragon polymorph, and Scrivener Blooms had returned to his own normal pony form. He was currently flopped out over on his own narrow bed, a small smile on his features as Twilight soothingly massaged along his back. "This is nice. It's nice to have nice things."

"Yeah." Twilight said softly, smiling despite herself: they were in a little one-room guest hut, resting up for the journey ahead. Stiúir was getting his own wounds tended to, and Terra was off with her grandfather: they still had a sort of guide, however, in the form of Airid.

The former prisoner was sitting in a corner, gobbling down fish and looking almost giddy: not that anyone could blame him, since apparently being freed from the Ironjaw version of prison was a very rare occurrence. Being let back into society, on the other hoof – even if apparently he was now essentially a servant to Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight – was almost unheard of, and it only took place when some rare feat was accomplished. In this case, it was because the Ironjaw Chieftain had been defeated by the 'dragons' who had wanted to spare Airid's life... even if Luna and Scrivener both knew that was mostly because of luck, and... overindulgence in their own darkness.

Scrivener cast aside those thoughts for now, sighing a little in relaxation. These beds emanated energy and warmth that was exceptionally welcome in the cold environment, they had blankets and food and potions to boost their strength, they had three hours ahead to finish healing and to polish up their armor a little. They could also use that time to wander the village, but... instead, they thought they were better off spending it here. This, after all, could be the last period of peace for a long while.

Twilight softened and looked down, quieting, and she licked her lips slowly before stepping away from Scrivener as he gazed up at her with a small smile. Luna looked up as well, then she shook her head and said softly: "Now come, my gorgeous mare. Thou agreed this was for the best, did thou not? Aye, 'tis... difficult in its own way, but let us try and be happy. Let us try and put faith in the fact that... we will save our daughter."

"I... I am trying, I am. I just..." Twilight looked down, then she shook her head slowly and murmured: "But thinking about Gymbr... putting his claws on her, doing things to her, and Innocence so... so vulnerable, so... it just makes me sick to think about. And she was so... the sense of magic emanating from her..."

"That is not what bothers thee. Well, not the magic." Luna sat up, then she smiled softly as she gestured gently at the Lich, who gladly strode over to the sapphire mare and slipped up onto the narrow bed beside her, letting Luna wrap a foreleg around her and pull her comfortingly close.

Twilight nodded silently against her, murmuring: "She used corruption. And Gymbr must have taught her... forbidden magic, dark magic, all the terrible things we've been trying to keep from her. Given her powers that I don't want to imagine... not because I think she... I..."

"Because of what they might do to her. Even now, even though there is the very real possibility she may turn against us, her own parents, and try to use such full power against us, thou worries for what it will do to her. Oh, thou art a strange one, Twilight Sparkle." Luna smiled a little, hugging the violet mare a little closer as she closed her eyes and dropped her muzzle silently across the Lich's head. "But I understand. I fear what we may have to do to our own daughter."

"We can't hurt her. No matter what. We can't..." Twilight stopped, then sighed and lowered her head, shaking it slowly and murmuring: "I... I'm sorry. I know that might not be an option. But... we can't kill her, I won't... kill her."

"Nay, we shan't. We shan't. We shall save her." Luna soothed quietly, and then she sighed softly and looked away, hesitating before glancing up as Scrivener sat up and nodded a little, and the sapphire mare murmured quietly to Twilight: "I hate to say this, but... perhaps... we should make Innocence our own offer of power. I do not like to say it but I... with all the love and loyalty she seemed to have to Gymbr... it seemed most of it was not to him, but his power..."

Twilight only shook her head vehemently at the idea, replying a little roughly: "Our little girl isn't like that, Luna. No matter what kind of darkness is inside us, no matter... what's wrong with her, what happens to her she... she's not... she's not a bad girl. She's not like that, giving her... giving herself to the strongest people in the room..."

Luna and Scrivener traded faint smiles, then they both lowered their heads and closed their eyes, neither quite daring to speak. There was only an awkward quiet for a few moments, and then Twilight Sparkle shivered once as she murmured: "Besides, I won't... lie to her or bribe her, either. I want to save her. I want to honestly save her."

"Then we will. That is what we shall do." Luna promised quietly, and there was silence for a little while before Scrivener Blooms sighed and slipped out of his own bed to stride over and join the two mares. He sat on Twilight's other side, and she shifted to rest against him, hugging him tightly around the neck as Luna rubbed a hoof soothingly up and down her back, gazing silently down at the violet mare.

Luna and Scrivener looked up, meeting one another's eyes, sharing all their thoughts, their worries, and... below that, the dangerous, darkest secrets that they held inside their hearts, that even Twilight hated to hear... no, that wasn't entirely true, because they were in her heart, too. She hated that she felt herself considering them as much as Luna and Scrivener seemed to: things like a secret hope that Innocence truly was mastering herself and all these powers. A dark, awful pride in the thought that Gymbr had apparently hoof-picked their daughter, was able to teach her so much, that she was already so strong. And maybe worst of all, a strange relief that their daughter wasn't so different from them after all... but maybe that meant that even if she had become so soaked in darkness already, there really was a chance to save her. To bring her back into the light.

They rested together like that for a little while, before Luna looked up with a wry smile as Airid awkwardly approached with a plate of seasoned fish from the buffet counter that ran along one side of the hut. He smiled lamely at them, then he cleared his throat and offered it, Twilight looking up as the dragon mumbled: "If you can save a coward like me from certain death, then... I believe that you can save anyone."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Twilight smiled a little and nodded slowly, before she shifted to reach out and take the plate. Airid sat across from them as the three ponies each took a piece of grilled fish, and Scrivener Blooms couldn't help but look up and ask curiously as the others ate: "So is it normal around here to have... multiple partners or something? I mean, no one really seemed to think it was weird that we're weird. Which is weird."

"The poet flaunts his way with words." Luna said ironically, and Scrivener gave her a sour look before the sapphire mare nodded agreeably as Scrivener tossed his own food into his mouth. "'Tis true, though. Just as they do not seem to find it strange we are ponies, not dragons."

Airid smiled at this, replying maybe a little too eagerly: "Well, it's not strange in our society, at least... across Helheim, really, there's... everything you can imagine. Your kind of relationship is very normal here... and as you saw with the Chieftain, lots of us can change our shape to some extent."

Luna nodded, looking almost disappointed with the idea of being 'normal' before Twilight asked gently: "Are you okay? It sounds like you went through a lot being kept prisoner at the coliseum, after all... and your scars, well... I don't want to press you..."

"No, it's fine." Airid shook his head and smiled a little, looking a bit embarrassed even as he continued quietly: "I was a coward. I was born here, trained here alongside my brothers and sisters, but... I was a coward. On my first hunting mission, I failed miserably, I... I couldn't bring myself to attack the demons we were hunting. I was scared. And so when we came back and it was reported to the elders, I was put in chains, thrown in the coliseum, and Marked."

He silently touched the acid burns, shaking his head a little. "The Mark is put on all of... us. Prisoners, traitors. The moment you are marked, you are no longer Ironjaw, you no longer have rights, or are even thought of as anything but... dead, even while still on your claws."

The Ironjaw lowered his head a little, then he cleared his throat and gazed up with a smile. "That's why I've been so excited to be back here. To be able to walk among my people again... and call them my people, feel like I'm part of the Clan again, even if... I'm at your mercy, of course."

He bowed his head shyly, and Twilight tilted her head curiously... but before she could ask anything, Luna grinned eagerly and leaned forwards, saying with a little too much excitement in her voice: "So thou must do anything, absolutely anything we must ask, like a life debt?"

"Aye, very much like that." Airid answered, then he blushed and lowered his head, glancing embarrassedly over his shoulder at the ravaged food table. "Although I seem to have done an awful job of remembering that so far, and again only thinking of myself. Cowardice, they say, is a sin that takes a hundred forms at once, all stemming from one weakness in your heart."

"What a strange truth. And it seems thou like to phrase things in the way of poets thyselves." Luna said wryly, and then she shook her head slowly before stroking a hoof gently down Twilight Sparkle's spine, looking thoughtfully at Airid. "So clearly, thou art no fighter, no warrior, and I suspect thou art likely terrified of most things and rather weak after thy long stay at the coliseum."

Airid looked less than pleased at this, frowning a bit at Luna, but she only glowered pointedly back after a moment, making him wince and shrink his head back, mumbling: "I guess it's all true but... I am Ironjaw all the same. Again. And I'm very proud of my heritage."

"Aye, and I am proud to be a Valkyrie, and of who I was in that role. But thou does not see me strutting around on my hind legs, attempting to wear gloves or showing off my breasts." Luna paused, then reached down to grope herself thoughtfully as both Scrivener and Twilight looked at her sourly. "'Tis both nice and a source of great despair they are no longer worn like emblem of honor upon my chest. For they did get in the way. They were very voluminous and large, I shall have thee know."

"Yeah, I'm sure they were. Just like they really stand out now. They're like hills. Mountains, even." Scrivener said dryly, and Luna slowly turned a glare towards him before the stallion awkwardly shifted Twilight Sparkle in front of him like a shield. "There's not a hint of sarcasm in my voice."

"Even that was sarcastic!" Luna complained, trying to swat him past Twilight, but the stallion only ducked awkwardly behind her as the Lich sighed tiredly. "I never insult thy pride, Scrivy, and I damned well could if I wanted to. Do not insult mine, beetle!"

Scrivener Blooms only grunted as the Ironjaw looked lamely at the three, then he held up a claw and said finally: "I don't want to be a Valkyrie, though. I want to be the Ironjaw I was. And I've been accepted into the Clan so-"

Luna only huffed at this, turning and gesturing at him pointedly. "For one, Airid, the Ironjaw thou was ended up a coward in the coliseum. For another, look at thee: thou cannot go back to being that Ironjaw anyway. Thou carries scars, has seen too much, and most of all now are indebted to us, and thou should know by now our plans: to first go and find Hel, and then to return to our own world for a short day or two before we attack Heaven itself."

"But... you'll be returning here, right? This is the home of the Ironjaw. This is your home now, you're part of Isenertos, and the reason most dragons join our clan is simply so they can live here. Live among us. Grow stronger among our kind." Airid said almost desperately, and the three ponies all traded small smiles and shook their heads almost as one.

Airid slumped a bit at this, staring dejectedly as Twilight Sparkle said quietly: "This isn't our home. Our home is Looking Glass World... that's where we belong, with our friends and family. We didn't come here just to join Isenertos, Airid: we came here to open a path to Hel."

The Ironjaw sighed a little, then he grimaced a bit as he mumbled: "Well... honor dictates I must follow you, no matter where you go, unless... well..."

"Oh, do not fear. I had no intention of bringing thee with us when we go to see Hel." Luna said dryly, and Airid looked both embarrassed and relieved as he nodded a few times, before the sapphire mare huffed. "Thou truly are a great coward, however. Look at thee! Giant dragon of metal and part of a warrior clan, and thou seems scared of thine own shadow. Perhaps I would have done thee a favor had I chopped off thy foolish head."

Airid mumbled and dropped his own head at this, and Twilight nudged Luna gently, giving her a gentle look. The sapphire mare sighed tiredly after a moment, and then she nodded grudgingly before saying finally: "Perhaps thou can at least handle a simple favor, though. Our energy has mostly returned thanks to whatever strange elixirs thy healers have brewed for us, but we must be at full strength for what is ahead. Please fetch whatever healing aids thou can for us from thy... I do not know what metal dragons have for healers. Alchemists? Blacksmith-drinkers? Polish makers?"

"Druids." Airid said mildly, looking perhaps the slightest bit cranky, and Luna grinned a little at this before the Ironjaw turned an uneasy look to the door. "And well, I do not know how well they'll take that... all things must be earned, and... I've only just returned to-"

"Well, then tell them if they have a problem with my question, they are free to come to me and ask to judge my worth. And then I shall teach them with my hooves." Luna said mildly, raising a hoof and shaking it firmly, and Airid nodded awkwardly before he turned and scurried for the door. The sapphire mare watched him leave, then she turned her eyes to Scrivener, leaning towards the stallion and grinning widely as she half-lidded her eyes. "Now, lay thy own hooves upon me, Scrivy, and remind thyself of thy beloved's curves."

Scrivener looked at Luna for a moment, then he reached up a claw and covered her face with it, and Luna scowled through his digits before he said mildly: "Your skull is just huge."

When Airid trundled back into the little hut, he found Scrivener Blooms now sprawled out over the floor and Luna sitting on top of Twilight Sparkle, who looked cranky even as the sapphire mare vigorously massaged the Lich's back. The dragon stared blankly at the three before Luna looked up and brightened, saying cheerfully: "Most excellent! See? It never hurts to ask, Airid, thou must always keep that in mind. It never hurts to ask, so long as thou does not expect agreement."

The Ironjaw awkwardly approached with the belt of potions, and Luna's soulstone horn glowed, lifting it quickly free with telekinesis from his jaws and floating it over to her as she nodded in approval. There were six jars, each filled with a burgundy-colored liquid and the black rubber caps each marked with a bright yellow rune: the Ironjaw were more fastidious than she had really given them credit for.

She dropped the belt from her mental grip, and Twilight easily caught it in her hooves, grimacing a little at the feel of it: it was some kind of rawhide. She had noticed that most things around here were made out of either stone or what had once been living, likely-intelligent creatures, and whether she was a Lich or not it still freaked her out just the slightest amount to think that even these beds were likely made out of what had formerly been social demons as well, if not civilized.

But all the same, the Lich slid out from beneath Luna and strapped the belt on, making a bit of a face even as the sapphire mare nodded firmly. Airid looked at them curiously, but Luna only shrugged and said easily: "Well, I have changed my mind. I think instead we shall hold onto these potions and use them at a later time, instead of wasting them now. We are very nearly recovered, after all."

"So... you just made me lie to the druids and steal potions for you." Airid said slowly, and Luna simply nodded positively a few times before the Ironjaw whimpered, looking at her pleadingly. "You can't do things like that here! You'll get us all thrown into the coliseum to be tortured!"

"So thy kind will torture and mutilate each other, march prisoners into Helheim's wilds to leave them to be feasted upon or turned into thralls or slaves or worse, but thou will not kill each other? 'Tis such a strange culture thou has." Luna remarked mildly, then she shook her head and looked thoughtfully up at the ceiling. "'Tis funny. I do not think even in Asgard we were so ill. But marriages were oft a running joke there... I shall have thee know, 'twas the gods who did not cheat upon their spouses who were considered strange."

She paused, then looked down at Scrivener Blooms, dropping onto her stomach to poke at him with one hoof. "Thou would have been very strange indeed. But I would have it no other way, poet. Thou art not allowed to sleep with those I have not decreed worthy."

"If I was cheating on you, it wouldn't be by running around and sleeping with strangers. It would be by having nice candlelit dinners and cuddling and worst of all, talking and trying to form an emotional, real bond with someone. Someone who doesn't feel the need to beat on me daily." Scrivener said mildly, gesturing pointedly with his hooves, and Luna huffed and reached down to slap him, making the stallion wince a little. "Goddammit. This is what I'm talking about."

"Oh shut up, great idiot, thou likes it." Luna huffed, and then she poked his nose several times before resting her hoof against his face as she looked up thoughtfully at Airid. "If I order thee to kiss my husband like a sloppy drunken harlot, will thou do so?"

Airid slowly reared his head back, staring with horrified eyes at Luna, and then he awkwardly scampered around in a circle and half-rammed his way through the door. The sapphire mare huffed at this, then she looked mildly down at Scrivener, saying dryly: "He is a greater coward than thou art, Scrivener Blooms."

"I dunno about that. I still remember my reaction when you first wanted to drag a stallion into bed with us." Scrivener said wryly, lacing his claws together across his breast before he grimaced a little: not at the memory so much as at the pain in his claws. These days, he could look back and smile at most of the crazy things Luna had made him do... mostly because he'd come to realize they were all incredibly tame compared to the crap they got up to these days. "We're sick."

"Yeah. But I wouldn't have you two any other way. Bad role models or not." Twilight said softly, smiling a little and shaking her head slowly, and Luna and Scrivener both smiled at the violet mare, looking back at her and silently thinking the same.

---

Stiúir and Terra arrived some two hours after the three ponies settled into quiet talking, reminiscing about all the ways they had changed and helped each other to grow, and all the stupid things they had done together over the years. The Chieftain let himself and his granddaughter in quietly and waited for Luna to finish her silly story, one they all knew but one that never failed to make both Scrivener and Twilight laugh and grin despite themselves, hating the way the sapphire mare could always make them enjoy even the worst of humiliating stories.

Terra looked a little... prouder than usual, Scrivener thought was the best way to put it. She had her chest puffed out and her head held high, and Stiúir himself was smiling with interest at the ponies as they all turned towards him and the sapphire mare asked curiously: "So art thou ready to lead us onwards, down into Hel's domain?"

"Nay, I won't be coming with you... that's my Terra's job." Stiúir smiled over at his granddaughter, who nodded firmly and bowed her head respectfully. "But she has told me a little more about your aims and goals: I must warn you, though. Even if word has spread to the other Ironjaw, and even if they can keep the Destroyers and the other Helherlið at bay, some of her guard will still attempt to fight you. And there is little chance of avoiding Theodore."

Luna nodded calmly, replying with a slight smile: "Destroyers respect those who have power. They follow a leader, but their loyalty can be swayed if one can prove their strength is the greater, their rule the better. We do not plan to play a game of hide and seek with Teddy: we shall engage him as quickly as possible, and bring him down. It should make the journey into Underdark that much easier."

"Easier, lass, would be not dealing with Teddy at all." Stiúir paused, then he shook his head slowly, saying softly: "But aye. Terra picked well with you three. Even if you're foolish, even if you do not shirk at using such things we Ironjaw would shun, I find that I admire you all the same, and still feel I should be glad you've chosen to make yourselves part of Isenertos. These doors will always be open to you, friends."

The sapphire mare nodded firmly, and there was silence for a few moments before the dragon chuckled and straightened. "Well, I just wanted to wish you luck before you left, and tell you that word has been passed down to Underdark about the new members of Clan Isenertos. The Ironjaw will not attack you unless you give them reason to..."

Stiúir paused, then he licked his lips slowly as he studied them with a small smile. "I never thought I would see this day though, when someone finally came who would dare to threaten Hel in her own home, our savior and our devil. When we could finally see the trickster tricked... and by three dragons in the shape of ponies, no less!"

"Aye, but we are very fierce. And before I am either pony or dragon, I am Valkyrie, Stiúir." Luna grinned, nodding firmly once to the Ironjaw Chieftain. "And that alone should be reason enough to give Hel pause and make her fear."

Scrivener Blooms smiled despite himself, and Twilight Sparkle glanced up, adding softly: "We couldn't do this without all your help though... so... thank you, Stiúir, for letting us be part of your clan and helping us with this. I know it must be a narrow, difficult path to walk, to balance out all your loyalties like you are."

Stiúir only shrugged, then he smiled over at Terra and said softly: "Family first. For all Hel has given us, for all our loyalty to her and how we pray, we also never forget to treat her gifts with caution, and think twice about her orders. Hel is said to have stolen us from our first masters, after all, and Hel is said to have remade us from what we have once been. I am proud to be Ironjaw, but sometimes I still wonder, Luna Brynhild... has she not made us worse than we once were?"

Luna nodded slowly at this, and then the sapphire mare turned a soft look towards Scrivener Blooms and Twilight Sparkle, murmuring: "Aye, we understand that well, do we not? But do not fear, Stiúir: no matter what thou wert meant to be, thou has led to Ironjaw to being strong and supreme a culture. Perhaps there could be some adjustments, aye... but that is surely Scrivy talking anyway and not me, and so perhaps thou art perfect the way thou art."

Scrivener Blooms gave a tired sigh as Luna grinned over at him and Twilight Sparkle smiled behind a hoof, and there was silence for a few moments before Stiúir simply nodded to them. He seemed oddly quiet for a second, but then the Chieftain smiled and questioned: "If you don't plan to bring Airid with you... would you mind if I took him off your claws for a little while?"

"We do not have... well, no, nevermind, Scrivy does. Aye, thou may. Just do not torture or maim him, Stiúir, I am very protective of my property. Even when my property is scared of its own shadow." Luna said mildly, and Stiúir chuckled and nodded.

"Good. Then I shall await your return, and I do hope that it is alive and well instead of in pieces." Stiúir replied easily, and Luna grinned as the Chieftain nodded politely before he turned to calmly let himself out.

Terra smiled over her shoulder as the Ironjaw left, then she stomped a claw and looked back towards the others, saying firmly: "Off your haunches, now, lazy bums. We'd best get up and get moving to the tunnel to Underdark. The journey is not a long one, nor usually dangerous... but who knows what Hel may have placed in our path? She has much more than simply demons at her beck and call, do not ever forget that."

"We have not, we have not, great irritating lizard. Do not make me pummel thee." Luna grumbled, and then she hopped off the narrow bed and headed towards her piled-up armor, becoming a little more serious as she added: "I will ask thee not to interfere in our battles, Terra. I appreciate thou serving as guide, bringing us into Underdark... but from there, thou should wait outside. Even if thou wert once part of Hel's personal guard, I do not imagine she will treat thee kindly if she catches thou pummeling her soldiers beside us."

"Very well, Luna Brynhild. I would argue, but... I suppose I understand that this test is for you three alone, and this is all part of Hel's game." Terra said evenly, and Scrivener and Twilight both nodded slowly as Luna only grunted. "All the same, I won't hesitate to offer my help for as long as you'll let me accompany you."

"Aye, I know. And 'tis appreciated, as Clan sister." Luna smiled slightly over her shoulder, and Terra smiled back, bowing her head politely to the sapphire mare.

Within ten minutes, the three ponies had once more donned their full armor and equipment, Luna double-checking her weapons before tucking Prúðbikkja away in her mane and holstering Sting Mk. II on her back with a grunt.

Scrivener had the equipment satchel, as usual, and Twilight had split the belt of potions in half and strapped thee two pieces to either side of her. The three were as ready as they were going to be, and the Lich was growing particularly anxious again to get under way: it was killing her, imagining how every second that passed could be days in Heaven. Days were Innocence was growing stronger, and darker, and Gymbr was doing things to her that...

Luna reached up and squeezed her shoulder gently, and Twilight blushed a little as she rose her head and gave an awkward smile. Then the three ponies turned their attention towards Terra, and the Ironjaw studied them for a moment before grunting and nodding, saying softly: "We're going to make a deal now, before I help you see this through, lass. I understand this is Hel's test to you, just as I understand now how strong you three are, and that you stand a rare chance at beating the goddess at her own game. If and when you do, though... you will allow me to come with you when you find your way into Heaven. And you will allow me to fight Gymbr alongside you. He's done us both terrible wrongs that have to be righted by spilling his blood."

"I suppose... I am in no position to deny thee, Terra, even if I fear for thee." Luna said quietly, looking up at the Ironjaw dragon evenly, and then she nodded slowly once. "Very well. I agree to thy terms. We shall stand side-by-side against Gymbr... assuming thou can keep up."

Terra grinned wryly at this, shaking her head slowly, but to the surprise of the ponies she managed to resist responding as she turned and said calmly: "Then let's be off for now. The sooner we get you to Underdark, the sooner we can be taking back Heaven and I can avenge Kvasir."

Luna and Scrivener both nodded as Twilight gave a hesitant smile, and Terra turned to lead them out. They strode past Airid, who winced and hurriedly fell into step with them, but Terra only huffed and snorted smoke in his direction, saying acidly: "Get gone, you little newt."

"Oh, try and be kind, Terra, even Morning Glory is more pleasant than thou art to those weaker than her. Which includes thyself, if I remember correctly." Luna said pointedly, and Terra fixed a sour glare on the mare before the sapphire winged unicorn turned her eyes and a smile towards Airid. "And thou. Stiúir has asked for thy presence while we are gone. Try and make a good impression on the Chieftain, won't thou?"

"I will do my best, most definitely!" the Ironjaw said brightly, raising his head and nodding rapidly a few times, and Luna smiled after a moment before the smaller metal dragon turned to scamper hurriedly away down the street, getting a few mild looks from other Ironjaw... but Luna was glad to note it seemed like there were very few treating him with outright hostility.

Terra sighed and shook her head, and then she almost scolded: "Giving scraps to strays might seem like a kindness, but all it does is invite more lost little babes to come and beg food from your table. Many of whom would bite you as soon as look at you."

Scrivener Blooms shrugged at this, saying mildly: "You could always just be fattening them up to kill them and eat them." Twilight stared at him, and the stallion huffed at her. "What? We were all thinking it, I just said it."

"Twisted, terrible poet." Luna smiled amusedly after a moment, shaking her head before she looked ahead and added: "And I do not fear being used, Terra. Sometimes... thou must simply have a little faith. Besides, I like to think... the days of being used are over."

Terra shrugged a little at this, the Ironjaw studying them thoughtfully as they walked along the frosty streets together before she finally said softly: "Well, for your sakes, I hope you're right. I just don't think any good will come of helping Airid."

"I don't expect it to, either. But nor do I expect it to result in great catastrophe. Why do I need to be given a reason to help someone? Why must it benefit me first? Why must I expect something in return, and 'tis stupidity or weakness when I do not? That is a very Celestia way of thinking." Luna said mildly, and when Scrivener and Twilight both gave her an amused look, the sapphire mare huffed. "Oh shut up. Celestia still thinks so logically. I do not. I think emotionalogically."

"You think best." Scrivener said kindly, and Luna nodded firmly several times before he turned his eyes ahead and added softly: "You can't live your life in fear. Even when it seems stupid, you can't just... walk around everywhere, being afraid of every little thing that could happen."

"Sometimes, bad things lead to the very best things." Twilight said softly before she could stop herself, and both Luna and Scrivener looked at her with surprise, but the violet mare only smiled a little and shook her head embarrassedly. "Sorry. Just... slipped out."

The ponies only smiled, however, and Terra shrugged a bit. They walked on in silence for a little while, and then the Ironjaw said softly: "Anyway, friends. The entrance to Underdark is in the very center of Cairnmór. The Clan guards it zealously, and only Ironjaw can enter it... nay, not honorary Ironjaw like yourselves, but those born and bred. Our blood is the key."

Luna nodded, and they were quiet the rest of the way through the city: somehow, Scrivener was unsurprised by the almost-solemn air that fell over them, or by the dozens of draconic demons that had gathered around the large square they entered into.

At the center of this was a massive, gorgeous statue of Hel made from ice and gemstones, small streams of water arcing unnaturally through the air around this in a beautiful, graceful fountain. Large gemstones twinkled and glimmered, orbiting the statue slowly, many of them glowing with trapped light as well as the magic that kept them afloat... although something about them seemed to be warning as well as decorative, like their beauty was just a distraction from their real purpose.

The statue itself stood on a base inset into an enormous basin, which was raised just slightly off the frosty ground by several squat pillars. There were several openings cut into the ground around this, with curling staircases leading below the basin, and the statue was watched over by Ironjaw in gorgeous crystalline armor and armed with quivers of javelins.

Luna whistled a little as her eyes drew over these sights, and Terra nodded, saying calmly: "Hel watches and rules over us all, Valkyrie. She is always present, always there to guide us... but also always the greatest obstacle in our path. 'Tis only fitting she stands watch herself over the Underdark."

The sapphire mare grunted in agreement, then she shook her head briefly before saying softly: "And what of these Ironjaw, then? Do they truly guard the pass into the tunnel... or do they guard the doorway into Cairnmór?"

Terra only smiled amusedly at this as they approached one of the stairways leading down, and the guards on either side bowed their heads respectfully, Twilight looking back and forth apprehensively and Scrivener trying only to keep his eyes forwards. There wasn't a whole lot to see, though: a short flight of stairs down, and then they came to a massive iron door, fortified by heavy bands of metal going across it and a spiderweb of steel cables.

The Ironjaw dragon gestured for the ponies to wait a moment, and the trio halted as Terra walked forwards and stepped into a circle carved into the floor in front of the doors. She gazed up steadily over the closed gates, then rose a claw and shouted: "I am Terra of Clan Isenertos, and I am Ironjaw! I demand entrance to the Underdark, so that clan siblings may seek council with Mistress Hel, and it is in their name that I present the key, and pay your fare!"

The doors rumbled... and then the steel cables writhed like they were alive before suddenly snapping free from the door, curling themselves into the floors and walls as the bands of metal popped loose and slung themselves to the side with savage force, rattling the walls as they collided with them. Then the heavy iron doors themselves shuddered before slowly rumbling open, revealing a long passage beyond lit by blue torches.

Terra trembled, then dropped her head forwards... and it was only then Luna realized the ring she was standing it had filled with crimson. Terra's blood, drained from her body without leaving a mark and now slowly boiling away, and the Ironjaw rasped: "Go. The gates will only stay open until the blood is gone."

Luna nodded shortly, and then she hurried forwards, Scrivener and Twilight following after and both looking at Terra with gratitude as they passed. The Ironjaw smiled tiredly after them, then she rose her head and called: "It's a straight shot to the Underdark from here, friends... there's no need for me to go further. Watch out for each other, and I will be waiting for you to return to us."

Luna nodded quickly, then turned her eyes forwards and began to run down the passage, and Scrivener and Twilight both turned to follow even as the Lich tossed a hurried 'thank you' over her shoulder to the Ironjaw dragon. She saw the beginning of a nod, she thought, but then the doors slammed closed, and they were left in the darkness of the narrow, high-ceilinged passage, surrounded by nothing but stone and dark blue light from the flickering torches.

The three ponies rushed ahead, keeping their eyes forwards, even though there was nothing in sight but more darkness, more stone, more faint blue light from flickering ethereal flames. But Luna could feel the air changing around them, and Twilight shivered from it: there was a magic in the air that her body greedily attempted to pull into itself, that made her horn spark faintly and her eyes take on an eldritch glow as Luna's own soulstone horn thrummed with energy.

Scrivener could feel it too... but to him it felt almost hostile, making the corruption in his veins boil and his muscles bulge, a strange, aggressive, almost angry feeling filling him up as he growled a little under his breath. It was like something instinctive, something programmed into him was rising up with a snarl, something that was nemesis to this sense of... of chaos and boundless energy...

Then Luna's sharp eyes narrowed, and she sent a mental signal to the other two ponies, both of whom nodded curtly as they turned their own attention ahead towards the strange, black hole Luna had pointed out. It looked like a terrible, toxic smoke that formed an almost-alive curtain in a narrow archway, and Luna gritted her teeth as they charged recklessly towards this despite the way it made her mind ache, her heart clench, the blood in her veins run cold-

She leapt forwards, Scrivener and Twilight right behind her, and all three ponies vanished into a whirl of darkness and pain before they were rudely ejected into thin air, crashing painfully down on top of each other. Scrivener Blooms groaned loudly, caught on the bottom as Twilight Sparkle blinked stupidly and Luna carefully pushed herself up, her eyes fluttering before she murmured: "Underdark."

They had arrived: they had landed on some kind of frosty, carved path through plains of ice and snow and brimstone, large, black rocks jutting like teeth towards a roof of black miasma high above. Luna shivered as she looked up at this, studying the violet lightning that twisted back and forth like serpents dancing through the clouds, and then she shook her head in slow disbelief as she realized there was a rain of sorts falling, too... except this was a rain of fire and meteors and charred bits and pieces of tormented souls that turned to ashes long before they hit the ground, sprinkling the plains around them with dirt and debris.

Luna checked over her shoulder... and she was unsurprised to see a heavy stone wall, with a massive circle of inactive magic runes carved over it. To either side was a pillar of crystal for channeling magical energies, but Luna had no doubt these wouldn't work unless Hel wanted them to... and Hel had them right where the goddess had always dreamed, so there was no way that they were going to be able to turn around and just leave.

Twilight was staring blankly at the sky, visions twisting through her mind... and then she looked down with a small squeak of surprise as a voice asked cheerfully: "How do you like it? Pretty damn snazzy, right? Well, okay, I could use a tree or two, but there's some around here somewhere..."

The trio of ponies set themselves, looking sharply at Hel... or rather, one of her ice puppets. It was grinning widely, rubbing its hands together as the bovine-headed goddess said eagerly: "Guys, guys, guys, I am... I'm thrilled to see how seriously you're taking this! Oh, okay, maybe a little teensy-tiny bit pissed off with what you just did with the Ironjaw, sure. Maybe I think you're overreacting slightly, and maybe I think-"

Luna leapt forwards and swung a hoof out, smashing apart the ice puppet's torso and sending the legs stumbling backwards as the whole of the upper body shattered, and the sapphire mare shouted as she landed: "We do not care what thou thinks! Of all the wretched times to play a wretched game, we need thy aid and Gymbr must be stopped!"

Hel's legs caught themselves, then calmly stomped some debris off themselves before ice and snow whirled up off the ground and rapidly reformed into the goddess, who sniffed disdainfully and crossed her arms. "See, what was I just saying? Overreacting. That's exactly what I was talking about, right there, overreacting. It's all perfectly fine."

Luna stared as Scrivener mouthed wordlessly at how dismissive the goddess was of Heaven being taken over and all-but-destroyed... but it was Twilight who spoke next, her voice trembling with fury as she glared up at the goddess: "Fine? Fine? My daughter is being treated and used like... like some kind of toy by that sick monster, and all of Heaven is being turned into a playground for his sick desires and... and countless souls could be at risk of being subjected to things I don't even want to imagine and you're telling me that-"

"It's fine." Hel interrupted and finished, looking down at Twilight Sparkle with an almost challenging smile. "Well, okay, maybe it's not fine right now for you guys personally, but... do you think I'd ever let any of this happen, and not have a backup plan? Oh, sure, I look out for myself first, but you guys are an investment of mine. Or rather... I'm interested in investing in you, if you can pass my little test here first."

Luna snarled and Twilight shook her head in disbelief as Scrivener only silently bared his fangs, but Hel snorted and shook her head fiercely, holding up her hands. "Hey, whoa, stop right there before you dumb little ponies embarrass yourselves any further. I mean... you guys are the one who just stomped right on into my home like this! Who are trying to steal my pet project, eons in the making, away from me, and who are basically screwing up this whole entire everything. So, you know. I should be the one saying 'screw you' here, not you guys."

Hel stopped, turned around, then looked up and gestured towards the distance, saying mildly: "Now, look out over there, sweeties. You see that giant black wall in the distance, and how there's that whole obscured area where your eyes just won't focus? Well, that's where I am. And there's no way in H-E-double-hockey-sticks you're going to get in there just because some lousy Ironjaw lost a fight to you. I've got armies and golems and rakes that I've put on the ground and hidden in the snow so you're going to step on them and they're going to spring up and hit you in the face and we're all going to laugh at you. Actually, I tried that before, and one of those moron demons that guards my place stepped on it and instead of being all, springy-uppy and hitting him in the nose it just tore right into his foot. Needed stitches. Probably should have used something less sharp."

Luna slowly closed her eyes and lowered her head as Scrivener stared in disbelief, and Twilight trembled with barely-contained anger, her stitches writhing over her body. "Don't you understand how many people are being hurt? How many lives are at risk? Gymbr might even be a threat to you!"

"Might makes right." Hel quipped, and the ice puppet turned with a smile, Hel tenting her fingers together as her eyes gleamed. "Not entirely connected to what you're saying. But not entirely disconnected either. Because as long as I'm mighty, I'm going to be righty: and what I have to say is that I'm a lot more important than a whole bunch of stupid mortals getting turned into lunchmeat, and I'm also more important than you and you and you. Even if I like you three. And most of all, do you know what I am? I'm safe."

Hel gestured again towards the massive, looming wall in the distance, giving a wry grin. "Do you really think Gymbr has the firepower to get through that? Do you really think that he can even make it here? Well, no, scratch that, I'm sure he could break down at least one of the entrances to Underdark, but you three are forgetting this is my dimension. What I want to happen, happens."

Hel snapped her fingers, and a moment later, a massive meteor of crystal crashed down between her and the ponies, knocking them staggering backwards. Luna opened her mouth to shout... then stared in horror at the crystalline prison, and the ponies trapped inside it, writhing silently, their bodies slowly charring away as Hel said softly: "The furnace is burnin' above our heads, roasting up fresh souls... and these souls are just infusing this whole dimension with more and more power, letting me change it, enhance it, do whatever I please here. You three seem to think you have a chance at getting to me. Do you know why you do? Because I'm giving you that chance. I've set the game to 'easy,' and left all the tutorials and crap on for you so you can figure out what to do as you go along. But if I wanted..."

The ice puppet flicked a hand in their direction, and chains and bindings of ice ripped out of the ground around the ponies, wrapping around them and snapping closed and dragging them down towards the ground as they all cursed, Luna snarling... and then looking up in shock as her soulstone horn simply refused to work, and Scrivener Blooms gargled as his skin began to turn to stone, while Twilight Sparkle felt herself beginning to rot. "I could go ahead and set the game to European Extreme. How do you like that, huh?"

Luna gritted her teeth, snarling up at Hel as her eyes blazed... and then, in a flash, they were just standing in front of the goddess, no fallen meteor filled with tormented souls in front of them, no restraints or chains holding them in place, nothing wrong with their bodies as the goddess smiled. "But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, huh? I should go pretend to be a good girl and wait for you, because I'm sure you can at least survive the walk there, right? I mean, hey, what could go wrong? It's only Hell beneath Hell that belongs to me, Hel."

The goddess laughed at her own pun, hugging herself before she simply vanished into thin air, and Luna growled in disgust as Twilight shook her head and murmured: "She... she really doesn't care about anyone other than herself."

"Perhaps not. But we shall teach her to care as soon as we reach her." Luna muttered, and then she shook her head briefly before stepping forwards and narrowing her eyes as she gazed at the enormous wall in the distance. "But now, I fear we must be careful. We will have neither the element of surprise, nor as much control over the situation as I had hoped: it seems Underdark truly does respond to Hel's every whim and desire..."

"So really, our survival depends on Hel's whims." Scrivener said moodily, and Twilight grimaced as Luna growled but nodded slowly in agreement. "Fantastic. This place is... I still feel... strange, though. Angry. Violent. Like something just... like I've got an itch I just can't scratch..."

He flexed his claws slowly against the snow, then winced a bit: even with the rings supporting them, they were starting to feel more and more sensitive. Luna, however, was frowning at him worriedly for a different reason, but the stallion shook his head briefly and murmured: "No, it's okay. I'm not going to lose control or anything. I just... I don't know what to make of it. You two don't seem to be... well, angry, in the same way."

"But I am angry. I think I... hate her." Twilight murmured, looking off into the distance before the violet mare quickly shook her head, feeling strangely uncertain about her own emotions. Because if that wasn't hatred... "We... we had better get moving. I really don't like the way things are going right now. We... I want to..."

She broke off, but both Scrivener and Luna nodded slowly in understanding. They both gazed at the Lich, feeling her emotions and sharing their own thoughts with her, and Twilight slowly closed her eyes as she calmed little-by-little at the mental and emotional contact. But after a few moments, she forced herself to open her eyes again and shake off the reassuring presence of her partners instead of basking in it, making herself look ahead and say firmly: "We need to go."

Luna and Scrivener studied her, the way the violet mare seemed almost like she wanted to suffer a little, wanted to be tense, to be angry, to even be vengeful... and then they both simply nodded, understanding whether they wanted to or not as they turned ahead. And as Scrivener's blood boiled and Luna felt a strange twist of eagerness run through her body, both ponies wondered again how much they had changed Twilight Sparkle from the pony she had once been... and worried all the more about what further changes awaited down the road, with the dangerous decisions they would no doubt have to make if they wanted to stop Gymbr.

Chapter Twenty Seven: Time for the Teddy Bear's Picnic

~BlackRoseRaven

The three ponies approached a massive, closed portcullis in the immense wall surrounding Hel's manse. High above, they could still see flicker of fire and lightning through the clouds, while snow and frost sparkled beneath their hooves... but the air seemed thick and heavy and dark, making it hard to see anything more than thirty feet away, the world seeming to simply... fade out into listless shadows.

But the portcullis was well-lit by two immense statues of dragons that held up enormous cauldrons of flame... and well guarded by demons all along the almost-invisible ramparts above, clad in gleaming metal armor and armed with crossbows already loaded with bolts. Some of these were already trained on them, while other demons sat at the ready behind the heavy portcullis: these latter all had long spears, to drive into the chests and heads of anyone stupid enough to try and force the gates open by brute strength alone.

Luna noted that many of the demons were Ironjaw, however, and she cleared her throat before raising her head and declaring: "I am Luna Brynhild, and by the bonds of Isenertos, I demand-"

"Now, now, no cheating!" cooed a voice through the air around them, and Luna snarled and set herself as one of Hel's ice puppets appeared in a whiff of blue smoke, the goddess grinning and waggling a finger slowly. "That's sly, Brynhild... but sly is also naughty-naughty-naughty... and naughty little girls get spanked. Ironjaw, your loyalty is to me. Do not open the gate."

"Isenertos, family trumps business. By these bonds and thy own honor, I ask that these gates be opened." Luna overrode coldly, and Hel frowned... before her eyes widened in disbelief as the massive gates clanked loudly before slowly beginning to rise.

"What the me is this?" the goddess asked incredulously, and then she snarled furiously before snapping a hand out, an enormous wall of ice ripping up out of ground to bar the entranceway, reaching tendrils of frost spreading rapidly up the portcullis and holding it in place as metal screamed against metal and hidden gears clanked loudly.

Hel slowly shook her head, then she glared over her shoulder at Luna Brynhild as the sapphire mare grinned in challenge, baring her fangs and asking calmly: "Didst thou not desire to see us, Hel? Is that not why we are here?"

"Oh yes, but you were supposed to try and find a way in on your own, and I was going to laugh at you and amuse myself until I took pity on you and gave you a way to get inside. You weren't supposed to use the cheat codes." Hel looked at them with disgust before she knitted her fingers together and cracked them firmly. "That makes me a little bit unhappy. So I'm going to have to punish you a little. Don't worry, I won't leave any marks... it'll be just bad enough to remind you never, ever to do something like this again."

Luna growled, and Hel rolled her shoulders before she began to bounce from foot-to-foot, raising her fists gamely and saying firmly: "Okay, let's see what you got, put 'em up, put 'em up-"

Twilight Sparkle snapped her horn out as it gave a sharp pulse, and Hel squeaked as Luna and Scrivener both winced in surprise at the static that tore through the air. The goddess glared furiously at the violet mare before pointing at her... and then staring blankly at her own hand as nothing happened, shaking it wildly. "My clicker! What did you do to my clicker?"

"I was thinking about it on the walk here, and your power to control and bend this reality is based on the energy you're taking from those tormented souls... so I'm channeling my own energy into that frequency." Twilight said quietly, her horn glowing faintly as her eyes locked on the ice puppet. "Do you know why I'm telling you this?"

"Because you're a little miss know-it-all?" Hel asked disgustedly, glaring at the Lich with her fury radiating clearly through the puppet's eyes.

But Twilight only smiled, a vindictive, nasty pleasure in her own as she replied evenly: "No, because it bought me enough time to channel enough energy into you to do this."

She snapped her horn down, wincing in pain as recoil blasted down the spire, but Hel's puppet glowed brightly before exploding in a hail of fragments and magical energies. The air rippled, and a scream of outrage echoed through their minds as Luna grinned and Scrivener shot Twilight a half-entertained, half-disbelieving look at what she had just done.

But Twilight Sparkle had already raised her head, ignoring the laceration that had opened over her face from the tremendous exertion as her legs wobbled a little... but the latter wasn't because she was tired. No, if anything, she felt... good. She felt almost righteous. And she felt eager to push forwards as she said quietly: "Let's get moving."

"Not so fast." snarled a voice... but it overlapped strangely, and came from either side of them. And Luna and Scrivener both looked up in disbelief at the sight of two more ice puppets, both perfect replicas of the one Twilight had dispelled, both frosty Hels glaring furiously as they snapped at the same time: "Now, that just wasn't very nice at all! I'm going to have to hurt you for that trick."

One of the ice puppets snapped a hand out, icy smoke zigzagging out from its hand and transforming into a hail of frosty shards, but Luna leapt forwards and snapped her horn down, repelling the attack with a blast of telekinesis as she shouted: "Twilight!"

"Don't think so!" Both Hels distorted for a moment, becoming nothing but frosty mist before solidifying as the ice puppets snapped: "I'm not about to use the same wavelength and get hit by that same stupid stunt twice! So what if I have to discipline you a little slower, all the more fun for me!"

One of the Hel-puppets flung another round of ice shards, but Luna again deflected the attack with telekinesis: at the same time, however, the other swung both hands down and hammered into the ground, a wave of snow and screaming, terrified spirits ripping out of the earth in a straight line towards the ponies. Twilight gritted her teeth and snapped her horn sharply out, a crack ripping through the field before a chunk of the ground vomited upwards, and the wave of snow and death crashed uselessly against this and puffed out.

The puppet that had created the wave snarled as it leaned forwards, making a vicious swiping motion, and the barrier Twilight had ripped out of the earth exploded, hailing rock and chunks of ice over the ponies. The Lich winced, snapping her horn out and blasting most of the debris backwards, and then she gasped a spear of ice smashed into her armored chest, shattering on impact with her armor and knocking her backwards in a surprised sprawl.

The puppet grinned as it created another spear of frost... then promptly dropped it when needles of black crystal peppered its face, the Hel puppet staggering backwards with a snarl as Scrivener cursed and grasped at his aching claw, even as he grinned at hit he'd managed to score.

Luna, meanwhile, was dodging back and forth as she closed in on the other Hel, her eyes glowing with fury before the puppet suddenly cackled and burst apart into blue smoke that easily flung itself past Luna, knocking the winged unicorn sprawling with a hiss of pain as he felt a thin coat of ice spread on contact over her flesh. Then the frosty cloud transformed back into a puppet that reached down and snagged Scrivener's mane with both hands, yanking him backwards by the hair as his eyes bulged with agony.

He was flung towards Twilight Sparkle, and the Lich winced as she caught him with telekinesis, and the stallion's eyes widened in horror at the rushed apology she gave him before he was flung back at Hel with a bang like a cannon, smashing the puppet in front of them into pieces. He crashed face-first a moment later in the snow, his body still glowing faintly with telekinetic energy as he skidded painfully to a halt through the frost.

The second puppet's attention was drawn towards him, raising a vengeful hand... and then its arm was blown into fragments, and the puppet had enough time to stare towards Luna before the sapphire mare grinned and pulled the trigger of Sting Mk. II thrice more, blasting apart the puppet's head, upper body, and then shattering the rest of her into snowdust.

She knocked the cylinder out of place and flicked the gun to toss the casings loose, and then her horn glowed, yanking four more rounds free from the bandoleer to lock them into place in the rifle before she said calmly: "Had I known they would be so brittle, I would not have wasted so much time. Good work, Twilight. And thou did well too I suppose, Scrivener Blooms."

Scrivener mumbled something unintelligible from where he was laying on his face, feeling a bit of energy trickling out of his body from the distance he and Luna were at, and this was his only motivation to eventually slowly pick himself up and shake his body briskly off. Twilight smiled apologetically at him when he began to stride towards them, beginning to open her mouth... but then her eyes were drawn to the side, widening slightly as a faint rumbling echoed through the air, and something prickled along her horn...

Luna and Scrivener had enough time to turn before the ice beneath the gates was smashed apart, and the immense, terrifying Theodore charged out into the field, roaring furiously at them and with another ice puppet clinging to his back, Hel grinning insanely above the titan as she howled: "Mommy's got a big bad stick for the naughty little girls!"

Teddy pounced towards Luna, and the winged unicorn reacted on instinct with a snarl, launching herself upwards and narrowly dodging past the massive arms of the golem to smash a hoof up beneath its chin: the monster's head was snapped backwards as its huge body tried to keep going forwards, making the beast half-flip before Luna kicked viciously off its stomach and knocked the giant crashing down onto its back.

Hel's ice puppet squeaked as it was crushed beneath Teddy, most of its lower body shattering... but this time, the puppet only huffed as Theodore clawed his way unevenly up to a standing position, the armor-plated behemoth growling and drooling through his lipless maw, looking completely unhurt by his brief clash with Luna as Hel complained loudly: "Now precisely what is up with that, you jerkwad? We haven't even really gotten started yet! He was just going to give you a big damn hug."

Luna snorted in distaste at this, shaking her head and replying coldly: "I am not in a hugging mood at the moment, Hel." She halted, then leveled her rifle towards the ice puppet as the broken pieces rose into the air and snapped themselves smoothly back together. "Unless thou wants thy precious Teddy to die, I think that thou had best signal a retreat. Do I make myself clear?"

"Oh, as crystal, sweetheart." Hel smiled calmly at this, then she rose a hand and snapped her fingers, sending a ripple through reality. For a moment, there was nothing further... and then unnatural, echoing howls tore through the air around them before countless icy claws on long, enormous limbs ripped out of the ground all around the field, locking them inside a roughly fifty-foot wide arena with the massive monstrosity.

Scrivener gritted his teeth as Twilight set herself, grimacing at how the air above the eagerly grasping, waving claws seemed distorted and red, making it clear there was no easy way past the freakish barrier Hel had created. The Lich's horn glowed as she scanned the area quickly with magic... and then she cursed when the ice puppet reached up and rubbed a finger and thumb together, creating a faint vibration that made Twilight's head ring with pain and Luna's horn vibrate uncomfortably.

"No tricks this time, little lady." Hel said darkly, and then she rubbed her hands together, her cow-like features twisting into a nasty grin. "Tell you what, though. I'll give you a fighting chance against good old Teddy here. And Theodore, now, you be a good boy for mommy and don't kill them. Just... maim them a little. Maybe smash the pretty pony's horn, oh, you can do that for me, can't you?"

Teddy growled, punching a fist against the ground before he leaned forwards aggressively, but Luna only glared fearlessly in response as she continued to aim past the monster at Hel. "This game is pointless, witch! And when we get into thy estate, no matter how grand or cunning thy lair, we shall find thee, and I am going to greatly, greatly enjoy pummeling thee."

"Yeah, like I haven't heard that one before." Hel huffed, flicking an icy hand disdainfully before she looked over them with fury, with dark glee... and was that maybe not just paranoia, but very real, very sane fear in her eyes too? "Teddy-bear, smash 'em!"

Theodore leaned forwards and roared furiously, and Luna only grinned widely as she spun Sting Mk. II before holstering it quickly on her back. Scrivener and Twilight both set themselves as Theodore roared again, and Luna's eyes flashed as she said coldly: "Thou wert warned, Hel."

Theodore lunged forwards, charging towards them with another roar... and Luna snapped her horn forwards, flinging Prúðbikkja out of her starry mane. The spear burst to full size as it shot through the air, slamming home into one of the many holes on Theodore's chest, and even though the giant barely shuddered with the impact, there was a loud clicking before Luna leapt forwards and seized the body of her spear as the monster drew one massive arm back.

He hooked a wild swing towards her, but Luna yanked Prúðbikkja free as she threw herself over the giant's shoulder... and with the spear, one of the many plates that covered Teddy's body was torn open before the speartip tore its way into another hole on the giant's back, and Luna twisted the weapon as she used the polearm like an axle at the same time to spring further away from the creature, ripping the spear free with her just as the monster tried to spin around.

Another plate was yanked open on its back as Prúðbikkja tore backwards, and Luna flapped her wings to launch herself up into the air, spinning around with a wide grin as she spun her spear at her side before lifting it to a ready position with telekinesis, shouting: "Pray, monster! Pray for a quick death, for 'tis the only mercy I shall grant thee!"

Teddy only roared loudly, seeming to glare up at her beneath the black visor hiding its features from view before its head suddenly snapped downwards, and instead it lunged into a rough, shambling charge towards Twilight and Scrivener, yanking itself forwards like a goliath ape as the Lich's eyes widened and Scrivener gritted his teeth. His instincts and Twilight's mixed together for one sharp moment, and then the violet mare was leaping backwards as the stallion flung himself forwards.

There was no way he could match Teddy's raw strength: even if he found a chance to go Tyrant Wyrm, the only thing he'd succeed in doing was make himself a bigger target. But they seemed to have two minor advantages: Theodore wasn't very smart, and nor was he very well-balanced with his giant body and squat little legs.

The stallion slammed his claws down into the ground, pushing with as much strength as he dared despite the agony that ripped through his system. The frosty earth around him rippled, then exploded upwards in a blast of black sludge, spreading in a wide puddle before Scrivener flung himself hurriedly to the side when Teddy attempted to slam a hand down on top of him.

Instead, the monster only punched into the soft mire, and Teddy overbalanced with a roar of frustration as he sank through the sludge almost to the forearm and went face-first into the frost. His other hand grabbed wildly at Scrivener, and the stallion winced as he stayed just out of reach, attracting the beast's attention so that Twilight could rush forwards and lunge at the monster's shoulder, sinking her horn into a hole on its arm before she unleashed a wild blast of energy as she twisted her horn firmly to the side.

She gasped in surprise as she was flung backwards by the force of a plate springing upwards, but she managed to flap her wings and launch herself backwards, eyes wide as she watched Luna crash down into the distracted monster's back and stab both her own soulstone horn and her spear into two more holes. Theodore grunted, beginning to shove himself up to his feet and turning his attention towards the sapphire mare, but then Scrivener Blooms hissed in pain even as he flicked a hoof out, creating a set of black needles that shot into Teddy's face and distracted him as he snarled in fury.

The monster leapt forwards, completely ignoring Luna even as the mare channeled a double-blast of energy into the monster's back before she kicked off as the plates sprang open. And Twilight noted that the plates that were side-by-side had extended the furthest open on thin but durable arms, and inside, she could see... it wasn't just flesh, it was-

"Hey! Knock that off!" Hel's voice snapped as the ice puppet waved her arms angrily from where she had been all-but-forgotten, and Scrivener Blooms made the dumb mistake of looking over at her... allowing Teddy to step forwards and slap the stallion a good twenty feet away like a ragdoll, Luna spasming in midair in agony as Twilight winced, then cursed and flung herself backwards, wings flapping madly and hooves scrabbling at the air as she narrowly avoided being dragged down when the behemoth made a wild grab for her.

Then the eyes of both winged unicorns widened in horror as all the plates across Theodore's immense body glowed and snapped loudly shut, before the giant straightened and rolled his head on his shoulders as a blue mist wrapped around his body, ice rapidly filling in the holes in his armored frame and forming a thick, solid layering overtop the near-indestructible plating armoring his body. Luna and Twilight both stared in shock as Hel cackled, her ice puppet doing a little dance as she called cheerfully: "Try and get through that, kiddies! Get 'em, Teddy!"

Theodore lunged forwards, attempting to clap Luna between his huge hands, but the sapphire mare quickly swung Prúðbikkja in front of her and the goliath's hands collided with butt and speartip of the pole. He was so strong that the polearm bent with a groan despite being made of all-but-indestructible gianttooth, but then it sprang back straight and knocked Teddy's enormous hands apart, the monster stumbling before Luna shot down and kicked both rear hooves viciously into his chest.

It cracked the icy armor and knocked him another step backwards, and Twilight Sparkle gritted her teeth before she snapped her horn out, following up with a fireball that smashed into Theodore's chest and exploded with enough force to send a hail of ice fragments hailing down.

But they hadn't done more than crack the front of the icy shell safeguarding the monster, and the enchantment was already sluggishly healing itself as Hel shouted from the sidelines: "You can't win, morons! Sure, you might have figured out how to open up Teddy-bear's maintenance hatches, but what good is that going to do you now?"

"Shut up, old witch!" Luna snapped, as she flicked her horn firmly and hammered Teddy's head with a blast of telekinesis, but the monster only growled even as his skull painfully twisted to the side before he slammed his hands into the ground and ripped up a large chunk of frozen earth, flinging it viciously back at the mare.

Luna attempted to deflect it with her spear, but the glacial meteor all-but-exploded when she struck it, blinding and battering her painfully. She was driven down a few feet even as she struggled to remain in the air... and then her eyes widened in horror as she felt a vise-like grip on one leg before she was flung savagely down into the earth, bouncing backwards several times before Teddy flung himself forwards and attempted to crash down on top of her.

The sapphire mare did the only thing she could do: she curled herself up as small as possible and stabbed the butt of her spear upwards. It struck into Theodore's breast, almost ripping completely through the armor of ice even as the spear was buried almost halfway into the ground before halting, Theodore's massive arms smashing down on either side of the sapphire winged unicorn and his huge body propped up by the spear, leaving him stranded for a moment.

The sapphire mare cursed in pain, glaring up at him before Theodore started to bring one huge hand up to squish her... then roared in frustration when he lurched to the side and almost toppled as the ground beneath him transformed into black mire.

Scrivener gasped in agony, but all the same, forced himself to continue pushing with his powers, rapidly transforming as much of the ground as he could into black mire in desperation for some kind of advantage against this unstoppable giant.

It gave Luna enough time to scramble backwards and spread her wings, flapping them hard to launch herself away with a curse and narrowly avoid a wild swing of Teddy's arm. All he managed to do was crush in the ground where she had been a moment before, and then the monster shoved off the earth and managed to ungainly manage its feet, half-stumbling around in a circle and making a wild claw at Scrivener's head.

The stallion leapt backwards, wincing at Theodore's reach: ten feet away and he wasn't even close to being safe from the gorilla-like beast. Then Theodore sprung forwards, and Scrivener was forced to make a wild dive backwards, crashing and rolling painfully as he narrowly avoided being smashed by both Teddy's arms.

Mire splashed in all directions as Theodore's limbs sank deep into the ooze, the monster snarling as the muck grasped into his massive arms and clung to them tenaciously, refusing to let him yank them back. And Luna's eyes widened as she saw their chance, shouting mental orders to both Scrivener Blooms and Twilight Sparkle as she snapped her horn back to rip Prúðbikkja free from the frosty field.

And in spite of the pain, in spite of the fear, in spite of all the things that could and likely would go wrong, the stallion shoved his own claws into the edge of the mire beneath him, gritting his teeth with a curse of pain even as the mire rippled violently, then surged upwards and along Teddy's arms even as it hardened rapidly into black crystal.

The monster's limbs were cemented into place, and Theodore yanked uselessly back on them, grunting as he failed to do more than make the crystal grind against the metal of his arms. All the same, Scrivener Blooms continued to pour his energies into the mire, keeping it hard and repairing any damage done to the crystal before it could spread, the stallion's body beginning to quake from the pain rushing through his forelimbs and claws, but all the same refusing to give in, using that same intense agony to push all the harder with his powers.

Luna, meanwhile, shot down and hammered into the giant's back, stomping savagely up and down with her hooves as her spear stabbed down again and again, chipping away large chunks of ice. At the same time, Twilight Sparkle was concentrating, warping the enchantment protecting the behemoth and forcefully fusing the plates of ice to the ground and into each other, trying to lock up the monster's joints and pin him in one place.

Teddy didn't even seem to notice Luna as he simply hauled again and again on his arms, the black crystal beginning to crack and twist even with all the power Scrivener was pouring into it, the stallion snarling as pressure built through his body and a stream of black poison ran from one eye like tears. Then the stallion yelped as the monster tore viciously upward with a furious roar, not simply shattering the crystallized mire but instead ripping a massive chunk of dark stone out of the earth.

Scrivener was catapulted in one direction by the upheaval of stone while Luna was flung off the monster's back. Then Luna's eyes widened in horror as Theodore spun awkwardly around, its huge arms raised high and that massive chunk of black crystal suspended between them, making the monster look like a grisly lollipop... or maybe a giant flyswatter was a better metaphor, because it was already moving to swat her like nothing more than a pesky insect.

Twilight Sparkle snapped her horn out with a cry of denial, and to the Lich's shock the mire responded to her energies it immediately became thick, viscous mud instead of hard stone as the giant brought both arms down in a cruel hammer. It still crashed down over Luna with the force of a tidal wave, knocking her backwards, scalding her body as her eyes widened... but when she cried out, it wasn't just pain driving her. Oh no, it wasn't pain at all, even as the muck threatened to cement around her and swallow her up, but for a moment she was lost to the madness of pleasure as she felt that delicious poison pushing into her body from every angle...

Then the off-balance Theodore lunged forwards as a huge hand grabbed at her through the mud; it was slowed enough that instead of killing her, Luna only felt the armor denting inwards and her ribs snap like brittle twigs, making her cough blood and black ooze... and even through the rage and shock, the desperation and excitement, she felt shame at how the first thing her mind locked on was anger at the monster for interrupting her reverie in the poison.

Luna launched upwards, flapping her wings hard, feeling the dark, concentrated mire still coating her body, that she could still taste in her mouth, flooding her with strength. It boiled over her horn as she lashed this down at Teddy as he grabbed at her wildly, and Twilight was beside her, sending out her own flurry of spells as they hammered fireball after fireball into the monster's head and body, shattering more pieces of the heavily-damaged armor of ice over the goliath's frame before Theodore swept up a handful of sludge and slung it at them.

Twilight and Luna reacted like one person: the Lich's powers transformed the ball of muck into a solid, spiked ball, and the sapphire mare caught this with telekinesis, grinning savagely as she made the sphere curve upwards into the sky before she snapped her horn down and fired it straight into Teddy's face.

It struck with enough force to knock Theodore's head snapping backwards, the giant stumbling... and tripping right into the crater left behind from the monster tearing his arms free. He fell with a tremendous bang, trapped prone on his back with the weight of his own enormous arms pinning him, and Luna and Twilight both launched themselves forwards, snapping their horns out at the same time to send paired blasts of blue and red flames crashing down into the beast.

They burst into a mixed conflagration of crimson and sapphire hell, one fire eating up the magical energies sustaining the armor, the other melting frost with such intense heat water was immediately transformed to hissing steam. Theodore bucked back and forth before he managed to roll over and seize the edge of the shallow pit as Hel shouted furiously from the sidelines: "That's not fair! You leave him-"

Luna snarled as she flicked her horn, Sting Mk. II yanking itself free from her back and flying into her hoof as she half-turned to unload all four bullets in the cylinder at the puppet, each bullet cracking the brittle ice puppet before the last shattered it completely... but the distraction served another purpose, as Theodore lunged suddenly out of the crater, yanking himself forwards with one arm as he grabbed wildly at Luna with the other.

The sapphire mare cried out in agony as enormous fingers clenched around her and threatened to crush her like a toy, hauling her high into the air as her gun was knocked out of her hoof... and without thinking, Twilight dove in towards the monster's upper limb, slamming her horn home into a hole in the wet metal plating and unleashing a sharp blast of energy.

The plate over its bicep sprung open, the Lich wincing as she was half-flung backwards, but all the same Teddy easily reached up and caught the violet mare in his free hand, crushing down against her and making the mare wince and wheeze. Not in pain, but the pure pressure was enough to force the air out of her lungs... although with Teddy's attention on the Lich, his grip on Luna loosened enough for her to lean back and glare at where her spear had fallen, before she snapped her horn towards Theodore.

The weapon flung itself off the ground and shot through the air, hammering into Teddy's breast and twisting to pop a maintenance plate open, even as Theodore began to raise both ponies above his head, Twilight snapped her horn down on instinct and sent a blast of lightning hammering into the narrow, open space, striking what looked like a mixture of synthetic, spongy flesh and thick cabling.

Theodore's fingers spasmed as he gave an injured howl, stumbling in a half-circle as his arm snapped out and he flung Luna to the side. The sapphire mare hit the ground on her back with a wince, but rolled quickly to her hooves as her eyes blazed with fury, Prúðbikkja snapping to the ready beside her as she ran forwards and Scrivener Blooms flanked in from the side with his teeth grit.

Teddy turned to face them, raising the fist holding Twilight high before attempting to slam the Lich down on top of Luna, but the sapphire mare dodged smoothly to the side, then hissed in pain as she felt agony light up through her hooves... but it was as good a signal as any other as Scrivener's back arched in pain, feeling two of his claws cracking, threatening to simply break off entirely as he forced more of the earth to transform into mire.

Twilight gargled as she smashed face-first into the ground, then gritted her teeth, fighting off the sensation of vertigo when Teddy yanked her backwards before he threw her like a cannonball at Luna. But the sapphire mare smoothly ducked under the Lich's body, and Twilight hit the ground hard and bounced high before she spread her wings and flapped them, awkwardly catching herself in the air with a gasp despite the fact her body was almost cartoonishly crushed inwards, plates of broken armor and cracked crystal falling away from her form.

But a strange fury boiled through her veins as she watched Theodore try to smash Luna beneath his huge hands. This stupid mechanical puppet was putting up such a difficult, dangerous fight, but they had finally found a way to hurt it... and now Twilight wanted to put an end to this, smash this pathetic little wind up toy before it could hurt her partners any more than it already had... before it could delay them any longer from getting to Hel, and to Innocence.

Theodore rocked as he stumbled in the mire, and the giant turned away from Luna, ignoring her even when Prúðbikkja stabbed into a hole on its limb and twisted another plate open. The monster instead lunged at Scrivener Blooms, the stallion wincing and staggering out of the way of a wild swipe from the monster before Twilight snapped her horn upwards when it gave a sharp pulse.

Massive vines and brambles surged upwards out of the dark slime, seizing around Teddy's forelimbs and yanking them savagely downwards to pull his heavy limbs down and into the muck. Scrivener immediately leapt forwards, shoving his own claws into the mire and hardening it as Theodore roared, even as Luna shot down and used both horn and spear to open as many panels over its back as she could, while Twilight dove down and angled herself up to slam into the monster's front.

The Lich's horn stabbed into the slots in plates around the arm that already had a panel opened around its bicep, and she managed to get three open before Teddy lunged backwards and tore his arms free, ripping apart her vines and shattering the mire. Twilight looked up in shock before a massive forearm crashed down on her, breaking bones, turning organs to mush, crushing her into an almost unrecognizable shape... and then Teddy howled in pain when Luna's spear ripped past the opened plates and into the cable-fused flesh of his back, whiteish goo splattering out of his body as Luna shouted: "Do not touch her, worm!"

Theodore spun around in a circle, swinging both huge arms out, but Luna flapped her wings and launched herself backwards, dropping to the earth and skidding through the snow as she spun Prúðbikkja up to the ready at her side. Her eyes glowed with fury and determination before Theodore pounced forwards, swinging one huge arm down, but Luna was ready: in a moment, she had lunged herself, stabbing her spear through an exposed network of cables and synthetic muscle that made up Teddy's bicep as her glowing soulstone horn slashed into the thin, extended arms that kept the plates locked in position over Teddy's body.

Prúðbikkja tore through the cables like they were nothing but kite string, then bashed a plate on the other side completely out of position, smashing it loose: at the same time, other plates of metal collapsed amidst shards of brittle steel extenders. And Teddy staggered, his arm crashing down as he stumbled and almost fell on his face as if he didn't understand what had just happened.

But Luna was merciless, spinning around with a snarl and launching her spear forwards as the alicorn speartip burst into blue flames, ripping a massive swathe through the now-exposed synthetic flesh that made up the beast's shoulder before the winged unicorn followed with a sharp sweep of her soulstone horn as it glowed almost white with power. White machine-blood burst up over Luna's features as her horn tore through the monster's flesh, and Teddy arched his back with another howl as he stumbled to his feet, dragging one arm with him... and the other limb flying away from his body to crash down in a hail of white goo, plastic flesh, and broken bits of metal.

Teddy's shoulder sparked as eggshell-colored liquid dripped from it, the behemoth drunkenly turning to face Luna as the sapphire mare set herself and bared her fangs at the beast. The sheer force behind her attack hadn't just severed Teddy's limb, but it had knocked the collar protecting his throat loose... and several other thin metal arms had shattered, leaving a few polished black plates either hanging loose from the goliath's body or broken away completely.

Theodore leaned forwards and roared loudly, even as he put most of his weight on his remaining arm just to stay stable, and Luna bared her fangs before she launched herself forwards, smashing into the giant's chest and kicking off with enough force to send her hooves ripping swathes through the soft flesh of the creature as her horn snapped upwards with a sharp flash.

Luna landed on the ground behind Theodore a moment later... and within seconds after that, the golem's head spiraled out of the air and bounced several times across the snowy earth in front of the monstrosity, white gunk pouring out of the stump of neck remaining behind as a metal rod it had in place of a spinal column sparked. The sapphire mare turned around and spat to the side as Twilight and Scrivener both stared... and then Theodore half-staggered, half-yanked himself towards where the violet mare was only able to gape and slapped her hard to the side.

She flew bonelessly through the air, and Scrivener cursed before he leapt in front of her, wincing in pain as the violet mare collided with him like a cannonball before both Lich and charcoal stallion hit the frost and rolled into an awkward sprawl. Luna's eyes widened at this, and then she ran forwards... but Theodore half-spun around, and the sapphire mare barely had enough time to blink before its remaining arm slammed into her like a wrecking ball and sent her crashing backwards in a broken heap some thirty feet away.

Theodore's fingers caught the frosty, mud-splattered ground as it managed to keep its balance, and then it growled before it slowly dragged itself back around in a circle, towards the ponies that were closer to it. The headless, one-armed golem seemed to study them for a moment as Luna coughed blood, her vision hazy, Prúðbikkja trembling on the ground beside her before it slowly rose into the air as she raised her head, her soulstone horn cracked and sparking weakly as she whispered: "I am here."

Scrivener and Luna both looked up as Teddy continued to lumber towards them, crushing his own severed head beneath one squat leg as his huge hand clawed into the ground and half-dragged the shambling golem forwards, and Luna stared in disbelief before a snarl spread slowly over her features, shouting at the monster's back as she yanked herself to her hooves, even as she felt her whole body begging for some kind of relief: "I am here! I am your opponent, and I am here!"

Theodore ignored her, continuing to drag himself towards Scrivener and Twilight, and the Lich cursed before Scrivener shoved a hoof against the ground, then cried out in agony even as he forced a puddle of black mire to form; and he continue to push, even as his claws began to splinter apart, even as terrible bruising started to spread all along his forelegs- "I am here!"

Twilight Sparkle snapped her horn upwards as Theodore's hand swung down, and a spike of mire ripped out of the puddle: narrow, but long and solid, shattering when it struck the monster's fist but still deflecting it enough to knock the golem's hand aside and almost overbalance it. It fell to its knees, a waterfall of white gunk splashing out of its neck as Scrivener and Twilight both shoved themselves backwards, cursing- "Damn thou, face me! Face me!"

Blue fireballs hammered uselessly into Theodore's back as the monster grasped the base of the shattered spike, yanking itself forwards as Twilight and Scrivener forced themselves backwards, and Luna's eyes glowed as her mane and tail burst alive with blue flames, electricity sparking over her body and damaged horn and Prúðbikkja burning beside her like a torch as she roared in wordless fury.

The sapphire mare charged forwards, a burning blue star as she shot towards the back of the seemingly-unstoppable machine-monster pursuing her lovers. She leveled her spear at the goliath's back, only hearing her blood-hunger, her dark instincts, the hiss of Nightmare Moon before the winged unicorn flung herself into the air and corkscrewed violently towards the golem's back.

Her body burst apart into starry sapphire mist and burning blue flames that spun like a massive screw of nothing but raw energy, raw hate, raw power: it slammed into Theodore's back, and loose armor plating was ripped out of place and flung in all directions as the living tornado drilled its way into the golem... and then ripped out the front of the monster in a blast of armor plating and white sludge, the maelstrom of energy reforming after a moment into Luna, who dropped and skidded to a halt through the frost and mire with her spear raised beside her and teeth grit.

She looked over her shoulder at what remained of Theodore, streaked with white gunk and with a few splinters of metal standing out of her body. But she was grinning, and chief amongst her emotions wasn't pain, but pleasure, as Teddy's remaining arm slowly ripped free of the thin strip of synthetic torso that remained, smacking loudly to the ground with a wet squelch.

Theodore's legs trembled, then collapsed to their knees, feeding up onto a broken waist that looked like an exploded white fruit. A few plates of armor clung tenaciously to flayed and destroyed flesh, but there was little left intact: the rest lay in a mess all around the ravaged golem and the sapphire mare, who was breathing hard in and out before she looked up as Hel howled miserably: "Teddy-bear! You killed my Teddy-bear!"

The air rippled and vibrated with energy, and then the frosty claws that had walled them in quickly withdrew into the ground as the sense of magic in the air lifted, and Hel's voice echoed furiously around them: "Don't you think I'm just going to overlook this! Don't think I'm ever going to forget this, you little monsters! You killed my Teddy! And oh, sure, I could build another one, but that one was mine and was my Teddy!"

"Thou art next, Hel." Luna said coldly as she tilted her head towards the sky, and then she smiled grimly as she looked towards the portcullis, watching as the remaining ice freezing it in place shattered away, and the gates were able to start slowly rising again. "That's what I thought. Get ready for us, witch. We are coming for thee."

Luna shook herself quickly, then she turned her eyes towards Scrivener and Twilight as the two picked themselves up: the sapphire mare winced at the sight of the Lich, the way her body seemed so... contorted, squished, beneath her damaged and crunched-in armor, but the violet mare only gave a small smile and shook her head quickly, murmuring: "I'm okay. It's... Scrivy, though..."

"I'm fine. I'm... I'm fine." Scrivener muttered, giving Twilight an almost angry look as he tried to hide his claws, but Luna quickly stepped forwards and forcefully yanked one up, making him hiss in pain and clench his eyes shut. "Okay, I'm... I'm mostly fine."

"Scrivy, this... this is not something to make light of." Luna whispered, her eyes widening slightly as the thrill of battle, the bloodlust, the sense of triumph all fell away. Her own hooves hurt, sure, and one looked a little chipped, a little cracked... but Scrivener's claws were mangled, broken and splintered and bleeding not just black blood and sludge, but some kind of sick, diseased-looking substance. "Twilight, I cannot but... perhaps thou, if thou still has the strength..."

The Lich only smiled faintly, replying quietly: "I might look pretty bad, but I feel okay still. I honestly do. And I already... I don't think there's anything we can do to help." Slowly, she turned uneasy eyes towards Scrivener Blooms, studying him uneasily as the stallion carefully pulled his claw back from Luna, then wheezed as he slowly set it down. "But Scrivy, you can't... use your powers anymore. At least, not right now."

"I... I know." Scrivener murmured, shivering a little before he smiled faintly over at Twilight, adding quietly: "But... you were able to shape the mire. You've never done that before."

"I never really... tried before either, though. I never thought I could... that's not magic, or at least not the kind of magic I do." Twilight halted, then she softened as she looked over at him, saying quietly: "But maybe in the same way you can pull on Luna's powers and experiences... I can draw on yours, too. It just seemed to leap out of me by itself, after all..."

Scrivener Blooms nodded slowly, and Luna sighed softly before she glanced back and forth, then her cracked soulstone horn glowed and lifted Sting Mk. II from where it had fallen, carrying it over and popping the cylinder open as her eyes roved towards the now-open portcullis, muttering: "We should not stay here, though, and we can discuss this on the move."

The others nodded as Luna quickly reloaded her gun before sliding it onto her back, and then Luna took the lead, Twilight and Scrivener Blooms following behind her as the Lich continued to toss worried looks at the stallion. Scrivener only kept his eyes ahead as much as he could, though, breathing slowly in and out as he tried to concentrate on anything except the pain throbbing through his claws.

They headed through the open gates... and were surprised to find not only gorgeous acres of field and strange, snowy flowers on the other side, but that now they could see perfectly all around themselves, like light was trapped in the air itself. In the distance, there was a massive mansion of some kind, structured almost like some kind of massive lodge: but Luna had no doubt that its beauty only served to better hide the dangers lurking inside.

What truly surprised the trio, however, were the half-dozen demons gathered on either side of the pretty stone path they had stepped onto. Three were immense Ironjaw, and three were looming Destroyers: all of them were not just armored by their own metallic bodies, but clad in thick, crystalline plating and matching, skull-like masks.

They looked far from hostile, though: the Destroyers seemed curious, perhaps even... excited. The Ironjaw were smiling, nodding to the ponies before one of them greeted: "Hail, new clan-siblings! Stiúir told us that you were fierce, but none of us would have guessed you were not just dragons in name, but true Ironjaw in action!"

Luna only smiled wryly, and one of the Destroyers leaned forwards, asking calmly: "Are you here to kill Hel?"

"Only if she forces my hoof. I would prefer to keep the old witch alive... not because I believe she can serve any good purpose, but because she is a necessary evil. And we have need of her strength." Luna replied honestly, looking calmly up, and the Destroyer looked back at her thoughtfully.

"Interesting. I do not know if that is weakness or wisdom." the Destroyer said finally, and then it traded a look with the others before they bowed their heads to her politely. "We will not interfere with you. And if you do destroy Hel, we will serve you."

"You will serve me even if I keep Hel alive." Luna said calmly before she could stop herself, but despite the faint blush that rose in her cheeks when both Scrivener and Twilight stared at her with surprise, she didn't lower her gaze or turn her eyes away. She only continued to meet the gaze of the Destroyer, who seemed both thoughtful and interested at this response.

There was silence for a few moments, and then the Destroyer simply gave a nod, saying softly: "Interesting proposal, Luna Brynhild. Very well... I shall discuss this with my brethren. We Destroyers respect power, and we will respect your power if you prove yourself a better leader than Hel."

Luna Brynhild smiled after a few seconds, nodding slowly before she turned and gestured with her head to her partners, murmuring: "Come, then. Let us make our way forwards. We have taken great strides towards what I had hoped to achieve... perhaps even greater than expected. We shall make allies... and we shall force alliance with others... and we shall prove our own strength, once and for all, to Hel herself."

"Yeah, you keep thinking that, sugarcake." came Hel's disgusted voice, but Luna refused to look back even as Scrivener scowled over his shoulder and Twilight grimaced when one of the ice puppets hurried along behind them. It began to raise a hand, and the Lich hurriedly gritted her teeth and lowered her horn challengingly, a faint glow sparking to life around it and making the puppet distort slightly.

Hel growled in frustration, but Luna only calmly continued down the cold stone road, refusing to look back as she said icily: "It seems thou hast taught thy allies well, Hel. They are intelligent enough to know when to abandon a sinking ship and look for a better master."

"You have no idea what you're walking into, Luna Brynhild. You have no idea who you're dealing with here. And you know what? I've gone and been a naughty girl and put my real home... my true home, beneath this ugly shell... on full lockdown. There's no way you morons are going to get to me." Hel said contemptibly, crossing her arms as she bounded along behind them, and Luna couldn't help but give a grim smile: no matter what Hel said, her actions revealed something a little different. She wasn't antagonizing or attacking them... she was just trying to stall and delay and confuse them.

Luna refused to slow down, however, keeping her gaze firmly ahead as the meadows of snowy flowers swayed quietly to either side of them. She could see strange but beautiful decorations here and there, too, made of wrought iron and gemstones that glowed with a beautiful warmth, and standing here and there were massive guard towers, from which demons calmly watched with enormous crossbows.

Scrivener couldn't help but admire the strange, chaotic beauty of this place, even as his claws tingled painfully and he limped visibly, while Twilight kept nervously looking back at Hel, keeping her energies concentrated on the ice puppet to ensure she could shatter the goddess before Hel could do anything hostile. But Hel was only glaring at them sourly, her gaze like daggers, her teeth grinding together in her bovine features before she said disgustedly: "I hope you realize I could destroy you right now if I wanted to. Oh, sure, maybe because of smarty-smarts over there, my puppets are cut off from the big power source... but I could just change wavelengths. I could just swarm you with slaves and toys. I could just drown you in peanut butter. Or I could come outside and kick your asses all my lonesome self."

"I don't know about that." Scrivener Blooms muttered, looking over the fields, the decorations, the... simple gorgeousness. How even though it was still raining fire and chunks of soul from above, how lightning was dancing through those swirling dark clouds... oh, there was still such beauty here. There was chaos, yes, in the lack of arrangement, in the way things were left to thrive, in how the plants that seemed to thrive in snow and ice overgrew the stony path here and there, but... there was also a fragile, delicate beauty, a sense of... of serenity, even of balance. "I think you're weaker in Underdark than you are in Helheim, for some reason."

"Say that to my face, you wet bagel!" Hel snapped, and then she scowled when Luna grinned over her shoulder, the sapphire mare's eyes narrowing.

"Oh believe me. We intend to, very shortly." Luna replied almost calmly, and then she shook her head moodily and forced herself to focus on the manse in the distance, studying the painted windows spaced evenly over its surface, the enormous logs that made up the lodge-like structure, the iron decorations that stood out here and there over its face... "There is some detail here that... my mind is telling me doesn't quite fit with all the others... what is it, Scrivy?"

Scrivener Blooms frowned a little as he drew his eyes up, then he shrugged a little as they stepped from stone onto snow-speckled planks that led towards a wide patio in front of the lodge. It was bordered on either side by iron fencing, and runes glowed quietly beneath their feet, melting away snow for them and feeding a very welcome warmth into Scrivener's claws as he muttered: "I dunno. Everything's so... pretty, I guess. I don't feel anything-"

"You guys are complete morons. You guys, like, you guys really suck." Hel grumbled, and all three ponies stopped to glare over their shoulders at her, the ice puppet huffing loudly and keeping her arms crossed as she looked sourly between them. "You guys are like playing trivial pursuit with really stupid people. You go from trying to win to trying to let them score a few points to wanting to shout the answers at them and flip over the gameboard, pie be damned."

The three simply continued to glower, and then the Lich glanced down at the runes as she rose a hoof with surprise, then turned her eyes towards the ice puppet, the bottom of which was melting slightly even though Hel was actually a few inches above the ground, striding through thin air. "That energy..."

Hel leaned forwards almost as if in anticipation, her hands half-covering her mouth, and then Twilight gestured to Luna, murmuring: "We'd better get moving. It's actually really hot."

"Oh come on!" Hel squalled, flinging her arms up in the air in frustration before she clawed a hand out at the fencing on one side, ignoring the steam that burst up on contact with the metal. "Look! Use your eyes, morons! There's iron everywhere, the stuff that's bad for demons! That's holy energy pumping up out of the deck and warming your little toesies! Hoovesies! Whateversies!"

Hel's puppet dropped to the patio, and the construct of ice had enough time to look dumbly down before it simply burst apart into water, Twilight wincing as recoil twisted over her horn and Luna and Scrivener both staring before the stallion muttered: "Well. I guess that's what that tingling sensation is, then. I guess she really doesn't want demons in her home."

"Or only demons of a certain caliber." Luna muttered, then she gestured ahead, and they continued down the long, wooden walk until they reached the sprawling deck. They ignored the pretty furnishings that sat here and there, though, even if Twilight felt her curiosity draw by several boxes of gorgeous-looking plants that seemed to be made of frost and snow.

Instead, they headed straight for the doors... but Luna slowed and then frowned, looking moodily back and forth as she realized those weren't immense statues posed on either side of the doorframe... they were Ironjaw guards. Both of them were staying perfectly still in challenging, proud positions, and Luna whistled a little before she peered up towards one, then rose Prúðbikkja little by little as Twilight and Scrivener both stared, until the tip of her spear poked under the Ironjaw's helm and into one cheek.

It refused to move, so Luna poked a little harder, and she grinned as she succeeded in making the guard wrinkle up his muzzle before he muttered: "Little sibling, we do not kill our own clan. But that doesn't mean I can't hurt you."

"Be quiet, I can still hear Hel and I do not desire to change positions again." grumbled the other guard, and the first one grunted moodily, giving the smallest nod in return.

Luna frowned between the two, then glowered over her shoulder as she heard a quiet whistling, finding herself somehow unsurprised to see one of Hel's puppets gliding effortlessly through the air towards them as if it was being pulled along on strings. "I bet you think you're real cute, Brynhild. That you got things all worked out. Well, boys, why don't you do the lady a favor and hold the doors for her? Just step to the side and keep 'em closed to keep out the draft and the unwanted guests."

Luna only snorted as both Ironjaw relaxed slightly and looked uncomfortably up at Hel, and then the sapphire mare simply flicked her soulstone horn, and the heavy double doors leading into the Goddess' manse were both yanked open with a resounding rumble. Both Ironjaw caught the handles and the edges of the doors, and then Scrivener looked up and said mildly: "Hey, look. It looks like they're holding the doors for us. Just like you wanted."

"Oh, cute." Hel growled, but Luna was already leading her partners through the open doors, passed the awkward-looking Ironjaw and into a sprawling entrance hall as the puppet continued darkly: "Maybe I should start playing some word games of my own and see-"

The moment the puppet passed over the threshold of the doorway, it shattered apart into pieces that evaporated before they could even hit the ground, Luna looking surprised as Twilight and Scrivener both stared for a moment. The trio stood on the soft carpet of Hel's mansion, feeling warm air and the faintest tingle of magic energies all around them before Hel's voice muttered: "I knew I should have had that double-checked."

Luna looked up, but Twilight had already turned her eyes curiously down, her eyes taking on a pale glow as she looked beneath the purely physical and caught the glowing outline of magic runes hidden along the doorway, murmuring: "A pretty powerful banishment charm is here... something to make sure no one can call in some friends, I suppose."

"It annoys me that you made it inside, though. That annoys me a lot, as a matter of fact." Hel's voice came from another puppet that appeared just outside the doors in a hiss of blue smoke, hovering ominously as she glared at them before reaching her arms out to grasp the edge of both doors. "Why don't you make yourselves at home, though, check in, put up your hooves? Because I just about guarantee you won't be checking out."

And with that, Hel slammed the double doors closed, leaving the trio of ponies standing in the deceptively-beautiful entrance hall of her own mansion: but all three knew that there was no turning back now, and all three were ready to move forwards and face whatever evils stood between them and the goddess at the center of this whole nightmare... and, one way or the other, force her to end this charade so they could focus on the real enemy waiting in fallen Heaven.

Chapter Twenty Eight: The Final Threshold

~BlackRoseRaven

Hel's mansion was ornate, gorgeous, and... disarming, was a good word for it. The gilded halls seemed to have no edges, the paintings and decorations seemed to encourage them to relax and take pause to study their beauty, and soft, warm light spilled warmth through their bodies, massaging their muscles, making them feel pleasant and lethargic.

To make matters more difficult, many of the corridors seemed to feed around in circular, gentle curves, routing them constantly back towards the entrance hall. And to further frustrate and fascinate, the decorations in the hallways changed every time they stepped into them: gorgeous landscapes became portraits of demons, display cases proudly showed off new marvels, statues put themselves into new poses and donned new costumes.

And the worst part was how comfortable and defenseless they all felt, as they wandered from room-to-room, Luna poking at things now and then with Prúðbikkja and Scrivener staring around in fascination. Twilight Sparkle was doing her best to resist the magic and the allure, but even she felt herself falling victim to the trap: after all, she was feeling the enchantment swaddling not just her own mind, but Scrivener and Luna's as well.

But by the fifth time they had done a complete circle of the lodge and found nothing more dangerous than a letter opener, Luna was beginning to get cranky even with the comforting haze in the air. They had to have opened every single door in the maze of hallways, and yet found no trace of Hel herself, and no way towards her inner sanctum.

Luna stomped a hoof... then scowled and looked down at the soft carpet before she cursed and began to stomp and claw wildly at it. Twilight winced slightly, but Luna's temper tantrum did at least have the effect of helping clear her mind, while Scrivener Blooms was only sitting complacently nearby and staring at a painting on the wall.

The sapphire mare finally managed to tear up the large section of carpeting to reveal paneling beneath it, and she stomped on this with both hooves and a huff, cracking it... before frowning and looking down thoughtfully, stomping firmly a few more times. Then Twilight Sparkle stared in disbelief as Luna began to hammer her hooves viciously against the floor, almost jumping up and down as she growled in effort.

"What the hell are you doing?" Twilight asked incredulously, and the sapphire mare only huffed loudly as Scrivener absently tilted his head, furrowing his brow as he studied the painting intently.

"We have been up to the second floor, but we have yet to be down in the basement, and there is empty space not far beneath this flooring." Luna replied, glancing up as she continued to stomp and punch away at the paneling, which was now beginning to sink slowly down. "'Tis thin. And where better for a witch to den than-"

And then the floor suddenly gave out beneath Luna's hooves with a tremendous crack, sending her spilling face-first through the hole with a yelp: she was only saved by the fact that Prúðbikkja seemed to act on its own for a moment, lunging forwards and snaking into her hoof before the long spear caught on either side of the hole in the floor, Luna danging from this bar by one hoof as she wheezed loudly. "See? I was right."

Twilight stared at the hole, and Scrivener blinked lethargically before he looked over and asked curiously, tilting his head slowly: "Hey... that painting... is that the Aesir of Asgard?"

Twilight turned disbelieving eyes to Scrivener, but Luna only huffed as she easily pulled herself up to rest her forelegs across the pole of her spear, saying mildly: "Do not fear, the poet is just a little woozy from blood loss, and I think the beetle being stupid makes him an easier target for Hel's trickery. Although at the same time..." Luna eyed the painting thoughtfully. "Aye. He has a good point. Why has Hel put up a painting of the gods said to be her enemies on the wall?"

Scrivener was only looking flatly at the sapphire mare, while Twilight turned uneasy eyes to Scrivener, then drew her gaze down to his claw, asking quietly: "Are you going to be... I mean... do you think you can keep going?"

"I'm fine. Really, even if... I don't look it." Scrivener shook himself a little... but admittedly, it had been nice to give in to the pleasant lethargy, letting that take away his pain for a little while. Now, though, he tried to fight it off as he looked at the hole Luna had torn in the floor, saying finally: "I hope we don't have to pay for that."

"Well, at least thou art trying to be witty." Luna muttered, and then she dropped herself off the pole, hanging by both hooves and looking down to study the darkness beneath her before allowing herself to drop. It was only ten feet or so before she hit the ground with a grimace, landing on hard concrete... and shivering at the immediate chill that ran through her body. "Aye. This feels more like Hel here."

She paused, then checked her surroundings as Twilight and Scrivener nervously looked down at the mare through the hole in the floor: there wasn't much light apart from what was filtering down through the breach, and as Luna's eyes adjusted, she noted that the walls and floor were... irregular in places, not crude but strangely riffled or misshapen. There was a door some thirty feet in front of her, and another ten feet from her back: the former was made of steel, the latter was gold and encrusted with gemstones and reeked of copper... no, not copper. Blood.

Prúðbikkja twisted down through the hole and readied itself beside her: a moment later, Twilight descended into the passage, and then a nervous Scrivener awkwardly half-fell and landed with a hiss on his hooves, his front legs trembling before he breathed slowly and straightened, muttering: "Okay. I lost my happy now."

"Thou never had happy. The only things that make thee happy are suffering and stupidity. Therefore thou art either stupid or suffering but never happy." Luna grumbled, and she and Scrivener glowered at each other before the sapphire mare suddenly became serious, looking up sharply and whispering: "Wait. Something... something is wrong."

Scrivener and Twilight both looked up sharply, and then the Lich's eyes glowed before they widened slightly as she saw what Luna was sensing: the invisible, shambling thing slowly drawing closer to them. It was naked and translucent, its eyes sunken holes, its mouth gaping and awful, and its skeletal arms ending in terrible, gnarled claws. Once it had likely been some kind of demon... now, now it had been drained of all its essence, and only a husk of a tortured spirit was left behind.

"Wraith." Twilight whispered, and Luna nodded as her soulstone horn glowed before she snapped it forwards, sending a blue fireball slamming into the invisible beast. The spirit howled silently in misery, staggering backwards before it dissolved rapidly away, and Twilight shivered a bit as the spirit finally vanished. Wraiths like this were dangerous: they would remain invisible and barnacle themselves to a source of energy until they drained it of all life in an attempt to try and restore some strength to their own faded souls. All they ever managed, however, was to make themselves hungrier... and create a new wraith that would wander silently until it came across prey of its own.

Twilight checked back and forth... and shuddered as she saw the golden door through her spectral vision instead of her normal eyes: with her powers focused, she didn't see gold, but bones and blood and... faces. Staring, horrible faces... "We... we should stay far away from those doors."

"I figured. I cannot see it but I can smell it." Luna muttered, and then she shook her head slowly before gesturing uneasily towards the steel doors. "I know thou both do not like to, but... keep thy eyes open. We cannot risk being ambushed by such creatures here."

The other ponies nodded, and Scrivener Blooms closed his eyes tightly, concentrating for a moment before he opened them with a wince... then gritting his teeth and reaching out to catch Luna's shoulder before she could step forwards, the mare frowning at him.

Their eyes met, and Luna's own widened slightly before she looked up at Prúðbikkja and guided the spear just in front of her, waving it through the air. At first, there was nothing, and Luna began to scoff... and then several massive, twisted blades corkscrewed out of the walls and ceiling in all directions before they clicked loudly and slowly began to withdraw.

Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight all stared down the hall as the traps reset, and then Luna grumbled and snapped her horn forwards, coating the surfaces of the corridor with thick ice. Immediately, several blades tried to leap free again, but they only tore partway through the heavy ice, gears clanking and grinding as the blades shuddered uselessly where they were caught.

"Come!" Luna leapt forwards, running down the open hall as Scrivener and Twilight hurried after her, the sapphire mare glaring back and forth before she cursed and snapped her polearm out when an enormous razorblade sprung out of the wall towards her, weapon and trap colliding and the gears powering the weapon stripping loudly as the blade was knocked loose.

Twilight ducked under a razor that snapped out of the wall at neck level, while Scrivener cursed and barely staggered out of the way when several large spikes shattered up through the ice on the floor, their movement thankfully stuttered enough he was able to leap out of the way.

Luna smashed into the steel doors and knocked them open, leading the way into a wide, circular room beyond... before her eyes widened in surprise as the steel doors slammed shut behind them before several large steel rods shot back and forth in a crisscrossing pattern across the gates, barring them closed. Scrivener and Twilight, meanwhile, were already scanning the arena-like room as the sapphire mare grumbled: "Please tell me this is not another trial."

"I... don't think so..." Twilight said uneasily as she strode slowly forwards, and Scrivener looked up as well, even though his eyes were aching from not just exerting his powers, but the sheer amount of energy and malice in the air. Then both ponies stared at one of the three large tubes standing out of the ceiling, hearing the growing rumble and vibration, both sensing what was coming before the Lich shouted: "Luna, we have to get out of here!"

Luna turned around, just in time to watch as a thick gush of greenish water vomited out of the nearest pipe. Moments later, the other pipes opened up as well, spraying sludgy liquid into what wasn't an arena, but a dead end and a drowning pool.

The sapphire mare gritted her teeth as she looked sharply back and forth as Scrivener and Twilight searched desperately for somewhere, anywhere they could go... and then Luna gestured violently at several large, covered culverts: a row of them ran along the back wall, likely used to drain the water from the area. "Open them! We must smash them open!"

Twilight and Scrivener both nodded, running across the rapidly-flooding area and the stallion cursing in pain: the acidic water burned against his ravaged claws, and the liquid was thick and sludgy, making it hard to move. Twilight and Luna, at least, were both able to take to the air and fly quickly towards the other side of the deathtrap.

Scrivener stumbled and flopped into the shallow water with a splash, less than halfway across the arena, while Luna slammed bodily into one of the closed shutters and nearly knocked it out of place. She grinned savagely, and Twilight felt her eyes drawn towards the sapphire mare's victory as she prepared her own charge-

She saw the water, too little, too late to warn Luna: all she could do was twist her body to land unevenly against the culvert opening and shout a warning she knew wasn't going to stop the mare in time: "Wait, stop!"

Luna smashed into the culvert covering again... and was blown backwards with it as floodwaters gushed forwards, knocking her back into the sickly liquid with a splash. Then she cried out in agony as she felt something bite savagely into her, snapping her horn and electrifying her body to drive back the sharp-toothed fish and fry the blood-sucking eels attempting to swarm in on her, as more hungry, vicious aquatic life was flung in from the broken-open pipe.

The sapphire mare snarled and splashed backwards: in the middle of the room, Scrivener Blooms cursed as he looked up, then tripped over something heavy and metal before he looked down, trying desperately to stare through the murk as he felt around with his oversensitive claws. He was standing on some kind of... grating, it felt like, although there was metal beneath this... and the stallion gritted his teeth before doing the only thing he could think of, digging his hooves into whatever was beneath him and focusing his powers forwards, starting to transform metal into mire even as agony screamed through his system.

Luna and Twilight both turned towards Scrivener, both leaping to the air and shooting towards him as the sapphire mare shouted: "Damnation, get out of the way!"

Without hesitation, Luna curled into a divebomb, smashing to the ground in front of Scrivener and stabbing Prúðbikkja straight down into rotted metal floor as the spear unleashed a tremendous blast of force. The liquid around them was repelled in an almost perfect circle, forming high, wide waves and a nearly solid wave of water, and Twilight Sparkle acted on instinct in perfect time with Luna, a swirl of biting cold ripping through the air around the ponies and turning the liquid into a wall of green-tinted ice, leaving them safe for the moment inside a ring of frozen walls.

Luna grasped her spear with both front hooves, gritting her teeth as both her soulstone horn and the alicorn speartip glowed brightly, the polearm slowly, gradually burning its way down through what looked like an enormous drainage covering. Of course, they had already screwed up once... and so much water was pouring in – and now laced with hungry, vicious, thoroughly-disgusting fish, on top of that – that they really didn't have more than this one last shot before everything went to hell.

Scrivener clutched his claws down against the metal plating, gasping in pain but refusing to relent as Twilight Sparkle leaned forwards and concentrated on the mire: she didn't know how much she could really affect it, but she pushed with all her might and prayed with all her heart that they could tear off this cap and find a way to escape...

Then, just as green liquid began to trickle over the high walls of ice around them, just as cracks started to form and leak through the pale emerald walls, there was a hideous clanking sound before a hail of sludge spilled down into the pipe, followed by several enormous pieces of rotting metal. And... Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight all stared in horror as they splashed down into what looked like some kind of brackish slurry, sinking rapidly away through the ugly liquid.

Luna cursed as she heard the ice cracking, looking over her shoulder before snapping her soulstone horn out, and Scrivener winced as a crystalline bubble formed around both his head and the mare's own. Then, without hesitation, Luna dove into the open pit... and Scrivener knew there was no other choice but to follow, diving in with Twilight close behind.

The slurry burned their skin as they swam down into it... and Luna gritted her teeth in disgust as they swam down through what she now very clearly understood was a drainage pipe. She led the path forwards with Prúðbikkja held out in front of her, the speartip glowing brightly and casting a pale blue light around them, every now and then using it to push pieces of rotting meat and the remains of long-dead demons out of the way.

They swam downwards, and around a bend in the pipe to find a ripped steel screen blocking the way forwards. But Luna simply slashed her spear outwards, and the glowing alicorn sliced through the metal with ease before Twilight Sparkle concentrated, using telekinesis to tear the hole wider and bend the ripped metal strings out of the way.

The trio of ponies swam carefully forwards through this, and Luna glanced up uneasily as she heard a heavy rumbling somewhere behind them. But then she only shook her head and forced herself to focus forwards again, leading the way slowly down a long, slightly-clearer pipe.

Scrivener fell a little behind: his claws weren't exactly good for paddling, and Luna and Twilight were both naturally using their wings to steer and rudder a little, accelerating themselves faster through the water. Furthermore, the stallion was leaving faint trails of black blood from his claws, and he kept tossing apprehensive looks over his shoulder, worried that at any moment something was going to lunge up out of the depths, drawn by the scent of his poisonous essence, to try and gobble him up.

Luna drifted to a halt with a worried look over her shoulder, and Twilight Sparkle paused uncertainly herself. Scrivener looked at them sourly as he swam closer, but then he nodded a little before frowning and pointing awkwardly at his head as he traded thoughts with the two.

Luna noted what had caught Scrivener's attention after a moment: a vague whup-whup-whup noise, with something higher in pitch that the water was distorting a little more just beneath this. She bit her tongue uncertainly, then she shook her head quickly before looking back and forth before her eyes locked on an offshoot where the water was visibly vibrating slightly.

The sapphire mare led the way down, Scrivener and Twilight following uneasily after her before Luna grimaced as she felt a pull against her body, something attempting to drag her down into the passage. She caught the edge of the tunnel so she could lean safety into it, and then narrowed her eyes at the sight of several large fans that took up the entire narrow passage, spinning rapidly... and past that, there seemed to be some kind of larger duct, but also a much larger fan.

The sapphire mare studied this silently for a few moments, and then she flicked her horn firmly, and the blade at the front of the passage screamed in protest as thick ice spread rapidly over it, the large, curved blades cracking and the central axis disjointing as chunks of machinery snapped loose. Luna smiled grimly at this before cocking her spear back, then she flung it as hard as she could, hitting the center of the fan and shattering the hub, knocking a hail of broken pieces backwards to crash and bang into the fan beneath it.

Machinery clanked and screamed as it smashed apart, collapsing further in a domino effect that blew apart the third fan as well, before the broken litter of metal was pulled down with a tremendous clang and crash into the machinery below.

There was one final, tremendous bang, and a wave of heat and bubbles as something ruptured, the sapphire mare wincing backwards and then watching with surprise as her spear was ejected from the tunnel. But she quickly caught it and yanked it back down to a ready position beside her, poking her head back into the tunnel as Scrivener and Twilight both stared at the sapphire mare before Luna Brynhild shoved into the passage and swam her way quickly downwards.

Scrivener and Twilight followed uneasily after a moment, the three swimming down the passage and into the room at the bottom of the area. Broken pieces of machinery were floating and resting along the surfaces of the room, larger chunks of metal and fan-blade clogging up a half-destroyed vent.

Luna looked back and forth grouchily before her eyes locked on a large hatch in the wall. The sapphire mare swam quickly over to this, grasping the valve handle in the center of the armored door and slowly rotating it until she couldn't turn it any further.

The sapphire mare pulled back with all her strength, and she felt the door budge slightly: immediately, Twilight and Scrivener both swam down, grasping into the handle and the door to forcefully yank the door open little-by-little as water rushed eagerly down through the opening.

Without letting go of the handle, Luna stabbed Prúðbikkja down into the narrow space they managed to force open, both Scrivener and Twilight fighting not to be pulled down by the rushing water even as they switched their grips to the raised edge of the door. Luna joined them after a moment, then looked quickly at Twilight Sparkle, whose eyes widened before she nodded hurriedly and rose her head as her horn glowed.

At the mouth of the passage, water coalesced and began to freeze as it spun slowly, transforming into a solid, durable cap. It continued to thicken and solidify as Luna turned her own eyes towards the broken vent, concentrating on it and freezing the water there into a solid wall of ice. And almost immediately, all three ponies could feel the weight on the hatch door lifting as the water rapidly drained down through it.

By the time the room was half-drained, they were able to yank the door up wide enough for a pony to pass through... which Scrivener Blooms found out when he lost his footing and was sucked down in the rush of liquid ass-first, painfully bouncing off the narrow walls of a short steel shaft until he smashed through a leaking trapdoor at the bottom and crashed down into a metal hallway with a great splash of water. He blinked stupidly a few times as he laid in a puddle, then gasped and clutched at his chest as Luna cursed under her breath, clenching her eyes shut as her body trembled in pain.

She forced herself to focus despite the fact she could feel her energy bleeding out of her body from the distance she and Scrivener were at, and then she straightened and flung the hatch open with a roar, sending it splashing back through the water and letting the flow yank her down. Unlike Scrivener, however, she easily braced her hooves against a metal wall, skidding down it in a hail of sparks until she finally fell free to land easily beside Scrivener Blooms with a wheeze, muttering: "Stupid idiot."

"I know. I know." Scrivener mumbled tiredly, and then he carefully began to pick himself up before he smiled a little when Luna silently dropped her neck across his, closing his eyes and murmuring: "Hey. We're okay. And we must be... close."

Luna shrugged... then glanced up at a loud bang from above: a few moments later, Twilight Sparkle dropped down out of the shaft with Prúðbikkja floating beside her, and Luna smiled at how well the spear responded to the violet mare. "I shut that hatch so... I don't think that we'll have to worry about being flooded out. But where are we now?"

"I'd guess a maintenance area, since... Luna and I always seem to end up passing through one when we're attacking the enemy stronghold." Scrivener muttered pessimistically, and Luna sighed and looked at him pointedly, but the stallion only smiled wryly as he gestured around at the concrete walls, the grated floor, the pipes and cables that ran willy-nilly over many of the surfaces. "I think reality sides with me for once."

Luna responded to this by bopping the stallion with her soulstone horn, and then she reached out and grasped one of his claws, softening and studying it as she murmured: "Idiot Scrivener Blooms. Look at what thou hast done to thyself."

Scrivener only shrugged a little as he glanced down at one soggy, broken-looking claw, and then he mumbled: "On the bright side it doesn't really hurt anymore, but. That's really probably not actually much of a bright side, is it?"

Luna sighed tiredly as Twilight shook her head slowly, and then the stallion awkwardly shoved himself up to a standing position, swaying a little on the spot before he said quietly: "Well, we should keep moving. We should probably continue to keep our eyes open..."

"For more than traps, though. We might be able to find whatever's helping to power all this machinery... I get the feeling that aqueduct we just passed through is more than just for Hel to drown her enemies in, after all." Twilight murmured, and Luna and Scrivener both nodded slowly before the Lich looked back and forth hesitantly. "I feel energy in the air..."

They fell into an awkward quiet as they continued onwards: Luna took the lead, Scrivener stumbled along in the center, and Twilight followed last, a little bit at a distance, not seeming to realize she was still carrying Prúðbikkja as the spear glowed with eerie light. The corridors around them were enclosed, metallic, rusted and uncomfortable more than they were sterile: now and then, they could hear rustling in the walls and clanking in the pipes.

Then Luna frowned as she saw something strange flit around the corner ahead, floating haphazardly along and casting a dim spotlight beneath it that was scanning over the ground. She recognized it after a moment as a willowisp: only the 'lantern' of the spirit was visible, that glowing flame of light, but previous experience told her that above this was a ghost, likely of a pony... and Twilight looked up to confirm this before wincing at the sight.

She saw it: the phantasm was dressed in old traveler's clothes, an ancient, hexagonal glass lantern dangling by a ring clutched in one hoof. But the specter also had its eyes and mouth sewn shut, and it was clearly using the lantern's light to feel its way forwards, its ears twitching every so often...

"Here." Luna muttered, gesturing towards a nook between several pipes, and Scrivener grimaced before he squeezed into this as the sapphire mare leapt up and flapped her wings, propelling herself to the top of the niche and bracing herself against the piping and wall. That left Twilight to awkwardly scramble half on top of Scrivener, smiling embarrassedly as he only mumbled a little.

Prúðbikkja bobbed awkwardly below Luna, and the sapphire mare absently flicked her horn to take this back from Twilight, raising the spear high as the willowisp passed. The spotlight from the lantern scanned silently over the ground, twisting towards the wall as Scrivener furled his claws in and shoved himself backwards as much as possible, Twilight balancing awkwardly on the stallion as best she could as the light slowly, slowly swept past...

And then the willowisp moved on. For a few moments, there was an awkward silence, and then Scrivener sighed and slumped forwards, which made Twilight wince and cling to his head with both front hooves as she was nearly flipped over him. "Oh good, we-"

Then Luna slapped Prúðbikkja downwards, whacking both Twilight and Scrivener in the face with the pole before using the spear to yank them backwards, and a second willowisp slowly floated past, scanning the floor with its own lantern in a zigzagging pattern. Just behind this one came a third willowisp that had its lantern raised high and was scanning the ceiling, and the sapphire mare gritted her teeth as she muttered: "It looks as if Hel knows we are here."

Scrivener mumbled a little against the pole pushing against his face, and Twilight awkwardly leaned around the spear, putting one hoof against the piping as she whispered: "So what do we do? What will happen if one of those things finds us?"

"An alarm, no doubt. And Hel has more than mere demons at her disposal. We will have to be careful." Luna said softly, and then she leapt forwards and flapped her wings, hovering in the hall and gazing down the narrow corridor as she muttered: "It looks clear for now. Let us find a place to regroup and regain our wits, then we shall press onwards."

She pulled Prúðbikkja up to a ready position beside her with a flick of her horn, and Scrivener rubbed slowly at his face as Twilight hopped over him and shivered a little, murmuring: "I never realized that Hel could exert so much control over the living dead, too... but... why isn't she just using her magic or her puppets to find us?"

"Either she's playing a game with us or they don't work here... remember how her puppet disintegrated when it tried to pass into her home? Her own anti-summon charms must still be in effect." Scrivener said quietly, and then he rose a splintered claw and studied it uneasily. His claw itself was only giving a dull throb, even if his veins felt like they were on fire, and he was worried that wasn't exactly a good sign... "We better keep moving."

"The poet is right. The longer we linger, the more chance we will be found." Luna dropped back down to the ground, shaking her head briefly. "Let's go."

Twilight and Scrivener both nodded, and the sapphire mare hesitated before gesturing at the Lich, murmuring: "Thou should lead. I will follow at the back. Thou has a better eye than I do, at least when it comes to these sad souls."

"Thanks. I think." Twilight mumbled, and then she shook he head a little before starting down the corridor, leading the way. They reached an intersection shortly, but Twilight grimaced: more willowisps were slowly coming towards them down one hall, so it made the choice easy.

They hurried down the other branch, Luna checking uneasily behind them: two willowisps turned at the intersection, and another two were coming straight down the hall towards them. The sapphire mare gritted her teeth before she turned her attention ahead, before sending Twilight a sharp mental signal when she noted they were nearing a large metal door.

Twilight stopped in front of it, then simply stared dumbly, mouthing slowly: the door was heavy, fortified, and had some kind of massive gemstone in the center of it giving off a malicious sense of energy. She began to open her mouth... and without slowing, Luna whirled Prúðbikkja around and stabbed her spear into the gemstone, sending a charge of magical energy ripping down the weapon and into the door.

It sparked brightly and howled like a living thing, and Twilight winced as she looked down the hall towards the willowisps: even if they were likely deaf, they had both clearly heard the scream, and were both hurrying forwards as they scanned all around themselves with their lanterns. But a moment later, the armored door rumbled slowly backwards before it slid smoothly up into the ceiling, and Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight hurried inside with the spear floating behind them.

Twilight flicked her horn down on instincts half-taken from Luna, and the door rumbled before it slowly lowered and locked back into place, just as one of the willowisps began to scan past. Luna gave a loud sigh of relief at this, and Twilight smiled... while Scrivener was only staring to the side, mouthing wordlessly in horror before he whispered: "Oh holy hell. Those aren't what I think they are, are they?"

Luna and Twilight both frowned and turned their eyes in the direction Scrivener was facing... and both mares shivered before Luna gritted her teeth and Twilight only whispered: "How? How could she do something like this..."

Across from them were several massive, cylindrical tanks with plate glass walls, enormous cables feeding out of the steel, dome-like tops and up into the ceiling. And inside, other cables and wires fed down, pierced into the bodies of the chained and bound demons inside.

A single First Tier demon was in each tube: each was shackled and bound, blindfolds over their eyes and enormous silver spikes sticking out of their scarred bodies. They all bore the signs of torture and mutilation, and Scrivener shivered a little as he studied the cables and wires sticking out of them... that were sucking the life force out of these once-mighty demon lords that had clearly all displeased Hel. "Batteries..."

Luna growled, and Twilight clenched her eyes shut and shivered before she muttered: "Who... who knows how much these three alone are powering? We should shut the machinery down, free them... it might even disable some of Hel's traps."

"Shut it down, aye... free them..." Luna licked her lips slowly, hesitating and studying the demons moodily. "I would like to, for many reasons. But they are First Tier demons Hel has saw fit to weaken and shove into these... evil technologies of Valthrudnir's. They may not thank us for freeing them. They may not be interested in thanking anyone."

There was silence for a few moments, and Scrivener grimaced a bit as he nodded slowly. Twilight leaned uneasily forwards all the same, reaching up and silently pressing a hoof against the magic-reinforced glass before she murmured: "I guess I understand. But all the same, I just... I wish we could do something for them. Even if they might be monsters, even if there's a ninety-nine percent chance they'd turn on us, try to hurt us... no one deserves this. Look at them... think of how long they must have been here... and likely all they did was upset Hel..."

Scrivener and Luna both smiled faintly, sharing nods as they looked over their shoulders at Twilight, and the sapphire mare hesitated before muttering: "Mercy must not be given only to those who we desire to benefit. Mercy must be given to all, if all are to be treated equal. Everyone deserves a second chance... or none do. Aye, very well..."

Luna paused and looked thoughtfully at the machinery before she said slowly: "But the quality of the mercy we must give... that is up for debate. Perhaps we can grant them mercy and at the same time, serve our own ends..."

"I really hate when you think out loud. It somehow makes all your ideas sound... worse." Scrivener said dryly, and Luna huffed at him grouchily.

"Shut up, Scrivy." She paused, then drew her eyes over the machinery before stabbing Prúðbikkja savagely several times into the capsule in front of them, shattering holes in the glass as alarms began to blare. Green liquid gushed out, sparking with electricity, and Luna smiled grimly as the sensitive equipment beneath the tanks sizzled violently, parts of it shorting out. "There. Come, let us hastily make our escape."

The others nodded, Twilight wincing a little as Luna flicked her horn at the door: from this side it only took a telekinetic yank on the thin handle on the back of it to pull it open before it slid automatically up into the ceiling. Luna led the way out, Twilight and Scrivener hurrying after her and turning hurriedly to the side as willowisps floated down the hall from the other direction to investigate the source of the noise.

The ponies turned the corner, and Luna's eyes widened as they locked on some kind of awful, mechanical beast lumbering down the halls towards them, with enormous metal claws for hands and a body of steel and plastic wrapped around fleshy, real organs. Its head was shaped like a big, thick rectangular block with a single glaring lens, although from the way it moved it seemed like it could only see a few feet in front of itself.

"Damnation, I... Twilight, up!" Luna snapped as she looked over her shoulder, noting two other willowisps were coming down the hall opposite. The Lich winced, but leapt to the air, flying up towards the ceiling as Luna glared pointedly at Scrivener, and the stallion groaned before he clambered hurriedly onto Luna's back, then winced when she leapt into the air with a grunt and flapped her wings hard, carrying him upwards as he clung anxiously to her.

The machine passed beneath them without a pause, and Luna grimaced as she looked ahead: more and similar strange golem-things were coming down the hall towards them, emerging from a large, open shutter some thirty feet down the hall. An alarm light was flashing beside this, and Luna's eyes narrowed: something about the design drew her, made her think of how the security golems for the old Mage Towers had always been kept in checkpoints right outside the most vulnerable areas...

The shutter whirred before it began to close, and Luna gave a mental shout to Twilight as she lunged forwards, staying high near the ceiling and flying over the heads of the security drones as Scrivener Blooms winced and clung to the sapphire mare's back.

Luna snapped her horn forwards as she realized the shutter was closing far too fast for them to make it, and Prúðbikkja shot through the air to spear into the ground and stand straight beneath the descending armored door.

Gears clanked, then squalled in protest as the shutter was halted by the polearm, the alicorn speartip digging slowly into the ground as the heavy gate attempted to force down against the unbreakable gianttooth spear. Luna grinned as she shot forwards, then winged swiftly down behind the marching drones and shot through the opening... and Scrivener had enough time to stare blankly before his helmeted head banged painfully into the bottom of the shutter, knocking him flopping off Luna's back to land in a stupefied sprawl.

Twilight winced as she dropped down beside the stallion and staggered to a halt, looking down at the charcoal earth pony worriedly, but he only weakly shook his head and mumbled: "Just. Kick me through the big hole. The hole. The... doorway?"

"Come on, get up, Scrivy." Twilight reached down, pulling the stallion up to his hooves... and then both she and Scrivener winced at a thunderous smashing that ripped through the air, followed by a furious roar.

"I got my second wind." Scrivener wheezed, and then he scurried through the shutter opening, Twilight hurrying after the stallion as Luna grimaced and looked back through the gateway. Then she cursed and flicked her horn to the side, ripping Prúðbikkja free from beneath the dented shutter, and the heavy armored gate slammed down to the ground with a scream of broken gears... although Luna noted wryly that Scrivener had managed to hit the shutter with so much force it had actually dented in the bottom of it.

Then she turned around... and joined the other two ponies in staring in disbelief at the terrible factory they had stepped into. Immense drones were working calmly away beside massive mechanical arms that stood out of the ground and hung off large rails above rumbling conveyor belts, assembling golems and automated drones. Machines building machines; Scrivener shivered at the sight of it.

And Twilight stared upwards, staring in disbelief: all along the top of the room, there were large green capsules: batteries, containing demons both whole and in pieces, huge cables running to and from the various tanks and powering all this awful machinery, this terrible factory that looked like another Clockwork World, another Endworld.

Luna's eyes roved with disgust though the assembly line: at the end of the conveyors assembling together golems, there were massive clusters of arms and what looked almost like a mechanical tree, that spat not fruits, but hearts of blood quartz out of its cylindrical branches and into waiting bowls. These fruits were plucked up by synthetic claws, which placed them into the chests of mechanical puppets before other sets of arms fastened on heavy plates and armor. Then the readied golems were picked up by an enormous crane claw and carried off into some deep dark tunnel...

Scrivener forced his eyes away, drawing his eyes through the area before he locked on a metal staircase on the far side of the room. His eyes followed it upwards, noting not just an armored door, but what looked like some kind of lounge area, where someone could watch what was going on...

"Hel." Twilight said quietly, locking on to who must use that room above before Scrivener could even think about it, and Luna smiled grimly at this before the sapphire mare simply broke into a run along the front wall of the factory, recklessly charging past machinery and racks of machine parts. Twilight and Scrivener winced and scrambled after the mare after a moment, the stallion wheezing as he felt a second of pain when Luna put too much distance between them before he and the Lich started to catch up to the sapphire mare as she skidded to a halt, then gestured sharply down an aisle between conveyors before running down it.

Twilight and Scrivener both winced, but leapt around the corner, following her down the narrow aisle and leaping past whirring mechanical arms and large frames and racks of machine parts, the stallion wanting to shout... but this close to the drones, not daring to do more than growl and send a frantic mental signal to Luna to slow down before he stared when she leapt up onto one of the conveyors and scrambled past a half-assembled golem to leap off the other side and run towards the metal stairway.

Twilight grimaced before she leapt up, flapping her wings to propel herself safely high over the conveyor as Scrivener dropped low and scrambled through a narrow space beneath it, grimacing as he passed beneath sparking wires and rumbling motors. He wiggled out the other side with a curse, then followed in Luna's hoofsteps as Twilight Sparkle dropped right down onto the metal staircase behind the sapphire mare, saying quickly: "Luna, wait, there's no hurry, there's-"

An alarm blared just as Scrivener stumbled onto the staircase, and both winged unicorns above turned to stare back and forth over the factory, thinking they had just been caught. Except a moment later, there was a tremendous banging on the shutter they had entered through before a massive, blood-soaked demon ripped it up and out of place, clearly using the large, handle-shaped imprint formed by Scrivener's head to hold it up.

The stallion grinned weakly as the enormous demon strode inside, roaring furiously as it yanked itself forwards and glared back and forth furiously. Several of the large automatons stepped away from the conveyors, striding towards the invader, but the First Tier demon leapt forwards and hefted the nearest golem into the air, turning and slamming it viciously into the wall before ripping it in half like paper, flinging both chunks of sparking, oil-bleeding construct at the other drones.

"Hurry!" Scrivener shouted in a strangled voice, as willowisps floated quickly in though the torn-open shutter and out of tunnels near the roof, but Luna didn't stay to watch what happened as she leapt up towards the armored door. It was the same as the heavy door that had blocked the way into the generator room where they had found the three First Tier demons, and Luna thrusted Prúðbikkja into the crystal emblem on the front with her teeth grit.

It rumbled and resisted for a moment, and Luna sent another charge of magic into the door, overriding the locking mechanism. Slowly, it slid backwards before rising up into the ceiling as Luna yanked her spear back, and she couldn't help but toss a look over her shoulder at the chaos in the factory, even with the way out right in front of her.

The willowisps were all converging around the First Tier demon, shining their lanterns on it as more of the large golems attempted to try and restrain the creature. It was resisting the machines with ease, ripping off limbs and swatting them backwards, but there was something else wrong... and Twilight shivered as she looked over her shoulder and realized she could see wraiths emerging out of the walls, the floor, everywhere, to throw themselves at the demon and leech out its energies. And First Tier or not, the Wrath demon couldn't see them, couldn't strike them, couldn't grasp them, and it wouldn't be able to keep running forever.

"So the Wraiths and wisps are trained to work together. Hel is cruel and devious." Luna muttered, then she turned and strode quickly through the doorway, Twilight and Scrivener following with winces over their shoulders before the door closed with a clank behind them.

The room they entered into was plush and elegant, with large crystals inset into the roof that shone a gentle, warming light down over their bodies. Even Luna felt herself relaxing as the energy massaged her muscles and filled her form with warmth, and Scrivener let his eyes slowly slip closed before he mumbled: "I saw a couch over there I want to go to sleep on."

"Later, poet, after we have bashed Hel roundly. Then thou may sleep..." Luna yawned a bit, and then she shook her head hurriedly and muttered: "Is this another trick, or yet another trap?"

"No, I... I don't think so..." Twilight murmured quietly, and the violet mare shook her own head quickly before she looked back and forth. It wasn't just the beauty of the place, the lavish furnishings, or how from this side she could see it wasn't just reinforced glass filling the windows, but metal that had been enchanted to be translucent. It was the personal touches, and the sense that whoever used this place recognized it was a cage of sorts... but all the same had tried to gild it, make it pretty, left a picture crooked here, a few books laying messily out atop a table there...

Scrivener slowly looked up at the glowing gemstones in the ceiling, and then he murmured: "Wow. I think I just got it. She's crazy. I mean, Hel is really crazy, right? That lethargy..."

"It's not to hurt us. It must be to help her... which means she does use this room, and we're close to her. She wouldn't stray far from her stronghold." Twilight shivered, stepping towards the window and looking uneasily down into the factory: the chaos had increased, but at the same time, it felt distant, almost unimportant with that constant hum of calm energy flowing over them.

The stallion nodded a little, still staring up at the ceiling, and Luna shook her head briefly before drawing her eyes through the room until they locked on a massive, ominous-looking door. The handle was formed by a large steel bar clutched in heavy stone claws, and above this was a stone bust in the shape of an Ironjaw head, lowered as if in thought with the stony eyes closed.

Luna approached this slowly... then winced, Scrivener and Twilight both turning around with shock as the eyes of the head opened, before it rasped in ancient tongue: "Who approaches me?"

"Valkyrie Brynhild, the Night Maiden of Valhalla." Luna answered: her voice was calm and even, but even she was surprised by the response... by how easy she slipped back into the language of old. "I wish to pass with my companions, Guardian."

The draconian bust stared at them, with eyes of glowing red crystal. It licked teeth of diamond with a tongue of stone, claws flexing around the handle it gripped before it said calmly: "I cannot let you pass if you wish harm upon my Mistress."

"I can honestly say, Guardian, that I wish for her aid. If I must harm her to convince her of my strength, I will do so; I am not so foolish to think I can promise you I will not hurt her." Luna replied evenly, looking up into the construct's eyes, knowing that lying to the construct would be much more dangerous than telling the truth.

There was silence for a few moments, and then the Guardian give a grim smile before it nodded calmly and slowly flexed its claws, pushing the steel bar between them downwards. The door clanked loudly as locks opened throughout it, before the Guardian said softly: "Harm is not harm when its aim is to help, Valkyrie Brynhild. Helheim is based upon that principle; that amputating a limb is a worthy cause if it saves the rest of the body."

Luna shook her head briefly as the huge door swung open, and then she strode calmly through and into an airlock of sorts. Scrivener and Twilight both followed her into the squat passage as she pushed uselessly at the door opposite, before cursing under her breath when the Guardian door slammed shut and left them enclosed in the short metal tube.

There was a hum, and then all three ponies shouted and panicked for a moment as some kind of cleansing mist was vented in from all sides, painfully scouring their bodies as they flailed and shoved helplessly at each other. They almost trampled one-another as they banged into the walls, Luna stabbing Prúðbikkja wildly in every direction as Scrivener shouted about poison and Twilight's horn glowed brightly. Thankfully, she didn't have the time to prepare or release a spell: the vents rumbled to a halt, and the ponies were left staring back and forth in the airlock before the door opposite clanked and opened with a beep.

"Damnation." Luna mumbled, and then the sapphire mare strode forwards and shoved the heavy, foot-thick door open, shouldering through as Scrivener and Twilight traded embarrassed looks. The stallion let the Lich go first as he winced and flexed his claws: they were hurting all over again now, and he wheezed a little as he hobbled carefully into the corridor as Luna scowled.

They were in a cul-de-sac: there was a massive vault door at one end of the hall, and four more – including the one they had just come through – placed in pairs on either wall. In the opposite direction, the bottleneck bridged out into a massive hall, and Luna was drawn towards this, Twilight and Scrivener following uneasily behind her as the sapphire mare whispered: "Mimir's head..."

The hall they stepped into was as tall as it was wide, with a curved ceiling and rippled walls covered in glowing, ornate gold runes. Massive braziers filled with glowing gold flame that chased away all shadow lit the path, making the lines of aureate symbols gleam ominously over the ground; past these, pearl doors were guarded by massive, thin statues of Ironjaw, both dragons holding spears made entirely out of soulstone and emanating a powerful magic Luna could feel from here.

The sapphire mare leaned forwards, studying the runes intently as Twilight gazed slowly up, her eyes picking up a supernatural gleam before her vision sharpened... and then she shuddered, licking her lips slowly as she whispered: "Luna..."

Above, there were countless spirits, all sitting calmly upside-down on the rounded ceiling. Some of them were watching them curiously others were simply talking to each other, and a few were playing chess, or toying with other apparently-spectral games. She had no idea what to make of it, but Luna only shook her head and murmured: "And to think... I had always imagined Purgatory much larger, but I suppose there are precious few souls who belong in such a place."

The stallion nodded slowly, then he gazed ahead towards the ivory gates and said quietly: "You know there's no way we're just walking to those doors, right? I don't need my freaky vision power to tell you this is all going to go hell. No pun intended."

"Aye, I know. But in a way, I look forwards to it." Luna hesitated, then she frowned and leaned forwards before her soulstone horn pulsed... and to her surprise, she felt both the large, crystalline spears reverberate in response. "My horn... I can key to the other soulstone..."

Scrivener Blooms and Twilight Sparkle both looked at the sapphire mare, and then Luna smiled wryly before she gestured forwards, saying calmly: "It should not surprise thee, but there are nine lines of runes. Nine lines of trials we shall likely have to survive: but no matter what, we must push forwards. I believe I know how to open the gates, but I do not know how much time it will take, nor how long I can hold it for. So... ready thyselves. We charge."

The stallion and the Lich both grimaced a little, then nodded slowly as they stepped up beside the sapphire mare, and they dropped themselves into ready positions as they all faced calmly forwards. For a few moments, there was silence... and then, in perfect time, the three lunged forwards, sprinting down the hall as Luna's soulstone horn began to glow brightly.

They passed the first line of runes, and Scrivener had to bite back a scream as Luna's eyes widened in horror as the floor around them burst into golden flames. They kept running forwards all the same, however, even as Scrivener felt pieces of his body turning to stone and Luna's own concentration shuddered before she forced herself to use the pain to her advantage, using the agony to further empower her magic.

They shot past the second line of runes, and reality around them distorted, the floor transforming into ice as a cold snow whipped down and tore past them, blinding and staggering them. They slipped wildly back and forth along the frosty surface, but then Scrivener dug his claws down against the frost and lunged forwards, catching Luna against his body before she could fall.

The sapphire mare winced as Twilight whacked into her other side, but the Lich bounced off her and was able to straighten herself, the three continuing to run and passing into the next section: and here, black smoke filled the air, Luna and Scrivener choking and coughing and nearly falling over, but Twilight Sparkle only grimacing as she was blinded before she snapped her horn out.

A blast of wind shot through the air around them, cutting a hole towards the next section as Luna and Scrivener staggered back into full runs as they were able to breathe again, and Luna's soulstone horn began to glow brighter; as they reached the fourth line of runes, the soulstone spears clutched by the dragon statues began to glow brightly, and the pearl doors between them to tremble open, the sapphire mare's fangs baring in a grin...

But the moment they stepped over the fourth line, reality around them distorted and they were suddenly hundreds of feet away from the door, the hallway now stretched disproportionately through twisted and mangled reality. Luna's eyes widened, but then she snarled and leaned forwards, keeping her concentration on the doors as she shouted: "Just keep moving!"

Scrivener and Twilight both nodded, and neither looked back even as they heard a crackling behind them: neither wanted to guess at what was chasing them now. As they passed the fifth line of runes, however, the crackling didn't stop; if anything, it grew more intense even as dark spirits ripped out of the walls and floor all around them, grabbing wildly at them, all skeletal, screaming, and emanating a burning hatred that made Scrivener's mind reel with psychic pain.

The three ponies dodged back and forth, doing their best to keep moving even as ghostly claws ripped into their hide, stealing energy and leaving trails of rot wherever they managed to touch: but as they crossed the sixth line, the specters vanished... even as enormous sawblades ripped out of the border at the other end of this section and began to roll towards them as the walls on either side shattered out of place and rapidly began to crush inwards.

Luna and Twilight both leapt into the air, and the sapphire mare lunged to the side overtop Scrivener Blooms before the stallion flung himself desperately into the sky as the rolling wall of blades shot towards them: both mares caught him by either foreleg, however, then flung him hard forwards as they shot in high arcs themselves, the three ponies passing just over the spinning network of blades before all three ponies shot down and landed beyond the seventh line.

And reality here bent, the floor turning into a steep ramp as a wall of spikes and blades of ice ripped into being at the end of the section: Luna's eyes widened, but when she spread her wings, they couldn't catch the air, and Twilight Sparkle snarled before snapping her horn out as Scrivener only flailed helplessly as he fell.

Most of the spike wall was shattered by a psychokinetic hammer, leaving fragments of shrapnel floating eerily in the air that battered and sliced the ponies as they fell through. Then reality suddenly altered again, and Scrivener crashed down on his back on the floor past the eighth line of runes, Twilight hitting the ground hard face-first with a grisly crack as only Luna managed to land on her hooves, skidding hard enough against the stone floor to send up sparks.

The stallion began to get up... and then he froze, only able to stare: only a short distance away, reality was ripping itself apart, draining into a terrible, endless void all around them, and the charcoal stallion shook his head wildly before he scrambled up and shouted: "We should go!"

Luna nodded sharply, and the three sprinted for the final line of runes... except when they passed over it, there was a spark of magic before the ponies were all standing once more at the back of the section, as if they had never crossed it. Except behind them, reality was still crumbling along the warped and distorted hall, closing rapidly in on them.

"Time-space distortion..." Luna snarled, her soulstone horn still glowing even as a bit of blood ran from the base, before she looked desperately at the end of the hall: the pearl doors were vibrating violently, beginning to creak open little by little as the magic spears held by both dragons thrummed. "We do not have the time to puzzle it out! Catapult!"

Scrivener winced in horror at this, but without hesitation, Twilight Sparkle hefted the stallion with telekinesis and flung him forwards, the charcoal stallion flailing wildly in all directions: the moment he reached the ninth line of runes, however, he sparked out existence, and the line of runes behind them glowed as Scrivener seemed to appear out of thin air, landing painfully on his face.

Twilight felt the pulse of magic as well as saw the effect, and she and Luna both turned around and studied the runes quickly before Luna cursed, snapping: "There are at least a dozen different enchantments twined together of every shape and measure... we cannot just destroy this spell without tremendous power..."

Scrivener grimaced as he looked over his shoulder, watching as the approaching void crumbled away another section behind them, feeling the vacuum from it beginning to pull them in before his eyes widened as he shouted hurriedly: "Maybe we don't have to! Let's get to the other side, and Luna, you have to open those gates!"

Luna looked up, trading a wild flurry of emotions with Scrivener before she nodded sharply, and Twilight shivered as she stared at the nothingness devouring the world rapidly behind them for a moment before forcing herself to turn away, hurrying up beside her partners. The air distorted around them as chunks of reality were ripped out of existence, the three feeling the way the air itself seemed to tremble in terror as Scrivener and Twilight gazed into the abyss, and the abyss hungrily charged towards them...

And Luna, meanwhile, was focusing all her power on the soulstone spears, her soulstone horn vibrating and the cracks through it spreading further as she poured every last ounce of strength towards them... before her eyes widened as gleaming, blinding golden light shone out of the doorway as the doors swung open maybe one foot... then two, then three, but no more. And such blinding, burning radiance poured out of them that Luna almost wanted to fling herself into the emptiness behind them to escape it...

"Now!" Scrivener shouted, as the line of runes behind them was torn apart by the sense of malicious nothingness behind them, and he and Twilight both turned around and fought not to be stunned by the dazzling light as they and Luna staggered across the ninth line of runes. And the moment they did, the dragon statues came to life, raising their soulstone spears high, and Luna's eyes widened in horror as the door began to close...

"No!" Luna's soulstone horn blazed with light as she charged forwards, and Twilight and Scrivener followed the mare as she battered her way through almost-physical radiance as her partners poured their strength into her, and she flung all the raw power, raw emotion, raw desperation she could into one mighty blast: not looking to power the soulstone spears, but a wild attack aimed directly at the gates themselves.

The doors were smashed by the telekinetic wave, cracks ripping through them as a spiderweb of fractures tore through her horn. Luna gasped, staggering... but Scrivener and Twilight were both immediately there, helping her onwards, keeping her on her hooves as they staggered across the threshold of the shuddering, wounded doors, and into the blinding light.

And a moment later, the pearl gates slammed shut, and all damage vanished as the hallway returned to normal, spotless, pristine, and quiet as the spirits above calmly went back to playing their ghostly games and trading gossip about the strange little creatures that had just breached the inner sanctum of Goddess Hel.

Chapter Twenty Nine: The Deepest Heart Of Darkness

~BlackRoseRaven

The room around them was clean, and neat, and polished. There was not a speck of dust on the white walls or the white floor, and Luna blinked slowly as she looked back and forth in disbelief.

It wasn't what she had imagined. The single room was massive and cathedral-like, with soft corners edged in a pretty silver-black. Glass spheres that trapped eternally-burning magic flames floated here and there, keeping the room brightly-lit and almost cheery; around some of these, spheres of crystal floated quietly, like planets in their eternal chase around the sun.

And all of it was dominated by... Luna didn't know what the hell it was. It was like a curved, crescent-shaped cradle-chair on a tall metal pillar, and all around it were strange, floating screens of crystal. At least sixteen, all of them floating and eerie, some large and some small and displaying countless different images...

"So you've come..." A chuckle, and all three ponies looked in surprise as a figure calmly approached them, pushing her way through a beaded curtain. A wrinkled white dress covered a too-thin body, her skin ghostly, her hair long and jet black, knotted and messy but clean. And Luna wasn't surprised to see she didn't have a cow's head after all: her features were narrow and thin and... surprisingly, not nearly as ugly as the legends had always said. She wasn't pretty, no... but she wasn't ugly, either. She bordered on blandness, with her sharp blue-white eyes the most defining thing about her: perhaps she had been beautiful once, but age and sleeplessness and worries had made her features drawn and sullen.

What was surprising was the cane she leaned on heavily, the metal tip clicking quietly against the floor as she came towards them, tightly gripping the plain derby handle. She all-but-dragged one leg behind her, with none of the energy and bounce they all had come to associate with the goddess... but it was clearly Hel's voice as she said pleasantly: "I really didn't expect you to actually make it in here... I mean, sure, I guess I'm glad that you did, even if I also kind of am starting to think all of you dying might be better for me-"

Luna reached a hoof up as her cracked horn sparked with energy: it hurt, but it provided more than enough magic to launch Sting Mk. II into her hoof before she quickly took aim at Hel and pulled the trigger. The iron round smashed into Hel's limp leg and almost knocked the flimsy goddess flying before she crashed down on her stomach with a howl of pain, cane clattering away before she looked up at them and screamed: "Are you completely out of your goddamn mind, Valkyrie?"

Then Hel fell silent as Luna leveled the gun at her face, the mare's eyes almost glowing as she bared her fangs and said darkly: "Try me, Hel. I dare thee to push me just a little more."

"Okay. Okay, you made your point. Get the... pointy-shooty thing out of my face, please." Hel winced a bit, carefully pushing herself up to her knees before she cursed quietly and grasped at her leg. "Oh, and of course you shoot my bad one. You bitch."

"Thou should thank me for not hobbling the other one." Luna growled in response, and Hel grumbled under her breath before Luna lowered Sting Mk II... but only slightly, keeping her icy eyes locked on the goddess. "We require thy assistance. I desire to know what great plan thou has, that thou hast been bragging constantly about. And I think thou should answer the many questions I have about this sick place thou calls Underdark, too... I thought thou wert of chaos, Hel, so why do I see so many machines of Valthrudnir in this place? Why does thou have an assembly line building golems?"

"Everyone needs a hobby." Hel deadpanned, and then she winced when Luna glared at her and rose her weapon, the frail goddess flinching backward. "Okay, okay! Oh everything's so much less fun when I have to be stuck in the same room as you violent little balls of flesh and anger."

The sapphire mare only growled moodily, and Scrivener and Twilight traded looks before the goddess stuck her wounded leg out childishly and yanked her dress away from it. And Scrivener frowned in surprise: not at the pale foot or skin, but the fact most of her leg was locked in a heavy iron brace, runes thrumming over it... and Luna's iron round was lodged halfway through the metal and into her shin, Hel hissing before she began to poke at it childishly. "Look! Look at that, just... just look at that!"

Luna only scowled, but Twilight frowned uneasily before she murmured: "Wait... that's mercury-lined. And those are holy-based runes..."

The sapphire mare blinked, then leaned in closer, looking disbelieving as Hel scowled over at Twilight, narrowing her eyes and saying sourly: "You're just going to be a giant pain in my ass, aren't you? Go ahead, little miss know-it-all. Keep talking, really, tell everyone everything about me."

Twilight blushed and shifted awkwardly, too confused to know what else to do, and Luna added quietly: "And those doors were locked in the same manner as parts of Asgard were secured... responded to the same magic charge. And there have been glimpses of both the Aesir and Vanir and... wait, those specters outside in the hall..."

"I was formerly Aesir before All Daddy threw me out of Asgard. But I guess that was before your time... before the Vanir and the Aesir knew each other more than in passing, too. Before Thor, and before Loki..." Hel reached down, carefully wiggling the iron bullet free before she grimaced and carefully tucked it away into a hidden pocket in her dress, muttering: "Before Midgard, and before Ymir died, and before Odin began gathering his quote-unquote 'family' together."

Slowly, the goddess stood, rubbing at her shin and cursing quietly in pain before straightening with a grim smile. "In the beginning, Odin and his cronies weren't in charge of Valhalla... they were just the muscle. But you know All Daddy was greedy, and stupid, and he made a deal. Oh, back then, we desperately needed to forge an alliance with the Jötnar... so Odin said that in exchange for being named as our leader Skati's inheritor, he would arrange for his beautiful firstborn daughter to be married off to a Frost Giant that had an interest in her..."

Hel smiled calmly, raising her right hand and showing off a sapphire ring as the three ponies stared up with disbelief at her. "And it almost worked out. Her husband tended to be a little stupid and a little drunk, but he wasn't a bad man. Very tender. Cold hands, though, like ice... although, you know, being a Frost Giant and all might have had something to do with that, even though his blood was plenty warm... which she found out when Odin came to fetch her after he'd been named King of the Aesir, and Skati mysteriously died in his sleep. After being mysteriously stabbed and mysteriously set on fire."

Luna stared up at this, breathing slowly as she lowered her gun until it clunked quietly against the ground, and Hel flicked her wrist, her cane floating gently up to her grip so she could lean on it as she said wryly: "All Daddy was never a fan of subtlety. After that, well. He was top dog, and he was quick to gather a whole bunch of dumb-dumb followers to consolidate his power... and just to make sure no one was ever going to tell on him, he made an arrangement with the Norns and the Jötnar after his little girl's husband 'mysteriously died.' His little girl, since it was probably her who killed her husband since... you know, women are traitorous bitches and all."

Hel sniffed loudly at this, then she shook her head slowly and gestured calmly around at her home. "She was given a stronghold... and a prison. She was made oh, so very powerful... and so weak, at the same time. Like a clam with an indestructible shell... but as you three just proved, not completely impenetrable. And the insides are mushy and soft, and can't do much to protect themselves."

Hel chuckled quietly, gesturing widely around herself and saying bitterly: "Welcome to my home, my prison! Underdark amplifies my powers to levels you can't believe... outside of my home, that is. Inside my own gilded cage, I'm little more than a mortal... just as All Daddy once was, so long, long, long ago now."

The goddess stopped, then she turned slowly back towards the ponies, smiling coldly over at them and waggling a finger. "But look at me. They locked me in a cage, used me for their own ends, abandoned me, and now I'm the only one left. I survived, each and every one of them... Odin, the Norns, Ymir, Vally-wally... and I'll survive you three, too, because you need my help. My nearly-infinite powers. You need to stop Gymbr, and I know just the way to do it."

The three ponies looked up at the goddess, then traded silent looks, sharing emotions, thoughts, worries and unease... and then Luna shook her head briefly before saying finally: "How can we trust thee? And... we do not simply require... power, Hel..."

"Hey, I know what you three need." Hel grumbled, and then she turned slowly around in a circle before limping towards the archway, gesturing for them to follow as she said mildly: "Come on, come on. We don't have all day and I can't do a lot to Heaven anymore. Your nasty friend has put some very complicated wards down. He's such a silly-billy fruit."

Luna grumbled, but then holstered her gun and strode quickly forwards, falling into step beside Hel. She glared challengingly at the goddess, but Hel only gave her a calm smile in return before Luna said dryly: "Thou does not seem like an insane goddess."

"Well, I have a lot of practice faking it. Plus, you know, the thought of being killed doesn't really drive up my anxiety. Killed is dead, so what?" Hel shrugged, sniffing disdainfully. "Furthermore, I'm not so crazy as to believe you're willing to gank me just to have a little taste of revenge. You guys need me, and I can give you stuff. Lots of stuff. Cool stuff. So stop trying to drive me into having an anxiety attack. Also because if you succeed it'll be a lot more embarrassing for you than it'll be for me."

"I do not see how." Luna said sourly, glowering moodily up at the goddess as they slowly made their way through the archway, heading into a hallway that had narrow walls polished to a mirror finish. Luna could feel a faint tickle of warmth along her skin from the crystalline lamps on the walls: the same sensation as she had felt in the strange office-theater above the factory, although not nearly as strong. "Where art thou taking us?"

"Yeah, I'm clearly taking you so far you have to ask that question to make sure we're not walking off the edge of the world or something." Hel said shortly, knocking her cane against her bad leg. "You and Vally-wally, questions questions questions. And worse than that, you both went after the same leg. Except you at least just shot me. Vally-girl attempted to rip it off. You wanna see the scars?"

She grasped at her dress with her free hand, turning an inquisitive look to Luna, and Luna only continued to glare before Hel suddenly turned her attention forwards as they stepped through another curtained archway, spreading her arms and trilling: "Here we are!"

Luna only looked back and forth crankily, however: she had seen too many libraries over her many years to be particularly impressed by this one. Even with the curving shelves of marble, the gorgeous furnishings of dark blue stone, the spotless fireplace that had a neat pile of wood sitting in a rack beside it...

Then the sapphire mare's eyes drew upwards, and she halted, staring in disbelief at the portrait above the fireplace. She stepped slowly forwards, mouthing wordlessly, and Hel grinned widely at this as she gestured easily to a small set of paints and brushes on one of the tables nearby, next to a small easel. "I do a little bit of art stuff myself to pass the time, Luna Brynhild. What do you think? I think I captured it pretty well."

"That is..." Luna stared at the two painted figures, shaking her head, drinking in every detail before she turned disbelieving eyes to Hel. "That is myself and Freya! When we were Valkyries!"

"You're pretty blonde! And you know, not a horse." Hel said encouragingly, and then she half-covered her mouth and whispered loudly to Scrivener as he walked past: "She's not, I'm just being nice. Especially about the 'not as a horse' part."

Scrivener and Twilight only strode quickly up beside Luna to gaze up at the painting as well, as the sapphire mare continued to only stare with fascination, ignoring the goddess. She studied it almost obsessively, seeing how so much was so incredibly different, and yet all the same... "It is us. It is us..."

Hel sighed and tapped her cane loudly against the ground a few times before she cleared her throat, and finally, Luna dragged her eyes away and turned towards the goddess, who was looking at them dryly. "While I'm oh so flattered that you step into a repository of endless knowledge and it's my silly doodles on the wall that catch your attention, I also you think you guys are complete idiots. Because, again, repository of endless knowledge."

Twilight shook herself out of her trance as Luna only grumbled and turned her eyes back to the painting, while Scrivener studied it for a moment longer before turning his eyes towards Hel and saying mildly: "Well, why do I get the feeling that's exactly what you were hoping would happen?"

"J'accuse!" Hel shouted, swinging her cane wildly through the air, and then she huffed and leaned forwards on it, saying sourly: "You guys and Vally-wally. Always sweating the small stuff. For such braniacs you guys sure are all really stupid."

"You have a weird obsession with Valthrudnir." Scrivener said dryly, and Luna grunted in agreement as she turned around, while Twilight only began to pace along the shelves and study the books with growing interest.

"He was only the most powerful Jötnar ever to exist. Hell, possibly the most powerful thing ever to exist, and there are a whole lot of things in the universe, in case you lost count." Hel replied mildly, leaning her forearms across the top of her cane before she informed: "That's precisely why I used some blood I stabbed out of him to make the Ironjaw."

"What?" Scrivener and Luna both stared with shock at Hel, and Twilight stumbled away from the shelves, looking disbelieving.

Hel, meanwhile, winced over at Twilight, straightening and gesturing anxiously at her. "N-No, no, not that section, please. It's all a mess but please step away from my books, not right now, now is not reading time, sugar sweetie."

"I... what?" Twilight took a cursory glance over the shelves of books, and then she said slowly, even as she stepped away: "They all seem fine to me..."

"Oh, they are, they just need to be neatened a little, that's all, please... please don't make them messy now, dear." Hel said hurriedly, shaking herself out a she straightened, clutching her cane by the neck and kneading it firmly: a nervous gesture if Scrivener ever saw one. And, as he awkwardly drew his eyes around the room, he realized how neat and tidy and organized everything was... except the painting had a slight, distinct tilt to it.

Luna frowned at this, then grinned slightly as she glance over her shoulder and straightened the painting out with telekinesis, and Hel stared at this and went a little bit pale before she quickly hobbled across the room, as Luna said kindly: "Oh, if thou will just help us a little bit, Hel, we will be more than glad to clean thy house a little..."

"No, no, no, I don't need your help." Hel grumbled, grasping the painting and carefully tilting it slightly, and she turned around, glaring daggers at Luna. "I see what you're up to, honeycake. Trying to drive me crazier than I already am. Treating me like I'm a moron, like I don't know when people are trying to screw with me. Well, people have been screwing with me my whole life! I'm a master of knowing when people are screwing with me, and I'm just as good at getting revenge, so you watch your fat chocolate-maker or I'll have to spank it."

"I wish it made chocolate." Luna grumbled, glancing over her shoulder as she wiggled her rear, and Scrivener slowly closed his eyes before the mare turned her eyes back towards Hel, saying mildly: "Well, then let me make this clear. As both of my pretty mares can attest, I am extremely gifted when it comes to creating chaos. I will turn this entire library upside down and then pummel thee if thou does not begin to answer our questions."

Hel winced at this, looking uneasily back and forth around the library before she reached up a hand and nibbled at her nails when Twilight took a step towards another shelf, looking over the titles with interest. "Honey, sweet-pea, okay, maybe you shouldn't look at the shelves, you should.. there's books on the table. Go read the books on the table. Books on the table are fine, please... don't... touch anything else. I need to clean the shelves."

Scrivener Blooms almost felt pity for Hel, but Luna only grinned widely before she strode up to the goddess, saying with relish: "Oh look at thou. Pathetic witch. Not so mighty and goddessy now, art thou? Nay, thou art nothing but a... a crazed old hag."

Hel glared down at Luna, then she leaned down and shoved a finger against her nose, saying icily: "Once you leave this place, you will be at the total mercy of my full powers. So drink a long, tall glass of shut the me up before I go and skin the people you love alive."

The two glared at each other furiously for a few moments, and then Scrivener Blooms awkwardly rose one broken claw and said finally: "Can you please tell us what the hell the Ironjaw are, then? Is that... I mean, is that why they seem to react differently to my..."

He lowered his claw, studying the black blood running from the splintered digits, and Hel looked over at him grumpily before her eyes widened slightly as she saw his claws were bleeding. She made a strange, rattling inhale, and then she half-stumbled around in a circle, dragging her bad leg behind her as she said in a strangled voice: "Just... just hold on a minute, bananacake, I'll be right with you, I just... oh damn it all to here..."

She hurried back out the archway, and Luna scowled after the goddess before she turned her eyes towards Scrivener Blooms and said dryly: "This is not quite as enjoyable as I had hoped it would be. The creature is almost too pathetic even for me to torment in excess. And so long as she keeps her promises... I fear she is too useful to dispose of."

"You're a nice person." Scrivener said mildly, and then he winced when Luna bopped him with her horn, giving her a flat look. She only glared back, and then both ponies looked up as Twilight wandered over to one of the small tables to curiously investigate the books laid out over it.

After a few moments, Hel returned, dragging a rubber mat behind her. Scrivener and Luna both stared before Hel tossed this down in front of the ponies, and then she pointed at it insistently as she looked at Scrivener Blooms, saying almost pleadingly: "Would you please, please sit on this? Please?"

The stallion lamely stepped onto the rubber mat, wincing a bit at the pebbly texture, and Hel visibly relaxed slightly... then relaxed more when she saw Twilight had settled into one of the chairs with a book from the table. The goddess turned her eyes towards Luna, who looked staunchly up at Hel before she asked clearly: "What hast thou done to the Ironjaw? And how, precisely, shall we deal with Gymbr? What great plan does thou have?"

"Hey, hey, one question at a time, pushy." Hel said grumpily, raising her hand before she shook her head and closed her eyes, calmly tapping her cane against the floor before she opened one eye and peered meditatively at Luna. "Fine. Let's start with the easy one, the Ironjaw."

Luna looked distrustfully at Hel, but Hel only huffed, placing a hand over her own heart as she complained: "Oh come on, stop looking at me like it's some kind of plot to make an army of Vally-wallys. That would be just about the most obnoxious thing ever, nevermind the fact they'd probably all kill each other trying to prove who's the most superior. Plus I mean, I totally tried to be his friend, but emphasis on the word tried. We didn't hang out much after he tried to tear my leg off. That was kind of a friendship-ender."

Hel paused, then tapped her cane firmly against the ground several times. "Which is precisely why I had to make those Ironjaw. And okay, maybe I didn't entirely 'make' them. I went and stole a few rare babies out of another world... metal-eating Furnacemaw. They were kind of ugly little bastards, but with a little tender-loving care and a dabble of Valthrudnir's blood, I was able to turn them into much-prettier looking demons. And more importantly, with Valthrudnir's blood, they were immunized against his powers. You get it?"

Luna and Scrivener traded looks of surprise before Twilight frowned as she looked up from the armchair she had curled up in, asking uneasily: "But... wouldn't that be dangerous? I mean...they could all develop Jötnar powers or something one day... couldn't they?"

"Yeah, because I was too retarded to ensure they were not only absolutely loyal, the blood is plenty diluted and I left them all sitting out in the wilds instead of a place where I could watch them and make them worship me twenty-eight seven." Hel paused, adding helpfully: "We have twenty eight hour days in Helheim, by the way. Although not really, it's only twenty four. But I schedule by twenty-eight hour days and so it's really hilarious to watch those idiot demons scrambling around, trying to figure out how to fit four extra hours of work into... nowhere."

"Thou art making it incredibly tempting to put another bullet into thee, Hel." Luna warned, and Hel only snorted, leaning on her cane and looking coolly down at the sapphire mare. Clearly, the goddess didn't fear death or pain after all... but then again, after having lived in this gilded cage for so long, Luna imagined that even for otherwise-omnipotent Hel... death truly would be a release.

So instead, she looked back and forth before walking over to the fireplace, and the goddess frowned, leaning forwards warily: "What are you doing? Hey, hey, I just-"

Luna stuck a hoof in the fireplace, then kicked out some ashes, and Hel groaned and grasped at her face with her free hand, shaking her head vehemently. "No, no, no! Stop that!"

The goddess grumbled as she limped over, lifting her cane by the neck and twisting her hands anxiously back and forth along it as she mumbled: "Messy is unnessy and dirty is hurty and come on, there's no need for you to be such a sour lemon fritter. You should be fun and sparkly and explosive, like pop rocks... hey, we had fun that one time, didn't we?"

"We can have fun again as well, Hel. But whilst I have the chance, I think I am going to have some fun at thine own expense so that thou, in the future, may better understand why thou should not be so mean to others. I am going to teach thee a little empathy." Luna responded calmly, and then her mouth quirked into a smile when Hel polymorphed her cane into a large mop so she could begin sweeping up the ashes. "Look at thou, mighty goddess. Doing such menial work all by thyself, when thou has an army of golems at thy disposal. 'Tis sad, really."

"Let the Dollies in here, are you crazy? They'll leave footprints everywhere and smash up the place and knock everything out of order and drip oil everywhere and... it's bad enough having you filthy little ponies in here, bleeding on my nice clean floor and causing trouble and..." Hel looked up from her scrubbing, then stared as Luna strode across the room, one hoof leaving ashen smears behind her. "Oh come on!"

"Thou come on." Luna grumbled as she approached a shelf, and then she began to peer over the books as Hel almost whimpered, following hurriedly behind her and mopping as she went. "Tell me about those golems."

"Look, I can't... I can't talk when you're screwing around there, can you... just,step away from the shelves, okay? Please? I get... I get all flustered and panicky and... please, they're all in perfect order, chronologically, alphabetically, and by page count." Hel wheezed, and Luna looked thoughtfully at the goddess before the sapphire mare slowly began to reach up a foreleg...

Hel winced and hurriedly shoved herself between the shelf and the pony, knocking Luna backwards even as the sapphire mare grinned before the goddess glared frustrated daggers down at the pony. "We need to work out some ground rules. And consequences."

"Aye, we do. But first, thou should answer the question." Luna said calmly, looking up at Hel mildly. Their eyes locked, and then Hel finally groaned and sighed before pointing grumpily at Luna's dirty hoof.

The mare rolled her eyes and rose it... then winced awkwardly backwards when Hel grabbed it with her free hand, the mop transforming into a scrubbing brush that she rapidly began to scour the mare's hoof with as she muttered: "You ponies are so disgusting. I should wash you three from head to hoof, you're probably... leaking disease into the air, just brimming with bacteria and I don't want to guess what else..."

Luna growled grumpily at this, and the goddess sniffed disdainfully as she continued to scrub quickly away before saying abruptly: "The first Dolly was a gift from Valthrudnir. Well, okay, less of a gift, more something I stole from him. I made a whole bunch more from that one: they don't got brains, so you don't have to worry about their programming going crazy or anything, so they're... safe."

Scrivener tilted his head at this wording, while Luna awkwardly pulled her hoof away... then slapped childishly at Hel when the goddess attempted to grab her other leg. "Get thee gone, witch! I am already clean enough for all good things."

"You're as filthy as a lollipop in a stable." Hel grumbled, then she awkwardly straightened and shook the scrubbing brush firmly a few times as a quiet light glittered over it. A moment later, it transformed back into a cane, and Hel leaned on this and glowered down at Luna. "And that's precisely why I don't trust even the Ironjaw inside my home. Sure, they might be loyal... but look at what they let inside! They can be twisted. They can be used against me. And I know they all hate me, I'm no fool. But these puppets can't feel love or hate. They can just do what they're programmed to do. Safe."

Hel paused, then she limped past Luna, her eyes locking on Twilight Sparkle as she said softly: "And of course, I keep a bevy of the living dead, too. Because the things that hate life are often the things that will serve life best; because spirits and ghosts and lost souls are even easier than silly robots to tune up and order around."

Twilight shifted awkwardly as Luna glared furiously over her shoulder at the goddess and Scrivener Blooms scowled, and then Hel reached down and gently played her fingers through Twilight's mane. "But you remind me of me, angelcake. You're just... trapped in your role, just like I was... but just like me, sweetie, I know that one day you'll figure out how to open all those locks on all those chains holding you back from your true potential..."

The Lich smiled uneasily up at Hel, as Hel continued to comb tenderly through her mane. "You're a good little girly, aren't you? Yes, you are. But you shouldn't worry about being good so often, strawberry shortcake. You should try and be bad a little now and then."

"She's plenty bad now and then." Scrivener said mildly, stepping forwards... and Hel glared at him when he placed a splintered claw off the rubber mat, the stallion looking down at this and then glowering back up at Hel. "They were a lot better before you decided to try and kill us about a dozen times, you know."

"Oh shut up, they were not, you big baby." Hel retorted, and then she lightly bopped Twilight with her cane, making the Lich blink dumbly before the goddess limped her way slowly around the couch, heading towards Scrivener Blooms. "Let me look at your claws."

"Let you... don't... not look at my... claws. Go away." Scrivener retorted awkwardly, hugging his forelimbs up against his chest and looking lamely up at the goddess: unlike Luna, he couldn't help but feel at least a little afraid of the goddess still. Something about her just... made him nervous.

Hel ignored him, poking him in the forehead with her cane and making the stallion wince before she easily flicked her cane down and whacked across one of his sensitive claws, making him hiss in pain and automatically hold them up to inspect them.

Hel immediately reached out and snagged one of his claws by the wrist, yanking it up and almost hauling Scrivener off the ground as he whimpered, while Luna glared furiously at Hel and Twilight looked uncomfortably up from her reading. But the Lich didn't really know what to say herself: part of her strangely wanted to do more than trust Hel. Part of her almost wanted to ask for advice... but she only stayed quiet for the moment as Hel said mildly: "Look at this. Look, genius, you've gone and ruptured these from the inside-out. Didn't Valthrudnir shut you down and you performed some messy last-minute patch-job to try and get going again?"

The stallion looked sourly up at the goddess, and then he winced when she twisted his claw back and forth, muttering: "Yep, this is just as bad as I imagined it would be. We should just cut these off, it would be easier in the long run. Maybe grow you some new legs. Or sew on Ironjaw legs, they'd be compatible enough. Ironjaw legs, would you like that, huh?"

"No!" Scrivener blurted in a strangled voice, yanking his limbs hurriedly backwards before he glared up at the goddess. "What is wrong with you?"

"You're not seriously asking me that, right?" Hel whacked the stallion lightly with her cane, and then she winced and dropped his claw, straightening and holding her hands up in surrender when Luna yanked her gun off her back and aimed at her. "Okay, hey hey hey, peppermint, you don't have to go all angry redneck on me."

Luna only glared, and then Hel held up a finger, saying carefully: "Look. If you put down the gun, cinnabun, I've got a gift to give your hubby-wubby here. I was originally going to save it for a mentor moment... you know, 'take this, you'll need it on your epic quest,' but I see that you two still need some buttering up. And I don't really want to be shot."

Luna grumbled at this, and then she nodded slowly before grouchily holstering Sting Mk II again. Hel relaxed with a sigh of relief... and then Luna dealt a firm kick into the shelf behind her with one hoof, and the goddess grasped her stomach as if the wind had just been knocked out of her, crumpling slightly as her eyes flicked wildly back and forth over the shelves before she staggered away from Scrivener and hobbled as fast as her bad leg would carry her to the furnishing.

She began to hurriedly neaten and straighten the books, Luna watching with the sort of nasty entertainment that had a faint hint of shame mixed into it. But most of that was negated by the fact that Hel liked to torture people shamelessly herself, knowing there would be no punishment for it, no retribution, not even a hope of revenge...

Except they were here, right now, and Luna knew that if she wanted to... she could raise her gun, point it at Hel's head, and blow the goddess' brains out. And goddess or not, Hel had a very frail, nearly-mortal body: killing her would be easy. And killing her would be good, wouldn't it? It wouldn't just feel good... it would be good. Hel, after all, was supposed to be the incarnate of evil... and that aside, she was a tremendous pain in the ass.

But it wouldn't be right. Not in cold blood, not when Hel had a role to serve and play... not when Hel might even offer them help. And furthermore, what would it accomplish? Yes, sometimes Hel targeted innocents. Yes, those innocents would be avenged. But without Hel, the Archives would be without a master and would likely collapse. A power struggle for Hel's position would rise, and who knew what would happen here in Underdark? Luna didn't doubt that Hel had ensured if something happened to her... something would happen to everything else, too.

Hel slowly looked up and scowled at Luna, and Luna looked awkwardly back before the goddess asked crankily: "You were just thinking about killing me, weren't you?"

The sapphire mare simply shrugged after a moment, and Hel huffed as she finished neatening the shelf, leaning back and studying it for a few moments before giving a sigh. "Well, that's as good as it's going to be for now. But you damned ponies... oh, just wait here and keep your dirty hooves off everything. I'll be right back."

Luna only huffed as Hel turned and limped her way quickly out of the room again, an Twilight awkwardly looked up from her chair, putting the book down in her lap as she said finally: "Maybe we should try... being a little nicer to her. I mean, I know she's... well, she scares and frustrates me, too, but I think she can actually help us."

The sapphire mare looked meditatively at Twilight for a few moments at this, then she spun around and quickly patted her hooves across a variety of books on the shelves, and Twilight slowly closed her eyes and lowered her head with a sigh. Then Luna turned back around and glowered over at Scrivener, saying moodily: "Unfortunately, our darling mare is right, Scrivy. Thou must accept her assistance. Even if 'tis.. hellish. And I mean that in more than one sense."

"Because puns are a great way to break the tension from possible incoming torment and death." Scrivener Blooms muttered, and then he shook his head slowly before turning his eyes towards Twilight, asking finally: "So... you seem calmer."

Twilight smiled a bit, then she held up the book between her hooves, showing the cover to Scrivener: it was titled simply 'Underdark.' "This says that in Hel's dimension... time moves slower the closer you get to the Sanctum. It's how Hel manages so much at once: inside here, time might be moving even slower than it is in Heaven."

The charcoal stallion nodded a little, and Luna admittedly felt a bit of relief herself at that thought, closing her eyes and murmuring: "So things may not yet be as dire as we fear, even with the time lost at Cairnmór. That is a relief."

The Lich nodded slowly, then she turned her eyes back down to the book,saying quietly: "Hel wrote this herself. It's sort of... a manual to her dimension. It says that those with the right powers... the ability to access the correct magical wavelengths... can actually modify reality in outer Underdark..."

Luna frowned at this, tilting her head curiously and saying finally: "Strange that Hel would leave such a vulnerability... stranger still that she has informed us of this. What other information is in that book, Twilight Sparkle?"

"Lots. A lot I can't make sense of... she's... smart." Twilight said finally, and when Scrivener and Luna both looked at the Lich with a mixture of amusement and disbelief, the violet mare shook her head quickly. "Not like me. I might be smart, and I know a lot about magic, but I really don't know a lot of technical information like this... she's got element listings and wavelengths and... atomic measurements. I've never even heard of some of these things..."

Luna only grunted, shaking her head before she said softly: "Well, the gods knew much. Strength in part comes from understanding, Twilight Sparkle, and science and magic are not so far apart as we like to think. After all, what else would you call bashing rocks together to create flame?"

Scrivener Blooms looked mildly over at Luna, saying wryly: "Chemical reactions are a little different from waving your horn around and making explosions shoot out of it."

"It is not. 'Tis the same damn principle. Creating a reaction." Luna retorted, striding over towards him so she could poke at him with her horn before she looked grouchily up, adding flatly: "And where is that damned Hel? She is taking forever. The only reason I do not fear ambush is because I know she would not dare splash our blood everywhere."

"Most powerful magic is nullified inside the Sanctum anyway." Twilight added, as she looked back down at the book, and Luna frowned curiously at this before she waved her horn back and forth, but the violet mare only winced and quickly gestured at her. "Don't... don't try it! It says anything that emits an energy level above twelve bæns... what's a bæn?"

"'Tis an ancient unit of measurement." Luna said absently, looking back and forth. "A single bæn is roughly equivalent to the magic energy thou must exert to create a point of light around thy horn. Twelve bæns would be... let us see..."

Luna peered over at Scrivener, her cracked soulstone horn glowing steadily brighter as Scrivener winced backwards... then sighed in relief even as he and Twilight both twitched at the recoil that zapped over Luna's horn as she grasped at her head with a curse and a groan. "Oh damn this accursed prosthetic. Twelve bæns is one more than it can handle right now."

"Question answered." Scrivener said mildly as he rubbed absently at his head... then grimaced and drew his claw slowly away, shivering and making a face as he smeared sticky gunk against his features from the sluggishly-bleeding appendage. "Oh Horses of Heaven."

"There are none of those here." Hel's voice came moodily through the passage, and then she complained: "And why is it that everyone thinks demons have to be so different but angels, oh, they must be just like you and me but bigger and cooler and nicer? I mean that metaphorically, clearly. They're not like me."

Luna and Scrivener both looked sourly at the archway as Hel limped back through it... before both frowned as they looked at the large, durable case she was carrying, wincing a bit and listing visibly to the side as she complained: "I hope you guys appreciate this. I had to do all kinds of work for months at my forge to build these things. They're super cool and they're going to turn you from a fruit snack into something with a little more zing, but seriously. Work is hard, okay?"

Hel wheezed as she managed to stumble over to the stallion, then she delicately set the case down and sighed in relief... before wincing and twitching when Luna headbutted the large, leatherbound object over. It gave a tremendous bang, the clasps popping loose, and Hel said in a frustrated voice: "Don't do that, don't do that! Watch the floor, don't scratch the floor!"

The sapphire mare only huffed and leaned down, shoving her face against the suitcase before she forced it open with her muzzle, then she blinked in surprise as she drew her head back, mouthing slowly at the sight of what was inside. "These are... what are these?"

The goddess straightened and brushed at herself, then she leaned on her cane and smiled, gesturing easily down at the open case. "These are the Talons. You could say they're a... a helping hand for your hubby-wubby. Because, Mr. Poet, those broken claws of yours need to be... fixed."

Scrivener looked up uneasily, then slowly turned his eyes back down to the objects in the case: large, white-silver gauntlets with extended metal sleeves that would cover Scrivener's lower front leg, and with additional cusps that would give some extra protection to his elbow joint. They had large, extended digits that were shaped like dexterous claws, which looked solid... and yet somehow, Scrivener thought they must be able to bend and move. He wasn't sure why he thought that, but it just felt... right. In fact, the whole claws felt... right.

He didn't like that. Well, he did in a way but... it also scared him a little, to gaze down at these metallic things made by a dark goddess and think... "These were made for me."

"You figure that out all by yourself, genius?" Hel asked mildly, and Scrivener made a face and looked up at her dryly as Luna only continued to stare over the Talons with fascination. Then the goddess grinned, tapping the side of the case gently with her cane as she said: "Still, I'm glad you've got brains enough to be impressed. You see, Scrivener Blooms... these are designed to work perfectly with those strange Clockwork Pony powers of yours. Now, in the past, I always wanted to play with Vally-wally's toys, but he never let me lay so much as a finger on the ones I didn't steal out from under his button-little-nosey... so this, well, this is a real treat."

The charcoal stallion glared up at Hel, but for some reason, he wasn't able to form the words, to tell her that he was no project of Valthrudnir's. He and Hel only looked at each other for a few moments, and then the goddess smiled, saying softly: "Good, chocolate pudding. Looks like you're starting to recognize your place in the grand scheme of things."

Scrivener shook his head slowly and returned his eyes to the Talons as Luna lifted one carefully free of the case, inspecting the metal and how... beautiful it was. Where perfectly-shaped, strangely soft-textured plates locked together, the metal was distinctly silvered and slightly raised, and the mare smiled a bit as she drew her eyes over metallic knuckles that were the same color, murmuring: "These look... nay, they are not like a dragon's claws. The design is... more fortified. Dragons' claws are for grasping: these are for slashing."

"And they're not meant to come off, are they?" Twilight asked uneasily as she approached, studying the Talon Luna was holding up, and the sapphire mare frowned as her eyes slid up to the top of the sleeve, and what she realized were some kind of loose bolts.

Scrivener blinked, then he slowly leaned backwards, wincing and shaking his head awkwardly as he said uneasily: "Wait, I'm... you want those to permanently..."

"'Tis some trick! Some cunning design! My husband only needs time and a little bit of magic, both we shall find soon enough!" Luna snapped, glaring up at Hel, but the goddess only looked calmly down at the sapphire mare. "I shall not be made part or party to thy sick experiments, Hel!"

Hel clucked her tongue at this, then shook her head slowly and said softly: "Oh, you silly little cinnamon bun. Do I have an angle here? Sure I do. I want you three to owe me. And of course I want to give you reasons not to kill me, that's another big thing on the agenda.

"But you don't have to be a genius or a doctor to see that Scrivy here... he just isn't healing up right. I mean, come on, just look at these poor things!" Hel flicked her cane upwards, and Scrivener winced as both of his claws were forcefully hefted into the air by some kind of telekinetic force. "And don't even try lying to me and say they've been getting better. The corruption has just been crystallizing, like big gross scabs. That isn't better by a long shot."

She let her cane drop, and Scrivener's own claws were released, the stallion clutching them close against his chest as Hel said softly: "It's time to move on to higher and better things. To an injection system that can handle the corruption, and give you an edge in battle. To something that isn't going to hurt constantly and leave you vulnerable right at the time you need strength most. Yeah, and I have a whole bunch of other reasons, too, but I'm getting bored of making a sales pitch out of this. You really got no other choice, and I think you know that. 'Cause if it wasn't for all the soothing energy running through the air of this place, you'd be on the floor, crying and begging for the pain to end."

Scrivener, Luna, and Twilight all looked up at the goddess, and then Luna trembled as her eyes slowly roved up to her own prosthetic horn. A soulstone horn, provided by Valthrudnir... and now, here they were with the ancient enemy of Valhalla, and she wanted to give Scrivener... new claws. New Talons. "We... what if we refuse? I am not saying thou art... lying or speaking truth about Scrivy's condition, I only desire to know... what if we refuse these weapons?"

"They're tools, not weapons." Hel replied disapprovingly, and then the goddess shook her head before adding in a calmer voice, gesturing easily at them with one hand: "Then we lose against Gymbr, and he kills us all. Because, sweethearts... my backup plan happens to be you."

The trio stared up at Hel in disbelief, Luna mouthing wordlessly and Twilight shifting back and forth as she tried to understand, before Hel laughed and grinned, gesturing around them. "Oh come on, look around, look at this! No one has ever, ever made it this far before unless I invited them in! And even if we made a game out of it, you guys still pushed through literally Hell and literally high water to get to me.

"And Gymbr, lest we forget... is made from you. But he's not the original... he's a creation of the Norns. He's still apparently bound by all kinds of rules and little follies he doesn't even seem to know about, still nothing more than a puppet on a string... even if he happens to think he's a Mister Big Shot now because of that soulstone core in his heart, you three have just the tools to beat him. Or you're going to, if you accept these Talons and agree to just sit down, shut up, and listen to me for once in your miserable little lives, sweetie pies."

Scrivener looked back down at the metal claws, shaking his head weakly as Luna glared up at Hel and Twilight only silently reached up and touched Scrivener's back... and after a moment, the stallion laughed faintly and murmured: "It always ends up being me, doesn't it?"

"That's what happens when you make yourself the scapegoat, little clay pony. Sometimes you get more than you bargained for." Hel replied almost gently, and then she tapped the case with her cane as Luna set down Talon, staring at them and swallowing a little. "Now, I'm not gonna lie to you. After we screw those bolts into place, it's going to hurt like hell as they fuse to you. They're never going to come off... but you'll be able to feel through them, a little. Oh, no, not like you feel with these claws here, of course..."

Hel squatted, reaching down and grasping one of Scrivener's claws to yank it up between them, but her eyes were unflinching as she said softly: "So... since this is the last time you'll really be able to feel anything at all with your own hand-like implements... you might want to touch your girls' faces one last time. And hold that memory very, very close... because believe me, even the things you think you'll never forget will start to fade one day."

Scrivener lowered his head, breathing slowly... and then, silently, he reached both forelimbs up as Luna and Twilight both slipped in close. They embraced tightly for a few moments, then drew slowly apart as Scrivener Blooms silently slipped his claws up, cupping the features of these ponies he loved, thinking silently of how it felt to hold their hooves, slide his claws through their manes, to grip a quill made of a feather taken from Luna or Twilight or touch their bodies, feel out the shapes, the hidden scars, the muscle and flesh and softness and all the hidden things that eyes could never see...

And then, slowly, his claw fell away as Twilight smiled at him faintly, and Luna glared over at Hel, whispering: "This had best not be some cheating revenge on thy part, Hel. And thou had best not be lying. Or I swear to thee now, there will be a reckoning."

"You'll thank me one day. All three of you." Hel replied kindly, and then she stepped backwards and pointed at the Talons with her cane. "Put them on, to start with. Don't worry. Nothing's going to happen until we start putting those bolts in... hey, just think of it as an upgrade."

"I'm not a machine. I'm not a puppet." Scrivener said quietly, grimacing as he carefully picked up one of the Talons... and then he gritted his teeth and nodded, sliding his claw into the dark sleeve and wincing at how it felt... almost like his claw had been wrapped in some kind of hot skin. Worse yet was the fact it seemed to pulse against him, like he was putting on something... alive...

His digits stretched into the fingers of the gauntlet, and he shivered a bit as he rose the Talon, flexing it slowly. It already moved with ease, even before being... fused. He didn't want to imagine what that process was going to entail, though, so instead he focused on the other Talon as Luna asked almost desperately: "And there is no other way? Thou must... must make a monster of my husband?"

"As if you have a problem with that." Hel said mildly, and Luna bared her fangs in a furious snarl that made Hel wince backwards. "Hey! Just saying!"

"Stop it! Please... both of you." Twilight's voice softened as she looked from Hel to Luna, and the sapphire mare slumped as the Lich trembled a little, then looked up and said almost harshly: "Luna and Scrivener and I love each other and we're connected. If we are monsters... we're monsters together. But all we really are is people, trying to do our best, trying to save our friends and family, and we're here asking for your help, Hel. We're here to help you too, if we can, so... please. Stop it."

"Because clearly this is all my fault." Hel grumbled, crossing her arms sulkily, but then she simply nodded before the goddess returned her eyes to Scrivener Blooms when the stallion finished sliding on the second Talon. "But alright. Moon pie, angel cake, you wanna help out chocolate sauce here? Well, you see those loose bolts on the limbs? Twist those around and around and around, until you can't twist them anymore. Oh, it's going to hurt like hell, yes... especially with the three of you connected and all... but don't worry. It won't leave anything permanent... on you two, at least."

Hel's eyes gleamed as they drew almost greedily to Luna and Twilight: the Lich shivered, but the sapphire mare only looked almost challengingly up at Hel. She didn't speak, though, letting her eyes, her raw emotions do the talking for her, and after a moment the goddess only shrugged and stepped backwards, saying softly: "I suppose you could say I found a way to do localized, low-key magic that the Sanctum around us doesn't pick up... magic that's more... encouragement than it is transformation. I get bored, after all... and I do so love finding loopholes. Even the ones in my own rules. Now... one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four... to..."

Luna and Twilight both looked at Scrivener, and the stallion nodded curtly, gritting his teeth before he felt the winged unicorns grasp a bolt on either sleeve with telekinesis. And a moment later, the bolts started to spin, and it took all of Scrivener's strength not to cry out or move as he felt them drilling painfully into his flesh, Hel grinning widely as she whispered: "Go."

Twilight gasped as he felt the bolt lock into place, and Luna flinched as the screw on her side clicked into same before she looked down... but only growled at the sight of the bleeding, almost inch-diameter hole in her own leg before she and Twilight both grasped another bolt.

For Scrivener, all he was aware of was pain that rose to a scream, then slowly dulled down to a pained throb and a strange stiffness in one arm... and then the pain came on again in both limbs, this time from different angles. And again it was a fight not to cry out as Hel watched almost greedily: the goddess only leaned on her cane, silent the whole time, her only movement from her heavy breathing and the way she eagerly licked her lips. And Scrivener didn't want to give her any more entertainment than she already had: he refused to scream. He refused to show how much it just goddamn hurt.

The last two bolts clicked into place, and Luna's legs wobbled, threatening to collapse beneath her... before her eyes widened as a sudden numbness tore through her limbs, staring down at her hooves as Twilight almost fell over from the same sensation. But what Scrivener felt was agony, and he fell backwards with a howl of surprised that turned into a shriek of misery: all the pride in the world, all the bitterness and stubbornness he had couldn't stop him from screaming in torment as he rolled back and forth, Talons flexing and rippling and almost melting with the way they were changing.

"Oh, hey, cool, my dismemberment charm worked." Hel said positively, and when Twilight and Luna both stared at her with horror, Hel laughed over the sound of Scrivener's screaming and waved a hand airily, correcting casually: "Not like, physical dismemberment, don't worry. Spiritual dismemberment. Actually I should probably drop the 'dismemberment' part of that, it's kind of a misnomer but like... see how you guys aren't rolling around crying and possibly dying? That's 'cause the Talons just absorbed the network of energy running through your husband's forelegs."

"I don't... stop hurting him! What's happening to him?" Twilight shouted, looking up at Hel with desperation, but the goddess only smiled calmly and tented her fingers together over her cane.

"You're not going to listen right now anyway. Just watch. It's almost over." Hel soothed, and Luna snarled... then cursed as she looked down, feeling her forelegs heating up as her skin seemed to ripple and then she hugged them tightly against her body as flares of pain traveled along her nerves. "Oh, whoops. Looks like things are reconnecting just a little too soon."

Luna gasped, then snarled furiously up at Hel as Twilight glared at the goddess, inarticulate rage filling up the violet mare... but before either winged unicorn could give in to their anger, the pain was gone as suddenly as it had come as Scrivener curled up in the fetal position, breathing shakily and clutching his metallic claws against his chest even as sick, stale ooze leaked from his damaged claws.

Luna and Twilight both turned towards him, the violet mare almost throwing herself on top of Scrivener in her worry as Luna leaned down and grimaced in disgust at the pus-like substance dripping out of the Talons. But then Hel made a retching noise and hurriedly flicked her cane, and all three ponies were startled as the ichors burst into flames, rapidly boiling away to nothing as Scrivener slapped his claws wildly against the ground and his own body before he glowered over at Hel.

Hel only grinned back, and Scrivener frowned before he looked dumbly down as he realized he was supporting himself easily with the Talons. They didn't hurt at all, as he carefully stood up, then awkwardly hopped his back legs into the air once, then twice, putting as much weight as he dared on the metal claws.

But they didn't hurt and... yes. It felt like he was touching things through some kind of cloth, but when he rose a claw in front of his wondering eyes, he marveled over the way it moved so easily when he wiggled his digits. He clenched them into a fist, then stomped a claw down against the rubber mat, then reached up... and laughed a bit when Luna shoved her face against his Talon, automatically stroking tenderly along her cheek and closing his eyes as he cupped her features.

Twilight, meanwhile, was inspecting the other Talon closely... and she frowned a little as she realized it was smaller. That even if the sleeves still had a sort of enlarged rip where metal tightly-gripped flesh, the rest of the Talons had... "Fused. They shrank, they... but... they would have crushed his flesh..."

"Not if I simply got rid of it." Hel replied kindly, and Scrivener and Luna both froze, then slowly looked up at this, but the goddess only smiled pleasantly and shrugged, saying easily: "Hey, it's not just 'put these on and I'll glue them to your skin,' you know. To make sure they're at their very best... well, think of those like an exoskeleton. And beneath it... well. You shouldn't think about it too much. It's probably all mush. Or sponge. Or whatever else happens to corruption and blood when you boil it at temperatures roughly approximating the surface of the sun."

Luna's eye twitched as she gnashed her teeth together, and Twilight Sparkle gaped as Scrivener stared blankly down at one of the Talons. The prosthetic limbs... but before he could dissolve into either anger or hatred or just miserable regret, faint blue lines of energy streaked suddenly over the metallic appendages before faint runes glimmered along his steel limbs, the stallion wincing and falling backwards on his rump. "What the hell is that?"

"I made you bigger, better, and badder. The three B's. And for your information, Valkyrie, being a bitch isn't one of them." Hel said pointedly, and Luna growled up at the goddess before Hel continued cheerfully: "I just threw on a few enchantments... some of my own design, you know. All Daddy didn't kill me for a lot of reasons... he wanted me around, not just because every hero needs a villain, but because I was always fantastic at working with charms and enchantments and synthetic spells. My name, you guys know my puppets!"

Luna grumbled moodily as Twilight looked uneasily at Scrivener's claws, and the stallion slowly flexed the Talon again, asking uncertainly: "What... what does it do?"

Hel smiled... then flicked her cane, sending a spark of lightning at the stallion. Scrivener winced, blocking this with his claw... before he stared in disbelief as the lightning was absorbed into it, faint twists of electricity running up and down the limb as Hel said softly: "Oh, a whole lot of things. A lot I'm going to let you figure out on your own, but you should always share a hint or two to get going. Besides, I like you three. I feel comfortable with you three. And we're going to be the very best of friends, even if one day..."

Hel covered her mouth as if she had almost told a secret, giving a sly smile, and Scrivener grimaced before he slammed his claw bad-temperedly against the floor... then stared in surprise as both Luna and Twilight yelled and flailed wildly as electricity sparked over the ground in a narrow shockwave around him, the stallion looking lamely back and forth before Luna shouted furiously and flailed at him violently with her hooves. "Idiot!"

"How the hell was I supposed to know?" Scrivener asked in a strangled voice, wincing away from the sapphire mare and nearly falling over before he managed to catch one of her hooves in his claws, and Luna halted immediately, the two looking at this for a few moments as if hypnotized before they both blushed slightly and pulled hurriedly away, glowering up at Hel.

The goddess only gave them a saccharine smile, however, leaning down and saying seriously: "I would never mock two ponies in love! Especially if they were in love with a third pony. I mean, every night a threesome! Every day like being hung over!"

"It's not quite like that." Twilight said sourly, and then she shook her head and gestured at Scrivener, and without having to look the stallion held a claw out in front of the Lich so she could feel along the Talon, murmuring: "This is so... strange..."

"Please, vanilla fritter, this can't be the first metalflesh charm you've ever seen. Once bonded, it'll retain the properties of the metal it was made of – in this case, mercurial silver – but it'll also take on the properties of the flesh it was bound into. Which means it'll heal nice and quick for you, and it can channel corruption. The best of both worlds." Hel smiled and gestured at the Talons, grinning slightly as Scrivener flexed one uneasily. "But be careful. That doesn't mean they're indestructible, and it doesn't mean they don't have weaknesses. If pieces get chopped off, they won't grow back... they'll have to be forged back on. Most cuts in the metal won't clot. Intense cold will make them brittle, intense heat will make them melt.

"I'll let you figure the rest out on your own." Hel absently waved a hand at them, then she slowly drew her eyes over the trio of ponies as she said softly: "Now, for the next... five, ten minutes... we're not going to bite, or growl, or mock. We're not going to laugh or cry or even be the littlest bit silly. We're going to talk about Gymbr."

Luna frowned at this, and Twilight looked up apprehensively as Scrivener Blooms shifted a bit, still flexing his Talons uneasily. But Hel looked serious: more serious than any of them had ever seen her before, and it made them hesitate to deny her.

And when Luna finally gave a brief nod, Hel smiled and strode slowly over to a small couch, sitting down in it with a grunt and putting her cane on the table in front of her. Twilight headed back to the armchair she had been in before as Luna and Scrivener both took up seats in a different couch, and the four surveyed each other almost warily for a few moments before Hel said softly: "You three are my backup plan. Since I first saw you three, oh, I knew that if things ever went really south, for any reason... I could count on you. You started off... so small, so unimportant, but how you've blossomed, all three of you!"

Hel chuckled quietly, smiling kindly over at Twilight. "I suppose you've heard about how you and your friends are in nearly every world.. are so important not just to your nation, but the entirety of Midgard. Vally-wally got so frustrated looking for that core reality, you know... he tried to do it every possible way. Giant drills, rampant destruction, old scrolls, bargains with gods and demons, pressing the home button a whole bunch of times on his GPS, making a Prophet and sending spies throughout every reality...

"He never did find it. He never could find it. The closest he ever got was the Prophet, who at least was able to tell him what precisely he was looking for... but I don't think she really knew the way, either. Ideas and reality trickle from one world to the next, you see: some people, attuned people, pick up on these. Write books and compose stories they think are just fantasy – always altered a little, to sell to a better crowd, to hit that target audience, to get past the editor! – when in reality, that's what they are. Reality." Hel tapped her cane calmly against her own temple, smiling slightly. "And none of us, not me, not you, not anyone out there... knows how much is out there.

"I'm telling you this because you keep thinking to yourselves that Gymbr is just an altered story that's come alive and is currently attempting to alter reality to his liking. What I'm telling you is that he might be as real as you and me... maybe even more in some ways. Maybe he really did exist, outside of a story: maybe he's not trying to reenact the narrative you know him from. Maybe he really has learned a thing or two about not being a complete rosebud." Hel leaned forwards, looking between the three ponies slowly. "Do you understand that?"

"What art thou saying? That Gymbr really is trying to stop something even more destructive than he is?" Luna stopped, then growled and shook her head. "No games, Hel: I thought thou had just suggested that thyself, after all."

Hel held up a hand, bowing her head forwards politely. "No games, none at all." She smiled across at them, saying softly: "I'm saying you three have to be prepared for the worst case scenario. Now, these Pious? Please. I'd know long before Gymbr if they were running around, trying to infect our worlds instead of crying and panicking in their own weird way with Gymbr out to try and eat them all like french fries. What I'm saying is that our sweet Gymbr is... a confused, lost animal. One that is suffering and inflicting suffering, and something we ourselves have to put down. He's a threat: to me, to you, to everything you hold dear."

"But you helped him. You're the one who made that soulstone core for him." Twilight Sparkle said quietly, and Hel grinned at this, shaking her head and clicking her tongue.

"Oh no, no I didn't. I made it for Kvasir... and very strictly, too. I designed it just the way Kvasir wanted it, as Gymbr had told him, but... I tied a few of the rules together, you see. For one, it shouldn't function without Kvasir still being alive and well. I always liked Kvasir, you know, he was a better man than I ever took him for." Hel looked down for a moment, and then she sighed and said softly: "But apparently Gymbr recognized that tampering, and he must have drained a whole lot of Kvasir's blood out of his body before killing him. He loopholed my knot so he could free himself from the sort of control Kvasir had over the soulstone... I probably should have warned the silly honeybutt about that."

Scrivener grimaced as Luna looked down with a quiet curse, before Twilight asked softly: "So you're scared, is that it? Afraid of what Gymbr might do to you..."

Hel looked sourly at Twilight Sparkle, saying moodily: "I hate to point this out, but if you're not afraid of what Gymbr might do to us, then you're just plain stupid. I thought that was pretty clear from that skirmish you lost."

"Perhaps we would not have lost if thou had not modified Kvasir's journals." Luna growled, straightening slightly and narrowing her eyes at the goddess, but Hel only tapped her cane slowly against the floor, looking evenly back.

"Look, sugarplum. You can blame me all you like, but the reality is that you still would have lost. You're not going to out-tough Gymbr." Hel said moodily, then she pointed at the sapphire mare's soulstone horn. "But with that, you might stand half a chance. I bet Vally-wally would be rolling in his grave if he only knew... he gave you the greatest weapon you have against Gymbr."

Luna frowned at this, looking up at her cracked soulstone horn, and Hel gestured at the books on the table, saying mildly: "These, you can take with you when you leave, and at least the one smart person in your group will figure it out. The short version is that soulstone responds to soulstone, especially when it's made by the same hands... and I have a brand new horn and recipe for you to take with you."

"So you are going to help us. I mean..." Scrivener stopped, looking down silently at one of his Talons and flexing it slowly before he said grudgingly: "I guess... you already have helped us quite a bit. So... well... thank you, I guess. And we do... appreciate the further help and stuff."

"What the poet said." Luna grumbled, and Twilight gave a more-honest smile. Hel looked over the three ponies for a moment, and then she simply nodded before grunting and forcing herself up to her feet, leaning forwards on her cane as she studied them all intently.

"Good." she said finally, and then she rubbed thoughtfully at the underside of her chin before nodding firmly a few times. "Yes, good. You three at least can fake a little gratitude, whether you mean it or not, and that's something I like. And yes, I am going to help you more... but less for your sakes and more because I know that once Gymbr's done with Valhalla and 'saving' it from the so-called 'light,' he's probably going to turn his cannons on me. And that's really the last thing I need to worry about dealing with right now."

"Still. Thank you." Twilight said softly, and Scrivener and Luna traded looks before they both finally nodded a little.

Hel only pretended to look flattered for a moment in response, half-bowing towards them before the goddess limped around in a circle and gestured at them mildly. "Come on. Let's shove a new horn into your head, Brynhild. And then I'll show you a little trick I learned that used to make All Daddy mad as here and should piss off Gymbr even more."

The ponies nodded, and then Hel hesitated before glancing over her shoulder and adding awkwardly: "And I'm really no good at goodbyes but after this you'll have to leave. Really. You've probably left microbes and filth all over and the books need rearranging and oh, there's always so much to do and nice as it is to have visitors... it's not nice at all."

The three ponies only looked at Hel with varying levels of exasperation, and then Twilight asked finally, since both Scrivener and Luna gave her a look that clearly told her to and she was the only one who seemed capable of getting along with the goddess: "But... what if we need to come back? I mean... well... what if we need-"

"Oh stop that, five minutes are up." Hel grumbled as she limped into the main room, and then she slowly made her way over to the metal pillar holding the cradle high in the air. She tapped it twice with her cane, and the pillar rumbled before slowly lowering, screens and all, as the goddess said calmly without looking around: "You know the way now, Twilight Sparkle. Your gift is magic. You'll figure it out."

Twilight shifted uneasily, and then Hel grinned as the cradle lowered in front of her, slipping into the seat with a sigh and facing the crescent of different screens as she tucked her cane in beside her. She laced her fingers together and cracked her knuckles loudly before beginning to tap rapidly over the screens, her eyes glowing as she said cheerfully: "A little twist here, a little nick there... and... ta-da! And Gymbr won't notice until too late that I've gone and done a few remote adjustments to his precious Hourglass and sped time up in Valhalla."

"You can do that?" Twilight couldn't keep the awe out of her voice as she stared up at Hel, and Hel only smiled kindly over at the violet mare, gesturing at her with one hand.

"I helped build it, after all, long before All Daddy was All Daddy." Hel said softly, and Luna couldn't help but feel a strange new respect for the goddess before Hel leaned out of her cradle, saying mildly: "But I've gone and gotten ahead of myself, haven't I? Let me rest a minute, then we'll get your horn, Brynhild. And I'll put up with a few more annoying pony questions."

Luna smiled wryly, then she hesitantly nodded to the goddess, looking at her evenly: but now, all too clearly, the sapphire mare could see the resemblance between the old Odin and Hel, in that smile, in the way they acted, in that hidden wisdom they both had... and in the way they were well-worthy of respect, but always had to be treated with care, and never someone you could risk turning your back on. Respected, treated well even... but never entirely trusted, no matter what gifts they gave, or what they promised.

Promises, after all, could be the most dangerous things of all.

Chapter Thirty: Blessings From Helheim

~BlackRoseRaven

Luna felt a little uncomfortable. Here they were, after all, accepting the gifts of the Goddess of Helheim, in preparation to attack Valhalla... to bring down a dark, alter-evil version of themselves. It wasn't just because it felt surreal, or like everything was bound to go horribly wrong... it was because through all of this, Hel hadn't been holding her superiority over their heads, or making them do more than grunt awkward 'thank-yous' to her now and then. It was actually making her feel surprisingly guilty: Hel had given them new equipment, helped repair their gear, shared some of her caches of soulstone and gianttooth with her – not to mention the magically-enhanced satchels that carried these stores of raw material, the bags enhanced to be much larger on the inside than they were outside and yet never weigh more than twenty pounds – and that was only the beginning of what Hel had given the three ponies.

She glanced absently up at the new soulstone horn standing out of her head: it had a slight, spiraling edge to it, and was a little taller and more ornate than her old horn. It also had hurt a lot more putting in, although both she and Scrivener had been surprised by the fact that with the Talons now on, it seemed like the stallion's control over the mire had actually increased... not to mention the potency...

Luna shivered a little and shook her head briefly, trying not to think too much about the poison. The sweet, delicious poison she had only managed to lick a little of off her muzzle... Cease, Luna.

She closed her eyes, then cleared her throat awkwardly as she turned to look at Hel. The old crone was leaning on her cane and looking meditatively down at Twilight Sparkle as the violet mare rambled about some magical theory, and neither seemed to notice her attempt at being polite, so the starry-maned pony simply leaned forwards and interrupted loudly: "Hel, thou hast our thanks."

Hel cocked her head towards Luna curiously, and then she simply smiled wryly and shrugged, replying after a moment: "For what? Using you three as the big sharp sticks I'm going to take all the credit for pummeling Gymbr with?"

Luna scowled at this, and Twilight Sparkle sighed before Scrivener Blooms looked up mildly from studying his Talons, saying dryly: "Yeah, precisely that. Thanks for making us your living weapons and being such a... a real delight."

"You're welcome, choco-flakes. Now take vanilla tart and cinnamon swirl over here and get out." Hel gestured crankily at them with her cane, shaking her head and adding wryly: "You've really all been a fantastic waste of time, though. We should do this again. But after I can put down newspapers and plastic all over everything."

Luna only grunted in response, then she shook her soulstone horn back and forth, asking for the dozenth time: "So we shall be able to return here to thine Underdark whenever we please now because of my-"

"Yes. Yes, for... I don't know, the thirteenth, eighteenth, hundredth time, yes." Hel groaned, rolling her eyes and holding her arms up towards the ceiling. "Is it really that hard to understand, just... really? The horn is keyed to here. The horn is made by me. The horn will let you make a jump to Underdark, but please, just. Try not to come back here. Ever. I'd rather wait until you're dead and you have to be my servants for eternity."

Luna scowled at this as Scrivener Blooms looked up mildly; only Twilight Sparkle seemed to think there was any possibility of truth to this statement as she shifted uneasily. But then Hel only huffed and shook her head, saying wryly: "Except I really don't know what I'd even do with 'servants' like you. The thought kind of makes me sick to my stomach, actually, since it's not like I could ever trust any of you with any kind of work around here."

Twilight sighed as Luna and Scrivener both glowered up at the goddess, and Hel looked moodily back between them before she waved at them crankily with her cane. "Shoo, shoo. And oh, if you see one of my puppets again, don't you go blocking up my wavelength or anything. I'll have to send Theodore Bear after you once I sew him back together."

"Then I shall merely have to rip him apart again." Luna retorted haughtily, raising her head and glowering over at Hel, who glared back at this and leaned forwards aggressively. "Machines and toys and puppets and the living dead... thou must truly live in fear if thou must spend all thy time around sexless drudges."

"Why does it always have to come back to sex with you Valkyries?" Hel groaned and rolled her eyes. "Sex sex sex followed by violence violence violence followed by sexual violence and violent sex, always. You know that you're just acting exactly like All Daddy programmed you to, right?"

Luna slowly, dangerously narrowed her eyes as one twitched slightly, and Hel winced a bit and shuffled backwards before Twilight Sparkle said awkwardly: "Uh. I... I'm ready to open a portal outside. You're... sure that'll work, right?"

"It takes control, Twilight Sparkle, to maintain a portal at a low energy level... but a short range portal to Outer Underdark only needs ten bæns of energy." Hel shrugged, resting her hands on her cane before she tilted her head towards the violet mare, saying pleasantly: "Unless, of course, what you meant is that you don't think you can handle doing that."

Twilight Sparkle made the slightest face, and Luna couldn't help but smile amusedly despite herself. She had to admit that Hel was very, very good when it came to prodding just the right nerve... and after a moment, the Lich sighed and nodded, muttering: "Okay, okay, I... I can do this, yeah. Just... I just need a moment, then."

Luna and Scrivener both fell in on either side of the Lich, nodding to her supportively, and the violet mare smiled a little back before she took a slow breath as she faced forwards. Hel stepped politely out of the way, watching with a strange intentness on her features as Twilight focused herself with the help of the reassuring thoughts coming from her partners.

She rose her horn as it glowed, brightening slowly but steadily before she took a slow breath as the aura around it steadied out. She bit her lip as she leaned forwards, concentrating on the spell that Hel had taught her and told her would work here in Underdark, concentrating on the stone path she remembered following to reach the mansion...

She gritted her teeth, automatically wanting to pour a little more magic into the spell just in case, but she resisted the urge, instead focusing on making the magic precise, sharp, making every molecule of energy count...

Twilight slashed her horn downwards, and there was a powerful thrum of energy before reality in front of her split open with a crackle, then transformed into an oval, glimmering portal thinly-edged with silver radiance. The violet mare blinked, raising her head and staring in awe at her own accomplishment before she blushed as Hel waved at them hurriedly, the goddess looking both pleased and anxious. "Hurry, hurry, go go go! You're going to let all the bugs in, and a chill and... oh, just pop out of here so I can throw you out of my Underdark."

"Thou hast our thanks, old witch." Luna said softly, and Hel gave a wry smile even as she nervously squeezed and fretted at the neck of her cane. Then the sapphire mare gently nudged Twilight forwards, and the violet mare smiled lamely before hurrying towards the portal, passing through and making the surface ripple.

Luna and Scrivener hesitated only a moment longer, both looking up at the dark goddess before turning and hurrying into the breach... and a bare second after they had passed through, the portal blinked out of existence, leaving the three ponies standing on the stone road roughly halfway between Hel's manse and the great wall that protected her home.

The ponies traded looks back and forth, then small, relieved smiles. Twilight Sparkle couldn't help but laugh a little as Scrivener Blooms reached up a Talon and squeezed her shoulder gently, and the Lich automatically gazed at this with a faint, odd blush in her cheeks.

Luna understood that reaction well, as she gazed softly between her partners. Yes, they all loved to repeat, again and again, that... they were just ponies, just people. They always talked about how they loved each other for the way they fit together, their personalities, and that was very true; all the same, though, there was something... fascinating, and darkly erotic about having a partner who could be called 'monster,' who bore such... powerful and handsome and dangerous traits... and how all three of them had come to reflect each other's darkness, and sometimes ended up baring those faces that lurked inside them to the light of day, to each other...

Then the attention of all three ponies was drawn upwards by a throat clearing loudly, and Luna scowled at a bovine-headed ice puppet as it leaned in towards them, looking pointedly down at the ponies. "Are you three done all... being all creepy or crybabyish or whatever? Because you know, you should really get going."

"Please just open the portal for us, accursed goddess." Luna said tiredly, and Hel huffed loudly, but then the ice puppet nodded with a grumble as she turned and rubbed her hands lightly together.

"Well, I'm sure I'll miss you when you're gone, but for now I can't stand you being here." Hel remarked, then she rose her hands and wiggled her fingers. "Now, I can't make rainbows and hurricanes, but what I can do is take you from A to pick up that B before you head to C Looking Glass World. Ha, I'm a punner!"

Luna glared up at the puppet, but before she or anyone else could say anything, there was a crackle of energy, a blinding flash, a whirl of vertigo... and Luna stumbled dumbly before she caught herself and stared around as she realized they were standing in Cairnmór, and Ironjaw were gaping at them with disbelief.

"Hey, Terra! Get out here if you want a ride back to your kid!" Hel shouted loudly to the air, and there was awkward silence for a moment before it was broken by the sound of a door banging open as Terra hurried out into the street, a wide grin on her face.

A terrified-looking Airid was following her, and Hel cocked her head curiously at this before she looked mildly down at Luna, jerking a thumb towards the smaller male Ironjaw. "What are you, the humane society? You have to go and adopt every lost little stray lamb you come across?"

"Oh shut up, Hel, and just take us back home as thou promised. Or else we shall have to tell all the dragons here about their origins." Luna replied mildly, and Hel looked less-than-thrilled with this before she sighed loudly and nodded a few times, the puppet making a few exaggerated bows towards the sapphire mare.

"Whatever you command, moon pie. Oh, and since we're on the subject of adopting wild animals... stop trying to kidnap my pets. I'm going to have to give those Destroyers of mine a firm talking-to for thinking they can up and leave me for you." Hel said mildly, and the puppet looked moodily at Terra and Airid as the two Ironjaw approached and bowed their heads low. "Oh, don't even bother. Your loyalties are clear. And I'm hurt. Hurt, Isenertos, that you would all favor Luna over me. I'm going to have to give your clan a firm talking-to as well. By which I mean I'm going to boil you all in a giant pot of acid."

Twilight Sparkle winced as Scrivener looked up slowly at how sincere Hel sounded, but the sapphire mare only grinned wryly before she remarked: "Well, Hel, if thou does that they may turn their loyalty over to me entirely. After all, I am a dragon myself now, or did thou not hear? And likewise... I would ask thee not to toy with the Destroyers that desire to join me. I could use their aid... and if they willingly choose me as Mistress over thee, what right do either of us have to refuse them? One does not antagonize a Destroyer... especially not in one's own home."

Hel looked moody at this, and then the puppet rose a hand and said sourly: "Get out of my pet shop, Luna Brynhild, and don't you ever come back."

With that, she simply snapped her fingers, and there was pain and flashes of light and sound and a sensation of traveling across some incredible distance before Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight all flopped to hard stone ground in stunned sprawls, the violet mare coughing a few times and the stallion groaning as his Talons sparked with energy.

Luna grimaced, soulstone horn reverberating and forcing her to open her eyes... before she popped up to her hooves in surprise as she looked back and forth with amazement. They weren't in Helheim anymore, but Subterra, and there were demons staring at the ponies and two Ironjaw that had just appeared out of thin air with amazement... amazement that grew all the greater as Scrivener slowly picked himself up and Twilight shook her own body out, murmuring: "She did it. She kept her promise and... we did it."

"We stand a chance now." Luna said softly, glancing up at her soulstone horn and giving a small smile and silent thanks to Hel, before the sapphire mare looked straight down the road. Not just towards the Thorn Palace, but towards the ivory winged unicorn who was calmly but quickly flying down to meet them.

All the same, the sapphire mare felt... a distinct anxiety coming from Celestia when she landed in front of them, even if it was relief that she gazed at them with. Luna smiled a little, and Scrivener self-consciously rubbed at his forelimbs as Twilight Sparkle felt an odd moment of... near-guilt. But then again, she had almost been treating Hel like a mentor, and even these days the Lich felt that odd loyalty to her friend and former teacher.

The ivory winged unicorn drew her gaze over them, then gave a small smile... but it didn't quite reach her eyes, and Luna frowned uneasily. Not just at the way Celestia had apparently dismissed both the fact they had an extra Ironjaw with them and Scrivener's forelimbs, but how simply troubled she looked... and after a moment, the ivory mare sighed softly and said quietly: "It's good to see you back. We have a lot to talk about."

---

Twilight Sparkle sat with her head lowered, trying to process everything they had just discussed. She felt Scrivener Blooms silently rubbing a claw along her back as Luna sat forwards, staring across at Celestia before she gritted her teeth. "We shall not stand for this. We must go, immediately, Celestia, to stop Gymbr."

"I understand how you feel. My heart cries out for the same thing... but my mind tells me that we need to wait just a little longer." Celestia said quietly as she sat back in the chair on the other side of the library table, her eyes silently sizing up her sibling. "We can't rush, though. If we rush in... we won't accomplish anything. We'll either be killed or forced to retreat: and at this point, both of those things mean that we lose this war before it even begins."

Luna grumbled, then lowered her head and nodded moodily before Celestia gave a brief smile. "And don't forget there's good news as well as bad. And I see that you accomplished your own mission, although... Scrivener..."

The stallion smiled faintly as he held up a Talon, murmuring: "Prosthetic. Permanently fused to... whatever's left of my forelegs. But Hel gave us... lots of stuff and told us that we were her backup plan the whole time."

"I wish I could say I was surprised." Celestia laughed a little and shook her head slowly, then she looked up and said: "No, maybe that's a little unfair. I am a bit surprised; I get the sense that Hel's been very generous, and you've made new allies who might be able to help us with the siege on Heaven. Who are going to help us ensure that... we can stop Gymbr before we lose... anyone else."

Twilight looked down at this, closing her eyes and nodding silently: she hurt. Not because Gymbr had already begun exterminating the Pious, or because his forces had apparently begun to occupy and suppress dragon aeries and wild demon nests to try and prevent them from making possible allies, but because while they were gone... Applejack had died. Peacefully, in her sleep, halfway across Equestria while staying in a cozy little cabin in some dusty little nowhere-town. She had died a perfect, gentle death... and all the peace and comfort of it was going to be robbed, because the place her soul was going to rise up to was a nightmare made reality, and Twilight Sparkle was terrified of what Gymbr was going to do to her spirit.

But neither she nor Rainbow Dash had known about what was going on. Sure, they had sent out messengers across Equestria to warn as many ponies as they could, but Dash and AJ had never left an itinerary behind, never made any kind of schedule... they had just been roaming around the country, going wherever their hooves took them. But it all only added to the guilt wracking Twilight's heart: she should have done more. She should have tried harder. She should have ordered the demons to search without rest until they hunted down her friends, to warn them...

She felt a hoof squeeze into her shoulder, and the Lich looked up as Luna leaned in with a faint smile, shaking her head slowly and murmuring: "Stop that, Twilight Sparkle. If thou truly desires to help thy friend, then thou must focus on the here and now, not the past. We need thee here with us. Between thyself and Celestia, there must be a way for us to get into Asgard, if not Valhalla itself..."

"We won't be able to use the Bifrost to get there. Gymbr will either lock it down or simply have an army waiting for us. He can't open the Gates, but he can still use fluxes and portals to move his troops." the ivory mare said quietly, and Luna frowned at this.

"Well, Hel told us she could modify the Hourglass, and I was inclined to believe her... she seems to excel in all areas of more-peculiar enchantment." Luna gestured pointedly at Scrivener, who lamely rubbed at one of the Talons. "She told us already that she has reversed the flow of time, made it so that instead of an hour here being days or weeks there, 'twas the opposite..."

"I don't doubt her either. But what I do doubt is that Gymbr isn't monitoring the Hourglass somehow, and I don't think he cares about the risk of overworking the Hourglass by forcing it immediately to reverse momentum." Celestia grimaced and shook her head slowly. "He's going to cause a quantum flux that will demolish half the Vale at this rate."

Luna grunted moodily in agreement, and then she said wryly: "If I did not fear 'twould make me sound very much like thy old self, Celestia, then I would suggest that may not entirely be a bad thing."

The ivory mare sighed a little, but before she could reply, a sour voice said: "Maybe it wouldn't be, but it would defeat the entire purpose of this mission. Heaven is territory we're trying to reclaim. You don't burn your own territory unless it serves a purpose or takes something valuable away from the enemy, Luna Brynhild."

All eyes turned towards the doorway to watch as Hecate floated in, the head looking moodily back and forth. "Believe me, I don't care how many little ponies die. What I do care about is winning, and not giving him an extra advantage. I'm sure that even with Gymbr present, the Vale is either attempting to lock itself down or revert to its former state."

"That's what I thought it should do as well: without the presence of any Aesir, Heaven and Valhalla should essentially shut down. But Gymbr..." Celestia shook her head slowly. "He either took so much of Kvasir's blood that Heaven thinks he's Aesir, or because he's half-Valkyrie..."

The sapphire mare grimaced at this, then she hesitated before asking quietly: "But would my blood be enough, Celestia? I am not like thee... thou wert a goddess, Freya. I was Brynhild. I was... I was not born, but created."

"You were a person all the same though, Luna. Don't ever think of yourself as any less: I don't think gods or goddesses are any different, after all. Something creates us, and... we have no choice but to serve whatever we seem to be created for, to pursue our natures." Celestia reached up and touched her own breast, smiling a little. "And besides. You were always different, Luna. You were the Night Maiden, and you were always my closest sister."

Luna looked up with the faintest blush, and then Hecate made a loud gagging sound, earning glares from the rest of the ponies before the head asked irritably: "Are you done? Good. Because I have a way for you to get up into Asgard and to blow the gates open."

The others leaned forwards intently at this, and Hecate smiled coldly. "Good. That got you all to stop whining and pay attention. And thankfully, it's very simple: across several Midgards, Valthrudnir kept portals, as you already know. But one of these in particular is an old one-way portal into Asgard. Valthrudnir had it built so he could sneak into the highest realm and hunt down any of the stray gods that escaped Valhalla's destruction. It should still be functional: he had the bad habit of never shutting down any of his toys."

Celestia nodded slowly as Luna asked quietly: "What of that Midgard? I do not desire to walk into another Decretum and be ambushed by Clockwork creatures, after all."

"They won't ambush you anymore. Not if he's willing to give a few orders." Hecate gestured towards Scrivener Blooms irritably, and then she added: "And there won't be anything there anyway. Valthrudnir couldn't exactly set the world on fire or build his Clockwork technologies without attracting attention, after all. That would defeat the whole purpose of 'ambush.'

"I'll be coming with you." Hecate looked disgusted with herself even as she said this, while the ponies all looked up in both surprise and interest. "You'll need me to open the portal. Unfortunately, my body is not yet prepared... so the gun dyke has put together... a method for me to... travel long distances with some assistance."

Luna slowly grinned at this, and Celestia hesitantly nodded before she glanced over at Luna. "We should ask Sleipnir and Pinkamena to come with us, and Morning Glory as well. A full strike team: even if we can keep this hidden from Gymbr until we jump to the Midgard where the portal is, he'll undoubtedly try to step in the moment he realizes we're heading for something."

"If you're bringing your idiot brother, don't tell him we're going to a portal. He'll say it out loud somewhere along the route and I have no doubt Gymbr will seek it out to destroy it the moment he understands what we're doing." Hecate said grouchily, and then she looked moodily towards Scrivener Blooms. "Now, the real reason I came here. If you're willing to wait ten hours, I'll have the beacon finished and I'll be able to call the remaining Clockwork Ponies to join us."

Scrivener and Luna traded looks, then both turned their questioning eyes to Celestia, who nodded slowly, saying quietly: "I know it's hard. But we do need to be patient. We should assemble our strike force and inform everyone of what's going on, have them all be ready in... twenty hours' time to move out. That will give us more than enough time to prepare, and hopefully enough time to organize the army we're going to need to raid Valhalla. There's no way we can win this battle just by ourselves."

The others nodded slowly, and Hecate smiled grimly before she slowly turned around and floated away, saying calmly over her shoulder: "Then I'll take that as a go-ahead. Don't worry: I'm sure a lot of the Clockwork Ponies will just take a bit of recharging and cleaning up."

Twilight looked uneasily after Hecate as the head left, then she turned worried eyes to Celestia, asking quietly: "Are you sure this is a good idea? It's not that I don't trust you, I just... it feels again like every second is precious. And like no matter how much we prepare, it might not be enough."

Celestia nodded slowly, then she said softly: "I understand. And we're going to need to exploit every resource at our disposal..." Celestia turned her eyes towards Scrivener Blooms, studying the stallion for a moment before she gestured at the satchels at his side. "What else did Hel give you?"

"Oh, uh..." Scrivener Blooms took the two satchels off as Luna removed their worn equipment bag. "Books, some strips of gianttooth, soulstone, other... stuff..."

"And we have these still." Luna added positively, as she held up one of the Ironjaw potions. "'Tis a miracle they did not break, but I suppose the Ironjaw know to make everything as sturdy as they themselves are. 'Tis some kind of elixir, it works very well."

Celestia cocked her head curiously, and Luna slid one of the potions across the table to Celestia. The ivory mare picked it up and popped the cork open so she could sniff at the fluid, and then she frowned slightly, murmuring: "It only has a trace of Helheim's essence. It must be brewed in some special enclosure... no wonder it's so potent, then. Good."

She put the cork back in place, then slid the bottle across the table, adding: "I have two bottles of Yemaya's Tears, as well. We'll pack these potions into a shell in one of your expanded bags so they don't get broken, and it'll give us something to recharge ourselves after we reach Asgard and break open the Gates. I have no doubt that at some point we're going to end up in a skirmish with Gymbr or his forces, after all... we have to be ready for that."

Luna nodded grimly, then she hesitated before asking finally: "But because of the time difference, Celestia... even if we reach the Gates of Valhalla, even saying that we fight Gymbr there and drive him or his lackeys away... will they not simply retreat into Valhalla, then return what may be hours later for them, and seconds to us?"

The ivory mare smiled a little at this, shaking her head slowly and saying softly: "We're just going to have to hope and fight. But I remember correctly... with the Hourglass' time distortion, it will take them quite a bit of time to heal. They also may not be able to lock on to our location right away once we use the portal, especially if Hecate was telling the truth about Valthrudnir using it for stealth."

Twilight nodded slowly as Luna rubbed moodily at her features, saying finally: "But a lot will all the same be up to luck, skill, and our enemy's arrogance. This is going to be difficult, Celestia."

"It always is." Celestia only smiled and shrugged a bit, and then the ivory mare shook her head slowly before she murmured: "But we should be able to assemble a force that will hold Gymbr's own at bay... except in order to do it, I think I have to ask you to do something, Scrivener Blooms. Even if it makes me a hypocrite with everything I've always said."

The stallion looked up uneasily, already knowing what was coming as he shifted slowly. He felt Luna and Twilight turn their eyes towards him, and he felt that whirl of emotions through their minds: worry, hope... greed. And as always, that soft whisper of excitement in Scrivener's own mind as some part of him relished just how powerful he had become after spending a childhood as nothing more than a miserable slave hoof.

He shook those thoughts off before looking down at one of his metal claws... and he flexed it slowly, studying the way solid-seeming metal moved with all the beauty and suppleness of real flesh. Then the stallion smiled faintly and mumbled: "Well, if it'll help."

"Blood; it's in you to give." remarked a voice wryly, and all eyes looked upwards to see Discombobulation sitting on the ceiling, the Draconequus absently cutting a shape out of a folded piece of paper as he remarked: "Although really... I think blood is there to keep your organs and muscles and everything else in your body functioning. Also, if you apply the 'give a hundred percent with everything you do' rule to blood, you die. Well. Most of you die. I guess you just shrivel up, Twilight Sparkle, and then you'd be a prune instead of a grape."

"I know. I'm purple. That's the joke." Twilight said tiredly, looking up at the Draconequus, and Bob only nodded seriously in response before he calmly tossed the scissors away, then flicked the sheets of paper a few time to send down a slowly-falling hail of confetti before he pulled on either end of it, revealing a banner of cutout prancing ponies.

The others looked up at him for a few moments, and then Celestia asked softly: "So will you be joining us with this, Bob? We could use your help."

"Oh, as if you really have to ask, Tia. As much as I'd like to, I know that I can't just abandon you. Contractual agreements and all, which are voided only in the event that I catch you cheating on me with that cat you tried to marry." Discombobulation paused, then he said seriously: "I suppose if someone did love and want to marry a cat, it wouldn't be so strange: there are plenty of either gender who enjoy a nice pussy."

Scrivener Blooms slowly closed his eyes as Twilight Sparkle stared a little and Luna giggled childishly, and Celestia smiled despite herself as she looked up at the chimerical creature, saying softly: "I think I've been a bad influence on you, Bob."

"Why? There's absolutely nothing wrong with that sentence. I love cats." Discombobulation replied candidly as he crumpled the paper banner together, then pulled it out again, and this time the paper shapes were of varying felines instead of equines. "It's all about perception, you know. What you perceive modifies the reality you choose to live in; it's something we should all attempt to apply a little more to our lives."

Celestia nodded slowly, then she looked towards Scrivener Blooms, saying softly: "Bob is right. And I want this to be a good thing, I want to see what we have to do... as a good thing. Freeing the Clockwork Ponies and using your corruption to enhance demons we trust. I want to see it as extracting the greatest benefit we can in the short amount of time we have."

Scrivener Blooms smiled faintly after a moment, looking down and silently studying his claws before he simply nodded and murmured: "I do too. But sometimes just looking at things one way or another doesn't change the fact you're still shoving poison down someone's throat. Telling them it's candy doesn't make it candy."

"Oh shut up, beetle. Stop being so depressing." Luna punched the stallion lightly in the armored shoulder, and he winced a bit before the sapphire mare looked across at Celestia and gave a firm nod. "I agree with both of thee. And I also agree that pussy is good."

She continued to look serious for a moment, then giggled childishly and covered her muzzle as Celestia sighed and Discombobulation smiled wryly, saying mildly: "Vulgarity isn't comedy. Except, you know, when it is."

Then the Draconequus hopped off the ceiling, neatly rotating his body to land in a sitting position on the table next to Celestia, tenting his hands in his lap as he gazed down at her kindly. "Now, Tia, do you mind if for a moment I take over? I have one little last order of business I feel that I should bring to the table, you see. It's rather important."

Celestia nodded, her eyes curious, and Discombobulation smiled at her and reached out to gently cup her face in a gentle, affectionate gesture for a moment. Then he spun around, swinging his lower limbs up to sit crosslegged as he said softly: "Now, I know that a lot has been going on. There's much to wrap all your minds around, and we all have the feeling that even if we do manage to make like a famous international clubbing brand and get into Valhalla, it's only going to be the start of this whole miserable mess. This sordid subject. This pitiable party.

"But, instead of trying to helplessly imagine or plan for some penultimate peril, we should start at the bad beginning: all of you saw the Hatter, after all, and the Mad that came with him." Discombobulation looked back and forth, and Luna frowned as Celestia nodded slowly: they had tried to put those events out of mind for now, since Gymbr felt like a more pressing issue. There hadn't been any serious spikes of chaos lately, after all, and Draconequus weren't in the habit of genocide, like Gymbr was.

"Now, we Draconequus don't really like listening to things. Not even each other, not our betters, not the government or the authorities, and certainly not to our better judgment." The Draconequus nodded calmly as he ticked these things off on his fingers. "But there is one thing that we do have to listen to, no matter what happens: the Mad must obey the Hatter."

"Who or what is he? Do you know?" Celestia asked quietly, and Discombobulation shrugged a bit, smiling a little. Their eyes met, the two studying each other, and then the mare said softly: "Please."

Discombobulation hesitated for a few moments... and then he finally sighed and nodded, saying wryly: "Well, I can't answer that question, but... I suppose all the same I can at least tell you what I know. An old Draconequus folk story, because we have our stories, too, our prophecies and our fairy tales... although in summary, this one is really quite simple, and both a little sad and a little scary, especially for Draconequus.

"The Hatter is said to be upside-down order, chaos so profound that we Draconequus are made to feel sane from his presence alone. If Discord is the big dog of the Draconequus, then Theophilius Carter is the epicyon haydeni." Discombobulation said mildly, gesturing with one hand easily. "Personally, I think the fact the word 'epic' is in there is a good point towards 'do not poke.'"

"Then I should be known as an epicorn. I am an epicorn." Luna said mildly, raising her head proudly, and Scrivener and Twilight both gave the sapphire mare sour looks as Celestia sighed a little. "And this epicorn does not fear an... epicy hatty. I shall pummel him if he gets in our way, 'tis as simple as that. But for now, I have no desire to go chasing around a gaggle of Draconequus that Hecate let in from Ginnungagap, whether or not he has any clue about what is going on. 'Tis clear enough it would be a waste of our very valuable, very precious time to chase after him, after all."

Celestia nodded hesitantly at this, but all the same, she studied Discombobulation for a few moments before asking quietly: "But there's something else, isn't there?"

The Draconequus shrugged slowly, saying finally: "Well, yes and no. The prophecy goes on a very silly tangent about the balance between order and chaos, but... and this is just off the top of my own head, so you'll excuse me if I'm not making as much sense as if it came from the top of yours, Tia; Gymbr desires eternal chaos. The Hatter is chaos so mad that we Draconequus must obey him."

"So I was right to be worried that Gymbr may have been the one to revive him... is the Hatter an idea, or a spirit, a living thing? He was a Jötnar... but his presence was that of a god... and yet he controls chaos entities..." Celestia broke off, frowning uneasily as she looked away and rubbed slowly at her features. "He's a riddle."

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" Discombobulation shrugged, the question clearly a rhetorical one before he said softly: "The Hatter has a role to play, and you can't forget about him, as much as I know we'd all like to just push him aside. I know all our heads are full of fluff and we're very much confused, and there's nothing I can say or do to change that; the only promise I can make is not mine to give, but I'll remind you of it anyway. Very soon, friends, we're going to get all the answers we're looking for... it's just very likely that none of them will be the answers we want."

Twilight Sparkle smiled faintly at this, looking down and shivering a little before Luna muttered: "Then I shall simply pummel them until they are a better fit for the vision of the world I have in mind. 'Tis as simple as that."

The other ponies looked for a few moments at Luna, and then Scrivener Blooms couldn't help but smile a bit, remarking: "So back to the usual solution we use for everything, huh?"

"Well, it has not failed yet." Luna replied reasonably, shrugging a bit before she reached up and rubbed moodily at her soulstone horn. "But... we cannot waste time, sitting here, moping and pretending to be philosophers and great thinkers, for whom our academics will solve all problems. We have the battlefield to attend to, and the realities that come with it. Come, Scrivy. And thou as well, Twilight Sparkle: we must get ourselves moving."

The charcoal stallion nodded as Twilight glanced across at Celestia, asking: "Do you want us to just leave what Hel dropped off with you? I figure you might want to take a look through some of these things yourself."

Celestia smiled at the violet mare, replying softly: "I do, thank you." A pause, and then she glanced over at her sister as the sapphire mare headed for the door, saying calmly: "I am going to go ahead and speak to Sleipnir and Pinkamena, by the way. And I hope you're aware that Antares and Aphrodisia are both going to want to at least be in the assault squadron, if not part of the initial attack team. Even Scarlet Sage-"

"Oh, cease thy troublemaking, accursed Celestia." Luna huffed loudly, and then the sapphire mare shook her head grumpily as she halted at the door to let Twilight catch up. Then the starry-maned winged unicorn finally nodded hesitantly, mumbling: "Aye. We shall... send out letters to our family. Scarlet Sage is still in Ponyville, correct?"

Celestia nodded, and Luna smiled a little before closing her eyes: she knew her children deserved their say, too. She just was afraid because... of what had already happened to Innocence. A subject she and Scrivener were direly trying not to think about, even if Twilight was worrying constantly at it in their minds.

Finally, Luna simply nodded a little back to her sibling before heading into the hall, lowering her head and mumbling: "Damnation. Damnation, damnation, damnation. All is... all is stupid. Here I was, ready and willing to battle, and then I think of what else awaits us above and how... to rescue our daughter, we might... oh, damnation."

Scrivener only smiled a little as he lowered his head, and Twilight Sparkle shook her own slowly as she murmured: "It hurts, but... honestly, Luna, I hope that we are the ones to see her. Or someone else who's family... I don't know if she could actually hurt us."

"But we're going to have to treat her like she is. It kills me to say that, but..." Scrivener closed his eyes, thinking of their training sessions in the past, when his little girl had shown she was so strong, so talented already... and then feeling his gut twist as he thought about how Gymbr had modified time in Heaven, made it so the last time he had seen his daughter, decades had passed... and now it had likely been years more, and...

He shook himself out. He didn't want to go down that road. He didn't want think... all these awful thoughts starting to run through his head. Instead, he gritted his teeth and muttered: "We... we should find Morning Glory. She can assemble those demons she picked out for possible enhancement and we'll get that over with now. Just in case there's any side effects."

Luna grunted in agreement after a moment, and Twilight nodded silently before she murmured: "I swear if Gymbr's done anything more to our daughter, though... I'll kill him myself."

Scrivener and Luna both looked at Twilight for a moment... and both of them believed her. Twilight Sparkle was among the gentlest, kindest, most compassionate people they had ever met, but deep inside her, under lock and key, there was a darkness. A darkness that Luna and Scrivener had exacerbated, but they both understood had always been there; a part of Twilight that she was afraid to give full release, to show even to them, because it had always been hidden in the bright, almost-blinding light of her soul.

They understood what it was, and that was part of the reason that she loved them so much; and they knew how to keep that darkness in check, and how to help her use it for good things, like protecting her friends and innocent lives. But that darkness fed on good things: that darkness didn't draw power from hate and sadness and her negativity: that darkness grew stronger the more light and love and joy surrounded it. And when something she cared about was threatened, that darkness began to rise up no matter how hard Twilight fought to keep it down, to consume whatever was in her way.

Her partners studied her quietly, then Scrivener slipped carefully over to Twilight's other side so they could comfortably sandwich her between them as they walked, and the Lich smiled faintly and closed her eyes, bowing her head and swallowing back her emotions. They didn't disapprove, though: they just both were telling her it wasn't yet the time for that, and she understood. Just as she understood that if something else had happened to Innocence... after they took Gymbr down, death was the least the god would have to worry about.

Luna leaned over and gently kissed Twilight Sparkle's cheek, and the violet mare blushed a little before she shook her head briefly, trying to get rid of all the... the awful and unwelcome thoughts attempting to force their way in. They had too many other things to worry about right now, after all.. and within a day, they would be taking whatever steps they had to in order to free Valhalla and save their daughter. The best thing she could do right now was concentrate on everything they had to deal with leading up to that point.

Morning Glory seemed to be waiting for them in her throne room. Her armored body flexed as she politely bowed their head at their approach, rising from her throne... a little eagerly, Scrivener thought. Not that he could really blame her: she clearly had some idea about what they wanted, and she had been asking for this for a long time.

They halted in front of her, and Luna looked back and forth before she asked softly: "Where is Eventide? I do not sense her presence. 'Tis strange."

"In seclusion. She feels that she failed you, Luna. Her duty was always to look out for Innocence, after all." Morning Glory glanced up, adding with a strange gentility: "Perhaps she needs a little encouragement from her Mistress. Perhaps she could do with... a gift. I'm sure she'd make exceptional use of it in service to you."

Luna looked down for a moment, then she hesitantly looked over at Scrivener Blooms, who grimaced a little and leaned back as he said slowly: "You... really can't be considering that. A Greater Nightmare feels bad so we should pump more corruption into it?"

"I know thou art being so hostile to the idea not because thou art such an ass, Scrivy, but because thou art actually worried for the creature. And for ourselves." Luna halted, then she grimaced a bit and muttered: "But 'tis not a bad idea, really. From a utilitarian point of view, she will not betray us, even if she becomes animal or maddened. Guilt and shame and loyalty will not let her. And if it creates... something more than a Greater Nightmare, we will know what thy poisons are capable of in great amount. And of course, we must bolster our strength against the enemy... by any means necessary at this point. Or will thou shirk at committing a sin to save Heaven?"

"You're the poet here. Not me." Scrivener muttered, and then the stallion shook his head slowly before he looked at Morning Glory. She only looked calmly back, and the earth pony couldn't help but hold up a metal claw, saying wryly: "Look. We match."

Morning Glory responded to this by reaching out and seizing his foreleg, then slowly twisting to the side, Scrivener's eyes bulging in pain as he grabbed wildly at his limb as she easily bent it backwards before slinging him to the ground. Luna and Twilight both winced at this, then glared up at the Destroyer as the demon said sourly: "No. We don't."

"Great, tremendous wench. Help my husband up to his hooves, thou great bully." Luna huffed, pointing at Scrivener Blooms, and the stallion winced and hurriedly began to scramble to stand... but a little too late, as Morning Glory seized him by the back of the neck and yanked him into the air before dropping him painfully on his rump, the stallion wincing and grasping at his backside as Luna twitched, then glared up at the Overseer. "This is not the best time, nor the best way to make a good impression on me if thou desires the corruption thyself."

"I do. But I'm also not going to play games for it or beg." Morning Glory replied evenly, leaning down towards Luna. "And that is why I deserve it and why you can trust me with it, because I'm not going to pretend and be on my best behavior for you now, and then go back to acting like myself after I've gotten what I wanted. I am who I am. That's all, Valkyrie."

Luna smiled wryly at this, and then she nodded slowly and sighed, saying after a moment: "Well, thou could at least learn to be a little less forceful with thy hooves."

"I dislike it when little colts compare themselves to me. Even if they've been given fancy little gifts from Hel herself." Morning Glory leaned down meditatively, studying Scrivener Blooms for a few moments before she shook her head slowly. "I don't know how you got these... but I sincerely hope that you understand no one wins in a deal made with Hel."

"Then I suppose we will be the first. Besides, we did not have to make many negotiations. Shooting her with Sting was enough to get the majority of my points across." Luna replied wryly, gesturing absently at the handle of her gun.

Morning Glory frowned, studying the mare intently as Luna only rose her head high and looked evenly back, and then the Destroyer slowly grinned before throwing her head back and laughing. "Well, Luna Brynhild, it looks like you can live up to your enormous boasts after all!"

"I can whenever I please to, wretched harpy." Luna replied with a huff, then she shook her head and said after a moment: "Ask the candidates thou chose to receive the corruption to assemble. It... it is time that we granted them this gift. I only hope, sincerely, that they are all truly ready for it."

"They are. We are. And if any of them disappoint you, you may hold me personally responsible." Morning Glory replied calmly, once more serious... but a smile still lingered around her lips, and now there was a gleam of excitement in her eyes. "I'll have them gather and await you in Hollow Hall. Should I prepare anything else?"

Luna shook her head, then she hesitated before saying finally: "Have Eventide come to us here. We will speak to her and... see what can be done in private. I do not have any desire to make my Greater Nightmares jealous and... I wish to do this carefully."

Morning Glory nodded, then bowed to them respectfully before she strode past, saying calmly as she headed for the door: "Hesitance, arrogance, and cowardice are what form tyrants, Luna Brynhild. Those who must impose their own rule over others are almost always those who fear being recognized they are of a weaker breed themselves."

Scrivener grunted at this, and then he lowered his eyes, muttering as Morning Glory left the hall: "Well, I did always say I was a coward, right?"

"Oh stop it, beetle." Luna's tone was soft, however, and she leaned over to only gently bop the stallion's head, making a faint ding against his skull. "Thy cowardice is cowardice of a different sort. Thou knows that Morning Glory is only attempting to push and prod us into... doing things more to her liking. She is a wretched creature in that regard."

Scrivener Blooms only grunted, nodding a little as he looked down for a few moments before sighing and rubbing moodily at one of his Talons. He studied it silently, then held it up and said finally: "I have to wonder just how much Hel knows about us sometimes. I mean... these are... these just fit. And they focus my abilities so well..."

Luna nodded moodily, and Twilight Sparkle smiled a bit as she turned her eyes towards them. "But it's a good thing, right? I mean, her fascination can be a little creepy at times, yeah, but... she doesn't seem like she wants to hurt us. I think she honestly wants to help. And I mean... I did feel-"

"If thou says thou felt bad for her as well, I swear to Asgard I will shoot thee." Luna threatened, glaring over at the Lich, and Twilight only smiled and rose her hooves as the sapphire mare sighed and mumbled: "And I refuse to speak of what I felt about the crafty, conniving creature. For that is what she is and we must not forget that. For all we know, 'twas nothing but a bundle of lies."

"I thought she couldn't lie, though." Scrivener said after a moment, glancing over at Luna... and then wincing at the curdling glare she fixed on him, the stallion shrinking his head back and muttering: "I'll just. Keep my thoughts to myself from now on."

"Good. Thou should do that." Luna grumbled, and the two childishly bumped and shoved against each other for a few moments before the sapphire mare finally shook herself briskly and looked up at the ceiling, feeling herself settling even as worries tried to cloud her mind.

But she didn't let them: she just focused on the ponies she had with her, and all the plans they had to make for what was coming. She let a few selfish thoughts rise up to muddle with her ideas, balancing her mind between things as best she could. It was better that she have a few uncomfortable fantasies swirling through her mind right now than she worked herself – and her partners, though their link – into a ball of frustration and anxiety.

Then the sapphire mare glanced up at the sound of hooves before Eventide appeared, the Greater Nightmare running headlong towards them... and to Luna's surprise, barreling right into the sapphire mare's chest, clinging to her and burying her face against her as she whispered: "Oh, Mistress Luna... I cannot apologize enough. This is all my fault; I could not save her from turning to Gymbr, and I could not save her from herself..."

"Hush now... hush." Luna's tone softened a little as she reached up and caught the Greater Nightmare by the shoulders, looking down at her almost tenderly. "Do not blame thyself. Especially not for that... nor is it my daughter's fault. This is all Gymbr's doing, and we are going to make him pay."

The Greater Nightmare nodded several times, looking up almost like a faithful servant begging for mercy from her idol... and Luna smiled faintly as she realized that was exactly what she was. She was their Mistress, their goddess... she was the Night, Incarnate. She was their savior... but like Hel, she was a trickster, too, and she was dangerous, and her gifts...

She hesitated, she thought of the consequences of what she was doing... she worried for a moment, whether or not it was fair, whether or not it was an abuse of her power. But all her rationalizations overwhelmed her, and the emotions... the fear, the anger, the simple curiosity, they all told her to push ahead even when a voice whispered that this was a dangerous road to take. That they were at risk of pushing too hard, delving too deep... becoming too much like the very thing they were trying to fight.

And all the same, Luna couldn't stop herself from asking, almost eager for the Greater Nightmare's answer: "If we give strength to thee... even greater power than what thou already possesses... then will thou come with us into Valhalla, and fight by our side?"

Eventide's eyes brightened: yes, with her own tricky, selfish nature, at the thought of power... but Luna thought there was an honest desire to help Innocence there, too. An honest willingness to go to whatever length it took to help save the little pony that the Nightmare had always seemed to care about... "Yes! Mistress, I... I don't deserve such wonders, but..."

Luna only shook her head, smiling... and then faltering as she looked over at Scrivener and Twilight. The stallion had his head lowered, his eyes closed, shivering... but she could taste his thoughts, sense his own eagerness. How he wanted to grasp the Greater Nightmare, poison her with darkness, transform her into... a slave, a thrall, a monster... but all for the greater good...

And Twilight Sparkle, her head lowered, her eyes closed like she knew this was wrong but was trying to block it out, to turn away from it, to deny that they were doing something that was... so malicious. But it was all for her daughter, and she'd do anything for her daughter... anything...

The Lich felt Twilight's gaze and looked up, as Luna asked a mental question without meaning to, and Twilight trembled even as her soul spoke back to Luna; and for a moment, Luna glimpsed a world where Innocence had been wrestled back from Gymbr, but was still so... twisted, so warped, so corrupt... but there, Twilight was cradling her daughter all the same, and they were a family, even if all around them the ground was nothing but mire and ice, and they were surrounded by monsters from the lowest level of Hell, the only creatures who they could now call 'friend...'

The mares hurriedly looked away from each other, and Luna shivered... then gritted her teeth before looking towards Eventide, saying before she even realized what she was doing: "Then we shall give a gift to you, Eventide. But not of poison or corruption, but... a soulstone pendant. Aye, a pendant I shall shape quickly myself, and which shall allow thee to track down Innocence. When we enter Valhalla, thou shall be in charge of... of leading thine own team of those chosen to find our daughter to her, and assisting in her rescue. Can thou handle this task?"

The Greater Nightmare stared at Luna for a few moments, and then she slowly sat up and bowed her head low, whispering: "I will not fail you. I will die before I fail you, Mistress Luna."

Luna smiled faintly at this, and then gave a brief nod before gesturing at Eventide and saying finally: "Go and tell Celestia that I will require a piece of soulstone. Thou may inform her if thou desires of its purpose: she may have advice for thee or perhaps is willing to put her skills to work to better benefit thee."

"Thank you, Mistress Luna. I will not fail." Eventide promised again, and then the Greater Nightmare gave a last smile to them before she turned, and was simply gone.

The sapphire mare sighed a little as she lowered her head, and then she held up a hoof when Scrivener began to open his mouth, grumbling: "Speak but a single word, poet, and I swear that I shall smite thee so mightily that all of Helheim will ring with it."

Scrivener Blooms cleared his throat awkwardly and nodded a little, and Twilight Sparkle shook her own head slowly before saying softly: "Well, even if Scrivy won't say anything, then I will: I'm... I'm glad that you made that decision, Luna. I'm glad that we know our boundaries still. That we're not... I believe that we're not going to become Gymbr."

Luna looked over at Twilight Sparkle, and then she gave a small smile before murmuring: "That is something I would like to believe myself, my darling mare. But very well, my family: 'tis time now for us to be on our way. We have gifts to give to our loyal subjects... but only small gifts, in careful moderation. We must be careful."

Scrivener Blooms nodded in agreement, and Twilight Sparkle gave another small smile before the three ponies turned around to head towards the doorway. And Luna Brynhild closed her eyes for a moment as she reflected that maybe, in spite of everything that was tempting them, pushing them, pressuring them... they could still gaze down Gymbr without having Gymbr gaze too deeply back into them, and drown the few small islands of light inside them, that floated bravely upon the black seas of their dark and turbulent souls.

Chapter Thirty One: The Gathering Storm

~BlackRoseRaven

They were almost ready: they just had one final stop to make, to pick up the last piece of the puzzle... and greet the forces that Hecate had apparently already summoned without waiting to ask anyone's permission. Then again, all things considered, it was probably for the best. Luna was already having second thoughts about the idea of bringing in Clockwork Ponies, after all: not because she didn't trust that they could control them, but because she wasn't sure how many innocent ponies in Heaven had been corrupted by Gymbr, or whether or not they could be saved. All she knew was that if they sent Clockwork Ponies into Valhalla, a lot of people were going to end up dead.

Over the last eighteen hours or so, they had been kept exceptionally busy: one notable event from earlier, for example, had been Morning Glory gathering some fifty demons and Nightmares in all who she thought were worthy of being boosted by the corruption. Scrivener and Luna had gone through their ranks, the sapphire mare using dark magic to balance out the effects of the dark blood each and every one of the creatures received.

Some of the demons they had expected, like Atrus: the giant had only closed his eyes, given the barest flex at the dark blessing, and then simply nodded briefly to them. Others, like Ersatz Major, were a complete surprise. But Ersatz had only smiled and bowed her head, saying softly: "I know how important family is. And I want to be able to help."

Morning Glory was the last in line: she and Scrivener Blooms simply looked at each other for the longest time, and then the Destroyer grudgingly bowed her head forwards, and the stallion wheezed in relief as he muttered: "Good. You're not going to eat me."

"Shut up and hurry up." Morning Glory had growled, and Scrivener grimaced bit, but obliged as he pushed his claw against her metallic breast, breathing slowly before focusing and digging his claws lightly into her steel-plated body.

He remembered so clearly how it had felt as the corruption flowed through him; as he had felt it absorbed eagerly into the network of metal plates that covered the Destroyer's body to spread rapidly through her armor, all the better for it to saturate her skin. And the demon had gritted her teeth and dropped her head forwards as her mane and tail of golden flames flared brightly with power, with a strength that startled even the Destroyer.

Scrivener had winced and begun to pull back, and one of Morning Glory's chains snapped out of her back and seized his wrist, the Destroyer leaning forwards as her eyes glowed and she had rasped: "More. I can handle more..."

The stallion had yanked himself backwards in a hurry, while Luna only glared up at the Destroyer before snapping: "And who is thy Mistress? Who rules thee, Destroyer, who must thou bow to and respect?"

Morning Glory turned her glare on Luna, but Luna met her gaze without flinching... and after a moment, the Destroyer had relaxed and closed her eyes tightly, the chain quickly loosening from around Scrivener's wrist and drawing back as the demon had muttered: "I apologize. It's... I can see how you could develop a... fondness for it."

She had shaken herself briefly, breathing slowly before she looked down at the front of her armor: a distinct black dent had been left behind, in the shape of the stallion's claw. The Destroyer had made a face at this before she flexed her body, and the plates of metal across her form rippled visibly, then turned solid once more, clean and polished... except now the clawprint looked like it had been etched in, instead of simply a dark stain.

"Wonderful. Like any stallion, you want to leave your mark on whatever mare you put your filthy hooves on." Morning Glory had rolled her eyes as Scrivener smiled lamely up at her, and then she looked moodily down at the stallion and added: "I do not find your blush cute. And I do not enjoy this kind of passivity, either. It annoys me."

"Well, you're... a bitch." Scrivener had retorted finally, and Morning Glory just scowled at him in response, the stallion clearing his throat and dropping his head as he mumbled: "Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut from now on. That might be best for all concerned."

"I do not know how many times a day thou reaches that conclusion, Scrivy, but it never seems to stick. Idiot." Luna had noted wryly, and then she shook her head slowly and drew her eyes hesitantly over Morning Glory. "Thou art sane?"

"It was a momentary weakness, Luna Brynhild. That is all." Morning Glory answered grouchily, and her crankiness reassured Luna more than anything else as the sapphire mare smiled a little and nodded after a moment. The two had studied each other for the longest time, and then the Destroyer had grumbled and turned her eyes down the line of demons, saying calmly: "I'll get them prepared. When we break into Valhalla, I'll lead this unit."

They had agreed: it was a good idea, after all, and Luna had a world of faith in Morning Glory. More faith than she had in herself sometimes, since she had almost reneged on the idea of making the pendant for Eventide, just as she'd almost found it impossible to agree to Antares' request that he be the one to track down Innocence once they were able to access Heaven.

Yet it made sense: they could trust Antares not to do more than was necessary to bring down Innocence, just as they could trust that he actually would. If push came to shove, the stallion was strong and mature enough to fight back against his own sibling without letting his emotions get in the way. And furthermore, Antares was familiar with Heaven, and with Prestige Luster and Aphrodisia supporting him, he would be ready for just about anything.

The mare sighed quietly as she lowered her head a little, and Twilight shook her head briefly, murmuring: "No. No, Innocence just needs... she just needs someone to reach out to her, that's all. Gymbr is just... trying to brainwash her and control her. Antares will be able to see right through that and find the real Innocence, I know it."

Luna and Scrivener both smiled a little, and then the stallion nodded briefly before he murmured: "I hope you're right, but... Twilight..."

"I know. I just... I just don't want to consider it until nothing else is an option anymore, okay?" Twilight whispered, and both ponies nodded and looked at her softly: it was better to have their hopes for now. They didn't have a whole lot else to help keep themselves going, after all.

The three ponies didn't look up until they entered the workshop run by Hecate and Cowlick, and were greeted by an admittedly strange sight. At least twenty Clockwork Ponies in various states of disrepair were calmly standing around a flickering portal ring, and both Nibelung and the earth pony engineer were working to fix up what damages they could over their battered frames.

Hecate was buzzing around above their heads, glaring around and snapping orders before she turned her baleful eyes on the three ponies. "There you morons are. Scrivener Blooms, call them to order. As an officer-class Replicant, they'll obey your commands but need to be familiarized with you."

The stallion only looked at her dumbly, half-understanding, and then Hecate buzzed down as her horn glowed, a short blast of electricity shooting into the earth pony and making him wince. "Don't give me that look. Just do what I said. Order them to attention, now."

Scrivener grumbled under his breath, not even entirely sure of what he was supposed to do, and then he groaned when Luna leaned over and poked him insistently with her horn a few times. He glowered at her, then yelped when Hecate zapped him again, and Twilight sighed and dropped her face in a hoof as she looked pleadingly over at the sapphire mare.

But the starry-maned winged unicorn only continued to look insistently at the stallion, and then he sighed and turned his eyes outwards, waving one Talon-covered claw and calling awkwardly: "Uh... so hi there, everyone."

One-by-one, the Clockwork Ponies turned calmly towards them, and the charcoal stallion shrank little-by-little as Hecate rolled her eyes and Luna frowned curiously. The Clockwork Ponies were all just... staring silently, metal plates gleaming, eyes locked without hostility, without curiosity, emotionless and yet... not without intelligence.

The stallion looked awkwardly back and forth before he cleared his throat lamely, rubbing the back of his head with one of his Talons. Hecate rolled her eyes, then said flatly down to the stallion: "Are you that pathetic? Access your programming. Try and make a single gesture of command. Stop sitting there, sulking and whimpering, and do something with yourself, idiot."

"You're making it very tempting to see I can order them to eat you." Scrivener muttered, and then he winced as Luna firmly poked him a few times with her horn, forcing him to straighten up as Twilight looked up almost sourly at the sapphire mare. The stallion felt a grudging sort of gratitude towards Luna in spite of everything as he was pushed up into a more commanding posture, looking back and forth before he said calmly: "Step forwards."

There was a moment where the Clockwork Ponies seemed to process the order, and then they all did exactly as the stallion had said: they took a single step forwards. All except for a few notable exceptions, one of whom sighed almost in embarrassment and dropped his head... but there was a shiver through the white unicorn as well, as he remembered the time he'd spent himself trapped in that same droning state.

Scrivener looked awkwardly back and forth, and Hecate sighed tiredly before floating around in a circle and shouting loudly: "Replicants, assemble and stand ready!"

The charcoal stallion couldn't help but stare in disbelief as several ponies hurried out of the crowd, then fell into line in front of them... and he mouthed wordlessly, staring back and forth as he whispered: "But... I thought that Thesis... I mean, he... didn't he..."

"You thought those were the only Replicants Valthrudnir created? Please. No, Cheshire, Protelea and Psukhikos were merely the most advanced and developed Replicants that Thesis could get in short order... and the best to serve Thesis' purposes. Military grade or higher, a watchdog and two designed for infiltration, intelligence gathering, and destruction-at-range. Artillery." Hecate looked contemptibly towards the other Replicants. "These were merely harvested... but contained no useful data, and nothing that made them worth keeping around. But I figured you bleeding hearts would want them out of hibernation and to pretend that they might be useful."

Scrivener Blooms slowly drew his eyes over the five ponies as Luna stared with more fascination than she knew she should have, and Twilight Sparkle admittedly felt the same, but did her best to draw her eyes up to Hecate as the violet mare asked: "Are... but Scrivener isn't a military model either, right? I mean... I'm sorry, Scrivy, you know that-"

"I do and... I really don't care right now because this is goddamn terrifying." Scrivener said after a moment, studying the five ponies with morbid interest before he smiled lamely, asking awkwardly: "None of you are... I mean... you're not going to go crazy and try to kill me and Luna and suck out our DNA or something, right?"

Hecate groaned loudly, and then one of the Replicants bounded forwards: a small mare, smiling up at him brightly, vibrant red in color. She had a sky-blue, jagged mane, and although she looked like an earth pony, she had an enlarged jaw with enlarged teeth and a squarer, muscular body. "We're here to serve, sir!"

The other Replicants didn't look quite so enthusiastic, but they at least displayed clearer emotions than most of the other Clockwork Ponies and seemed to show both interest and respect towards Scrivener Blooms. Three were mares – including the fiery-red earth pony – and two were stallions: they all looked like ponies, acted like ponies, and yet... they clearly weren't, with the modifications and pure strangeness they had to their bodies here and there.

One of the stallions, for example, had half his face covered by metal plating, the eye on this side removed and instead some kind of red, glimmering scope sticking out of the socket. He looked wariest of them all, scraping his hooves slowly against the ground even as he kept his head bowed in deference towards Scrivener Blooms: clearly not happy to be here, but ready and willing to obey, all the same.

That scared Scrivener a little, as he looked over these creatures, then out over the other Clockwork Ponies: the metallic, puppet-like machine ponies that were far less engaged, far less emotional, only waiting silently for orders instead of trying to communicate or make any gesture towards individuality. But the Replicants were synthetic too, and it made Scrivener's stomach clench as he wondered silently whether the Replicants were all really just as emotionless as the Clockwork Ponies were, and only following their false face programming... or if the Clockwork Ponies were just unable to scream, and shout, and reveal the true selves hidden beneath those metal-puppet bodies.

And what about him? He was a Clockwork Pony, a Replicant, himself: Valthrudnir had always said that all his emotions, all his thoughts, the way he acted... it was just because his very design had been for him to infiltrate pony society and get close to certain important people. To act the way they wanted him to...

Luna gently bopped the stallion with her horn, and he winced a bit before the sapphire mare chastised gently: "'Tis not the time for that, poet. Save thy angst for later."

"It's not angst if I don't express it. If I don't express it, it's bottled up torment. Much more writerly." Scrivener replied after a moment, and Luna gave him a quietly amused look before the stallion turned his eyes up to Hecate. When the head only glared at him, he winced away and decided to just go for it, turning his attention back to the eager Replicants as he asked finally: "So I guess the other Clockwork Ponies will listen to you, right?"

They all nodded, and the bouncy red mare leaned forwards eagerly, saying quickly: "But we're not combat models, and we don't have the programming or training to command them properly in any kind of conflict, so we automatically defer to you and Queen Hecate. And... Valkyrie Brynhild. We've been told to listen to Valkyrie Brynhild, too, and to Sanctifier Wisdom."

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, not Wisdom." the violet mare said awkwardly, and the Replicant nodded fervently as she turned excited eyes towards her. "I... do... you have names?"

"Yes, Mistress! I'm Necrophage! These are Node, Vitae, Gasp, and my sister Muse!" chirped the mare brightly, and then she turned her eyes proudly to Scrivener. "I'm a Class Four, which means I'm the highest ranking and most advanced, so I'll be your lieutenant and you can-"

"Emotions off." snapped Hecate sourly, and Necrophage suddenly went very still, staring glassy-eyed at Scrivener Blooms as she became expressionless. The stallion winced away from this as Hecate floated down in front of the red Replicant, then said sourly: "Just because you're so proud of being at a level where you can mimic the emotional output of ponies doesn't mean you have to abuse it constantly. Take the other puppets and assist with repairing the Dogmatists. Gasp, vent the area."

A sallow-faced stallion looked up with his sunken eyes and simply nodded: he wasn't expressionless, but simply... quiet, Scrivener thought. Although admittedly the charcoal stallion couldn't help be a little nervous at the sight of the darkly-marbled unicorn: he had all manner of cables twisting through the flesh of his upper body, and large vents that clicked open and shut on his sides with each heavy breath he took.

Then Scrivener winced backwards as Luna leapt to a ready position in spite of herself when steam vented out of the Replicant's side before the machinery that was built into him began to thrum loudly, a tart smell filling the air. Cowlick shouted something angrily from where she was fixing a Clockwork Pony's foreleg, but Hecate only rolled her eyes and called disgustedly back: "It would take at least three hours for the fumes to concentrate enough to be toxic Besides, what do you care, you're long past your expiration date anyway."

"That's a little mean, Hecate, even for you." Twilight Sparkle said quietly, looking up with a bit of a grimace, and Hecate rolled her eyes as she buzzed around in a circle, glaring down at them as the Replicants strode away.

"I want you ponies to understand something. I am not your friend. I do not like any of you. The reason I'm here, the reason I help you, is because this existence is slightly-less miserable than I imagine being dead would be." Hecate said bitterly, looking sourly back and forth over them. "So why don't you do us all a favor and stop pretending that you can make friends with me, kiss away my boo-boos, and turn me into some kinder, gentler bitch? Because you can't, Twilight Sparkle. In my Endworld, you never existed, so I have no emotional connection to you like Celestia does: the only creature in your guise I knew was Wisdom, and only as an inferior test subject."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Cowlick approached and said pleasantly: "Hey, Hecate, guess what? Turns out that buggy of yours had a few loose bearings. I wouldn't want you being unsafe and all, I'd just cry a creek of tears if something happened to you, so I sent 'er on down to the repair shop. Nibelung should be done with it in a week."

"What?" Hecate spun around, her eyes widening slightly before she snarled in fury, horn beginning to glow, but Cowlick only grinned as she reached up and put a cigarette in her muzzle, fearlessly facing the floating head.

"Now, careful there. Once the battery on your hoverdisc craps out, you'll need all the magic you can dredge up out of that weak-ass horn to keep yourself afloat." Cowlick said mildly, and one of Hecate's eyes twitched as she bared her teeth and hissed furiously. But the engineer only turned her attention away, looking curiously at Gasp as the Replicant calmly laid itself on its stomach, studying the vents and making a face at the gas pumping out of it. "What a reek. That's..."

Cowlick sniffed a few times, then absently reached down and ruffled Gasp's black and silver mane. "Well, whatever. I don't got the time anymore to be angry about Clockwork Ponies being here or any crap like that. The only thing that bugs me anymore is the way you treat them, Hecate... even if they really are all just machines now, unlike my colt Shiny, you still should respect 'em and treat 'em well. If they got any lights still on upstairs, you know if you continue to treat 'em like garbage, one day they might return the favor."

Hecate only scowled down at the engineer, and Cowlick simply shrugged before she winked over at Luna. "But don't you worry. I've got a nice little chariot for her high-and-mightiness here. Something I think you'll get a particular kick out of."

The sapphire mare smiled slightly at this, nodding after a moment before she turned a mild look towards Hecate when Cowlick turned to walk away. "Perhaps thou should take this lesson in stride, wretched creature. Cowlick has a rare point, after all."

Hecate only scowled, then turned her attention to Scrivener Blooms, saying nastily: "Try and be a bigger boy than Thesis ever was and handle this on your own. I apparently have to go euthanize the cancer patient."

With that, Hecate spun around and buzzed away, and the stallion looked after her mildly for a few moments before he said finally: "She really is just. Pure meanness. I mean, when I think she's evil, you know there's a problem."

"Oh, she is just trying to assert her place in the hierarchy..." Luna paused, then cocked her head curiously as Decay wandered out of the crowd of Clockwork Ponies, the strange, dark spirit making its way over to Gasp to study the Replicant silently. Gasp ignored the dark spirit completely, his eyes closed, looking perfectly at peace as he continued to vent what Scrivener guessed was some kind of carbon gas into the air: if he remembered right, that was what helped Clockwork creatures function.

Then Decay simply flopped down beside Gasp, and Twilight smiled despite herself as Luna rolled her eyes. "Well, at least they have the entertainment of each other now. 'Tis cute in an appalling, horrifying fashion. But... look at them..."

Scrivener and Twilight both glanced up as Luna became more serious, silently drawing her eyes back and forth over the crowd as she murmured: "Clockwork Ponies... and they obey us. What must we be to them, I wonder? What lies did Hecate spin... or what truths did she speak that we do not yet recognize? What did Valthrudnir... do to us?"

The stallion didn't reply: he wasn't sure that he wanted to know. He only lowered his head, shaking it out briefly before he muttered: "Maybe we should get out of here. We have to... we still kind of have to get our armor on and gear together, then meet up with everyone and... you know."

"Aye, better than thou does, probably, but we should wait for Hecate. And 'tis not so awful, really: these Clockwork Ponies... mayhaps we can help them one day, as we helped Shiny. Well, as Cowlick helped Shiny." Luna paused. "By stabbing him in the brain, as I recall."

"I dunno. I think the Replicants are more programmed and... well, not every Clockwork Pony has... thingies in its head." Scrivener made a bit of a face, muttering: "I think Valthrudnir probably experimented with all different kinds of brainwashing. He was never really one to shirk away from screwing with people however he liked, after all."

Luna grunted, and Twilight shook her head slowly as she looked down and murmured: "He really did just like to play with people, didn't he? He always said it was about efficiency, finding better methods of control, all kinds of reasons... but he was really just a child, treating us like toys he could... trade parts in and out on. It makes me feel a little sick to my stomach."

Luna and Scrivener only nodded in agreement, and then the stallion awkwardly drew his eyes towards Necrophage, looking uneasily at the Replicant. She had been so bouncy, so excited, and he'd sworn those had been real emotions... but now, she was just listless, hollow, calmly and silently calibrating a large and frightening-looking drill on the back of an armor-plated earth pony. At a single irritated order from Hecate, she had gone from happy and exuberant to... empty.

Scrivener strode forwards before he could stop himself, studying the Replicant for a few moments, her build, her large jaw and crunching teeth. The other Replicants had hidden themselves among the crowd – well, with the exception of Gasp, of course – so he couldn't see them and how they were reacting to this, but... this bothered him. And before he could stop himself, he hesitantly said: "Emotions... on?"

Necrophage stopped, blinked a few times... and then turned towards him with a bright smile. "Hello! Oh, thank you, Lord Scrivener!"

"Yeah, no... lord stuff. Just... treat me like... a friend." Scrivener said awkwardly, and the mare smiled at him warmly before he cleared his throat and asked lamely: "So uh... what's... your job?"

Luna coughed hard, fighting not to giggle as even Twilight gave Scrivener a half-exasperated, half-amused look, but Necrophage's cheerful answer made all three ponies stop and stare: "I eat and digest corpses! Sometimes I turn them into fuel for the Dogmatists or weaponize them into nerve gas!"

"That's. That's... fantastic." Scrivener said weakly after a moment, and then he cleared his throat before hurriedly switching the topic: "Dogmatists?"

"Lower-class Clockwork Ponies. We're Replicants, Class III to V. They're Dogmatists, Class A, B, C, I and II." Necrophage informed, nodding a few times. "I'm surprised you don't know, or that Queen Hecate didn't tell you. They uphold the Law of Decretum and follow orders from officers and command units, like you!"

"I'm... not really a 'command unit.'" Scrivener said hesitantly, but Necrophage only looked up at him with that bright, beaming, more-than-a-little-awkward look on her face, her eyes warm and friendly and almost encouraging.

Luna strode forwards, cocking her head curiously as she asked with interest: "So thou knew Hecate before? How long hast thou been... well... around? And where wert thou for all this time?"

Necrophage turned her eyes towards Luna, answering cheerfully: "Well, I'm a Class IV, which means I was actually born, unlike the Class IIIs. Gasp is a Class III: he was made in a laboratory, kind of put together from an adult pony. But me and my sister were modified and programmed while still in our mother's womb, which is why we have more emotions and stuff."

Necrophage smiled at Scrivener, who couldn't help but feel a little ill even as he fought to smile back. Twilight, meanwhile, was staring with horror, and Luna simply blurted: "How can thou be so damned... cheerful? By Asgard! What is wrong with thee?"

"Nothing at all! Well. I don't think I was ever programmed right." Necrophage confessed after a moment, nodding and tapping at the underside of her muzzle lightly. "Because of the extent of the behavioral programming, our personalities had to basically be wiped out and new ones pasted in. We're supposed to have personalities that would appeal to normal ponies and allow us to blend in, but we were only given very simple behaviors. I'm happy a lot. I like being happy a lot, though, it's really fun, although my poor sister is never as happy as I am."

Scrivener nodded awkwardly, and there were a few moments of silence before Luna asked slowly: "So thou... did thou ever... do missions for Valthrudnir? Thou actually knew him?"

"Not very well. My sister and I were the last Class IVs, and I'm Blue Delegation. That means I'm a worker. My sister is White Delegation, which is more of an officer class, but then we were all phased out and either placed into hibernation or sent to be remodeled when the Class Vs came out. Protelea, Psukhikos, Ferrous, they were Class Vs."

"They never met Ferrous. He was destroyed in an... accident." said Hecate's sour voice, and all eyes turned up to watch as Cowlick approached, carrying the head with her... and Luna grinned widely, as Hecate only scowled. "I'm going to kill you all for this one day."

Scrivener and Twilight both stared as Necrophage covered her mouth and giggled: Hecate had a heavy, sphere-shaped helmet on, securely strapped around her head and covered in deadly-looking conical spikes, and leaving only a narrow space for Hecate's eyes to glower out of. But attached to the cap on the bottom of her neck was a heavy iron chain that was anchored to a foreleg-encompassing bracer, and Luna's eyes widened before she beckoned greedily at the engineer. "Oh, oh, oh! I must try this out!"

"I know her name's Hecate, but I call this Lucy." Cowlick said mildly as she shrugged the weapon off her back, letting Hecate fall face-first into the ground with a clank: the metal sphere surrounding her face was so large, however, that Hecate's nose didn't even touch the ground. "You'll notice that one of the spikes standing out of that big ball is actually her horn. Well, that whole sphere is lined with soulstone, which is the only reason I convinced the crazy bitch to get in there in the first place, it's like she's in a massive amplifier armored with half a foot of silvered steel."

Hecate growled inside the sphere, and then Cowlick lightly poked where the chain was anchored to a circular base on the bracer. "This section here is actually a magnet you can pull off and hook onto your own armor, and Hecate can make those spikes withdraw and magnetize the sphere if she wants to. She's just being a sulky little filly right now. But hey, she's a living weapon. Just like she always wanted to be."

"When I finish my body and my new horn, you're the first pony I'm going to kill." Hecate growled, but Luna only snorted in amusement as she held a foreleg up and grinned as Cowlick slipped the bracer onto the sapphire mare. Then, with ease, Luna yanked on the ten foot chain and flicked Lucy into the air, catching the sphere on one hoof like a ball between the evenly-spaced spikes and grinning widely through the slot at Hecate.

Hecate glowered back, and Luna looked back and forth before she suddenly spun around and flung the sphere hard: the spiked ball snapped out, the chain going taut, and Luna snapped it upwards before she half-turned and slammed it down on top of a metal table... and to the mare's delight, Lucy smashed a hole through the furnishing, sending spare tools flying in all directions as Cowlick gave a shout of frustration.

Then Luna yanked on the chain and easily caught the large sphere against one hoof, spinning it around and grinning down at Hecate. "Art thou alright in there?"

Hecate only looked sourly up at Luna, replying shortly: "Fine." She halted, then her eyes flicked towards Cowlick, who was grumbling still but looking a little pleased all the same. "It works fine. I can't even feel the vibrations from contact. And I can increase my perceptions enough to tell what's going on even while she's swinging me around."

"See, told you? Safe as a bug in a rug." Cowlick said mildly, and then she glowered at Scrivener when he looked at her awkwardly. "Hey, screw you, my mom used to say that all the time."

Scrivener only held up his claws, and Luna grunted before Hecate interrupted: "I think it's time for us to go. Necrophage, emotions off. Get back to work."

Necrophage blinked, then dropped her head as she once more became expressionless. Scrivener made a face over at Hecate, but the head only snorted from her safe enclosure before she muttered: "Let's just get going. This shell serves more purpose than just so you can smash me into things, however, so try not to break it."

"Well, do not be a tremendous bitch, and I shall think about it." Luna said mildly, and then she drew her eyes towards Cowlick, studying the engineer. The earth pony mare only looked back almost challengingly, however, and after a moment Luna sighed before saying finally: "Thou hast our thanks."

"Yeah, well. This definitely isn't all for you... especially not anymore. You guys better stop wasting time and get your asses moving, though... Applejack isn't going to be able to fight all of Heaven by herself, you know, and I'm kind of sick and tired of listening to Dash cryin' all the time. It'll do him good to hear that she's okay. I think he needs that, even more than the rest of her family does." Cowlick replied softly, and then she rubbed absently at her throat before gesturing at them moodily. "Get out of here now. The Replicants will listen to me and the rest of the Clockwork Ponies listen to them, so. I'll finish up here, then have them all start getting ready."

Twilight, Luna, and Scrivener nodded, and then the sapphire mare glanced at Lucy as the spikes on the weapon retracted, the winged unicorn shrugging a bit before tossing this onto her back and leaving it half-hanging off her side by the chain. Hecate only sighed tiredly as the three ponies turned to leave, muttering: "And yet somehow this is still more dignified than the work I did for Valthrudnir."

---

Luna rolled her shoulders against her armor, checking herself over thoughtfully: her equipment was snug to her body, and she had Prúðbikkja hidden in her mane beneath her helm, Sting Mk. II holstered on her back, Lucy – and Hecate snug inside it – anchored to one bracer and the chain enchanted so that it could stretch like elastic, while the ball itself was magnetized to her upper back. All-in-all, she thought she was very well-prepared.

Scrivener's armor had been modified slightly by Sleipnir so that the Talons could remain free, almost snugly attached into the rest of the armor. He was carrying their equipment satchels, and was admittedly very glad that they had such powerful enlargement enchantments on them. It meant if he got battered around, their stuff would still remain okay... unless the bags got ripped, of course. Then the stretched space inside the bags would rupture and vomit everything out and possibly kill them all.

Twilight Sparkle's own armor gleamed over her body: she had made a few quick last-minute modifications with Luna's help, increasing the potency of the protective enchantments with a soulstone powder they had hurriedly mixed up and painted the gear with. She also had Andlitstingar holstered on her back, and she thought she was just about as ready as she was going to be for what they were walking into.

They were waiting for the rest of the strike team: Terra, Celestia, Discombobulation, Sleipnir, Pinkamena, and Morning Glory. They would make for a noticeable group, but Luna hoped they would be able to speed through any ambushes that might be sent their way and reach the portal to Asgard before Gymbr could understand what they were doing.

Luna was getting a little impatient as she looked moodily up at the statue of Nightmare Moon, the three sitting in front of the reflecting pool atop the Thorn Palace's pyramid. She could hear Nightmare Moon whispering to her... whispering to all three of the minds she could touch, really... but they were doing their very best to ignore her for now, all of them. All she wanted to do was tempt them, or remind them they had to crush Gymbr... or make suggestions none of the three ponies really wanted to hear, no matter how often Nightmare Moon whispered that their shared subconscious told a very different story.

Morning Glory was ensuring that the army of demons would be ready, and Celestia had gone to speak with the few surviving Pious that had managed to find refuge here in Subterra. Sleipnir and Pinkamena were likely helping Antares prepare his strike team, and the last they'd seen, Terra was lecturing Airid while her son gave orders to the soldiers of Heaven that wanted to participate in the attack on Valhalla from the vantage point of his mother's back. And who knew where Discombobulation was: after all, he did pride himself on being a chaos entity.

Luna sighed tiredly as she shook her head briskly... then she cocked her head curiously as footsteps approached before half-scowling, half-smiling at the sight of Kismet. "And what does thou have to say about all this, Great Reaper? More drudgery, or hast thou agreed to help us liberate Valhalla? I cannot see how thou can be against freeing Heaven from Gymbr."

"I am not. But nor is that my battleground, Luna Brynhild." Kismet replied calmly, bowing his head politely. "I only walk the journey's path: Heaven lies a step beyond that, and I cannot take that step, no matter how much I may want to. Besides, I was already asked to stay and watch over Subterra by both Morning Glory and Celestia, and to keep especial eyes on the souls of your friends and family."

"I'm sorry. I know you don't like the favoritism or anything, but... thank you anyway, and..." Twilight Sparkle broke off, smiling awkwardly up at the Great Reaper, and Kismet only chuckled quietly and nodded calmly, bowing his head towards her politely.

"Do not fear, child. I understand emotion, even if I also understand... the cycle, and how some things must simply be." Kismet paused, then he added softly: "And I do wish to help, too. So I have decided to offer my assistance the one way I can: indirectly."

He calmly rose one silver gauntlet to the side, flicking it gently, and Twilight stared blankly as a pillar of black smoke rose up from the ground, obscuring some... large object. The Lich leaned forwards a little as Luna and Scrivener both cocked their heads... and then all three ponies stared as the smoke faded to reveal an enormous bell, hovering calmly a few inches above the ground. It was made of gorgeous onyx metal, covered in runes that would have been old and forgotten even at the birth of Asgard, and there was a single large chip out of the lower rim of the massive instrument. "I would like you to have this, Twilight Sparkle."

"I... isn't that... yours?" Twilight asked awkwardly, which sounded a little more polite than the question that actually came to mind: what the hell am I supposed to do with a giant bell? "And I... I'm not a Great Reaper or even a... not-great reaper... I mean, I'm the living dead, even, not death. I don't... quite think that I could use that or anything, is what I'm saying... and I know that must mean a lot to you, too..."

"The only gifts worth giving are ones that we have cherished ourselves." Kismet said kindly, and then he reached back and gently stroked along the enormous bell, saying softly: "It will obey you, Twilight Sparkle, if you have faith in yourself. It suits you better than you may think. Please, step forwards and touch it, let it know you, and see how you feel then."

There was silence for a few moments, and then the violet mare nodded uncomfortably before she hesitantly strode towards the onyx bell as it floated almost ominously. She looked at it awkwardly, more like she was surveying a dog that might bite her than she was looking over a Great Reaper's tool, and then she sighed before reaching up and touching the bell gently.

It was cool, pleasant to the touch. And she could feel a strange vibration in it; almost a pulse, like the bell itself was alive. Slowly, the Lich closed her eyes as she stroked along those runes... and some instinct told her suddenly that these were stories. As her hoof brushed over the embossed symbols, she heard laughter, saw flashes of images, simply felt all the things this bell had seen. She saw civilizations rise and fall, felt triumph and despair, watched as heroes slew monsters and new gods built new worlds and... and...

She pulled suddenly back, flushing slightly as she stared over the bell with awe before turning her eyes towards Kismet, who seemed to be smiling at her through his mask as he said quietly: "I think this is fitting, Twilight Sparkle. Years ago now, I was happily defeated: my bell has never forgotten that, or the worthiness of the three who stopped me... because you were very much there, Twilight Sparkle. Even if only in spirit... your presence was enough to make those who love you fly."

Twilight only laughed a little at this, bowing her head and blushing a little before she murmured: "Thank you, but... well..."

The Lich looked lamely up at the bell as it floated in front of her, and Kismet simply gestured to it, saying softly: "It is yours now, Twilight Sparkle. Do not think of it as a weapon, as something apart from you: think of it like a memory. Summon it to your mind, hold it in focus, and for a moment that reality will overtake you and it will be there, it will become your reality. But all it takes is another thought to banish it, send it back into your mind; still there, but out of sight, waiting patiently to be called upon once more."

Twilight nodded a little, looking at the bell, studying it for a few moments before she closed her eyes and concentrated, taking a slow breath. On instinct, she reached a hoof up to rest it against the instrument as her horn thrummed... and then a shiver ran down her spine and her eyes widened slightly as she felt the texture of the metal soften beneath her hoof... then just a warm breath before she looked up just in time to watch the bell become nothing more than smoke that faded quickly from sight.

"I... thank you, Kismet." Twilight looked up at the death entity, smiling a little more openly now even as she shifted uncomfortably, and then he mumbled: "It still... you know. That's a big gift you just gave me and all and... well... I mean, I don't know what I'm going to do with it."

"You'll find a purpose for it. Now please, excuse me." Kismet paused, then glanced at the metal ball on Luna's back, adding kindly: "It is very nice to see you trying to help out, Hecate."

Hecate growled at the Great Reaper, but Kismet only nodded once before he turned and left, Luna watching with wry amusement. Scrivener winced and rose a Talon to call a 'thank you,' but it was a little late, since Kismet was already almost to one of the doors leading into the Thorn Palace.

Scrivener let his shoulders slump as Luna gave him an amused look, and then the charcoal stallion and the Lich traded awkward looks before he said finally: "So uh. You got a bell."

"Yeah. I do." Twilight said after a moment, and then she reached up and rubbed absently at her horn in a nervous gesture, mumbling: "And I really have no idea whatsoever what I'm supposed to do with it. I mean... it's a bell. And a Great Reaper's tool. I'm the living dead, what if I... banish myself by accident or something?"

"Then I'll laugh at you." Scrivener replied blandly, and Luna snorted in amusement as Twilight Sparkle sighed tiredly, before the stallion smiled a bit and said in a more reassuring voice: "Look, Kismet wouldn't give you something unless he had faith in you being able to use it... especially something like this. Besides, you were able to unsummon it pretty easy, it looked like."

Twilight nodded hesitantly, then she muttered: "But I have no clue how I'm supposed to actually call it up. I wish he'd given me it... you know, before we were mounting this assault. I don't think I'm going to really be able to use it in a pinch."

Luna shrugged, then she held the foreleg that her ball-and-chain was anchored to up. "Well, look at this, Twilight Sparkle. I was only given Lucy an hour ago, and already I am a master of this fantastic weapon."

"No you're not, I'm just stuck inside here and helping guide you around. And this isn't just a weapon. This shielding is so you can throw me into the portal and I can find out if Valthrudnir left any of the defense mechanisms in the rift active. If he did, you won't like what's on the other side." Hecate grumbled, and Luna only shrugged absently.

They fell into quiet for a few moments... not that their conversation had ended. The three ponies continued it with looks, trading thoughts and emotions with one-another, answering with gestures and expressions. Twilight felt herself being reassured little-by-little: but as her anxieties over the bell faded, her worries about what they were doing began to creep back.

She didn't have a lot of time to work up her frustrations, however: soon enough, Terra arrived with a wide grin on her features, golden crown glinting on her head and heavy hide armor over her body. The symbol of Valhalla was emblazoned over this in gold, and Luna smiled at this before she looked up and said softly: "We are going to free Heaven today, Terra. One way or the other, fear not."

"The only thing I fear, lass, is that Gymbr will give up the fight too quickly." Terra replied easily, and Luna laughed and shook her head despite herself before the dragon peered at the metallic sphere on Luna's back. "And is that truly the living head enclosed in that weapon?"

Hecate only growled in irritation, and Luna winked up at Terra, replying easily: "Well, as oft as I would cheerfully engage in the mockery of a wretched wench like Hecate, today I must instead defend her honor; after all, how else is a mare without a body supposed to engage in the battlefield? I cannot imagine how frustrating it must be, to be able to see all earthly delights and yet participate in none of them... but then again, I have heard part of that is because of her tendency to bite."

The head gave another sound of anger, but Hecate managed to bite back her retort, instead saying acidly: "If you little fillies are done, we need to get ready for a dangerous journey and a dangerous confrontation. Furthermore, if your demons fail to calibrate any of the portals to Valhalla properly, we can expect to die very painful deaths in Heaven. Which is the place I want to die least."

"They won't fail. I've ensured that myself." Morning Glory's voice came calmly as the Destroyer approached, and all eyes turned towards the Overseer. She halted a few feet away, traded a brief nod with Terra, and then turned her eyes back to Luna as she added in a voice that had the faintest trace of amusement: "We also have others who wish to engage in the battle. Twelve Destroyers from the Helherlið are here, and the Ironjaw also wish to lend their assistance. In fact, have been ordered to lend their assistance by Hel."

Luna looked up in surprise... that only grew greater when Celestia's voice added as the ivory mare approached from the other side of the pyramid, dressed in full armor and with Pinkamena and Sleipnir both in tow: "I've also managed to convince the Pious to lend us their assistance. Even though Gymbr has managed to destroy their Sanctuaries on other worlds, the Cenobium outside of Valhalla is still standing, simply because Gymbr can't open the Gates while the Hourglass is running. And whether it's because of arrogance or something else, he refuses to shut the Hourglass down."

"So ironically, the Pious who are right next to the hornet's nest are the safest." Luna muttered, and then she shook her head slowly. "It disgusts me, Celestia. It angers me, in fact. He claims they are a terrible enemy, a plague to be wiped out... and yet he overlooks the very ones seated upon his doorstep, when 'twould require only a few scant minutes to destroy them if he truly pleased. Instead, he targets the ones that... what, he will not have to go out of his way to reach?"

Celestia only gave a shrug and a small smile, and Luna grunted and nodded a few times before Sleipnir said softly: "The foe has no honor, dear and sweet sisters: perhaps to him, he sees them not as enemy to be culled, but rather like tamed prey to be harvested when he pleases. And power, perhaps, has made him foolish: he thinks himself master of the infinite, does he not?"

Luna nodded, and Pinkamena snorted at this, the gray-pink mare grinning wryly as she straightened in the ribbed, heavy black armor she was wearing, one hoof reaching up to lightly squeeze the handle of the massive, obsidian Nibelung battle axe on her back. "Well, we're gonna give the bastard a real nice surprise in that case, aren't we? Assuming you're not about to wimp out on us, Nightmare Moon."

The sapphire mare snorted at this, and then she smiled despite herself as Discombobulation poked his head out of one of the satchels hanging from Sleipnir's side. "I'd really like to wimp out if I had that option right about now. But unfortunately, this isn't a game designed to simply make you give up, or one of those fights where you have no choice but to lose. Nice as that would be."

Discombobulation hopped up out of the satchel, and Sleipnir smiled benevolently at the Draconequus as Bob absently knocked a fist against his engraved breastplate. "By the way, have I ever told you just how stylish you look in that? Simple armor, always with a shield for a weapon and your cute little purse."

"My purse has saved me many a time, I shall have thee know. I would rather carry a purse than burden myself with all manner of weapons like my sisters, but I suppose that I am not nearly as mighty a stallion as they both are." Sleipnir said kindly, winking over at the two mares, and Celestia smiled despite herself even as she glanced absently back at the weapons hanging over her body.

Tyrfing was over her back, and her three smaller swords rested across her frame, the weapons themselves almost glowing with eagerness, as if excited to see battle after so long. Discombobulation glanced mildly over at this himself, and then he said pointedly: "Well, you know. Some people would have you believe we can equip six magical weapons at once, and they all give us magical bonuses with their magical abilities even though we never actually use them. Personally, I'm very fond of status effects. But I am confusion, after all."

Sleipnir only nodded pleasantly, as if he understood perfectly what the Draconequus was talking about, while Celestia drew her eyes to Twilight Sparkle, softening as she said quietly: "Antares is also ready and fully equipped, and Scarlet Sage will be providing extra support with Prestige and Aphrodisia. They're going to rescue Innocence."

"Yeah, stop worrying about your kid, Twilight. Sure, she's screwed up. But look at yourself, and look at those morons there, of course she's screwed the hell up." Pinkamena added mildly, and Twilight glared at the demon, but the Devourer gave a brief smile after a moment that softened her features. "But it's always been exactly because Scrivy's so screwed up himself that I knew I could always count on him, and I think you understand that. Sin is going to be okay. She's being a complete moron right now, but it's going to be okay."

Twilight Sparkle looked down, then she nodded hesitantly, and Sleipnir smiled warmly as he slapped his wife on the back, the demon wincing slightly as he declared: "Aye, my phoenix is right, all shall be well! So there is no need to cry, beautiful mare. Instead, focus on the present, and upon the hopes for the future... and remember that such a future when all are together again is very near. We must nearly make it over the bumps in our path now."

"We should get moving." Morning Glory interrupted moodily, and the Overseer looked back and forth as there were a few nods of agreement, before the Destroyer turned her eyes to Luna and bowed her head in deference.

Luna smiled wryly at this, then she nodded back before raising her head high, her eyes proud as she said calmly: "If all of us have said what needed to be said, and prepared our forces as promised, then aye, 'tis time for us to leave. Remember, my friends, we must work as a group... and without a doubt, once Gymbr understands that we are in a different world, he will undoubtedly send forces to stall us. He may not know what we are up to... if we are fortunate, he will not have any idea of what is going on until we portal into Asgard. But he will know something, and arrogant or not, Gymbr must not be taken for a fool. He is not. And he will doubtlessly act to interfere with us because of this.

"Normally 'tis my sister's job to be the overcautious one, but today I shall remind thee of the caution we must take: no one is to mention our objective once we are in the next world. No one is to speak of Gymbr nor Asgard. If at all possible, we shall not speak at all: we shall simply allow Hecate to guide us to the portal, then use it before Gymbr can stop us." Luna said calmly, gesturing at the metal sphere on her back. "I have been told that much of the area around the portal may still be warded against even the most prying of eyes, but we cannot count on that alone. We must be fast."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Luna nodded once before she turned slowly around, raising her soulstone horn high as she said quietly: "Then let us dally no longer. My friends... 'tis time for us to go. 'Tis time to take back what Gymbr has tried to steal from us... and it is time for us to punish those who would do us harm and steal and corrupt our foals."

Celestia rose her horn as it began to glow, and so did Twilight Sparkle, and Morning Glory. And all eyes faced forwards as a rumble began to build through the air, as reality shivered before a golden tornado of flame tore the air itself open, as the Bifrost ripped into reality and formed a bridge between their world and another, one that Luna charged fearlessly for.

And over the exhilaration that always came with crossing between worlds, over the pride of leadership and the way her blood was already boiling with the thought of the battle ahead, what she felt most of all was determination: one way or another, they were going to stop Gymbr, free Valhalla, and save their daughter... and not even death was going to stand in her way.

Chapter Thirty Two: Overplaying One's Hand

~BlackRoseRaven

The forest was cool, and calm, and pretty; it was a far stretch away from any civilization, be it pony or griffin or any of the other intelligent races. There were only birds and beasts, and countless trees of every shape and size.

It was far from silent, but the atmosphere was a gentle one: even the shrillest cry from the loudest bird had its distinct place, like a cacophonous chord played on a piano to only make the beauty of the harmony all the clearer. Insects made up a chorus, and the sound of larger beasts moving along well-trod naturals paths through the trees formed a steady backbeat to the music of the jungle.

But soon, another sound began to rise: a humming, that soon drove the other sounds in the forest into silence as it rose higher and higher, became a growling, then a rumbling thunder. And moments later, the sky itself above the forest seemed to shatter as a hole was torn in reality, a rainbow wreathed in white flames lunging out of the rift and crashing down to the ground.

There was a powerful pulse of energy, and then a blast of energy that sent birds and animals scattering as a sapphire mare tore into this world, leaping down the rainbow bridge to land in a narrow field, skidding to a halt with a calmer smile than she would usually wear after breaking into another plane via the Bifrost. Luna breathed slowly in and out as she looked back and forth, her partners already falling in on either side of her... and following shortly after, the other people who made up this group, who in one way or another had all become family to her.

On her back, Lucy twitched before Hecate muttered out of her protective prison: "The Bifrost has charged up the soulstone shielding. It should give my magic an extra boost."

"So that means thou art actually going to help?" Luna asked absently, even as she checked back and forth quickly before asking quietly: "In which direction do we travel?"

Hecate wiggled a little on Luna's back before her horn glowed for a moment, and then the head nodded and muttered: "Straight ahead. We landed closer than I had expected."

"Good. Do not tell me distances, only directions. I will trust in thee to tell us if thou senses anything thou must absolutely warn us of." Luna said quietly, looking back and forth before she glanced over her shoulder at the others. Sleipnir was breathing deeply, his head thrown back and his eyes closed as he dug his hooves into the soft soil, and Pinkamena was grumbling as she looked back and forth warily, like she could already sense something.

Morning Glory had her own eyes narrowed, looking up towards the sky, but Celestia only had her head bowed, eyes closed, her pose almost meditative. Beside her, Discombobulation was uneasily fidgeting, dancing from paw-to-paw... but he looked less like he was afraid of whatever was coming and more like he was anxiously excited, like a kid about to take part in something he'd always wanted to but wasn't sure he actually had the courage for.

Luna frowned slightly at this, cocking her head curiously, but then Terra leaned forwards and asked quietly: "May I request position holding the back, Luna? I have the feeling 'twould be good for me to be there for some reason. And I think you must have learned some respect for the Ironjaw instincts while you were in Cairnmór."

"Aye, thou art a rough people, but a good people, I think... although 'tis wasteful, really. If thou has no cowards in thy society, then where shall thou get thy entertainment, who do the children look towards to see an example of what they should not be like?" Luna glanced back and forth again, lingering on purpose as she continued pointedly: "Extinguishing all memory of evil does not cut it at the root: if we wipe out the memory of all that is wrong in our world, then we wipe out the memory of its cost, and the reasons we must remain unified as one."

"Yeah, great pep talk Nightmare Moon. Let's get going before you preach anymore or we're all going to reek of the mint from your soapbox." Pinkamena growled irritably, and then she strode up and shoved Scrivener firmly before glaring at him when he looked at her... but her eyes flicked sharply to one side, and when the stallion grumbled and lowered his head, it was to mask a nod in return to the demon.

They were already being watched. Not by Gymbr, no... but something else was here. Something was keeping an eye on them, and for now, that was fine: they would pretend not to notice, and lead it along... and then, if whatever it was followed them all the way to the portal, they would flush it out of hiding and deal with it then. But until that point, it was better to let what was likely the enemy think it had the upper hoof.

Luna grumbled: she hated this game of cat and mouse. The sapphire mare shook her head in distaste before she turned with a sigh, muttering: "Well, let us be on our way then. Terra will bring up the rear with Celestia and Bob, Sleipnir and Pinkamena will take the middle, Morning Glory shall follow behind us. Let us move quickly."

The others nodded, assembling without argument even as Pinkamena growled and Discombobulation glanced back and forth, mumbling something about turkeys. Luna only took one look over her shoulder to ensure that everyone was following, and then she smiled and nodded briefly before turning her eyes forwards.

They walked onwards, and Scrivener Blooms couldn't help but glance around them at the strange plants they passed: This jungle was vibrant with life, but he sensed something else here, too: old magic, powerful magic, hidden in the trees and beneath the soil. It made him shiver a little, as he thought he felt a familiar presence in that tampering... but it was strange to look around and see an area that had been left wild and unblemished from Valthrudnir.

Luna glanced at him, giving him a mental nudge, and the stallion nodded a little as he drew his eyes back and forth. Even drawing on Luna's memories of all the places she had been, these trees all looked strange and simply different from anything he could identify. But that magic in the air... he didn't need to be able to feel Twilight and Luna's instincts to know that it had affected things, caused such rampant growth... such beautiful mutation.

Scrivener shook his head briefly, and for ten minutes or so, they continued on, undisturbed. The others settled, that sense of being watched faded, and Discombobulation grew more serious and uneasy, worrying his fingers constantly against his steel bicep. Pinkamena, of all people, kept looking at him oddly, which told Scrivener there was something they were missing... but they were all a little focused on not getting ambushed right now, and couldn't think on five different things at once like certain malicious ponies could.

Soon enough, they found themselves following a natural trail, heading into an area that was darker, more bog-like... where the magic was more concentrated. The trees here were squatter but thicker, tapers and vines hanging from them almost like serpents waiting to drop on prey when they tried to pass below, and the reedy, weedy ground crawled with life that made Scrivener wince a bit.

Then Luna slowed to a halt, her eyes narrowed slightly. Ahead, there were several bent and gnarled trees, twisted to form almost a fence, and thick vines formed a grasping netting between these. And now, Luna could feel it... that tickle along her spine, that sense of something lurking and watching them, and that growling in her mind that could only mean... "Gymbr."

Gymbr laughed quietly, apparently unsurprised they had sensed him as the group automatically took up a defensive formation. But his voice echoed from all around them, and they could hear noises from every side as the god murmured: "What are you doing here? Will you not show us?"

"Come out here so I can kill thee." Luna growled, and Gymbr only gave a quiet laugh again, but there was a melancholy echo to it, which just incited the rage of the winged unicorn all the more as she shouted: "Thou hast done unspeakable, unforgivable things! Come out here and accept thy punishment, coward, traitor... fool!"

"We know that we have. We know there is no turning back..." There was silence... and then the trees in front of them rumbled and moaned as if in pain as they were forced to bend apart, vines tearing and leaves spilling down as Gymbr calmly strode towards them. "But we cannot accept your punishment yet. Nor can we risk giving you our gifts, we see... you have gone to Hel, and believe her foolishness. That we are weak. That we are stupid. But we know what we are doing... we know what must be done. We know what we must do to defeat the Light, and Hel fears this; you are being used by her, Luna Brynhild. You are the fool and traitor here, not us."

"So now thou accuses Hel of being the destroyer of the universe." Luna shook her head bitterly, gritting her teeth in disgust. "To have fallen so far... oh, pathetic wretch. Thou art a victim of thine own power, so obsessed with it and with thyself that thou believes anyone who could do harm to thee is an enemy. That thou hast truly come to believe thou art some... savior. Some chosen one."

"We are neither. But we are not afraid to do what must be done... and anyone who would stand in our way is an enemy." Gymbr replied calmly, before he leaned forwards and added softly, as a second pony strode out of the trees: "But we have learned with enough time, with enough effort, with enough love... anyone can be made to see from our way of thinking."

Twilight leaned forwards with a frown... and then her breath caught in her throat as Scrivener and Luna looked at her with sharp surprise, then back at the newcomer with disbelief when the Lich choked out: "A... Applejack?"

"Hey, sugarcube." It was Applejack's voice... but the mare herself was enormous and statuesque now, and her skin was like... bark, hard and pebbly, cracked here and there in places, yet if anything only all the more imposing because of it. A thick rawhide cowboy hat rested on her head, and a simple bolo tie hung around her neck, the obsidian, apple-shaped stone at the center pulled tight as she said calmly: "But they've taken to calling me Wormwood now... a new life, a new name and all that. Oh, sure, scared me at first, but... Twilight... it really is down to do or die now. You know I wouldn't lie to you, you know I wouldn't... be here if there was no other choice. But there ain't, now. If you would just take a look at what's coming..."

"No..." Twilight trembled, staring with disbelief at her friend, barely believing what he was seeing. The Lich trembled, then gritted her teeth as Myre and Dusk both emerged as well: the former was grinning and her body already seemed to be roiling as the corruption that made her up flowed freely, and the latter was only clad in her aureate chains and jewelry, her golden-fire mane and tail burning brightly as they wafted around her.

"This is our last offer of peace. We are more powerful than you can begin to imagine: you cannot stand against any of these three ponies alone, much less ourselves." Gymbr said softly, but Luna only laughed shortly before she glanced over at Scrivener Blooms, and the stallion nodded calmly.

Twilight clenched her eyes shut as she felt Luna and Scrivener's thoughts, and then she looked up and across at Wormwood, saying pleadingly: "Don't make me do this. Don't make me fight you. Don't make me... hurt you, AJ. I don't want to."

Wormwood smiled, reaching up and tipping her hat politely to Twilight. "I don't want to hurt you either, Twilight... but I'll do what I have to. You're the ones who are all mixed up now, like I was in that horror story... and sure, I ain't fond of Gymbr. He even scares me more than a little. But unfortunately, he's also right... and I'll do anything to protect my home, my family, my friends. Even if what I have to do is put you down for a little while."

"Enough talk." Morning Glory shoved her way forwards, glaring icily as plates of metal snapped over her features, forming into a mask as her eyes locked on Dusk. "The concubine is mine. I hope that I don't have to deal with the rest of them for you after I'm done with her."

Dusk only gave a patronizing smile, tilting her head towards the Destroyer as Myre's eyes locked greedily on Scrivener Blooms. "Good, because I want to see what Brynhild's husband can do. You and me... we're the same."

"We're nothing alike." Scrivener said quietly, and then he traded a look with Luna before the two nodded as the sapphire mare turned her cold eyes on Gymbr.

"This is thy last chance to surrender. To relinquish thy hold on Asgard... on my daughter." Luna leaned forwards aggressively as Terra stepped up beside her, the Ironjaw growling low in her throat as her metallic scales over her limbs bristled. "Elsewise, thou dies... if I am merciful."

"We are not afraid of you." Gymbr replied calmly, and then he ordered softly: "Separate them and cripple them. Then we shall bring them back to Valhalla, and we shall force them to understand the plight they have made themselves blind to."

Luna snarled in fury... before she twitched with a curse of shock as Myre shot forwards like lightning and tackled Scrivener Blooms up into the air, seizing him in a crushing bear hug and attempting to simply carry him away. But her tail was seized by Discombobulation's metal arm, and the Draconequus half-spun as he yanked her around and slammed her down on her back with a splatter of ooze as Scrivener's weight crushed her down into the ground.

But Luna didn't have the time to turn to help herself, or even do more than begin to look towards Scrivener before Gymbr was in front of her in a flash, already swinging a claw down. Just as fast, however, Terra reacted, seizing him by the wrist and crushing down on the surprised god's forelimb as her eyes glowed with blue energy, snarling: "Goirde shaogail duit abhus 7 ifrenn thall!"

With that, she yanked Gymbr into the air like a ragdoll, then slammed him viciously face-first into the ground before she swept her other claw in a rising hook into his face and knocked the god crashing backwards. But before he could hit the ground, Terra tackled him out of the air with a roar and slammed him down on his back, then leaned down, breathing out a torrent of blue hellfire straight down into the god's face.

Dusk rushed forwards to try and save her master: understandable, perhaps, but a near-fatal mistake. Morning Glory smashed into the mare's side and flung her into the air with a flick of her horn, Dusk gasping in shock before she was seized by the Destroyer's chains and hurled into a nearby tree with nearly enough force to break it in half.

The demon grinned viciously as she charged after her quarry, entirely focused on her prey. She didn't look up even when Terra was flung off Gymbr, the dragon skidding backwards with a wince as Luna, Celestia, and Sleipnir ran towards the god as he straightened, eyes glowing with fury as he shouted: "You are trying our patience!"

Twilight Sparkle wanted to run to one of her partners, but instead, she forced herself to look forward and focus on Wormwood as the mare calmly strode towards her. Then the Lich looked up in surprise as Pinkamena fell in beside her, the demon growling: "So did he make you ugly or stupid first, AJ? Just so I'm clear."

"Gymbr made me better." Wormwood responded evenly, raising a hoof that looked more like metal than wood or flesh before she stomped it down and smiled grimly. "You two are my friends. I don't want to hurt you, any of you. But I'll do what I gotta do."

"Yeah, I always felt the same way. So let's see how tough that skin of yours is." Pinkamena growled, and then the demon leapt forwards, yanking her axe off her back at the same time and slashing it viciously down into Wormwood's face, even as Twilight cried out in shock.

The blade slammed home, and the wooden mare was knocked staggering with a cry of pain, dark blood squirting up from the wound as Pinkamena growled and clutched the handle of her axe as if trying to grind it forwards, even as the Lich shouted: "What are you doing? You can't kill her!"

"Oh, don't you worry about me, Twilight..." Wormwood reached a front hoof up, seizing the neck of the axe and shoving backwards, Pinkamena stumbling in surprise as her axe was torn free from the mare's features... and Wormwood grinned at them as her sap-like blood rapidly hardened in the wound, becoming like amber. "I'm just fine."

Pinkamena began to swing her axe out again, but this time Wormwood caught the blade, eyes flashing as she said coldly: "You're makin' hurting you a whole lot more appealing."

"Good." Pinkamena growled as she yanked her axe back, and then she grinned coldly as Twilight readied herself behind the demon, the Lich gritting her teeth as she realized... they had no choice. Applejack... Wormwood... wasn't about to give up or get out of their way. "That's the way I want it to be anyway. Let's see how many licks it takes to get to the center of the maple candy."

Twilight bared her fangs... then twitched as she felt a sharp, stabbing pain, felt Scrivener's shock... and then the stallion's rising anger as he shoved Myre away. She was almost tempted to look, but she trusted in him as she lowered her head, her horn starting to glow as she said quietly: "I'm sorry, AJ. I promise that I'm going to make this as fast as possible."

Scrivener Blooms could feel Twilight's determination, even in the face of her friend, and it helped give the stallion strength. He could feel power flowing in from Luna as well as she, her siblings, and Terra all threw themselves at Gymbr with all the strength they had... and even though none of them were landing any blows and Terra's surprise counterattack hadn't left a single mark on him, the god seemed off-balance somehow, like he hadn't expected such resistance, such ferocity.

The stallion leapt forwards, and Myre laughed as she met him, shoving a hoof against him, sending corruption through every crack, every flaw in his armor to burn his flesh, transform literally inside of him into spikes and razors. It knocked Scrivener backwards, and Myre grinned savagely as she pressed forwards, slamming blow after blow into his chest that ripped enormous black blades through Scrivener's armor that impaled him completely through his body, piercing organs, making him gasp in pain... but also boil with rage, with fury, with hatred.

He slammed a Talon up and knocked Myre flopping onto her back, then he simply shrugged and flexed, and the spikes of crystal that had been torn through his body shattered into black goo that his body rapidly absorbed. She could cause him pain, but her attacks weren't hurting him that much physically, even when she tore right through his body. Her mire healed him... and filled him with anger, and cruelty, and hatred, and... and a terrible hunger for more.

And he seemed to be having the same effect on Myre as she charged towards him, her eyes almost glowing as she flung herself at the stallion, but Scrivener viciously slammed a claw across her face and knocked her headfirst into the ground; a moment later, however, Myre transformed, becoming a massive serpent of black poison that wrapped tightly around him and crushed him, the stallion hissing in pain as Myre's upper body formed out of the top of coils, the mare leaning eagerly over him as she grasped his face with her hooves and whispered: "You really are just like Lord Gymbr!"

"I'm better... and I'm worse!" Scrivener snarled as he yanked one foreleg upwards as hard as he could, just managing to tear a Talon free and rip a swathe out of Myre's serpentine body. He turned the mass of dark goo he lifted free in his claw into a stake of crystal without even thinking, slamming this home into Myre's surprised features and knocking her crashing backwards with a shriek.

Her coils loosened, and Scrivener slammed his Talons into her snake-like body, focusing his powers into her and beginning to transform her rapidly into black crystal. Myre howled and arched her back, then twisted and ripped her upper body free from lower, snaking coils, rolling backwards as her legs almost instantly reformed and she snapped her horn upwards.

The long, serpentine body pulsed with poisonous light before it exploded in a massive blast of black goo and onyx shrapnel, knocking Scrivener sprawling and rolling backwards with a snarl of pain before he managed to skid up to his hooves, his eyes flashing and adrenaline, anger... excitement, all pulsing through his veins as his muscles swelled and his eyes glowed.

Myre laughed, leaping forwards, eager for more... while her sibling, Dusk, was not having quite as much luck. Even as scales spread over her features, even as she snarled in fury, her amber eyes were filled with shock and desperation as Morning Glory continued to advance on her, countering or simply ignoring every attack that the Fate could fling at the Destroyer.

Dusk forced herself to straighten before she leaned forwards, eyes and horn glowing as the earth rumbled, before cracks tore through the ground beneath and around the approaching Destroyer, golden fire and spikes of rock vomiting upwards and hammering against the enormous demon's sides and body. Morning Glory was battered back and forth by it, cursing in pain before Dusk snapped her horn upwards, sending a blade of aureate flame slamming into the demon's face and knocking her skidding backwards with a snarl.

Dusk leaned forwards, grinning widely as her body began to expand, making the golden chains go taut against her body, her hooves splitting apart as the golden flames whiffed out from around the now-long, now-reptilian tail... but her transformation was halted by pure shock when Morning Glory roared and snapped her head back, all-but-obliterating the spikes of stone jutting up around her and suffocating the golden flames with the pure force of the shockwave.

Then the Destroyer charged with a furious snarl, and Dusk cursed in desperation, her eyes widening as she channeled the energy she was using to transform instead into a desperate fireball... one that Morning Glory only slapped aside with a front hoof as she pounced.

A metal hoof slammed down into Dusk's features with a sickening crunch, knocking her backwards before she was forced to bow under vicious, hammering strike after strike, cruelly stomping into each and every attack to almost drive Dusk onto her belly. Her shoulder snapped, her skull cracked, her body was bruised and battered before she roared in outrage and humiliation as she tried to fling herself upwards, grabbing wildly at Morning Glory with a gnarled claw and cloven hoof... and instead threw herself right into a savage uppercut that knocked her rearing far back on her hind hooves.

One, two, three blows slammed into her vulnerable breast and body, crunching in her ribs, making her vomit blood helplessly before Morning Glory's horn flashed as she slammed a punch backed by all her Wrath into the Fate, sending her smashing into a tree with enough force that the ancient trunk was bent backwards.

All the same, Dusk nearly managed to land on her hooves, howling in fury and misery and denial... and Morning Glory smashed bodily into her a moment later, crushing her back into the tree, her horn ripping deep into the mare's breast as her chains lashed out, catching her flailing hooves and seizing around her throat and body, yanking the helpless Fate into the air even as Dusk roared, as if she could drown out the reality of what was happening to her: "I am First Concubine! I am Guardian, I am going to-"

Morning Glory flung the mare above her head, then caught her by all four limbs with her chains, lashing her downwards as she slammed both hooves straight up into Dusk's stomach. There was a bright splash of blood as Dusk's eyes bulged... and then Morning Glory tore in both directions with both hooves and her chains, and there was a sickening ripping sound before Dusk's lower body flew in one direction as her upper body was left dangling by the Destroyer's chains.

Dusk stared wordlessly at Morning Glory, and the demon seized the mare by the throat, holding her easily above her head with one hoof as her chain dropped the mare's limp forelegs. "You're going to what? Bleed on me? You are nothing but a disappointment. A dead disappointment."

With that, Morning Glory viciously slammed the mare downwards once, twice, thrice, then flung her into a tree before the Destroyer grinned coldly as she snapped her horn forwards, and spikes of pure light shot from the air, pinning the upper body of the crushed, torn-apart mare into the tree. Dusk gargled, broken, beaten, her body twitching once... but as her head fell limp, she grinned weakly all the same, whispering: "No. I am not."

Her eyes closed, and Morning Glory's own widened in surprise as Dusk began to dissolve, the mare laughing even as she broke apart into energy and light. Then the Destroyer snarled in fury as she realized what was happening, shouting sharply to the others: "She's soulbound!"

Luna's eyes widened in shock at this, and Gymbr smiled as the surprised pause in the fighting let him leap quickly backwards, breaking away from the conflict before he looked to the side as the ghostly image of grinning Dusk appeared beside him for a moment. Then the spirit faded, and Gymbr's soulstone core glowed brightly as energy sparked over the winged unicorn. "Yes, they are soulbound to our core... they shall never die. They shall always know power, and joy. And when an arrogant fool does do harm to those we so cherish... their death will only strengthen us."

Gymbr flexed slowly as his soulstone core reverberated with energy, and then he half-turned and slashed a claw toward Morning Glory, and the Destroyer was knocked backwards as massive, bloody wounds were torn through her breast, eyes bulging in shock before she grabbed at her head as a terrible, poisonous aura surrounded her horn and glowed out of her eyes, visibly fighting not to scream. "Dusk asks us to punish you. So we have put her pain into your mind."

Luna snarled at this, then snapped Lucy off her back before she even realized what she was doing, flinging the heavy metal ball straight at Gymbr's face as the spikes shot out to full length. Gymbr only grimaced, however, and the sphere halted inches away from his features, floating eerily in the air... before he frowned in surprise as he saw a pair of eyes glaring furiously out at him from inside the weapon.

There was a massive blast of electrical force from the sphere, and Gymbr howled, knocked staggering backwards and clutching at his chest as Hecate's magic was pulled into the soulstone core, making it glow brighter as the metal sphere fell out of the air. Luna didn't care whether Gymbr had been hurt by a lucky strike, if the soulstone core had been overloaded or what happened; all she cared about was that she was able to yank Lucy back into the air and swing it around it a wide circle as she seized the chain with both hooves, slamming it with all her strength into Gymbr's face.

There was a satisfying crunch... but the sound wasn't nearly as welcome as the sight of blood and the god being knocked off his hooves in a helpless, wild spin before he crashed down on his back. And Luna yanked Lucy back with a vicious grin as both Celestia and Sleipnir ran forwards, before the sapphire mare snapped the ball down in as hard a hammer drop as she could, aiming to crunch in the self-proclaimed god's chest.

Gymbr, however, managed to catch the spiked sphere between his claws, snarling in fury before he hissed in pain as Hecate unleashed another blast of electricity, arching his back in pain. But at the same time, he managed to fling the sphere in Sleipnir's direction... except the stallion only grinned widely and slapped it aside with a hoof, and the metal sphere arced perfectly in front of Celestia, who already had Dómr cocked back.

She slammed the wide, rectangular blade into Lucy and sent it rocketing at Gymbr, who barely managed to raise a foreclaw and deflect the weapon: the force of collision was still enough to knock him off balance, however, and something more than his composure had just been lost from the fact they'd wounded him. It was like he'd lost his confidence, lost his omnipotence, lost his invulnerability... and Sleipnir and Celestia were eager to take advantage of this as Luna roared: "Thy cowardly powers will be of no help to thee here, maggot! Stand and fight!"

Celestia lashed one of her swords toward Gymbr, but the god slapped it aside by the flat even as he flung himself to the side to avoid a hard punch from Sleipnir. Then the god snarled, lashing out with a blast of telekinesis that sent Celestia skidding backwards... but the ivory mare had a strange grin on her features, and a moment later, Gymbr's eyes widened in shock as Terra leapfrogged the white winged unicorn and swung both front claws down in a savage rending slice that the god was barely able to stagger out of the way of.

And then he howled in pain as an elbow drove down into his spine, lashing out with his horn... but Sleipnir caught this against his free hoof, his grin inches away from Gymbr's face as he said kindly: "I apologize for this, friend."

A hoof slammed up into Gymbr's soulstone core, and the god was knocked backwards with a gargle in an awkward half-hop, half-stumble, even as his core released both a blinding flash of light and a painful shockwave in self-defense that was powerful enough to knock both Terra and Sleipnir skidding backwards. Then Gymbr looked up, his emerald eyes glowing with rage, his soulstone core beginning to glow brighter and brighter, drool and blood running from his mouth as he shouted in two distinct voices: "We will not stand for this humiliation!"

The wave of raw hate and power was almost enough to drive everyone in the field to the ground, trees and plants around them groaning and twisting as if the waves of humiliation, of rage, of agony ripping through the air had granted them a terrible, painful life. It made both Wormwood and Myre flinch, and then the former straightened with a snarl as the latter threw her head back and yelled a raw battle cry to the skies.

Then Myre shot straight for Scrivener Blooms, her body burning-black, her eyes glowing with both rage and excitement as the stallion tried to ready himself. But she was too fast, leaping forwards as one of her forelegs transformed into a massive axe before she slashed this cruelly down into the junction of Scrivener's neck and shoulder.

The agony was incredible, but along with it, he felt her emotions pumping into him; he felt his heart spasm, but then thud all the stronger, like it was pulling the corruption out of the mare and pumping it straight through his own body as his muscles bulged, and his eyes glowed, and his teeth bared in a challenging snarl.

A challenge she was clearly all too eager to meet as she laughed and slammed a hoof into his chest, her eyes glowing as she ground down with the axe and tore into him again and again with blades and spikes of mire. And Scrivener was responding before he even realized it, ripping his Talons through her soft not-flesh, smashing holes in her body that healed rapidly, turning entire sections of her own form into hard crystal.

They ripped and ravaged each other with fury, with hate, and with lust, before Myre yanked her axe limb suddenly back and free as it transformed into a claw that she used to seize at Scrivener's scalp, tangling in his mane as her jaws snapped down, aiming for his neck. But one of the stallion's own Talons shot up and seized her by the throat, halting her with a squawk before he half-spun and flung her down onto her back, Myre bouncing once with a gargle of pain before Scrivener leapt on top of her, slamming savage blow after blow down into her face and her body.

She howled beneath the fury of the attacks before she transformed into a puddle of ooze, twisting quickly away before the dark mass lunged upwards, reforming into a pony that dove at the stallion. But a lucky swipe from a Talon caught her in the face and knocked her flat to the ground, before Scrivener Blooms grinned savagely, eyes glowing as he seized her by the skull with his other Talon and simply pumped his own corruption into her before he realized what he was doing.

Myre spasmed on the ground, then arched her back, gasping and shoving her head eagerly up against Scrivener's hoof as her eyes blazed with delight. Then her eyes bulged with surprise as her body began to twitch and melt as corruption clashed with corruption, the mare howling as she tried helplessly to yank away, but it was like her skull was magnetized to the Talon as Scrivener snarled: "You know why we can't always get what we want?"

He yanked his Talon back, then simply glared down at Myre as Myre looked up almost desperately, the corruption that made up her body losing cohesion as she started to bubble violently in places. "Here's a hint."

Scrivener's eyes flashed as he focused all the fury, all the pain in his body on the poison, and Myre's body writhed before she belched loudly... and then simply exploded in a hail of black goop that splattered in all directions, the stallion wincing backwards... then staring at what he'd just done.

He had just lost control for a moment, and now Myre was... wait.

The larger puddles of ooze were bubbling... and Scrivener stared in disbelief as these black slimes twisted and rapidly began to pull towards each other, forming into one mess that Myre's upper body slowly rose out of. She was semisolid and dripping watery black ooze into the puddle of sludge around her, but she grinned all the same as her mane sparked into existence, black flames floating eerily around her head as she rasped: "Now it's my turn to get inside you."

Myre lunged up out of the puddle, and Scrivener winced backwards... before an enormous glass jar neatly scooped through the air, Myre's face comically thunking into the bottom of this as the rest of her body followed her into the glass. Then the jar neatly, speedily flipped, the mostly-liquid creature squawking and flailing before Discombobulation popped into existence beside the jar and quickly spun a manhole-sized lid on top of it.

Myre gave a muffled shout of outrage, splashing violently back and forth inside the jar, but she didn't seem to have enough strength to solidify herself, and she couldn't so much as make the jar rock with her surging around inside it, let alone damage the glass walls. Scrivener gaped stupidly as Discombobulation simply smiled pleasantly, then sat calmly down on top of the jar, saying mildly: "My apologies for taking so long, but you have no idea how far away the nearest Safeway is from here. Now uh, you might want to go and help the others. I can handle the literal baby-sitting."

Scrivener nodded sharply, then he turned to hurry towards where most of the group were dealing with Gymbr; meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle and Pinkamena were both fighting hard to suppress Wormwood, but the demon was getting more and more frustrated: every time she managed to tear through the bark-like hide of the mare, that sap-like blood quickly filled up the space and hardened, becoming like stone. The more Wormwood bled, the more that sap spread over her own body.

And more than that, this was no longer just Applejack, an earth pony with surprising but not supernatural strength: this was Wormwood, who was strong enough to shove Pinkamena around and who had preternatural powers of her own that she kept using to interrupt Twilight's spells.

The Lich cursed as she leapt into the air, but she only managed to hover uneasily for a moment: one of her wings was broken and mangled, and it couldn't support her weight. She managed to stay in the air long enough to avoid the wave of roots and vines that clawed up at her from the ground before they settled, however, and the Lich dropped quickly to the side of this netting before she snapped her horn out, shooting a fireball into Wormwood.

The mare was knocked staggering backwards with a shout of pain and frustration, shaking herself violently as the flames flared up over her sides, burning rapidly into her bark-like skin. But even though the amber armoring her was burnt and half-melted by the flames, fire alone wasn't enough to get rid of it. "Goddammit, Twilight, that's enough of that!"

Wormwood stomped a hoof down into the ground, and a large root tore suddenly up out of the earth, seizing around the Lich's throat and yanking her down as Wormwood ran towards the Lich, grinning... and then Pinkamena's axe slammed into her face, sending her flying backwards with a burst of bright orange blood as she howled in misery. She bounced violently several times, then rolled unsteadily up to her hooves, a large rip torn through her features and one of her eyes already swelling shut. "What the hell, Pinkamena?"

"You forget the part where you're the bad guy or something?" Pinkamena asked darkly, then she shook herself firmly, dislodging several large stakes of wood that were half-hanging out of her armor. "Besides, I'm only doing what every other pony on the planet is going to want to do to you now. You might never have been a beauty queen, Applejack, but now you've gone and made yourself the goddamn ugly stick instead of just someone who took a beating from it."

Wormwood snarled, her blond hair hanging raggedly around her features, and then she stomped both front hooves savagely into the ground, sending up a blast of dirt and clawing roots in front of Pinkamena. But the demon fearlessly swung her axe down, chopping back and forth and tearing the grasping plants apart as she snapped: "Not even a useful goddamn power! Yeah, and what's Dash going to think? Guess he never cared about you selling your body, but I bet he isn't going to want to pork you himself anymore for fear of splinters in his-"

Wormwood roared in rage, charging straight at Pinkamena, and the demon grinned widely before she made as if to leap. Immediately, Wormwood lunged, bringing a front hoof back... and with startling grace, Pinkamena dropped low and chopped her axe outwards, cutting into the mare's rear hooves and knocking them out from beneath her.

The bark-armored mare bellyflopped to the ground with a gargle, and Pinkamena spun around and slashed her axe down with a snarl, Wormwood screaming in agony as the axe bit almost halfway through her spine. The demon stepped quickly back, brushing her hooves off as she looked contemptibly down at the weakly-writhing mare as Twilight Sparkle only gaped. "Nothing more than chopping wood."

Twilight began to open her mouth, but she was cut off as Wormwood managed to shove a hoof against the ground, roots exploding up around Pinkamena's limbs and holding her in place. Then Wormwood shoved down, snarling, crying tears of bloody sap as a massive spike of wood tore up out of the ground and ripped through Pinkamena's stomach, impaling her and hefting her into the air before it ripped out her back as she vomited blood.

Twilight began to step forwards... and then halted when Wormwood slowly forced herself to her hooves, shuddering before she bucked hard, and the axe was knocked loose from her back as she gasped in pain, the huge weapon flipping through the air before crashing down beside her. She looked slowly up at Pinkamena, then whispered: "You stupid bitch, I didn't want to do that."

"You stupid bitch... it'll take more than this to kill me." Pinkamena rasped in reply as her eyes opened, and she and Wormwood glared furiously at each other as the demon pulled weakly against the roots binding her limbs, her body trembling around the spear of wood impaled through her. "Let me down and... then we'll start the real party."

"Sorry, Pinkamena. First thing's first..." Slowly, Wormwood turned her eyes towards Twilight Sparkle, the mare beginning to drag herself forwards as she glared furiously at the Lich. "I'm gonna destroy your body now. Don't resist and I'll make it hurt as little as possible. I can see it in your eyes, Twilight... you're not gonna fight me. You're not gonna kill me. You know how this has to end."

Twilight looked back and forth almost desperately, trying to think of something, anything she could do... and then she gritted her teeth and clenched her eyes shut, wildly grabbing at the first thing that came to mind: maybe she couldn't kill Wormwood, but she still had one tool she hadn't tried to use. A tool, furthermore, that came from a being with dominion over the dead.

She snapped her horn forwards, and Wormwood scowled as nothing seemed to happen, stepping forwards and saying sharply: "I've had enough fake fireballs and dumb tricks and you-"

Then a toll rang out through the air, and Wormwood looked up blankly at a flash of light above her, before a massive obsidian bell simply fell from the sky and crashed down on the wounded creature's back, nearly snapping the wooden equine in half and driving her flat to the ground. More, the bell gave a tremendous clang when it struck the ground, and Twilight and Pinkamena both winced in pain at the vibrations that carried through the air... but Wormwood howled in misery as her back arched, the vibrations shattering the amber sap that had clotted up her wounds, her eyes bulging as she felt every wound across her form bleeding and slowly trying to seal closed as broken bits of bark spilled off her frame.

Then her eyes rolled up in her head, and she dropped her face to the ground, prone and unconscious from all the blood she had lost. Twilight and Pinkamena both stared, and then the demon grinned wryly before saying weakly: "Hey. Not bad."

"I meant to try and banish her back to Valhalla. Not drop the bell on her." Twilight mumbled, and then the Lich winced and looked up as she felt a bolt of pain shock through her system, turning her eyes towards where Gymbr was savagely fighting back against the ponies attacking him.

"Go get him." Pinkamena jerked her head in the direction of the god, and Twilight gave a brief smile and sharp nod before she sprinted past the fallen Wormwood, dodging past trees as she headed in the direction that the group had managed to drive Gymbr.

The trees here had been leveled from the force of conflict, and Twilight's eyes widened in shock as she leapt into the scarred battlefield just in time to watch Gymbr fling an unconscious Morning Glory away. The Destroyer hit the ground limply and rolled to a halt, and the god looked up at the rest of the battered group facing him down as he said coldly: "We will not continue to be this merciful."

Terra was snarling, her hide armor torn apart but the crest of Valhalla still visible through the rips and the blood spatter, the wounds over her body only seeming to have energized her more. Celestia had her three short swords at the ready, but Tyrfing was lodged in a tree, and held in place by black crystal that had spread along both it and the tree itself. Sleipnir was standing to one side, breathing hard and doing his best to ignore the burns covering most of his body, more than half of his mane seared away to reveal raw, bleeding scalp.

Scrivener and Luna were side-by-side, their armor dented and torn-apart and nearly broken, Luna with Prúðbikkja floating to one side of her and the heavy, spiked ball of Lucy resting on the ground in front of her The stallion, meanwhile, had both Talons flexed and readied, but one had the distinct mark of a claw in it from Gymbr attempting to crush the prosthetic.

Gymbr himself was almost glowing with power, breathing hard in and out as his soulstone core thrummed with energy. His wings were spread wide, and his mane and tail wreathed back and forth like snakes as his claws tore at the ground almost compulsively. But he seemed both disbelieving and uncertain, like he had lost all that confidence, like even his arrogance had been forced to crumble away beneath the brutal assault he was barely facing down.

All the same, he leaned forwards and shouted: "You are making a mistake! We cannot allow you to do this, to fight us, to threaten our Valhalla and what we are trying to prepare! If we so desired, we could destroy all of you with nothing more than a thought!"

"No, you couldn't. Even the most powerful magic doesn't work like that, Gymbr. Especially when you start losing faith in yourself." Celestia said quietly, and then she leapt forwards, breaking into a charge so suddenly that it seemed like even she hadn't been aware she was going to make the attack. Yet all the same, Luna and Sleipnir shot forwards with her, as Scrivener Blooms turned a quick look and mental order to Twilight Sparkle, who nodded grimly.

Celestia slashed down at Gymbr with two of her swords, but the god flicked his horn and nearly blasted the weapons out of her telekinetic hold before he rose a claw without looking and caught Sleipnir's hoof. The earth pony had enough time to look surprised before Gymbr crushed down, his horn glowing as he snarled furiously, and Sleipnir fell to his knees as he burst into bright, terrible flames... and yet all the same, he refused to cry out, refused to give in as he pushed fiercely back against the claw that was slowly twisting his hoof.

Then Gæfa thrusted suddenly forwards, hooking around Gymbr's foreleg and forcibly dragging it away, the god cursing in agony as it cut deep into his limb as Celestia said calmly: "Luck opens."

Gymbr snapped his horn out with a shout of fury as he yanked his foreleg away, and Gæfa was blasted out of the mare's grip, but she responded to this by slashing down Dómr, the heavy blade smashing down on Gymbr's wounded limb with so much force it nearly knocked the winged unicorn to the ground. "Judgment overthrows."

The god staggered, his claw flexing helplessly, snapping his horn out with a wild roar and blasting Dómr backwards: the sword tore across Celestia's face, ripping a bloody wound from chin up along her cheek as it rocketed away, but the mare was unstoppable, almost glowing with her rage and determination as she thrusted her last short sword forwards as Gymbr tried to raise his wounded claw in defense... but the straight blade pierced through his foreleg with ease as Celestia gritted her teeth, Gymbr staring in horror as she said coldly: "Honor transcends."

She twisted Drengr, then sawed savagely forwards, the teeth on the bottom of the sword ripping through Gymbr's foreleg, and he howled in misery as Celestia ripped the weapon smoothly to the side before she thrusted it forwards again, aiming at the soulstone core-

The core pulsed with light, then released a tremendous blast of energy that sent Celestia crashing bonelessly backwards, landing on her back as her last sword flew through the air to stab down into the ground. Gymbr glared at her beaten, prone body with fury... and his eyes widened when he saw Luna too late, the mare leaping towards him as she flung Lucy at the same time with all her might, shouting: "And when honor fails, cheat!"

Gymbr snapped his horn out, deflecting the spiked ball with magic, but then a massive spike of crystallized corruption shot up from the ground and smashed into his soulstone core, knocking him rearing with a cry of agony as the blue sphere gave a strange, vibrating cry of pain. A moment later, an immense, black meteor of flames smashed down into his back, knocking him face-first into the ground and skidding through the field.

Twilight Sparkle gritted her teeth, only wishing she had been able to make the spell larger as she slumped a bit... and then stared in horror as Gymbr slowly climbed to his claws. He was trembling and breathing hard, looking both disbelieving and almost rabid with rage as he slowly looked down and studied his mangled front claw, before he whispered: "You pathetic fools..."

He closed his eyes as his soulstone core thrummed, before a bright glow washed over his body... and then he looked up with a snarl, eyes blazing as the glow faded and he was left completely healed. The ponies stared in horror as Terra bared her own fangs, before Gymbr shouted furiously as his soulstone core continued to glow: "Enough!"

He gestured sharply to one side... and Twilight Sparkle had enough time to look down as she felt a massive spike of magical energy before the earth beneath her hooves simply exploded. She felt similar agonies rip through Luna and Scrivener, and their joined minds were savaged by vertigo and claustrophobia as something wrapped tightly around them, then slammed the three viciously back down to the earth, leaving their bodies trapped in tight prisons of crystal.

Gymbr shook his head in disgust, and Luna snarled as she looked back and forth: only her head was free of the dark stone that had snared her, while Twilight was completely covered, and Scrivener was gasping for air out of a small hole in the rock, one of his Talons clawing helplessly at the ground. The sapphire mare gritted her teeth, then her eyes locked on the sight of Prúðbikkja as Gymbr said coldly: "We may have been... surprised today, but we are a true god. We could have destroyed all of you, at any moment, but we do not desire to do more harm to you than we have to... than you force us to do. Your power means nothing to us!"

Gymbr stomped a claw furiously, and there was a shattering sound, followed by a yell of pain: a few moments later, Myre slithered past, semisolid and gazing fawningly up at Gymbr as she hurried to his side. He only looked coldly back, however, and after a moment Myre dropped her head before he ordered icily: "Luna Brynhild has a weakness that you can exploit. Share your corruption with her. We shall make a slave of her."

"Did you forget that I'm standing right here, Gymbr?" Terra asked calmly, and Gymbr looked contemptibly across at the Ironjaw as she stepped slowly forwards, bristling and glaring at him furiously. "Or is it shame that makes me invisible to your eyes? You betrayed Heaven... you betrayed Kvasir! Wretched and honorless bog-dog, at least have the guts to kill me instead of pretending that I don't exist, as if I may slink away like a coward like you!"

"We owe you no allegiance, Terra. You do not understand this... but what we do now, we do with Kvasir in mind." Gymbr replied calmly, but this only made Terra's eyes flash with rage, the dragon roaring before she charged straight for the god.

Myre immediately leapt forwards... and without slowing, Terra breathed out a terrible blast of sapphire flames, the Fate's eyes widening as she tried to shield herself too late. The intense heat of the hellfire turned Myre's soft body to stone as it burnt away her spirit at the same time, and Myre had no chance to recover or try to escape before Terra smashed through the now-statue and then dove at the winged unicorn who had declared himself master of Heaven.

He caught Terra by the throat and stepped forwards, slamming her down onto her back: she clawed at him, but found no purchase. His own claws, on the other hand, buried deep into her breast, and then Gymbr shattered ribs and ripped up enormous swathes of scale as he tore backwards.

He stepped away from her as she was left gasping, chest crunched in, her body spasming weakly. For a moment, he regarded his handiwork... then almost absently reached up and caught Prúðbikkja before the spear could bury into his skull, saying quietly: "We have grown tired of your childishness, Luna Brynhild."

Gymbr paused as Myre's spirit flickered into being for a moment beside him, the specter bowing her head as if ashamed before she vanished and the soulstone core glowed brighter. Gymbr resonated with power as his emerald irises locked on Luna's own dark window of the soul. "And so instead of encouraging this any longer... we will break you, here and now."

The god's horn and eyes glowed as his soulstone core took on a brighter and brighter radiance, and Luna's eyes widened as she felt reality itself quaking at the god's power. He was drawing energy into the core... no, more than that. She could feel her own energies beginning to be pulled into that core, she could see the ground around him fading and dying as he began to absorb the life essence of everything around him, to pull it in, to feed and add to his never-ending supply of power...

Luna shook her head wildly, and Scrivener and Twilight shoved at their prisons, trying to resist, trying to do something, anything they could to fight off this awful dark power. And as Luna looked back and forth, her desperation grew greater as she saw Terra was beginning to gargle, and Celestia and Sleipnir were both literally being dragged towards the monster, as if he wanted to do more to them... as if Gymbr wanted to make new puppets out of the ponies she loved most...

Luna's eyes flashed, and then she snapped her head back with a roar as a raw surge of energy blasted out of her body. It shattered the prison of crystal around her, and Gymbr looked down in surprise before the sapphire mare snapped her horn forwards, releasing a blast of electricity.

The lightning struck home into the god's core... and then, to the shock of both Luna and Gymbr, it formed itself into a tether, like a physical wire between them. Luna yanked her head back in surprise, and Gymbr gasped in pain as the soulstone core itself was yanked on. He staggered forwards, his concentration lost, the dire pull of power ending, and then he snarled and yanked hard back, and Luna cried out in agony and staggered forwards, feeling like someone with the strength of Sleipnir had just attempt to pull her soulstone horn out of her skull.

Then the sapphire mare bared her fangs before dragging her head back, and Gymbr hissed but attempted to pull back as well, shuddering and rasping for breath as they both attempted to yank free from the tether. The agony it caused them both was excruciating as Gymbr cursed in pain and trembled violently, and Luna felt blood running down her face as her limbs trembled, but she refused to give in, she refused to do anything but-

Gymbr's soulstone core suddenly glowed brightly, and a blast of energy shot through the tether and hammered into Luna's horn, sending her to the ground with a scream of agony and shock. She dazedly attempted to channel her own magic, but with her concentration shot and her soulstone horn now vibrating violently, all she managed to do was a few weak putters of energy... while Gymbr, on the other hoof, snarled and set himself, the god glowing with power before he leaned forwards and roared.

Luna couldn't describe the blast of energy that hit her. There was just light and sound and blurs, as Twilight and Scrivener both howled in misery, and then Luna was on the ground, bleeding from her mouth and her eyes, struggling to breathe. And Gymbr was there, standing over her, looking down at her before he said quietly: "You have become a threat to us. We will not stand for that. We will end it, here and now."

"Now, old chap, there's no need for that. You promised us you wouldn't resort to that, didn't you?" chided a voice, and Gymbr looked up with surprise... then he staggered backwards, shaking his head as his eyes widened at the sight of Theophilius Carter. He was standing with a bouquet of white roses that had sloppily been painted red, his hat jauntily tipped to the side, a pleasant smile on his face... and Luna was too incoherent at the moment to realize any of this was strange at all.

"No... you... this is not your concern! We are doing what must be done!" Gymbr shouted, and then he winced when Theophilius suddenly bounded forwards and shoved a finger against his lips, giving the smallest shake of his head.

"No, no, no. You've gotten all confused, haven't you?" Theophilius clicked his tongue quietly, shaking his head slowly again before he suddenly thrusted the bundle of roses towards the god. Gymbr stared at this blankly for a moment, then he reached up and almost hesitantly took them as Theophilius said softly: "Now, listen, my friend. You need a nap. You need to cool your head, and possibly your feet, even though you don't have any. You need to go have dreams of puppies on skateboards, and kittens with... oh, I don't know what cats like, pogo sticks? And you need to leave all these nice little people alone, especially yourself."

Gymbr stared blankly at Theophilius... and then he slowly snarled before flinging the bouquet down, and Theophilius looked oddly hurt at this as the god shouted: "Enough! No, we will not obey you, because you are in our domain now! Get away, Mad Hatter, you denied us your aid, you betrayed us, you said you would leave the universe to die, but we will not; we will not allow the universe to die, or to be saved! We are the bringers of eternity and chaos, not you!"

"I made those for you." Theophilius said in an injured voice, and he sounded so sincere, so honest, that Gymbr actually looked rebuked for a moment.

Then the god suddenly snarled and shook his head before saying harshly: "Enough! We are sick of you. We do not need your advice, nor your rules: get out of our way so we can force Luna Brynhild and Scrivener Blooms to see why they must join with us... why they must help us-"

"Hey, look, spoilers are against the rules and just... really goddamn rude, okay? You need to stop this, right now. Or else." Theophilius crossed his arms, stepping in front of Gymbr, and Gymbr snorted in disgust before he leaned forwards with a challenging sneer.

"Or else what, Mad Hatter? You are alone. You are no warrior. We are a god beyond even Jötnar, as you witnessed yourself!" Gymbr proclaimed, raising his head high, proud and arrogant... and maddened, it looked like. Almost insane, delirious with his own power and potential.

But Theophilius only smiled, and then he leaned forwards and beckoned with a single finger at Gymbr. Gymbr scowled, but leaned in all the same as Theophilius covered his mouth as if to whisper something... then instead leapt backwards and howled to the skies: "Draconequus Dogpile!"

A swirling vortex appeared only a few feet above Gymbr, and the god had enough time to look up stupidly before dozens of Draconequus fell through, the god yelling with fury and indignation as he was buried beneath a mountain of chimerical creatures. Luna stared in disbelief as the mountain of bodies wriggled, but then she cursed in surprise as her soulstone horn sparked painfully, realizing all these Draconequus were emitting chaos energy... and in such amounts that all magic...

"And now, for a little editing!" Theophilius yanked some kind of magical object out of his jacket, holding the rectangular screen up and saying cheerfully: "Cut!"

A click, and the Draconequus all froze before simply vanishing in a spark of energy, and then Theophilius looked down at the screen in his hands and tapped on it a few times, finishing positively: "And paste you right back into Heaven, since it looks like there's some pretty young girl scouts coming to sell you cookies soon enough anyway."

With that, Theophilius tucked the device back into his jacket, then he spun around and smiled at Luna Brynhild before his eyes roved towards Terra. They widened slightly at the sight of her, and Theophilius bounced excitedly over to the Ironjaw as she slowly started to pick herself up. Fearlessly, he seized one of her claws, and Terra winced as she looked up in surprise as the Mad Hatter leaned down, saying warmly: "Alice! How are you? Have you been looking after the Dormouse and the March Hare? Oh dearie me, I'm so sorry about your Wonderland..."

Terra stared up at the god... and then her eyes slowly widened. She mouthed wordlessly, then reached up and grasped the Hatter's collar, and he looked down curiously as there was a strange pulse of light beneath his shirt.

The Ironjaw slipped a claw forwards, touched something, drew slowly back... and trembled violently, tears spilling down her cheeks at the sight of a necklace, much like her own, of fangs and claws... but also pretty, silvery beads. A necklace that glowed faintly with magic as Terra breathed hard, then stared up and whispered: "Kvasir?"

Luna looked on in disbelief, and Celestia slowly rose her own head as all those still standing managed to look up, to see what was going on... and then Theophilius gave a faint smile as he reached up and took his hat slowly off, his messy blond hair spilling around his features as he lowered his head, closed his eyes, took a deep breath...

"I'm sorry. Yes... and no." whispered the Mad Hatter, and then he studied Terra for a moment longer before he suddenly leapt backwards and put his hat tightly back on, trembling even as he bowed to her and cried out: "Take care of the others for me, Alice! Until we meet again!"

"No! Kvasir! Come back!" Terra flung herself up to her claws as the Mad Hatter vanished into the trees around them, but the dragon gave chase all the same. And Luna could only stare in disbelief as Terra vanished into the forest, and left her with her shocked, beaten family, none of whom knew what to do next, or even able to process the miracle and disaster they had just witnessed.

Chapter Thirty Three: Time Comes Crashing Down

~BlackRoseRaven

Five minutes: if the Hourglass was still running in Valhalla at maximum speed, then the five minutes that had just passed could be equal to at least a month. Maybe two. And it was that thought that made Twilight Sparkle pick herself slowly up off the round, shaking her head out before she looked around and said in a shaky but determined voice: "We need to get going. Gymbr could already be on his way back to attack us again."

"I... not yet, no. I don't think so... but you're right all the same, Twilight. We need to get moving." Celestia agreed after a moment, nodding slowly and picking herself up before she cursed quietly to herself, closing her eyes tightly as her body trembled with pain. "We can't afford right now to slow down. We need to reach Asgard, and then we can heal."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Sleipnir chuckled quietly before he carefully picked himself up, murmuring: "Aye. Aye, this world is... steady and comfortable enough. Terra will be safe here, although my heart cries out for her, but nature promises me that..."

Sleipnir coughed a few times, then he shook his head briskly and grimaced a little, looking back and forth. "Nay, best not to waste time. Go onwards. Phoenix and I will catch up to thee as soon as we can, but 'twill be a slow start for us, I fear."

"The idiot slave hoof is right. Let's move." Hecate growled from inside her prison-sanctuary, and Luna sighed tiredly before she nodded briefly and slowly picked herself up, shivering a few times. She felt... no, it wasn't the pain that was the worst thing right now, or the confusion at what the hell they had just seen. It was the sense of violation, as she felt alien energies flooding through her, tickling her senses, making her see things from a skewed, warped perspective. She guessed that it was because Gymbr's energies must be compatible with her own powers... but at the same time, it felt like it was an entirely foreign, repulsive invader that was tickling through her veins.

Scrivener Blooms shook himself off, then looked for a moment in the direction that Terra had gone before Hecate ordered calmly, even as Luna reeled in Lucy to magnetize back in place: "Head towards where the energies get stronger."

Luna nodded briefly as she picked up her spear and shrank it down to tuck calmly away, and then she took a slow breath before straightening. She let her soulstone horn guide her in the right direction, and Scrivener and Twilight fell awkwardly into stumbling gaits behind her as the sapphire mare started in the direction she was compelled towards. But they could all feel that rising sense of urgency, that every second that passed made their chance of success slimmer and slimmer, meant Gymbr was closer and closer to gaining back his full, terrible strength.

Yet something had been revealed there. Gymbr did have a vulnerability, and one that Luna could exploit, now that she felt herself putting together what had to be done in her mind. The sapphire mare grunted to herself, then smiled faintly as they passed Pinkamena, who was pale and shaky but had managed to free herself and even roll the onyx bell off Wormwood. Twilight smiled faintly at this, pausing as Luna and Scrivener slowly kept moving forwards – more because both ponies were afraid that if they stopped, they would just collapse, than anything else – and Pinkamena looked up at the Lich for a few moments before she said quietly: "Get the hell out of here. She's not going to be any trouble... even if Gymbr made her strong, AJ's never taken well to being abandoned. She'll think twice."

Twilight almost laughed at this, but then she only shook herself out and almost hesitantly turned her eyes towards the onyx bell. She studied it, then closed her eyes and concentrated... and when she opened them, the bell had vanished, and there was again that sense that it was gone, but... not.

The violet pony lingered for a moment longer, and then she finally looked back at Pinkamena and murmured after a moment: "Take care of yourself, too. We'll be waiting for you to catch up."

"I know. We'll see." Pinkamena grumbled, and the two traded nods before the Lich turned and hurried after her partners, quickly catching up to them as she felt her strength and a little bit of her sanity returning.

She wanted to ask them a thousand different questions. She wanted to put forwards theories and voice her thoughts, especially because right now, all their minds were fuzzy, their link was riddled with static from the pain and the hostile energies that Luna had been struck with. But for now, Twilight kept her mouth shut and her head lowered, and did her best to drown out everything with one all-important thought: soon they were going to be pushing their way into Valhalla. Soon, one way or another, they were going to make their attack on Gymbr. Soon, they were going to fix everything, stop this madness, and save Innocence.

It was ten or so minutes – more than enough time for Twilight's anxieties to start taking over – before Hecate said calmly: "It's just ahead. Do you feel those energies?"

Luna nodded, grimacing a little and muttering: "Aye. 'Tis no longer just Gymbr's poisons running through my veins that make me feel so unwell... what is this miasma in our minds? It is not antimagic, nor is it any enchantment I am familiar with..."

"No, it's not. That would be too obvious. Look around at the trees and the grasses, how everything's stunted and struggling. This area was simply irradiated with negative energies... the stuff of psychic pain. Probably amplified by alchemical powders sewn into the ground a long time ago." Hecate muttered, and Scrivener made a face, barely able to understand a single word of what Hecate was talking about... and for once, not just because most of what she said tended to go over his head. "Still, no one will be able to see inside here, not Heaven, not a weakling god like Gymbr, not a patchwork doll of a Draconequus."

"Where is Bob, anyway? I hope he wasn't drawn into that pileup." Scrivener muttered, looking back and forth before he added quietly: "But he does have the tendency to always show up at the right time and the right place."

Twilight Sparkle smiled faintly at this, nodding slowly before she asked hesitantly: "Shouldn't we... not talk about things yet, though? Just in case... we don't want to underestimate what Gymbr is capable of, especially if he's trying to watch-"

"And we don't want to feed him more power by being afraid of him, or by overestimating his abilities. He is a fool, and he is weak." snarled Hecate, and even Luna was surprised by the sudden ferocity of the head, glancing awkwardly over her shoulder as they passed into a thicket of small, leafless trees. "He bleeds. He suffers. He can be killed, but you pathetic little ponies have no killing instinct. Even weak-kneed Celestia fought as if to disable, not kill... not that I'm surprised by how miserable her showing was..."

"I guess you missed the part where he altered reality and simply rolled us all up inside rocks." Scrivener said sourly, but Hecate only smiled thinly out of her prison, her eyes glowing with contempt.

"Yes. And you missed the part that those 'rocks' were made of corruption. You in particular should have found it simple to escape." Hecate retorted, and then she added distastefully: "The portal is twenty feet away. Stop here."

Luna frowned at this, looking back and forth in confusion: all she could see were brambles, thin, scraggly trees, a few ugly rocks in the dirt. She didn't think that this static in the air was confusing and hurting her mind so much that she was about to miss a giant magical portal to Valhalla, either. "Is it hidden by magic?"

Hecate laughed sourly at this. "I'm already regretting this. Take me off your back and hold me out in front of you. I'll show you, since I have to activate it anyway."

The sapphire winged unicorn grumbled under her breath, but nodded and easily grasped the heavy metal sphere with one hoof, shoving it out in front of herself. Hecate's horn began to glow immediately, her eyes drawing over the ground as she muttered: "Valthrudnir was never much of one for subtlety. It's time that's hidden things... although badly."

A cold wind blew straight down into the earth in front of them,sending sand flying in all directions before it twisted into a miniature tornado. Luna and Scrivener winced away from the small but fierce storm as Twilight shifted uncomfortably, surprised by the level of magic Hecate was capable of even locked in a little metal ball, with only a weak prosthetic horn to focus through.

Then the miniature tornado suddenly blew apart, and the ponies were left gazing at a deep, bowl-shaped indentation in the earth. But standing out of this distinct bowl were three large, ominous-looking obelisks covered in ancient runes that still glowed faintly with magic, and Twilight was surprise she hadn't felt that thrum of magic before now... except maybe, with the earth so insulated with negative energy, it had enough to muffle-

"Please stop gaping and do something." said Hecate with disgust, and Luna scowled at the metal sphere before flinging it down into the ground with a bang, but Hecate only laughed sourly from inside the prison. "Fine. I'll do it myself. Pick me back up so I can see."

"Thou art like a terrible, tyrannical baby." Luna muttered moodily, even as she lifted the sphere into the air again and held it out in front of her, and Hecate only snorted in disgust from her prison before her horn began to glow brightly.

"Just shut up and stay out of my way." Hecate growled, and the runes over the three obelisks began to glow brightly. Reality around them stuttered, and the head leaned forwards slightly, making Luna wince and almost lose her grip on the sphere. "Hold on to me, idiot!"

Luna only grumbled in response, keeping Lucy steady as Hecate seemed to strain against the interior of the prison, and the sapphire mare felt her skin crawling as the magic grew. Twilight gritted her own teeth, tempted to try and add her own strength to whatever Hecate was doing, but this magic felt alien to her, felt... poisonous somehow.

Electricity sparked between the obelisks, forming a sudden net that cycled energy between the rune-covered stone prisms, and reality above them rippled before a portal slowly rumbled open. But it wasn't like any portal Luna was familiar with: it was spherical, surface rippling as if unstable, looking more like some kind of flux in reality or an enormous singularity that was just waiting to gobble up anything stupid enough to touch it.

"Like I thought. Throw me into it, and wait for me to pull on the chain before you come through." Hecate said disgustedly, and Luna frowned uneasily at this. The head seemed to sense her hesitation, looking coldly at the portal as she said distastefully: "Unlike you, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to see my enemies crushed. This portal was secured and trapped: Valthrudnir was stupid, but not stupid enough not to take precautions when it came to dealing with the gods of Asgard. So unless you want all the life energy sucked out of your body, throw me into the damned portal, and do it now."

Luna growled in disgust... and then she finally stepped forwards and flung Lucy as hard as she dared into the floating flux. Hecate vanished through the breach, and the chain snapped taut as the sapphire mare grimaced, holding her foreleg out and muttering: "Make it fast, Hecate. And whether I believe thou really would or not... do not die for our sakes."

Scrivener and Twilight were silent as they stared at the portal: slow minutes passed, during which Luna continued to stand with her foreleg raised high to give the head as much slack as possible. She could feel vibrations up and down the chain, could see it moving slightly as the surface of the portal rippled like water around it, and she wondered what the hell Hecate was doing... what was even going on inside wherever the portal had taken her.

They were joined shortly by Celestia and Discombobulation, and a few moments after they arrived came Sleipnir and Pinkamena, the former carrying a quietly-rasping, unconscious-looking Wormwood. None of them spoke, only waiting and watching until Morning Glory arrived last, the Destroyer looking as if she was already healing as she muttered: "I'm sorry. Terra is gone."

"It's alright. She'll be fine." Celestia halted, then she looked calmly over at Wormwood, adding softly: "I know you're awake, Applejack."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Wormwood slowly opened one eye, giving a wry smile before she murmured: "Sorry. Figured I'd try not to make this so awkward for any of us. Besides, I've been around most of you for most of my mortal life... even I ain't dumb enough to think I can fight any of you in this condition."

"No, you can't. And I won't hesitate to kill you if I have to." Celestia said softly, looking calmly towards the portal, and Wormwood stared at her before the ivory mare smiled a little and returned her eyes to her. "I'm just kidding."

"Right. Yeah. Sure." Wormwood swallowed a little, offering a lame little smile before she said almost pleadingly: "But you're... you're making a mistake here, don't you see? You-"

"Applejack, it doesn't matter if Gymbr is right or wrong anymore." Celestia said quietly as she faced towards the portal, and Wormwood looked surprised at this before the ivory mare closed her eyes. "Look what he did to you. You're not an angel... you're closer to a demon than you are an angel now. If this is what he's doing to Valhalla... then he has to be stopped. He has to be punished. Whether there's some killing light or this is all just Gymbr's madness... I will not allow him to turn the place I still consider a home to be turned into a monster factory."

Luna growled in agreement, and Wormwood glanced down before she whispered: "I chose this though, to protect my family... I would do anything to protect my family, Dashie, Big Mac, Ava..."

Celestia only nodded briefly, before Twilight said softly, looking over her shoulder at the strange, wooden equine: "It's never as simple as that, Applejack. What are they going to think of what you've done to yourself? Who you're helping? The best choice... isn't... always the best choice."

There was silence, and then Discombobulation held up a hand and said awkwardly: "Perhaps this is just my inner coward speaking, but I'll stay behind with the ent. We'll talk about hobbits and bread and old wizards, and wait for Alice and the Hatter. Because I'm very, very sure that Theophilius will be by again; a Hatter is never late for tea, you know."

Celestia nodded, giving a small smile to Discombobulation, and the Draconequus reached out and gently grasped Wormwood off Sleipnir's back, almost cradling her. The mare gasped in pain just at being moved, tears welling up in her eyes before she grinned weakly and whispered as Discombobulation gently set her down on the ground in front of him: "Reminds me... of when I broke my damn fool back..."

"The difference is you'll heal this time. So long as you don't make any of us cut you in half first." Pinkamena muttered, and she shot a moody look at Wormwood before giving her a brief nod and adding quietly: "He abandoned you. He's crowbait. But we're still here... even only so I can say 'I told you so' later for being such a stupid bitch."

Wormwood smiled wryly, but she didn't seem to have the strength to reply otherwise. Luna looked hesitantly over her shoulder, wondering for a moment if they should try and restrain her... except that enormous wound in her back looked like something that would have killed most lesser demons, and whatever Wormwood was, it was more Applejack's inner strength than the supernatural powers of her body that seemed to be keeping her going.

There also wasn't any time, as she finally felt a firm double tug on the chain, and the sapphire mare glanced at her partners before turning her eyes towards Celestia. "Hecate calls. We shall go first; if in thirty seconds we do not return, follow. And hope thou does not find us dead."

"As always, sister." Sleipnir said with a smile, and Luna sighed as Celestia nodded with her own quiet laugh. Then the sapphire mare turned towards the portal, Scrivener and Twilight Sparkle automatically falling in step on either side of her as all three ponies studied the rippling sphere silently.

They traded uneasy looks in front of the floating rift, and then steeled themselves before leaping forwards and into the flux in reality. Vertigo tore at the ponies as they clenched their eyes to try and shield them against the flashes of light that sparked through their minds, and then they landed and skidded painfully over hard stone as Hecate's voice came contemptibly: "Took you long enough."

Lucy, and the head inside, were simply floating in the air, and Luna stared with surprise... but when her mind finally registered the environment they were in, a floating head ceased seeming like anything that was strange or out of place at all.

They were on a long, concrete bridge, an archway filled with light behind them, and another similar archway at the opposite end of the bridge. All around them, up and down and at their sides, there was no reality: just purple emptiness and wild fractals of chaos energy, dancing around massive, floating statues...

Scrivener grimaced as he looked up at one of these, a dragon's face grinning coldly down at him, empty sockets for its eyes and the rough outline of a suit sculpted over its body. Valthrudnir... they were all statues of Valthrudnir, all of them seeming to glare down at them like hateful, listless puppets. The malice he felt from them... that wasn't just in his mind, was it?

"I shut down all the security. Stop basking in the energy and let's keep moving." Hecate said moodily, and the ponies nodded awkwardly as Hecate floated calmly across the bridge. "You should draw in the power you can though, Brynhild. Your soulstone should be able to hold a charge, if it's anything like the soulstone netting inside this... protective shell."

The sapphire mare grunted and nodded a little, pausing for a moment as she glanced up at her horn, realizing that she could definitely feel an odd tickling along her horn, a sense that magic was gathering there. She hesitantly attempted to focus her magic, to see if she could draw in the energy in the air, and she was pleasantly surprised when that energy didn't just crackle around her horn but flooded through her entire body, restoring some of her strength as she murmured: "What intensity..."

"Just hurry up. And don't make me explain anything." Hecate grumbled, and Luna rolled her eyes before looking at Twilight curiously as the Lich winced a little, feeling the magic in the air almost attacking her as her body automatically attempted to absorb it.

Hecate grumbled when she realized the ponies had stopped on the bridge, turning around... and eying Twilight Sparkle meditatively as the Lich twitched, even as she felt her wounds healing, her spiritual energy restoring, and that strength feeding into both of her partners... "While it would be entertaining to watch you explode, this tunnel between realities is powered by a self-replicating magic. If you absorb too much of this your body will overload and detonate."

Twilight winced a little at this, and Luna and Scrivener traded looks before staring at Twilight as the Lich twitched a little, then all three ponies scrambled hurriedly for the portal on the other side as Hecate floated grouchily along, refusing to be rushed even as the ponies ran past her. "Idiots."

Scrivener, Luna, and Twilight ran into the archway on the other side of the portal, and there was a bright flash that made the three stumble and wince. Luna gritted her teeth, then opened her eyes as she rose her head, daring the light... and staring upwards in amazement as she saw bright sunlight and a blue sky, the world around her thrumming with a warmth that made her feel... renewed. Stronger.

At their backs, a sphere of violet energy floated above the earth, and Scrivener could swear that he could faintly see the bridge and the strange tunnel between realities they had just passed through when he stared hard enough. But maybe that was just his eyes playing tricks on him, and he shook his head quickly before turning back around and glancing down at himself, muttering: "It feels like I'm-"

"Greetings." A voice cut off, and the three ponies winced and looked up sharply: standing some twenty feet away, near a large, ancient oak, was a Pious. Its arms were crossed over its chest, but it had its head bowed and seemed... humble, at least by the standards of these strange and distant creatures. "We have been expecting you."

"Oh... I am... glad, then." Luna said awkwardly, grimacing a bit at the way the shadow and light played over the entity, how they seemed to make its pale, almost-polished skin ripple and glow. "We are in Asgard?"

It probably wasn't the best question, but it was the only one Luna could think of at the moment. The Pious simply nodded in response, and there was silence before the angel half-turned and gestured politely with one long, twisted limb. "We have promised our assistance in this matter. I shall open a portal to the Gates of the Vale of Valhalla."

Luna couldn't help but frown slightly in surprise at this, nodding hesitantly. "Then I am... indebted to thee. Will thy kind be prepared if Gymbr attacks?"

"The False God you call Gymbr will not attack us. Our Cenobium sits outside the gates, and our faith and magic protect us." the Pious said with strange confidence, and Luna frowned a bit at this before the portal rippled behind her, and Hecate floated out before cursing and falling to the ground with a thunk now that she could no longer tap into a perpetual supply of magic power.

Luna only absently snapped Lucy up to her hoof and placed it on her back, winding up the chain as Hecate muttered from inside her prison-sanctuary: "The others are coming. I told them not to dally. We should hurry to the Gates."

"I will portal you there." the Pious said, and for some reason it made Luna grimace a little. The creature sounded... a little too eager for her liking. It made her hesitate as its voice hit her mind, feeling like she was picking up on some of its alien emotions before it stepped forwards and bowed... but kept its arms crossed in that warding gesture. "The Pious desire this to end. It does not benefit the One True God to allow such conflict to continue any longer than it already has."

Luna was saved having to make any kind of response as Celestia, Sleipnir, Pinkamena, and Morning Glory emerged through the portal. The ivory mare immediately looked towards the Pious, and the angel repeated for the third time: "I will portal you to the Gates of the Vale of Valhalla."

Luna opened her mouth, but Celestia cut her off by raising a hoof, bowing her head politely and replying tactfully: "We would appreciate that, and moving forwards with all haste. Every moment we waste gives Gymbr days to prepare."

The Pious nodded, then simply rose one long-fingered hand as the odd limbs on its back flexed and twitched and reality shuddered before expanding into a gold-edged window, like a fiery doorway into another room. Luna grimaced at the sight of this, but Celestia leaned down as she passed, saying quietly: "We can discuss this in a few minutes. We need to press this advantage."

The sapphire mare grumbled, but nodded and hurried after the mare, the other ponies striding quickly – if uneasily – towards the portal. Stepping through it was jarring, if only because there was no great flash, no sense of magic, no light... one moment, they were in some wild forest, the next, they were standing on a barren patch of dead land in front of a steel gate of countless crisscrossing bars and girders so tall and wide even a pack of dragons could pass through it with ease if they flew a hundred feet in the air and with comfortable space between them. If the gates were open, that was...

And to either side of the gates, there was the impenetrable wall that enclosed Heaven, the Giant's Denial. It looked like it was made of simple blocks of massive gray stone, but it stretched even higher than the gates stood, reaching towards the sky... a sky, Luna was disgusted to see, that was rippling with magical energy that all the same couldn't hide the black smoke and swirling stormclouds that formed a ceiling over the Vale of Valhalla beyond the barrier.

There was a terrible sense of malice and crushing psychic force on this side of the Gates, but at least above their heads was blue sky, and beneath their feet the ground was dead but not corrupt; yet eking out beneath the Gates, Scrivener could see poisonous bogland, and in the sky, blue clashed with black static that no doubt blotted out the entirety of Heaven. Scrivener grimaced in disgust, then he looked up with surprise as Hecate said coldly: "I'll break open the Gates, but I think you ponies can spare a little bit of assistance. This entire area is being filled with psychic static and this weak horn is making it impossible for me to concentrate."

"It's alright to ask for help now and then, Hecate." Celestia stopped, then looked at the metal sphere as Luna took it off her back and looked down into it with surprise. "How much energy do you need us to supply?"

"Whatever you can spare, princess do-gooder." Hecate growled in response, and then Luna winced as the spikes popped out of the metal ball, Hecate adding coldly: "You can supply the brute force, Luna Brynhild. That seems to be what you do best."

"And believe me. I will be more than glad to." Luna retorted before she lifted the sphere with telekinesis, striding calmly forwards until she was only ten feet away from the Gates of Heaven. She could feel such energy spilling out between them, and it made her snarl as she saw the way they were shuddering, as if fighting to keep the malice inside them, to contain all the power thrumming through the air... "Raise your heads high! Valhalla will be ours again before the night falls!"

The sapphire mare tossed the sphere into the air, then caught it by the chain and began to whirl it above her head, her eyes glowing as the spiked ball began to glow with energy. Twilight Sparkle and Scrivener Blooms both locked their gazes on Luna, filling her with energy... energy that she pumped up into the sphere, as Morning Glory and Celestia both anchored themselves and poured all the power they could into the spinning metal ball.

It became a blazing star of light as Hecate snarled inside of Lucy, the weapon leaving a tail of fiery white energy behind it as lightning crackled around Luna, the sapphire mare baring her fangs before she roared as she snapped the weapon forwards. The spiked sphere smashed into the Gates of Heaven, and time seemed to freeze for a moment, everything going still... before three tremendous ripples tore through reality around them, and then Luna and all others present were blown backwards by a massive gust of force as the Gates of Valhalla all-but-exploded, hinges ripping out of place and bars shattering like glass, others crumpling into bizarre shapes as metallic shrapnel flew in all directions amidst fireworks of lightning and energy.

And time distorted terribly around them, speeding up their movements, then catching them, leaving the ponies moving in slow motion as reality around them threatened to crack, rippling, twisting, bending and quaking. It filled their bodies with agony... but all the same, Luna grinned viciously, even as she hit the ground on her back and skidded backwards, and Hecate laughed with insane delight from inside the half-shattered sphere of Lucy, half the face of a twisted goddess revealed and grinning cruelly despite the fact her horn had shattered and she was covered with her own bright blood. But both of them knew that if the shockwave had hit this badly here, then across Gymbr's corrupted playground...

As the last ripples of distorted time passed over them, Luna rolled up to her hooves and caught herself, skidding backwards and looking sharply back and forth. The others were more or less in the same condition as she was, and Celestia slowly picked herself up from the ground before the ivory mare said softly: "We can't lose this chance, but we have more time now. One of us will have to carry a message back to the mortal world-"

"We have already taken the liberty of informing the Pious below that you have arrived. They will speak to your assembled forces and tell them that it is time for the attack to begin." Luna turned with surprise to the Pious that had apparently followed them through the portal, and it bowed politely to them. It seemed completely unharmed from the energies that had passed over them... but then again, it was a fair distance back from the walls, and it hadn't been putting its energy into helping them so it hadn't been struck by recoil, either.

Celestia frowned over at the Pious, but the creature only gestured to a shape in the distance: from the fact it looked like some kind of building near the edge of Asgard's sprawling forests, it was likely the Cenobium. "The False God threatens us. It is in our best interests to defend ourselves. To make alliance and assist those who also desire to fight the False God. That is all."

Celestia nodded slowly, and then she shook her head briefly before Morning Glory looked up and rolled her shoulders slowly: in spite of all the damage she had taken before, it looked like she had almost completely healed in the short time since their confrontation with Gymbr. "I don't care if you're friend or enemy, angel. Just stay out of our way."

"We do not intend to interfere. We will watch and wait." the Pious replied calmly, and then the angel bowed its head to them and simply fell silent. Celestia studied it for a few moments, and then the ivory mare shook her head and turned her attention to Scrivener Blooms, apparently putting aside whatever worries or anxieties for the moment to focus on the task at hoof.

"Get the potions. Luna, Twilight, we should quickly patch our armor: repair spells won't be very effective, but they'll do for now." Celestia glanced towards the others, Sleipnir and Morning Glory both looking up attentively but Pinkamena only moodily sharpening her axe. "Sleipnir, scout ahead, thirty seconds. When you get back, I'll heal you. Morning Glory, please help with repairs."

Sleipnir saluted with a wink, then he picked himself up, shook himself briskly once, and shot into a sudden sprint, through the open gates and down the path. Celestia smiled a little after him, then she nodded to Scrivener Blooms as the stallion awkwardly wiggled a heavy lockbox out of the satchel he'd put down in front of himself.

As the stallion wrestled the too-large box out of the too-small bag, Luna, Celestia, and Twilight used what little energy they all had left to repair their equipment. Lucy, however, was broken beyond any easy fix at this point, but Hecate looked strangely-pleased with herself from where she was laying amidst the broken mass of metal, her eyes closed and for once almost seeming at peace.

When Sleipnir returned, he looked disgusted... even angry, a rare emotion for the gentle giant as he shook his head and rumbled: "Awful, Celestia... 'tis awful! I have never witnessed such devastation, and certainly never imagined that I would ever see our ancestral home so... so besot with evil! Damnation, Celestia, we cannot allow this to continue unchecked... but oh, how it pains me to see what we have done..."

"Do you think he even attempted to shut down the Hourglass?" asked Celestia, even as her horn began to glow, and Sleipnir grunted and shook his head before wincing as a soft aura surrounded him, wounds visibly healing and his body flexing as soreness faded from his rejuvenated muscles.

"Nay, I do not believe he did... a foolish thing, big sister. He may not have known where we were, but I think 'twas clear enough where we were headed... perhaps he thought he would have more warning, or maybe he was truly foolish enough to believe that we were too weak to batter down his gates without sending up some alarm." Sleipnir smiled after a moment, looking over at Luna and winking to her. "But my little sister has always been good at forcing open unwilling gates."

"Thou make me sound terrible, Sleipnir. I am offended: 'tis rare that gates did not open willingly before me." Luna replied with a grin, and then she glanced over at Scrivener as the stallion tossed a bottle of the Ironjaw potion to her. "Thou hast my thanks, beetle. Although it took thee long enough."

Scrivener only grunted as he pulled another potion out of the case, tossing it to Twilight. "There's about a dozen locks and layers to this thing. Although nothing's broken, so... you know."

"Just hurry up, moron. I want a drink too." Pinkamena growled irritably, and Scrivener Blooms sighed tiredly even as he passed other, clearer bottles of potion to Celestia, Sleipnir and Morning Glory. Then he uncorked his own reddish Ironjaw potion and began to drink, as Pinkamena licked her lips and grinned. "There we go."

The demon slipped her axe back in place on her back, striding over, and Scrivener winced and closed his eyes before he felt the demon's jaws latch onto him. He cursed quietly as Luna and Twilight both winced a bit, but the Lich only breathed slowly and looked away while Luna glared at the Devourer, feeling a streak of jealousy, anger, protectiveness and... pure, simple greed. Pinkamena was drinking down that black, delicious blood that she couldn't have except for special circumstances, the demon, the friend was getting all the delights that Luna craved herself...

The sapphire mare shook herself out, forcing herself to relax, to block out the senseless hunger and hate for now. Instead, she turned her attention towards the Vale of Valhalla, asking finally: "How much damage does thou think was done?"

"You saw how brittle the gates themselves had become... I can't imagine how much the rest of Valhalla has been weakened." Celestia replied as she finished healing Sleipnir, then picked up the bottle Scrivener had tossed her and examined it meditatively. "The Hourglass itself would have been completely destroyed, and even with his powers, Gymbr won't be able to repair it... as a matter of fact, if Gymbr was caught in the blast..."

"I doubt it will be so easy." Luna remarked wryly as she looked over at a nearby piece of the broken gate: one of the few larger pieces that had survived and not simply turned to dust. "In fact, I do not want it to be... although aye, I do hope he was hurt."

Scrivener grunted as Pinkamena finally pulled away and wiped her lips clean, body shivering and visibly rippling before the demon calmed herself, then met Scrivener's eyes and smiled wryly. The two looked at each other for a few moments, then traded a brief nod before the Devourer shoved him lightly backwards and asked calmly: "So are we ready to go, or are we going to wait for these bastards to regain their strength and footing?"

"Almost." Celestia said softly, tossing away the empty bottle before she closed her eyes and bowed her head, murmuring a soft prayer and promise. Luna and Sleipnir both smiled faintly at their older sibling, and then Celestia looked up and asked calmly, without looking at Hecate: "Will you be alright here, or should we bring you with us?"

"Throw me in the satchel. And if you find a unicorn, rip his horn off and give it to me, then I can be more useful." Hecate said almost pleasantly, and Scrivener made a face as Luna rolled her eyes before the sapphire mare carefully lifted the head free from the broken ruins of Lucy with telekinesis. She was much less gentle about dropping the head into the bag, and after a moment she flicked her horn firmly to toss her broken weapon in after the head.

The group surveyed each other: seven ponies, in damaged armor shoddily and quickly repaired by magic, none of them in top form or at full strength. But all of them determined to use all the strength they had managed to regain during their short rest to put a stop to Gymbr, to save Valhalla and its inhabitants... to save Innocence.

Twilight Sparkle nodded to herself, closing her eyes for a moment before he looked up as Celestia's horn glowed brightly, and there was a spark of energy before an oval portal ripped open, the mare smiling grimly. "Reality's thin, easy to manipulate... let's move in. It sounds like the others must already be here. And friends... good luck."

"And good hunting." Luna added grimly, and then the sapphire mare charged towards the portal, Scrivener and Twilight falling in beside her. They winced at the bright light that blinded them as they passed through, but didn't slow as they emerged in front of Valhalla... or rather, what Valhalla had become, and Luna couldn't repress a snarl of horror at the sight of it.

They were running down a path made of black crystal for a listing, broken drawbridge that led into... it didn't look like a castle anymore. Only a jumble of stone, massive chunks of broken crystal standing out of it here and there, dead vines hanging across the shattered walls and down into a moat filled with boiling black corruption. The orchards that had once surrounded Valhalla were now filled with dead stumps and tormented, misshapen things that Luna couldn't identify, couldn't tell if they were truly plants or some kind of hideous, rooted monstrosity.

And all around them, there was battle: Destroyers, demons, and other forces from Looking Glass World and Helheim were clashing with insectile monstrosities and horrible beasts and mechanical ponies made of metal and gears and black crystal.

"Push! Push forwards, into Valhalla! We must stop this!" Luna shouted furiously as they bolted past monsters and soldiers, demons and puppets. She didn't dare look behind herself even as she heard Celestia catching up with the others, any more than she dared to turn her gaze away from the drawbridge they were rapidly approaching-

The wooden bridge all-but-exploded as something rammed into it from below, sending chunks of wood hailing down into the moat, and Luna's eyes widened in horror as huge claws seized the bank and a grinning, golden-scaled head reared up, dripping with black muck and with glowing, hellfire-blue eyes. The draconic creature chuckled at the sight of them, and then the Tyrant Wyrm rasped: "Little brother. We have been waiting for you."

Scrivener shivered at this as its very words seemed to injure the air, made reality twist on itself in pain before the stallion stepped forwards and responded sharply in the same language: "Get out of our way! We don't-"

"I do not want to stop you, little brother. Your foolish war only brings destruction to both sides and paves the way for the Void." The Tyrant Wyrm slowly drew to the side, and Scrivener Blooms stared in disbelief as a bridge of mire pushed up out of the moat, rapidly hardening into crystal.

The stallion didn't know what to say, and the Tyrant Wyrm laughed as it drew away and sank back into the moat before Morning Glory said coldly: "Go. My job is to assemble and lead the demons. We'll make short work of these armies and wipe out the rest of Gymbr's forces throughout Valhalla."

Luna nodded after a moment, looking back over her shoulder at the Destroyer, but Morning Glory was already turning away and heading for the nearest group of enemies. The sapphire mare smiled briefly, then turned back around... and stared in surprise as several familiar figures shot by, the leader tossing a grin over his shoulder at her and calling: "Better hurry up, Mutt, several divisions are already inside and stealing all your fun!"

"Damnation, Antares!" Luna shouted, then she leapt into a run, Scrivener and Twilight hurrying after the mare with winces. The other ponies followed, Sleipnir grinning widely in spite of everything and looking proud; of his nephew and niece, of his daughter, of the new Valkyrie who all ran fearlessly into the corrupted, broken castle in search of lost Innocence.

Luna's group caught up to the four, and the sapphire mare traded quick nods with her son: he was dressed in his own gilded black armor, with coronet that cradled his horn locked tightly around his head. Aphrodisia was only in lightweight armor, but there was an enormous Reaper's scythe over her back that was almost thrumming with excitement as she traded a quick, reassuring smile with her parents.

Luna, Scrivener and Twilight couldn't help but let their eyes linger on Scarlet Sage for a moment, however: the Pegasus was flying sharply along, dressed in silver scale mail and with crosshatch blades over both forelegs, her red mane and tail streaking out behind her like fire. It had been a long time since she had been in battle, and all three were worried about her... but all the same, proud of her too, for wanting to be here: for being willing to do anything to try and help her little sister.

Then Celestia called a warning, and Luna looked sharply ahead down the warped, half-collapsed hall to see a group of those gray, mechanical ponies ahead. There were at least twenty of them... but Luna only grinned coldly as her body blazed with excitement. That only meant there weren't enough of these toys to properly share.

Aphrodisia grinned, then vanished in a black puff of demonic smoke to reappear right in front of the nearest puppet, making a sharp rising gesture with one foreleg that sent the enormous scythe spinning off her back and slashing upwards, slicing the construct into two halves. Aphrodisia vanished in another puff of dark smog, then reappeared behind the group of puppets, raising her front hooves to catch the scythe with ease before she leapt forwards with it and slashed into the thick of the constructs.

Then the rest of the group collided with the battle line of puppets, crushing them beneath hooves, smashing them out of the way, ripping through the brittle toys with ease before continuing down the hall to a fork. And here, Luna and Antares traded sharp nods before their groups split down either hall.

Luna Brynhild grimaced as she saw another slew of puppets ahead down the route she had chosen... except these ones were clearly on the move, and the mare narrowed her eyes before she said coldly: "Cut through the river."

Scrivener grimaced a bit, then he nodded and lowered his head as both Twilight Sparkle and Luna's horns began to glow, an angled shield of energy forming in front the stallion as his entire body was armored by a bright aura. He gritted his teeth, charging forwards as the others let themselves fall back slightly, then simply smashed through the marching platoon, smashing puppets apart and sending pieces of mechanical monstrosity flying in all directions until he finally tore out the other side of the group of soldiers, skidding to a halt and looking over his shoulder with a wheeze as the magic protecting him flickered out.

Luna ran past, and Scrivener stumbled to catch up to her and fall back in with the group of other ponies, Pinkamena calling loudly: "Hey, reject, next time save some for us, huh?"

The sapphire mare only grinned wryly, then flicked her horn out as they approached a set of sealed double doors, blowing the rotten-looking wood apart with a blast of telekinesis. Her eyes widened in surprise at the area they entered, however: it was almost a miniature jungle, floored with dark mire and filled with enormous trees and vibrant, alien life...

And then Luna skidded to a halt as a roar ripped through the air, before a blast of golden flames burst through the forest toward them, turning the trees in its way to stone before they were shattered from the raw heat and force. Luna snarled, but Celestia leapt forwards, snapping her horn out and creating a shield of the same flames that absorbed the holy fire.

The moment the stream of flames ended, the shield twisted and folded in on itself, transforming into a sphere of flames that Celestia launched with a simple flick of her horn. It shot through the air... then struck into the white-scaled cheek of the massive thing approaching them, exploding with a tremendous bang that made their opponent cry out with rage and frustration.

And all eyes gazed upwards as the smoke cleared as an enormous, ivory Tyrant Wyrm anchored itself only twenty or so feet away from them, at least thirty feet high at the shoulder. Her eyes glowed with amber fury, and a proud crown of six immense black horns stood out of her head, gleaming in the light cast from the mane of golden flames burning around them and down the back of the Tyrant Wyrm's neck. The flames nearly covered the six distinct pistons of bone that all Tyrant Wyrms possessed, the ivory spikes sparking with energy as they pulsed up and down.

It was all too clear who it was, even before Dusk leaned down and snarled: "You cowards. You weaklings! This is our home now, and you dare to destroy it? You dare to attack Lord Gymbr, to destroy everything he's built to try and protect you?"

"We won't allow you. We'll kill you." hissed Myre's voice as she slowly rose up out of the dark ooze, glaring furiously at them as she rippled and slowly solidified. "No games this time... not after this betrayal. You've hurt Lord Gymbr, and for that... we're going to kill you."

"You think you're strong... you have no idea just how weak you really are." added a third voice, soft and disappointed, and Twilight Sparkle shivered as Twilight Shadow strode up along the other side of the massive Tyrant Wyrm, perching herself on top of a fallen, half-petrified tree as torn black robes fluttered around her. "We're the powerful ones here. You can't kill us. All of us are soulbound to Lord Gymbr's heart: as long as his soulstone core exists, so do we. And when we die, we are drawn into the core... if you kill us, you'll only make our master stronger. And angrier."

"Good." Luna said coldly, and all three Fates frowned before the mare slowly, proudly rose her head. "I am Valkyrie. I am going to destroy Gymbr for what he has done. And it will only make it all the sweeter if he is at the peak of his strength when I bring this false god crashing to the ground."

"False God... just like the Pious call him. Pathetic. So you trust them... well, they'll betray you." Twilight Shadow said quietly as she set herself, eyes cold. "We're going to kill you now. But only so that we can bring you back, present you to Lord Gymbr lifeless and powerless, and then our master can do whatever he desires with your remains."

"Stop trying to talk us to death and fight." Pinkamena said disgustedly, and Twilight Shadow snarled as the demon yanked her axe off her back, pointing at each of the Fates in turn as she recited: "Eenie, meanie, minie... mo!"

The demon leaned forwards and flung her axe viciously at Twilight Shadow, and the undead Fate winced and barely managed to deflect the massive weapon with a blast of telekinesis; Pinkamena had already flung herself backwards into Sleipnir's waiting hoof, however, and the giant earth pony grinned as he leapt forwards and flung the demon as hard as he could.

The Devourer smashed into Twilight Shadow's face and tackled her off the trunk of the fallen tree, savagely crushing her head down into the ground before starting to rail punch after punch cruelly down into the Lich's features. Twilight Shadow shouted in frustration more than pain, helplessly trying to ward off the crushing blows bruising and bloodying her face as Dusk turned with a snarl, swiping a claw down towards the demon-

Sleipnir leapt forwards, slamming a punch backed by all his monumental strength into the Tyrant Wyrm's wrist, and Dusk roared with shock as her limb was knocked wide with such force that she stumbled to the side, almost toppling over. "Keep thy claws to thine own opponents, foul beast!"

Myre, meanwhile, turned a vicious grin towards Scrivener, charging straight for him, and the stallion gritted his teeth before he lunged forwards, the two crashing into each other. And this time, he was heedless of the spikes that ripped into his body, only clawing viciously back with his Talons before he flung himself into her and tackled her to the ground, but Myre laughed as they rolled like animals, shouting between bites at his face: "Maybe a little bit of playtime!"

Luna shot over to help Scrivener, snapping her horn to free Prúðbikkja from her mane before she launched the shrunken-down spear at Myre when she rolled on top of Scrivener, and the Fate made from corruption arched her back before glaring furiously over her shoulder at Luna, snapping as she started to raise a foreleg: "Keep your stupid little spells to-"

Luna's horn flashed, and Prúðbikkja burst up to full size, Myre's eyes bulging as the speartip ripped out the front of her body and the nine foot pole tore out her back. Luna leapt forwards and seized the body of the weapon, gritting her teeth as she skidded around on her rear hooves and then swung the spear in a savage arc, yanking Myre off Scrivener and slamming the monster face-first down into the ground on her other side, before Luna channeled a blast of telekinesis through the weapon and blasted Myre's upper body apart.

Then the sapphire mare winced, distracted by a furious roar from Dusk as the Tyrant Wyrm stomped up and down with enough force to shake the unnatural forest they were in, her massive body leveling trees as she chased after Sleipnir and away from the others. But he grinned, seeming to vanish behind a tree only to hop out from behind another some thirty feet away, calling cheerfully: "Over here! Thou truly are most wretched at this game; but perhaps I am comparing thee too readily to the pretty mares that were always able to find me no matter where I hid."

Dusk roared in frustration and attempted to pounce on him, and Sleipnir grinned as he leapt backwards, narrowly dodging her claws as her head snapped down, then he jumped forwards and swung a hoof viciously out, smashing it into the end of her muzzle and knocking her head snapping to the side as she howled in pain.

The Tyrant Wyrm began to straighten, all her fury and attention focused on Sleipnir... and in the dark skies above, Celestia's sharp eyes narrowed before her horn began to glow, her body bursting into golden flames. The holy fire writhed and glowed around her, growing brighter and brighter until she was like a miniature sun, and then the ivory mare launched herself downwards with a hard snap of her wings before furling them tightly against her sides as she simply dropped.

Dusk sensed the magic too little, too late, and the living meteor of Celestia smashed directly into the back of her neck, the Tyrant Wyrm's head snapping upwards as she howled with pain, scales tearing, bones snapping, huge body driven down to the ground. Her head fell in a daze... and before it could hit, Sleipnir leapt up and slammed an uppercut into the falling Tyrant Wyrm's chin, knocking her head lashing straight back with a gargle as Celestia calmly spread her wings and began to fly backwards as her three short swords yanked themselves off her body, harrying and slashing and stabbing in a trail along the Tyrant Wyrm's spine.

Dusk slowly picked herself up with a snarl of fury before she roared furiously... but this time, the sound was almost drowned out by the massive explosion a short distance away, as Twilight Shadow glared furiously in the direction of Pinkamena and Twilight Sparkle. "You can't even fight! You are weak and pathetic, Twilight!"

"I wonder if she's talking to herself." Pinkamena muttered from behind the fallen log where she had taken cover, and then she grimaced as another fireball smashed into the rapidly-crumbling barrier. "It'd be fantastic if you'd do something, though."

"She's the same as last time, just angrier. Let's hit her from both sides. I'll draw her attention." Twilight Sparkle said quietly, and Pinkamena nodded. The Lich gritted her teeth, then took a slow breath before she stared in surprise as a fireball arced over their heads and fell to the ground far past them, but then to Twilight Sparkle's horror, bounced back towards them.

On instinct, the violet mare leapt forwards and slashed her horn into this, sending it flying away... but the explosion that went up released a wide shockwave of flames that struck her squarely in the face, blinding her for a moment. She was knocked crashing backwards... then yelped in shock as the earth beneath her exploded and sent her flying high into the air, back arching awkwardly and almost flipping upside down as she saw Twilight Shadow grinning, horn glowing as she prepared a spell that would finish the fight-

Pinkamena leaned over the log and flung a chunk of petrified tree at Twilight Shadow's face, and it collided with one of the undead Fate's eyes, Shadow shouting in frustration as she sent a black fireball shooting high into the air instead of at Twilight Sparkle. And the Looking Glass World Lich gritted her teeth before she forcefully half-spun her body and spread her wings, flapping them hard and sending herself rocketing straight at Shadow before she even realized what she was doing.

She crashed headlong into the Fate, driving her to the ground before her hooves seized into Twilight Shadow's throat, choking her as she slammed her down into the earth. For a moment, there was shock, there was fear in Shadow's eyes as Sparkle leaned over her, fangs bared, eyes blazing, hooves crushing down... and then Twilight Shadow snapped her head forwards and blasted her twin off, rolling back to her hooves as she rasped: "Well, what do you know? There's a little fight in you after all... but that doesn't make you any less weak. You don't know what strength is."

Twilight Shadow's horn lit up with a dark aura, and then both mane and tail burst into obsidian flames, her robes ripping and stitches popping as her body rapidly expanded into something hideous, something monstrous, something otherwordly and more than twice the size of the pony in front of her. Her eyes turned into glowing pits of blue light, new teeth pushing eagerly into too large jaws and giving her an uneven, vicious grin of fangs as her hooves split apart into claws on the ends of limbs that were covered in gangly muscle, some of this bulging through torn hide as Twilight Shadow hissed: "This is real power."

"No... that's giving in." Twilight whispered in reply, shaking her head weakly as she studied the hideous, corrupt undead thing in front of her, and then she gritted her teeth and set herself, shouting: "If your power rules you, then you have no power at all!"

"Power is power! Might is right!" Twilight Shadow roared back, and then the monster leapt forwards and seized Twilight Sparkle by the shoulders, slamming her cruelly down onto her back before she leaned down and began to inhale loudly, and the Lich cried out in horror and agony as she felt her spiritual energy starting to drain from her body and up into this hungry, terrible wraith.

Then Pinkamena's axe slammed into the frenzied beast's head, and the undead behemoth yanked itself back as the demon snarled: "Looks like you've forgotten some of the basics, loser."

Twilight Shadow's eyes glowed, then she snapped her horn forwards, shooting a black fireball at the demon. Pinkamena cursed and used the wide blade of her axe like a shield, however, the blast knocking her skidding but doing little harm to her before she jumped out of the way when the monster leapt forwards and tried to stomp a claw into her.

The demon was blasted backwards by a telekinetic surge before she could counterattack, but Shadow was prevented from any followup magic by a blue fireball that smashed into her shoulder and knocked her staggering, although it didn't seem to hurt her otherwise. The undead behemoth roared again as she leapt into the air, spreading massive, now-leathery wings to begin to carry herself skywards as her horn started to glow with warning black light, and Pinkamena snorted in disgust before leaping upwards and bursting apart, axe and all, into black smoke.

The demon shot upwards and swirled around the undead creature, but Shadow arched her back and unleashed a pulse of telekinetic wrath from its body: the demon was smashed back into physical reality by it with a curse, flailing wildly in the air before one of the monster's claws smashed into her and knocked her towards the ground, and Twilight Shadow grinned as she started to lower her black horn, the air around her thick with malice and hate and wrath...

And too late, she saw Twilight Sparkle shoot up past her before the violet mare swung her own horn fiercely down into Twilight Shadow's even as she covered her face with her forelegs... and there was a monumental bang as a massive blast of black flames went, knocking Twilight Shadow backwards through the air and sending the Looking Glass World Lich rocketing out of the sky to crash and bounce bonelessly across the ground.

Twilight Shadow, meanwhile, was covered in black flames from her prematurely-activated spell, screaming and flailing helplessly, much of her skull caved in and her precious horn lost. She clawed wildly at the sky as her wings flapped hard, as if trying to carry her away... but then Pinkamena's axe whirled violently up through the air and chopped neatly through the base of one wing, sending the behemoth crashing out of the sky in a hail of blood and ashes.

Twilight Shadow began to get up, burning, gargling, large pieces of her body drained of energy and burnt into twisted ruin... and then she screamed when one of Pinkamena's hooves smashed through a rotten bicep, knocking her upper limb free from her body. She began to turn, and Pinkamena tackled the behemoth backwards, snarling: "Not so tough now, are you?"

The monster howled as a hoof smashed down into her face, and then she suddenly rolled, at the same time shoving her remaining upper limb out and pinning the demon to the ground beneath her by the throat. Twilight Shadow grinned widely, her eyes glowing as she leaned down and began to inhale, and Pinkamena rasped as her eyes widened, shoving uselessly at the leg restraining her as she felt her soul beginning to leak up out of her body...

Twilight Sparkle picked herself up as she gritted her teeth, her eyes locked on the sight of the monster, knowing she only had a few precious seconds to figure out a way to knock the beast off Pinkamena... but no spells she could cast quickly would do enough damage to stun the creature or knock it away. And the demon wouldn't last very long before all the energy was drained out of her body and she was left nothing but a lifeless husk by a soul-reaping-

That gave her a stupid, insane idea, and Twilight Sparkle's horn glowed brightly as she ran forwards: above her, summoned, she felt, more by her desperate call than her magic, the massive onyx bell appeared, ringing out once... and then the Lich simply leapt forwards and snapped her horn down as hard as she could, swing the enormous instrument like an oversized metal mallet.

It crushed Twilight Shadow's lower body like an egg, the undead behemoth arching her back with a cry of shock... and true agony, as the bell rang out and channeled its vibrations through her very spirit. Pinkamena gasped as she felt the forced link between herself and the undead monster snap, and she flung herself out of the way as Twilight Sparkle rose the bell, then slammed it down again, a sudden rage almost blinding her, a sudden hatred making the darkness inside her roar as she shouted: "You want power? Here's your power!"

The massive bell rose and fell, slamming down into Twilight Shadow again and again and again, pealing and clanging as the monster was reduced to little more than a thick, bloody paste and a few broken pieces of pony. The creature's spirit was rudely ejected from these remains, the Pale of Twilight Shadow screaming silently and covering her ears as she flickered with static, then simply vanished from sight.

Dusk roared with wounded fury at the death of Twilight Shadow, then leaned forwards, trying to pin Sleipnir and Celestia beneath a blast of sound and golden flame... but Sleipnir only grinned from behind his crossed forelegs as he rebuffed the worst of the raw force, and Celestia diverted the flames into the ground, turning the mire-like bog into ashes and dust.

Myre, on the other hoof, didn't even seem to notice that Twilight Shadow had been destroyed... but perhaps there was simply no more room for fury as she and Scrivener smashed into each other again and again, all-but-foaming at the jaws as her mane burned with black flames, transforming so rapidly between shapes that it seemed like she was just an ever-changing mass of black mire. She laughed as she swung a foreleg forwards as it became a massive blade, tearing through Scrivener's chest and out his back... but the stallion's eyes only glowed as he seized her shoulders with his Talons and held her in place as his body absorbed most of the mire weapon.

Then Luna's spear stabbed viciously into Myre's side, blowing most of her body away... but again, as happened every time, the black goo only surged down into the ground, then exploded upwards into a newly-formed, fully-healed Myre that threw herself rabidly back into the fight. She had lost almost all cohesion and all sanity, and Scrivener Blooms could rip her apart, blow her up, even pull off pieces of her and absorb her into his own body... but she just kept coming back. And while there was no fear of death... he and Luna were getting closer and closer to a brink of a madness they knew must have affected Twilight Sparkle as well. They wouldn't die fighting Myre: they would go insane. And already, some part of Scrivener Blooms had become so excited and eager and pleased that he never, ever wanted this war to end.

They couldn't kill her, and they didn't have the power to neutralize her, and Scrivener snarled as Myre leapt on top of him and tackled him backwards before she started to slam punch after punch down into his face. But even those blows didn't hurt, even those strikes transferred enough corruption into his system to even out the damage... no, I think... I think she wants to corrupt us, not hurt us...

Scrivener caught her hooves in both his Talons, and Myre laughed even as Luna tore Prúðbikkja through the corrupt Fate's lower body, shouting: "We are not going to become weak and pathetic like thou art!"

"You have no choice." Myre grinned, twisting her head towards Luna, eyes blazing with fury. "It's better than what Dusk is going to do to your siblings, isn't it? She's going to burn them to death with her purification. I want to save you two with my corruption."

Luna snarled furiously... and then her eyes widened before she yanked her spear back as a wild, desperate idea came to mind. "Scrivy!"

The stallion thought it was insane... but with a snarl, he leapt up, slashing a claw through Myre, and the Fate was knocked off him even as she laughed, her body losing some of its solidity from the damage before Scrivener lunged forwards and seized into her with both Talons. He concentrated all the power he could into her, and Myre's laughter was choked off with a gargle as the stallion's claws crushed into her and twisted... and in a splatter of black ooze, Myre herself was transformed into an enormous black spear.

Scrivener spun around, and he roared as he flung Myre as hard as he could straight at Dusk, who was simply incinerating the land around her, breathing golden flames in every direction. And Luna snapped her horn hard as she focused on Myre, forcing the spear of corruption to twist unnaturally through the air as Dusk strafed her flames outwards... and the spear passed right through this, turning to solid stone before it hammered into Dusk's breast.

The Tyrant Wyrm gargled, stumbling backwards as her flames choked off, and she looked weakly down at the spear embedded partway into her body... before Sleipnir sprung forwards, and Celestia snapped her horn towards her brother, his hoof bursting into golden flames before he slammed a punch directly home into the base of the spear, sending it rocketing through Dusk's breast with such violence that much of her chest was simply crushed in.

She gurgled, stumbling backwards, a terrible golden light shining out of the cracks in her crumpled front... and then the Tyrant Wyrm threw her head back and howled mournfully as her body burst into golden flames and rapidly started to dissolve into ashes and motes of light. And from these ashes rose two distinct spirits, Myre and Dusk staring at each other before they both snarled down at the gathered ponies, who all looked fearlessly back up at the Fates they had overcome.

"Aye. And not the first Fates we have overthrown, either." Luna said quietly, before she gave a small smile to Sleipnir, Celestia, Pinkamena... and most of all, Twilight Sparkle, as the Fates above faded out of sight. "But it was much easier with thy aid, my family."

"Yeah, cut the crap. Let's get moving, because we're not nearly out of the woods yet." Pinkamena said coldly, gesturing across the burned, half-collapsed forest, and Luna nodded firmly: the demon was right. All they had done was get rid of three obstacles in their way: the true challenge was still waiting for them up ahead in his stolen throne, struggling to keep control of the Heaven that he had already damned. But even if they couldn't save Paradise... they could still stop Gymbr from ever infecting another world with his idea of salvation ever again.

Chapter Thirty Four: Righting Wrongs

~BlackRoseRaven

Antares Mīrus led his team quickly through the Halls of Valhalla, doing his best to avoid getting drawn into any skirmishes and making their way towards the center of the corrupted, destroyed castle. But it was harder going than he'd thought it would be: not only did he have to constantly fight the urge to charge brazenly into battle with every puppet, Clockwork monster, and other enemy soldier they saw, the entire layout of Valhalla had been changed by Gymbr.

"Horses of Heaven, to transform a bajillion year old structure like a frigging... one-floor house remodel..." Antares grumbled as they turned down another side hall, the stallion's sense of direction telling him they were probably still heading towards the castle core... assuming Gymbr didn't just go 'hey let's turn the laws of time and space upside down too!' "I... crap, ahead!"

"Got it!" Prestige said sharply, her horn glowing brightly before she snapped it out, sending a fireball rocketing into the mass of puppets that had just marched out from around a corner. It struck and exploded in a blast of not just flame, but a tremendous rush of hot air that flung the puppets into the walls and ceiling, smashing many of them apart on impact... but more importantly, getting them out of their way.

The group ran through the broken line of enemies, and Scarlet Sage grimaced, muttering: "I feel so out of shape... I'm having trouble just keeping up to you guys..."

"That's 'cause you're old, Scar. Old and motherly and stuff." Antares replied without looking up, sprinting forwards down the twisted, transformed hallway and grimacing as he easily leapt over a collapsed statue. "This place is a nightmare. Look at all the damage that's been done... and I'll bet you anything that when Gymbr goes down, half the glue holding this place together with however he's altered reality is going to just... dry up and die..."

"Mommy says glue's made out of ponies. I'm sure there's lots of ponies around here we can kill and mash up and stick Valhalla back together with." Aphrodisia said positively, and Antares gave her a flat look as Prestige grimaced a bit, apparently not finding this thought all that amusing.

"These are brainwashed ponies. Ponies I was supposed to protect, mixed in with all the puppets and..." She shook her head and cursed under her breath, and Antares softened as Aphrodisia gave an awkward smile, a faint blush rising through her cheeks. But after a moment, Prestige forced herself to look ahead, muttering: "No. It's okay. I just.. I need to focus on the objective right now."

The others nodded, and then Antares made a face as they turned a corner and came face-to-face with another group of enemies. This one wasn't just composed of puppets, however: there were hissing, half-pony, half-insect monsters among the group, with chitinous black bodies and glowing green eyes, large, mantis-like blades in the place of forelegs and enormous wasp abdomens instead of tails. Their bug-like wings buzzed as their lower jaws splitting apart into grasping mandibles, raising themselves up eagerly to attack their prey.

But without slowing, Prestige snapped her horn out, a burning ember of dark flames shooting in a high arc towards the crowd before it detonated in a blast of not flame or force, but foul-smelling smoke that flooded the area and sent the bug-like creatures into a confused frenzy. Antares grinned widely as he snapped his own horn forwards, a blast of purification cutting a tunnel through the dark fog and blowing apart a bug unlucky enough to be in the way.

Antares shot through the tunnel in the clinging smog, followed by the three mares before Scarlet Sage grimaced as one of the insect-things leapt out of the cloud and shot after them, screaming a challenge at the ponies. It shot towards them, but without slowing, Scarlet Sage spun onto her back and slammed both rear hooves into its face, knocking it flying backwards with a squeal to bounce down the hallway on its back.

Then she rolled back forwards, and Antares gave her an entertained look over his shoulder despite himself, saying wryly: "I gotta say, Scar, it looks like you're not that rusty after all."

"Yeah, well, Apple Bloom likes to wrestle. Fighting I'm fine with. It's all this running and flying that's killing me." Scarlet Sage muttered, and then she dropped to the ground, letting herself trail a little behind the others as they rounded another bend and Antares' eyes finally locked on an open set of doors ahead, guarded by a pair of crumbling statues. The stallion's sharp gaze noted the arch detail, the heaviness of the wood, and how it was the first real doorway en route through the corridor, and he gave a brief grimace, raising his head slightly and making a gesture that these three mares who knew him so well were able to clearly read as 'stay on guard.'

They entered some kind of massive ballroom... and Antares skidded to a halt as he heard a crash behind him, the stallion not needing to look back to know they had just been sealed inside. Scarlet Sage was the only pony to wince over her shoulder, staring at the wall of black crystal that had sprung up out of the earth: the attention of the other three ponies, meanwhile, had all automatically been drawn to the beautiful black mare slowly striding towards them, smiling as she shook her head slowly, gorgeous mane swaying around her features and zigzagging horn thrumming with ill light.

"Hello, children. I am Imago." she said almost tenderly, and then her eyes glowed as she leaned forwards, a poisonous but alluring feeling washing over the four ponies as she ordered gently: "Come and bow down before your new mistress, and then we'll go and protect Lord Gymbr together."

Scarlet Sage shivered, then closed her eyes and shook her head briskly as her blood boiled in her veins, adrenaline surging through her and fighting off both the lethargy and the seduction of the creature. Prestige, meanwhile, only glared coldly as Aphrodisia gave a very large, very visible yawn, and Antares remarked in a cheerful voice: "Wow, you kind of suck. Not even one out of four. Well, I'll give you half a point for Scarlet, but she's kind of a wimp."

"Oh shut up, Mir." Scarlet said flatly before she could stop herself, but even as he winked over his shoulder at her playfully, she saw the seriousness in his eyes, that this foolishness served more of a purpose than it might seem at first. Although she had no doubt that Antares was certainly taking a mischievous little pleasure in things, too.

Imago stared at them blankly for a moment, her mouth working slowly as the glow faded from around her horn... but then she gave an icy, calm smile and closed her eyes for a moment, nodding briefly. Antares turned his casual grin on her, but his eyes flicked over her body, picking up every twitch, every tic: the way she pawed a hoof at the floor, how her weight was shifted all to one side, the slight tilt of her head and the way the flesh of her neck pulsed.

She smiled, and he had to give her a little credit: she was pretty good at putting up a facade, staying in control. So Antares turned up the pressure a bit, purposefully waiting for her to open her mouth before he asked as loudly and cluelessly as possible: "So this is like... this is like a dancey-room, right? Like for dancing? Dancing, right?"

Imago stared for a few moments at the stallion, and then she narrowed her eyes slightly and shook her head slowly, saying softly: "You can try to be cute all you want, little colt, but it's not going to do you any good. I'm not going to take pity on you or let you distract me. So why don't we try this again? I'll call. You come. And then we'll go see Gymbr and your precious sister."

"I'm going to go see my precious sister myself, thanks." Antares replied mildly, and then he glanced over his shoulder at Scarlet Sage, adding: "I don't mean you, by the way, I mean Sin."

"I figured." Scarlet Sage said dryly, and Antares nodded helpfully a few times before he looked back towards Imago, who was studying them intently. He could almost feel the strange, gorgeous pony swallowing her emotions down and steadying herself, and the stallion sized her quickly up before he suddenly straightened and set himself.

His eyes flicked back and forth as his instincts whispered a warning to him: this massive ballroom looked empty, sure, but there was more here than cracked walls and floors, and the pony waiting across from them. There was something crawling and twisting beneath the tiled surfaces, something that was stupid and slothy but obeyed Imago...

"Apps, keep her off balance. Prestige, do me a favor and take care of any problems that... crop up." Antares said calmly, his eyes flicking towards the new Valkyrie, and she nodded briefly to him to show she understood. "Scarlet, well... I guess you can punch her. You're good at that, right? Punching ponies? I mean, you got that from Móðer, right?"

Imago was starting to look frustrated again: less at Antares' words, more the way he was treating this so casually, looking as if he was refusing to take any of this seriously. But she smiled icily all the same as she leaned forwards, warning them coldly: "I don't have to keep you alive. Lord Gymbr is more interested in ensuring that the universe is saved by his glory than in keeping a few ungrateful little children around."

"Yeah. That's not the creepiest thing I've ever heard at all or anything." Antares said pointedly, and then he leaned over and nudged Aphrodisia a few times. "So what do you think? Would you trust us little children or Gymbr more to save the so-called universe? I mean, we're not exactly glorious or anything, but apart from eating paste and drawing all over everything with hoofpaint we're pretty cool, right? I mean, right?"

"Wouldn't that be cannibalism if it's really made from ponies?" asked Aphrodisia curiously, turning her eyes towards the stallion and cocking her head as she seemed to relax completely, and Imago's eye flashed before the beautiful but buglike mare stomped a hoof savagely against the ground, and the floor beneath Aphrodisia erupted as thick vines lashed cruelly upwards, snapping viciously back and forth through the air.

Antares leapt backwards, gritting his teeth at the sight of this strange, mindless organic as Aphrodisia flew limply upwards... then suddenly vanished in a puff of black smoke, Imago looking surprised before the demon appeared in another burst of demonic smog behind the mare in mid-lunge, her scythe already cocked back.

She slashed viciously down, and the blade tore across Imago and sent the insect-like creature headlong into the ground with a scream of pain before the demon lunged forwards and shoved the upper edge of the curved blade down against Imago's neck, pinning her by the throat as she said kindly: "If you even think about trying something silly like that again, I'll aim for a limb next time."

Imago gritted her teeth, looking furiously up at Aphrodisia before her horn glowed brightly, and the demon 's eyes widened before Imago blasted her with a ray of green energy. Aphrodisia was knocked flying through the air, scythe spinning out of her grip... but she was only defenseless for a moment before she flipped herself smoothly and landed on all four hooves, skidding to a halt as her scythe embedded itself in the ground beside her.

"Keep your toys to yourself, stupid little girl!" Imago hissed, and then she snarled as she looked at her side: there was a thin, pale wound there, dripping green, toxic-looking blood. "I will not stand for this... I will not be made a fool of, touched by you... you worthless little foals! My body is for Lord Gymbr's pleasures alone!"

"Wow, that's pretty gross." Antares remarked almost cheerfully, and Imago snarled at him as the vines that had torn out of the floor trembled with similar rage, crawling and twisting themselves towards the stallion, but he simply stepped pointedly away from them. "I have to wonder, though... are you like, brainwashed? Does Gymbr, I dunno, pay you, or-"

Imago threw her head back and roared, and Scarlet Sage cursed and leapt to the air as the room vibrated violently around them before cracks ripped through the floor, the walls, even the ceiling. Chunks of plaster hailed down, and tiled floor exploded upwards as vines ripped out in all directions, snapping back and forth wildly as they tried to grasp and smash anything in range.

Antares only stood calmly even as the other ponies scattered, the stallion watching as an enormous, dark-green skinned plant tore out of the ground in front of him before it slapped down. But he didn't so much as twitch, even as the end of the vine passed within an inch of his face before it struck the ground.

Imago was glaring at him balefully, her eyes and horn both glowing as she hissed: "You have no idea the kind of power Lord Gymbr has given us. I am immortal, invulnerable, beautiful! I have an army at my beck and call, I can consume all in my path, I-"

"But you shouldn't." Antares interrupted seriously, nodding a few times. "You shouldn't consume everything in your path. Because that's bad for you and, you know, you're already kind of fat and everything."

Imago stared at him, and Antares gave the biggest, brightest grin he could summon up as he said positively: "But hey, some guys are into that, and if Gymbr likes you that way, that's cool. More cushion for the pushin'. More flank to spank. More-"

Imago flung herself into a berserk charge at the stallion, her eyes and horn blazing, unleashing blast after blast of green flames at the glossy-black unicorn as she shouted furiously: "I'm going to cut out that ever-flapping tongue of yours and make you swallow it, boy!"

Antares backpedaled, knocking away an emerald fireball with his horn before he ducked under the next, then flung himself out of the way of the third streak of magic while narrowly avoiding one of the whipping vines that had torn up through the floor. Imago cursed as she chased after him, then twitched and hissed, skidding to a halt as Aphrodisia slashed apart a cluster of organic stalks. "I said keep your toys to yourself!"

A terrible, poisonous radiance built around the mare's horn before she lashed it forwards and unleashed an arrow of green light... but Prestige skidded in front of Aphrodisia and created a barrier of magic, wincing as the arrow struck with enough force to crack it but was deflected.

The insectile mare cursed, then began to prepare another spell... but then something seized into her tail and yanked her backwards before Antares' hooves slammed down into her lower back, making her screech in pain and automatically arch as she tried to pull away. And the moment she reared, Antares seized her by the shoulders and yanked her with him as he dropped onto his back, then kicked both rear legs savagely into her spine to launch her through the air, body flipping violently out of control.

She crashed down to the ground with a gargle, and Antares grinned, horn glowing white as he stomped both hooves savagely downwards, and a wave of purification rushed through the floor and erupted beneath Imago in a pillar of light, sending the stunned mare rolling backwards with another howl of misery before she was barely able to skid around to her hooves, snarling and looking up furiously. Antares continued to grin, even though part of him was admittedly surprised: he had hammered her with quite a bit of force and she only looked a little bruised, and a lot more pissed off.

She picked herself slowly up, snarling furiously before she rose her head and roared: "Come and get dinner, babies!"

Rumbling filled the air, cracks ripping through the ceiling above before clusters of new vines tore through, ripping new holes before they spread almost like blossoming flowers, letting hissing, bug-like insects swarm their way inside. Antares looked up with a curse before Imago tried to pounce on him, but the stallion only leapt up and smashed his head into her own, knocking her backwards with a squeal of pain.

The Queen's cry attracted the attention of her horde, however, and the monsters immediately converged on Antares, buzzing down in a frenzy and slashing, grabbing, biting at him as he leapt away with a curse. One large mantis claw managed to tear across his shoulder, almost ripping the pauldron off and digging into bone as he cursed in pain, then snapped his horn out to unleash a shockwave of white energy, driving the cluster of bug-creatures back for a moment.

Aphrodisia slashed through another cluster of vines before she looked sharply towards Antares and leapt into the air. She left a puff of black smoke as she became ethereal and invisible, her weightless body shooting through the air with ease and a speed no physical pony could match before she slashed her scythe out as she became visible and real again, polearm cutting one of the bug creatures in half at the waist before she lashed the weapon upwards and sliced through another.

Scarlet Sage shot in from the other side of the group, her crosshatch blades lashing back and forth to drive the monsters out of the air, blood splattering up over her body, tasting it on her lips as she aimed for veins and arteries and anything that would bleed. Her red eyes were beginning to glow as two of the creatures veered up to attack her, but she met their mantis claws with her own harder, sharper metal blades, deflecting several slashes before she sundered a forelimb completely near the shoulder, the bug creature striking out at her with the other claw wildly as it shrieked and hurriedly retreated for one of the holes in the roof.

But more of these bug-creatures were coming in from above: they were trickling out alone and in pairs every few seconds from the holes throughout the roof, and starting to swarm not just Antares, but the other ponies as well. Imago was using the distraction her so-called children were making to withdraw from the fight, slinking slowly backwards as her horn glowed and she summoned up more of the strange, thick vines from the floor and out of the walls, making it harder for the ponies to move and fight as she grinned and licked her lips eagerly.

Prestige winced, letting one of the bug creatures drive her backwards before the new Valkyrie snapped her horn out and blasted the bug into a group of monsters rushing greedily for Antares, knocking them all over like dominoes. Then the unicorn's eye flicked upwards before she nodded sharply and snapped her horn towards the nearest hole in the ceiling, and a bug just passing through squealed as both it and the entrance were sealed in thick, gleaming ice, the vines around the edges of the hole twisting and writhing wildly before they rapidly wilted and fell apart.

The new Valkyrie had enough time to seal a second hole closed before one of the bug creatures pounced on her from the side, tackling her to the ground and pinning her as it hacked wildly at her armor and attempted to yank itself into a position where it could bite at her throat. Others, seeing her vulnerable, swarmed in as well, not caring as they scrambled over each other, not even seeming to notice even when their claws scratched and tore at each other's chitinous hide.

Prestige cursed, then snapped her horn upwards and unleashed a blast of both force and thunderous electricity in all directions, and the monsters were blown away from her as Prestige leapt to her hooves before she slung her horn down and smashed the nearest monster away with a psychokinetic hammer, either killing it or knocking all the sense out of the creature as it was flung away to land in a boneless, broken heap.

Imago crept slowly around a cluster of vines as her horn glowed, watching as the unicorn mare blasted another creature away. She was powerful, emanating intense magic and fierce emotions, and the insectile pony licked her lips slowly as she slipped sinuously towards the new Valkyrie, opening her mouth as long fangs slid slowly into place in her jaws, ready to pierce the pony's flesh, drink down her emotions, add her strength to her own...

The Queen readied herself to pounce... then gave a cry of frustration when several of her own brood crashed into her like cannonballs, knocked on her side and clawing at them in confusion before a white fireball smashed into the group of stunned and half-dead bug-monsters, exploding with enough force to send them hurtling in all directions with screams of pain as the purification spread greedily over their bodies.

Imago shrieked and staggered back and forth, shaking her burning mane violently, and Antares turned his eyes to Prestige; the unicorn mare was already on her hooves, however, and most of the insectile creatures had turned their attention to Antares, rushing and buzzing towards the stallion as he looked back and forth before trusting in his instincts and springing straight up into the air. He kicked viciously off a monster before it could claw him, launching himself safely away before he spun around and leapfrogged off another bug in midair, then rammed headlong into a third and slashed his horn down with a blast of force, launching it hurtling backwards into Scarlet Sage.

The Pegasus caught the bleeding, broken body of the beast against herself, then she gritted her teeth in disgust before leaning down and licking up the dying beast's neck, swallowing back its bitter blood before her eyes flashed bright red as a buzzing filled her mind.

She dropped the bug's corpse and kicked it hard in the back with both hooves, launching it into the swarming insects before she shoved a hoof out as she gritted her teeth and focused her powers, making the blood in the dead body boil, superheating the corpse as blood became poisonous fuel-

The beast's body exploded, chunks of burning bug-creature flying in all directions and pelting both monsters and flailing vines and setting whatever they touched aflame. The beasts went into a panic, scattering in all directions as the vines lashed back and forth in frenzy, and Imago staggered backwards as she howled in denial: "No! My babies! My home!"

She snarled in fury and lashed her horn out at Scarlet Sage, and the Pegasus cried out as a blast of emerald flames hammered into her and knocked her out of the air to crash to the ground in a smoking heap. Antares gritted his teeth at this, then he lunged forwards, his own horn glowing as he charged straight at Imago, but the creature turned to face him with a furious snarl as she stomped her hooves down, massive vines ripping out of the ground all around the glossy-black unicorn.

He dodged back and forth, gritting his teeth and trying to muscle his way forwards even as the plants lashed at him and struck him like clubs, before one of the vines managed to seize around his throat and the others snagged his limbs. They started to yank in all directions, but in only a moment, Prestige was at the stallion's side, snapping her horn out to set the organic aflame and allow Antares to rip himself free.

Imago snarled as Prestige and Antares both set themselves side-by-side, glaring at her through the spreading flames as the fire greedily consumed the vines and spilled over the floor, but left a neat circle of open space around the two ponies. For a few moments, there was little sound apart from the crackling flames and the hissing breaths of the bug creatures as they assembled themselves around the ponies protected by the wall of flame, and then Imago snarled, eyes blazing: "Kill them!"

She snapped her horn forwards, sending a blaze of emerald light at them as her howling children leapt in from all sides, and time seemed to slow for Antares as a grin crested his features, unafraid, proud, and beside Prestige... invincible. And without hesitation, he simply slapped the blast of green flames aside, sending it rocketing into one of the insect monsters as he used his momentum to half-turn and slam another blow into the face of another bug, knocking it back into the wall of flames it had just torn through.

Prestige snapped her own horn upwards, living tendrils of flame snapping upwards beside her to seize the monstrous bugs and yank them down into the inferno, bugs howling in misery before the new Valkyrie lashed her horn outwards. A great arc of flame shot from the firewall, hammering into Imago and driving her back before the twist of flame became a living serpent of lightning that blasted itself down into the creature, knocking her flat with a shriek; and again, the living energy transformed even as it spread out over her body, turning to ice that cemented the mare against the floor.

Antares kicked both rear hooves backwards into the face of another half-mantis creature, then snapped his horn forwards as Imago ripped herself free from the ice... only to be hammered by the blade of white flame flung at her from Antares, the mare knocked crashing backwards with a howl of torment and misery.

She crashed and rolled several times, then scrabbled to her hooves, snarling through features that had been skinned by Antares' purification. Her horn glowed a sickening green as she snapped her head forwards, and Antares and Prestige both winced as four bright green fireballs arched out of her horn, zigzagging wildly back and forth before they homed violently in on the two ponies.

Prestige managed to snap her horn out and deflect the two heading for her, but the explosion was enough to drive her backwards and consume the protective barrier of flames around them, while Antares only dodged one of the fireballs: the other curved suddenly upwards of its own accord, hammering into his chest in a massive flare of emerald flames and knocking him limply skyward.

Imago grinned viciously, then she reared back, her horn glowing as Prestige cursed and set herself... then stared in horror as the horns of the bug creatures around her lit up brightly before they simply crumpled lifelessly to the ground, bodies turning pale as they died... as they sacrificed all their life force willingly to their Queen. Emerald veins of energy pulsed through Imago's body as she laughed loudly, a massive fireball glowing brighter and brighter around her horn. "Die, colt!"

She lashed her horn down, firing an emerald meteor at Antares as he fell helplessly into the path of the attack. He didn't even have time to blink before it struck... or rather, before something struck into it, the blade of Aphrodisia's scythe piercing deep into the emerald boulder as the demon herself appeared behind the weapon a moment later, snarling furiously as her body rippled and her features went from beautiful to emaciated and skull like, roaring: "Leave him alone!"

The demon lunged forwards, slashing out with all the supernatural power in her body as the scythe unleashed a blast of energy that repelled the powerful magic, and Imago's eyes widened before the meteor smashed into her and exploded. The force of the blast was immense, shaking the castle around them, causing chunks of ceiling to collapse and knocking the three ponies flying away to crash to the ground in stunned, stupefied heaps.

Antares slowly rose his head... and stared at the sight of Imago, bleeding and gurgling, her hide blackened and burnt, her limbs nothing but gnarled sticks, her mane and tail completely burned away. She dragged herself weakly forwards, then bared her fangs as she rose her head, horn starting to glow as she whispered: "I'm going to drain the life out of you... and then Lord Gymbr is going to r-reward me... you just... stay nice and still for me..."

The stallion gritted his teeth, breathing hard before he and Prestige both slowly climbed to their hooves, and Imago snarled at them as she began to lean forwards... then gasped in shock as a crosshatch blade buried into the back of her neck before it yanked viciously free. Imago stumbled around in a circle, eyes blazing as Scarlet Sage hurriedly leapt away, her red eyes glowing as she licked up the blood from the blade before Imago rasped: "Fine, you can die first, little miss-"

Scarlet Sage thrust a hoof towards the mare and twisted, and Imago vomited blood before her eyes widened in horror, trembling and staring weakly at the ground as the Pegasus said quietly: "Sorry. But I have to stop you now."

Imago began to raise her head even as the aura around her horn stuttered, her mouth opening wide, but Scarlet Sage made a sharp cutting gesture to either side, and the insectile pony simply dropped her head, looking blank for a moment. She frowned a little, tilting her head back and forth as if she had forgotten something, and then her eyes rolled up in her head before she tumbled over with a sickening squelch as Scarlet shivered and half-turned away.

A pool of blood steadily grew around Imago as it leaked out of torn apart veins and arteries, her body twitching weakly before it burst into green flames. Scarlet Sage winced backwards in surprise, then stared as a spirit slowly rose up out of the corpse, the ghost glaring furiously at her before the Pale of Imago flickered and vanished from sight.

Antares only grimaced at this, shaking his head briefly before he looked over at Aphrodisia, but the demon was slowly picking herself up off the ground with a wheeze, her features returning to normal and her body settling. She smiled almost embarrassedly at Antares, but he nodded his gratitude to her before he turned his eyes towards Scarlet, asking finally: "Why didn't you just make her head explode in the first place?"

"Because that's messy, and it's hard to just run in and get someone's blood." Scarlet Sage said moodily, and then she looked uneasily back and forth, but most of the bug creatures were either dead or dying: either sacrificed to their Mistress, or apparently lost and broken without her. "We need to keep going. But how do we..."

"That way." Antares gestured past a few clusters of large vines that were steadily wilting, the stallion grimacing a bit as he pointed at a half-collapsed wall. There was a gaping hole through it that looked like it led into another corridor, one that somehow felt... like it was the right way to go to the stallion. He had no reason to trust that other than his instincts, but as he'd learned... sometimes that was all he really needed.

The three mares nodded to him, brushing themselves off and shaking themselves out as Antares rubbed slowly at his features, trying to get himself back in check. Imago had slowed them down, and he had the feeling that was precisely what she had been meant to do. He also had the feeling that his parents had probably run into something even worse, but then again, all three of them had always been magnets for trouble...

What he had to focus on was finding Sin. And the stallion thought he was catching hints of her here and there, like he could sense her... but she was trying her hardest not to be found, not to be noticed, to stay away from him and from her family and maybe... from Gymbr. And for some reason, that made him more nervous than he wanted to admit.

He shook himself out with a grunt, then quickly headed for the hole in the wall, breathing slowly. In spite of how corrupt the air felt, he still felt like some part of Valhalla was trying to feed him strength: like Heaven itself was struggling to throw off Gymbr's rule and return to its good and rightful order. And he really hoped that wasn't just his optimism playing tricks on him, as he studied the hole for a moment before smiling slightly and glancing over his shoulder. "Apps smash?"

"Apps smash." Aphrodisia brightened at this, then she shook herself firmly several times before leaping forwards, drawing a foreleg back before her eyes glowed as demonic energy surged over her body, her limb transforming into a disproportionate, massive claw before she simply punched the cracked wall below the hole and reduced it to crumbled rubble.

She drew her arm back as it flexed and returned to normal, breathing slowly as she lowered her head for a moment to get the Wrath side of her demonic heritage under control. Antares reached up and squeezed his cousin's shoulder firmly, smiling to her supportively before he stepped past and through the archway into the corridor beyond that had been formed.

His eyes flicked back and forth, and then he nodded, saying quickly over his shoulder: "Stay on guard, but it looks like this area is mostly clear. Most of the soldiers must have been drawn out."

The others nodded, and then fell into position behind Antares as he led them quickly down the hall in single file, his eyes flicking back and forth as he grimaced in disgust at how distorted and cracked these halls seemed to be. He felt sparks of static run down his spine as they made their way forwards, saying with disgust: "Horses of Heaven, it feels like Gymbr must have tried to turn reality completely upside down here... everything's just..."

"Twisted. Broken." Prestige muttered in agreement, and there was silence as they ran around a corner and past a large chunk of collapsed ceiling that left only a narrow, thin gap the four slipped hurriedly through. None of them wanted to slow down: not just in case there were still wandering soldiers, but because everything looked and felt like it was about to come down any moment.

Then Antares looked sharply up as he sensed a distinct energy, looking towards a closed door to one side of the hall before he leapt towards it and smashed through. The others were surprised, but scrambled to follow all the same as the stallion took a shortcut across a reading room, tore through a beaded curtain, and then ran down a narrow hall and smashed into a bedroom where a wall had been blown completely out, the stallion using the rubble-covered bed as a step to fling himself through the hole in the wall to land in a narrow corridor beyond and rush past several massive, half-destroyed statues of Tyrant Wyrms and crumbled black crystal towards a golden archway...

And the stallion slowed to a halt as he entered a large, circular room with a bright gold floor, huge pillars half-embedded into the wall holding up the domed ceiling above. A massive chandelier made of black crystal hung from this, huge lanterns burning with golden, holy fire hanging from this by heavy chains and casting light over the area.

Standing in the center of the room, beautiful and arrogant, was Innocence. Her head was raised high, horn gleaming, and she was even taller than Antares now... lithe, gorgeous, strong, her polymorph making her look perfectly like a unicorn. Her eyes glowed with power and she was dressed only in a thick black cloak that swirled slowly around her... but Antares grinned widely as he loitered towards her, saying calmly: "You can try and hide it, Sin... but looks like you got a booboo or two from the time flux, huh?"

"Screw you, Antares." Innocence said coldly, leaning forwards as her eyes blazed with fury. "Do you know what you've done? How much you and our parents have put at risk? Now Gymbr had to seal himself away, to try and heal himself..." She gestured sharply at another archway, leading down another hallway. "Heaven was almost destroyed. Is that funny to you?"

"Yeah, kinda, since. You know, you guys were all like, 'oh, let's put it under new management and kick out the old tenants,' and we were all like 'haha no.'" Antares replied mildly, and Innocence ground her teeth together furiously as the stallion succeeded in getting under her skin. But her polymorph didn't stutter at all, and the glossy-black unicorn said in a softer voice: "Practicing, huh?"

"Yeah. I have been." Innocence set herself calmly, smiling coldly at him. "You're not much, Antares. You're just my brother. My little brother now. I've spent years at Gymbr's side... shared blood, love, life with him... gained power like you couldn't believe, you could never understand. I am a goddess. And he is going to make me his queen and allow me to tie his spirit to his, so we will never be apart, and you and all our family are going to be my wedding present to him, because you just won't understand, you just won't stop."

"No, so you'll be a slave." Antares smiled at her, and Innocence gritted her teeth... but he saw something in her eyes. Some flicker, some fear, some... something. But it was a start, as he continued softly: "But no, that's fine. Because it's not going to happen. I'm here to ensure that doesn't happen... now you can either be a good girl, Sin, or... we can play rough."

He stopped, then held up a hoof when Prestige began to step forwards, saying softly to the mare without taking his eyes off his sibling: "Sorry. But this is a big brother, baby sister kind of thing."

Innocence laughed at this, grinning widely. "I have more power than you ever will, Antares! And I've lived for decades, training beside Gymbr in ways you and Móðer could never believe, would never have let me! And all that forbidden magic Momma always tried to keep from me... it's mine now! Antares, I can bend reality! I am a goddess! I am..."

Innocence's horn and eyes glowed white, and then she roared and arched her back as a cyclone of black energy ripped up through the air around her, rapidly expanding into a terrible cyclone before it left a monstrous Tyrant Wyrm in its wake, with scales of black crystal and eyes that glowed white with raw power through the skull-like features as a set of eight ivory pistons pumped over her back, crescent horn now enormous and burning with black fire as dark smoke rasped out of her jaws. "I am Mistress of Heaven! What were you, but its messenger boy?"

Antares calmly faced the Tyrant Wyrm: she was as big as Scrivener Blooms could become, but there was no fear. This transformation struck him as... synthetic, forced, and for all the power she exuded... he felt a hurt little girl in there, too. And he felt that she was already foolishly straining herself, just to show off. Just to make him scared.

She leaned down and roared furiously at him, then charged... and Antares opened his eyes as his features went cold before he leapt up as his horn glowed white, slamming a hoof directly into the Tyrant Wyrm's face. There was a shockwave of white energy, and Sin's head snapped back as the Tyrant Wyrm's features filled with disbelief.

Then Antares dove forwards and slammed into her breast, viciously hammering a flurry of punches across her crystalline chest, sending up blasts of black smog and shattering crystal like brittle ice before he snapped his horn forwards, white energies blasting over the dark gemstone and making them pulse eerily. He leapt backwards when Sin tried to stomp on him savagely, before she leaned forwards and roared, unleashing a blast of black flames, but the stallion strafed sharply to the side before he snapped his horn upwards, sending a blast of white fire at her.

She grinned, eyes flashing as she glared at the fireball and her own horn pulsed, and the magic was simply dissipated before she arched her back and roared, a terrible obsidian wind ripping past, reeking of ash and death as Antares felt his entire body light up with pain. Then he looked sharply to the side as he saw Prestige hurriedly creating a barrier to protect herself, Apps, and Scarlet, and the stallion shouted angrily: "This is between us, Sin!"

"Oh, that upsets you?" Innocence laughed and stomped a claw in the direction of the three mares, and spikes of black crystal ripped up through the ground around the barrier, making Prestige snarl as she fought to maintain the shield before the Tyrant Wyrm flung herself forwards and slammed her claws down against the forcefield, half-cradling it and half-crushing it as Antares stared with horror at the mare. "Honor is for the weak! Mercy is nothing but idiocy and has no place in the world! Power, power is all that matters, and Gymbr is giving me all that I can handle and more... and if he wants my body, my heart, my soul in return, let him have it as long as I can have more power! I'll give him all of that... and I'll give him you, and our parents, and anyone else as sacrifice for my pleasure, my power!"

Innocence rose a claw to deal a crushing blow to the shield, laughing, grinning... and Antares created a wall of white energy behind himself before he flung himself back into it, using it like a trampoline to launch himself in a streak of white energy towards the mare, a snarl on his face as he shouted furiously: "That's enough!"

He smashed into the Tyrant Wyrm's face, knocking her head to the side and the Tyrant Wyrm stumbling, off balance, before she screamed in agony as Antares struck down again and again into the base of her horn as they glowed with white energy, shattering the crystalline horn before he slammed both front hooves in a savage tomahawk into her cracked skull. Innocence screamed as she flicked her head upwards, launching Antares free, but the stallion flung himself with her, flipping upside down before he created a barrier of white energy above himself, landing upside down against this before he shoved off hard enough to make the air around him ripple.

He crashed through the Tyrant Wyrm's face like a wrecking ball, obliterating its muzzle and the entire front of its features in a hail of onyx gemstone, revealing Sin locked inside the head of the monster like a queen upon her throne. The head snapped back, but Antares had already landed on another angled wall of energy that he had created beneath him, springing himself upwards through the rain of stone and smashing into the mare, driving her back into the skull cavity of the crystalline Wyrm.

All the air was knocked out of Sin's lungs, the mare too shocked to fight back, to do anything but howl in horror as Antares slammed hoof after hoof down into his little sister, the volley of blows hammering her forcefully backwards down the throat of her own creation as his horn glowed brighter and brighter, until he finally snapped it downwards as he swung a blow into her with all the might and fury in his body.

Sin was smashed bonelessly through the back of the Tyrant Wyrm's neck, only to crash down into its spine and rip completely through its crystalline body, the entire behemoth twisting as if in agony before it shattered like glass as the mare tore out its stomach and hit the floor of the arena on her face, bouncing bonelessly backwards several times until she rolled to a halt, gasping weakly for breath. Her polymorph had vanished completely, and her clothing hung loosely around a body that wasn't as lithe as she had made it, that was a little smaller than Antares still, and that was now covered almost head-to-claws in scales as her eyes stared blankly into the distance with disbelief.

She slowly, weakly attempted to pick herself up, coughing and trembling. Her body shook with pain, and her eyes looked weakly, disbelievingly over her shoulder through the hail of black stone and the fading dark mist all throughout the arena, watching as Antares slowly, calmly approached as he shook his head slowly and said quietly: "I don't ever... ever... want to hear you saying things like that again. You have no idea what you're talking about, the trouble you're going to get yourself into... and sure. For you it's been... what, fifty, sixty years? But all of that was lies, accelerated time, energy playing tricks on you. If you're lucky, maybe half that training is going to stay with you. And if you're lucky, you didn't shorten your lifespan by more than a few years. Because even we immortals have a lifespan, Sin... no one escapes their expiration date."

"Antares..." Innocence whispered, clenching her eyes shut and trembling, and the stallion softened as he strode closer to her, reached down and touched her shoulder gently. Innocence closed her eyes, breathing unevenly, close to sobbing...

And then she spun around and snapped her horn out, and the stallion was blasted backwards with a howl of agony in a torrent of black flames before Innocence leapt to her hooves, snarling in fury even as tears fell from her eyes as she shouted: "I'll never bow to you! Never! I won't let you or anyone else be stronger than I am!"

Her head snapped upwards, horn sparking with so much energy that the magical recoil almost drove her to the ground, but a massive blast of black lightning hammered down into Antares' surprised body, enormous, terrible obsidian flames bursting up all around him as he howled in pain and writhed back and forth. And Innocence only laughed, grinning into the conflagration even as lunacy burned in her eyes, stomping her hooves wildly and screaming: "You should have just given up! You should have just given in! You're nothing, nothing, nothing to me!"

The cries of pain faded as Prestige shouted Antares' name and Scarlet Sage stared with horror at what Innocence had become, while the strange, twisted unicorn only grinned into the black inferno, rasping for breath, black blood running from wounds that were already beginning to heal. Soon enough, there was only smoke rising from the floor, and the mare giggled a little to herself, twitching a bit before she began to turn... then froze when there was a groan from beneath the pall of black smog.

The smoke slowly cleared, and as it did, Antares forced himself to sit up, shaking char off his body and reaching up to rub at his burnt mane as raw flesh flexed here and through through his coat... and then he grimaced when several clumps of white hair fell away, muttering: "Great. But is that the best you got, Sin?

Innocence bared her fangs at him with a snarl, staggering into a ready position even as a bolt of disbelief, even fear twisted through her as Antares glared at her with determination, with anger, with... with disappointment that somehow still hurt her worst of all, even with everything she had told herself... but just as both ponies began to lunge, a voice interrupted them, making them both stagger and stare towards the speaker. "What are you doing?"

---

Luna's group hadn't encountered any other enemies after dealing with the Three Fates. They had pushed hard forwards from there, smashing down any locked doors they came across and moving quickly through dilapidated halls, ignoring the few puppets they saw on the way: but these rarely made any aggressive moves towards them. Then again, it wasn't like they stopped to chat, either.

Then they had entered the half-collapsed 'yard' of sorts: it had likely once been beautiful, but the fountain in the center was now nothing more than a broken, twisted wreck of metal that was bleeding black poison over the humped-up earth, and trees had fallen and come uprooted here and there. One had actually fallen on top of a sentry golem and crushed it... but the other three massive, pony-shaped statues came quickly to life once they started to approach the stairs that led up to a door. A door that could only lead to Gymbr, judging by the powerful magic barrier protecting it.

Pinkamena and Sleipnir had leapt into the fray with grins, eager to get the first blows in against Gymbr's personal guards... and now the demon was sitting on top of the ruins of one of the machines, looking disappointed and sulky as she childishly slammed her axe down into its face again and again, sending up rattling clangs. Celestia, meanwhile, was studying the magic barrier as Sleipnir and Luna both pounded on it, trying unsuccessfully to break the glowing shield.

Scrivener Blooms was sitting back and curiously studying one of the broken golems, while Twilight Sparkle was off to the side, gazing at one of the open doorways and frowning a little. She could feel something... some tickle of magic coming from that direction. No, more than that... there was a sense of familiarity, of... Antares and... was that Innocence? Had he found Innocence?

The charcoal stallion looked up in surprise as he caught Twilight's thoughts, and Luna shoved away from the barrier, turning with a frown and a tilt of her head. "Truly? I do not sense it... but... perhaps 'tis because all I can think about is accursed Gymbr at this moment. And my horn... I do not know. It is responding to him, it is... I can feel him..."

Luna shivered, shaking her head briefly as Celestia frowned and Sleipnir halted after another punch, leaning against the solid magic barrier as he turned his own gaze to Twilight Sparkle. And the Lich hesitated, licking her lips... but then smiled faintly when Scrivener said softly: "Go ahead. Go take a look, Twilight... we'll be here. It looks like it's going to take a little bit to get through that barrier, anyway. You might as well find out what's going on."

"Aye, but mark my words, by the time thou returns this barrier will be dust... I only hope thou returns in time to get thine own pummeling in on Gymbr." Luna growled as she turned back towards the golden wall of light, and Sleipnir chuckled before he turned a smile to Twilight Sparkle.

"Fear not, Twilight. My big sister and I shall do well to ensure that little sister here does not go attacking the beast without thee. 'Twill take all of us and more, I fear, to bring this monster to his knees. We will be cautious. And thou well deserves thine own chance at vengeance; something I know Luna understands much better than rational fear." Sleipnir said gently, and Twilight nodded with a small blush as Luna huffed a bit, but nodded grudgingly herself.

Then the Lich turned towards the archway that had drawn her attention, hurrying into it and running down a hall floored with ripped carpeting. It wasn't very long, but the sensations as she moved down the corridor became exponentially stronger, and she felt like she was passing through some kind of muffling curtain and into a completely different, completely hostile environment.

The violet mare frowned as she strode towards the end of the corridor, where another archway opened on some kind of immense, golden room beyond... and then Twilight looked up sharply at the loud, thunderous bang and the distinct pulse of magic she felt.

For a moment, she stood, frozen. The energy felt twisted but familiar... she recognized that magic all too well, but at the same time it was different than anything she'd ever felt, upside-down, like a blackened, cracked mirror-image. The violet mare trembled as something inside her twisted at this thought, before she suddenly threw herself forwards, stumbling into a sprint that carried her down the rest of the hall in seconds.

She staggered out, unnoticed, into an enormous, golden arena... and stared in disbelief at the sight of Innocence trembling and backing away from Antares as he slowly picked himself up from whatever magical attack she had just blasted him with. Twilight could feel the crackle of negative energy in the air, could smell the reek of dark energies as clearly as she did charred flesh as Antares faced Innocence and set himself, and the violet mare trembled before she leapt forwards and asked sharply, just as the two began to throw themselves at each other: "What are you doing?"

Her children stumbled, staring at her with incredulity for a moment before Innocence snarled and snapped her horn fiercely towards Antares, and... it hurt Twilight's heart to see. Not only did she lash out with childish rage and toxic energies, there was no honor, there was no... meaning in what she did. There was just anger and hatred and a desire to hurt Antares... who took the blast of dark energies and skidded backwards with a curse, then looked up with anger and frustration and disappointment in his eyes that told her... this wasn't the first time Innocence had displayed a startling lack of honor.

"Good, Mommy's here. She can watch me rip you apart, Antares. And then I'll take her apart, piece-by-piece, and bind her soul to this world so I can drag her to Gymbr... no, I have a better idea." Innocence glared at her with, with such... such malice. Such hate. Such... irate childishness, that hurt Twilight to the core. "I'll drain your soul myself. You always kept so many secrets from me... you wanted me to be weak! Well, I'm not weak anymore, mother, I'm strong, stronger than all of you put together, and one day I'll be stronger than even Gymbr!"

Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes, lowering her head silently... and Innocence snarled, leaping forwards and slashing her horn out, sending a blast of black flames hammering into Twilight's face as Antares shouted in fury. The flames smashed against Twilight, but she barely felt them even as they seared away part of her features and left bare skull exposed: she only felt hurt, and upset, and so... so goddamn disappointed. In herself, for not being a good enough mother to have prevented this, and in Innocence, for... throwing away everything she'd ever learned.

Antares leapt at Sin, who turned to meet him, and overestimated her own strength and underestimated her brother's skill as she tried to grapple. In a flash, he grabbed her wrist and slammed her face-first into the ground, then pinned her by the horn to the floor, saying coldly: "If you weren't my sister, Sin, I'd-"

"Enough, Antares. Let her up." Twilight Sparkle said quietly, and Antares frowned, looking uncertainly up at his mother as Sin only grinned, like she sensed weakness, like she thought they were making a mistake she could take advantage of. But Twilight's next words caught both her children by surprise, as she said softly: "If you think you're stronger than me, Innocence, this is your chance to prove it. If you think you can kill me, go ahead and try. But I think you've started mixing up strength with savagery. I think you've forgotten that the practice of honor itself makes us-"

Sin lunged up to her feet, yanking herself out from beneath Antares and shoving him away with one claw as she snapped her horn upwards, enormous spikes of crystal ripping from the floor all around Twilight... and not one hit her as the violet mare's own horn gave a brief flash, her own magic twisting the spikes into useless, contorted shapes before they could make contact as she closed her eyes. "I'm so disappointed in you."

Innocence snarled, then stomped childishly as she trembled furiously before screaming: "You did this to me! If you had just... just shared your strength with me, if you had stopped treating me like a stupid little girl... what else was I supposed to do when Gymbr offered me power? Gifts? Everything you failed to give me!"

Antares slowly stepped backwards, keeping contemptible eyes on Innocence as he withdrew and the others stared on, Scarlet Sage trembling as she hugged herself before Innocence suddenly whirled around and hissed: "I'm not like this... stupid, fake big sister of mine, adopted into the family, absolutely worthless because she's too weak to use her own powers! You never even let me train with strong demons, and the dumb barbarian whore of a cousin of mine gets to live in Helheim! And look at Antares and Prestige... pretty little lovebirds, oh so cute, always getting what they want because they're supposed to be good and special; well, I'm special too! I'm better than them! I'm the best, and I wanted you to experience that beside me but oh no, Sin is evil, Gymbr is bad, and we're going to turn on you instead! Call you a monster, throw you out, and I wanted to love you... I would have shared power and pleasure with you and Daddy and Mutt that-"

"I've heard enough, Sin. You're only going in circles now." Twilight Sparkle said quietly but firmly, and Sin looked almost surprised at being cut off, mouthing wordlessly for a moment before the Lich slowly set herself, breathing evenly and knowing that she had to do this. That she had to be the one to do this... that it was the only way to set things right, no matter how much it hurt her to even consider, let alone act on.

Her daughter, the arrogant, twisted creature that had once been her beautiful little girl, stared at her with disbelief... and then a nasty grin spread over her face as she mocked: "Aren't you going to call on Mutt and Daddy? They always had to drag your carcass behind them, didn't they... fitting as that is for you, Mommy."

Twilight Sparkle only gave a brief, sad smile, murmuring quietly: "You're not going to make me angry, Sin. Yes, your words can hurt me, and I'm so disappointed in you, and so upset... but... I'm not angry. Because part of this is my fault... but I'm going to make things right now. As much as I hate to do this, Sin... I'm going to stop you."

Sin smiled coldly at this, then she snapped her horn out, sending a wave of black, crystalline spikes ripping out of the ground, rapidly spreading in the direction of the Lich, but the violet mare only grimaced and leapt quickly aside as Innocence said disgustedly: "I've mastered my mire thaumaturgy, and dozens of so-called 'forbidden' branches of magic! I can steal souls, I can force the dead to do my bidding, I can do anything and everything you can but more, better, faster! I am a goddess, and what are you but the stupid slave who gave birth to someone you could never measure up to, Twilight Sparkle?"

Innocence lashed her horn back and forth, and swords of black energy appeared in the air around Twilight, the Lich feeling tears welling up in her eyes even as her own horn took on the faintest glow as she leapt back and forth. She dodged most of the hail of energy blades, but several still managed to strike into her body all the same, ripping through her armor and leaving hideous wounds in her flesh that reeked of rot and brimstone. But the pain in her spirit barely made her stagger, and the wounds stung less than Sin's cruel words as she continued harshly: "You don't know anything about real darkness, or mastering yourself! You're the plaything of two superior ponies, you take all your strength from them... but after I devour your strength I'll show Luna and Scrivener that their little girl is all grown up better than they could ever be!"

A missile of terrible, malignant energies shot at Twilight, and the Lich rose her foreleg and blocked this with a wince, skidding backwards at the blast of force and dark flames before Innocence laughed loudly as she snapped her horn forwards, a ray of dark energies following this sharply and striking into Twilight's defensively-raised limb, melting through the metal armor and burning slowly through the flesh below. The young mare grinned insanely, her eyes glowing with hate and power and... emotions Twilight was beginning to think might not really be there, might just be a trick of her own desperate hopes, as Sin stomped her claws back and forth against the ground, every heavy clawfall sending a blade of black crystal ripping up from the ground around Twilight.

The violet winged unicorn managed to dodge most of these even as she kept her foreleg raised and the beam of energy blocked, before the Lich's own horn gave a sharp pulse, and Innocence's head snapped back as she gurgled in surprise when recoil blasted across her horn and her laser of energy was cut off. She stumbled stupidly backwards, then shook her head and quickly regained her stance, looking more frustrated than anything else.

She took a sharp breath, then leapt into the air as a dark aura surrounded her body... and Twilight stared in disbelief as Innocence calmly floated into the air, her head raised high, her eyes glowing faintly as she said coldly: "You never helped me fly. But Gymbr has given me the power to overcome everything... to do anything I put my mind to. Power is truth."

"No, Innocence..." Twilight shook her head slowly, smiling faintly. "I would have helped you fly if you'd asked me to. I would have given you my own wings if you would have asked me to..." These spread, the Lich flapping them slowly and lifting silently into the air, under her own strength, under her own natural ability. "But I wanted you to really learn. I didn't just want to give you apples... I wanted to teach you to grow your own orchard. No matter how magnificent you think your powers are, Innocence... without the ability to harness it, to understand it, all the power in the world is worthless."

"All the power in the world is mine!" Innocence shouted, and then she shot forwards, stretching her claws out towards Twilight Sparkle, a terrifying dark comet... that Twilight only smiled faintly at before she calmly slipped just a few feet to the side, and Innocence shot wildly past her before veering awkwardly around in a circle.

Her horn began to glow, but Twilight noted that as her daughter tried to concentrate a spell, her flight path became jagged, the dark energy insulating her body weakened. And when she sent a blast of dark magic at her, it was sloppy, underdeveloped, and the Lich grimaced as she rose her foreleg and blocked the magic blast as her own horn thrummed faintly with power.

Innocence shot in behind the attack, grinning viciously, claws raised and burning with dark energy as she lunged... and Twilight Sparkle simply flicked her horn down, an almost gentle telekinetic slap knocking Innocence's head down and sending her diving past, spiraling wildly out of control to smash face-first into the ground

The corrupted unicorn trembled, then snarled furiously before she flung herself into the air again, shooting up high into the sky before she spun around and slashed her horn out in a wide arc, a massive blade of black electricity surging through the sky. Twilight Sparkle only smiled faintly at this, shaking her head briefly before she covered herself with her forelegs and took the brunt of the blast, knocked backwards and grimacing in pain as dark lightning sizzled violently over her.

Then she simply shrugged the worst of the dark magic off, her eyes calm and steady as Innocence glared at her furiously before she shot suddenly upwards, and Twilight frowned in surprise before her eyes widened as Innocence smashed her way through the chandelier, chunks of black crystal flying in all directions as several lanterns tore free from the ruins of metal and mineral.

Innocence tore out the other side and spun around with a savage grin, and Twilight stared in shock as many of the pieces of dark gemstone were caught in a malicious telekinetic hold, revolving slowly in the air before the corrupted mare snapped her horn forwards. Countless blades and pieces of crystalline shrapnel were launched into a deadly storm, and Twilight's eyes widened before she realized that Innocence wasn't just targeting her: the rain of sharp crystal was going to hit their impromptu audience as well.

Twilight gritted her teeth as her horn glowed brightly, flinging herself backwards as she lashed out with all the strength she dared, and the dark rain was simply... frozen. For a few long, amazed seconds, the deadly, glittering shrapnel floated and trembled, halfway between Innocence and Twilight Sparkle as the corrupted unicorn stared in shock... then howled in frustration and pain as black gemstones exploded like fireworks, dark, dirty powder choking the air.

In frustration, Innocence snapped her horn forwards, and the powder was blasted down in a stinging torrent that nettled Twilight's body and blinded her, making her cry out as she half-turned away. And Innocence's eyes widened before she shot down with a grin, seizing one of the loosely-hanging lanterns from the ravaged chandelier and snapping her horn out to tear it free and send it flying down towards the violet mare.

Twilight looked up too little, too late, before the lantern smashed into her and exploded, crying out as holy fire washed over her body, violently eating its way into her as she flailed back and forth and began to topple... then rose her forelegs just a moment before a meteor of raw energy smashed into her with a tremendous bang, sending her rocketing out of the sky and crashing to the arena below with a sick thud of flesh-on-stone.

Innocence laughed as she slowly lowered from the skies, grinning in victory as Antares snarled, stepping forwards... then cursing as Prestige caught him. He trembled, wanting to help but knowing he couldn't interfere, even as Innocence looked over at the audience and jeered: "Honor. That's just another word for cowardice, right? Hiding under Mommy's skirts, because you know that you're no match for me... but Twilight's always been expendable. Isn't that right, Mommy?"

The corrupt mare strode over to her mother and slammed a hoof into her stomach, then stomped on her, and again, and again, and again. Twilight barely twitched with any of the blows, body smoldering, only the trembles running through her showing she was still with them. Her armor was burnt and blackened in places, chunks of the crystalline undercoating fused into her flesh from the power of Innocence's magic, and she looked beaten and broken... and yet still Innocence hit her, snarling down at her, looking torn between anger and...

Twilight looked up, and Innocence met her eyes for a moment, trembling... then snarled in fury and shouted: "Don't you look at me! Don't you dare look at me! You are not my equal, you're not even my inferior... you're nothing to me!"

Innocence snapped her head down, and Twilight's body burst into black flames... but all the same, the Lich kept her head raised, her eyes locked on Innocence's before the corrupt mare snarled... then staggered backwards, as if afraid, when Twilight began to stand. Sin snapped her horn out, and black swords of energy formed in the air around Twilight Sparkle before shooting forwards, ripping through her body... but all the same, Twilight stood; Twilight ignored them, and the rotting wounds they left, like they were unimportant. Like they wouldn't be enough to kill a lesser pony.

The corrupt unicorn staggered backwards, and Twilight Sparkle shook herself briefly as her horn pulsed, the flames whiffing out around her as the mare said softly: "You were given so many gifts, Innocence. So much power, so much magic... but you don't know the basics. You've forgotten everything that we taught you, replaced it with what Gymbr taught you..."

Sin snarled and lashed her horn out, sending a blast of energy at Twilight, but the mare blocked it with one foreleg, gritting her teeth and twitching backwards as she continued calmly, rationally: "You're sloppy. You're crude, and you've wasted so much energy in this fight alone... you aren't even wearing your armor and you think all these sped-up years have made you into an adult, but really... I can see that if anything, emotionally and mentally you've regressed..."

The corrupt mare snapped her horn back and forth, and Twilight Sparkle blocked every blade of black energy, interrupted every blast of magic, simply canceled out some of the strongest, fastest spells in Innocence's repertoire. And, enraged, humiliated, and terrified out of rational thought, Innocence charged almost clumsily forwards before slashing her horn down... and wincing as Twilight Sparkle caught her against her foreleg, feeling her mother's blood running down her face as her front claws dangled just above the ground, as Twilight Sparkle said quietly: "I'm disappointed in you. And all the same... I'm sorry."

Twilight's horn glowed brightly, and Innocence's eyes bulged as the crystal plates embedded along the violet mare's foreleg lit up with the same aura before the corrupted mare tried to yank herself away... but too little, too late, as the Lich's body and the armor designed to absorb magic all siphoned a massive chunk of unguarded energy straight from Sin's horn.

The young mare's head snapped backwards, drool flying from her muzzle as her mind reeled with confusion and vertigo, and Twilight drew her foreleg back as she grit her teeth, her limb crackling with the energies she had absorbed into it over the course of their fight. Then she stepped forwards into a simple, savage punch backed by a tremendous amount of magical energies.

A massive surge of energy slammed into Innocence, knocking her flying backwards as her eyes bulged, her ribs breaking, her head snapping back, her entire body filling agony... then going completely numb as she bounced bonelessly backwards and landed in a bloody, broken heap, gurgling weakly and shivering brokenly on the ground. And Twilight trembled from where she stood with her hoof still stretched out, smoldering slightly as energy glowed around it, her eyes clenched shut as she whispered: "I'm sorry. I love you."

Innocence rasped weakly for breath, twitching a few times... but her body refused to move, to do more than shiver and grasp loosely at the air with her claws like a baby. And she stared up, with disbelief, with fear, with misery as Twilight Sparkle strode slowly forwards and looked quietly down into her daughter's eyes, saying softly: "Listen to me, Innocence. I'm your mother... and no matter what, I'm going to always love you. I'm going to always be there for you. I'm going to always help you, and support you. And most of all, I'm always going to try and steer you down the right path."

The Lich reached down, silently sliding a foreleg around Sin's neck as the corrupted mare trembled, confused and not understanding anymore what was going on... not understanding why she wasn't dead, or being drained of her power, or even how she had lost... and most of all, why Twilight Sparkle was hugging her and promising to take care of her, even in spite of everything Innocence had said, promised, would have done...

They were weak, weren't they? This was weakness, as Twilight Sparkle laid her gently back down and touched her face, smiling at her... crying for her. Gymbr never would have cried for her. Gymbr would have just reaped the energies he could or brought her back as servant... just like there was a mutual understanding that if the day ever came when Gymbr would die, Innocence wouldn't hesitate to siphon all of his strength that she could and make herself even more powerful. She might kill what killed him, sure, but not for vengeance... only so she could get that power, too.

But that was all pipe dreams now... or were they? She stared up at Twilight Sparkle, at this mare she'd thought was so weak, as the Lich stepped backwards and rubbed at her face before murmuring: "Antares, stay here until Eventide arrives. She and her group must be moving through Valhalla by now, and she'll be able to home in on Innocence like you did. I... I have to go and help stop Gymbr."

Antares nodded and gave a supportive smile to his mother, knowing it was better not to argue as Scarlet Sage strode up beside Innocence, taking one of her claws and squeezing it gently. Innocence only tuned her head away... but she stared silently at Twilight's back as she felt conflicting emotions roil inside her. But one thought did slither its way into her mind that pleased both her hungers and that piece of her from the past she had never completely gotten rid of: if her parents did succeed in destroying Gymbr, then they were truly stronger than him... and Innocence would be glad to abandon Gymbr and return to her parents if it would further her pursuit of power.

Chapter Thirty Five: The Midnight Hour

~BlackRoseRaven

Twilight Sparkle strode quietly back into the courtyard, and she smiled faintly at the sight of Scrivener and Luna both waiting silently for her. They embraced her tightly, and she closed her eyes and dropped her head against them for a moment, taking a long, shuddering breath before she nodded and whispered: "I'm okay. Antares will wait for Eventide and then... I think he'll come and join us."

"Aye. Alright Twilight." Luna gently kissed her temple, and then the sapphire mare sighed a little and sat back, saying quietly: "We are having troubles with this damnable barrier. Perhaps thou can help us figure out a way to break it down."

The Lich smiled faintly as Scrivener reached up and squeezed her shoulder gently. She appreciated their kindness, and she appreciated them letting her handle Innocence. But she appreciated most of all not lingering on the subject, and instead moving forwards with what they had to do: with being reminded that if they really wanted to save Innocence, they had to stop Gymbr.

The three ponies returned to the barrier, which Sleipnir was still childishly pounding on as Pinkamena moodily examined it beside Celestia. The ivory mare nodded slowly to Twilight as she approached, and then explained calmly, returning her eyes to the shield: "It's being generated by something inside. I don't think Gymbr himself, but some kind of machine or construct. Normally we'd be able to simply overload something like that, but in this case..."

"Can't make a goddamn dent in it, can't set it on fire. It's stupid." Pinkamena muttered, slamming her axe home into the shield before she glowered over the golden barrier. "Feels like holy energy, too. Not as pure as purification, but still pretty high up there. Almost Princess Sunshine-worthy. You know, if you can stand that metaphor, Princess Sunshine."

Celestia only frowned at the shield, raising her hoof and muttering: "I thought so myself, but there feels like... there's an undercurrent in the magic as well. Something that's helping the magic to replicate and perpetuate. Not holy power..."

"Oh, you idiots." muttered a voice, and Scrivener looked with surprise at the bag hanging from his side before it rustled loudly, and Hecate said sourly: "Pull me out of here so I can solve all your pathetic little problems for you."

Luna grumbled, then punched the bag firmly before she flicked her horn to open the satchel, digging into it and muttering: "Damned oaf of a head. Thou art... thou art st-"

Then the sapphire mare yelled in horror and yanked her hoof back, and Scrivener and Twilight both reared back and gaped a little at the sight of Hecate clinging to Luna's hoof with her teeth, growling and glaring at the sapphire mare. Luna squawked and flailed her hoof violently up and down, shouting: "Oh ingrate! Oh monster! Oh, damn thou, release me this instant or I swear I will use thee as the flail with which I shall smash down this great golden gate!"

Hecate clung on tenaciously for a few more moments, then finally spat Luna's hoof up when the sapphire mare flailed her leg again, the head launching herself towards Celestia. The ivory winged unicorn's eyes widened as she caught the head in a telekinetic grip, the two looking at each other for a few moments before Hecate said contemptibly: "Since you're too weak to do it yourself and you've never interfaced with technology through magic before, I'm going to use you like a horn and you're going to follow my orders. Do you understand?"

"More flies are caught with honey than vinegar." Celestia replied pointedly, bowing her head forwards, but Hecate only bared her teeth in a grin.

"A dollop of honey will never come close to catching as many flies as the spider will, though. And you'll do what I'm telling you because it's necessary for them to keep moving forwards... even if it means that you won't." Hecate said coldly, and Celestia smiled briefly as Twilight looked up with worry in her eyes, and Luna and Scrivener both frowned.

Before anyone could speak, however, Celestia only rose a hoof and said quietly: "No. We can't wait around for this barrier to shut down on its own. This means that Gymbr must be vulnerable... and as anxious as I am to fight, I'm more anxious to provide all the help I can."

Celestia stopped, then gazed over at Twilight and smiled faintly to her before she leaned down, closing her eyes as her horn glowed. The Lich's eyes widened in surprise as she felt energy flood through her body, restoring her... and with it, there came the scent of lavender, but also metal; the feel of silk, but that had iron beneath it; love, and with love, passion that could burn, and blast, and banish.

Then the ivory mare took a soft breath as she straightened, and as Twilight stared up at her, the ivory mare smiled softly and murmured: "You're still like a daughter to me, Twilight. And what you did for Innocence is something I can only envy and struggle to replicate, because I don't think I ever could have been so merciful and compassionate even for my own. A little piece of lifeforce is nothing to feel such gratitude for.

"Now, Hecate... what do I have to do?" Celestia asked calmly as she turned to face towards the barrier, and Hecate only laughed before her cracked stump of horn sparked, before it began to thrum with energy. A moment later, Celestia's own horn took on a pale, toxic aura, and the ivory mare clenched her eyes shut and lowered her head as she felt Hecate linking to her.

"Nothing. I'll do it. Just keep your head down." Hecate replied coldly, her eyes glowing with power as she drew on all of Celestia's strength, then she grinned widely as a blast of electricity shot from Celestia's horn, hammering over the barrier as Hecate growled: "Like I thought. Stolen Decretum technology... improperly maintained, modified badly... and yes, this is only the visible portion. The forcefield extends through the walls, likely in all directions..."

Hecate leaned forwards, stump of horn shimmering brighter as Celestia gasped in pain, her own spire taking on a darker glow before a string of light formed between her horn and the barrier. It was almost invisible at first, but gradually grew larger, thicker, into a tether as Hecate rasped almost eagerly: "It's been a long time since I've interfaced with anything... yes, easy, though. Magic is all signals and wavelengths anyway, I just have to send the right message..."

Celestia flexed, then her head snapped back as she cried out in agony, then outright screamed, and Luna and Sleipnir both shouted desperately at Hecate as Twilight yelled and Scrivener stared in horror, but Hecate only grinned, her mane writhing around her, her eyes glowing as she shouted: "It's a little too late to have regrets now!"

Hecate's horn flashed, and Celestia gave another scream of agony as electricity tore through her mane and tail and her entire body shook with agony, the light around her horn building, building, building as the golden barrier rippled violently, electricity tearing back and forth along its face before it shattered... and yet the blast that knocked the group of ponies backwards was not nearly loud or fierce enough to drown out the explosion from beyond the doors, which made the walls shake, dust and debris crumbling down from the ceiling.

Then, silence settled, and Luna groaned and shook her head weakly before her eyes widened at the sight of Celestia. The mare was laying unconscious, blasted and burned, on the steps leading up to the blown-open gates the barrier had blockaded. Her mane was charred and white, all the rainbow energy drained from it and leaving only ragged ivory locks behind.

Luna and Sleipnir rushed to their sister's side, but Twilight beat them to the ivory mare, almost falling over her and staring desperately over the winged unicorn before her horn began to glow... but to her surprise, Sleipnir caught the spire and squeezed it, suffocating the magic as he said quietly: "No. No, my... my sibling clearly knew what might happen to her. We must honor her wishes, Twilight Sparkle, and... we must pick up and continue forwards once... once we are sure..."

A dry chuckle rose up from nearby, and Luna snarled as she looked up at the sight of the head. But Hecate only grinned even as blood ran from her mouth and the melted ruin that was all that remained of her horn, whispering: "And what, if she's dead, you're going to waste this chance and cry? No. Get out of here. She's just down for a reboot, you'll see... I wouldn't kill her, oh no. I need her alive... she's the only one I can really configure with, isn't she?"

"Shut up, Hecate. Do not think this shall go unpunished... wretched monster." Luna muttered darkly, shaking her head briefly, but Hecate laughed, and Luna was well-aware her own threats were empty. If this got them to Gymbr, especially before the god could heal whatever wounds he had taken... then painful as it was to think, this was a fair trade.

The sapphire mare shuddered, and then Pinkamena strode calmly up and looked down at Celestia for a few moments, studying her meditatively before the demon nodded and said moodily: "Got guts at least, I'll give her that." She paused, then looked up and whistled sharply before shouting: "Hey, kid, get over here if you can hear me!"

There was silence for a few seconds, and then Aphrodisia appeared in a puff of black smoke, skidding to a halt and looking worriedly at Celestia. But Pinkamena only reached up and ruffled her daughter's mane, saying calmly: "Keep an eye on your Aunt. You know she's always been good to you. Now it's your turn to be good to her, got it?"

"Yes, Mommy." Aphrodisia nodded firmly, smiling warmly up at her mother and gazing almost shyly for a moment at her father as he looked at her with gratitude, and then Apps quickly turned towards Luna, adding quietly: "Nova is gonna head over here as soon as he can. He sent up a beacon for Eventide, but we're pretty sure that the problem isn't Gymbr's soldiers, but the fact that so much of Valhalla has collapsed."

Luna nodded with a grunt, and Aphrodisia hesitated before she looked over at Twilight Sparkle, adding quietly: "Once, a long time ago, I was in a dark place like Innocence was. But you'll see, she'll come out of it, you'll see; she just needs guidance, and love. And kicking her butt now and then when she gets really stupid, but you did a really good job of that already."

Twilight Sparkle smiled faintly despite herself, nodding and blushing a little before she murmured softly: "Thank you, Aphrodisia. I... I appreciate it."

Aphrodisia only smiled back and shrugged a little, and Luna gave her niece a brief smile before she looked first to Scrivener, then up to Sleipnir, grinning a little and asking calmly: "So art thou ready? 'Tis time we pay our friend Gymbr a visit, after all, and show him what we think of how he has chosen to remodel Heaven."

"Aye, little sister. Let's go." Sleipnir stomped a hoof and grinned as well as he turned in the direction of the shattered gateway. "'Twould be rude not to take advantage of big sister's gift to us after all, would it not? Although 'tis too bad she will be missing out on all the fun with her little nap."

"Enough talk. Let's go before Princess Sunshine wakes up or you two jabber so much Gymbr has time to fix everything." Pinkamena said irritably, turning around and striding towards the open gate, and Luna, Sleipnir, Scrivener Blooms, and Twilight Sparkle all followed after her as Aphrodisia smiled after them, and Hecate grinned but looked up with perhaps the smallest bit of grudging admiration for these ponies striding to face almost certain death.

The room beyond the gates was nothing but a wreck: the walls on either side had once perhaps been solid crystal, but now were just piles of steel and metal and gemstone and destroyed machinery. More broken gears and equipment littered the long, open room, but left a distinct, zigzagging path leading past destroyed golems, ruins of puppets, and a few dead bodies towards a flight of stairs and a set of broken doors that had almost fallen free from their hinges.

Luna led the way quickly forwards, and she grimaced as she looked back and forth and thought she caught flashes of movement here and there, caught glimpses of warped and monstrous ponies staring up at them fearfully, almost pleadingly, but not daring to let themselves been seen. They reached the doors without any conflict, and Luna took a slow breath before she snapped her horn forwards and blew them open, sending them crashing and rolling over a ruined red carpet and into a mauled, barbaric throne room.

Two massive statues of Tyrant Wyrms had once acted like pillars, supporting the high ceiling: now, one of these statues lay in broken ruin. Shattered gemstone lanterns sparked uselessly on cracked and crumbled walls, and the floor was humped up in places, strewn with rubble and ruin.

Luna looked up at a shattered skylight, gazing silently through it at the black, swirling clouds that writhed above Valhalla, and then she drew her eyes downwards to gaze across at Gymbr. He was seated on a throne made of black platinum, claws resting on the skulls of demons and a third, enormous dragon's skull forming an overhang, making him look as if he rested in the maw of some mighty, terrible beast. To either side of him, braziers burned with eternal blue flames, and he was breathing heavily, his body shivering, his soulstone core pulsating with energy.

He didn't look hurt, and at the same time, he looked more humiliated, more injured than they had ever seen him. But often, a wounded, cornered animal was more dangerous than a healthy one in the wild... and as Gymbr snarled slowly, the feeling of malice in the air around the intensified into something almost tangible, seemed to make the room shudder as he whispered: "How dare you..."

"That is a question we should ask thee, monster. Coward, I should say instead, perhaps; and not as insult, but only as fact, now that we find thee hiding here in thy throne, behind thy Fates, thy broken armies... my daughter." Luna snarled in response, and she stepped forwards, flicking her horn as Prúðbikkja flew out of her mane before the weapon sprung up to full length in a burst of blue fire, the mare saying coldly as her own starry locks roiled into sapphire flames: "Either grovel, and die... or fight, and die. I have no mercy for thee."

"You have no idea what you're dealing with." Gymbr said coldly, and then he shoved himself out of his throne, baring his fangs as he shouted in a voice that echoed throughout the throne room: "We are trying to save you! Even now, we could have ordered all those we have made strong in the Vale of Heaven to flood in and destroy your armies, but we have only sent our expendable forces to stop you... you fools, we have let your armies in, thinking we could cut off the head of this incompetent, traitorous serpent and show the rest of your army mercy... but we see there is no reason left anymore! If we must kill you, then we shall wipe you out of existence!"

"Come and try it, asshole." Pinkamena growled, and Sleipnir grinned wryly in agreement before the demon leaned forwards, her eyes glowing brightly as horns twisted out of her head, mane writhing as if it had become alive as her body and jaw expanded. Her armor popped and clicked loudly as pieces snapped out of place, ashen wings bursting free from her back before the fully-transformed Devourer slammed a cloven hoof against the ground and roared her furious challenge at Gymbr.

Gymbr set himself, then he smiled briefly before saying coldly: "Very well. If death is what you all desire, we shall give it to you. First, we shall even the odds."

The god rolled his head slowly on his shoulders as his soulstone core glowed, and the ponies could only stare in shock as two strange, flickering images seemed to stride out of the monster before they both solidified: both were featureless winged unicorns, and one was glowing white while the other was dead black, both standing silently on either side of Gymbr as he arched his back like a predator and bared his fangs. "And now, we kill."

He lunged forwards, and Luna snarled as she stabbed her spear out, but Prúðbikkja was deflected by... nothing, it seemed. It simply refused to bite into Gymbr as he lashed a claw up towards Luna, but she was able to block this with the pole of her weapon before Scrivener Blooms lunged in at Gymbr's side... but was promptly blasted away by a bolt of energy from the White Shape that had emerged from the god.

Pinkamena snarled and leapt towards the White Shape, swinging her axe down at it viciously, but the weapon bounced off, knocked back with as much force as she'd swung it and making her stumble. All it managed to do was get the doppelganger's attention, and it snapped its horn towards her and blew her backwards with a torrent of holy flames that made the demon howl with agony as the amorphous entity calmly leaping up into the air to hover.

Sleipnir, meanwhile, charged at the Black Shape, and it leapt forwards to meet him, swinging a bludgeoning black hoof towards the stallion, but Sleipnir slapped this out of the way and struck in hard... except the Black Shape blocked with its foreleg, trembling only slightly from the exertion of holding the giant back as Sleipnir grinned widely. "Aye, now that is fine!"

The Black Shape tried to swing its other hoof into Sleipnir's face, and the earth pony simply dropped, the Black Shape's own momentum causing it to flop forwards over Sleipnir. And in that moment of vulnerability, the earth pony slammed a crushing uppercut into the Black Shape's underbelly with enough force to send it skywards, the doppelganger cringing in silent pain as it was knocked into the air before a fireball from Twilight Sparkle struck it-

The fireball ricocheted off its body and shot straight back at Twilight, who was knocked skidding backwards with a curse of pain and surprise. She shook her head out, then winced and looked up as Pinkamena again failed to make a dent in the White Shape, her axe again deflected before she was thrown into the air by an explosion of magic, then smashed by a mallet of ice.

The Black Shape, meanwhile, had landed and was again in the melee with Sleipnir, leaping back and forth and trying to use its speed to its advantage, but Sleipnir was surprisingly graceful for a stallion his size... and when the Black Shape did finally get a blow in against the earth pony's side, Sleipnir swung his elbow back into the Black Shape's face, making its head twist violently to the side before he half-spun and walloped it with a haymaker from his other hoof, sending the doppelganger crashing bonelessly across the floor.

Twilight's eyes lit up, before she cursed and staggered as Gymbr slammed a claw into Scrivener's face, then seized his mane and smashed his face down into the ground. The stallion gargled in pain, and Gymbr yanked his head up again, but Luna swung the neck of Prúðbikkja down into the monster's wrist and then up into his jaw, knocking him staggering.

But again her spear refused to cut, refused to pierce, didn't do more than startle the god, and Luna snarled in frustration before she simply flung the polearm away, shouting: "Andlitstingar!"

Twilight opened a wing and yanked the baton out, flinging it through the air, and Luna caught it with telekinesis, spear exploding up to full length before she stabbed it fiercely forwards. And now she grinned, as Gymbr swung a claw up: the weapon was deflected upwards, but the speartip still slashed across the god's face and knocked him staggering.

He trembled with rage as dark blood ran from the wound over his cheek, then opened his mouth, and Luna yanked Sting Mk. II off her back to fire a round straight down Gymbr's throat, sending him staggering backwards with a howl as the mare snarled: "I have heard enough of thy prophecies, false god!"

Scrivener Blooms charged forwards, then leapt up and rose a claw out to the side on instinct as Luna snapped her horn down: lightning hammered into the stallion's Talon, and the prosthetic glowed with energy before the charcoal pony slammed it into Gymbr's features with a flash and bang like thunder, knocking Gymbr crashing backwards.

The god picked himself slowly up, staring in disbelief as blood ran from his nose, and then he looked to one side; Sleipnir had the Black Shape on its back, and was slamming hoof-after-hoof down into the doppelganger's features. And to the other side, the White Shape was writhing in agony in the air as Twilight Sparkle hammered it with sapphire flames again and again, and-

Pinkamena charged in and slammed a cloven hoof under Gymbr's chin, hefting the god into the air with the force of her blow before she seized her axe in both front hooves and slammed it down into Gymbr's back as he was still flying upwards, crushing him back down into the ground with a howl of agony. The demon grinned widely before Gymbr's soulstone core flashed, and then both Pinkamena and her axe were knocked flying by the pulse of force that emanated from the god's body.

She crashed to the ground, but rolled quickly to her hooves as Luna and Scrivener both anchored themselves: a moment later, Twilight Sparkle and Sleipnir were both standing at the ready as the Shapes simply dissolved with Gymbr's concentration so broken.

Slowly, he dragged himself up to his claws, then his emerald eyes glowed as he rose a claw, and Luna stared in horror as the gun still in her hoof was bent violently backward into a knot. She snarled and flung this aside, then leapt forwards and thrust out Andlitstingar as the others all dove in-

Gymbr threw his head back with a roar as his soulstone core glowed, and a shockwave tore through the air around him, knocking the five away as energy sizzled and burned painfully over their bodies. And the god snarled as his eyes flicked back and forth before he said coldly: "Goodbye."

His soulstone core glowed, then a bright flash filled the room, making Luna wince before she slowly picked herself up. She looked back and forth in confusion, seeing Twilight standing, Scrivener raising himself as well... and then her mouth went dry as she realized that Pinkamena and Sleipnir were simply... gone. "What hast thou done?"

Gymbr smiled ruthlessly, his emerald eyes blazing with fury as his soulstone core continued to glow and pulsate before he answered contemptibly: "We got rid of pests, that is all. A slave hoof garbage demon dared to touch us... well, we hope she enjoys wherever she is now. We hope it is a place that will kill them... but slowly."

Luna trembled with fury, and Twilight clenched her eyes shut as Scrivener Blooms set himself with a snarl. Gymbr coldly looked over the three, then said icily: "We would do the same to you, but we desire to rip you apart with our own claws."

"You're lying. You can't just nix us, as much as you want to. And you have no idea why." Scrivener Blooms said as his eyes flashed, seeing into Gymbr for a moment; seeing everything Gymbr was, and everything the god was feeling; seeing, for a moment, himself within that abyss. "I don't either. And I don't care, either."

"We do not need these powers to kill you." Gymbr said coldly, and then the god lunged towards them, and Luna roared, rallying her partners as she leapt to meet the monster.

Andlitstingar snapped out, and Gymbr caught the spear and flapped his wings hard, ripping the weapon out of the air as he sprung forwards and used the spear like an axle, kicking both rear hooves hard past and into Luna's features. The sapphire mare was launched backwards with a grunt of pain, but she hit the ground and rolled back to her hooves as Scrivener lunged in at Gymbr's side.

His Talons lashed out, and Gymbr caught them in his own silver claws, the two grappling for a moment before the god's eyes flashed and he half-spun, flinging Scrivener Blooms into the path of a sapphire fireball Twilight had shot at the god.

But without hesitation, Scrivener reached his Talons out, catching the sapphire fireball in midair between them as Twilight's eyes widened: but as Scrivener hit the ground and bounced onto his back, she dropped her horn towards the caught fireball and pumped more magic into it, electricity shocking through the sapphire flames before Scrivener Blooms slung the sphere of magic as hard as he could at Gymbr's face as he charged at Luna.

The fireball struck the god in mid-lunge, and he was blown high into the air with a howl of pain as sapphire flame and electricity tore across his body, before he managed to spread his wings and catch himself with a furious snarl, his soulstone core humming before Twilight Sparkle leapt forwards and rose her horn, creating a barrier of energy as a blast of terrible, focused sapphire light shot out of the soulstone core in Gymbr's chest. It hammered into the shield, cracking it as Gymbr snarled in fury, and then the beam faded into motes as he half-spun to slap Andlitstingar away when Luna flung it at him. "We are not amused by you!"

He rose his claws, soulstone core glowing brighter as the three ponies were lifted into the air as if by a powerful gust of wind, and then Luna felt like a physical weight slammed into her as she and her partners were crushed down into the floor, Gymbr shouting: "Valhalla is ours! The laws of time and space obey us here! We are God, and you cannot kill God in our own Heaven!"

He swung a claw down, and the surviving statue of the Tyrant Wyrm glowed before it came to life with a roar, the crystalline golem stomping eagerly forwards even as every movement caused cracks to form in its brittle frame, shedding crystalline scales even as it smashed a claw into Twilight and launched her into the wall.

Its tail snapped out, smacking Scrivener Blooms away as Luna leapt to her hooves, cursing... then screaming in agony as her body burst into blue flames, before her eyes glowed with wrath as she snarled up at Gymbr. She felt Nightmare Moon twist inside her, come alive, roar... and as agony became pleasure, Luna's body flexed and she grinned even as her skin charred and her flesh began to burn through her armor, lunging into the air and shooting straight up at the god.

Gymbr reared back, eyes widening as he was left stupefied and terrified for a moment before Luna snapped her horn forwards, and the flames mauling her body were yanked upwards, coalescing into a fireball that hovered above her horn for a moment before it launched forwards with enough force to send Luna herself flying backwards from the magical recoil.

It smashed into Gymbr's face and exploded with enough force to knock the god flipping violently backwards until he hit the wall and fell. He crashed down by his throne, then snarled in fury as he seized on this, using it to pull himself up before he yanked it forwards and flung it savagely even as he stumbled and fell over.

Luna caught the metal chair with her front hooves and telekinesis, slipping backwards through the air as her muscles groaned at the effort, and then she half-turned and quickly slung the heavy throne down into the rampaging Wyrm golem. It smashed through one of the construct's shoulders, knocking a limb off and tearing out a large chunk of its back, and most importantly of all, drawing its attention away from the violet mare pinned beneath one claw and up to Luna.

Twilight Sparkle gritted her teeth and snapped her horn upwards, blasting the monster's ankle apart and causing its upper body to overbalance, toppling past her to smash and shatter against the ground, as Scrivener Blooms grasped the end of Wyrm golem's tail and yanked hard on it, ripping the lower quarter or so of it off and feeling the corruption in it, making it easy to quickly reshape into a long spear that he flung at Gymbr.

The spear collided with the god and shattered on impact, knocking him sprawling backwards and peppering him with shrapnel, and Luna snapped her own horn out as she saw her chance. A blast of lightning hammered directly into Gymbr's core, and the mare gritted her teeth as she felt the tether form, sharply pushing her energies down the long line between herself and the god-

Gymbr shoved a claw out with a snarl, even as panic filled his eyes, and the massive Wyrm statue exploded in a tremendous lash of force and black flame, knocking Twilight and Scrivener both crashing into the walls and to the floor. Scrivener gasped in pain, his body twitching in agony as it tried to separate corruption from solid gemstone, while Twilight grasped at a limb that had almost been separated from her body, her wings torn apart, a large chunk of her body simply... missing.

Luna was hit by all that pain, her back arching, losing her concentration... and Gymbr shoved a pulse of raw force straight up that long link before she could react, hammering into her soulstone horn and sending a blast of agony through her body before she was blown free of the tether, flying backwards to smack bonelessly into the wall before she flopped forwards... and stared stupidly as she was caught in a single strong limb. She breathed uneasily, dangling from this arm before it ever so gently set her down, and the mare slowly, weakly looked up to see Theophilius... Kvasir... smiling down at her, saying softly: "Alice sent me. It would be most rude of me to refuse a request from her, you know... and while I'm a lot of things, I'm very much not rude. Perhaps I used to be, but I swear it was only ever from an overabundance of lemon tart, which as you know, Gryphon, often makes one very bitter."

"You are not wanted here, Theophilius! You are not needed here! Leave this place immediately or we will destroy you as well!" Gymbr roared, and then the god lashed his horn out, sending a blast of black flames at the Hatter, but Theophilius simply flicked out his wrist, and there was a bright splash of red from beneath the lapels of his coat that formed into a crimson barrier. The black flames couldn't even catch against this, dissolving almost upon contact before the barrier vanished; was almost pulled back beneath the Mad Hatter's sleeve.

"Not by you, certainly, but by others I seem to be." the Mad Hatter replied pleasantly, sketching a little curtsy to Gymbr before he popped his hat off his head and rolled it cheerfully down one arm to his hand. "Alice is very upset with you, dear friend. But haven't you heard that Kings and Jacks can never rule Wonderland? Only Queens of White or Red, and all I see before me is a Jabberwock."

Gymbr snarled at this, then he leaned forwards and said furiously: "You are demented and broken! We saved your life, we fought side-by-side-"

"And by side again when there were three of us... perhaps four, I should say, since we both come in pairs, don't we?" Theophilius remarked pleasantly, tossing his hat easily back onto his head before holding up his hands as several playing cards appeared in them, and then he sighed and tossed these aside as he added kindly: "I know you want to save Wonderland... but what you've done is turned it topsy-turvy into a nightmare world. How is this saving our Wonderland, Gymbr?"

"It is their fault! They would not work with us, we are... we are only doing... stop judging us! We have had enough of your patronization, your games and insults!" Gymbr raved furiously, and then his soulstone core glowed brightly before he snapped his horn out, and Theophilius was knocked staggering by a fearsome blast of force that slammed all three ponies back to the ground before they could even stand up, the walls of the room vibrating from the blast.

The Mad Hatter only calmly brushed himself off, then he set himself and pointed at Gymbr, saying firmly: "Now I understand that my presence makes people a little, shall we say, mad... but that's no reason to give up your sanity entirely. Why, I'm perfectly sanely insane, you see. You, on the other hand... you seem..."

Theophilius grasped at his skull for a moment, clenching his eyes shut... and then he looked up sharply, and it was clearly Kvasir's voice that spoke as he said coldly: "You seem to have lost your lucidity, Gymbr. I trusted you. Part of me still wants to trust you... but even that part knows that first, we have to remove that core. You've gone from one extreme to another: insane with your own lack of power, to insane because of the power you possess. Your shortcuts have only led to suffering."

"We will die before we allow you to take our power away! It is... it is the only way we can stop the universe from being saved!" Gymbr shouted, but his eyes were wide with very visible fear, his body was trembling with what almost seemed like... shame, even as he threatened: "We will not tell you again! Leave, Theophilius, leave us to our victory."

"No." the Mad Hatter said quietly, and Gymbr snarled before he snapped his horn forwards, sending a blast of black flames at Theophilius. But fearlessly, the tall... well, Luna was no longer sure what he was. But all the same he was strong enough to slap the attack away before snapping a hand out.

Crimson burst through the air, and Luna's eyes widened as she realized what it was a moment before it formed into a long whip: blood. But it had all the solidity of actual chain as it snapped viciously back and forth, driving Gymbr back several paces as Theophilius pushed forwards with hard, quick lashes.

Gymbr roared, then snapped his horn out, a blade of energy cutting through the whip... but just as quickly as the upper half evaporated, it reformed, and Theophilius lashed the whip forwards and around Gymbr's throat. The god choked before he was yanked viciously in, the Mad Hatter's hand catching him by the throat as his other grabbed the soulstone core, and Gymbr cried out in denial, in refusal, in utter horror.

And Twilight shouted in disbelief when a blast of blue energy ripped through Theophilius' limb, blowing it apart into nothing but blood and scraps of cloth as he was knocked staggering backwards. Gymbr yanked himself away, his eyes burning with rage, his horn and core both glowing brightly... and Theophilius had enough time to grin weakly before he shrugged and said finally: "I've always been a lover, and not a fighter. Tea-lover, that is, not-"

A beam of energy from Gymbr's core smashed into Theophilius and drove him across the room, sending him hurtling out the open doors, and then Gymbr shook his head in disgust as he whispered: "You were never a fighter, old friend. You were always weak. And now, we shall finish this game and kill... ourselves. Ourselves, and ever-loyal Twilight Sparkle..."

Gymbr slowly turned towards Luna, and the sapphire mare grasped Andlitstingar with telekinesis, raising the spear... before her eyes widened as Gymbr's core pulsed and the spear was encased in black crystal that defied her telekinetic hold, falling with a thunk to the ground. "We do not think so. We have had enough. We are going to simply destroy you three now, and by our own claws."

With that, the god flung himself forwards... but after such a long battle, after so many uses of his powers, after the interruption from Theophilius, he seemed... off balance, somehow. Confused, and unsteady. He staggered a little in mid-lunge, and Scrivener Blooms slipped quickly into the path between Gymbr and Luna, reaching his claws up as Twilight Sparkle gritted her teeth at the mental command Luna gave her.

Gymbr and Scrivener collided and grappled, shoving against each other before the stallion felt Gymbr trying to slip his claws forwards, to attempt to crush his Talons, to rend and rip, and the charcoal earth pony let those silver claws slip past and free... then caught Gymbr by either wrist and crushed down with his metallic claws, the god's eyes widening before his soulstone core began to glow even as he snarled in pain.

Twilight Sparkle's horn snapped upwards, and the ground beneath Gymbr erupted, knocking the god off balance and into the air before Scrivener Blooms roared as he slung the god down into the broken, spiky floor as hard as he could. Gymbr bounced backwards once with a snarl, raising his head high before he lashed his horn out to send a blast of energy at Scrivener Blooms, but the stallion leaned forwards and slammed a Talon into this, knocking the blast straight back into Gymbr's features

The monster staggered backwards with a shout of disbelief before he rose his head... and saw Luna directly in front of him a moment before one of her hooves slammed into his chin, knocking him rearing back and exposing his glowing soulstone core. And Luna did what she did best, slamming hoof after hoof directly into the vulnerable crystal heart of the god, Gymbr gargling as the soulstone core glowed brighter and brighter and steam began to rise up from his body.

He tried to lash a claw forwards, and a spike of ice hammered into it the moment he rose it, knocking it into the wall behind him before the ice solidified and fused to stone, leaving him helplessly hanging by one claw, half-raised on his rear legs, his eyes desperate and disbelieving as he leaned forwards and shouted: "We are Gymbr! We are God! We cannot be-"

Luna snapped her horn forwards, a blast of lightning hammering into the core, tethering her horn to it, and Gymbr's words broke off into incoherent growls and roars. A glow of energy began to build on the short line between them as Luna anchored herself with a snarl, leaning forwards and attempting to push forwards as Gymbr shoved back with all the strength of his dual, lunatic nature... and then the sapphire mare felt new energy filling her up, pouring through her as both Twilight and Scrivener lowered their heads, gritted their teeth, and put every last ounce of strength they could into Luna Brynhild.

Gymbr ripped his claw free, but it was too late: the light glowing up the tether was blinding, and he couldn't force the flow of energy back as he raved and tried to yank wildly back and forth... but all for nothing before Luna grinned and snapped her horn forwards, giving one last shove on the crescendo of energy pouring down the tether.

It shot into the core, and Luna was blasted backwards by the resulting explosion of force and energy: it hurt like hell to be bounced again across this room, but the energy itself felt... warm. Felt like victory, even as she crashed and rolled onto her stomach, clawing at the ground to try and stop her skid as she looked up at the burning star of blue light that was Gymbr.

Scrivener and Twilight stared in disbelief as well, watching as Gymbr staggered back and forth, his body steaming and burning with energy that his body couldn't contain. He was literally melting like wax, wings flapping madly as arcs of energy discharged from his body in all directions, his horn warping and twisting, his eyes rolling in his head as he howled in disbelief.

One of his wings tore off halfway down, hitting the ground with a sickening squelch, and a leg buckled beneath him, sending him to the ground to writhe and kick as some of his hide sloughed off like wet dough. He rose his head, staring pleadingly at them, and Luna only looked coldly back as she slowly stood up, before the monster tried to speak. Tried to beg for mercy... and then gasped as the soulstone core finally flickered out, and the flames of energy over his body died as well.

He collapsed to the ground... and slowly, the three ponies picked themselves up and approached the fallen god. Luna grimaced at the sight of the soulstone core as it pulsed erratically, and then she frowned as she reached down and hesitantly touched Gymbr's face.

It looked almost as if... his features had changed. One side was more masculine, the other more feminine. One side, similar to Scrivener, the other, Luna...

"You have done it." said a voice, and Luna looked over her shoulder in surprise to see several Pious were standing calmly at the foot of the stairs. The sapphire mare turned around and nodded uneasily, and the lead Pious approached: it crossed its arms over itself as it drew nearer, but managed a little bow... even though it didn't even try to hide its eagerness as it looked at Gymbr and asked: "Will you turn this false god over to us?"

"No. He is ours, Pious... what art thou doing here?" Luna asked with a frown, and the Pious bowed politely in return.

"As we said. We would wait for the conflict to boil, then join you. We are... reinforcements." the Pious said slowly, as if trying to use a term that was unfamiliar to it, and Luna scowled. Then she frowned as the Pious slowly unfurled one limb from around itself to reach down and point at the soulstone core. "That is what holds the creature together. You must destroy it. You must kill the god to destroy it: as long as it is attached to the god, it will heal itself."

"Do not tell us what to do. Gymbr is not one creature, in any event... he is two. I understand that thou must be pleased to see him fall, but stay back." Luna growled, and the Pious finally drew back a bit before the sapphire mare muttered: "Although thou could have shared thine information before we went through all the troubles we did, angel..."

The Pious only bowed its head, and Luna didn't really feel like listening to its explanation as she turned her eyes back to Gymbr. That soulstone core gleamed alluringly in his chest, and Luna shivered a bit... then she drew her eyes back to Gymbr, looking at him for a few long moments, wondering...

"Scrivener." Luna said quietly, and the stallion frowned at her with surprise, then hesitantly nodded, even though the idea sounded... well, more than a little bit insane to him. All the same, though, he strode over to Gymbr's other side... the side that looked male, as Luna jerked the unconscious god around and grasped the shoulder of the side that looked female.

Scrivener settled his own Talon against Gymbr, and he felt that pulse. That sensation of sinking his claws... into something, grasping more than flesh as Luna felt the same. Twilight Sparkle looked at the two uneasily, but stepped slowly backwards as the two began to pull, slowly but steadily...

Gymbr's eyes snapped open, and he gasped and writhed, struggling against them as his mane of black flames sparked with energy and he looked wildly back and forth, pleading: "No, no, no, stop, you do not understand, we are begging you, stop!"

Luna gritted her teeth: that reaction didn't make her want to give up. That made her wanted to try harder, as she gripped tighter into Gymbr, and into what she could feel beneath Gymbr, pulling harder, harder, as Scrivener yanked in the other direction, seizing into Gymbr with his other Talon as well as the monster howled between them. Both ponies could see the god rippling, distorting, his waxen form changing as twisted and shook back and forth, then arched his back and screamed as the soulstone core gave one final, brief flash...

Luna and Scrivener both tumbled backwards as they felt something... separate. And Twilight Sparkle could only stare in disbelief even as the enormous, perfectly-spherical soulstone core that had been in Gymbr rolled up to her hooves, the Lich staring in disbelief at... at Scrivener and Luna. But not her Scrivener and Luna; a very different, mangled and... sad... Scrivener and Luna.

The stallion was darker than charcoal, blacker, and his limbs and haunch were covered in scales. He didn't have hooves, but gnarled claws... and likewise, his tail was long, reptilian, ending in a point. Slowly, he rose his head, then stared lethargically around... and Twilight shivered as she saw blind eyes, in pallid, faded features.

The mare's coat was also almost black, and her mane and tail sizzled weakly with energy as she breathed unevenly in and out, hooves shivering against the ground. Her head was lowered and her eyes were staring around, but her ears hung floppily and blood was leaking out of both of them, like something inside had been mangled.

"We are... Gymbr..." both ponies spoke as one, and they trembled, together, they moved their heads back and forth together... everything was done in perfect, unconscious synchronization with the other half. "N-No... we cannot... the world... hurts..."

Twilight Sparkle looked silently down at the orb of soulstone, then she carefully picked the core up and closed her eyes as she hugged it against her chest, trembling a little. Knowing they would have to keep this safe somehow, as Luna slowly faced herself, and Scrivener Blooms studied his own blind twin with fascination. There was no malice in them now... but of course, there wasn't any strength in them, either. They were just two broken, twisted souls that magnetized the attention of the ponies in the room with what they... what they were.

Which was what made it so easy for one of the Pious to calmly stride up behind Twilight Sparkle and simply send one of the blades on the wing-like arm appendage on its back through the back of her skull. The mare had a moment to gurgle, staring weakly before the Pious grasped the back of her her neck with one hand, then crushed down and yanked upwards with the blade.

Scrivener and Luna both staggered around to stare in horror as a Greater Angel tore Twilight Sparkle's head off with all the ease of a child ripping open a candy bar, and then Luna snarled and roared... or began to, at least. Another Pious seized into her mane, and Luna had a moment to stare before she was smashed face first into the ground as all the energy was torn out of her body, her mane fading into light blue locks. Meanwhile, the Pious that had attacked Twilight calmly picked up the soulstone orb and said softly: "A tribute, for the true God of Light, he who has given us this mission."

"Destroy them. They are heretic. They are infidel. They are atheist." said the third Pious as it approached, and the first looked down at Luna Brynhild, then over at Scrivener Blooms, seeming to size them up. The second, in the same moment, simply flung Twilight's head to the ground, the Lich gasping weakly as she bounced across the stone to roll to a halt with tears in still-living eyes.

The two were laying on the ground, drained of all strength: in a moment it had been there, and then, with the Pious' touch, all that energy was gone. Luna trembled, gasping for breath through the hairs falling over her eyes. Her mind was confused and addled, and all she could do was stare weakly across at the Gymbr Luna, who gazed at her not with retribution, but... despair...

The Pious began to reach down... and then ice rapidly spread up the body of the angel, freezing it in a solid block of frost. Scrivener rose his head in disbelief, and then a voice snapped angrily: "Hey, it ain't nice to take things that don't belong to you, you know!"

The third Pious began to turn, and a hand from one of Hel's puppets slammed into its face as the construct strode past, crushing down before there was a sizzle of dark energy, and the body fell limp and dead. The second Pious started to raise a hand as it began to back away from Hel as she approached, grinning and dragging the dead angel with her, but the goddess only snorted in amusement and snapped her fingers, and the Pious let out a raspy screech as its forearm was simply severed in a flash of energy.

The soulstone orb flew through the air and landed neatly in Hel's outstretched hand, and the goddess grinned widely even as an oval portal opened behind the wounded Pious, saying loudly: "Yeah, get out of here! Here, take your friend, too!"

The ice puppet flung the dead Pious into the wounded one, knocking them both back into the portal before Hel made a sharp zipping motion, and the portal distorted violently, imploding on itself. The goddess snorted at this, then she looked moodily down at the soulstone core, muttering: "Well, that should slow them down at least. Hey, Gymbr, you're looking pretty fantastic. Not every day one person can look like two. Especially of either gender. That's like a... transsexual wedding or something, right?"

The two halves of Gymbr glared up at Hel, and the goddess sniffed loudly, saying flatly: "Hey, don't give me that look. I run Helheim. I don't have to be politically correct like you retards. I can make all the homophobic, racist, sexist and rude jokes I want."

"What the hell is happening?" Scrivener managed weakly, and Hel grunted before she glanced back and forth... then grimaced at the sight of Twilight Sparkle's head, looking more than a little displeased. "I... but Gymbr was... the Pious, we thought..."

"Well, you see, I got to thinking and looking around after what you told me, after thinking about what Gymbr was doing... and it turns out that the Pious are... we don't have time for this." Hel suddenly became more serious, turning cold eyes on the halves of Gymbr as they struggled to pick themselves up. "Listen, moron. If you work with us and keep yourself lucid instead of tripping out, we might all survive. Better for you, I might ask these ponies real nice if they'll keep you alive. I bet you'd like that, right, muffin-top? So are you going to be a good little... whatever the hell you are?"

Gymbr Scrivener and Gymbr Luna both nodded, replying in the same honest voice: "Yes, Hel. We... we have no choice but to bow to your wisdom and your strength in this matter. We will do whatever it is you ask of us... and Luna, Scrivener... we are sorry. Perhaps this is not the time-"

"Nope, it's not. You can absolve yourself later. And Luna, sweetie, honeycake, I'm gonna ask you really really nice not to rip Gymbr's intestines out just yet. He might still have a few uses. You can hold a big fat fake trial for him, you can throw him in jail, you can torture him – it, them, whatever – and in fact I encourage the last, but right now we need the help of... it. Whatever it is." Hel said pointedly, and then she simply snapped her fingers.

Luna blinked, and then she gasped, stumbling up to her hooves in surprise as energy surged through her body before she looked back and forth uncomprehendingly, as if she could find rhyme or reason somewhere else in the room. She shook herself out slowly, then gritted her teeth and glared up at Hel, shouting: "What in thy own accursed name is going on?"

"Bad things, sweet pea. Bad things." Hel responded mildly through her puppet, and then she held up a finger and said pointedly: "Hold that thought for a moment, will you, cinnamon? Gotta make a collect call. It'll just take me a second."

With that, Hel grasped the soulstone core tightly between her hands, gritting her teeth as her puppet glowed with energy: energy that built and built, the magic growing more and more powerful as Scrivener slowly stood up and stared before he winced backwards in shock as two twisting spirits of light shot out of the orb. They zigzagged wildly through the air around them, and then two distinct shapes formed out of ice and snow: one was Myre, and the other was Dusk, both looking surprised as they glanced back and forth before Hel whistled loudly to get their attention.

The puppet was sagging slightly, large cracks that were very slowly healing pulsing over her body even as she held up the soulstone orb and waggled it pointedly. "I only... had enough energy to yank two of you out of this thing for now and give you freezie-pop butts, but... you gotta obey whoever holds this thingamajig, right? Well, I want you popsicles to run through Heaven, close down all the gates and everything and get everyone the me out of here, got that? And stay away from the Pious. I don't have the time or patience to revive you guys constantly."

Both of the resurrected Fates simply smiled and nodded sharply, then they turned, Myre breaking down into a puddle of black water that raced over the floor as Dusk charged quickly away and into the hall. Hel nodded, then she made a face over at Twilight Sparkle before simply gesturing at her fallen head, and the violet mare squeaked before her eyes bulged as ice and chunks of broken black crystal rapidly assembled themselves into a body beneath her stump of neck, choking and coughing out frost before her makeshift body quaked, then slumped and shivered violently.

"Best I can do on short notice, vanilla bun." Hel said kindly, and then she looked over at Luna and Scrivener and gestured irritably to them. "Get up, get up, hurry up, we don't have a lot of time, lazybones! And speaking of lazy idiots..." Hel looked back and forth, then leaned back and shouted one of the few things that could make Luna's current state of incredulity collapse into all-out-disbelief: "Theophilius Carter! Get your butt out here!"

All three ponies looked up, Scrivener feeling his mind trembling and Luna mouthing wordlessly as Twilight unsteadily managed to climb to rocky hooves, staring at the doorway as the Mad Hatter pranced into the room, leaping up and clicking his heels before he landed with a bright smile, spreading his arms – his whole, perfectly fine arms – wide. Hel smiled over at him, and the Gymbr Halves sighed, before both said with bitter amusement: "Of course. We should have known..."

"Oh, don't be a sore dandelion now, friends... I am terribly sorry, but you really left me no choice in the matter. I'm but a child, so really I had to go to the only responsible adult in the room. We're just all very well and fortunate that the White Queen was ready to hear my pleas for you, Jabberwock; that she is merciful and gentle as she has ever been, in spite of how the thorns may try and hide her rosy petals." Theophilius replied with a kind smile, gesturing calmly towards Hel with the same arm Luna remembered seeing blown apart, and then he clucked his tongue and snapped his fingers, exclaiming: "But White Queen, what about tea?"

"Tea can wait. It's only ever teatime when you sit down to have it, after all." Hel replied reasonably, and then she said calmly and patiently: "I want you to throw a party for the Pious. A going-away party. And get your Draconequus to help you with that. And Kvasir, I know you're still in there somewhere, honeybutt. I need you to hold on, just for a little, and focus, sweetie. I need you to focus on Valhalla, because you know we're about to lose it again."

"I... I know. All we can do is... save as many lives as possible." The Mad Hatter gritted his teeth, grasping at his face and trembling for a few moments before he lowered his hands slowly... and again, it was clearly Kvasir once more, as he breathed slowly and straightened before muttering: "I can't fight off my insanity for very long. I recommend you make this quick."

Hel grinned wryly, shaking her head and saying in an amused voice: "Never gonna change, are you? But I like that about you, Kvasir... you're made of tough stuff. You're no cheeseball, you're a-"

Kvasir narrowed his white eyes and Hel cleared her throat and quickly covered her mouth with her hands, then he looked distastefully over at Luna Brynhild as the sapphire mare gaped at him. "I don't have the time or mood for dealing with you in small words right now, Luna Brynhild. Excuse me. I have to ward Valhalla for as long as possible."

With that, he was unable to resit giving an awkward little bow before spinning around and heading quickly out, visibly fighting to repress the bounce in his step. Hel looked after him with a sigh, rubbing at her face and remarking wryly: "Little god's all grown up. Okay, Valkyrie, we're on the clock. And the clock says five to midnight: grab your uglier self and let's scoot."

"What is going on?" Luna shouted, as Twilight Sparkle approached with uncomfortable bounces and winces, and Scrivener Blooms only stared at the two halves of Gymbr as they looked calmly up at the goddess.

Hel turned towards the sapphire mare and leaned down, almost shoving their faces together as she replied calmly: "If you want to find out... if you want to get all the answers, cinnamon bun... then you gotta play the game. Because playing the game is the only way to make sure you're going to get out of here alive, got it?"

The sapphire mare bared her fangs at the goddess... then she cursed and nodded shortly, asking disgustedly: "What must I do? And why must Gymbr remain alive?"

"Because Hel is sly, and knows that we are not foolish enough to leave ourselves undefended." Gymbr's halves replied, and then they both closed their eyes, lowered their heads and whispered: "We wish that you would just kill us, though. Half of us is blind. Half of us is deaf. We feel weaker than we have ever been and-"

Luna turned and punched Gymbr Luna across the face, and the black-coated mare all but crumpled under the glow as Gymbr Scrivener mirrored her exact movements. Both whimpered and writhed as Luna growled: "Puling sissy. And Hel, damnation, wert thou-"

"I always know what's going on, sweet cheeks." Hel's puppet looked back and forth, then held out the soulstone orb, and it gave a brief pulse before there was a flash as a rip in reality opened. "Come on, let's get going! We have a very important stop to make before we can leave, pick up the moron and let's go, go, go!"

The sapphire mare cursed under her breath, then she nodded shortly, seizing Gymbr Luna and yanking her up onto her back. But then Gymbr Luna wailed piteously as Gymbr Scrivener convulsed weakly on the ground, the deaf mare pleading: "P-Please, we... we cannot be apart! We... we are n-not Luna and Scrivener... we are still Gymbr!"

"Their link..." Luna muttered, and then she shook her head slowly before glancing over at Scrivener Blooms. The stallion nodded with a grimace, then he picked up Gymbr Scrivener and half-dragged the weakly-writhing stallion over to Luna, tossing him up onto her back and half-overtop the other Luna.

The two settled after a few moments, their movements mirroring as they shifted and whimpered, and Hel snapped grouchily: "We really don't have a whole lot of time to waste here, ponies! Come on, come on, come on, let's get moving before the manure really hits the fan, we can still stall the bastards!"

Luna nodded briefly at this, then she looked to the side, eyes locking on her spears: Andlitstingar was still half-covered in melting black sludge, and Prúðbikkja was reverberating strangely, the weapon almost shivering. But with a flick of her horn, she lifted both over to her, Prúðbikkja shrinking down to vanish into her mane in a whiff of blue flame as Andlitstingar floated at the ready beside her.

Scrivener picked up the wrecked hulk of Sting Mk. II, then he quickly shoved this back into the saddlebag before hurrying after Luna, tossing an uneasy look to Twilight when the Lich asked worriedly: "What about Antares and Innocence? What about-"

"Oh come on, ponies! Do you really think I'm about to let everyone else important to you wash up on my icy shores?" Hel asked grouchily, and then she vanished through the portal. Twilight was half-tempted to go and chase after her children, but Luna shot her a reassuring look and a faint smile: Hel was many things, but the goddess wouldn't do anything to jeopardize her new alliance with them either, she thought. And their family was strong: they had to have faith in them while they took care of... whatever was making Hel herself so nervous.

The ponies hurried through the portal, wincing a bit at the moment of biting cold they all felt before they stumbled out into what had once been Valhalla's transport hub, and was now a half-collapsed ruin. Behind them was a set of sealed gates, while across the circular room was a pair of locked golden doors... but otherwise, the room was ringed with portals instead of private rooms, following a ramp that spiraled seemingly endlessly into bright light high, high above.

And many of the portals were sparking with energy: a few were even glowing, trying to form a coherent rift as Luna gazed around in disbelief, as Gymbr whispered from its two mouths: "Our arrogance... has become our own downfall. We refused to shut down the Hourglass, and it destroyed Valhalla... more than ninety percent of our army was annihilated by the surge of power, all our magical machines save those we insulated ourselves.. gone. And the countless portals we built here will now all be used against us..."

"What's going on?" Twilight asked in disbelief, and Hel smiled wryly, gesturing at a nearby portal as it sparked violently with energy again.

"The Pious are probing different wavelengths to try and tap into these portals. It's smart: they're going to lock into our own magical devices and use 'em against us." Hel replied almost conversationally, and then she shook her head and muttered: "Should have caught it when it first started happening in Heaven years ago. But Gymbr here doesn't like to share, no no no."

"We do not believe now is the time to discuss our failings." the two sides of Gymbr muttered, and then it shook its head and straightened, gesturing at the locked door ahead tiredly. "The power source for this entire room is contained inside there. You and Scrivener Blooms can open the door, Luna Brynhild... it is keyed to our magic. Which means that it will respond to yours."

Luna grimaced all the same this as she strode forwards, then Twilight winced a bit as Hel kicked her rocky, frosty side lightly, saying mildly: "That won't slow 'em down much. You start with the portals down here, I'll start with the portals up top, we'll meet somewhere in the middle."

"Start... start what?" Twilight asked blankly, and Hel rolled her eyes before the ice puppet flicked her hand to the side, and one of the arches that shaped the portal energies simply exploded in a tremendous bang, the Lich wincing backwards. "I... okay. I'll... I'll do my best."

"You can do better than that, sweetie. You're a lot better than the 'best' you put forwards, because when you're the best you can be, you're the worst, too, aren't you?" Hel replied kindly, and Twilight only looked confused as the goddess turned away, then wiggled her body before the ice puppet launched into the air in a burst of blue smoke, heading for the white light high above.

Luna grumbled as she strode forwards and poked at the doors with Andlitstingar, Scrivener Blooms following a little behind her before the stallion asked finally: "So does this mean... everything that Gymbr said was..."

"No, it does not." Luna growled, purposefully bucking at the same time make Gymbr groan on her back in pain. "Thou heard... Theophilius, Kvasir, whatever the Hatter truly is. Gymbr has gone and made a mess of things, and the false god even admitted its own failings! He... it... whatever!"

Luna stabbed the armored doors several times with her spear, leaving divots in the gold before her soulstone horn glowed as she leaned forwards with a snarl... and the mare's eyes widened in dumb surprise when the doors flew open, as if they were made of wood. Apparently her magic really did work on anything Gymbr had created...

But any triumph was drowned out by disgust and contempt as she saw what Gymbr had powering the portals. Massive batteries, like Hel had in her own lair, but these didn't have First Tier demon prisoners. Instead, the glass cages were crammed full of demons and ponies and Blessed, and Luna gritted her teeth slowly before Gymbr almost pleaded: "Please. We only did what we had to do... and many of them are in a state of brain death or prisoners who we suspected of aiding the Light-"

"Yeah, because that makes it okay to suck the life out of someone." Scrivener said sourly, and then he shivered as Luna's horn glowed brightly and she lashed it out at the glass tank, shattering the wall of it and sending dead, half-rotten bodies pouring out with a wave of black, brackish liquid. The machinery squealed and sparked, and the stallion shook his head slowly as he murmured: "Eternal order or eternal chaos... neither is good for us in the long run, Gymbr."

Both sides of Gymbr were silent, shifting together over Luna's back as the sapphire mare closed her eyes, breathing slowly... and feeling whatever temporary boost of energies Hel had given her starting to fade out. She slumped a little, dropping her head forwards as questions and confusion and worst of all, doubt, all assailed her mind... and then, finally, she looked up and asked weakly: "Have we just been used as pawns by Hel, in some game of thrones and power?"

"No." came Hel's voice gently, and Luna and Scrivener both winced and staggered around in surprise, then stared in disbelief: another ice puppet was standing beside them, and there were at least two more steadily destroying more portals, buzzing back and forth around the room with ease as the original puppet slowly made her way down from the light above, destroying every portal she came across on her way.

The puppet in front of them smiled, then Hel pointed at Gymbr and said quietly: "Say it. Say it, or I'll tell them to leave you here as a gift for the Pious. And you know they will. They've kind of had more than enough of you, I think."

Both sides of Gymbr sighed, then closed their eyes, lowered their heads – mirroring, but at least this time in parallel directions – before they finally murmured: "We are willing to recognize... we may have made... errors. But everything we were doing was in Valhalla's best interests..."

Hel rolled her eyes, then reached out and flicked the gnarled horn of Gymbr Luna, making both sides wince a bit before the goddess said sourly: "You lost your frigging mind again. You're one part drunk and one part junkie, and you thought it'd be fine and swell to make yourself one part ruler of the entire universe too. After you apparently fought for years, uselessly, against these guys?"

"We fought the Light. These Pious... they are only part of the Light. They fear the Light." Gymbr muttered, and Luna couldn't help but buck firmly, making the two groan in pain. Then they closed their eyes and both sighed loudly, before the dual entity murmured: "You cannot blame this all on us. We put fear into the Pious... we... we needed to do something that would stop them! We needed to avenge Kvasir, our friend, even-"

"At the cost of Heaven, banana cake." Hel said gently, and then the ice puppet reached out and patted Gymbr Luna a few times on the head, earning scowls from both sides of Gymbr. "You really gotta get better at math, sweetie. One minus one is still zero. Whether they're apples or oranges, you take one away, you're still left with dirt."

"Go away, goddess. Crow your victory and go away." Gymbr growled, but the ice puppet only snorted, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms as she leaned back. "We are not amused-"

"Well, this isn't really an amusing time." Hel retorted blandly, and then she looked down at Luna Brynhild, who was scowling up at her. "I know, you want answers. But I want to make sure everyone gets out of here, first. Here's a hint, though, if you kill Gymbr right now, then Valhalla will start to lock down. And the first thing that'll shut off is that energy in the air that makes it easy to portal around. Meaning if we kill Gymbr, or we leave a little too early, we won't be able to save the Looking Glass or the Broken Mirror."

The sapphire mare looked moodily over her shoulder at this, nodding uneasily before she gritted her teeth as she murmured: "The Pious waited until our armies had clashed, weakened each other... and now they have moved in and started culling, haven't they?"

Hel smiled slightly at this, reaching up and tapping a finger against her temple calmly as she said wryly: "There's those old Valkyrie instincts finally kicking in. That's right, cinnamon, and the moment they felt Gymbr fall, they started moving in."

"And thou art saying..." Luna looked up silently, watching as another ice puppet floated down to Twilight, and she could almost hear it telling the golem-bodied mare that it was time to leave. "Thou art saying we are supposed to abandon Valhalla. That the Pious... are going to take over Valhalla. That we have rid it of one cancer only for another to move in!"

Hel smiled faintly, and then she leaned slowly down and said quietly: "They took you out with a touch, cinnamon. Look, you and chocolate pudding and vanilla wafer all have to go and recuperate for now, and sweetie... I might not have much love in my heart for this place, but I still have a little. And I'm greedy. Which means that we're going to lock down these ruins of Valhalla as much as possible. But the Pious are going to spread through the Vale all the same... they're going to try and expand their Empire of Greater Heaven and..."

Hel glanced up, cocking her head thoughtfully as she rose a hand to one ear, before grunting and waving her hands hurriedly at the ponies as Twilight Sparkle approached. "Okay, time for you to leave. Take Gymbr with you: if you want answers, keep the twins alive. If you wanna kill him I'm fine with that too. Either way, it's all gonna come out in the wash next time we get a chance to talk. But you have to get Gymbr out of here now, to force Valhalla into lockdown.

"And take this, too!" Hel's voice came from another puppet as the soulstone core flew down out of the sky, and Scrivener Blooms caught it more by luck than anything else with a wince. "Just keep it away from half-and-half there."

Gymbr only scowled at this, and then Hel snapped her fingers, a vortex of energy slowly swirling open as her other puppets continued to flit throughout the portal room. Luna looked uncertainly up at the dark goddess, but Hel only gestured at the portal, meeting her eyes and saying quietly: "You don't have to trust me, honey. All you have to do is trust what happens when you step through that portal."

Luna was silent for a few moments... and then she, Scrivener Blooms, and Twilight Sparkle strode into the vortex, knowing no other choice, filled with questions they couldn't even begin to guess at the answers to, and carrying with them a broken god split into two halves, that closed its eyes and wished miserably with both parts of its dual mind that it had never been born.

Act II: Theology

~BlackRoseRaven

---

The Child's Tale

Once upon a time there lived a child, who was very much alone. The only friend he had was what he called his 'sky friend;' some would call it merely his imagination, others would say it was a guardian angel or a protective spirit, others... something else entirely.

The child wanted to be loved by the world, and wanted to share his love with the world. The child wanted to be more, more than a lonely little lost soul, hidden away in the abandoned orphanage. The child wanted to have more than the discarded scraps cast off from all the other children who had left this place long before he'd arrived here.

The child wanted to be more than just a long-forgotten ghost.

Often, he would sit on the upper floor of the orphanage, and gaze through a hole in the ceiling. The night was cold and painful, but the stars and the moon gave him hope and were pretty, shed light through the deepest shadows. And then sun was beautiful and powerful and it brought light over all of existence... without the day, we would have nothing, he thought to himself. Without the day, we would be left in darkness. And everyone would be as alone and cold as I am.

That thought was awful. Everything that came from darkness was tainted, and evil. Everything that came from darkness was bad, like the spiders and the rats, like disease and death. Darkness was used by bad people, who tried to hide in it: but good people cut through the darkness with light, like the stars and the moon did.

The light was good. The Light was good.

His sky friend talked to him whenever he sat down to look up at the sky outside. His sky friend told him stories, about how the world had once all been One, and One Together. There had been no war then, and evil had been vanquished instead of allowed to flourish. Sometimes his sky friend wished that everyone would be One Together again... but they had chosen to break apart, and you had to respect what people chose.

The child didn't understand this, not completely: after all, people kept him locked up here in the darkness, didn't they? He wasn't free to leave this place: he was shunned, and treated badly because he was different. To him, it seemed like everyone was trying to be one anyway. Why shouldn't they be helped along on that process? Then he could be one with them, too...

But he never argued with the sky friend. He liked the sky friend. The sky friend made him happy, happier than he'd ever been alone. He didn't want any of that to change.

One day, however, it did change, because the sky friend stopped talking... and the child had no choice but to go looking for his missing friend. His friend was in the sky... so the child made himself a set of wings from old clothes and faded dreams, and with faith and hope, he flew up into the sky.

The child never found his friend, but he found the world his sky friend had come from. And it was pure, and it was good, and there the child was welcomed home and embraced in the arms of what he could only describe as Light.

He never forgot his sky friend, but he wondered sometimes why his sky friend had never told him about this wonderful place. Of unity, of oneness, and of great happiness and joy. He grew quickly strong there. He grew quickly happy there. He became a great king, promising to help spread unity and oneness and the Light...

But all of that is a story for another day.

Chapter Thirty Six: Chain Reactions

~BlackRoseRaven

Luna and Scrivener were in Ponyville, trying to make sense of what had happened. Trying to figure out what the hell they could even do at this point, as the sapphire mare kept obsessively playing with the soulstone core, rolling it back and forth and making it glow every now and then, but never really managing to summon up any of the tremendous powers contained within. She thought it might have to be fused into her body to do that, and the sapphire mare thought one chunk of soulstone sticking out of her was more than enough.

She sighed quietly, lowering her head and closing her eyes. It had been three days, and there was no sign of Terra, Pinkamena, or Sleipnir. And of course, Theophilius was nowhere to be found. Or Kvasir, or... whoever, whatever the hell he really was. It... well, none of it felt very good. Especially because the little they'd heard about what was going on in Asgard...

Valhalla was sealed, and if anyone was still inside... then they were probably stuck there. The Vale, meanwhile... well, on the one hoof, now they understood why Gymbr had gone to such lengths, why he had warped and spread darkness throughout Heaven. The darkness was trying to hold back the so-called 'purity' the Pious were bringing with them... but the Angels of Greater Heaven and the fact that the Vale itself was being drained of strength from the mighty castle that ruled Heaven closing itself off meant it was a losing battle, even before considering the fact that somehow, the Pious were overriding the Vale of Valhalla's lockdown.

Hel hadn't been by yet, and Gymbr... well, once they'd gotten back to Looking Glass World, and Luna had realized they were right outside Ponyville, she had flung Gymbr Luna as hard and far away in one direction and kicked Gymbr Scrivener in the other. The screaming and howling of the two had eventually drawn other ponies from Ponyville as well as a few demons, and with some wheedling and a few sour remarks from Monkshood, she had finally picked Gymbr Luna up by the horn and dragged her over to Gymbr Scrivener so they would stop... well, melting, it almost looked like.

"I suppose we cannot traumatize the innocents of Ponyville." Luna mumbled disconsolately from where she was laying on the library floor, and Scrivener shrugged moodily, looking up as the sapphire mare picked up the soulstone orb between her hooves and rolled onto her back, studying it crankily. "And I suppose we cannot put off visiting the bastard any longer. Or bitch. Or... I need a new swear for them, or it, or whatever Gymbr is."

"Two genders, one pronoun." Scrivener muttered, and Luna gave him a wryly-amused look, the stallion looking up and shrugging a bit. "Hey, I hate them too. My form of being cranky and upset is just. A little different than yours."

From the table, Celestia sighed quietly, and Luna and Scrivener both softened as they looked towards the ivory mare. But she only looked back at them tiredly: her mane was still long, ivory locks that didn't help much with her ghostly appearance, even though she had knotted and braided most of her long mane, if only to keep some kind of order to it. And more than that, there were the lines of scar tissue up along her chin and over her cheek: gifts from Gymbr that likely would never heal. "You should go and speak to Gymbr. Find out what he knows. And then you should help Twilight Sparkle out with Innocence. I've never seen her try and force a jump between host bodies so quickly. She's upset, and Innocence is..."

"Aye." Luna nodded a little, looking down before she sighed softly. "But Twilight desires to try and... mend her daughter herself at this moment, and neither Scrivy nor I are in any position to argue with her. Furthermore, Innocence is restrained: three layers of antimagic rings around her horn, three layers of weighted bracelets around her legs. Not that I think any of them are necessary... she is..."

Luna shivered a little, not wanting to talk about it, not even wanting to think about it as she looked away before softening and returning her eyes to her sister. "Besides, look at thou. Hurt. Drained still. Thy mane will no longer even glow, and thou still art all sore and cranky."

"I'm cranky because we just gave Heaven up to the Pious after saving it from Gymbr, like pathetic little foals scampering away because Mother told them to." Celestia muttered, and Luna and Scrivener both looked up at this uncharacteristic fit of pique. The ivory mare rose a hoof to her mouth after a moment, lowering her head and closing her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm... I'm in pain. And finding out about Hel not only being Odin's daughter but now the one to save us..."

"I should have told thee sooner, but..." Luna smiled briefly, and Celestia only nodded a little, lowering her head. "So thou... truly did not know?"

"No. I was Vanir originally, remember... my brother and I came to Odin after he took control of the Aesir." Celestia rubbed slowly under her chin, then she sighed a little and smiled faintly. "It shouldn't bother me that Odin kept it secret. I can understand why he did. But it does. And it bothers me we're going to be forced to work alongside her now, to fight off these Pious... these invaders..."

Celestia dropped her front hooves against the table, then slowly flexed them as she closed her eyes and lowered her head. "The fact Gymbr is alive and we have information to grind out of him frustrates me. What Innocence has done, sacrificing her honor and everything up to her very soul for more power kills me inside, and makes me want to beat her within an inch of her life. The thought that Kvasir might be Theophilius Carter... that something has happened to him, created this... I don't have the answers and I can't do a single thing to help!"

The ivory mare suddenly yanked up a heavy book and flung it across the room with a snarl, the tome hitting the shelves with enough force to knock more spilling out in every direction, and all eyes stared for a few moments at this before Celestia looked down at her own hoof and clenched it tightly, trembling and breathing slowly. "I'm... I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me..."

"Anger, Celestia. That is all. Thou art no different from usual, do not worry." Luna soothed, and she smiled as she stood up, lifting the soulstone orb with telekinesis to float it beside her. Celestia glowered at her sourly, but Luna only shook her head and said gently: "'Tis true. The only difference is that right now, thou seems... unable to completely repress thy emotions. And that is a state I am all too familiar with, big sister."

The ivory mare looked down, then she sighed a little and slowly relaxed, murmuring: "Alright. Alright, maybe you're right. I suppose it's stress, adding onto whatever Hecate did to me. That's all. I need to... I just need to relax and regain my energy."

Luna smiled supportively, and then she poked at her older sibling a few times with her horn, making Celestia wince and push her away before the sapphire mare chastened: "And thou must stop sending Bob on all these silly little missions, fling him into bed, and ride him until he breaks. I am sure that will help with thy mood too."

Celestia smiled a bit despite herself, sighing and lowering her head before she said softly: "I'll keep that suggestion in mind Luna, thank you." There was a pause, and then she reached out and hesitantly took the soulstone orb from Luna's telekinetic grip, studying it slowly and murmuring: "Maybe I'll... do some work on this to get my mind off things for now. I've been hesitant to attempt to interact with it at all, since it seems to be composed of both Hel's arts and Gymbr's energies, but... I suppose since it hasn't hurt you..."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Luna scoffed, but even Scrivener Blooms gave a bit of a smile at this: after seeing Luna lick the soulstone orb yesterday, he had already become pretty convinced himself it seemed to lapse into dormancy without a living body fused to it. Or maybe because it was designed for Gymbr, it only works for Gymbr... a combination of us...

Luna glanced over at the stallion, then she shook herself briskly before striding over to him and poking at him a few times with her horn. Scrivener simply rolled onto his side and pawed a Talon against her face to try and discourage her, but Luna huffed and leaned forwards to beat her front hooves in a light tattoo against the stallion's side. "Up, up on thy hooves... or claws, or... bah, whatever! We are healed, we are here, and we do not need to be either useless or helpless right now. We must go and speak to Gymbr, find out what he knows about everything that has been happening... after all, he said... 'twas the Light that was the true foe upon the march, aye?"

Scrivener Blooms nodded slowly, and he grimaced a bit: he really didn't want to go and talk to Gymbr. He was all for giving second, third, more chances, sure, but there were certain things he felt kind of made you deserving of being sent to Hel's sandbox for forever and a day. Included in that short list of things was destroying all of Heaven in a retarded bid to try and save it.

"Well, we are not offering atonement. We are offering them a chance to... try and make things make sense." Luna said after a moment, shaking her head and grimacing in distaste. "It does not mean we shan't punish the creature, nor that we will ever let them out of that cell beneath the engineering lab... except perhaps to move him to a better cell in Subterra."

The stallion nodded again after a moment, and then he sighed and picked himself up, muttering: "Alright. Alright, I guess you're right. Still, I do kind of hate that he's alive at all."

Luna smiled wryly, replying: "Well, perhaps he won't be alive for very long, Scrivy. We shall see what he has to say, and then we shall judge from there. 'Tis well in our right to, as Gymbr is..."

She only grimaced and shook her head, and Scrivener smiled a little before he and the mare dropped their heads together with a quiet clunk for a moment, both ponies closing their eyes. Celestia gazed over at them softly, resting a hoof on the soulstone core before she said quietly: "Don't hesitate to do whatever you have to in order to get the information."

The sapphire mare looked over her shoulder at Celestia for a moment, then she simply nodded and gave a small smile as Scrivener looked down at one Talon, then flexed it slowly, studying the runes that danced almost invisibly over it for a moment before he dropped the claw back to the ground, the two ponies turning to head towards the exit and let themselves out of the library.

Ponyville was bustling, busy... but there was a sense that all the same, these ponies were afraid. Not for themselves, but for the ponies who were about to pass on. Heaven was a battlefield right now, after all, between a force of blinding light and a force of corruption and darkness... and who knew what was happening to the souls caught between?

Scrivener smiled faintly, shaking his head briefly as Luna glanced over at him curiously, before the stallion muttered: "All the atheists are laughing at us right now. I mean, what's the point of Heaven if you just end up miserable and tormented for an eternity or two? At least dying and going to nothing must be... kind of peaceful-like."

"How can it be peaceful-like if there is nothing to be had?" Luna argued as they walked side-by-side down the street, and Scrivener shrugged a little as he looked skywards. "Given the choice between death and torture, Scrivy, many ponies say they would choose death... but the body will fight to live all the same. Our instinct to survive and fight... 'tis powerful. 'Tis rare that it is ever truly drowned or beaten."

The stallion nodded a little, looking down thoughtfully and studying his own strange claws before he murmured: "Not that our instincts are always good though. Not by a long shot."

Luna gave a brief smile at this, and they were mostly silent as they made their way slowly through Ponyville. Ponies looked at them worriedly, a few even approached and asked if they could help... which was usually a veiled, careful way to ask about what was going on.

They were as gentle as they could be in reply, since they didn't want to start a panic, and sometimes the ponies were... a little scared of them. Not that Scrivener could blame them: they were both big, scarred warrior ponies, and Luna had a frightening soulstone horn and Scrivener had his Talons. He flexed these again as they walked onwards, and as glad as he was for these prosthetics, at the same time... he regretted that this had ever happened in the first place. That he'd had to give up so much... that he would never be able to just, remove them, and have his hooves back...

Luna bopped him gently with her horn as they stopped in front of the engineering building, and Scrivener Blooms grunted a 'thank you' to her before she flicked her horn and threw the doors open. They walked inside and let themselves into the employee area, walking down halls that were much busier than usual... but then again, Cowlick was already working on defense systems that would help them deal with the Pious.

Neither Scrivener nor Luna wanted to imagine what would happen if the Pious decided to try and bring war to Looking Glass World, however: things were bad enough as it was. Instead, they focused on just continuing to move forwards, heading into the bowels of the facility.

They had to pass through two security checkpoints: the first was just a sealed door Luna growled at as the magic eye scanned over her, then opened. The second had several Nibelung in armor, who scanned Luna and Scrivener after having them walk through an antimagic field. The stallion flexed his Talons uneasily as they buzzed and hummed with energy, and Luna glared at a Nibelung that stepped forwards to frisk her, the dwarf staring at her for a few moments before awkwardly stepping back and away, simply giving a thumbs-up to another Nibelung on the other side of a narrow plate-glass window.

The massive, vault-like door unsealed and was pushed slowly open by two dwarves, Luna huffing as she strode through with Scrivener Blooms in tow. The passage they entered into was dim and dark and narrow, deep, deep below Ponyville: this was a place where Clockwork Ponies and other dangerous technologies of Valthrudnir had been kept, and where a few particularly dangerous prisoners were locked away and kept under close watch in iron cells.

Nibelung and demons patrolled the halls, and Luna looked moodily back and forth as they walked along, checking the layout for any possible vulnerabilities until they reached the prison block. They had to pass through a heavy gate, then stop in a security area for yet another check before the last set of gates slid open and let them into the prison, Luna grumbling: "They should be focusing on not letting those inside escape, instead of making it so damnably difficult to visit these cells."

Scrivener only shrugged absently as they walked down the middle of the prison hall to the last cell in line: like all the others, it was sealed by a heavy, armored door, but what set it apart was the circle of runes glowing quietly over the front of it. It prevented mindreading and psychic intrusion, meaning even a gifted psychic wouldn't be able to see into the room.

Luna flicked her horn, and the sealed door glowed before it clanked and slowly swung open. The occupants of the cell looked up at the same time, calmly tilting their heads towards their visitors as they sat back-to-back, before Gymbr Luna and Gymbr Scrivener both smiled and said: "We've been waiting for you. We suppose you have questions: we will do our best to answer."

The two ponies entered the cell, and Luna calmly closed the door behind her, letting it seal shut. Gymbr studied the two silently, as they gazed back, before the linked entities asked softly: "Or have you decided that our information has no worth, and you are simply here to torture us, perhaps kill us?"

Luna and Scrivener traded looks, and the two sides of Gymbr again closed their eyes, acting as one. "We will be disappointed if you are: not that you would torment or kill us, no... we are you. We would do the same in your position. In fact, we tried to do the same when we feared that you were a threat, did we not?"

"Reverse psychology. Telling us that we're doing what you would, in the hopes that it'll make us not want to do it." Scrivener said sourly, and then he halted and grimaced as he looked around the twenty foot square cell, muttering: "The horrible part is that it's kind of working. Except I also want to put you in a kennel like I used to be stuck in."

"We remember that. It was not the cold that was the worst... it was not the cramps, or the pain. It was the sense of the world passing by..." Both sides of Gymbr smiled faintly, looking down as they closed their eyes. "And the smell."

Scrivener Blooms found himself almost murmuring the last part along with them, and he shivered a little: that was precisely how he'd described it once to Luna, and the sapphire mare herself looked unsettled before Gymbr slowly looked up and whispered: "We do not like being apart. It hurts us. We are one: we are not meant to be apart like this."

The charcoal stallion and the soulstone-horned mare traded uneasy looks, both feeling chills run down their spine at what sounded... prophetic to them. Then Luna grimaced and shook her head, muttering: "Thou can be together when thou art both dead. And for thy information, I do have many questions for thee... perhaps if thou answers enough of them I shan't have to torture thee. Because we are not like thou, Gymbr. The night must bring justice as well as vengeance."

The linked ponies both only smiled and shook their heads, and then they said quietly: "Such things are determined by history and the eye of the beholder. And how do you presume to bring justice upon us? Is there any judge who has not already declared us guilty before the trial begins? Is there any jury of our peers, who can understand us, who are not already contaminated with hatred for us? Is there any lawyer to defend us to the full extent of his ability? Well, we suppose there is always the last. There are always the greedy, and always the idealists."

Luna and Scrivener were silent for a moment, and then the sapphire mare stepped forwards and slapped Gymbr Luna hard, knocking them both sprawling, the two perfectly reflecting each other even as they both chuckled and stared at the ground, whispering: "Yes. We are too weak to fight back, completely at your mercy, unable to use any of our powers in this broken state. Perhaps your idea of justice is not so different from our own."

The sapphire mare bared her fangs at this, but Scrivener reached up and caught her shoulder, glaring down at the dual entities before he said moodily: "Maybe we should just move on to business."

There was silence for a few moments, and then both sides of Gymbr nodded and closed their eyes, saying quietly: "We realize that we made a grave error of judgment. Fuse us back together: we do not ask for our soulstone core, only that we are... again made one. We have no beating heart, we have no Kundalini... we do not even know how we are still alive. Perhaps it is simply because of our will to survive... perhaps it is our punishment, for what we have done wrong."

"Life alone is not enough punishment for thou." Luna growled, leaning down and glaring at the copy of herself, and then she shook her head and said quietly: "I promise thou this, here and now. I will not work beside thee. I will ensure thou art not freed. And already I have asked my servants to prepare a special cell for thee, deep, deep in Subterra. The only thing I am willing to offer thee is this: if thou provides us useful information, I shall not have thine other half dragged to the other side of Equestria. And it is only after this... whatever-it-is with the Pious is over that I shall permit thee to die. Either thou lives as prisoner until the Pious are driven back, and then executed for thy treason... or thou lives as prisoner, does not tell us all thou knows, and I shall ensure the Pious find thee and are able to do whatever they desire to thee if we are defeated."

There was silence for a few moments, and then both sides of Gymbr closed their eyes and murmured: "Well played, Luna Brynhild. You are cunning and cruel, and... remind us of a younger us. By which we mean no offense: perhaps the younger us was a better us..."

Scrivener Blooms only grunted moodily, while Luna Brynhild shook her head slowly before simply glaring at the creature, and both sides of Gymbr tilted their head back and forth as if in thought for a few moments before nodding briefly. "Then today we shall tell you of what we saw of the Light, and who we fought beside."

"Greater Heaven?" Scrivener Blooms asked quietly, and Gymbr laughed quietly at this: the way the sounds overlapped was... beautiful, but also frustrating, and purely creepy from the fact this was... this was essentially some unfused version of himself and Luna and...

Scrivener shuddered a bit, as Gymbr explained: "No. Greater Heaven is a place of absolute peace, where there is no toil, no work, no anger. It is a place without hatred. And it is a place without love. It is a place where all things move according to the Light."

"What the hell is this Light?" Scrivener asked sharply, gesturing with a Talon as he shook his head with a grimace. "And I mean, yeah, Greater Heaven doesn't sound good for us but... it sounds like some people's idea of-"

"Do not defend them!" It was the most emotion Gymbr had managed to summon up so far, and it was somehow unsurprising to see that it was coming from anger. Gymbr Luna's horn flashed, and Gymbr Scrivener's claws flexed... but then both sides of the entity gasped and fell weakly against each other, closing their eyes, rasping for air.

Scrivener and Luna traded looks, and dual creatures shuddered weakly before they whispered: "Greater Heaven is nothing but a lie of order. A soulless, empty machine, worse than Valthrudnir's Decretum, where at least the Clockwork Ponies act with some semblance of intellect. We have seen Greater Heaven. It is awful, and it is empty, and everyone there is calm... calm, peaceful, and utterly alone. We would not wish that upon even Hel.

"And that is all aside. We fought the Light upon another world. A world the Light had already cut out of our cluster of countless worlds, but one that even while it was dying, took much semblance to our own. They were careful: they chose a world we did not know about. A world that has not been mapped, or even visited by any outside presence for many years." Gymbr continued quietly. "The Light is careful. It desired to learn about us before it challenged us, now that the one thing it feared is gone..."

Luna and Scrivener frowned, and when Gymbr smiled at them, they understood. They both reared back, unconsciously mimicking each other as the dual entities nodded to them, even as Scrivener Blooms whispered: "Valthrudnir?"

"Yes. The parasite kept the disease at bay. The Pious and the Light would not dare attract Valthrudnir's attention." Gymbr's heads shook briefly, and then the dual entity smiled again, with bitter amusement. "We wonder often what Valthrudnir would think, if only he had learned that it was his presence that kept the Light at bay for so many years... it was not until they were sure that he was gone they began to make their intrusions against our world, after all."

"But the Pious were here before... Selene was buried here." Scrivener said slowly, as Luna only remained silent, trying to work out facts in her mind: besides, they always did better this way. Scrivener handled the conversation; she dealt with hitting and threatening whoever they were dealing with when it was necessary. "She was made from... a demon and a Greater Heaven Angel, right?"

Gymbr nodded calmly and said softly: "The Pious retrieve powerful demons to use as breeding tools, to create Nephilim. The Nephilim are their siege artillery... incredibly powerful, but their bodies are... unstable. Frail."

"Selene." Scrivener murmured quietly, nodding slowly. There was silence for a moment, and then both Scrivener and Luna looked pointedly at the two sides of Gymbr, and the dual entities nodded, both closing their eyes.

"We are remembering." they said softly, and for a few moments there was silence before they picked up their story. "The world of the ponies was much like ours, but... vulnerable, soft. It was a world where Nightmare Moon had never existed, nor Veliuona, nor... many other things. Even the dragons were... soft. They did not have hard scales, nor did they breathe fire. They were tamed by earth ponies... we taught them to use the dragons as mounts in war, instead of play... we... we tried to save them... we tried to so hard to save them..."

Gymbr looked down silently. "But we did not. We failed them. We failed Kvasir, and we failed Foldraumr. The Light was more powerful than we had anticipated, and more numerous: the Light washed over us, and even after we drove it back with darkness... even after we freed so many souls from the Light's cruel grip... the Light wounded Kvasir. And Foldraumr made... a mistake."

"Foldraumr..." Luna frowned, lowering her head and thinking hard... and then her eyes widened before she looked up and whispered: "The Jötnar messenger? We remember him..."

"Yes. Who our brother doted on whenever he came to our court. Who even Odin did not raise weapon against. And who was one of the first of his own kind to be slain by Valthrudnir's treachery. But the Jötnar do not die, and Foldraumr's spirit was not pulled into the Void. He only wandered Niflheim, watched as it collapsed into Helheim, watched as Valthrudnir struggled to find the core world. And for many years, he searched for someone who could commune with him. And who he eventually found was the Goddess Hel, after being drawn into the special purgatory she keeps for her fallen... compatriots, we suppose they are."

There was silence for a few moments, as Scrivener and Luna tried to digest this, and then Gymbr smiled faintly. "We think it is her idea of honoring them. A strange one perhaps, but... we neither know nor like Hel. Not as well as we came to know our... friends."

Gymbr was quiet, the two ponies that made up this dual god looking away silently for a few moments before they both nodded, then said softly: "Hel gave a locket to Foldraumr, that she filled with holy water that would contain his essence. It acted as an anchor, and she taught him to create a body for himself of ice and snow, like her own puppets. Hel sent Foldraumr to find us after Kvasir's disappearance: she thought a Jötnar would be able to stand against us. Would be a match for our glory."

The linked ponies both smiled grimly, closed their eyes, bowed their heads forwards. "Of course, he was nowhere near our power, our majesty, our might. But he did not have a chance to test us: his presence in the world... the Blinded Realm, it attracted the attention of the Pious there."

"So there were Pious there. Not just this... Light." Scrivener said slowly, and Gymbr nodded before the stallion asked finally: "The Pious are... they're controlled by the Light? But if I remember right... you accused the Pious of sending the assassin after Kvasir, too. But the Whistler can't have anything to do with the Light. He killed the Pious."

"Yes, he did. He killed Pious that had made contact with the unwashed. Your mind is telling you, showing you what you want to see... but see the entire picture. See how they were killed." Gymbr's sides encouraged, and then both sides of the god gritted their teeth as Gymbr Luna struggled to make her horn light up with magic, gasping for breath as she concentrated on a spell, and both Luna and Scrivener looked at her not just with wariness, but pity.

The Gymbr Luna cursed weakly, straining, her body trembling with the effort as her horn flickered weakly in and out as she stared up at Luna Brynhild almost desperately, and after a few moments the sapphire mare finally sighed quietly and lowered her own head, saying dryly: "This had best not be some stupid trick, Gymbr, or by all of Asgard I shall smite-"

A spark of energy flew from gnarled, twisted alicorn to soulstone horn, and Luna Brynhild winced backwards before her eyes widened: for a moment, she saw a flash of images overtop reality, of Gymbr's memories... of the Blessed that had been butchered sloppily in Heaven, and the Pious, so neatly, calmly killed, by something that...

"The assassin killed them quickly, was intimate with the knowledge of their bodies... but it was not brutality, not viciousness that made him so sloppy with the others. He did not know where to strike, how to cut or hurt the Blessed, because they were not... something like his own." Luna's eyes widened, and then she shook her head hurriedly, exclaiming: "But the Whistler... he was so different! He-"

"We enjoy your name for him. Yes, he is different... because he is not made as the Pious are. We have told you already... the Light has more at its beck and call than just the Pious. The Pious are merely the servants we see most often... the Pious are enraptured with the Light, that they call the True God, He Of The Many Countless Faces." Gymbr replied softly, shaking its heads slowly. "Foldraumr was to be taken before him, but we saved the Jötnar. And in gratitude, he joined us... until Kvasir was wounded, and dying."

There was silence for a few moments, and then both Gymbr halves looked down and said quietly: "Foldraumr believed that his life essence would save Kvasir. He only meant to give Kvasir a single drop... but Hel leaves not even the hearts of her servants without trap or cunning trick. The moment the locket was opened, Foldraumr's entire life poured out, his spirit absorbed into Kvasir: it was clear what Hel intended. To overload whoever attempted to claim her servant's powers for their own and kill them.

"But Kvasir is made of many gods, of many ages, mixed together by Valthrudnir. The essence of the Jötnar and the powers of so many gods mixed together..." Both sides of Gymbr lowered their heads silently. "These opposing forces created chaos. Chaos, that could not be controlled nor contained. Chaos, in the form of what the Draconequus call the Mad Hatter."

"God and Jötnar, mixed together in the same vessel..." Luna shivered and shook her head, then she asked finally: "But he was with you, on this... blind world?"

"The Blinded Realm. But he was... it was not our fault." Both sides of Gymbr looked up, as if asking for mercy, as if pleading for a chance to explain itself. "We... we had no choice but to banish him. His powers were too great, too out of control... at first, he was not... he was both Foldraumr and Kvasir, fighting for dominance in the same vessel... we did not know he would survive, and he was attracting the eyes of the Pious! We had no choice but to send him to Ginnungagap and flee to continue our battle with the Light!"

There was silence for a few moments, and then Luna closed her eyes and shook her head slowly, murmuring: "No. Thou did have a choice. And the decision that thou made is what sets thou apart from us... what makes thou Gymbr, and us Brynhild and Scrivener." The sapphire mare looked up coldly, shaking her head as she bared her fangs. "We never abandon an ally... we never toss them into the seas of chaos, and we never flee the enemy!"

"And look at how that's turned out for you!" shouted both sides of Gymbr, the mare side a little louder than the warped stallion half. "You have destroyed us, the only being capable of standing up to the Light! You have lost Heaven to the Pious, the very enemy we were working to stop!"

There was silence for a few moments, and then Luna gave a thin smile, shaking her head slowly as she said softly: "Oh, aye. Our fault, aye. Our fault that thou art a coward, and a waste of life and energy. Thou had powers beyond that of a god, and thou wasted them all. Pathetic, weak and stupid creature. Loathsome, broken wretch. Nay, even wasting these words upon thee... 'tis a crime. 'Tis a crime, because to even acknowledge what a worthless wastrel thou art... that is giving thee far too much credit, far more than thou deserves."

There was silence for a few moments, and then both sides of Gymbr smiled bitterly and shook their heads slowly, saying quietly: "You are so quick to judge us. You are so quick to tell us that we are fools. But what about yourself, Luna Brynhild? You are not without flaw and weakness. You are not without your own crimes and sins... such as your desire for milking Scrivener Blooms of his vital essence any way you can. That was never a weakness we had, as we recall..."

Luna snarled furiously at this, her eyes flashing, but Scrivener Blooms only shook his head in disgust and muttered: "No. Now you're just trying to get us mad at you. Which is stupid, considering that we all kind of want to kill you, but I guess it also goes to show that you really must hate yourself for what you've done. Which somehow... I don't find all that comforting."

The sapphire mare growled moodily in agreement as she settled back slightly, her eyes narrowed, her expression dark and foreboding as she muttered: "Aye. Well, keep this up, Gymbr, and we shall introduce thee to our own tortures. We know well what thou liked to pride thyself in, twisted creature... we shall see what thou thinks of us after we demonstrate that we are just as capable as thou art in such arts."

"We would welcome it." Gymbr replied quietly, and Luna and Scrivener traded uneasy looks. There was silence for a few moments, and then both halves of the god lowered their heads, closing their eyes and saying softly: "We know, do you not understand? We know that we have... ruined everything. And now we fear for the future, because... you are us, Luna Brynhild, Scrivener Blooms. You are us. You prove that with every day that passes, more and more... you are us."

The two ponies traded uneasy looks, shifting silently as there was a long, uncomfortable pause, and then Gymbr said quietly: "We have told you what we know. We nearly defeated the Light... we drove it back, for a time. And we discovered that our darkness could blot out the Light infecting people's hearts. We will teach you this, and we will give you all the rest of our knowledge as well. We only ask that you keep your promise, Luna and Scrivener: keep us alive until this war is over. And when it ends, you will kill us."

"Thou shall make no demands of me." Luna said icily, and then she looked down for a moment, licking her lips slowly before glancing up and asking impulsively: "The soulstone core. Will it be of any use to us?"

Both halves of Gymbr only laughed quietly, looking down before they whispered: "We saw that the Pious tried to steal it. They must know it is the source of our power. He Of Many Countless Faces must desire it, to continue to make himself stronger, to make his Light... shine, through this universe, and blot out all lunacy, and anger, and hate, and reason."

"You know, it's because you say things from the absolute worst possible viewpoint that might have helped convince us you were nothing but a lying asshole." Scrivener said sourly, and both sides of Gymbr scowled up at him. He only glowered back, however: Gymbr was too weak to hurt him, and it wasn't as if he was afraid of physical pain anyway. What scared him was what Gymbr had said before: that they were just like him. That they were him.

Luna shook her head fiercely as she picked up these thoughts, looking over at the stallion and muttering: "Nay, we are not. And I think we have had enough storytime for today, unless thou can tell us... what we should expect from the Pious."

Both halves of Gymbr only smiled at this, raising their heads before they said softly in unison: "We know that if you are anything like us, you have already begun to piece together what they are capable of in your mind, Brynhild. Just as we know you would prefer to find out for yourself what they are capable of... we only ask that you will keep in mind that turning your back upon one is a bad idea."

"I remember its touch... how that alone was enough to steal all the energy from my body..." Luna murmured, and then she shook her head briefly before glowering a little at the dual entities. "Very well, be useless, Gymbr. But if we die-"

"The Pious are not among the worst creatures you have faced. Yes, they are powerful... but they are very... brittle. You will discover how easy it is to rip them apart with your bare hooves soon enough." Gymbr replied pleasantly, and Scrivener and Luna both traded awkward looks before both halves of the god bowed their heads to them. "We must keep some information to ourselves to ensure our survival. We fought the Light for years, until..."

"Until what? Why did thou give up in thy fight, Gymbr, if thou claims to have beaten the Light back, to have come from another world where thou wert ruler, King? Why wert thou so convinced thou had to take over Heaven, and not simply warn us of what was coming?" Luna asked pessimistically, and Gymbr only smiled with silent calm in return, looking up steadily until the sapphire winged unicorn snorted in disgust. "Very well, I see then. So be it. We shall speak of this at another juncture."

Both halves of the god nodded calmly, and Luna glowered between them before she reached out and smacked her mirrored half. It almost knocked Gymbr Luna over, her straggly blue mane falling over her face, and Luna trembled as her hooves dug against the cement, as she felt her shoulders hunch up and her breathing quicken. Her hooves itched to just... to keep hitting. To pummel this twisted version of herself until there was next to nothing left of her, just blood, and a smear on the ground.

She breathed slowly in and out before Scrivener Blooms reached up and squeezed the mare's shoulder gently. Luna grumbled under her breath, but she nodded after a moment and shook herself briefly, muttering: "Yes. Let us leave, before I give in to urges I should better resist."

Scrivener Blooms smiled a little, and then both he and Luna before the sapphire mare sighed and flicked her horn lightly as she turned, and the heavy armored door behind them clanked loudly before swinging slowly open. There was silence as they regarded the halves of Gymbr, their alter selves, for a few moments... and then finally, they turned and headed outside, the stallion saying finally: "We'll be back, Gymbr."

"Tomorrow, or the next day. We know. We look forwards to our next meeting." the entity shared between two bodies replied, and then both broken pieces of the god smiled and bowed their heads as Luna and Scrivener left, saying softly: "We look forwards to it with great expectation."

---

Innocence growled as she paced slowly around the den room of her old home... a home she hadn't been inside of for almost sixty years. Well, sixty years to her: her parents kept whining that it had been around a week for them, but she just found these complaints pathetic and annoying. Just because it was a week for them didn't automatically make it a week's worth for her, yet that was the way they were treating her, all the same.

She wasn't polymorphed: she couldn't. Her cutie mark kept glimmering with alien radiance, and she hated that she wasn't allowed to wear so much as a single scrap of cloth over her body. Her dark purple scales flexed and glimmered in the light as she shook her blade-like horn crankily, but there were three rings sealed around it, and she couldn't yank these off, nor use her magic to simply overload them.

Well, maybe she could do the latter, but what purpose would that serve? What these idiots didn't get, most of all, was that she didn't want to run away. She wanted to be with them: they were her parents. Not that it meant she loved them, of course, or anything like that... but there was this soft, weak little biological connection with them she could manipulate, as if their blood ties actually meant something, which was stupid.

But she would gladly use that to her advantage, all the same, if it would help her pursuit of power. If it would help her learn all the things Gymbr had apparently been too busy to teach her... and she snarled as she stomped a claw against the floor, her eyes glowing with anger, the weights around her lower limbs jangling together lightly. He'd blinded her with all his big flashy parlor tricks he'd taught her, promised her she'd be invincible, but then her stupid blood-mother had gone and taken her apart, piece-by-piece, like a helpless, worthless little toy...

But her Móðer and her blood-father had destroyed Gymbr... and then the monsters that Gymbr had been fighting, had taught her to fight, had swept in and ambushed them. It disgusted Sin that they had been forced out of their own home by the angels, but she understood that. What she didn't understand was why they were sticking around at all. Hell, she didn't understand why Gymbr had been determined to stay in Valhalla, trying to eke out every little bit of training and creation he could... which the moron had lost everything from, thanks to refusing to shut down the Hourglass.

So her mother and father had proven themselves superior, stronger than Gymbr. She guessed that meant Twilight Sparkle probably was, too, but... she found it harder to take advice from and simper up to her blood-mother for many different reasons. Innocence scowled a bit at this, and then she flung herself down on the bedding and closed her eyes tightly.

For now, she was stuck here, trying to pretend, to make nice with Mommy Dearest, though. What she really wanted was to go and find Luna and Scrivener, however... to try and convince her parents, her real parents, that their way of thinking was outdated and outmoded, and wouldn't help them survive against the Pious. And most of all, to get power from them: she would do anything, anything, in order to have them start teaching her, to sample their energies, to learn how her father controlled corruption so well and study the enhancements he had made upon himself...

She would do anything. For now, they wanted her to be their little girl, which she did her best to do. She would have much preferred if they wanted her body or even the position of slave... although after all her years with Gymbr, and the palace of pleasure they'd lived in, the hedonism and the power, and just the... the getting to do whatever the hell you wanted feeling, so long as you listened to the God Gymbr and worshiped him however he asked to be worshiped... and she had come to take a twisted enjoyment in serving the whims of others, so long as they were more powerful than her.

Innocence shook her head briefly, then he reached up and rubbed grouchily at her horn again. She had been out of touch with so-called 'normal' ponies so long that it was hard to remember how she should act. After all, almost all her time in Valhalla had been spent either training, letting Gymbr experiment on her, or simply enjoying her time with her lover, her master, and all his many admirers and... hobbies. Like causing pain: sometimes to her, but in a good way... sometimes to others, in a very bad way. He had taught her the finer things in life: how to absorb the energies, even the souls of others to enhance her own strength; how to torture and maim; the best ways to use her body to pleasure others... and pleasure herself, especially by hurting others.

Then Innocence looked up crankily as Twilight Sparkle entered the room. Her coat looked bleached, and she had stitched herself up with heavy string painted with an elixir that would help keep her spirit locked solidly into her body. She was trying to smile, and like a child, Innocence blew a raspberry at her when she entered, making the Lich sigh and lower her head a little.

There was awkward silence for a few moments, and then Twilight Sparkle shook herself briefly before she straightened and said quietly: "Innocence, I think today we should go for a walk to-"

"Ponyville? Yeah, let's parade me around like a war trophy. Maybe I can meet all my old friends, who, as you keep reminding me, are only a week older than we last met. I'm older than Antares now, immortal, and a goddess! I don't want to play... hopscotch with Clinker, or waste my time with little baby foals and little baby foal games." Innocence retorted icily, and Twilight Sparkle sighed and dropped her head, closing her eyes. "Why don't you go cry a little, Mommy Dearest?"

"Stop calling me that." Twilight said quietly but firmly, even as her eyes stared down at the floor with almost-tangible melancholy. She sighed a little, glancing over her shoulder and stretching her discolored wings: they looked a little waxy still, like they were only half-formed... mostly because they were. She had never jumped between bodies so fast before... she was surprised her magic even worked, but this corpse had come from a unicorn. A donation from the hospital, if she remembered right... but age, weight, gender, none of that mattered. A corpse was just raw materials to be reshaped into... well, her. She just always felt it worked better when the dead body was at least given up willingly.

They were silent for a few more seconds, caught in an awkward standoff, and then Innocence looked up and said quietly: "Look. I'll be nice to you. I'll even... pretend to be your daughter, if that's what you really want. But take these rings off my horn and these stupid weights off me, I'm not going to run away or fight you. You beat Gymbr. You proved you were superior to him. I want... you... and Móðer and Daddy..." The end of the sentence was almost rushed, before she put on her best pleading smile, leaning forwards as her eyes glowed. "I want to be a family again."

Twilight trembled, looking away. It was all so transparent... and it hurt so much, so goddamn much, to see Innocence behaving like this. To see her daughter, her own flesh and blood, willing to give up so much of herself just to try and get a little more strength, a little more power... "Please stop it, Innocence. I want that, I do... but we can't trust you right now. And it's not because I think you're going to run away or hurt us. I know..."

She shivered a little, thinking of the way Innocence had fawned over Luna and Scrivener. Thinking of how... obsessed she was, with power, with doing anything she could to get it. Offering them love, companionship... her body, her spirit, her very... soul. She had lost... all her morals, forgotten everything they'd taught her, simply... stumbled off the path, and Twilight was determined to somehow find a way to drag her daughter back into the light, one way or another.

Innocence cleared her throat loudly, drawing the Lich's attention up before the strange unicorn asked sourly: "So what do you want me to do then? What the hell do you want me to say? Am I just supposed to sit around until you suddenly start trusting me and loving me, remembering that I'm your own daughter, your flesh and blood again?"

Twilight shivered at this, at the way Innocence manipulated her so compulsively, plucked at her emotions with a terrible... naturalness. The Lich shook her head briefly, then said quietly: "Well, I'm not going to take the rings off as long as you keep doing this, Innocence. Because you are my daughter and I do love you. And whether it's been a week or a lifetime, I still love you, and I'm still here for you. But I'm not going to just... give in and give you whatever you want because you think you can manipulate me or hurt me."

"I can hurt you." Innocence growled, and then she shook her head and snapped: "Any time I wanted, I could break out of here! It wouldn't take more than... than half a minute for me to blow these rings off and then hit you with a dispel so powerful it would-"

"Snap my stitches, and weaken me, but it wouldn't kill me, Innocence." Twilight replied quietly, shaking her head briefly before she closed her eyes and said softly: "You're arrogant. That's arrogance, not confidence, Innocence... that's a weakness, not something to be proud of."

Innocence only growled moodily in response, and there was silence for a few moments before the Lich suggested hesitantly, taking a few steps forwards: "Why don't I call Luna and Scrivy and Antares? And I'll invite Scarlet Sage too... we'll have a family night together. How about that?"

"Is that suppose to make me go teary-eyed and turn over a new leaf or something? Or are you going to actually all show some spine and maybe listen to what I have to say instead of just... whining and whimpering and complaining and trying to make me a good little girl again?" Sin asked with disgust, shaking her head briefly. "What does it matter? Say I do honestly enjoy myself. Say I do try and make nice with you all. Say that everything goes according to plan. Well, why do I feel that even if all that happens, you're still not going to believe me, no matter how honest I am, how open I am, how truthful I am?"

"I can tell when you're lying, Innocence." Twilight said softly, and the strange unicorn gave her a moody, almost disgusted look. But at the same time, there was a childishness in her eyes that the Lich found oddly reassuring. It was a reminder of the past, of how strong-willed her daughter had always been, about how they had always clashed... and yet how, all the same, they had always found some level of friendship, camaraderie, trust between them. They had always been mother and daughter.

Innocence huffed in response, and Twilight smiled faintly in reply to this before the Lich asked gently: "Would you like me to ask Scarlet Sage to bring Mercury and Lily too? It's been a long time for you since you saw your cousins... but... you have to promise to behave around them."

The strange unicorn scowled at her mother, but then Twilight leaned forwards, voice even as she continued: "You could consider it a little bit of a challenge, maybe. If you can behave yourself around your cousins tonight, if you're willing to show that you can play well with others and that you can swallow all this... bitterness and hatred you've learned... then I promise I'll remove your rings. But if you upset anyone, especially those foals... then I'll leave those rings on for at least a month."

Innocence shivered at this, reaching up and touching her horn as she felt a twist inside her stomach. A month without magic... her powers would probably start to weaken. As it was, she felt... weaker than she had been before, and she blamed that on Twilight Sparkle. Sure, Celestia and Twilight had both tried to explain to her that she had been stronger because of Asgard's energies, and that now that she was out of accelerated time her body was going to get weaker... but she thought it was all lies. It was just something else for them to try and leash her with, which was strange, considering... she had already promised to bow to them...

She shook her head briefly, then sighed tiredly and studied Twilight Sparkle for a few moments before licking her lips and saying slowly: "I don't think my cousins are going to like see me in these heavy manacles and these rings... you better remove them for tonight. I know you can always put them back on me later."

"And I know that the moment I take them off you, you'll lash out with a blast of pure magic energy and attempt to destroy your restraints." Twilight replied quietly, and Innocence bared her teeth almost in challenge before the Lich said softly: "And I'm asking you right now not to, because I will."

"I promise." Sin said immediately: she didn't mean it, of course. The moment Twilight took off her restraints, she planned to disenchant them into oblivion... and possibly smash Twilight with an exorcism just to show her she wasn't afraid of her.

Twilight sighed quietly, studying her daughter intently before her horn began to glow. Innocence looked up eagerly as the suppression rings started to lift slowly free of her horn... and the moment she felt all three of them slide free, she lashed her horn out, focusing all the magic she could into a wild blast-

It did nothing. There wasn't even a spark, and Innocence mouthed wordlessly before she cursed as all three rings slammed back into place on her horn, staggering and trying to reach her claws up to grab at her horn... and instead only toppling over thanks to the weight of the restraints around her forelimbs, groaning in pain as Twilight said quietly: "I'm very disappointed in you, Innocence. For not keeping your promise... and for not even being able to detect an antimagic charm."

Innocence blinked stupidly, then slowly stretched one limb out, staring at it with disbelief. Antimagic runes were glowing over it... and the strange unicorn trembled before she shook her head fiercely and shouted: "Y-You tricked me! That's not fair!"

Twilight smiled faintly at this irony, then she said quietly: "That's not our fault, Innocence. You tricked yourself, not bothering to check your own restraints over. You at least recognize those weights are enchanted, don't you?"

Innocence flushed in humiliation, shivering a little before she snarled as she picked herself up, snapping: "Look, shut up! I'm stronger than you, I'm better than you, you won because I was weakened from the pulse and you... you cheated! F-"

Then Innocence winced as there was a faint spark along her forelegs, looking down dumbly as Twilight gave a small smile and said softly: "I just put that enchantment on you. I learned it back when I was trying to find alternatives for a swear jar, because... Luna wasn't really getting the idea of it. I put it on you while you were busy temper-tantruming."

The young mare mouthed wordlessly, then looked stupidly down at her faintly-glowing bracers before she looked up and snarled: "You b-"

A sharper blast of electricity shocked over her, silencing her with a wince, and Twilight couldn't help but smile a little wider. Innocence shouted in wordless fury, then stomped her claws angrily before her horn began to glow brightly... but a moment later, the glow was absorbed into the rings instead, an the strange unicorn stumbled backwards with a wince of pain before she trembled, then simply collapsed forwards on her front.

Twilight gazed at her daughter, her smile becoming fainter, sadder. She studied the mare as she trembled... and whether she was supposedly Antares' age or not thanks to the time distortion of the Hourglass, right now she looked... every inch just the upset little girl she had once been, beaten after too many attempts at spells above her level, or who had tried so hard, for so long, to learn to fly... but every attempt had ended in this. Well, more scrapes and bruises, but the feeling of misery and self-pity and self-loathing was there, and all the same.

That was Innocence. That was her little girl, that was Innocence. The Lich smiled faintly, shaking her head briefly, taking a strange... reassurance in this in spite of everything, before the violet mare said softly: "Tell you what. Why don't we sit down together and have some ice cream? And then we can go to Ponyville, see some of your old friends, and pick you up a nice little outfit for tonight. Then we can go to Scarlet Sage's and politely invite her and her family to come and have dinner with us tonight, and stay around afterwards for a little while to play games and... spend time together. Get to know each other again."

Innocence scowled at this, then she slowly pushed herself up to a standing position as she asked with disgust: "So you think that after all this, you can make everything better by... by sitting down and having some ice cream with me? You really think I would be spending any time with you at all if I had any choice whatsoever in the matter?"

Twilight Sparkle only shrugged a little at this, then the Lich said softly: "I'm reaching out to you, Innocence, but I can only stretch halfway. One day, I'm going to find the one thing that's going to make you stretch back to me... no matter what it is. I love you. I love you, and Scrivener and Luna love you, and we're all determined to... to help you find yourself and remember who you are."

There was silence for a few moments, as Innocence trembled a little, looking down and closing her eyes for a moment, fighting off these strange feelings that rose through her before she sighed tiredly and looked up, asking in a tired voice: "Alright. Fine. Whatever. I could care less, just... stop talking to me and stay away from me."

The Lich only shrugged and smiled faintly, and Innocence chewed on her lip before sitting back and silently watching as Twilight headed to the kitchen to put together a few bowls of ice cream for them... and even with as hard and cold and greedy as she had become, she couldn't fight the sense of nostalgia that washed over her, tinged with longing, and regret that she pretended was just more anger at being denied her right to pursue both power and freedom.

Chapter Thirty Seven: A Normal Family Gathering

~BlackRoseRaven

Mercury was gazing adoringly up at Innocence, while Lily looked a little more nervous at the sight of her cousin. Luna kept glancing at Sin and giggling despite herself as Twilight looked less-enthused: for tonight, she had removed the rings from her daughter's horn, since the enchantments on her bracers were more than enough to keep her magic in check.

To draw attention and questions away from her bracers, Innocence had picked out some clothing: a flowing black cape, and much-more-notably, a spiked costume collar locked around her neck. Mostly because it upset Twilight, Scrivener thought wryly, but he wasn't about to go and say anything. Besides, at least Innocence was... trying. A little.

Most of the family was clustered together in the den room: Antares and Prestige were both glowering now and then at Innocence, and Aphrodisia was trying to be nice to her cousin, although she was a little bit distracted; understandable, with her parents still missing. Apple Bloom looked more than a little uncomfortable, slowly sipping whiskey from a tall glass as she leaned over the kitchen counter, while Scarlet Sage kept studying her sibling intently.

But Celestia, Luna, and Scrivener were trying to sit back, trying to give Innocence a little space, and Mercury and Lily seemed... their normal selves, really. Sure, one was excitable and one was a little... worried-looking... but then again, that was the usual state for both of the young fillies.

They had eaten a small, awkward dinner outside: Innocence had loudly, clearly asked her father to make her steak as rare and bloody as possible. Which almost made Lily throw up and Mercury grin widely and look excitedly at her parents, but both of the mares had only glared at her, and the Pegasus filly had promptly and meekly asked for just a little bit of green salad.

Then they had all come inside, to have drinks and conversation... well, sort of. There wasn't much of either. Apple Bloom was the only pony drinking anything, let alone anything with alcohol, and Luna, Celestia, and Scrivener were the only ponies keeping up any conversation.

Eventually, however, Mercury cleared her throat and sidled a little closer to Innocence, asking finally: "So... so you... it was a long time for you, right, even though like... for us it wasn't. I mean... you look so huge and strong, Sin!"

Innocence wanted to glare down at the foal, but after a moment she only grunted and nodded. And after a few seconds of Mercury looking up at her excitedly, she finally said almost grudgingly: "Yeah. For me it was more than sixty years, actually. I'm an adult now, Mercury."

"Oh." Lily said in a very small, very quiet voice, clearly getting the hint, although Mercury only frowned up at Innocence.

The strange unicorn rolled her eyes at this, starting to open her mouth to snap something... and then she caught the curdling glare Apple Bloom was giving her, and Sin felt... she felt odd, for a moment. It woke up memories that seemed... fresher somehow these days, while everything that she had experienced in Valhalla was starting to feel... more faded, was breaking up in her mind, like she was losing those memories because her mind and body were adjusting to this world's time again.

No, that was impossible, that was just... a trick of her mind. She just felt... all the things she did from Apple Bloom's glare because... she was letting herself feel too much, she was indulging nostalgia too much. But maybe tonight that wasn't entirely a bad thing, she thought, as she shifted nervously... and then said almost abruptly to the two fillies: "But I remember... I remember the times we spent together. I didn't... I didn't have friends like you in Valhalla."

Innocence tasted these words and realized with surprise... it was true. She hadn't really had any friends in Heaven. Dusk and Myre and Twilight Shadow had been... servants, really. Puppets, almost, serving Lord Gymbr... and because Gymbr had told them to, serving her. Doing her every whim. Teaching and sharing with her all their forbidden knowledge but... not friends. Even when they were good to her they still weren't... friends.

She shook these thoughts hurriedly off, then forced a small smile as she asked: "Do you two remember when we were kids and we went into the Everfree Forest on our own? Well, you didn't want to go, Lily, but Mercury and I convinced you because I said the forest would protect me, so it would probably protect you too... and Mercury just threatened to beat you up..."

Mercury huffed a little, but the young Pegasus had flitted into the air, looking warmly down at Innocence as Lily looked up a bit less warily, a bit more openly. And most important of all, Innocence felt Apple Bloom loosening up a bit, her gaze more appraising now as Innocence continued the story with a bit of a smile: "But then we ran right into that giant tree spider..."

Across the small room, Twilight smiled a little at her daughter, even as Luna said softly: "She is trying, I think... but she is like thou art, Celestia. Or wert... always assessing others, never able to sit back and simply have a conversation, constantly seeking to twist things to her advantage. I... I am very worried for her."

Scrivener and Celestia both nodded a little, and then Twilight Sparkle said quietly: "Don't judge her right away, Luna... I mean, look at Applejack. She's... Avalon still has her under careful watch at Sweet Apple Acres but she's... she seems okay. She seems like her old self, even if Gymbr... got his claws into her and..."

She fell quiet, and Celestia murmured: "But the long-term effects remain to be seen, Twilight Sparkle. Anyone... even someone as honest as Applejack, I'm sure, can put on their best face for a few days. We won't truly understand how she's perhaps... changed... for a few days yet."

The Lich looked down and nodded slowly, giving a quiet sigh and murmuring: "I guess you're right, yeah. I'm... I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself, but I can't help it. I just hope... I need things to work out with our little girl, one way or the other."

Luna nodded slowly... then frowned and looked up uneasily as Nightmare Moon whispered through her mind: Then let her choose: if she chooses us, to come to us, prostrate herself before us... so be it. She is an adult, powerful, almost a goddess as she claims to be, and she is filled with desire for more... we understand it, do we not? We should... feed her... we should give her, anything she begs for...

"Silence, monster." Luna hissed through gritted teeth, and when Celestia frowned over at her, the sapphire mare shook her head and muttered: "Nightmare Moon has an... unwelcome opinion on the matter, that is all."

Twilight Sparkle shivered and nodded a few times, then closed her eyes as she felt Nightmare Moon slide into her thoughts for a moment, trying to be soothing, reassuring... and in all the wrong ways. In ways that made her tremble, made her angry, and made her... terrified, with how rational and delightful they sounded despite how... awful they were at the same time.

"That worries me." Celestia said quietly, and all three ponies looked up as the ivory mare lowered her head a little, her eyes flicking across the room towards Innocence to study her as she said softly: "Nightmare Moon might attempt to take advantage of this situation with Innocence. In a way, she and Gymbr... have similarities."

Yes, except I am not weak and stupid. Nightmare Moon replied calmly in the minds of the three linked ponies, and then Scrivener winced as he felt her invisible hooves slide up along his spine, sending chills through him as her voice whispered seductively in his ear: We remember the story, Because Love Conquers All... we saw the mistakes we made there, the weakness we showed. We will not show that weakness again. Don't you want to give your little girl what she wants?

Scrivener Blooms grimaced and didn't reply, looking silently up into the corner of the room, while Twilight Sparkle gazed across at Innocence, then shook her head and said softly: "Our daughter... I believe our daughter is in there somewhere. She's... she's a good girl. She's strong. She... she's just a little... lost right now, but we can help her find herself, with love and support and compassion."

That's all I want, too. Nightmare Moon said gently. And the awful thing was, that in this masochistic, twisted passion-entity's mind... she was speaking the truth. She wanted to make them all strong, lock them all together with unbreakable bonds, give them love and affection... Yes, yes! Exactly. So why do you still refuse me... Lord Scrivener Blooms, my King of the Night, my god. Do you like that? Or do I need to add more emphasis to the word... worship you more... or perhaps I should prove that I am loyal to you all and share my affections with Mistress Luna, or Twilight Sparkle...

"Get out of here. Get out of our minds, now, we will... we will deal with thee later." Luna growled to herself, and there was a flash of eyes and smiling teeth in their mind before the sense of Nightmare Moon finally faded away.

Celestia studied the ponies, watching as they relaxed, but also traded almost ashamed, worried looks, before the ivory mare simply nodded a little to them and said quietly: "I know and trust that... Nightmare Moon still serves a purpose, Luna. She's part of you... and part of Scrivener, and you too, Twilight. It's hard for me to say this right now, with frustrations running high, but... please try and work with her, not against her."

Luna grumbled moodily, then she sighed and nodded before looking to the side as Antares slipped a bit towards them, the glossy-black unicorn saying quietly: "Maybe, guys, we should... play a board game or something, I dunno. But I think we kind of need to stop... talking. About each other. Just in case because... you know."

The sapphire mare looked at her son for a moment, and then she sighed a little and nodded grudgingly before glancing over at Scrivener Blooms questioningly. The stallion only shrugged lamely, and the mare rolled her eyes as Twilight only looked almost longingly, lingeringly, at her daughter. But the Lich felt the briefest spark of hope, too: Innocence didn't seem like she was paying as much attention to the world around her as she was to Mercury and Lily, though, and Mercury was laughing and Lily was smiling hesitantly...

"Let's play charades." Twilight suggested suddenly, and an awkward silence fell through the room as all eyes stared at her, the Lich blushing slightly before she said firmly: "Team Charades. Let's play charades, two teams, and-"

"We'll lead!" called a voice hurriedly, and a moment later Discombobulation bounced into the room from down the hallway, carrying an excited-looking Pinkie Pie with him. He dropped the pink mare to the ground, and she stumbled only a little, giggling and seeming only the slightest bit disoriented as the chaos entity explained awkwardly: "Well, you know. When we hear there's a party, we have to come... knocking. No, that's not the saying. When the... boat's rocking? Don't come... how would you knock on a boat?"

"It could be a flying boat. Or you could have your own boat. Or maybe you can fly!" Pinkie Pie suggested positively, and Discombobulation nodded meditatively a few times before the bright pink pony called brightly: "Kids versus adults!"

Innocence immediately scowled at this, clearly feeling like she had just been labeled as one of the children, but a moment later Antares, Prestige, and Aphrodisia were pushed firmly over to sit with her, Mercury and Lily. That left Scrivener, Luna, Twilight, Celestia, Scarlet Sage and Apple Bloom on the adult side, as Pinkie Pie happily bounced between them, Discombobulation flicking his wrists as cufflinks popped into being around his wrists and a small bow tie appeared around his neck. "Okay, fantastic! Now, we need paper. Scrivy, where's all your paper?"

Scrivener only stared at Pinkie Pie, much like a rabbit in a snare, but after a moment Discombobulation made a large top-hat appear out of thin air, holding this by the brim and reaching inside to pull out a large book labeled 'IDEAS.' "Not to fear, my beautiful assistant. I'll just put this back in here, and with the magic word..."

Discombobulation dropped the book into the hat, and there was a puff of smoke before he looked up and declared: "Klaatu baarada n... n..."

He broke off into a fit of loud coughing, then paused and peered down into the hat, then looked slowly back and forth, clearing his throat and saying awkwardly: "So I... I said the magic words. Yep. Just.. going to take this and go now, I guess..."

A moment later, a skeletal hand shot up out of the hat and seized into his face, and Discombobulation winced as Mercury squealed in terror and Celestia sighed in exasperation even as a smile crested her features. Luna snorted in amusement despite her moodiness, and Twilight rolled her eyes before Discombobulation yanked his head away from the skeletal hand and it vanished back into the hat, the Draconequus muttering: "Well, at least I still have my hand. And there's no Evil Bob running around with a shotgun."

Discombobulation paused, then shook the hat firmly, and the skeletal hand popped out after a moment, but this time held up several scraps of paper. "Alright, Team Patronized, you'll go first. One of you will come up and grab a ticket, and then act out whatever that ticket has on it to the rest of your team. If they can guess it with the time limit, you get a point. If they fail to guess it, then Team We're Better Than You 'Cause We're Old gets to play. It's the same setup, but if I have to repeat myself because you're senile, I won't hold it against any of you. Except you, Tia. I'll hold you against me any time you like."

Celestia smiled softly, her mood visibly lightening as Aphrodisia stuck out her tongue and Antares called loudly: "Hey, Bob, I think that mean you have a fetish for old people. No offense, Aunt Tia. But he's right, too, you know: you're kind of old and stuff."

The ivory mare only gave the stallion an amused look, and Discombobulation sniffed loudly before replying mildly: "At least I'm not technically committing necrophilia. Although I suppose in this particular room, that accusation has all the indignity of 'your girlfriend has remarkably normal sized breasts.'"

"My bosom is far from normal sized." Luna declared loudly, and Antares slowly dropped his face in a hoof before the sapphire mare began to sit back, but Scrivener and Twilight both winced and grabbed her, halting her and making her huff. "Oh, damn thou both. And damn my teats."

"Damn your teats." Scrivener muttered in agreement, and Luna glowered at him before she firmly bopped him with her horn, making him wince a bit before he blurted, unable to stop himself: "You should be glad they're hard to see because they're hard to see anyway."

Luna stared at him, and Scrivener stared back before the mare punched him across the face, knocking him sprawling even as her own head twisted to the side in pain. Twilight Sparkle only closed her eyes and covered her face, not just in embarrassment, but because here they were trying to make Innocence feel welcomed and remind her of her life and family...

But amidst the laughter, Twilight heard a sound that made her ears twitched, looking up past her hooves with surprise and hope... and seeing Innocence, a claw over her muzzle, maybe... maybe a real smile on her face as she stared at Luna and Scrivener. As she studied them, watched how they interacted with each other... and even as hopeful and optimistic as Twilight was, she didn't think that Innocence was actually being suddenly healed. But she did think that Innocence was... maybe, just maybe, starting to remember how life had been...

After a few moments, Celestia dragged Luna off Scrivener Blooms, and the stallion sat grumpily up, his bruises faintly reflected here and there on Luna's features. They glared at each other, leaning slowly in until their faces were pressed together before Discombobulation remarked: "If you're done providing the sideshow, let's move on to the main event."

Luna grumbled under her breath, then nodded moodily as Scrivener Blooms reluctantly drew his eyes towards Bob as he shook the hat, and the skeletal hand sticking out of said hat waved back and forth, still clutching a set of tickets. "Alright, come on, Team Patronized. Send up the first victim."

Mercury immediately leapt over and shoved Lily forwards, and the young filly winced and shook her head hurriedly, panicking a little as she babbled: "N-No, I can't be first, I... I don't... I mean, I can't act in front of... I'll just, I m-mean, I'll j-j-just-"

"No, no, me me me!" Aphrodisia declared, leaping forwards with a bright smile, and she bounced happily over to yank a ticket away from the skeleton hand sticking out of the hat before looking down and reading it with a giggle. "Oh, I love-"

Discombobulation winced and reached his metal hand out, hurriedly covering her muzzle as Pinkie Pie said quickly: "No, no, Aphrodisia, you can't talk now. You have to act out whatever it is, you gotta do it silently. You know, like... if I was doing bicycle..."

Pinkie Pie hopped into the air, then floated eerily as she pedaled for a few moments, forelegs out in front of her as she swayed cheerfully from side to side before she dropped back to all four hooves and smiled over at Aphrodisia. Apps only smiled brightly back and nodded as if nothing was out of place, as Scrivener and Luna both slowly tilted their heads and wondered – not for the first time – whether or not Pinkie Pie had some other latent psychic power apart from precognition.

Then the demon spun around and looked down at her card again before tossing it in her mouth and swallowing it. Antares gave his cousin an amused look as Lily and Mercury both stared and Innocence only looked sourly at the demon... then frowned when Aphrodisia began to make large, awkward strides on the spot, hopping from hoof-to-hoof.

"Uh. Are you... dancing?" Antares asked awkwardly, and Aphrodisia huffed at him and shook her head violently. When the rest of her team continued to look dumbfounded, she groaned before leapt into the air, wildly flailing her legs beneath her before landing on the ground and bouncing high again, repeating the motion violently.

Antares leaned back, staring at her, as Innocence mouthed wordlessly and Mercury giggled stupidly behind her hooves. Prestige only dropped her face in a hoof as Aphrodisia began to make urgent little squeaks and waved her head wildly back and forth, until Lily finally asked meekly: "Swimming?"

Aphrodisia halted in mid-flail in midair, coming down on her hooves neatly and nodding brightly several times before she peered over her shoulder at Pinkie Pie. Her aunt cocked her head curiously, and the demon leaned forwards, asking in a loud whisper: "Can I talk now?"

Pinkie Pie nodded firmly a few times, and Aphrodisia bounced happily on her hooves, calling cheerfully: "Yes! You got it right, Lily! Does that mean I get to go again?"

"No, it means you go join your team and someone else comes up here." Discombobulation replied mildly, and the demon nodded a few times before prancing over to Innocence, the strange unicorn staring in disbelief before she winced as Apps happily bulled her over to the Draconequus, even as a bit of a hush fell over the room and Antares glared horribly at his cousin.

But Aphrodisia only smiled insistently, then she firmly kissed Innocence on the cheek, making the strange mare wince to the side and groan with a roll of her eyes before she scowled up at Discombobulation. He looked back at her sourly, then cleared his throat and held the hat towards her, the skeletal hand shrinking a bit away even as it nervously offered her the tickets.

The mare reached up and yanked one free, feeling moody as she glowered around the room, coming a little back to her senses from the... the stupidity, and the silly nostalgia she had almost let herself get drawn into. She sighed as she held up the card, studying it for a few moments before snorting in disgust. She didn't understand what the phrase was, but all the same, she thought she could handle it well enough.

She held up four claws, and Aphrodisia looked blank, but Antares said mildly: "Four words. 'I am a butt,' right? Or maybe it's just 'big dumb stupid butt.'"

Innocence glared at Antares, and Twilight winced and gestured sharply at the glossy black unicorn, but he only grumbled a little before settling as Innocence sourly held up her middle claw, gesturing pointedly at Antares. The stallion rolled his eyes at this, then gave a few dry little chuckles before saying flatly: "First word, right?"

Innocence nodded with a saccharine expression, and then she suddenly... stopped. She felt everyone's eyes on her, and all her confidence drained completely out of her body as he mouth fell a little open, her eyes darting back and forth as she realized that... maybe she actually couldn't handle doing this stupid, mortal game after all. Maybe she actually couldn't... all the power in the universe, and here she was, more helpless than her stupid cousin to play this stupid game.

How the hell was she supposed to act this out, anyway? What the hell made her so cocky to think she could just waltz in and do everything right? And why in the name of Helheim itself did this suddenly become such a huge thing to her? Except she knew what it was at the same time: it was that they expected her to act like an idiot, to put herself on the same level as them, and they were all watching her, staring at her, judging her, like she had never been judged by Gymbr: Gymbr had just given her more, and more, and more, and more...

Antares opened his mouth... then he softened a little as his sharp eyes picked up on Innocence, realized that she was actually very close to having a panic attack. He could almost feel her writhing emotions, and by the way Aphrodisia looked worriedly up, he knew that she did too: and suddenly, Innocence was just his baby sister again instead of... something he was much less fond of, and the stallion sighed a little to himself before he looked up and asked: "What, did you forget how to play the game already? Come on, Sin, act it out. It's not that hard."

Innocence glared furiously over her shoulder at him, and Antares felt her mood tipping lower... but as he'd learned, sometimes you had to give them a nudge and make things worse to open up the right avenues to making things better. And the stallion smiled a little at her, asking: "Volcano? Or a dragon? That'd be pretty cheap, seeing as you already got the face for it and all."

The strange unicorn bared her fangs at him, and Twilight gestured violently at Antares as Luna and Scrivener both stared at their son, before the glossy-black unicorn questioned curiously: "Anger? Hate? Frustration? None of those things? Because you know, if you keep this up, you're gonna run out of time and just prove me right, that you can't do it, baby sister."

Innocence's eyes blazed, and then she sat back, hissing through her teeth before she dropped her head, grinding her teeth together before she suddenly looked up and started to wave her claws around her head, glaring horribly at Antares the whole time. She made awkward swaying motions, and the ponies all stared as Antares grinned at her, teasing: "Saddle Arabian bellydancer?"

Innocence twitched, then made a horrible face and wiggled her claws... and Twilight could only gape at her daughter's back as both Luna and Scrivener stared with disbelief at Antares. But that was their son's talent, wasn't it? Reading into people, understanding them, doing or saying just the right thing at just the right time.

"Oh, I get it. Ghost." Antares said in a knowing voice, and Innocence grinned as if in victory as she snapped her claws, nodding firmly before biting her lip and quickly holding up four digits. "Okay, fourth word, right?"

Innocence nodded several times, then the strange unicorn shifted back and forth. She began to hesitate again, and Antares leaned over, saying mildly over to Aphrodisia: "Totally called it. One hit wonder. Starts great, then crashes, just like Móðer on her motorcycle."

"Oh shut up, great cheater, with thy... cheaty eyes! I demand my son blindfolded!" Luna shouted, and Discombobulation and Pinkie Pie traded looks, then both shrugged.

"Roulette is a bit of an adult game, Scrivener Blooms. And it's a very awkward game to play when there are family members all around you." Discombobulation commented, and Celestia cleared her throat and looked away as she covered her muzzle to hide a smile. Mercury and Lily looked up quizzically, and Pinkie Pie punched Bob lightly in the hip, smiling amusedly up at him as he looked innocently down at her. "Clearly I was referring to gambling. Whatever else could I be referring to?"

Innocence, meanwhile, was glaring at Antares again... before she suddenly wrapped her forelegs around the top of her head, squishing herself down a little. Antares only grinned a little at this, while the others looked dumbfounded, and Innocence growled in frustration before she flopped over on her side and curled up in a little ball, wriggling around on the floor.

"Ball? Bally? Uh... pinecone?" guessed Aphrodisia wildly, and Innocence let out a very loud groan of frustration before she rolled to all fours, then pointed several times at her back. "Spine? Floss? Uh... uh... tree?"

"How the hell did you get 'tree' and 'floss' from that?" Antares asked incredulously, looking over at Aphrodisia, and the mare huffed loudly.

"Hey, shut up. You've never been to Helheim, okay? Spines are perfectly good floss. They're all nibbly on your teeth and stuff." Aphrodisia said defensively, and all eyes stared blankly at her for a moment before she brightened when Innocence slowly, ponderously began to move around while still gesturing at her arched-up back. "I know, I know! Cat! No, no, wait, turtle!"

Innocence nodded several times, then pointed at her back wildly, and the demon flailed her cloven hooves as she declared brightly: "Ghost Turtle Cat!"

"That's... that's three words, genius, not four." Antares said after a moment, and then he winced when Aphrodisia punched him firmly in the shoulder, yelping and rubbing at this... then cursing when Prestige smacked his other shoulder, giving her an injured look. "What did I do?"

Prestige only glared at him, and then Lily nervously held up a hoof, asking uncertainly: "Is it... is it 'shell?'"

Innocence nodded brightly, grinning widely as she hopped to a standing position before quickly holding up both claws. She rose one digit on one, and two on the other, and Antares sat back and looked pointedly over at Prestige, who sighed and nodded as she said: "Second and third words."

"Thirty seconds!" Discombobulation declared, and Innocence's eyes widened before she panicked a little, looking back and forth before quickly making a dropping motion, like she was holding something and putting something inside a container...

The others shouted answers, overriding each other, and Innocence panicked a little as Antares watched Discombobulation's head ticked back and forth, counting down the seconds... and in the last few moments, the stallion looked up and said mildly: "Ghost in the Shell."

"Oh, Masamune. I bet if I was named after a famous sword, people would love all my work, too. But really, who would own a blade known as the Discombobulator?" The Draconequus paused, looking thoughtful as he tilted his head back and forth. "The Discombobulator. That's not bad, actually, if I do say so myself. Fear my wrath, for I am the Discombobulator."

He paused, then glanced at the others and added mildly: "Also you guys are totally disqualified because Antares was using his special eyes. We don't like special snowflakes here."

Antares and Innocence both shouted in indignation at this, Mercury and Aphrodisia both hopping forwards as well as the four swarmed around the Draconequus, but he winced and swung his hat back and forth at them as the skeletal arm sticking out of it waved and shook threateningly. He stumbled backwards as Pinkie Pie awkwardly pleaded for them to calm down while the others watched, before Luna huffed and said grumpily: "I desire to be part of the fight as well. This is nonsense."

With that, Luna hopped forwards, then spread her wings and dove into the fray, tackling Discombobulation over and sending the hat flying out of his grip, cards scattering everywhere as Antares winced and leapt out of the way. Then he dove forwards and into his mother, knocking her sprawling as Scrivener Blooms dropped his head and Twilight sighed, but smiled faintly all the same even as a miniature riot started in the middle of the den, as Innocence shouted angrily and swung wildly at the ponies around her.

At least their daughter was getting involved with the family again.

---

It was late, dark night, and everyone had gone home. Antares was staying the night in the guest room upstairs with Prestige, and Innocence was sitting quietly outside, moodily attempting to pry off her restraints and feeling... uncomfortable, simply put.

She felt so... so weird, that was all there was to it. Memories and the past, the way she had been raised and what felt like... something in her blood, in her muscles, was warring with all the years of experience with Gymbr she'd had. She lowered her head silently as she rested back on the steps of the deck, then looked up moodily at the dark night sky above.

She tried to remind herself that either way... this worked to her advantage, right? They trusted her more. They thought she was getting soft... when really, all this 'niceness' was just something for her to practice hardening her heart against. And if it gave her an in with her family, then it was all worthwhile, right? For more power, she'd do anything... until she was the one sitting high on the throne, and they were the ones licking her claws, worshiping her as goddess, until she was... she was a true goddess. Until she was able to rule over the entire universe, if she so chose... but she didn't think she wanted that. Maybe... maybe a world or two, yes. But she didn't really care about the weak, or worship from or love from the weak. The weak were just toys to her, to be used however, whenever she pleased: she wanted to attract the strong. She wanted to bend and break the strong to her will. She wanted to make the laws that the strong would have to obey, to have enough power and influence... one day, her parents would be there, carrying her throne for her, doing anything and everything she asked... anything and everything... and oh, when that day came, she would ask quite a bit.

But at the same time... she would always make sure she treated them fairly. Sure, she wanted to be supreme. Until that day came, she understood her role, her place... and even though she had no problem with the idea of killing, consuming, stealing from almost anyone and everyone... she felt... she felt strange about Luna and Scrivener. And even Twilight... and okay, maybe even Antares and her... other... blood-related biological relatives. She didn't... she didn't want to kill them or trample them.

Gymbr... at the end of the day, if Gymbr had stood between her and ultimate power, she would have had no hesitations about trampling and destroying him. Just like she never had any hesitations of doing anything, everything he asked her to do while he was superior, because he was superior, more powerful, and she was weaker. She had come to believe that was his given right. So she licked his hooves and thanked him for the experience. She made herself love him, worship him, adore him. But ultimately, if he had ever shown weakness, if she had ever grown stronger... she would have crushed and consumed him. Even right now... there was never a thought of trying to rescue him, or even visiting him. She had two new idols now, even if her attachment to them... her actual love for them... it made her feel uncomfortable.

She rubbed slowly at her shoulder, looking to the side... then she frowned over her shoulder when the door opened, and she made a face at the sight of Twilight Sparkle. The Lich stepped out with a small smile and sat beside her, and there was an awkward quiet as Innocence fought not to say anything. That was something else awkward: with Gymbr... hell, even with anyone Gymbr ordered her to serve, to please, to do things to – good or ill – she'd never had a problem making herself do it. She never had a problem putting up a false face, remembering it was all being done in the pursuit of greater power, and greater glory.

But Twilight Sparkle... made her mad. Made her upset. And sometimes, made her feel... ashamed of herself, which was the worst feeling of all, because it was so... pathetic. So weak. And she made her lose her false faces and lash out nastily and say things she regretted later. No, not because she cared about Twilight, of course not, she was just the piece of meat that had been used by her parents to give birth to her... she didn't owe Twilight Sparkle anything. She didn't love her, not one bit: it was just... a discrepancy. Twilight just got under her scales, that was all. Or maybe she liked to see her squirm, maybe she just couldn't resist picking and poking at the stupid... mare.

"You did okay today. Thank you for not upsetting Mercury or Lily... I think Scarlet Sage feels a little safer around you and... I know Apple Bloom settled down a lot once she saw you were treating the twins so well." Twilight said softly, and the strange unicorn only rolled her eyes. "Innocence..."

The Lich fell silent, and Sin kept her gaze moodily away from her mother... before her eyes widened in surprise as the restraints around her limbs glowed before simply falling free. She looked down at her claws, staring back and forth over them before she looked dumbly at Twilight Sparkle, and the Lich smiled faintly, saying quietly: "We had a deal, right?"

"You... kept your word?" Innocence asked with disbelief, and then she bared her fangs at Twilight, snapping: "Look, if this is some kind of trick, I'm not falling for it. Only an idiot would keep their word after seeing what I can do, I just... it's clear that I just looked after the stupid brats because I was in a bad position and you promised me this, why the hell would you-"

"Because if I want you to remember the value of honor, I have to teach by example." Twilight shrugged a bit, and then she leaned forwards and hugged her daughter tightly, Innocence freezing up and staring blankly over the mare's shoulder before the Lich drew back and smiled faintly. "I love you. Please don't stay out too late and tomorrow... well, maybe it's better if we just play things by ear."

There was silence for a few moments, as Twilight turned away and headed for the door, and Sin trembled a little before she looked over her shoulder and blurted: "If you love me, teach me how you beat me. Share Mutt and Daddy with me..."

Twilight dropped her head, and then she looked over her shoulder and studied Innocence for a few moments before the Lich hesitantly nodded and said quietly: "If I'm going to teach you anything... we have to start over at the beginning, alright? I have to teach you the basics all over again. And I need you to listen to me. Even if you're just pretending. You don't have to respect me, you don't have to love me, you don't have to do anything but... listen to me, okay?"

Innocence scowled a little at this, shifting uneasily and wondering if there was some trick before she leaned forwards and asked quietly: "So I can tell you I hate you, that I never considered you my real mother, that I know you're nothing but a flesh sack my parents use like any sex toy in the closet between them, and you'll still teach me?"

Twilight Sparkle trembled a little, lowering her head as she breathed slowly in and out, and then she calmly nodded once. Innocence frowned uneasily, shifting backwards and raising her head in disbelief, and the violet mare reached up and rubbed silently at her eyes as she murmured: "I want to believe you don't really mean those things. I don't think you do, but I know that... that you're a very different person now from who you used to be, Innocence. That hurts me, but I'm trying to find a way to accept it and... establish those old bonds between us so I can... show you that power isn't everything. That pleasure isn't everything. And I know that a lot of this is coming from the fact that you're angry at me. Maybe you think I failed you, or maybe you really have become so petty that you can't get over the fact I beat you."

Innocence lowered her head at this, flushing and gritting her teeth, trying to convince herself that was anger, that was hatred... that wasn't shame and embarrassment and she didn't feel like... like a chastened little filly. But what she found strangest of all was the fact that she looked up, she saw the unshed tears in Twilight Sparkle's eyes, and it didn't give her any pleasure. It almost made her own heart twist a little...

Twilight turned around, heading back inside, and Innocence looked up and said quietly: "I'll listen to you, Twilight. You're... for now, you're my superior."

Innocence gritted her teeth, as if expecting pain as the violet mare looked over her shoulder... and then she smiled softly and shook her head slowly, closing her eyes as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "No, Innocence. I'm not. I think your magic might be even stronger than mine... once you learn control, you'll be able to do things I don't think I ever could. But even if I was... I'm still not your superior. Superiority has nothing to do with strength. It has everything to do with how we use the powers we're given."

The strange unicorn frowned at this, tilting her head slowly, but Twilight Sparkle only smiled at her again before striding inside. The door began to close... but at the last moment, it swung back open a little, and Twilight leaned out to say softly, honestly: "Goodnight. I love you. Please try and get some sleep if you can. Tomorrow morning, we'll... start training, and I know Luna and Scrivener are going to be anxious to see what kind of powers you have, too."

"Goodnight..." Another word formed in Innocence's mouth, but she told herself she wouldn't let herself speak it. Except really, she couldn't say it, whether she wanted to or not. It felt like mud turning to cement in her mouth, and she shifted awkwardly back and forth as Twilight looked at her... then simply smiled faintly a last time and slipped away.

She turned around, looking back and forth with a soft sigh before her eyes slid to the doorway to the master bedroom, and Twilight dragged herself towards this before opening it with a tremble, fighting to repress her sadness, her pain... and strangest of all, that sense of... optimism. It was a bitter optimism, flavored thickly from her sorrow, but... it was hope all the same.

"Yeah, hope. I guess you could call it that." Scrivener Blooms said softly from where he was resting in bed, Luna smiling faintly and sitting nearby, the covers thrown to one side as Twilight closed the door behind her to lean against it and gaze at her partners silently. "You know, we could beat her up for you or something. Luna was going to suggest it, but... she figured it would sound a lot more threatening coming from me. 'Cause I'm a big scary stallion and all."

Twilight Sparkle laughed a little and shook her head slowly, gazing silently over the two before she murmured: "You two always know just how to make things better... or, well, so much worse that I guess I can't really help but feel like everything's going to be okay after all."

Luna and Scrivener both gazed tenderly up at the violet mare, and then she dropped her head and mumbled: "Okay. I'm going to come over there and cuddle with you both and you're going to remind me I'm not just a piece of meat."

"Luna and I could find much better pieces of meat if that's all we cared about." Scrivener said helpfully, and Luna huffed and punched him in the shoulder, making him wince a bit. But as always, Twilight couldn't help but sigh and feel... strangely reassured by the stallion's stupid comments. Partly it was because he could feel the intent, the emotion coming from him... but mostly it was the way he never took anything seriously, he always said something that would probably offend her... but he never tried to hurt her with his words.

She strode over the low mattress and flopped down onto the bedding, and her partners hugged her from either side, pushing their bodies close, sandwiching her in the safety, the sanctuary between them. She curled up quietly as she closed her eyes, and the world fell away, making her feel like there was nothing but this bed and the two ponies she loved so desperately. Making the hurtful words she'd heard over the day fade away until they meant nothing, cutting away the anxieties, the false leads, the flickers that seemed to dominate her mind but were really just shadows, obscuring the real worry, until she was finally able to whisper: "I'm sorry about Innocence."

"That is not thy fault." Luna soothed, silently stroking Twilight's mane back as Scrivener Blooms kissed the violet mare's forehead gently. "That is not thy fault at all... and no matter what, Innocence is still a blessing. And together, we are going to help her, to heal her, to fix her, are we not? This... well, I suppose this is just experiencing Innocence's angst-ridden teenage years, aye?"

Twilight laughed faintly despite herself, looking away for a moment before she said softly: "I like that I can be open with you... that I can tell you my every thought, literally share my dreams and my nightmares with you... but I get scared, too. Normal people... normal relationships... we all have our secrets, right? We don't reveal that we have thoughts like... if we weren't soulbound, or we weren't like... this, I don't think I'd ever tell you that I actually keep considering what Innocence wants, what Nightmare Moon wants. I think I'd pretend to be strong and pure and good and say... I never ever considered it in my wildest dreams. Because normal people wouldn't... would they?"

"Normal relationships last about three years before a breakup. Normal marriages these days are somewhere around like. A fifty percent chance of divorce." Scrivener said mildly, and Twilight smiled faintly as she nuzzled silently into his chest.

"Thirty-eight percent, actually." she said softly after a moment, and Scrivener Blooms gave her a quietly-amused look as Twilight closed her eyes and added: "The highest rate in Equestria, though, was... fifty-two percent. I think that was... sixty years ago, when marriage laws were being revised and civil court remedies were being discussed."

"I hate it and love it when you use big words." Scrivener said after a moment, and Twilight looked up at him as he gazed back down at her, before the stallion leaned down and shared a gentle kiss with the violet mare.

Her eyes slid closed, and she smiled softly before rolling over when the kiss parted, nestling back against the charcoal stallion's strong, broad chest as her mouth automatically rose to meet Luna's next, enjoying the kiss between them... enjoying the sense of being the connection, the conduit, between her partners. Sharing love with Scrivener; sharing love with Luna; mixing both together.

Their lips broke, but then Luna stole another kiss, and Twilight melted against her as she felt Scrivener's Talons slide along her form, making her shudder a little, shaking away the pain and the memory. His claws tingled against her body, and touched her just the way she wanted to be right now: he made her feel loved, and attractive, but didn't stray near those parts of her that were for more intimate purposes, didn't touch any of those zones that strayed towards sexual pleasure instead of sensual, softer comforts.

They knew her, inside and out, even without the soul link between them. They knew her, every detail of her spirit, every inch of her body, what she wanted, what she desired, what she hungered for. They knew her strengths, and her flaws: they loved her, and they knew how to make sure she knew it.

She breathed slowly in and out, gradually relaxing, her body losing its tenseness as she smiled a little and closed her eyes. Her mind settled, her eyes fluttered a bit before closing again, and she snuggled herself comfortably between her partners as she rubbed a hoof silently up Luna's chest, and the sapphire mare gazed down at her with soft affection in her eyes.

Scrivener Blooms squeezed the sapphire mare gently back against his body, looking down at her tenderly before he and Luna glanced up and traded small smiles. They gazed between one-another softly, then traded slow nods as emotions and mental images swirled between them through their linked souls, linked minds, linked, single heart.

Luna closed her eyes and smiled a little: she wasn't really sure anymore whether or not that was a metaphor, considering the fact that Scrivener Blooms... something beat in his chest, powerful, rhythmic, but she didn't know if it could precisely be called his 'heart' anymore. But then Twilight Sparkle laughed a little and nestled closer into her partners as she murmured: "A heart is more than just a thing that pumps blood through your body. Scrivener has a heart."

The stallion blushed a little, smiling despite himself as he silently reached up and stroked a Talon through her mane, and the violet mare sighed softly in pleasure, enjoying the feeling of those strong, those mental, but so gentle claws stroking their way through her locks.

She shivered a little, enjoying his touch, enjoying the closeness of them all, wanting it to last forever... but after a few moments, her eyes opened so she could look quietly up at Luna, saying softly: "I... I know that we have to speak to Nightmare Moon. I'm ready to, if you want to... and... I want us to consider whatever she has to say. No matter what it might sound like, no matter how insane it might seem. I know we need to look at this from every angle."

Luna and Scrivener both shifted awkwardly, then grumbled a little as they traded looks and moody nods after a moment as they felt Twilight Sparkle's quiet plea to them. There was silence for a few long seconds, and then Luna hesitantly reached up a hoof to touch Twilight's face, saying quietly: "Thou does not have to join us if thou does not desire to. And I know, more than worried about Nightmare Moon... thou art worried about Innocence. Thou can go spend time with her, and ensure she does not commit some folly or foolishness during the night."

"I'm not worried about her hurting anyone. I'm not even worried about her doing more than wandering the Everfree, or maybe trying to help herself to a little bit of Ambrosia from the tree... not that it'll do much for her, considering what I imagine Gymbr must have been pumping into her system." Twilight shivered and shook her head a little, then she looked down and murmured: "I'm worried about what she might do to you two. How she might try and... lure you both in."

"As if she has not tried plenty of ways already. We may have to lock our door at night... not because I fear her harming us, because I worry..." Luna shivered a little and shook her head, before she looked away and murmured: "She was to be a Valkyrie, Twilight Sparkle. I was so proud of our beautiful little girl... and... look at what she has become now. At what Gymbr has done to her... 'tis unforgivable. He stole her bloodline, her heritage."

"Gymbr... I can't believe what he's done to her. She was just a kid... I don't want to imagine the kind of brainwashing he put her through for his own sick pleasure. And... she has..." Scrivener looked down, closing his eyes. "You can't blame yourself, Twilight. All of us have flaws that... we know were mixed up dangerously inside of Sin. And Luna and I... well..."

"We did encourage things we perhaps should not have. Laughed at her antics when... mayhaps we should have been stricter with her. Better with her, more like thou wert." Luna added quietly, shaking her head slowly, but Twilight only laughed quietly at this and closed her eyes.

"I'm the one she hates now... maybe I'm the one who should have tried to act more like you." the Lich murmured in response, but then she gave a quick shake of her head and a small smile, glancing up quietly. "But none of that is really useful to think about right now, either. We should try and focus on the present, on helping Innocence any way we can. And on... dealing with the Pious, too."

Luna nodded, then she grumbled after a moment: "And neither of those things really require us to speak with Nightmare Moon, do they?'"

She only received faintly-amused looks from both Twilight and Scrivener, and the starry-maned mare sighed tiredly after a moment, quietly dropping her head forwards to gently bop Twilight with her soulstone horn. "Very well. Well... since thou art the one prompting us so, thou can be the one to get back up out of the comfort of bed and lock the door. I do not desire to awaken in the morn to find Innocence leering over us."

Twilight sighed a little, but she nodded after a moment and wiggled carefully up to a sitting position. Her horn glowed as she focused on the door, but it took her a moment to come up with an actual spell: Innocence, after all, was quite talented and quite powerful, even if she was also a little... rough around the edges.

So she went with something basic: something that wouldn't require raw power to open, but knowledge and skill. Runes slowly scrawled into life in a spiral over the door, glowing brightly before their luminescence faded as Luna grumbled and rolled away, mashing her face down into the pillow as she mumbled: "No light."

Scrivener smiled despite himself over at the mare... then winced as one of her front hooves swung lazily out and managed to thwack him in the face before it simply settled against his features, Luna very content to apparently just push on his head. He glowered past it at her, and Luna only shrugged and huffed a bit... then squawked when Twilight Sparkle dropped down on top of her foreleg, making it bend awkwardly. "Damnation!"

Luna rolled onto her side, hugging her limb against her chest and rubbing at it crankily despite the fact both ponies could clearly feel it was perfectly fine. For a few moments, the three only laid together, in their odd, half-combative fellowship... and then Luna finally sighed and gestured at Scrivener, saying moodily: "I need thy neck."

Scrivener smiled despite himself, then he and Twilight looked at each other before he slipped forwards, the two ponies half-embracing before they rolled together to switch positions. And once Scrivener was between them, Luna grumpily buried her face in his neck as he slipped a foreleg around him, and Twilight smiled as she rested her head against his chest, breathing slowly, listening to the steady thud in his chest and letting herself be soothed by it.

For a little while, they just rested together as Luna breathed slowly in and out, before she finally nodded and muttered: "Alright. Scrivy, Twilight... if thou art both ready and both so damned insistent, we shall go and see Nightmare Moon."

Both ponies nodded, and Luna mumbled as she mashed her face almost into the collar, muttering under her breath before she finally gave a quiet sigh and settled. Her eyes closed as she breathed slowly in and out, and she nervously allowed her mind to stretch in the direction of Nightmare Moon... and Nightmare Moon greeted her eagerly.

No sooner had she heard the dark entity, she opened her eyes... and found herself inside a dark forest inside her own mind, mire thrumming beneath her feet, blackened trees swaying slowly around her. She turned slowly around, and saw nothing behind her; she turned back around... and couldn't help but grimace a little at the sight of the enormous table lit by candles in tall holders made of iron and bone, and ghostly lanterns that looked like they had been stolen from willowisps hung from the trees. The table itself was covered in food that smelled of blood and death and corruption, arranged as prettily as possible among ornate decorations over the spattered and stained tablecloth, the places all clearly marked by plates and placemats that seemed like the only clean islands among a sea of... blood.

Nightmare Moon sat calmly on the other side of the furnishing in an enormous black throne, her head bowed calmly, her eyes gleaming with pleasure as she said softly: "Hello, Luna Brynhild. Scrivener Blooms, Twilight Sparkle... we are delighted to see you both. And of course, my darling mare, the greatest pleasure comes from your willingness to consider what we have to say; your patience with us is vastly appreciated."

"Patience. That's a good word." Scrivener Blooms muttered as he and Twilight Sparkle approached from the forest and fell in on either side of the sapphire mare, and then the charcoal stallion shook his head moodily before he said quietly: "We're patient with you because... you know, sometimes you manage to not be entirely useless. Or horrible."

Nightmare Moon only chuckled quietly at this, the mare bowing her head forwards before she said softly: "I always strive to be of some use to you, my King of the Night, Scrivener Blooms. Perhaps I do not always succeed, but you cannot say that I am not zealous. That I do not do my best. That I have not always been loyal, always been trying to do what is in the best interests of yourself and all of us gathered here today..."

The charcoal stallion only shook his head, saying after a moment: "I don't know about that. What you always seem interested in is your own gain. It's just that... we seem to be what makes you happy, so... you try and make us happy. But it's for your own benefit, not ours."

"Yes. That is how the world works. The most altruistic are only those with the resources to act so selfishly through their gifts to others." Nightmare Moon replied pleasantly, bowing her head forwards politely, and the stallion couldn't help but grimace a little before the dark entity gestured politely at the three spots that were side-by-side on the other side of the table from her. Just in front of them: clearly set for them, each plate inscribed with the same emblem as their cutie mark. "Please, sit. We shall pretend to be civilized. We shall indulge the fantasy of cultured and polite society."

There was silence for a few moments as the three traded uneasy looks, and then Luna huffed and grumpily headbutted Scrivener, making the stallion wince and stagger to the side into Twilight before she hurriedly scrambled forwards and sat pointedly down in Scrivener's place at the table. The stallion gave her a dry look, but when she glared back at him insistently, he grumbled a little but strode forwards and sat down at Twilight's place at the table, as the mare sighed and walked over to seat herself in Luna's.

Nightmare Moon gazed at them kindly, smiling in a strange way even as Luna looked up at her challengingly, and then she rose her head proudly and declared: "I wish to eat off of Twilight Sparkle. That is how the expression goes, yes?"

Scrivener Blooms slowly dropped his face into the plate with a thunk, and Twilight turned beet red as she stared over at Luna, but Nightmare Moon only gave a quiet laugh before replying tenderly: "Not quite, but if that is what you want to do, Luna, you know I won't stop you. I live to serve, and to assist you with your pleasures."

"Thou ruins all the fun of it, twisted voyeur." Luna muttered after a moment, shaking her head briefly before she sighed a little and said moodily: "Perhaps we should skip this... foreplay, then, and move straight into business, Nightmare Moon. I wish to be done with thee as soon as possible, after all, so I may return to reality and thou may return to thy sordid tumor."

The enormous passion entity only smiled calmly, then she shook her head slowly before saying softly: "I don't think you'll want me sealed away this time, Luna Brynhild... you may ignore me, you may pretend I don't exist, you may and try to block me out... but every time you need an advantage, an edge, to defeat a powerful foe, it is me that you call upon."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Nightmare Moon leaned towards them as she gently flicked her horn, and food floated over to their plates, settling gently into place: each was served some of their favorite things to eat, sumptuous delicacies that all the same carried a hint of... blood about them. "I can manipulate your senses, and how you perceive reality. And in the raw, I am stronger than you, Luna Brynhild. And most of all.. I am darker."

Luna felt strangely insulted by the last, narrowing her eyes as Scrivener hesitantly picked up a dumpling and studied it silently. It felt real, and if he knew it would taste real... it would even make his stomach feel nourished if he ate it.

He sighed a little after a moment as Twilight Sparkle looked uneasily at Nightmare Moon, suspecting some kind of dangerous endgame, and the passion entity looked almost eagerly back and forth before she said softly: "You need my help. More than ever before... you need darkness to blot out the Light, and now that you have destroyed Gymbr... I am the greatest source of such darkness left."

Nightmare Moon rose her head proudly, and there was silence for a few moments before Twilight Sparkle said quietly: "I'm surprised you didn't say Scrivener... or Innocence."

"Oh, our King of the Night is many things... but least of all is he ours to command or thrust into battle." Nightmare Moon replied gently, gazing affectionately over at Twilight Sparkle before she smiled softly. "And Innocence has much to learn yet. Although I think that you should teach her... all three of you should give her the power she craves. And perhaps I am bias, but there is nothing wrong with wanting to serve you both; I think her desire for power, her desire to learn from you, her desire to please you... it makes her a good daughter, does it not?"

"Not." Scrivener said with a shiver, looking away and closing his eyes as he muttered: "Remember Because Love Conquers All? Hell, remember Gymbr, who we just creamed the corn out of? That didn't turn out very well, did it?"

"Gymbr is stupid and weak." Nightmare Moon said coldly, and all three ponies looked up in surprise at the vehemence in her voice before the black mare was suddenly sultry and gentle again, smiling tenderly as she drew her eyes slowly along the three in front of her. "And he would betray you in a moment. We would never betray you... you know that."

Scrivener Blooms shivered a little: it was true. There were few things he was certain of with Nightmare Moon, but he knew that she meant every word she said about being their slave, their servant. Even about doing everything that was in their best interests... the problem was that she got a little... her idea of what was 'best' for them rarely coincided with their own.

Then Nightmare Moon rose her head, saying softly: "We believe that we have earned a chance, with all our years of loyalty and love. And as Luna and I cannot share one body effectively... we desire a body of our own."

The three ponies looked up dumbly at how... simply, brazenly, the mare put this. They traded uncomfortable looks back and forth, and there was silence for a few moments before the stallion cleared his throat and said awkwardly: "Do you... think we can just... run over to the store and buy one for you or something? You know, we'll just... unzip Luna, pull you on out of there, and plug you into a new body and... yeah. Yeah, I don't think that's how it works."

Nightmare Moon only smiled softly, meeting Luna's much colder gaze... and in a way, much more fearful, little as she wanted to admit it. Nightmare Moon was part of her, after all... held many of her instincts, perhaps was fused into that part of herself that craved war and battle and pain and vengeance; if they removed her...

"Now, don't be scared, Luna Brynhild. I wouldn't suggest this if it lessened you... perhaps, in fact, it will make you even stronger." Nightmare Moon said gently, and Luna frowned at this uncertainly before the passion entity continued: "I only long for my consciousness to be given form. All my magic, all my current strength... I will leave it behind inside you. I will only take my mind."

There was silence for a few moments, and Nightmare Moon smiled softly as they considered uneasily, what sounded too good to be true... "Oh, it isn't. I will still be of great use to you... as my body develops after I am born, I will regain my powers. I think I will gain new ones as well, and new talents: after all, right now I am... held back in how much I can explore. And we will still be linked, my beloved family. I will be your humble servant: I will be Deathless."

"Deathless..." Luna shivered a little at this thought, and even Twilight Sparkle winced at the thought. That wasn't like her: a Deathless was a slave, a servant, to whoever its existence was bound to. They couldn't argue, couldn't disobey, had no privacy and no secrets from whoever they served. They couldn't die... but in return, they gave up all semblance of freedom.

"Yes. Deathless. It would let us maintain our link, but I would be... less intrusive." Nightmare Moon replied softly, gazing between them and smiling slightly. "And unlike Twilight Sparkle... we would not be vulnerable to attacks that target the spirit. It would still do harm to us, but we would never have to fear loss of soul or life, just as we could travel to other planes and still remain firmly linked with you. And even should our body be destroyed, it could be restored."

"I get it. Gymbr's Fates... you think he can help you become some kind of Deathless that would still retain individuality, personality. That you can have the best of both worlds... near-invulnerability, and still remain yourself." Scrivener Blooms said quietly, and Nightmare Moon looked at him with a calm smile and a nod of agreement. "And you... want that? They were so-"

"Happy." Nightmare Moon said simply, and then she closed her eyes and smiled softly. "At times... I do grow restless. I become... frustrated, that I am not understood. I have my flashes of temper with my Mistress. And it upsets me. But I think about them... and I envy them. Ignorant, without will, lost or broken... call them whatever you desire, but they are happy. They gaze upon whoever is their master at the time, and they are happy.

"I want to be happy." Nightmare Moon turned her eyes towards Scrivener Blooms, smiling softly. "Gymbr's Fates were not true Deathless, because their physical bodies could die. But we know the old ways, don't we, Luna? We can create Deathless... and we shall take Gymbr's research and add his findings to our own glorious experimentation..."

Scrivener and Luna both shivered a little as Twilight shook her head slowly, murmuring: "You won't... Nightmare Moon, you won't really be happy, you'll be-"

"How do you know?" Nightmare Moon interrupted softly, gently, and there was silence for a few moments before the passion entity smiled again. "Precisely. You do not. But let us agree to this, then: I will find out for myself. And if I am not happy, then we shall take steps to remedy the situation.

"As to Innocence..." Nightmare Moon paused and looked thoughtful for a few moments, looking over the three slowly. "Teach her. You must teach her. And above all, you must make her loyal to you. No, listen to me." She cut off, as all three ponies began to look defensive. "I am not speaking of enslaving her, or considering her offers... generous as they might be. Until she learns that you must be able to trust her, until she learns that she must truly be loyal, and not simply serving her whims and interests at the time... she will be weak."

There was silence for a few moments, the three ponies trading uneasy looks before Nightmare Moon flicked a hoof gently, and a large, bloody steak floated over to drop onto her plate. The passion entity smiled after a moment, then looked slowly up and said quietly: "Loyalty is a quality we can admire. Generosity is what we strive to achieve. And it will be through kindness that Innocence's heart is won: that, and a powerful grasp of magic.

"She has lived for years in a world of pleasure, but pleasure without laughter: she does not understand the value of honesty, and keeping one's word." Nightmare Moon said softly, as she guided a knife down with telekinesis to cut a piece off the steak, then spear it and guide it up to her mouth. She chewed slowly, thoughtfully, then smiled softly and glanced up. "But you will earn her loyalty. She already understands that Gymbr is weak: you must teach her to believe in you. That you are powerful. And once her loyalty is earned... her offers can be considered."

Scrivener and Luna traded uneasy looks as Twilight Sparkle gazed silently at Nightmare Moon, shifting uncomfortably and closing her eyes. Nightmare Moon spoke so tactfully... and yet beneath her words there was such malicious eagerness, that made it clear her loving designs had some ultimate end... and one that likely was not nearly as pleasant for Innocence as the path to her endgame seemed.

After a moment, Twilight couldn't resist, leaning forwards and asking quietly: "And then what? It... I mean, that's a lot of what I've been doing..."

"Apart from teaching her that you are strong, yes..." Nightmare Moon cut and speared up another piece of steak, swirling this in some of the blood on the plate before she smiled slightly as it lifted towards her jaws, saying softly: "You need to stand up to her, Twilight Sparkle. It is all for the best, towards our ultimate purpose."

"And what is that?" Luna asked quietly, and Nightmare Moon turned a calm look towards her even as she chewed slowly on the steak, not a drop of blood escaping her jaws as sharp teeth tore up soft, almost-alive meat.

There was silence, and then Nightmare Moon swallowed and said softly: "We thought that was clear enough. We desire to give Innocence the tools to decide for herself what course she should follow in life. We all do: I simply want to make sure that you are all forced to realize that if she decides to serve you... it is a decision you should accept and appreciate."

Twilight Sparkle bit her tongue, remembering her own words, and Nightmare Moon bowed her head forwards with a slight smile as she sawed another piece of meat free, then took her time slowly digging the knife into the flesh, looking down and saying softly: "I would think it an honor. To have a daughter who truly adores her parents... to be chosen and loved by so many..."

Scrivener Blooms shook his head slowly as Luna Brynhild bared her fangs, but Twilight was the one to respond, looking up and saying steadily: "When she... she does trust us again... then she's going to decide to be her own person. She's going to want to make up for the wrongs she's committed, and she's going to... she's going to be a Valkyrie."

There was silence for a few moments, and Nightmare Moon slowly twisted her knife into the meat, looking a little less pleased... but after a moment, nodding grudgingly. "If that is what she chooses, so be it. But don't wipe away all her darkness, Twilight Sparkle... we may have need of it in the future. And you might regret the path not traveled."

Twilight shivered and shook her head fiercely as Scrivener Blooms and Luna Brynhild both glared at the dark creature of passion-made-real... but Nightmare Moon only smiled knowingly as she rose her bloody knife free of her mangled steak, licking slowly up along the blade as her eyes drew over the three of them and saw into the deepest, darkest parts of these three ponies before her... knowing that no matter how they might refute and refuse her, there would always be that shadow in their hearts that couldn't help but consider even her blackest offerings.

Chapter Thirty Eight: Renewing the Sibling Bond

~BlackRoseRaven

Morning was awkward: the conversation with Nightmare Moon hadn't gone well, even by their usual standards, and all three of the ponies were apprehensive about the thought of leaving their room. Finally, Twilight's anxieties twisted in a different direction, and the Lich was the first to hurry out into the morning light, striding into the den... then relaxing and smiling as she found Innocence flopped out on the cushion, deep asleep.

She had several books out, Twilight noted: two old notebooks of Scrivener's, and Because Love Conquers All, the story of how Gymbr had come to be, of Luna and Scrivener after they gave in to the darkness. A small mistake that had caused catastrophe after catastrophe as they'd become greedier and greedier for power... until finally...

Twilight Sparkle shook her head slowly, then she picked up the books with telekinesis and neatly set them aside. She frowned after a moment, however, as she realized Innocence had something else with her, and the mare leaned down before she softened and smiled faintly.

Dinah: the stuffed, well-worn black pony doll stared up at her with its chipped black crystal eyes, purple mane and tail stringy and rugged after all the years and years of abuses it had survived. Twilight touched it gently, closing her eyes and thinking silently of the pony the doll had been designed after for a moment, before she sighed softly and shook her head briefly as Scrivener Blooms walked out, with Luna peering suspiciously past his shoulder.

Twilight couldn't help but smile a little as she glanced over her shoulder at them, and then she said softly: "Pancakes and bacon maybe, Scrivy. I don't know if Innocence still likes them or anything but... you know. Since Antares is upstairs too and all..."

"Right, and Prestige. I'll make enough to go around." Scrivener paused, then glanced over his shoulder at Luna, who was still glowering suspiciously. "Would you stop that, you butt? Do you really want Sin waking up to see you trying to hide behind me and looking at her like that?"

"Aye, true. She might get the idea that thou art actually her father, not I. 'Twould confuse the poor filly more than she already is." Luna said after a moment, and Scrivener rolled his eyes before he started towards the kitchen. Then Luna stepped forwards and slapped his rump firmly, making him wince and glare over his shoulder at her as she declared: "Into the kitchen where thou belongs, wench! Then to the bedroom so thou can work off some of the fat on thy flabby buttocks."

Scrivener grumbled under his breath as Twilight looked sourly over at Luna, and the sapphire mare simply shrugged innocently before huffing when the Lich picked up the books with telekinesis and pointedly strode away from her. "Oh, very well. I shall... I do not know."

She grumbled under her breath, muttering to herself before she walked into the kitchen to poke at Scrivener with her horn, but he rose a rear hoof and gently shoved her away by the face, saying dryly: "If you want something to do, put on coffee. And please remember the filters."

"I am not an idiot." Luna huffed crankily, and then she muscled her way up beside him and bodychecked him towards the fridge, but Scrivener simply allowed himself to stagger lethargically in front of the appliance so he could open it and pull out the eggs and milk. "Chocolate! And the chocolate liquid, I desire this in my coffee as well!"

"You put that in your cup afterwards, dearest. We're not pouring it all over the coffee grinds." Scrivener said, and Luna grumbled under her breath but nodded as the two worked side-by-side, surprisingly doing quite well at keeping out of one-another's way.

Ten minutes later, and Innocence awoke to the crackle of frying bacon and the smell of pancakes. She shook herself out, then carefully pushed herself up to her hooves, looking back and forth blankly for a few moments until she realized where she was with a start.

Scrivener smiled over his shoulder at her, and a much-calmer Luna greeted her daughter with a a nod, a cup of mocha clutched tightly in her hooves. "Good morning, Innocence I hope thou art feeling much less crazy this morning."

Scrivener glowered over his shoulder at Luna, and Innocence rose a claw before giving a smile as she rubbed at her head slowly, murmuring: "Móðer... Daddy. It's like a weight's been lifted off my mind, I... it was all just a nightmare, wasn't it? I'm so sorry how I treated all of you..."

There was silence for a few moments as Innocence blushed, holding her forehead by one claw, and Scrivener only returned his eyes to the stove as Luna looked mildly at Innocence, until the strange unicorn sighed and asked sourly: "Not working, huh?"

"No. No, we are not that stupid, Sin. Besides, the time to do thy whole act would have been shortly after we rescued thee from Gymbr. Timing is important." Luna replied evenly, and then she sipped at her chocolatey coffee before adding after a moment: "I am not in a terrible mood this morning, Sin, so I will excuse this little endeavor of thine. Applaud it, even, so long as thou does but one thing for me. Can thou do this one thing and behave thyself today, Sin?"

Innocence grumbled a little, then she sighed and sat back, asking moodily: "Well, what exactly do you want from me? And what do I get in return?"

"Not being punched in thy face, for one. Sin, I would never, ever strike a foal, and that goes double for one of mine own. But thou art no longer a foal, art thou? Thou continues to claim to be older than Antares instead of my sixteen year old daughter." Luna said mildly, bowing her head towards the strange unicorn, who winced back a little. "And Scrivener and I seem to have healed quite well, so do not think we are not in any condition to... what is the saying? Beat thy ass, yes?"

Scrivener simply shrugged as he tossed another pancake out of the pan, then picked up the messy mixing bowl, pouring a new one as he muttered: "Well, you're the one who's always had such a way with words, Luna."

"I wouldn't complain if you wanted to." Sin said softly, and then she smiled, deciding to try a different tactic. "Gymbr often enjoyed beating me, you know. Hurting me. Teaching me pain and pleasure, and how to survive both-"

"Can. Can we wait until after breakfast to get into the psychological warfare?" Scrivener asked from the kitchen, and Luna grumbled in agreement. There was silence for a few moments as Innocence slowly deflated, and then the strange unicorn sighed and flopped down grumpily, pawing silently at the futon with one claw as the other absently hugged Dinah close.

Luna softened as she looked at this, a small smile cresting her features before the mare said softly: "Does thou remember Cheshire? Or at least how thou came to have that doll?"

"What doll?" Innocence looked down curiously, then blushed deeply and hurriedly shoved Dinah away, shaking her head and mumbling: "I... Mom... I mean, Twilight must have put it there or... yeah, it was probably Antares... I don't... of course I don't, I mean..."

The sapphire mare only smiled widely at her daughter, and Innocence grumbled and shrank down a bit, crossing her forelegs sulkily and dropping her head across them as she muttered: "I guess I just... thought he was... a pillow."

"You're as bad a liar as ever. That's kind of reassuring, though." Scrivener said softly, and then he glanced up curiously as Twilight entered the room, levitating a large tome beside her. The stallion tilted his head, but the Lich only gave him a smile before she slipped carefully past and into the living room, and the charcoal earth pony turned his eyes back to the stove even as his mind focused on Twilight, letting him understand a little more about what she was up to.

Innocence looked up, then her eyes widened as she realized it was a book on magic. She began to lean up eagerly, until her sharp eyes managed to settle on the title, and then she scowled in disbelief as she exclaimed disgustedly: "Is that... you used to read me that book when I was a foal!"

"And now you're going to read it again and memorize the lessons." Twilight said gently, offering the book titled 'Preparing For Magic' to Innocence, who reared away from it like it was some kind of disgusting, poisonous vermin. "Once you read it through, then I'll start teaching you magic."

Innocence gritted her teeth, but she felt Luna looking at her intently... and as much as she wanted to shout a volley of insults that would drive her mother away and probably off into a corner to cry like the little baby she was, the young unicorn finally cursed under her breath and dropped her head, mumbling: "Fine. Okay. I guess... sure."

Sin grouchily reached a claw up, taking the book before she glowered down at the title. It looked big and heavy, but it had enormous font and all kinds of pretty pictures inside, if she remembered it right, and she sighed tiredly as she opened it and looked over the contents. Yes, it clearly was the same book as she had thought: all theory, meditations, practices, nothing that had anything to do with actual magic spells. Just how to train to prepare spells.

She sighed and paged through it until she reached the introduction, then shook her head and muttered: "It's not like I forgot all this. I just... I've learned more important stuff than how to reduce the glow of my horn, or how much energy I'm outputting. My magic reserves are nearly infinite, thanks to all the training I did in Heaven and Gymbr teaching me to Blood Draw."

"Blood Drawing is incredibly dangerous, Innocence... you shouldn't be doing that, even in a desperate situation. You might not regret it right now, but you will when you're paying that price in the future." Twilight warned, frowning worriedly, but the strange unicorn only rolled her eyes with a snort. The Lich looked down at her daughter for a moment, but then sighed and decided to just let it go for now, giving a small smile as she reached down and touched the book, saying finally: "Maybe if you read the first few chapters tonight, we can... talk about practicing a little with magic tomorrow."

"And it seems thou art skilled in more fields than just magic alone, but... Scrivy and I shall speak to thee of this after breakfast. For now, I think we should just try and enjoy our meal together." Luna paused, then peered up at the ceiling before turning a slight smile towards the strange unicorn. "Perhaps thou could go and fetch Antares and Prestige for us."

Innocence made a bit of a face at this, but then she sighed and nodded after a moment, telling herself it would be a good way to earn her way into her parents' favor a little... and that even if they didn't believe a word out of her mouth right now, so long as she kept pretending to be a good girl, they'd eventually start giving her chances. That was the kind of ponies they were, after all... they had to try and help everyone, even when it was stupid to do so. Not that she was complaining about that quality, especially right now... "Okay, Mutt."

Sin picked herself up off the pillows... then paused awkwardly and looked down at the doll hanging from one claw, blushing a bit before she mumbled and hurriedly tossed it across the room. All the same, she couldn't stop herself from glancing at Dinah as she left and feeling... a little bad. So okay, maybe she had sentimental attachment to a few things around the house still... maybe wandering around here, seeing those things, touching old toys and books was waking up a few more memories inside her and making her feel... well...

She shook her head briefly as she strode out onto the back deck, then paused to look at the ambrosia tree growing in the back yard. It was so stupid to leave it just sitting out there, where anything could get it... and sure, maybe it was like poison when it was raw, and okay, there were a few simple wards but... still...

On the other hoof... even for her, it didn't offer much interest. In Heaven, ambrosia had been prepared and served with a lot of their meals, and they drank elixirs made of it just to refresh themselves and restore their energy... but the fruit itself no longer had much effect on her. She'd gotten used to much stronger, much darker elixirs...

The mare smiled to herself as she wondered idly if she could procure the right ingredients down here to mix some of those potions up, as she headed up the stairs to the second floor and shoved her way inside. She walked down towards the guest room door... then stopped and stiffened up when it opened and Prestige Luster stepped out, the Valkyrie immediately tensing up at the sight of Innocence.

The two unicorns studied each other for a few moments, and then Prestige finally cleared her throat before she asked in an almost-civil tone: "What do you want?"

"A lot of things. Some of your blood would be nice. But my parents sent me up here to fetch Antares for breakfast." Innocence paused for effect, then added nastily: "You weren't invited, by the way, so you can just stay up here and whimper."

Prestige gave a chilling smile, then said in an-equally icy tone: "Thank you for informing us. I shall wake up your big brother and let him know the little demon-spawn he beat to tears is behaving like a toddler instead of a newborn and has learned to improperly carry messages from place to place. I'm sure he'll be thrilled."

Innocence growled, and Prestige set herself, energy sparking between the two as their eyes locked, both refusing to be the first to drop their gaze. Their horns shimmered with energy as they both challenged each other, daring the other to do something, to say something, to push their patience just a little further, glaring at each other with frustration and anger and flat-out hatred.

Then Antares stuck his head out of the guest room, the stallion clearing his throat loudly and getting the attention of both mares before he said pleasantly: "Nice as it would be to watch you wrestle another mare, uh... can you do it with one that isn't my baby sister?"

"I'm not your baby sister. I'm older than you now." Innocence said sourly, and Antares only looked at her, then shrugged amiably, earning a growl from the strange unicorn... but then Sin simply dropped her head, muttering grumpily as she turned around: "Just come downstairs and eat so we can get this over with. Got it?"

Antares shrugged again, then he cleared his throat loudly as he stepped out into the hall, and Innocence sighed and looked moodily over her shoulder at him. But the stallion only gave her a smile, saying calmly: "I'm going to take you out for a little while today, okay? Just you and me, like old times. I got a few things that I want to show you and talk to you about."

"No." Innocence said sourly, and then she scowled, saying darkly: "Why the hell would you ever think that I would willingly waste my time with you, anyway?"

But the glossy-black unicorn only shrugged, looking undeterred: pleasant, even, as he continued to smile, and Innocence felt a suspicious twist inside her gut before he said pointedly: "Because I'm going to tell Móðer that you and I are going out for a nice, pleasant little walk. So you can either choose to come with me willingly, or, you know..."

"I hate you. I hope you know that." Innocence said disgustedly, and then she shook her head and growled in irritation, adding flatly: "Fine, I'll play along. But don't expect me to make nice with anyone. I'm not interested in 'play-dates' with Lily and Mercury, or with wasting my time with Clinker, pretending he's anything more than a slovenly retard."

"You're so hurtful these days. You're like a... like a big mean squirrel or something, I dunno. Hey, have you seen Abaddon or Ratatoskr, on that note?" Antares asked, gesturing absently to either side with his head as Innocence glared at him and Prestige fixed a dry look on her coltfriend. "What? What? Stuff makes me think of other stuff."

Innocence rolled her eyes and turned away, adding crankily over her shoulder: "Just hurry the hell up and get downstairs, okay? I want to eat breakfast, and then get your stupid little walk over and done with so I can go back to being treated like an idiot by Twilight."

Antares only shrugged, then he leaned up and called loudly as Innocence left: "Well, hey, I'm always treated like an idiot by Luna and it's not that bad!"

The strange unicorn only rolled her eyes as she left, and then Prestige shook her head slowly and muttered: "I don't see how you can be so willing to give her another chance. You or your family both. She's a traitor. She helped turn Valhalla into... a nightmare. And she's part of the reason we had to flee afterwards... if she hadn't gotten in our way, and if we hadn't been forced to go looking for Eventide, we wouldn't have wasted so much time, ended up spread out over Valhalla and easy targets for the Pious..."

"So you blame her for... life." Antares said after a few moments, and the unicorn scowled at him, but Antares only cleared his throat and held up a hoof. "Look. I know you don't like her. I understand why you don't like her. I emphasize with your pain-"

"Shut up, hero, or I'll punch your face down your throat." Prestige grumbled, and then she shook her head and muttered: "She makes me so angry, Antares. She makes me so angry... and I know that part of it is because she's... so..."

"It's not just the whole Valkyrie thing, and the fact she pretty clearly traded out being a Valkyrie for being a complete bitch. It's because you don't see her as a... Wyrmy lady thingy. You see her as a pureblood unicorn, doing what pureblood unicorns do." Antares said softly, looking over at her with a small smile, and Prestige looked surprised... then she simply nodded after a moment, giving a faint smile to him. "I know. You love it when I read your mind, right?"

"You keep dreaming, hero." Prestige gently shoved Antares backwards, and then the Blessed mare sighed a little before she lowered her head and murmured: "I guess if Luna Brynhild and Lady Celestia Freya can look past what Innocence has done... so can I. We should go and see her today. Or at least you and your... your little sister."

Antares nodded as he headed towards the door, the mare falling into step behind him as he said: "It's one of the first stops on the list, actually. I mean, if Sin wants a glance of power... then that's power right there. But Aunt Tia's a whole lot of other things, too, and... she needs to see how there's more than just raw power in the world."

The stallion paused at the end of the hall, however, biting his lip before he muttered: "But then again, well... Aunt Tia's not in the best of shape right now, either. Still, I know she wants to see Sin, too... and weird as this is to say, maybe Sin can help her. Maybe they can help each other."

"That sounds a little too optimistic, even for your standards." Prestige said softly, but she was smiling a little all the same as Antares only shrugged, looking over his shoulder at her with that easy smile that even now made her feel comforted. Feel simply... good.

"Well, you know. Someone around here has to be." the stallion replied easily, shrugging a little before he turned back towards the door and opened it with a light shove, then he simply hopped the rails like he was still an athletic foal and landed with a thud on the patio below.

Prestige was going to scold him, but no sooner did Antares land than Luna came charging out of the door, yelling wildly, and she flung herself at him in a full tackle. Antares only grinned, however, launching himself backwards to land on his back, and Luna came down on his rear hooves before he kicked her easily back through the doorway, the sapphire mare giving an indignant squawk as the glossy-black unicorn shouted: "You gotta do better than that, Mom!"

Antares rolled back up to his feet, then snorted when a blast of electricity shot out of the doors, snapping his horn into it... before staring dumbly upwards as the lightning clung tenaciously to his horn instead of being dissolved. He had just enough time to figure out what was going on before the lightning tether suddenly yanked downwards, and the stallion's face smacked down into the patio, his rump raised high in the air and forelegs sprawling out as he mumbled: "Ouch."

"Thou hast not bested me yet, Antares. Now come inside, there is bacon and pancakes and little pieces of fruit." Luna called mildly, and the glossy-black stallion shrugged and picked himself slowly up, shaking his head out briefly before he smiled and trotted into the kitchen. He traded a quick, one-limbed hug with the sapphire mare, and then the two strode out into the den, where Twilight Sparkle had set up a small table and Scrivener Blooms was setting out plates.

"Food, Scrivy! Food! We shall starve in the time it takes for all these niceties, why can we not simply eat as we usually do?" Luna complained, and the stallion gave her a dry look as Twilight cleared her throat loudly.

"Actually, this was my idea. I thought that since we're having sort of a family breakfast, it might be nice for us all to sit down with each other." Twilight replied softly, glancing over at Luna pointedly, but the sapphire mare only huffed.

Innocence, from where she was seated at one of the open spots at the table, grumbled moodily in agreement and tapped her claws irritably against the surface, muttering: "Mutt's right. This is dumb. I just want to get this over and done w-"

"So Sin and I are going to go on a walk into Ponyville later." Antares announced blatantly, and Innocence glared up at him furiously. "Isn't that right, Sin?"

"I hate you." Innocence seethed, and then she looked sulkily down at the table and nodded grudgingly after a moment, muttering: "Yeah, we're... going to go out. Walk around with all the stupid ponies. See Clinker and let him feel me up or something, I dunno."

Luna looked mildly over at her daughter, and Innocence looked defiantly back as Twilight grimaced a little. Then the sapphire mare leaned forwards, saying seriously as Prestige entered the room: "Thou must make him work for it, Innocence. And it also depends very much upon where his hooves wander, what thou must make him do. For example, the slope and curves of thy rump are often seen and enjoyed by all, but one does not simply walk backwards into the hooves of a waiting pony. One must instead-"

"Mutt!" Innocence shouted, a consternated, flushed look crossing her features: and in spite of how Twilight and Scrivener were glaring furiously at Luna, there was also a funny sort of relief. In spite of everything Sin had said, in spite of everything Sin had offered herself to them... here she was, getting embarrassed over some of Luna's admittedly-perverse motherly advice. "I... I don't... I know plenty about how to please a stallion already!"

"Not as much as I do! Or your father. Or even Antares." Luna said cheerfully, and Scrivener's glare grew more horrible as Antares slowly soured and turned a moody look on his mother. "Well, 'tis true. After all, Antares pleases himself constantly when Prestige is not present. Furiously, one could even say. He-"

Twilight cleared her throat loudly, and Luna turned towards her innocently before the violet mare said dryly: "We have a rule. No inappropriate subjects during breakfast, Luna. You know that."

"Rules were made to be broken." Luna argued, and Twilight shot her a scalding look, which made the sapphire mare wince and shrink a bit before she grinned lamely and held up a hoof. "Well, I suppose for a time they must be honored and obeyed. Or at least whilst one is in... authoritarian company such as thyself."

"Thanks, Luna, really." Twilight said sourly, and she shook her head slowly before gesturing awkwardly to the table as Scrivener sighed and walked back into the kitchen. "Sit down, guys. Scrivy, I'll come and help you."

Luna huffed and sat beside Innocence as Prestige and Antares sat on the sapphire mare's other side, and Innocence looked over at the starry-maned winged unicorn with a small smile. She studied her Móðer with interest, shifting a little as she looked at her, feeling... all sorts of things. Confusing things, good things, thing that made her... happy that her parents had proven they were stronger and better than Gymbr. She felt closer to them than she ever had to the dark god.

After a few moments, Luna Brynhild cocked her head curiously as she looked back at Innocence, but the strange unicorn only smiled before bowing her head towards her and murmuring: "I agree with a lot of what you said, Luna."

"And that is fine, Innocence. Thou must remember, though... there is a time to listen and learn as well as carve thine own path and make discoveries for thyself." Luna said softly, turning a smile towards her before she bowed her head and added gently: "When thou returns with Antares, we will discuss thy powers more in depth. But I very much like the idea of thou reacquainting thyself with Ponyville. There are many practical reasons for it."

Innocence nodded grudgingly after a few moments, then she sighed and bowed her head forwards, mumbling: "Okay. I guess you're right, yeah. I just don't promise that Antares is going to return in one piece."

Antares shrugged, rubbing absently at the underside of his muzzle. "Hey, from what I recall, the score is still one-nothing, and that's all me. I'm your big brother, Sin: I'm always going to be able to kick your flank."

Innocence growled, but before she could say anything, Scrivener and Twilight returned to the table and set down an enormous platter of pancakes, a dish piled high with bacon, a full pot of coffee, and assorted sugars and sweet syrups and other condiments. And almost immediately, Luna snatched most of the bacon for herself, Scrivener Blooms rolling his eyes at this and muttering: "I'll go get the other batch. Sit down, Twilight, eat something."

Innocence looked like she wanted to make some rude remark, but she thankfully swallowed it as Twilight sat down beside her and smiled encouragingly. The strange unicorn shifted grumpily, then hurriedly reached out and swiped the rest of the bacon when Antares reached for some, making him glower at her.

By the time Scrivener returned with another bundle of bacon wrapped in paper towels, Luna had gobbled most of hers down and also started in on several pancakes. The others had all served themselves, and Innocence was eating as fast and messily as Luna, making the stallion reflect on how apparently some things never changed: then again, Gymbr probably hadn't been all that big on table manners.

The charcoal earth pony was careful to take a good clawful of bacon for himself before tossing the rest onto the plate... and then simply watching as Antares, Luna, and Innocence all immediately began to grab up as much as they could. He sighed as he sat back, studying them mildly: Luna was greedy, Antares was hungry, and Innocence simply didn't want her brother to get any... although it did seem like she still enjoyed the meal, too. And that was nice to see.

Scrivener ate slowly, more interested in watching the way his family interacted than the food itself. He studied Innocence and saw how much Antares was annoying her... and noted how at the same time, that annoyance was making her seem like the old Innocence. Like it wasn't just tenderness and love, but simple sibling bickering that was really helping Sin... find herself. Remember who she was.

The charcoal stallion smiled a little as Innocence glowered and wrapped her forelegs around her plate, protecting it like a dragon guarding its hoard. Then he looked across at Antares, asking: "While you're in town, can you pick up a few groceries for us? I mean, it'll give you a chance to run over and see Avalon, too."

"Why do we need apples? No one here eats apples." Luna complained, and then she paused before asking curiously: "Unless thou art making apple mush, or apple pies?"

"It's called applesauce, Luna, not apple mush." Scrivener corrected, and then he grimaced and slapped absently at the mare's horn when she huffed and leaned around Innocence to poke at him. "Stop that. Anyway, you do so eat apples, they just have to be sliced up. That's still apple, Luna, it's just in slices. We also need eggs and some other things, I'll write a list down for you."

"Yeah, no problem, Dad." Antares smiled and nodded, then he looked pointedly over at Innocence, who narrowed her eyes at him moodily. "It'll be good for Sin, too. Won't it?"

"I don't see how. But I guess I can do it, yeah." Innocence muttered moodily, shaking her head briefly before she sighed tiredly and added grumpily: "You do recognize I'm not just some little filly you can boss around though, right?"

Antares smiled at her sweetly, leaning forwards and saying seriously: "No, you're a big filly who can do stuff all by herself, isn't that right?"

Innocence scowled at him, and there was silence for a few moments before Luna said proudly: "She is. And she is much better at being cute than thou art, Antares. Look at her, even sulking she is cute! I may love her much more than I do thou!"

"Ouch, Mom. Ouch." Antares said mildly, putting a hoof over his breast before he sniffed loudly and turned his head away. "That's fine, though. I like Twilight a lot more than I like you. You're dumb and you look like butt."

Luna glared at her son, and then Innocence muttered moodily: "Then we'll trade. Because I like Luna a lot more than I like Twilight Sparkle."

An awkward silence followed this as Luna rubbed lamely at her face and Twilight simply looked away, picking up her cup of coffee and sipping at it slowly. The rest of breakfast was eaten quickly and in quiet, with Innocence simply scowling at her plate and Antares studying his sister mildly the entire time.

When they finished, Twilight gathered up the plates and Scrivener followed her into the kitchen to wash them. Antares traded a quick kiss with Prestige, then slipped away from the table; he returned a moment later with a satchel hanging on either side of his body, watching Innocence mutilate the remains of her pancake with a fork before he finally said: "Come on, killer. Let's go for a walk into town together, then. We can get you a carcass or something to chew on."

"Fine." Innocence grumbled, reaching a claw up to rub at her face lightly, and then she paused and sighed. "Wait."

The strange unicorn's horn glowed quietly, before that aura crawled quickly over her body... and when it faded, it left her taller, gorgeous, and more lithe than toned. Prestige scowled at her as Luna tilted her head curiously, before the sapphire mare murmured: "That was not just a polymorph. Thou hast reshaped thyself."

"I've mastered the corruption in my bloodstream. Although I prefer to think of it less as corruption, more as... blood fitting for a goddess." Innocence rose her head proudly, a confident smile crossing her features... but was that longing for approval in her eyes? Was that anxiety faintly tingeing her tone? "Gymbr taught me how to harness it to create more permanent polymorphs, that won't vanish in the heat of battle."

"Then I guess you need more practice, huh?" Antares said casually, rubbing a hoof against his chest, and the mare flushed a bit as her features darkened and she glared at him. The stallion looked evenly back, studying her before he said bluntly: "I don't like it when you polymorph yourself. You look like a bitch. A baby-eating bitch. I like you, Sin. I think you're prettier without it."

The last bit caught Innocence off guard, and she shifted awkwardly before finally managing to retort: "Well... I... I don't think... you should be flirting with me in front of your girlfriend, Antares."

"Oh, but, like, you think it's fine if I was flirting with you when she wasn't around, even though you're my sister? Horses of Heaven, Gymbr messed you up." Antares replied glibly, and Innocence blushed and scowled as Luna giggled and Prestige rolled her eyes.

Then the glossy-black unicorn turned around, calling mildly: "Anyway, come on. Let's go into town. The faster we're out of here, the faster you get to call me names and argue with me, and the sooner we get back and I can ditch you."

The polymorphed unicorn grumbled moodily, then she nodded before turning a smile to Luna, saying softly: "And when I get back, I can tell you all about my powers, now that we're getting along better... I can even try and help Daddy better master his own, how about that?"

Luna looked moody at this, then she nodded before saying wryly: "Aye, but do us a favor, Innocence: remember that thou art not nearly as alluring as thou seems to think thou art. To be seductive, Innocence, one must first not make it clear thou art a black widow."

"I would never kill you or Daddy. I... I would never do that." Innocence said after a moment, and she frowned a little: not at the half-accusation, but... at the fact that what she said herself was true. No, she never would kill her parents... hurt them if it served her purpose, perhaps, but... no. She couldn't stomach the thought of killing them. Because... well... just because.

She shifted a little, then turned and hurried awkwardly off after Antares, running through the open front door and closing it behind her... before wincing as she almost ran right into her big brother, the glossy-black stallion smiling at her before he asked quietly: "Would you kill me?"

"Yes." Innocence grumbled in response... but her eyes flicked away, a claw pawed lamely at the patio, her shoulders did that twitchy thing they had done even when she was a little filly and had been nervous about something, and Antares smiled wider. He didn't know if that was progress or not, since he didn't think even to start with she would have killed him... but it did help him feel better about her, and about trying to... to help her out of this dark place she had fallen into.

Innocence scowled at him, and then Antares suddenly stepped forwards and kissed her forehead, and the mare's jaw simply dropped as she gaped after the stallion before he said softly: "Come on, kiddo. And just like old times, we can maybe stop and screw around a little on the way with magic. You can show me some of your new tricks."

"Don't call me that." Innocence grumbled, even though she already knew it was useless; at the same time, she was frowning a little, her eyes moodily surveying Antares. "And what do you mean? I think you just want to see my magic so you can try and copy it yourself."

"Yeah, because like, I'm so good at dark magic." Antares said dryly, rolling his eyes. "Come on, filly. Even when you were little, you were still better at magic than I was. Remember how you used to blink around everywhere?"

"That... that was stupid." Innocence said grouchily, looking awkwardly away. "I trained myself out of that. I don't blink anymore."

Antares smiled a little, leading her across the lawn and onto the path through the forest as he said softly: "I know. It sucks." He paused, then looked over his shoulder when the mare frowned at him before he shrugged a little. "It does. I mean, if you could still blink, then I probably wouldn't have punched you so many times."

He halted, then cleared his throat and added in a softer voice: "And... hey. I am sorry for... you know. How I lost my temper. We were on opposite sides of the battlefield that day, but like I've learned from some demons I've met... just because we were enemies doesn't mean we can't get along. Doesn't mean we have to always be. And I shouldn't have hurt you so much, even though... well, you know. You sucker-blasted me with magic, so really, we're pretty even."

Innocence looked at him moodily, even as she felt a twitch of guilt run through her, before she mumbled to try and hide her feelings: "And you know I'd do it again, too."

Antares snorted in amusement at this, rolling his eyes and muttering even as he felt a smile bridge his lips: "That's you, Sin. Always so damn thoughtful and understanding."

"Shut up."

---

It was a surprisingly-easy walk through the forest: Innocence wasn't in the worst of moods, and she kept sneaking little looks at her brother now and then as the stallion occasionally teased her or rambled on about something or other. He was good-natured and friendly and... Innocence admittedly felt comfortable with him. More comfortable than it was smart to feel, really.

They reached Ponyville in good time, not stopping... although Antares had seen Innocence's gaze draw towards some of their old training spots. It made him feel a little better about her, although he was still aware that... even if Innocence was behaving herself now, there was still a very large part of her that was trying – however unsuccessfully – to manipulate them to her advantage.

Yet he still cared about her. But then again, she was his sister... and hell, there was plenty to admire in her. And he thought that even if she'd lived in accelerated time for fifty, sixty years... she was still a cranky sixteen year old inside, and she hadn't grown up quite as much as she seemed to think she had. That somehow, she had retained her youth, no matter what her physical body looked like.

So he was writing off a lot of her outbursts and rudeness, and it helped that from what he remembered of his little sister... she had been pretty whiny and bossy and obnoxious anyway. But what he didn't like...

He became a little more serious as they exited the forest, slowly walking along the forest path and towards Ponyville... towards what was now a small city, really, more than a small town. It wasn't yet that big, maybe, but it had all kinds of city things now: nightclubs, and recreation centers, and a few fancy restaurants and tall, tall buildings that stretched towards the sky... but even though they had changed, grown up, evolved...

"Sin, listen to me. Just for a moment. If you listen to me now, I swear I won't lecture you the rest of the day." Antares said softly, and then he glanced back over his shoulder, judging his little sister's reaction before he added: "Or maybe I should say that if you don't listen to me, I'll spend the entire day patronizing you and telling you what to do. And I know you won't try and attack me because of how I already beat the crap out of you."

Sin growled at him, but he saw a hesitant, moody agreement in her eyes all the same. So the stallion nodded encouragingly before he smiled a little. "Funny, you know. You could almost call that whole 'I won't fight anything that's beaten me' honor, if... you know, you didn't act like a coward."

"Call me whatever you want. I'm not a coward, though... and I will kick your ass one day. The only reason I'm not attacking you is because I know you have all kinds of friends around here, and I don't want to upset Luna and Scrivener." Innocence said moodily, and then she shook her head and said distastefully: "Please tell me that's all you wanted to talk to me about."

"No. I wanted to tell you that..." Antares stopped in the middle of the path, glancing back and forth at the swaying plains, then drawing soft eyes over the animal care center, the corral where he could see Phooka working with both domesticated and rescued wild animals, and past that, towards a new farm that had been built nearby that catered mostly to supernatural beasts like Hellhounds and basilisks and a few other creatures that could be tamed, but certainly weren't for the faint of heart to work with. "Look."

Innocence looked, then she shrugged and said finally: "It looks the same as when I was a kid. So what? What's the big life lesson here?"

"A, you're still a kid, and B... well, it doesn't look the same as when I was a kid. Not by a long shot." Antares said softly, then he smiled a little and said quietly: "Change is often good, sure. Getting better is good. But evolution and change for its own sake... not so good. You might think you're on some path to greatness, you might even become truly... spectacular one day, maybe someone in a league of your own. But Innocence... mountain peaks are lonely places. Not a lot of people will follow you there. You'll be all alone, looking down on your legions of admirers and enemies without any friends at all if you keep trying to outrace everyone, if you keep trying to change and climb instead of... even just one time... taking a moment to let everyone else catch up to you. Or just... maybe choosing not to change at all, and embracing what you have."

"You suck at advice." Innocence said after a moment, and the glossy-black unicorn simply shrugged, continuing to look at his sister, studying her silently. She looked back at him, then shook her head slowly as she turned her eyes downwards, muttering: "I don't care who I leave behind, Antares. You should try and get that through your head. What I'm interested in is power... not family, friendship, or companionship. Power."

"You say that, but I see you doing more than just cozying up to Luna and Scrivener. I see you trying to follow in their hoofsteps." Antares said quietly, meeting his sibling's eyes, and the two looked at each other steadily before he gave a brief nod and added: "One last thing. Stop being such a bitch to Twilight Sparkle. No matter what way you look at it, Sin, that's pure stupidity right there: if you want to continue with your 'I'm an evil villain only pretending to be nice' act, then you're ruining an amazing resource you could exploit. Or, you know, if you just want to be honest for a change, and be nice to your mother because she's your mother and she's done her god-damnedest to take care of you."

Innocence was only silent, looking sharply away and feeling the faintest stirring of shame... but over that, there was irritation, and anger that Antares was treating her like such a child. Like an ignorant, ungrateful child at that... but she was just doing what was in her best interests, and she'd never lied about that. Never pretended to be someone she wasn't, which was more for them than she'd ever done for Gymbr. And she wanted to make them realize that, and recognize that she wasn't going to have some miraculous epiphany and suddenly be their nice little girl again. That Innocence was gone.

Antares sighed a little after a moment, then he turned ahead and said quietly: "Come on. Let's go see Aunt Tia, anyway. Maybe you can be nice to her, at least... and I think you will be."

"Why?" Innocence asked moodily, glowering at the stallion's back suspiciously... and her eyes only narrowed further when he tossed a wry grin over his shoulder at her.

He winked, then replied pleasantly: "Because, silly. If you aren't nice to Aunt Celestia, then she's probably going to put you through a wall with the kind of mood she's been in lately. Yesterday, and I'm not even kidding here, I saw her pick up a merchant cart: thankfully she didn't fling it anywhere, she came back to her senses before then, but uh... yeah. I wouldn't go pushing her buttons right now, that's all."

The strange mare made a face, then grumbled and fell into pace after him before she said moodily: "I was more powerful than Dusk, even at her full Tyrant Wyrm size. I was even more powerful than Twilight Shadow. That's why Gymbr chose me to be his queen."

"That's so gross. That's so gross, on so many levels." Antares responded with a mock shiver, and Innocence rolled her eyes before the stallion asked curiously: "So... what do you know about the Light, then, Sin? Did he ever tell you anything?"

"He told me everything. He trusted me with everything... there were never any secrets, any restrictions." Sin replied calmly, raising her head proudly, and there was silence for a few moments before the young mare lowered her head and became a little more serious, frowning a bit as she said hesitantly: "And Gymbr told me... a lot about the Light. He told me about how he and Kvasir and Foldraumr fought the Light back... how he took over an entire world and bathed it in his darkness, became god of it. He promised to take me there one day. He promised I could be a goddess there, able to do anything I wanted..."

She stopped. For some reason, she didn't feel the same eagerness she once had... but maybe that was because... no. She looked uneasily up at Antares as they passed through the town gates and into Ponyville, and the young unicorn licked her lips before saying, despite the fact that part of her felt this really wasn't such a good idea to confess: "But he said he didn't save the people from the Light all the same. He said all he could do was wash the Light out of them, but the ponies were left... changed, forever. They were servile to us, they seemed happy... but at the same time, they were... hurt."

Innocence looked away, gazing back and forth and grimacing a little: she was getting stares here and there from ponies, and she shook her head briefly before muttering: "In Heaven, no one would even dare to look upon me without the permission of myself or Gymbr. That's how far above them I was. That's how powerful I was."

There was silence for a few moments, and the stallion smiled a little before he asked mildly: "Are you sure you're not just saying that's how ugly you were?"

The polymorphed unicorn rolled her eyes, and then she said moodily: "I think when I'm free, when I'm powerful enough, I'm going to have you put in a collar and chains, and then I'm going to take my time experimenting on you and turning you into a monster."

"Ain't you a ray of sunshine?" remarked a wry voice, and this was followed by several loud coughs as Antares smiled and turned, and Innocence looked up with a frown as Cowlick approached. She smiled at them around the cigarette in her mouth, then grimaced and coughed hard several more times into a hoof before spitting loudly to the side, and Innocence winced back at the large, bloody glob of phlegm that splattered down near her claw.

Antares frowned, sharp eyes looking up, but Cowlick only growled loudly at him, and the glossy-black unicorn gave a lame smile instead of saying anything, simply nodding and clearing his throat. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, and then the earth pony gestured at a large pack over her back, saying tiredly: "I just made the trip in from Subterra so I could finish up the Mk. III in the comfort of my own lab. Sucks but I figure... what the hell. I'm gonna die soon anyway."

The stallion softened, opening his mouth... then he grimaced and winced away when Cowlick simply flicked her cigarette at him, the mare cutting him off. "Shut the hell up. I am, and ain't nothing going to fix it."

"Please. There's a hundred ways to fix whatever's wrong with you. You just don't have the tools or the strength to." Sin said moodily, before her horn glowed, and Cowlick growled as magic sizzled lightly along her body. "Yes. Even Twilight could handle something like this. But I guess they don't think that you're worthy-"

Cowlick seized Innocence by her shoulders and yanked her in, the mare's claws and hooves leaving thin trenches through the ground as she stared in dumb surprise at the engineer's strength, before the mare leaned in and said icily: "You listen to me. They and plenty of others have offered plenty. But I don't need no favors. I'm old, I'm ready to go, and hey, it sucks that I ain't goin' to a big black void but instead Helheim. Before all this happened, I didn't really believe in any happily-ever-after anyway... at least not for me... and now that I know where I'm goin', it sucks. But I do not need help to hide like a coward from what's gonna happen to me no matter how I might try to run."

There was silence for a moment, and then Cowlick shoved Innocence backwards, the polymorphed unicorn stumbling away before she snarled and rose her horn as it glowed brightly... but then she only swore and snapped her horn to the side, bad-temperedly blowing apart a mailbox instead of lashing out at the engineer, who was just glaring at her fearlessly.

"Thought so. Look at you, Sin, you used to be such a great, courageous little lady. Now you're nothing but a big bully and a big coward." Cowlick said distastefully, and Innocence glared angrily across at the earth pony, but she gave the faintest tremble, the faintest flush as well. "You don't even have the balls to hit me, and I'm right in front of you."

"I... I just don't want a swarm of demons and Antares to all gang up on me. Not to mention what'll happen to me back home... it'll ruin all the work I've done with Luna and Scrivener. That's all." Innocence muttered, looking down, and Cowlick chuckled, earning another glare from the polymorphed unicorn. "What?"

Cowlick only shrugged, saying wryly: "Home is where the heart is, ain't it? And logic don't make you any less a coward, by the way. When Dash and I first met, I took him out for a few beers back before everyone got used to him being all... well, a him. Anyway, I was making fun of him. He wasn't being a good sport about it, made it even better. Then some morons came over and turned good old fun into assholery, and logic dictated that I let Dash get shoved out of the bar and I just keep drinking my damn drink.

"But reason makes a coward out of the best ponies. And I ain't either a reasonable pony or one of the best. So I pick up my bottle and smash it into the face of the nearest pony and well... that was how Dash and I became friends." Cowlick shrugged a little and looked over at Innocence. "It was him and me against the goddamn world, but we kicked its ass. Then I got to meet his wife and I asked him whether or not that made him a lesbian. Moron finally laughed at that and started to loosen up."

Antares smiled at this, but Innocence only rolled her eyes and looked away. She didn't say anything, at least, and Cowlick shrugged before saying moodily: "Well, that's my bit, anyway. You keep on being a dumb little pain in the ass if you really want to, I don't care much either way. Still, kid. You got a lot to learn, and a long way to go."

"Hey, Cowlick." The engineer paused in mid-turn, looking towards Antares, and the glossy-black stallion gave a brief smile. "Don't die too soon, okay? We need your help still."

"Screw you, kid. I'll die when I'm ready. Not before or after." Cowlick retorted, and then she coughed a few times before rubbing slowly at her pale face... but when she smiled, it was a real smile, and it wiped away the bags under her eyes and the tenseness in her features. "I'll see you punks later, okay? Don't you two go screwing with each other too much or anything."

Both of the ponies watched as Cowlick turned and headed away, and then Antares glanced over at Sin and said softly: "Couldn't do it, huh?"

"I could. I could have easily. She just..." Innocence gritted her teeth and turned her head away, flushing slightly. It wasn't like anything she had expected. It wasn't like all the training she had done with Gymbr, where they had fought powerful enemies and sparred with his Fates but... she'd always won, and rarely did any opponent show so much... ferocity. So much confidence and determination. Was someone that, when weaker than her, didn't cower before her might...

She lowered her head and shivered a little, then muttered under her breath: "It's nothing. You know what? It's nothing, it's just... nothing. Let's just go see Celestia."

Antares smiled and shrugged briefly, and there was silence for a few moments before the stallion turned and said: "Yeah. That sounds like a good idea. I'm pretty sure that if no one else can get it through your head that honor isn't weakness, she can."

Innocence grumbled a little under her breath, then she nodded briefly and looked down with a quiet sigh. There was silence for a few moments as they walked down the busy road, and then Antares glanced down and said finally: "Do you remember when Monkshood brought up the idea of having all these streets paved, or at least cobblestone put down, and how angry Luna got? I mean, Móðer was not at all pleased. That's that whole 'change for the sake of change' thing I was talking about before."

"I thought you said you weren't going to lecture me about this." the polymorphed unicorn said moodily, and the glossy-black unicorn shrugged amiably.

"Ain't lecturing, as Avalon would say. Or growl, probably. She growls. I'm just pointing something out, that's all. I am asking your opinion on the merits of construction and roadwork." Antares replied pleasantly, nodding seriously a few times, and the mare rolled her eyes.

She opened her mouth to spit a retort... and then both she and Antares stumbled to a stop and stared into the square in front of the library as the door in the tree-building flew open, and several terrified ponies fled outwards, followed by an angry Celestia. The ivory mare caught herself just before she could shout anything, her white locks swaying around her features before she bit her lip and only gave a frustrated growl, and then she spun around and strode moodily back into the library.

The two stared, and then Antares grinned slowly and turned his eyes towards Innocence, remarking with relish: "Oh, this is going to be fun. This is gonna be real fun. I can't wait to see Aunt Tia actually get mad at you and punch you across the room."

"Her mane is still... but she hasn't lost her magic, has she?" Innocence asked, and the stallion blinked at the fact she almost sounded worried before she cleared her throat and added awkwardly: "It's... it doesn't matter to me either way, I just... I know that... it makes a pony a lot more unpredictable when they don't... when they aren't able to use magic anymore. And if she's lost her magic, I wouldn't be able to tap into her powers."

"Right." Antares said dryly, and then he shook his head before saying pointedly: "You know, even if we all know you're just trying to cover up whatever little fee-fees you might actually have, Aunt Tia might be cranky enough to take you seriously. So whether you really care about her or not, you might want to pretend that you do. Invest a few skill points in charm or lying or something."

Innocence grumbled under her breath at this, then she looked crankily over at Antares... but to his surprise, actually gave a short nod. He nodded back, admittedly feeling a little relieved: the last thing he needed was for Innocence to end up smeared all over the library floor. Partly because he'd probably have to clean it up, and partly because he really didn't want to explain to his parents exactly why the mare was... well... a puddle, when they were trying to fix her. Not just violently beat her into submission. Technically they had already done that part.

He smiled despite himself as they headed towards the library, and Antares knocked twice before the door was pulled open and Discombobulation stuck his head out at them. He peered down at them thoughtfully, then turned and said mildly: "Tia, darling? It looks like Bart and Lisa are here. Except Lisa's evil and Bart's supposed to be smart instead of dumb. But I'm sure there's an episode that deals with that: they've had quite a few seasons since they started on that other show no one remembers anymore, after all. It must be nice to be able to come so far, the world forgets our humble beginnings."

"Just bring them in, Bob." Celestia said tiredly, and Discombobulation smiled over his shoulder as he stepped back, the two ponies entering and looking awkwardly past the Draconequus at Celestia.

The ivory mare was sitting with her face in her hooves, her eyes closed and her expression sullen. She glanced up as they approached, then gave a brief smile that curdled when one of her braids slipped forwards over her features, batting it grouchily out of the way.

Antares tilted his head towards her mildly, and Celestia shook her head briefly before she lowered it and murmured: "I apologize. My mood lately... I've been a little... crankier than usual, I suppose you could say. I feel... unpleasant."

"You feel unpleasant, or you are unpleasant?" Antares asked pointedly, and Celestia looked at him for a few moments before she gave another brief smile and nodded.

She hesitated, then gestured with a front hoof at the door, saying finally: "Those ponies. Snips and Snails. Troublemakers, ever since they were foals. But they're not bad ponies, not really: Snips helps prepare a lot of raw materials and fabrics for Rarity, and Snails works with Fluttershy sometimes at the animal care center. But they're not very smart."

Celestia paused, briefly considered the way she was talking about other ponies, then simply shrugged as he brushed her mane back and her horn glowed faintly, knotting and tightening several of her braids in what Antares recognized as a subconscious tic. "They were badgering me about books. And I could hear them whispering behind my back about my hair. For some reason, they thought it should be pink."

"It should be. Everyone knows that this is so not-canon. Or fanon. Or whatever, these words are beyond even my comprehension." Discombobulation waved a hand absently as he walked around the table, then he reached up to squeeze Celestia's shoulder gently, making her smile a little up at them. "I swear I didn't have anything to do with it. But if you force me to cross my heart and hope to die, I might not last long enough to stick a needle in my eye."

The ivory mare sighed a little, and then Antares said slowly: "So you. Chased them out of the library for that?"

"No, I chased them out of the library because they didn't have library cards, and then Snails spilled my tea all over my book." Celestia gestured at the table, then paused and looked a little embarrassed as she touched the book in question, next to an empty, clean cup. "Well. I suppose you can't really tell anymore. I just used magic to clean the mes up... which does make me feel a little bit sillier about everything, yes."

Antares smiled amusedly and shook his head briefly, and Innocence studied the clean, organized table before she asked after a moment: "So your magic is fine? But... you yourself..."

"I haven't lost any of my power. I think... I've lost the blessing of the Sky Kingdom I visited very long ago because Hecate awoke something else in me. I've remembered a past... long before I visited the realm in the clouds and the Watcher of the World that once existed there..." She stopped and looked down, reaching up and touching her white locks as she murmured: "But that could just all be stupidity on my part, too. Except, honestly... I do feel more like Freya than I ever have before, except... in the heat of battle."

Celestia tossed a smile towards Discombobulation, who cleared his throat and tugged at an invisible collar before he gestured pointedly at the top of the archway, where a large red squirrel was perched on a bust. "Hey. Not in front of the kid."

The ivory mare shook her head, then she sat back and turned her attention back to Antares. "What can I help you two with? I'm glad to see you, but I'm... a little frazzled at the moment. Not in the best state to entertain at all."

The glossy black unicorn shrugged and grinned a little, replying easily: "Hey, I think that's part of what makes this the best time of all to visit, if you don't mind me saying, Aunt Tia. And anyway, I wanted to show Innocence a little bit of how power isn't everything. I thought of you."

To Sin's surprise – and admittedly, a little of Antares' as well – Celestia smiled before simply laughing openly, and even Discombobulation leaned a little away from her with a cock of his head, looking pointedly at her. But after a moment, she regained her composure, reaching up and covering her mouth as she murmured: "Excuse me. That would be... Freya coming out.

"I am, though, too. I am. Look at me, chasing foals. Chasing whatever makes me angry or excited at the time, like an errant puppy. All the power in the world, and a sly enemy would just wait until I distracted myself with something shiny before shooting me in the back of the head with an arrow or something equally pathetic." Celestia replied calmly, and then she shook her head slowly and looked down with a faint smile. "Power isn't everything, Innocence. Not by a long shot."

Innocence looked awkwardly up at Celestia, half-tempted to argue... but now here, after some time to take in her presence, she could feel the magic radiating off the ivory mare. More than that, she could feel something else beneath the raw power... something deep and ancient and powerful. Something that made her feel... humble.

She lowered her head and simply nodded, and Celestia nodded back, studying her before she leaned forwards as she became a bit more serious, saying quietly: "I hear that you've been treating Twilight Sparkle a little roughly, by the way. There are dozens of points I could make against treating her badly, and only a few of those are threats because of how much I care about her."

Sin gave a weak grin, dropping her head a little: one thing she had learned with Gymbr was that she had to obey those who were more powerful than her. It was something that had been very literally beaten into her, as she'd started at the bottom of the ladder... then slowly begun to prove her worth, slowly increased her power as she'd conquered first guardians, then Fate after Fate after Fate, and then finally, Imago: perhaps not Gymbr's strongest, but who had always been Gymbr's most favored.

Celestia, though... it wasn't just the power she felt. It was her determination, it was the sense of something ancient, something that demanded respect emanating from her. Sin barely knew what to make of it: she had only felt something like this once before, during Gymbr's rare rages. "I... I will try and... I'll try and do better."

"I appreciate that." Celestia said softly, sitting back and studying Innocence for a few moments before she gave a brief smile as she turned her eyes towards Antares. "I think... this has something to do with whatever Hecate did to me. Whatever she channeled through me... I have to speak to her on this. And if you're truly interested in getting stronger, Innocence, you should as well."

Antares frowned as Innocence looked up with interest, her eyes gleaming, and Celestia only smiled as she said softly: "But Hecate won't teach you anything for free, either. You'll have to pay a price... she'll likely want information on the Light, the Pious, and your own magic and abilities, Innocence. And she'll want your own power to help her rebuild her body."

Innocence nodded quickly, smiling wider, and Antares slowly nodded, feeling both entertainment and a wry admiration at how skillfully Celestia could manipulate... not to mention how cruel she could be. Hecate certainly could teach Innocence some new, very scary magic... but the price she'd undoubtedly ask in return might help Sin understand better why she should value honor, and that sometimes, more power wasn't worth the cost it carried.

Chapter Thirty Nine: Struggling To Understand

~BlackRoseRaven

Innocence looked very pleased with herself, happily toting a massive book on necromancy as she reflected on how easy it was to get these ponies to go along with her, so long as she acted nice and stopped being up front about her motives. It felt ironic to her: they told her so seriously all they wanted for her to be honest, but when she was, they disapproved of her and acted like they were so much better than her. When she pretended to have purer motives, however, they suddenly became so willing to negotiate and treated her like a little lost kitten.

Antares strode calmly behind her, letting her lead the way out towards Sweet Apple Acres. Unlike Innocence, he was still impressed with Celestia and recognized fully how spectacularly she had played the mare, like she was nothing but an immature filly. And finally, he couldn't help but say wryly: "I gotta say. You're pretty stupid."

The polymorphed unicorn glowered at him as the stallion pranced up beside her, then she shouted at him when he snatched the book away from her with his own telekinetic grip, the mare bad-temperedly swinging her horn at him. "Hey! Give it back!"

"Sure." Antares said cheerfully, and he opened the book to a random page, spinning it towards her and flinging it into her face. Innocence cursed as it covered her head, and then she blinked stupidly before quickly raising the book away with telekinesis, paling slightly and staring wildly over the pages as she spluttered: "What... but these... I thought this was in demonic! I can read demonic, what happened to the book?"

"Yeah, it is. But it's in old demonic, Sin. The stuff they speak in Helheim nowadays, it's all slang and nonsense. You whippersnappers don't have no respect for us old folk." Antares said seriously, and Innocence looked at him, flabbergasted, for a moment made just his silly little sister again by the rather-spectacular prank Celestia had just pulled.

"W-Wait, are you... you can read this?" Sin asked disbelievingly, and then she looked stupidly back at the book, hurriedly flipping through it as they walked along and several ponies jumped out of Sin's path, making Antares grin widely despite knowing he probably shouldn't take so much glee from this. "Oh... I... are these... alchemical symbols? I don't understand them..."

Antares gave a sigh almost of contentment, and Innocence looked at him furiously before he said mildly: "In the past... like, the long, long past... they used a different measuring system. And guess what? Hafrbjarg means 'goat stone' but it actually refers to a bezoar. So even after you translate everything, well. You still aren't going to know what the hell anything is. And that makes me giggle."

Sin growled and spun to the side with a curse, slamming the book closed and throwing it angrily to the side, but Antares easily swept it up with telekinesis. He considered scolding her for a moment, but after a few seconds settled on something that he felt would do a much better job of making her remember this lesson. "I want you to know that I've been really upset and worried and stressed about this whole Heaven thing, Sin. But this, well. This helps me feel a lot better."

"Shut up, Antares. Let's just go see Wormwood and get your stupid groceries." Innocence growled in irritation, and the stallion smiled and shook his head, slipping the heavy, ancient tome into one of his satchels.

He caught up to her, and then tilted his head curiously towards her: she looked frustrated and irritable and moody, and like she wanted to do anything except for answer questions right now... but Antares thought that there might never be a better time than now to ask... "Applejack, you mean... how did Gymbr convince her to do... that to herself?"

Innocence didn't seem to realize that this was a trick to get her to start talking, far too eager to change the subject to consider whether or not she should answer such a sudden question. "Gymbr showed her the danger that the Light posed. With Valhalla at his beck and call, it was easy: he was able to use the Watcher's equipment to show her proof of what the Light was doing, and that everything he was doing... it was necessary. So she chose to willingly undergo enhancement... to have her... to use the darkness in her soul. In this case, to armor herself with it."

Antares nodded slowly, studying his sister as they strode through the northern gates and out onto the highway north of Ponyville, and the mare looked at him before asking moodily: "Let me guess. You don't believe me, right?"

"No, it's not that, it's... I can tell you're telling the truth." Antares looked ahead, softening and saying quietly: "This Light... it must just be terrifying. I mean, now it's taking over Valhalla... at least the Vale, if not the Castle itself. We've got no contact with anyone up there, though, so we can't know for sure, but-"

"But all the same, the Light is here, you won't let me pursue the power I'd need to become stronger than Gymbr to drive back the Light, and it's all the fault of you and our parents that Gymbr is gone." Innocence said bitterly, and Antares grimaced, tensing up a bit and narrowing his eyes as he looked over at her, but she only looked darkly back. "It's all true, isn't it? But don't worry. All I care about is staying out of the Light's way right now. And I doubt it'll come hunting for us."

Antares grunted, then he muttered: "For one thing, you're making it really, really hard for me not to punch you again. For another, you really haven't been part of this family long. Believe me, whether we like it or not, we're going to get dragged into a fight with this... Light. But for me, the sooner we can do something, the better."

"You wouldn't have to worry at all if you and our parents had just listened to Gymbr. He would have made all of us... all of us, powerful." Innocence muttered, and then she shook her head slowly. "It's better if we stay out of the Light's way. It's too powerful to stop now. Even if Mutt and Daddy are stronger than Gymbr, Gymbr was only strong enough to drive the Light back and force it into a stalemate. You have no idea how powerful, how... how... how awful He Of Many Countless Faces is..."

Innocence shivered a little, looking down, and Antares frowned at her before he said slowly: "But I thought what you were interested in was pursuing power, Sin."

"And he'd steal my free will, too." Innocence murmured, shaking her head with disgust. "What use is being powerful if I have to be his puppet? That's not real power."

Antares smiled ironically at this, and the two fell into an awkward quiet as they continued down the road together, past farms and ranches and orchards. It didn't take them long to reach Sweet Apple Acres all the same, however... and admittedly, Antares thought the thoughtfulness Sin lapsed into... it was a good sign from her.

As they walked together down the dusty, wide path leading up to the ranch house, Antares found his attention drawn to side orchard by the sound of grumbling. He turned, then tilted his head with interest, Innocence halting and following his gaze moodily as he strode over to lean past an old wooden fence, gazing into the field and looking at the strange sight of two ponies hard at work.

Big Mac was sitting calmly some twenty feet away, head raised warily, his eye locked moodily on Wormwood... no, Antares saw. Wormwood might be what she had called herself, but this was clearly still Applejack, in spite of the thick wood armoring her body, the cracks here and there through which amber was still visible. And what made him feel both relieved and amused was the way she kept shrinking beneath her big brother's scowl, slinking from tree to tree like a beaten mongrel and bucking them dry of apples and dead branches.

Antares watched curiously: most of these apples were rotting or bruised, and it looked like Applejack was tossing the smaller branches and even some leaves into two of the enormous wooden tubs they used for harvesting. Then, as Applejack managed to fill both of these up, Big Mac said sternly: "Mulch."

"Oh, come on, Big Mac!" Applejack complained, turning a pleading look towards her big brother. "Y'aven't made me do this since I was a foal and I stole that whole pie, and... and hey, look, there's Innocence and Antares, I bet they need me for somethin' real important and-"

"Mulch." Big Mac ordered, and Applejack slumped and sulkily stepped into one of the tubs, beginning to stomp up and down to turn the mixture into mush. The crimson stallion nodded firmly at this, then he turned around, giving a brief smile as Antares grinned widely and shook his head slowly, likely feeling far more amused than he rightfully should at the mare's plight. "Hey."

"Hey, Big Mac. I see you got big brother duties too, huh?" Antares said cheerfully, and Big Mac nodded with a grunt before he calmly approached, and the two stallions lightly bumped a front hoof together. "I got some orders to pick up for my parents. But hey, how's AJ doin'?"

"Working." The red earth pony glared over his shoulder at Applejack, who mumbled disconsolately before the old stallion softened, saying in a quieter voice: "She's okay, though."

"Good. So's Sin... kind of. Bet she's a bigger pain in the flank than your little sister is..." Antares stopped, then he looked towards the house, asking tactfully: "Avalon and Dash inside?"

Big Mac smiled faintly again, then he nodded once before looking over at Innocence, studying her. Innocence looked moodily back, and then she sighed and nodded to him grudgingly, and the large earth pony looked a little appeased by this, nodding slowly once more in return. Then he turned around and calmly strode back towards Applejack, who called awkwardly as she stomped up and down: "I'll... I'll be right with you now, don't you-"

"Nope." Big Mac said flatly, and Applejack slumped as Antares laughed and shook his head as Innocence barely repressed her own smile, and then the two unicorns turned to head towards the ranch house, unconsciously falling in step side-by-side.

They just managed to reach the staircase before the door was flung open and Avalon shot out, landing at the top of the stairs and glaring daggers down at them. Antares winced at this as Sin glared back at the tiny Pegasus challengingly, but then Dash's voice called tiredly: "Leave them alone, kid. It's... it's just not worth it, okay?"

"I... okay, Dad." Avalon replied after a moment, and she looked pained... but with that sound of defeat in Rainbow's voice, Antares wasn't surprised. The glossy-black unicorn smiled faintly and shook his head slowly as he looked up the stairs at her, and then Avalon shook herself quickly out before looking down and asking finally: "The hell do you guys want?"

It was as polite as they were going to get with Ava right now, so Antares simply shrugged before he answered: "Some apples, some cider, some milk and eggs. Oh, yeah, if you don't recognize her because it's apparently been a bajillion years to her, this is Innocence, my big lame sister."

"Yeah, I see her." growled Avalon, and then she buzzed up into the air, grinding her teeth together before adding darkly: "I don't know if I want her here on my ranch through, Mir. You see what she did to my Mom?"

Innocence growled and glared up at Avalon, telling herself that the thoughts of an insect like her didn't matter in the slightest even as a strange twitch of pain ran through her insides. She opened her mouth to retort, but was cut off by Antares... and surprised into silence when the stallion said gently: "She's my sister, Avalon, so don't talk about her like that, okay? Otherwise I'm gonna have to kick your flank. Again." He paused, then grinned. "I seem to be kicking everyone's flank lately. That's fantastic."

"Fluke." muttered Avalon sulkily, and then she sighed and nodded grudgingly, looking out into the apple field and mumbling: "And I guess... I guess it could be worse. We had Mom tied up in the barn for a while, but it seemed kind of stupid. I mean, even when she was... you know, even after she got... old... she could break or slip out of a rope. Now Big Mac says she's stronger than him at his best."

Innocence smiled and opened her mouth... then winced when Antares slapped his hoof over her muzzle, the stallion saying mildly: "I also get the feeling she's a lot more miserable getting bossed around by Big Mac than she ever was locked up in the barn, yeah?"

Avalon smiled for an amused moment at this, then shot a look over her shoulder at the open door before flitting backwards and quickly closing it, then gliding down to Antares to hover beside him, murmuring quietly: "That, and Dad's pissed off at her. I've never seen him so angry at Mom before, not even when she accidentally ruined one of his old dress uniforms trying to wash it for him."

Antares nodded a little, softening as he looked up at the closed door for a moment before clearing his throat and shaking his head a little. "Well, uh... so let's pick up those apples, huh? And all the stuff that I'm supposed to grab and probably some of the stuff I'm not supposed to, too."

"Yeah, sounds good. Focus on what we can do, yeah." Avalon nodded moodily, shaking her head slowly. "That's what I learned leading the Thunderbolts. Screw everything that you can't do a damn thing about, and focus on doing what you can do."

Antares nodded firmly in agreement, and the two looked at each other for a few moments before Avalon grunted and flitted away, muttering: "Anyway, come on then. I ain't very good at this whole farm thing yet but... I still remember where everything is, at least."

The young stallion smiled and nodded, while Innocence took a few steps after the two before she halted and turned her attention towards where Big Mac was lecturing his little sister. The polymorphed unicorn looked at the two for a moment, and then she glanced quickly over her shoulder to make sure Antares was distracted before she leapt into the air, a dark aura surrounding her body as she smoothly took flight.

Well, smooth to her: she wobbled back and forth, but not having wings, nor being a natural flier made flying very difficult for her. She grumbled a little under her breath as she rose herself high into the air, then took a slow breath as she steadied herself out before she firmly flicked her horn as she glared down at Big Mac.

Applejack was looking horribly chastened by now: she always knew when her big brother was actually mad at her because he'd start scolding her and wouldn't stop until she was browbeaten into a puddle of shame. And whether or not she had become some sort of... demonic tree angel thing, she was still the little sister, he was still her big brother, and she respected that. She had to respect that. And she knew she'd done wrong. She just also really, really badly wanted the punishments to be over so she could try and make up for everything she'd done.

So she blinked in surprise when Big Mac suddenly yawned, before his eye blinked blearily... and then, slowly, he toppled forwards and into the grass, beginning to snore loudly. Applejack stared down at him blankly for a few moments, and then she winced and looked up as Innocence calmly glided own out of the sky to land beside her fallen brother, the polymorphed unicorn giving a serene smile as she greeted: "Wormwood."

"Not to disrespect you or anything, Innocence... but it's Applejack. I... I appreciate the powers you and Gymbr gave me, and I was honored to be chosen as a Knight of Valhalla once we worked past our differences... but my name here is Applejack." the wood-hided pony replied quietly, and Innocence looked surprised at this before Applejack gestured at her brother with a small smile. "And if you don't wake Big Mac up right quick, I'm gonna be in even more trouble than I already am. So I would be much obliged if you could just give him a gentle nudge back to consciousness."

"I... what?" Innocence stared for a few moments, and then she bared her teeth at Applejack, leaning forwards and snapping: "How dare you speak to me that way, Wormwood! You are a servant of Valhalla... that means you serve me! You are a Black Knight, and your loyalty is to-"

"To Gymbr, who's been defeated. So were you. I made a deal: I keep my free will, and become this... this thing." Applejack gestured at herself, grimacing a little. "And in return, I fight the Light, and I serve Gymbr. Not you, Innocence... you were his second-in-command, and I always respected that, and I respected your strength. But... I know... I know you spent longer in that place than I did. I know... I know you got darkened more than I did. But... this is our home. I feel it in my... bark, I guess I got." Applejack looked moodily back and forth over herself. "This place feels like home more'n Heaven ever did, and this second chance means... means a universe to me. But sad as I am to say, it ain't just you and Gymbr who gave it to me. It's Pinkamena and Twilight, for not killing me, and Discombobulation, for bringing me here, and... well, you know."

"No, I don't know. I can't believe this. You're not making any sense." Innocence said disgustedly, shaking her head before she stomped a front claw angrily. "Wormwood, they hate you! You are my servant, don't make me invoke-"

Then Innocence was cut off as an apple whacked painfully into her face, head twisting to the side as she stared blankly and blinked slowly before Antares said dryly: "Do you know like, how much magic energy you exude and waste when you do your fancy flying trick? And you know, Big Mac's back was to you, anyway. Did you really do that all just so you could feel cool, or do you think you get some super special awesome bonus from flittering around above our heads all... daintily?"

Innocence slowly glared over at Antares, who approached calmly before he looked at Applejack for a few moments, then suddenly stepped forwards and slashed his horn out several times, the mare wincing before staring in disbelief as Antares left a heart carved over her side with 'A + P' written in the center of it. "I'd cut my whole name, but this way you can say it's... uh... Applejack and Pen-"

"Colt, if you finish that sentence, I'm going to whoop you." Applejack said grouchily, glowering at him horribly, and Antares only gave a cheery grin in response before the wooden pony looked moodily over her shoulder, then slumped and sighed tiredly. "Thanks, by the way, for makin' me into a worse sideshow attraction than I already am."

"You should go see Dash. And kiss him right on the mouth, then give him a big hug and apologize. Don't be specific, don't be prideful, just be sincere and apologetic and everything's going to be just fine." Antares said firmly, and Applejack stared at him for a few moments before the glossy black unicorn leaned forwards pointedly. "Or keep doing what you're doing, sure, because that's totally working out great for you."

"Oh, and now here y'are, givin' me advice on my love life and how to treat the pony I've been with for more years'n you've been alive?" Applejack asked flatly, and Antares only nodded a few times which made the wood-hided mare slump a little. "Great. I guess it ain't exactly the worst advice, either... and I guess you're the first pony to really... treat me like I ain't..."

She stopped, then smiled faintly down at Big Mac before she cleared her throat and turned her eyes back to Innocence, who was glaring furiously at her brother. But the polymorphed unicorn was surprised into drawing her attention to Applejack when the wood-hided mare said softly: "Y'know, it's the job of a good big brother to make his little sister suffer a little now and then. Especially when she's gone and done something wrong."

Innocence looked moodily over at Applejack, and then she shook her head briefly before muttering: "You live your life the way you want to, Wormwood. I'll live my life the way I want to. And there are things above so-called 'familial obligations.'"

"Not for some of us." Applejack replied quietly, bowing her head forwards with a small smile, and then she shook her head slowly and reached down, gently grasping Big Mac's shoulder and shaking him lightly until the crimson earth pony blinked blearily and slowly rose his head. "Hey, c'mon now. You can't just pass out on me in the middle of a lecture, Mac."

Big Mac yawned loudly, then slowly climbed to his hooves as he looked mildly down at Applejack, who smiled faintly in return before she sighed a little and gestured at the tubs, asking finally: "You... want me to make more mulch?"

For a few moments, her brother regarded her, then turned a curious look to Antares. Antares nodded firmly several times, and after another moment Big Mac nodded back, then drew his eye to Applejack, studying her before he said finally: "Go see Dash."

Applejack smiled warmly at this, then she stepped forwards, the siblings trading a fierce hug for a few moments before she turned to hurry away and up the stairs. Antares smiled after her, then he turned his eyes to Sin, asking mildly: "See, one day we could have something like that, too. You know, so long as you stop being a butt."

Innocence only glowered over at him, but before she could respond, Avalon came flying back carrying a large, heavy sack at least double her size. She dropped this onto the glossy-black unicorn's back as she flew over him, and his legs buckled a little under him as he wheezed loudly, wincing and arching his spine as Avalon said loudly: "Got your stuff."

"Gee. Thanks." Antares mumbled, and then he shifted and straightened, glancing over his shoulder moodily at the heavy burlap sack. "Okay, seriously. The eggs better be-"

"The eggs are in a hard goddamn case, stop being such a baby. They're not going to break on you. Baby." Avalon grumbled, and then she scowled and looked back and forth before asking Big Mac: "Hey, where did Mom go? You... you didn't plant her in the ground like you were threatening to, right?"

Big Mac only smiled wryly, then he gestured pointedly at the house, and Avalon made a face before muttering: "Fantastic. Seriously, I just got Dad calmed down. So thanks, really, because I really wanted to spend another afternoon reassuring him and trying to help him get over this."

"You're mean. And selfish." Antares said mildly, and then he simply tilted his horn forwards and created a white barrier of energy in front of himself that Avalon plowed into face-first when she lunged at him, the tiny Pegasus wincing as this bent around her, before it snapped like a rubber band and launched her through the air with a curse.

All the same, she managed to spin her body violently and realign herself with a growl, glaring furiously over at the stallion before he asked curiously: "So, what, you want them to get a divorce?"

"Just... just shut the hell up, Antares. I don't want to talk about this." Avalon growled, and then she shook her head fiercely before muttering: "I'm going for a flight. I'll see you later. Asshole."

With that, Avalon flapped her wings hard and launched herself into the air, and Big Mac sighed before looking pointedly over at the stallion, but Antares just smiled a little and shrugged, saying quietly: "Hey, you know as well as I do. She needs a kick now and then."

Big Mac hesitated, then he simply nodded once before tilting his head, but Antares shook his own and smiled over at Innocence. "We got everything we came for. Right, Sin? Besides, we'll have to stop at the animal care center on the way back, get milk and all the other stuff." He paused, then glanced awkwardly over his shoulder at the burlap bag on his back, adding: "And this is... I mean, this isn't going to break on me, right? And there weren't... this isn't a fertilizer bag, right?"

The red earth pony shrugged a little, and Antares looked at him sourly for a few moments before he grumbled under his breath and said dryly: "Well. Thanks."

Big Mac simply shrugged again and gave the slightest smile, and Antares rolled his eyes before he said mildly: "Come on, Sin. Let's leave these dumb not-unicorns alone."

Innocence grumbled moodily, looking sourly at Big Mac before she briefly nodded and turned to follow her brother. The glossy-black unicorn paused after a moment, however, looking over his shoulder and adding to the mare as they walked away: "You know that everyone except you knows I wasn't serious, right?"

"I'm not an idiot." Innocence said sourly, and then she glowered when the stallion shrugged and tilted his head back and forth. She only rolled her eyes, then added disgustedly: "Everyone here is so soft and weak and... pathetic. Completely pathetic."

"You're pathetic." Antares retorted childishly, earning a horrible look from the mare before he simply shrugged and added mildly: "And hey, like, we're all the same. But we're definitely not pathetic: we just don't try to kill each other over the smallest things and we're not all power-crazed bitches like you are. Which is a good thing, really, because it means we're not all trying to constantly one up or kill each other for more, more, more."

The polymorphed unicorn only looked at her sibling with distaste for a few moments, then she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Power comes with a solid pecking order. The weak must bow to the strong. That's the way it is in nature, and that's the way it should be in real life, as well."

"Nature is real life." Antares corrected, and Sin glowered at him as they exited Sweet Apple Acres and stepped back out onto the highway, heading towards Ponyville. "And not always, by the way. Crocodiles are stronger than those birds that eat stuff out of their teeth, but they don't go eating their faces off, now do they? Really, they're kind of serving the birds. Yes, yes, I know they help each other but my point is still valid."

Prestige only shook her head in distaste, and they continued on in silence for a few moments before the mare said moodily: "You're a lot dumber than I remember you being."

"I am not. I'm as dumb as I was a week ago. You're the one who's sixty years dumber than she was when she first left." Antares paused, glancing at her and studying her thoughtfully. "Although I also think you're just making that number up, too."

"I am not. I was gone for that many years, at least. Gymbr found a way to speed up the Hourglass further... although he was too stupid to stop it." Innocence said bitterly, shaking her head slowly before she muttered: "What an idiot."

"Loyalty. That's clearly your thing. Gosh, Rainbow Dash has nothing on you." Antares said ironically, and then he shook his head slowly before halting suddenly, making Innocence frown and stop beside him. He carefully tilted his head so he was looking just past her, and Sin blinked before looking uneasily over her shoulder, but the stallion muttered "No. No, don't turn around. And look back at me, okay?"

Something in Antares' voice made Innocence obey, and she looked back at the stallion, staying very still before the glossy black unicorn turned a smile back to her that didn't reach his eyes, asking casually: "So Sin, do you think that you can go ahead and cast a spell at me? You like to fling that black fire stuff around, yeah?"

"Nightfire, yes. I enhance it with corruption through thaumaturgy. It gives it a lot more impact." Innocence muttered back after a moment, and then she shook her head briefly before adding uncertainly: "Antares, I don't sense anything, it can't be the Light..."

"Yeah, okay, you keep telling yourself that." the stallion said dryly, and then he smiled at her and said: "Fireball me."

Innocence looked at him for a moment, and then the glossy-black unicorn rolled his eyes before he asked wryly: "Fireball me please?"

After a moment, Sin narrowed her eyes at him before she suddenly reared back, then snapped her horn forwards, unleashing a blast of black flames straight at Antares. The stallion winced, but his body was already reacting, horn flashing as he slashed it down and knocked the black fireball shooting past her, sending it zooming into a tall patch of grasses at one side of the road.

It struck something solid and exploded, but the black flames were suffocated by a second shockwave of energy even as something was knocked loose from hiding. The creature snarled at them, and Antares and Innocence both set themselves side-by-side as they faced a cloaked entity clutching a knife, some kind of extra enchantment making it flicker in and out of sight. But Antares knew what he was looking at all too well, all the same, and Innocence's own eyes widened as memories flooded back, making her a scared little filly again as she whispered: "The Whistler."

"You just went and made a big mistake, you dumb punk. But my dance card is all filled up at the moment, so I'll have to skin you later." the Whistler snarled at Antares, and then the creature simply flung itself backwards and vanished with a spark of energy, its presence fading completely.

Antares only grimaced and shook his head, then he muttered: "Yeah, right, coward. Run away while you... hey, Sin. Sin, you okay?"

Innocence was staring disbelievingly at the place where the Whistler had been moments before, mouthing slowly before she shook her head and said finally: "I don't... I just... I just don't... I don't understand! I... I couldn't sense him at all..."

"Neither could I, really... I don't know how long he must have been following us for. Any more than I have any idea what the hell he was doing here. Watching us, gathering information, or waiting to attack us when our backs were turned..." Antares shook his head briefly, then he hesitantly reached up to squeeze Sin's shoulder. "But hey. He's gone now, okay? You can relax... I'm not gonna let any of these guys get to you."

"I... I don't need your help." Sin said disgustedly, but it was self-loathing and embarrassment that brought color to her cheeks, not anger. And Antares only smiled a little at his little sister, reaching up to quietly tousle her mane even as she snarled and shoved at him, then muttered: "The Whistler is a bad sign. He's the scout and assassin for He Of Many Countless Faces... he's not Pious, but... something else. Something... twisted."

"Yeah. I've seen the Pious. This Light... why does it seem like it makes everything into monsters?" Antares asked quietly, then he shook his head slowly before returning a small smile to Innocence. "Come on, let's go back home. We'll tell Mom and Móðer what we saw and that you drove the Whistler off. Earn you some brownie points with them."

"I don't need your sympathy, Antares, and I certainly don't need your help. Maybe you should just try and concentrate on yourself." the mare replied moodily, and Antares only shrugged a little before turning and starting towards Ponyville.

Innocence hesitantly looked over her shoulder, shivering a bit, and then she turned and hurried after Antares. But all the same, it wasn't until they reached the town that she finally felt safe, that she was finally able to relax and throw off the worry that at any moment a coward's knife was going to slide into her back, that at any moment, the Light was going to lock around her throat and strangle her... and all the power in the world wouldn't be enough to save her.

---

"So I drove off the Whistler... after Antares identified its location." Innocence said proudly, raising her head high as Twilight smiled at her warmly. Meanwhile, Luna looked with entertainment at Antares, tapping her nose, and he shrugged amiably and reached up to simply draw a hoof over his lips. It was more or less the truth, after all, and the fact that Sin had actually included him, well... that was a good sign at least.

"I'm glad, even if I'm also worried what this might mean: if the Whistler is part of the Light's forces, and the Whistler is here..." Twilight shook her head briefly, looking uneasily over at Scrivener Blooms, but the stallion was in the kitchen, unhurriedly unpacking the bags Antares had brought back. After a few moments, then Lich sighed and rolled her eyes, then he said finally: "Guys. This is important. This is bad news."

"Aye, 'tis. But it does us no good to simply sit and whine about it." Luna responded with a brief shrug, giving a small smile after a moment. "Furthermore, the Whistler is not as dangerous to us as the Pious, and we must not plan to deal with the Whistler himself, but rather, what he foreshadows."

Luna turned her eyes towards Innocence, and the polymorphed unicorn gave a small smile as she nodded slowly, saying quietly: "The coming of the Light. But it won't be with great armies... at least, not right away. The Light is craftier than that."

She stopped herself from saying any more, however, swallowing back her words and gathering her courage before she put on her best alluring smile, bowing her head forwards as she said softly: "But if you want to know more, well... I think I deserve something in return."

The sapphire mare sighed tiredly as Antares frowned over at his little sister, but Twilight Sparkle was the first to speak, saying quietly: "I think that's fair... but I also think, in order to keep it fair, we'll share equally. You tell us something of value, and we'll tell you something, of equal value."

Innocence frowned a little, and then she nodded moodily before saying grudgingly: "Fine. But it has to be equal value... and as my information is extremely precious, I think that you had better be ready to compensate me with equally precious information."

Scrivener looked over his shoulder mildly at this as he lifted an apple, saying pointedly: "You know, to us, these apples are common and boring. But in the Northlands, apples and fruits are delicacies, only for the elite."

"And your blood is just your blood to you, Daddy, but to me, it would be a precious, delicious treat..." Innocence almost purred, leaning forwards and giving a sly smile: she was doing her best to be seductive, but instead it only came across as greedy and overeager, making Scrivener wince back a little as Luna narrowed her eyes moodily.

There was silence for a few moments, and then Twilight looked hesitantly over at Scrivener Blooms, and the stallion looked back at the Lich with surprise before he nodded slowly. Then Twilight turned her eyes back to Innocence, saying steadily: "We're willing to give you... a small vial of corruption, made by your father. But in return, we want three important questions answered. And we'd like them answered first."

"Dinner, then dessert." Innocence muttered, and there was silence for a few moments before she nodded with a grunt. "Fine. I'll tell you what I can, then. About the Light."

"Bargaining with information... information that thou may save thine own life with, and much more the lives of others." Luna shook her head slowly, looking disapproving, and Innocence tried to pretend that it didn't hurt, that her smile didn't give the slightest twitch even as she felt herself almost shrinking down at her Móðer's look. "'Tis difficult for me to stomach, Innocence, that thou could even be okay with this."

There was silence for a few moments as Innocence shifted awkwardly, and then she looked up defensively and said firmly: "Well, I'm your greatest defense against the coming Light, I'm the only pony here truly willing to fully embrace the darkness!"

"Aye. And there is no winning with extremes. We must not aim to completely blot out the Light. We must instead create shadow." Luna replied calmly, shaking her head briefly before she stomped a hoof lightly and nodded firmly. "We must create shadow. I like that."

"I'm glad you like your own words, dearest." Scrivener said mildly as he went back to putting away groceries, even as he felt a bit of a twinge run through his body at the thought of offering up his dark blood to his own daughter. The thought of it... it felt wrong somehow. It felt dangerous at this juncture... and as much as he wanted to trust his daughter, he was worried that he couldn't. That somehow, this was only going to lead to heartache.

He looked down after a moment, then shook his head briefly as Twilight Sparkle silently reassured him, and Luna gave her own small smile, glancing up with a short nod to Scrivener's back. The charcoal stallion could feel their encouragement, and the belief that the Lich had that their daughter was going to make the right choice, and the pure love for Sin that the sapphire mare had.

Scrivener Blooms sighed a bit after a moment, and then he finally looked over his shoulder and said wryly: "Darkness comes and darkness beckons, but when I approach away she hastens."

"Cease quoting old, perennial authors, beetle. Thou art a stupid... stupidhead." Luna said mildly, and then she huffed a little at him before turning her eyes back to Innocence, saying mildly: "'Tis time for thy first question. How did Gymbr drive back the Light?"

Sin smiled hesitantly at this, and it was her hesitance that gave her away as Antares said quietly: "He didn't, huh? He screwed up somehow, is that it?"

The polymorphed unicorn grimaced a little, shifting away before she sighed a little and dropped her head forwards, muttering moodily: "In... in a manner of speaking. I already told you that the Light... blinds. That it leaves a mark on whoever it touches, that it steals something from inside them." There was silence for a moment, and then she said softly: "But Gymbr could wipe it out by staining people's souls with darkness. And it's from their people that gods draw their power..."

"Imago." Antares said quietly, and Innocence shifted uncomfortably, looking surprised at how quickly her brother had solved the riddle. "He used the spiritual energy of his own people. And He Of Many Countless Faces... well, if he sacrificed Pious just to hide the fact that the Whistler was investigating and attacking Valhalla, not the Pious themselves... and more than that, the Pious are so willing to play along with their god's games..."

"What else are they supposed to do?" Innocence asked with a frown, raising her head moodily. "The weak are supposed to obey the strong. That's how the world is supposed to work: if the strong, if the person who rules you, orders you to do something... then you obey."

"Then why won't you obey us?" Twilight Sparkle asked quietly, and an awkward, uncomfortable silence fell before Antares cleared his throat and carefully turned with a mumble, feeling like it was time for him to excuse himself from this conversation.

The glossy-black unicorn left through the kitchen, and after the door clicked closed, the mare turned her eyes calmly towards her mother, answering her with a confidence she didn't actually feel: "Because you and Mutt and Daddy are... you're not like Gymbr. You're... weak."

Her last word came out tinny and quiet, but it still hurt Scrivener Blooms to hear it, and Twilight sighed softly and lowered her head, while Luna only glowered at Innocence. Then the sapphire mare slowly rose her head, looking coldly down at her daughter as Innocence's eyes widened slightly at the sight of her mother looming over her, shrinking down little-by-little in spite of herself.

"Weak." Luna pronounced, and then she shook her head slowly before she slowly advanced on her daughter, and Innocence winced and quailed back, lowering her head and flushing a little as the starry-maned pony continued: "Weak, thou calls me. Weak, thou says we are. But if it is demands that will make thee find us strong... I am certainly more than happy to provide thee with several."

Innocence winced as she was cornered against the counter, and then Luna leaned forwards and seized her daughter's shoulders, pinning her back as the young mare swallowed thickly and looked up at her fearfully, whispering: "M-Mutt... I... I don't like this..."

"But what, thou liked it from Gymbr?" Luna shook the polymorphed unicorn forcefully once, making her wince and attempt to reach up, but she was immediately shoved and pinned back as the sapphire mare glared down at her child angrily. "I am not weak. Scrivener is not weak. Thy mother, Twilight Sparkle, least of all of us... is not weak!"

"Luna... that's enough now, come on." Twilight said quietly, looking softly over at the young mare, and there was silence for a few moments before the starry-maned winged unicorn nodded moodily and drew back. Innocence still looked shocked: in spite of everything she had said, in spite of everything he had claimed, here she was... terrified of being treated as anything less than a spoiled little girl by the Mutt she still clearly looked at as mentor and best friend and protector.

Scrivener Blooms shook his head a little, putting the last of the groceries Antares had brought away before he turned around and leaned over the counter, sighing quietly as he looked down at the trembling, suddenly-scared... so-young-seeming mare. "Sin... I have to ask; how much of what happened in Heaven was like a game to you? How much of it was just playing along and theater? Do you even really understand what it is to give your body and soul to someone, or did Gymbr just play with you, manipulate you into becoming..."

He broke off, not really wanting to finish that sentence, since all the words he could think of for what Sin had become... well, none of them were exactly pleasant. The charcoal stallion shook his head briefly, and Innocence looked down before she gritted her teeth and muttered, hugging herself tightly: "That's not a question about the Pious... and... and I would. I know the cost. I paid a high cost for this power from Gymbr and... I... I just don't recognize you and Luna as... I mean..."

Innocence stuttered out, then she cursed and scrambled up to her claws, trying to glare across at Luna... but the expression came across as something... petulant but fearful, anxious more than angry. She looked like a toddler who had misbehaved vainly scrambling at straws, to try and turn all the guilt onto her accuser. Her much-better equipped accuser, mentally speaking. "Enough, I'm not interested in... being patronized like this and made a fool of! Whenever I offered myself to you, you always said my free will was my own, that it was disgusting that I would want to obey you as masters, and now that I show the slightest sign of... of trying to follow my own free will, you turn on me, try to force me to obey you! I... trusted you!"

She trembled a little, looking down and biting her lip, and Luna sighed quietly, lowering her head as Scrivener Blooms looked awkwardly away. But Twilight Sparkle was only smiling faintly, studying her daughter for a few moments before she shook her head slowly and said softly: "So you know, in your heart... you're not making the right choice."

"I am. I am going to make the right choice. The right choice for myself, just not for... all of you. I don't care about any of you. I don't." Innocence said sharply after a moment, but she was trembling a little before he shoved suddenly away from her family, striding down the front hall and snapping over her shoulder: "I don't care what you say or do! I'm going to become more powerful, and you can either help me and accept me or you can try and get in my way and... I'll go through you if I have to in order to get what I want!"

With that, Innocence slammed through the front door, then shoved it closed behind herself, gritting her teeth and clenching her eyes shut. She forced herself to calm down as she felt her polymorph weakening... and worse, her bubbling emotions were making her confused. Memories near and far in the past were rollicking through her mind, nearly suffocating her as she shivered violently, and everything that Gymbr had taught her was conflicting with all those stupid rules and laws and codes she'd been taught growing up...

But no, that was the easy part to throw off. The hard part was this... this affection she had for her parents, that was... it was making her weak! First she had convinced herself it was okay not to kill them; now she was convincing herself that it would be okay to... to accept Twilight Sparkle as a teacher, to share information with them, to even look up to them, like they could ever properly serve as idols like Gymbr had!

And Gymbr... Gymbr had always taken what he'd wanted from her. Even when... she hadn't wanted him. Even when she had desired for... anything except what Gymbr wanted, even when she cried or begged him to stop... but he had also always made her stronger. He had loved her, he was just... rough, and vicious, and sometimes a little gluttonous, sometimes a little greedy, sometimes a little too passionate for her liking. And not just about his pleasures, no. She had gotten used to that: it was the experimentation that she'd never gotten entirely used to. When Gymbr wanted to test something out on her, nothing would convince him otherwise... no matter how much he had to hurt her and others to do it. No matter how much he might even get hurt himself.

But she had accepted that as a price of living with him. And little-by-little, she had been catching up to the god's mighty power, and now... he was nothing but a broken shell. Now she had simply cast him aside and had no desire to aid him, nor any want of revenge: what was there to avenge, really, after all? She had deserved it, because she had gone ahead and agreed to it at the beginning. And she was weaker than he was. The strong had every right to take what they wanted from the weak; just as she had every right to manipulate every little vulnerability she could in those around her.

Innocence looked up after a moment, and then stared back and forth as she realized she was already walking down the path leading through the Everfree Forest. She had apparently lost herself in her thoughts... and the mare shook her head briefly before she forced herself to take a few calming breaths, soothing herself little-by-little before she lowered her head and muttered: "It... it doesn't matter. They are weak, they are, and they're not going to hurt me. And even if they did, that's... that's fine. It wouldn't be a betrayal. It would be... proof of their strength."

She stopped, then shook her head and swallowed a little as she felt something... coil inside her. Something that told her that it was one thing to offer herself to them... and it would be an entirely different thing if they just decided to take from her, like Gymbr had taken so much, even if she'd been so blessed, so gifted in return... no, not gifted, not really. All this power she had... it was just payment. Blood payment, for her soul, for her body... not a gift. It had never been a gift.

The young mare shook her head slowly and closed her eyes, breathing uneasily in and out before she finally shuddered a little. And that was what she wanted to be different wasn't it? She wanted to continue to pursue power... to become powerful. To rule over the weak... perhaps as mercilessly, as ruthlessly, and as confidently as Gymbr always had, but also... to be given gifts, and paid tribute. So many had given themselves willingly to Gymbr, after all... and then they were rewarded with such happiness. Hell, Sin herself had given her body and soul willingly to Gymbr – was it? What about the payment... there was always the carrot... and always the stick... – and she had been so happy... never as happy as the Fates, never as happy as when she ruled...

She didn't completely understand what love was anymore. To her, love came with costs and prices: love was a thing you could buy, and love was a thing you could sell, and oh, it always sold for more than she thought it was actually worth. But with her parents... everything she'd learned with Gymbr wasn't working. And power... they were making her stray from her pursuit of it. And she hated it... and yet still, she strayed. She wanted more, yes... but what she hungered for was this... love.

She wondered silently if this was what Imago felt like, after so long without emotions: she wondered, for a moment, whether or not she had developed a taste for emotions herself. After all, she didn't know what she truly was: she looked like a cross between an equine and a Tyrant Wyrm, born of a Lich and a Clockwork Pony. She called herself unicorn... she took the form of a unicorn... but she didn't know what she really was. That was why she liked to call herself 'goddess:' it blotted out everything else, and meant she didn't have to worry about any identity other than just that: the goddess. The nearly-all-powerful. The ruler.

Sin lowered her head, trembling a little. And now where was she? In an entirely alien world, surrounded by chances, opportunities... vulnerabilities to exploit. And that's precisely what she was trying to do, scurrying around, seizing into every weakness, trying to play all these ponies, all these different cards, travel all these different routes to power... and all she was doing was spreading herself so thin that instead of getting anything, she was just getting herself played by each and every pony she came across.

She... she needed to focus, focus on one thing, focus on taking advantage of one of these ponies at a time. That was the key, that was the trick, that was what she needed to do with herself. The mare breathed slowly in and out as she slowed her pace a little, dropping her head forwards until she finally came to a halt beneath an old, enormous oak tree, leaning against it and closing her eyes tightly as he tried to sort out... everything.

Power. Above all, she wanted power... she would do anything for more power. She couldn't let herself get distracted by the... how good these emotions felt, how she could all-but-taste them, how... how it was all playing tricks with her mind. She shivered a little, reaching up and digging her claws into the wood before she looked up along this ancient, timeworn tree, then she shook her head briefly and whispered: "But... Gymbr was struck down. He thought he was so powerful that no one would ever challenge him... apart from the Light, I mean. He thought... he was beyond flaw, beyond wrong, beyond being accused, because he could punish anyone who got in his way... he thought by boldly being so powerful, showing such strength... no one would ever risk rebellion against him. Would ever try to hurt him, let alone stand up to him..."

But he had been wrong. So clearly, completely wrong, hadn't he? Innocence looked down silently, thinking about how Gymbr had stupidly tried to change all of reality, had challenged the natural order, had attempted to override the very instincts of society at large...

Sin closed her eyes. Strong kings, good kings, tyrant kings... they were all overthrown. They were all targeted and crushed. Even the fiercest barbarian warlord was eventually slaughtered like a mewling calf, even the wiliest, sharpest tactician couldn't escape being a victim of his own war machines sooner or later. When you taught people, they would turn those teachings against you. When you rose your head high, they would go for your exposed throat. When you tried to help them up, they would drag you down into the mud.

No one was immune to that. No one could last forever on a pedestal, as a target... and Sin turned her eyes away as she grasped both claws into the tree, gritting her teeth before her eyes narrowed slightly in thought. But there were certain time-honored positions, used by fairytale villains and all too often in real life as well that were nice and safe, that offered prestige but also protection... the role of the adviser... the role of the councilor... the role of... a good daughter, even. Or a servant... a servant, who in reality, was the master. But they held up their puppet carefully in front of them, they gave their puppet advice and strength, and even as they built up their own secret agendas and pockets of influence and power, they were careful to do it in secret, in safety...

Innocence licked her lips slowly, then she nodded briefly and dug her claws into the oak tree... then looked up with a smile as the tree groaned and rumbled, the large, heavy branches visibly stirring as black veins spilled through it. The mare injected both magic and corruption into the tree as she grinned slowly, her eyes gleaming as an idea came to mind that delighted her, that let her tell herself it was all for her benefit, her power... but made some little part of her, some hidden part of her, cavort childishly in delight at the thought of how it would let her bask in that parental love, that feeling of... safety she had already become addicted to.

Although admittedly, that was in her best interests as well, wasn't it? And maybe she could slow down her manipulations, draw out what she was doing, take her time and really start putting ideas in her parents' heads. Make them think that they were changing her, 'helping' her after all... then start making little nudges. Giving extra little directions. Getting what she was after... what she desired so badly. More power... and oh, was she really the helpless daughter, the pleasant little servant, if they would share more of that unconditional love with her... if they were going to protect her from any dangers that might come her way and try to harm her.

Innocence slid away from the tree as it rumbled, and then she smiled up over it. The oak had turned almost completely black, and enormous vines had sprouted all along its length, covered in deadly, poisonous thorns. The branches twisted by themselves, and dark, toxic sap slowly bled from wounds in the pulsing bark. "And even after I become stronger than them... I can just continue to pretend to serve them. I... maybe I'll even do it willingly... but I'll still be the most powerful there. Gymbr was an idiot..."

Innocence reached up, slowly stroking along the blackened bark of the oak tree. "He had to show all the worlds he was the most powerful thing in the universe... and they tore him apart. Literally, in his case..." Innocence smiled and shook her head slowly. "But why? Why is it so important to bark loudest if you're already the biggest Hellhound in the pack? I get it now... that's why Aunt Tia is always so quiet. That's why she lets everyone else advance first and waits calmly back, even though she can kill a dragon with a single flick of her horn."

The polymorphed unicorn tapped her claws absently against the tree, then she licked her lips slowly and looked down. Love... but... would they really love her? Or if she offered herself to them, would they... no, they wouldn't. They weren't like Gymbr, eager to learn, to experiment and enhance. Their Greater Nightmares were nothing compared to the abominations Gymbr had created, and even Scrivener's Talons or Luna's horn were little in comparison to that awful soulstone core Gymbr had stuck in his own chest...

They were weak. But they were weak in a way she felt... comfortable with. They were like... like pillows, or beds, or... well, other soft things that weren't really completing her metaphor, but all the same she associated with comfort. Innocence smiled a little as she stepped away from the tree calmly, then watched as a living vine twisted around and snagged a squirrel by the throat, choking the life out of it. She made things strong... but weakness was okay now and then, too. If it was the right sort of weakness... the sort she could exploit, manipulate, protect herself with.

Luna and Scrivener had power, certainly. What made them so weak was their refusal to use that power, no matter what the situation was. Was their desire to grant things... mercy, and reprieves. Was the fact that her tears alone had been enough to stop them from doing whatever they wanted, and how they had just allowed her to walk away. She was certainly very glad that they had, but... all the same, part of her was actually disappointed, and even with how twisted she had been, part of her recognized how... strange that was.

She shook her head briefly, then decided to attribute it to... silly things, instead. She was getting too used to the ways of these weak ponies, her mind was getting all... jumbled up with how she'd been raised compared to the world she'd come to actually live in. The mare nodded a few times to herself at this, and then she turned and strode calmly onwards down the path, headed for Ponyille as she let her thoughts turn to schemes and strange dreams and wishful, longing thoughts that no pony should have, a faint smile lingering over her features as she thought of all the ways she could use the weakness of her parents to her advantage... all the strength she could gain from them... and all the delights that she was going to experience in her future, as the willing slave, the servant that pulled her parents' strings.

And behind her, the corrupted tree swayed and gurgled, not understanding its own life, only able to follow its instinct to kill everything soft and fleshy and small that came its way.

Chapter Forty: A Wonderful, Fortunate Family

~BlackRoseRaven

Cowlick wheezed quietly in and out as she sat back on a cushion in Luna and Scrivener's den, fumbling at a bottle of pills. Luna attempted to reach out to help her with it, and the engineer growled and slapped at her hoof, Luna cursing and slapping back before the two childishly flailed at each other for a few moments. Then Cowlick grumbled when the winged unicorn's horn finally glowed brightly and yanked the bottle of pills free from the mare's grip, Luna loudly blowing a raspberry at the engineer before she scowled down at the bottle as she began to struggle with the foalproof cap.

Scrivener and Twilight both looked at Luna for a few long moments as Cowlick continued to rasp slowly in and out for breath, and then Scrivener sighed and plucked the bottle moodily away from the sapphire mare, quickly opening it with his dexterous claws before passing it to the engineer, who growled something that was either a curse or a thank you.

Cowlick simply upended the bottle over her muzzle, pouring several pills into her maw before she loudly chewed them up, then shivered once and gave a long sigh of relief. She shook the bottle lightly, then glanced down at it before shrugging and holding it out towards Luna, who took it curiously and examined the front. "Narcotics. Got a nice kick to 'em. Scarlet Sage got me them, said normally they're reserved for people who've just had like... bone surgery or something."

The sapphire mare shook a large pill out onto her hoof, looking at it thoughtfully before she shrugged and easily tossed it into her muzzle. Scrivener and Twilight both stared at her with disbelief, while Cowlick only grinned tiredly and said wryly: "Don't you go doin' that too much now. Especially 'cause you're already an addict and the other half of you is a drunk."

"Shut up." Luna said huffily, and then she chewed up the pill before her muzzle wrinkled up in horror. "By Asgard, 'tis so foul and wretched it stings and steals all the sense from mine tongue!"

"The way you talk. I'm gonna miss that. Well, I guess I'm gonna miss a lot of things once I'm down in the icebox..." Cowlick lowered her head moodily, then she shook her head out before grunting when Luna passed the bottle back to her, the engineer slowly twisting the cap back on with shaky hooves as she coughed a few times.

Twilight winced a little, leaning forwards uncertainly, but Cowlick only grumbled at her and gave her a sour look. "Don't be an asshole. I'm dying. I know you wanna offer me a glass of water or something but it ain't exactly going to help me all that much. So I ain't gonna thank you for it because you ain't gonna offer it to me."

The Lich looked lamely at the earth pony mare for a few moments, and then she cleared her throat and nodded finally as Luna blinked a few times, then gave a little giggle. Scrivener only gave her a flat look, but he could feel his own faint tickle in his mind, shifting a bit before he turned his eyes awkwardly towards Cowlick, asking finally: "Are those... uh... how strong would you say those are?"

"Well, three of 'em make me feel like I've just been kicked in the chops instead of like I've swallowed a bucketload of knives." Cowlick paused meditatively. "Guess one of 'em would be more than enough to kill a kid."

There was silence for a few moments, then Luna giggled again, swaying a little on the spot before she asked dumbly: "When will I see the pretty colors?"

"It ain't acid, moron. It's just going to make you fuzzy in the head. And a little pleasant and stuff." Cowlick replied dryly, and Scrivener groaned and grasped at his head as Twilight Sparkle turned a moody look towards the starry-maned pony as well. But Luna only gave another little giggle, and even though her eyes were sparkling and she looked like a mischievous foal who had just helped herself to several hoof-fulls of sugar, she all the same seemed to be focusing fairly well through the euphoria. "Idjit. Anyway, take a look at this."

Cowlick grunted as she turned, feeling carefully towards a large leather case sitting nearby, and then she yanked it slowly towards her and dropped it, popping the latches open one at a time as she muttered: "Since I figured I'm already going to Hell, I went and made this into the best damn weapon I could. Sure, Mk. II was pretty. But Mk. III blows Apple Bloom's designs out of the water."

"Modesty, Cowlick. That's why we like you." Scrivener said blandly, and Cowlick grinned wryly, making her look both radiant and menacing for a moment.

"The funny thing is, I am bein' modest this time around." Cowlick replied as she popped the latches on the hard case open, and Luna's eyes widened, throwing off both real and imagined delights at the sight of the weapon Cowlick unveiled... Nay, not weapon, but masterpiece.

The weapon was larger and heavier than Sting Mk. II had been, but followed the same basic principles: the biggest differences were in the cylinder, the larger, rectangular barrel and the solid support bar beneath it, and the single-edged, six-inch bayonet blade extending from the underside of the weighted, fortified barrel.

Luna picked it up, looking slowly over the silver and black metal as she whistled quietly to herself, murmuring: "The weight, 'tis fantastic... and these runes, they are... aye, these are painted in soulstone. The blade is... I do not recognize this metal..."

"It's a superalloy, that's why. We just cooked it up in the lab recently, and it's designed more for channeling than it is cutting. But it'll hold an edge, and better yet, it'll carry a hell of a charge, magic or otherwise." Cowlick grinned slightly, shaking her head and muttering: "Kind of makes me hope that when I get to Hell... I'm gonna one day be able to play with all these fancy metals that the demons and the Nibelung bring me."

"I wish you wouldn't say things like that, Cowlick. No one... nothing's for certain, okay?" Twilight said softly, and Cowlick only chuckled quietly before she reached out and gently plucked the gun from Luna.

She was silent for a few moments, and then she stroked along the rectangular barrel, murmuring: "This is a recoil-reduced 52 caliber Kingmaker. Or Queenmaker, I guess, since it seems it's only us mares who ever do any real fighting around here. She holds six rounds instead of four, and the barrel is fortified on the outside and contains an experimental accelerator on the inside, called a 'rail.' Believe me, you'll see the difference when she fires.

"This gun is the greatest thing I've ever built. I got Nibelung runes along the side of the barrel to draw in the energy that powers the rail, it's made of an alloy that would put the good folks at Hellhorse to shame, it's... it's pretty." Cowlick chuckled quietly, smiling faintly and shaking her head slowly. "She's pretty. Polished every piece of her myself, and by hoof, too. She's got enough oomph to blow a hole in an armored bunker and still hit whoever you're aiming at on the other side. And I built her specifically for you, Luna... her handle is shaped for your hoof, her balance and recoil are designed for the way you grip her... a hoof on the handle, the rest of the weapon steadied by your mind."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Cowlick said quietly: "I broke my promise to Rusty. I didn't just make Iron Horses after all... I got dragged back into building these things. Weapons. And what I mean by that, is that all I had in mind while I made this thing wasn't how many ponies you were going to protect, or how you were going to use this tool I'm giving you... it's how many of those Pious you're going to kill. And I hope you kill a lot, because... my Rusty is up there in Heaven. And he's either... he's either gone forever, or he's stuck somewhere, between Gymbr's monsters and those Angels of Greater Heaven..."

Cowlick looked down, breathing slowly in and out before she turned and began to cough, her eyes clenching shut, her whole body shaking. Luna winced as she took the gun quickly out of the engineer's hooves, and Twilight worriedly strode over to the sick mare, but was promptly shoved back as Cowlick got herself under control and rasped: "I'm... I'm okay. I'm okay."

She shook her head briefly then rubbed uncomfortably at her throat, breathing a little hard before she muttered: "God... goddammit. I don't deserve to go to Heaven, so I ain't going to Heaven. Sounds like that's best, anyway... like it's all... screwed up anyway. Well, whatever. In a few days... I'm gonna be gone."

Cowlick stopped, Luna frowning as she silently hugged Sting Mk. III close, Scrivener tilting his head slowly, and Twilight trembling a little before the Lich shook her head, whispering: "Cowlick, I know what you must be going through-"

"Really? Do you?" Cowlick glared over at Twilight, then she turned and spat into the fireplace, blue flames greedily dissolving the red blood that splattered into the hearth. "You got any concept in your head about what it's like to die, with no last minute snatch-back from the brink of death waiting for you? You know what it feels like to have cancer, cancer like what killed your Daddy, ripping through your body and turning your lungs to mush?

"I'm dying, and I don't want your sympathy, I don't want your salvation, I just want to die." Cowlick said forcefully, and then she shook her head sharply and growled: "Might not have any dignity at the end. Might end up being messy. Might be the coward's way out. I don't give a crowbait's flank: all I can do now is make sure that Ross is gonna get through this as best he can, and that you guys don't screw up everything I've written down in my will. I got the funeral already planned and paid for."

"Damnation, Cowlick... what is wrong with thee?" But it was more a plea than it was anger that came from Luna, the sapphire mare shaking her head firmly before she cursed quietly and added sharply: "And what of Ross? Why can't-"

"Because I never deserved that beautiful bastard in the first place, and because..." Cowlick trembled, reaching up and touching her own face as she whispered: "You really think that I want to burden my husband, who has trouble looking at kiddy comic books because they're too violent for his tastes, with my dying? Ross knows. I know he knows what's going on, he understands, no matter what people think or say. Ross... Ross is goddamn smart. But it's easier on us both for me to tell him, that... that I'm gonna be going away, for a long, deep sleep soon; it's easier for us both if I let him have that hope that one day, I'm gonna be back. I love him. I love you guys, too, you're my friends. You been better to me than I ever, ever deserved. And there's no way in hell I'm going to drag you down with me into the place I know I'm headed. I'm not gonna rot away in a bed, and I'm not going to force you guys to suffer through that either. And fuck you if you disagree."

There was silence for a few moments, Scrivener Blooms lowering his head and Twilight trembling as tears ran down her cheeks, before Luna looked up and murmured quietly: "I... I do not disagree, Cowlick. Not entirely. But I do believe that thou art... going too fast for my liking."

"And I've been living too long for mine." Cowlick replied quietly, giving a faint smile and shaking her head slowly. "It's over, guys. Sometimes, you just have to... recognize that the game is over. And mine is."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Scrivener looked down and said softly: "Ross isn't going to... well, I don't know. I don't know. I understand what you're doing, why you're doing this... maybe the best of all of us here." The charcoal stallion looked up, giving a faint smile. "He'll forgive you one day, yeah. Maybe he won't even be angry at you long. But you know this is going to upset him."

"Thanks, Scrivy. Normally we'd be hearing the whole 'he'll never forgive you' speech, but what you said is a little bit less of a guilt trip. Really gotta appreciate that." Cowlick said wryly, and then she shook her head slowly and murmured: "Funny thing is how much I actually do."

There was silence for a few moments, and then the mare cleared her throat before looking up and saying finally: "Look, just... let's forget about it, okay? The point is, I've built you the finest weapon in the entire goddamn universe, and you're gonna use it, and you're gonna love the goddamn thing. Got it?"

Luna hesitated, then she lifted the weapon and looked back and forth over it, murmuring: "Mk. III... aye, this Sting will serve me well." She paused, then smiled a little as she tested the weight, aiming it across the room. "The barrel... 'tis about a meter in length, aye?"

Cowlick nodded with a grunt. "Close. Just under three feet... a Kingmaker ain't a carbine, and it ain't a rifle. I don't think any guns like this have ever existed before in Equestria... and I ain't about to give away the schematics for them, either. I didn't even leave a blueprint behind for this one, so except for Apple Bloom... I don't think any pony could ever hope to replicate that new weapon of yours."

Luna looked down at the rifle thoughtfully, tilting it back and forth before she smiled a little and nodded slowly, murmuring: "Aye. Then thou hast my heartfelt thanks, Cowlick... even if at the same time, much of me... do not hate me for this, but I wish thou wert going to be around to make more of these tools for us. And more tools to protect Ponyville."

"Weapons, you mean." Cowlick looked down, and then she licked her lips slowly before glancing up and saying quietly: "We'll see how you feel about that, Luna. Since... I'm goin' to Hell anyway after all's said and done... I'm gonna help Hecate with her body. I even got a special horn on the way for her, from some buddies in Subterra... I'm calling in the last of my favors before I die, because why the hell not?"

"I do not know if I entirely approve of thou assisting Hecate with her nefarity, but..." Luna sighed and smiled wryly. "I also do not desire to have any of this time with thee... spoiled by what could very well simply be... misplaced, forced distrust. For I suppose that Hecate is not... truly an awful specimen, all things considered."

Cowlick grunted, then she looked meditatively over Luna before asking mildly: "So. You really believe that, or are you just saying that because you're so buzzed?"

"I am not buzzed! That is... I am not acidic!" Luna retorted crankily, and then she giggled a little before hurriedly clearing her throat and covering her muzzle with one hoof, even as her eyes glimmered a little and Scrivener and Twilight both stared at her with disbelief: for as sober as she was trying to act, the sapphire mare was inwardly giggling over how her face had gone numb and her lips felt like floppy fish. Neither Scrivy nor Twilight precisely knew why Luna chose that of all metaphors, but it probably had something to do with the pill she had taken.

They were both surprised, though: her mind was a little fuzzy, she seemed to be going a little... numb... in places, but otherwise, she was doing surprisingly well. Then again, it wasn't like Luna was precisely inexperienced in the realm of drugs and other such foolery.

"Thou art both foolery." Luna grumbled, glowering over her shoulder. "I lived in a time when we were not told by the Celestias Upon High what we were and were not permitted to put in our bodies. Aye, the clergy did speak out against vice and sin, but the snakeweed was no more crime than alcohol, the laughing lotus nothing worse than adultery... and of course, in those old merry days, 'twas harder to find a pony who had not slept with another mare besides his wife than it was one who had been loyal all his days."

Twilight and Scrivener both looked awkwardly at Luna, and then Cowlick sighed and said wryly: "Yeah, I gotta say, Luna. My husband ain't never cheated on me, ain't never gone behind my back, lied to me or kept secrets from me... and of all the things, I feel bad for him, not good for me, you know? Hell, I feel... bad for us.

"We never argue. We never disagree. Ross just gives me that big smile, or asks me why, or nods to me..." Cowlick shook her head slowly, looking down and smiling faintly. "He's never gone off on his own, had his own fun, spent a moment not considerin' my feelings... and what I've always believed is that... it's whatever you gotta fight for that has the most value. But I ain't ever had to fight for Ross, or with Ross. Our relationship's never been about fighting. And honestly, who do you trust more? The two who just magically get along and don't ever fight or... hell, even three freaks like you, who act a hell of a lot more normal than Ross and I do."

Luna, Scrivener, and Twilight traded looks, and then the winged unicorn shook her head slowly and said wryly: "Thou does realize that thou art being incredibly thick-headed, does thou not, Cowlick? Ross is a blessing. And thou art whining about him being a blessing. Perhaps he truly is far too good for thee, after all."

"Finally, somepony gets it." Cowlick grumbled, and then she shook her head and said flatly: "He is too goddamn good for me. Way too goddamn good for me, as a matter of fact... I deserve him about as much as you deserve having two ponies all for yourself, you selfish bitch."

"Well, I am bisexual. This means I must have sex with two ponies, or I shall die." Luna replied seriously, and then she giggled stupidly at her own joke as she covered her muzzle with her hooves. "I am also very funny."

Scrivener sighed, even as he felt a small smile bridge his own lips, but he decided to attribute this to Luna's little adventure with narcotics. Instead, he said mildly: "You know, Cowlick, I'm sure that you could have had all the ponies you wanted yourself. Assuming they could put up with you, that is."

"Yeah, that ain't what I meant at all and you goddamn well know it." Cowlick retorted, and then she shook her head and carefully pushed herself up to her hooves, adding after a moment: "Anyway, I think it's time for me to go. I gotta plan my death party and all, you know... it's kind of like a bachelorette, but I won't be getting nearly as drunk and a lot of the ponies there are going to be pissed off at me. Be funny to see how many of 'em try and talk me out of it, though. Probably less than would've tried to talk me out of marriage."

"You're not married." Scrivener said, his curious tone almost making it a question, and Cowlick grinned wryly, tilting her head towards him and tipping a wink at the charcoal stallion.

"I ain't. You know, I didn't just magically appear in Ponyville one day, bitchy best friend of Dash's and all. I lived in Manehattan for thirty-some goddamn years. Spent most of 'em a know-it-all drug addict, too, working on and off contract for weapons developers and engineering firms." the earth pony mare said flatly, and then she brushed absently at herself before pausing and adding curiously: "Hey. By the way, where the hell are your kids? Both the good one and the bad one."

Luna glowered, and Twilight winced a little before the violet mare shook her head hurriedly, saying awkwardly: "They're not... Innocence isn't a bad girl at all, I... she's just trying really hard right now to fit in again with everyone..."

Cowlick shrugged and said mildly: "Okay, okay, I ain't gonna judge either of 'em, you happy? And I like 'em both, I do... I feel sorry for that little girl of yours. I just wanted to ask 'em both to come to my dyin' party... you guys are invited too, of course. It's gonna take the place of my funeral, really, since I don't want no flashy funeral, or any priest or anything. I'm just gonna be burnt up and whatever left will be put in that coffin we used during Rusty's funeral and... they're gonna burn that and whatever's left of my ashes in the incinerator in the engineering building."

Twilight Sparkle looked a little horrified at this, mouthing slowly and wordlessly, but Luna only grinned wryly and said mildly: "I shall have thee know that simply destroying the body does not always destroy the spirit. Thou might merely make thyself even more a part of the home away from home thou built up with thine own hooves. But we shall pass on the message... Antares will be returning shortly with Prestige from dinner, and Innocence..."

The sapphire winged unicorn broke off as Twilight shifted uncomfortably; none of them knew where Innocence had vanished off to, hours ago now. But Cowlick took it in stride, and only cleared her throat before she replied as if she hadn't noticed anything was wrong: "It was more than my hooves that built that place... and a lot more than just me that found it home, too. No, I'm... I'm ready to move on. Maybe I ain't entirely willing yet, but I am ready."

The three nodded slowly, all of them studying the engineer for a few moments before Cowlick grinned wryly, looking over at the starry-maned mare and saying softly: "Sucks that your stupid brother is gone now of all times, though... I was considerin' havin' one last wild night out, and I'm sure Sleipnir would have shown me a good time. Pinkamena always talks about him, in her... weird way, where she doesn't really talk about anything but... you know all the same, you know?"

"Aye... aye. And Sleipnir will be back... Pinkamena too. They both will return from wherever Gymbr sent them. I am sure of it." Luna replied quietly, nodding firmly a few times before she smiled a little as Cowlick grunted and limped past, heading slowly for the door. "Normally I would not offer this... but we have a store of ambrosia if thou would like to sample it, to ease thy pains..."

"Nah. I'm not that big on fruit juice." Cowlick replied blandly, shaking her head briefly, and Luna smiled amusedly despite herself as she, Scrivener Blooms, and Twilight Sparkle followed the sapphire winged unicorn into the hall. "I'll send you guys a letter. Or have Hecate deliver it, I can boss her around a little now that I promised to help her out so long as she behaves herself for the next few days. Been kind of nice."

Luna grunted and nodded, then Cowlick shoved the door open and looked over her shoulder at the sapphire mare, hesitating for a moment... but then only smiling a little and turning back forwards, striding slowly through the door as she called over her shoulder: "Take care of that gun I gave you, y'hear? I'll come up here and haunt your ass if I find out you've been mistreating her!"

"Oh shut up, Cowlick, I have tamed far worse spirits in my day than the wretched boggart thou would end up being." the sapphire mare scoffed, and Cowlick only laughed as she walked slowly across the yard, striding onto the path leading to Ponyville and forcing herself to not look back.

A smile lingered on her face, and tears almost came to her eyes as she slowly dragged herself down the dirt road back to Ponyville: not from the physical pain, oh no. She could handle that... it sucked, sure, but she could still handle it, force herself through it, a lot easier than she could... these goddamn stupid feelings of guilt. But it was her life, right? It was her life... and her death. No one had the right to take that away from her. No one had the right to make her feel bad for wanting this... incurable, unassailable pain to end. Especially when they didn't even understand that these pills weren't to make her pain manageable, or even bearable: they were purely to make her muscles work, her body move, her nerves sensitive enough so that even if the pain got worse during the day, she didn't get so numb to everything else she was suffocated under the fog of sufferance. So she could still feel when she was touched, hear when she was talked to... understand when other ponies were looking at her, instead of just pitying her.

Cowlick stumbled over a tree root, cursing quietly and staggering before she frowned a bit, looking slowly up. It was evening out here, and she smelled like engine oil and machine parts and smoke... masking the faint reek of urine and fear and blood, from how she'd started to lose a little bit of control over her own body, how her lungs had gotten so chewed up that every breath smelled like rot and carried a whiff of copper with it.

She smelled like a freshly-dead corpse, which was probably why the manticores and other beasts big and mean enough to try and eat a pony left her alone. But manticores and most beasties weren't all that smart... and there was something up ahead, standing in the middle of the path, lurking in the shadows of the tall trees and just watching her, that looked like it might have a taste for carrion...

Cowlick gritted her teeth, setting herself as her eyes blazed, a hoof reaching up towards her jacket... but then she blinked in surprise as light glowed around the shape's head, before the engineer relaxed and sighed tiredly as she realized it was Innocence. She was still polymorphed, even, in that pretty unicorn form. "Hey! You scared the hell out of me, Sin."

The unicorn smiled at her as she strode in close, bowing her head apologetically as Cowlick calmly grasped a box of cigarettes instead of the handle of the weapon tucked away beneath her denim vest, and she roughly shook a cigarette up out of the hole to bite into the base of, muttering around it: "The hell are you lurking in the dark for? Or don't tell me, you feel more at home there now than you do back in your own damn house, kid?"

Innocence scowled at this, and then she simply snorted as the glow faded from around her horn, but she was close enough now that Cowlick could still see her... except in the shadows, Sin looked so much more... sinister, and somehow less like a pony in this polymorphed shape. This... disguise... she cloaked herself in. "You should try and be nicer to me, at least in private. There's no one here to save you if you push me too far, Cowlick."

"Babe, hate to point this out, but there's no one here to save me at all." Cowlick said dryly, snorting as she put a cigarette in her muzzle... and then she blinked in surprise when Innocence simply flicked her horn, and the cylinder was instantly lit, the engineer hesitating before muttering: "Thanks, kid. Glad you got some respect for the dead and dying."

"I don't." Innocence said shortly, and then she leaned in, studying the mare for a few moments in silence as Cowlick looked at Innocence uneasily, before the strange, dark unicorn suddenly gave an almost-sultry smile as she said softly: "But you don't have to be dead or dying. I can heal you... or at the very least, make sure your soul doesn't go to Helheim."

"Not interested." Cowlick said moodily, and then she shook her head briefly and carefully climbed back up to her hooves, adding in a mutter: "In a few days, I'm gonna be gone, Sin. How about you drop this jackass routine of yours and you try and be a decent goddamn pony? Believe me, you don't wanna be like me, spending half your life pissing everything away to end up getting a rude wakeup call at the end of it."

Innocence snorted in derision at this, replying coldly: "I don't need advice from someone so cowardly she apparently can't even put up with a little bit of pain."

Cowlick halted, then nodded a few times to herself before glaring over her shoulder at the mare, saying disgustedly: "Yeah, I'm so goddamn weak I can't put up with my lungs slowly shredding themselves into pieces while every other part of my body starts to malfunction from all the goddamn tumors cropping up through my body. But at least I'm not so goddamn weak that I had to crawl over to the big bad god when he said 'ooga booga' and start licking his clawsies so he'd give me my catnip."

The unicorn flushed and snarled furiously at this, her eyes blazing as she leaned forwards and shouted: "You have no idea what it was like in Valhalla!" She halted, then sneered suddenly, adding contritely: "And I guess you never will, either. But don't worry, Cowlick, I'm sure Hell is going to treat you just fine... and when I get back up to Valhalla, I'll do my very best to make sure your son writes you a little love letter so you can know how he's doing."

Cowlick's eyes widened at this, and then she spun around as Innocence smiled coldly, her eyes glowing as she rose her head proudly, looking down at the shocked engineer with victory. "Yes, that's right. Your little boy, Rustproof. I met him, you know. So did Gymbr. Gymbr was just fascinated with him... a stupid little earth pony who was so good with machinery. We put him right to work making things for us... as a matter of fact, Gymbr gave him a personal gift. A personal touch. Made it so that your little boy would have even more in common with all the machines he worked on..."

"What the hell are you talking about..." Cowlick whispered, staring disbelievingly... and then Innocence flicked her horn as it gave a sharp pulse, and Cowlick grabbed at her head with a cry of agony as psychic pain ripped through her mind, clenching her eyes shut before she snarled and opened them-

And there was sky all around her as she stood up on top of a cloud, the engineer mouthing wordlessly before her eyes slowly widened in horror as she stared up at the behemoth in front of her. The half-stallion, half-machine pony, looking down at her expressionlessly with one brown eye, and one eye made of crystalline glass...

She mouthed wordlessly, then trembled violently before shaking her head weakly, whispering: "No... no, no, Rusty... oh... oh Rusty..."

She stumbled forwards, reaching out.. and the huge, half-blue, half cold, cold steel earth pony pulled carefully away from her, Cowlick feeling like she'd just been punched before she clenched her eyes shut as he asked quietly: "Why'd you fail me, Momma?"

"No... I... I didn't..." Cowlick covered her face, trembling, tears leaking down her cheeks before she looked up and stared at Rusty... and the image flickered, showing her something behind it, a snarling, grinning, nasty beast lapping up her pain, laughing at her, mocking her, using her dead son's image against her-

Cowlick leapt forwards and swung a hoof out, and Innocence was knocked backwards with a cry of pain before she was tackled onto her back by the earth pony. She was flattened onto her back, and the earth pony snarled furiously as she shoved Innocence down with one hoof and slammed the other down into the mare's face again and again, shouting furiously: "You goddamn little bitch! You stupid little punk! You think this is okay? I was about to give you a goddamn chance and this is what you do? You... you ain't that sweet little girl, you're some freak, some changeling, some bug in a goddamn pony suit and I'm not gonna stop hitting you until-"

Innocence finally blasted Cowlick backwards, knocking the earth pony crumpling into the middle of the path before the unicorn scrambled hurriedly to her hooves, rasping for breath, her eyes terrified, horrified, disbelieving all at once. The stupid... this sick, dying earth pony had just bloodied and bruised her face, had... had torn through her psychic attack like it was paper, like she was nothing but an amateur... where was all the power Gymbr had given her? How could... how could a weakling like a worthless slave hoof like this break through her thought-elite powers?

She breathed hard in and out as Cowlick slowly picked herself up, tears still streaming down the engineer's face before she looked up with a snarl and whispered: "You stay the hell away from me, you bitch. You stay the hell away from me, and away from my boy... and... and I swear. I swear to Hel herself or whoever it is that runs the icebox... if I find out you did that to my boy... if you showed me... reality, not just some sick joke of yours to get your giggles... I'm gonna crawl up out of Helheim, and I'm gonna kill you. And no one's going to stop me, because you are not Innocence. I don't know who the hell you really are... but I know you ain't the daughter of Twilight Sparkle, or Luna Brynhild, or Scrivener Blooms. You're a monster."

"You're weak. I have every right to do... to do anything I want to you." Innocence responded, but her answer was less the snarl she meant it to be, more a weak whisper, trembling with... with hurt, before she shivered and then shouted almost desperately: "You started it! You pushed me first-"

Cowlick laughed harshly at this, and then she shook her head slowly before turning around and striding off, snarling over her shoulder: "And I'll end it too, if you even come near me again. Don't you even think my boy's name again... he's better than you. No matter what you and your sick pimp did to him, he's still gonna be better than you... he's still better than me... and you'd best remember that. You'd best remember, Sin, that..." Cowlick turned her head forwards, eyes almost glowing as she strode into the shadows, body quaking with pain, and hate, and anger. "That I ain't no nice filly either."

Innocence watched as the engineer strode away, and then she reached up a claw, touching her bruised cheek and shaking her head weakly before she drew her claw away... and stared at the sight of blood. Cowlick had actually hurt her. Cowlick had actually broken out of her psychic link... why, how? And why hadn't she been able to immediately start draining the earth pony's emotional energies, or even feed off her pain? She all but radiated so much... such intense torment, that Innocence should have easily been able to lock into those energies and use them to temporarily boost her powers...

That was all she had wanted to do. She had even planned to help the stupid mare... her powers would have numbed her after she'd opened a hole with the psychic intrusion, and then she would have left Cowlick to daydream about the little colt that wasn't even her real son, any more than Scarlet Sage was the real daughter of Luna and Scrivener. Innocence spat to the side with a curse, trying to make anger rise up... but it failed to so much as simmer, with how shaken she was. With how disbelieving she still was that... Cowlick had hurt her.

Was this also because of the Hourglass, one of the side effects of it collapsing from the kinetic pulse in Valhalla? But her magic worked, didn't it? She hadn't had the time or privacy to test many of her spells, true, but she could still fly, she could use thaumaturgy as naturally as she ever had, she could drain emotions, affect others... but it seemed like some of her spells... needed more practice. Like she just... wasn't nearly as powerful as she'd always been... or maybe Gymbr had led her to believe...

Innocence looked down, cursing quietly before she closed her eyes tightly. Her horn flashed, and the blood vanished in a burst of black smoke as her features rapidly healed. She was left healed, the pain vanishing after a moment... but the nerves still tingled, like they remembered being hurt. Like they were still as shocked as she was over the pain Cowlick had inflicted on her, and... her blows had actually hurt her...

No, it... it had to be because she wasn't yet completely back up to full strength. She still had some recovery to do, after what Antares and Twilight Sparkle had done to her in Heaven. And more importantly, the pulse. That had to be it; she just had to heal. She just had to bide her time and grow strong again, and then... then everything would be back to normal. That was all.

Innocence nodded briefly to herself, closing her eyes and breathing uneasily in and out as she slowly lowered her head, then she gave a weak shiver. She looked back and forth for a few moments through the dark evening air, then shuddered again at how she felt... watched, instead of safe here. At how the forest seemed like it was trying to protect her, but... reluctantly, as if it didn't entirely welcome or recognize her, but... she was like a family member that it couldn't turn away, no matter how much of a black sheep she was...

She grimaced a little at this, shivering: unwanted little Innocence, strange little Innocence... she shook her head slowly and closed her eyes tightly. They all saw her as Gymbr's little slave, that had to be why they didn't trust her. And no matter how many times she did, they all just treated her like she was lying... she was stuck, until she could prove that she no longer cared about Gymbr. Until she could show them that she didn't want to have anything to do with the god...

Her eyes narrowed as he looked down, reaching up and rubbing uneasily at her damaged face. But Gymbr... maybe he had manipulated her this whole time into believing she was so strong, when really she was so weak. Maybe she had been played by him all along, and that made her very eager to do whatever it would take to prove that she wasn't just his slave.

She could slip into his cell, torture him, make him suffer, even kill him... but what would that accomplish? She wasn't stupid enough to believe they'd overlook her sneaking through their security to get to him, that they wouldn't draw all the worst possible conclusions from anything she did, even when all she was doing was something that they were apparently too weak to do themselves. And killing him... if Gymbr really had been toying with her instead of making her truly strong, then he had to know the secrets to granting her true power. To making her feel... the way she had always felt in Valhalla, before the invasion, before the time flux.

That left torture, and these ponies didn't seem to have a stomach for torture... nasty as they could be when you hurt their sensitive little feelings. Innocence grimaced and rubbed moodily at her face again, then she shook her head slowly before finally deciding it was time to head back home. The plan she wanted to put in motion was starting a little... off-kilter, perhaps, but she thought she could still get herself moving, and get her family to start to trust her... and before Gymbr, before everything else, that was what she had to concentrate on and work on.

The unicorn made her way back to the house in the middle of the forest... her home, her mind automatically called it. She smiled faintly as she glanced up over this slowly, then she shook her head briefly and muttered: "It... it is home. I guess it never stopped being home, no matter... no matter what happened or how many years passed."

That felt strangely... true. And it was strangely... reassuring, too. She nodded a little to herself, then shook herself quickly before striding towards the doorway and opening it... before rearing back, her eyes widening in horror at the sight of the enormous gun being aimed straight at her face.

Then Luna Brynhild grinned widely and rose Sting Mk. III quickly, saying easily: "My apologies, daughter. I did not know if it was thou or Antares. 'Tis nice to see thee back, though. I trust... in better spirits?"

"I..." Innocence hesitated, then she nodded slowly, remembering what Gymbr had taught her. Remembering how Imago and Dusk had both explained different ways to manipulate others to her, how to make sure they would bend to her will in the right way. That the best lies were always based in truth, and came naturally. "Yes. I am. I'm sorry about before... I lost my temper."

She stopped, then looked down with surprise. She... she actually was sorry. The mare licked her lips slowly, then she hesitantly looked up and added in a rush: "I want things to work out between us, but I'm confused about what you all want from me. I love you all. Don't you believe that? I want to be... I want to be important to you, special to you. I want to make you strong as I become stronger myself... why is it so wrong that... why is it so wrong that I desire what I do?"

"Because thou wert taught those things by a coward and monster with no decency and no compassion, that bore no respect for others... nor even himself." Luna hesitated, then she looked over her shoulder at Twilight Sparkle, who smiled faintly as she glanced up from where she and Scrivener Blooms were carefully mending the old sheath for her gun so it would better fit the Sting Mk. III. "But I suppose that... perhaps... we continue to forget again and again how much time thou thyself spent with that creature. How much thou wert... taught... at his claws. And the suffering thou must have endured is often forgotten in the face of thine... well..."

"Bitchiness." Scrivener supplied, and when Luna shrugged amiably and Twilight glared at him, the stallion only smiled at awkward-looking Innocence. "Hey, you don't get it both ways. You get to claim being as old as Antares and I'll treat you like I do him, or you can claim to be sixteen and I'll be nicer to you. Probably."

"Scrivy." Twilight slapped his shoulder gently, and the stallion smiled again and shrugged as he turned his eyes to her. The Lich was smiling a little herself, though, and she sighed before turning her eyes to Innocence, saying softly: "I want us to be understanding with you, not reprimanding. I think... I think you just need to be taught a few things all over again, that's all. And I'm trying to remember that maybe... having this entirely different environment around you, even if it's better for you, healthier and positive... you haven't adapted to it yet. You don't know how to act or react inside it. You just need time to learn and to get used to things here again."

Innocence stared for a few moments at Twilight Sparkle, swallowing the urge to laugh before she forced a smile and a slow nod, saying finally: "Yes. Yes, of course, that's... that's... precisely it. That must just be it. I... I just need time to learn and adjust and... you really are... really smart, Momma."

Luna looked mildly at Innocence, feeling sorely tempted to shoot her, but Twilight gave the sapphire mare a pointed look before she turned her eyes back to her daughter and said softly: "Thank you, Innocence."

The polymorphed unicorn smiled lamely, not really trusting herself to say anything further in case she either giggled or... said something that would give away her ruse, which would probably be worse. There was an awkward silence as Luna simply studied her, while her other parents went back to working on the sheath, and Innocence hesitated before he strode inside and looked curiously at Luna's gun, asking: "Can I hold it?"

"No. 'Tis like my vaunted Iron Horse, no pony may touch this apart from I." Luna replied with a huff, hugging the gun up against her body, and Innocence grumbled a little as Twilight rolled her eyes and Scrivener Blooms only shrugged absently. "Precisely. Foolish fools. Thou art all foolish fools."

"And you're our queen." Scrivener said absently without looking up, and Luna looked proud of herself for a moment before she blinked, then scowled over at the stallion as she realized that wasn't precisely a compliment. Then she took aim at him with the gun, and the stallion sighed tiredly as he said wryly: "I really hate to point this out, but I think you're breaking roughly a dozen safety rules right now. Not that you likely care at all."

Twilight grimaced a bit as well, and Luna huffed before popping the cylinder open, saying pointedly: "Look, there is not a bullet in the barrel, now is there? 'Tis perfectly safe."

With that, Luna flicked it closed, then paused and peered curiously at a tiny switch on the side above the trigger: it was simply labeled '0' on one side, and 'X' on the other, and Luna flicked this lightly to the 'X' setting before she winced in surprise as the runes along the barrel lit up, Innocence staring in amazement as a sense of energy suddenly radiated from the weapon. "How ingenious... look, Scrivy! The gun has a lamp switch!"

"That's..." Scrivener and Twilight traded looks, and then the Lich simply gestured moodily at the stallion, and he sighed tiredly before looking over at Luna and attempting to explain: "Cowlick must have... found a way to create a circuit or-"

"To turn the magic on and off, because if you left it on while those runes were generating energy, it could damage the weapon. Most enchantments of that nature use codewords or dials..." Innocence said suddenly, and all three ponies looked at her with surprise before the polymorphed unicorn lowered her head with an awkward blush, mumbling: "It... was one of the lessons Gymbr taught me, that's all. It always stuck with me because it was how we... warded much of Valhalla. But all that extra security was disrupted and destroyed by the pulse..."

Innocence looked down moodily, then hurriedly shook her head, realizing this probably wasn't the right path to take if she wanted to try and get on her parents' good side. There was no promise of power, no real discussion, nothing but her talking about boring things that she remembered from the days wasted in Heaven, a subject she knew was sore for them all... but when she looked up, she saw actual... interest in their eyes, that they were actually... paying attention to her talking about a simple enchantment of all things.

She looked back and forth at them blankly, before Luna asked with interest: "Could thou lay down those runes thyself? Perhaps upon our own doors? And are they simply to hold a charge, or can they be linked to any magic?"

"Well... we used them to draw in energy that was projected as a shield. A form of permanent barrier spell." Innocence said slowly, hardly believing that this... this was what they were interested in. This was what was getting their attention and making them treat her like... like their daughter. Like she was some little filly showing her parents her first art project... except that mockery had no sting even for herself, because somehow they were making her feel that way, but without being patronized; she wanted to tell them more. She wanted to hear them praising her. And she wanted her gold goddamn star, when it came right down to it.

The young mare hesitated for only a moment before she looked up, continuing almost hurriedly: "We could apply the runes to draw in energy in such amounts that they would project barriers nearly impenetrable even to Gymbr's powers... but the problem was that they would overheat and burn themselves out, or simply melt the floor around them after a period of time. So instead we ended up designing them to turn on and off... and we also layered multiple strings of runes over multiple surfaces. That way, the runes powering the forcefield could switch, and wouldn't burn up as fast."

Twilight nodded with a smile as Luna looked down meditatively, before Sin added almost eagerly: "And it would be really easy to add those charms myself, too, anywhere you wanted... I could make them do anything you wanted as well! Gymbr trained me in every school of magic, taught me..."

Innocence's voice slowly faded out, and then she lowered her head, thinking for a moment about what had just happened outside: how maybe she wasn't nearly as strong as she'd once been led to think. But her parents were all looking at her curiously now, so she quickly cleared her throat before forcing a smile and saying finally: "Gymbr taught me enough. I can lay down the runes."

"Alright Innocence... does thou remember the enchantments that already protect this house? The runes must be compatible." Luna said gently, and Innocence nodded briefly after a moment. The sapphire mare studied her daughter curiously at this, but when Twilight gave her an almost-pleading look, she simply grunted and shrugged. "Good, then. I am sure Twilight Sparkle can tell thee more, in any event. And runic magic is not something I am exceptional at."

"You are so, Luna." Twilight smiled a little over at the starry-maned winged unicorn, and then the Lich laughed quietly before turning a soft look towards Scrivener Blooms. "And from what I remember, you're pretty good at carving them too."

The stallion only shrugged a little as he finished loosening his end of the sheath, saying mildly: "Yeah, because I steal from you and Luna. You both have the full runic alphabet memorized."

Luna grunted, then she turned her eyes to Innocence and asked: "What other magic arts does thou know? Hast thou been taught alchemy?"

Innocence nodded, smiling up at Luna. "Gymbr and his Fates trained me intensively in everything they could think of. And almost everything can be further enhanced by my blood, my... corruption. But I still don't like that name for it."

That was a half-truth, but Innocence backed it up by smiling and shifting almost shyly, trying to be coy and... well, innocent. Scrivener only looked entertained at most, however, and Luna clearly didn't buy it either, but Twilight shot her another look, so the starry-maned pony gave a wry smile and questioned softly instead: "Aye. Then what would thou have us call it?"

Innocence looked surprised at this, then she glanced down awkwardly and bit her lip before finally looking up and saying softly: "Panacea."

Scrivener smiled wryly at this, and then he looked down at one of his Talons and flexed it slowly as he murmured: "I think this black blood that flows in our veins is more of a nostrum than it is a panacea, Innocence."

But his daughter only turned an affectionate look towards her father, gazing at him and feeling a strange tenderness as she said gently: "Because you've fought against using and learning more about the black blood in your veins, Daddy, all your life... even though the mire strengthens you. Strengthens Móðer, and can strengthen Momma too. You just need to learn to harness it, use it as I have, by practicing with it every day... by finding a use for it, every single day."

For some reason, this made Scrivener Blooms shiver a little, shifting uncomfortably, but Luna only scowled a little before she said evenly: "Do not forget that Scrivener Blooms is thy father, Innocence. He has lived for many years with these poisons in his veins, learned to harness them in many ways: merely because we are not so 'showy' with these powers does not mean they are any lesser in us than they are in thou, daughter."

Innocence half-wanted to argue, but instead made herself bow her head, saying quietly after a moment: "Okay. I do believe in all of you, I just want to help you, as much as I can."

There was silence for a moment, and then Scrivener and Luna traded looks as Twilight studied her daughter quietly. Innocence looked back at them, almost hopefully, and then a smile spread over her face as Luna asked: "Then tomorrow, shall we put effort into working with thy thaumaturgy? It seems every time we plan something, it fails to occur, but... well, let us etch this in stone, if we must."

"And tonight I'd like to read through some of that magic theory book with you." Twilight said quietly, and Innocence had to visibly bite back a response... but she managed to, all the same, and the Lich smiled a little in relief and approval that leaked its way onto Scrivy and Luna's faces as well. And at the sight of that, all three of her parents smiling at her, Innocence felt more confident in her plans a well as a... strange, unexpected happiness. Not just that her plan seemed to be working but... more than that, something else...

Sin didn't have the time to really examine herself beyond more than a cursory sift through her feelings before Luna nodded firmly, then said with a glance over her shoulder: "Now we need merely wait for that idiot Antares to get here, and then we shall attempt a family night... but, oh, Innocence, hast thou eaten? Art thou hungry at all? Scrivy, food!"

Innocence blushed a little at this, and Scrivener Blooms simply nodded before he picked himself up and headed for the kitchen. "I guess we could all do with a little bit of something to eat, really. I'll put on those venison dumplings."

"Delightful. Although I still desire to one day discover whether or not intelligent deer taste as good as their lesser cousins." Luna said blandly, and Scrivener Blooms sighed tiredly as Twilight shook her head and gave the sapphire mare a flat look, but the starry-maned winged unicorn only huffed loudly and glowered at them in response. "'Tis a perfectly valid curiosity!"

"No. No it isn't." Scrivener muttered from the kitchen as he shifted through pans, looking for the one they had that Luna hadn't managed to somehow melt or warp. "Luna, you weren't trying to cook again, were you? Where's... oh, nevermind, here it is."

"Here it is, here it is, Luna didn't ruin it after all." Luna mumbled sulkily to herself, and then her soulstone horn glowed faintly as she rose it slightly, making Scrivener Bloom twitch and wince, then glare over his shoulder in her direction. Luna glared back... which was awkward, considering there was a wall between them. "I am not a complete idiot, Scrivy. Besides, when would I have found time to pretend I was thy wife and cook?"

"When I'm asleep. Like you usually do. Frittering around out here in my apron and going 'look at me, I'm Scrivener Blooms, I'm going to bake a cake!'" Scrivener retorted, badly faking a high pitched voice, and Luna scowled horribly before she tossed her gun aside, then stormed around the corner and into the kitchen.

"And now I shall be Luna, then!" She firmly bopped him with her horn, then grabbed him by the head and shoved him down, but even as Scrivener was knocked flat he managed to hook a claw out and seize her by a foreleg, yanking her limb out from beneath her and sending her toppling down... unfortunately, right on top of him.

The two shouted and squabbled as they wrestled with each other, and Innocence looked awkwardly around the corner as Twilight Sparkle sighed and shook her head slowly, then she said finally: "Come on, Sin, we should... Sin?"

But Innocence was completely distracted by watching her parents wrestle, seeing the way... they weren't using their full strength or trying to seriously injure each other, maybe, but neither seemed to mind hurting each other a little, and neither was holding back, just letting the other win. They were rolling back and forth like foals, cursing and flailing at each other, but... it was nothing like with Gymbr. When Gymbr sparred, whoever was fighting him put on a show... but there was clear submission in his servants even then. It was always clear from the very start who was going to win, and who was going to lose.

Here, though... her parents were arguing like foals, but wrestling to outdo the other. Scrivener would manage to roll on top and try to his the weight of his body to pin Luna; Luna would use her eternities of experience and her flexibility to wriggle out from beneath him, then raw muscle to try and slam Scrivy down on his side. It wasn't clear who was going to win, because both of them were fighting with all their strength... and yet none of their powers. Neither bowed their head to the other...

Sin watched as Luna finally managed to yank one of Scrivener's Talons high behind his back as she got her other foreleg across the back of his neck, pinning him down on his stomach. He groaned in pain, then gritted his teeth, trying to shove off the floor, but the mare bore down in just the right place and left him unable to move until he finally cursed and tapped his free Talon against the floor several times, and Luna grinned widely as she slipped off him... and to Sin's surprise, Scrivener was smiling already as well as he pushed himself up, shaking his head briskly before he said finally: "You're still a massive pain in the flank."

"I would rather be nothing else." Luna said kindly, and the two traded a quick kiss before the sapphire mare turned her eyes towards her daughter, giving a kind smile to Innocence. "Go, go and sit down. We shall have a little dinner, wait for Antares to return, and then celebrate tonight as a family. Because that is what we are... a wonderful, fortunate family."

Innocence gave a brief smile in return, bowing her head and feeling a strange blush rise through her cheeks as she simply nodded a little, but even as she stepped backwards and allowed Luna to stride past her, even as Twilight Sparkle stepped up and touched her daughter's shoulder gently, Sin gazed into the kitchen; not at her father, but at the spot where her parents had been wrestling. Where they had been treating each other as equals, where they had shown they loved each other so much that one didn't have to submit to the other just to keep some delicate balance between them... where she had seen something she didn't entirely understand with the way Gymbr had twisted her, but that had stirred something strange inside her and made her long all the more to be part of this family again.

Chapter Forty One: The Clock Winds Down

~BlackRoseRaven

The clock was ticking. It was the only sound apart from Cowlick's rough breaths in and out in this entire room. This private room... not at home, no. She would never do that to Ross: instead, she was in the place that had been most of her life; a place she had built from the ground up; a place that was her Heaven, and her Hell.

Cowlick looked silently around this dusty, empty office. This room had never been cleaned, never been used, because it had been special. The desk covered by a thick sheet was her old desk from Manehattan: those shelves covered in plastic she'd put together herself. The textbooks... all from her personal library. And yet she hadn't touched anything in this room since it had been put together. Since she had designed this office for her son, as a surprise for him. She had wanted to wait until after they'd destroyed Cancer, though, and... well, Rustproof had sacrificed himself long before that had been over and done with.

The mare closed her eyes. The last few days for her had been a blur, and hellish; her mind ached with visions of her lost child, draining the little sanity, the little will to live she had left. Her death party had been a screwed-up, sordid affair where she'd gotten drunk and mean, and she'd been taking too many pills. She missed her little colt. She missed having a body that didn't hurt all the goddamn time. She was in pain, and she had long overstayed her welcome here. She knew that now: she just wished... she could apologize to everypony she had hurt, and that she was going to hurt.

She hadn't told any ponies anything, really... except for Ross. Poor goddamn Ross... she had looked into his naïve but so-intelligent blue eyes, touched his still-handsome features, shared one last kiss with him before telling him gently that it was time for her to go to sleep, and she wouldn't be awake for a long, long time. And she lied to him, and told him that one day, he might go to sleep, and wake up beside her... but Horses of Heaven she hoped not. She hoped Ross went somewhere better. Somewhere better than Hell, better than Heaven, because what was Valhalla but another screwed-up layer of life-that-could-be-worse?

She looked down silently at the set of melted keys in one hoof... Rusty's keys. All she had left of him. She jangled them quietly, then squeezed them slowly before glancing up as the door opened, and Hecate floated calmly inside, levitating a box beside her.

The two looked at each other for a few moments, and then Hecate bit her lip before the head said finally: "You shouldn't do this."

Cowlick smiled wryly, then she held her hoof out silently, and Hecate sighed before muttering: "Fine. I can finish my body on my own. I'm not an idiot, Cowlick, I know what's in this box-"

"Then you can tell Greece tomorrow what happened. Now get lost, Hecate. I want to finish this alone." Cowlick replied roughly, and Hecate was silent for a moment before the head looked down with a grimace, shaking herself slowly as the case floated uneasily beside her.

"I don't understand this. I've chosen to live in spite of... everything. I know you've been offered help. Do you truly hate yourself this much?" Hecate asked contemptibly, and when Cowlick only smiled bitterly at her, the head sighed, then wrestled with itself visibly before saying finally: "I'll... take all your research notes, and-"

"Put them to use." Cowlick said softly, and Hecate frowned before the earth pony gave a faint smile, then coughed a few times before rubbing slowly at her throat. She wasn't coughing as much anymore... but she also didn't have much lung left anymore. "In my wall safe, there's some schematics. All neatly filed and organized for you. Some ideas for your new body, since I saw the frame you were building, got an idea of what you're probably after... and a few weapon designs for you. There's also an electron sphere... fix up Lucy and put that thing in it. It won't give it as much a kick as I'm sure you did, but it'll do the trick."

Hecate was silent, and then the head simply nodded before saying softly: "You're nothing but a rude slave hoof with too great an opinion of herself... but all the same, you were one of my favorite ponies here. I hope you survive Hell."

"I got to. I gotta find my colt." Cowlick smiled faintly, glancing up at the head before she said wryly: "Get out of here. I'd shake your hoof, but... since you don't got one, I'd rather you just leave so we don't have to make out or something stupid like that."

Hecate gave a brief smile, then tossed the case into Cowlick, who grimaced but managed to awkwardly catch it, hugging it against her body. They looked at each other for a few moments, and then Hecate nodded slowly before she turned and floated out the door, her horn glowing to close it behind her without looking back.

Cowlick looked after the strange, strange mare that had been a business associate, a creative rival... and a friend, really. In a 'we hate each other' way, sure, but a friend all the same... and the earth pony took a slow breath before she silently looked down at the wooden case Hecate had brought her, stroking gently over the simple, polished oak before she smiled faintly as her hoof gently stroked along a few stickers on the top of the case.

Then she grimaced and leaned to the side, coughing heavily a few times, blood and spit flying from her mouth before she gasped and choked for a moment, clutching at her throat as tears welled up in her eyes before she snarled furiously and spat to the side, struggling for breath. She was dying, and not in a pretty way, a dignified way. And that was okay with her, because she was going to head off a slow, miserable decline with something that would be quicker, if rougher, perhaps... messier. But she thought it was only fitting to die the same way she'd always lived.

Cowlick silently sat back, breathing hard in and out before she rubbed her wrist convulsively at her lips, then she reached down, patting rapidly over her vest before finally seizing on a bottle of pills in one pocket. She yanked them free, staring down at the bottle, trembling for a few moments before she popped the broken cap off... then shook her head slowly and whispered: "Yeah. Time to go."

She rose the bottle and knocked it back like she was drinking down a shot, then she flung it away as she crunched bitter pills between her teeth, watching as the rest of the bottle's contents sprayed out like foam. The foam of the sea she was descending into, as she breathed hard in and out, wiping convulsively at her lips as her body quaked but she forgot the pain for one brief moment...

Her hooves slid along the case, then opened it and grasped what was inside, lifting it free. She studied the weapon she lifted: it was like a miniature version of Luna's Kingmaker, designed to be held in a single hoof... in her hoof, as she flicked the cylinder open before lifting a single bullet out of the box, and let it topple away.

It clattered loudly against the ground, golden bullets flying in all directions, gleaming as they rolled along the floor, like motes, like pearls and treasure sliding to rest along the ocean floor. And she was sinking deeper and deeper into darkness as her trembling hooves forced the bullet into the chamber, before she cocked the hammer on the revolver, her breathing growing rougher as she turned the gun back and forth, a trembling smile spreading over her face as she whispered: "Live by the sword... die by it. Die by it, rough, risky, hard... no goddamn sure thing for you, Cowlick. No, die like you always goddamn lived..."

Cowlick spun the cylinder violently, breathing hard, staring out and seeing... the sea. The endless dark sea, so deep and beautiful and betraying, because there was a storm on the horizon... a storm of ice and cold and freezing death, and it was coming for her... coming to claim her now no matter what she did... so the only thing left to do was rise to meet it with as little fear as he could.

She rose the gun, felt it press against her temple, pulled the trigger; click.

She trembled, closing her eyes tightly even as she kept smiling, and pulled again; click.

She breathed harder, tears rolling down her cheeks, and the storm was coming; click.

She opened her mouth, opened her eyes, laughed weakly, and pulled the trig-

---

Luna and Scrivener were silent as they stood at the front of the small crowd gathered outside the little office where Cowlick had killed herself. Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash were both crying, both trying to comfort each other, and the elderly Pegasus was leaning heavily on Applejack today, who stood with Apple Bloom, Avalon, and Big Mac; today, they were a family. Maybe tomorrow they would go back to all being wary of Applejack, but today they were a family.

The coroner had already determined suicide: not that it required anything more than a single glance to confirm, anyway. Especially not with how vocal Cowlick had been about her plans to... end everything, one way or another. Although they were all a little disturbed by the method she had chosen... even if part of Luna understood.

Antares and Prestige were near the back of the group with Tender Trust and her siblings, all of whom were murmuring quiet prayers for the deceased. Innocence was standing a little bit away, shifting uncomfortably, feeling... guilty. Especially when a voice murmured from the crowd: "She never said a thing... and I thought she wasn't going to until... you know..."

"Well, there's no note... but it wouldn't be like her to leave one, anyway. No apologies, no explanations... that was Cowlick." replied Greece's voice quietly, and then he added, lower, but Innocence still able to hear: "Hecate must have known earlier, though, because she was already taking things out of Cowlick's safe when I stopped in there this morning..."

"Excuse us." Luna muttered, and the sapphire mare growled as she turned around and headed quickly through the crowd and down the hallway, the starry-maned winged unicorn shaking her head in disgust as she muttered: "Damnation, Scrivy. The wicked witch cannot even wait until Cowlick's corpse is cold before she ransacks her treasures... pathetic, carrion-eating scavenger..."

Scrivener only grunted in agreement, his own eyes dark as the two ponies strode quickly down the corridor, neither noticing Innocence hesitantly following along behind them. The two plus one made their way through the building and down a level into the research laboratories, and neither were surprised to hear there was at least one soul here, working away in spite of what had happened upstairs.

They found Hecate perched on her little buggy, thin mechanical arms sticking out of the sides of this machine and carefully piecing and welding together some kind of metal frame, as Hecate's horn glowed brightly and powered the device with magic. As she welded and fit metal together, she studied several blueprints floating around her head, muttering without looking up: "I'm busy."

Luna responded to this by childishly walking up and flipping Hecate's buggy onto its side, the head wincing in surprise as her papers fell around her and the mechanical arms flailed uselessly as the torch on one sputtered out. Then the head gave a long, slow sigh before saying moodily: "Boo hoo, I'm so sad that the pony who was going to die in less than a week shot herself in the face."

Luna took a slow breath, then carefully righted Hecate's cart, and the head began to smile... and then the winged unicorn's hoof smashed into her sallow face with so much force it knocked her loose from the buggy, eyes bulging as she flew across the room to bounce like a rubber ball along the floor in a stream of cables and electric mane.

She finally hit the back wall and bounced off this to come down straight on her face with a splat, groaning in frustration before looking blearily up as Luna growled in disgust: "Do not forget, foul, ungrateful, wretched monster... thou art at my mercy here. And I shan't hesitate to make thee experience at least some of the pain thou well deserves, if I think it may make thee finally begin to consider others apart from thine own accursed self!"

Hecate only laughed sourly at this, and then she shook her head slowly as best she could from where she was laying on the ground, looking up moodily at Luna as he said flatly: "I don't care about anything or anyone apart from myself, Brynhild. But you're not going to get rid of me, because now that Cowlick's gone, I'm the only pony around who has intimate knowledge of Clockwork technology."

"Not entirely. Apple Bloom knows her way around, and there are always the Nibelung, too." Scrivener said moodily, and Hecate gave a sour smile at this.

"Yes, dwarves. Trust the dwarves. It's not like the Nibelung have agendas and codes of their own to follow." Hecate replied sourly, and then she grimaced and attempted to roll herself up onto her neck cap, but only succeeded in awkwardly flopping her head forwards a little. "You truly are nothing but idiots if you think this is all going to be without cost."

"Thou art truly an idiot if thou art... anything." Luna growled, and then she flicked her soulstone horn, and Hecate scowled as she was lifted by Luna's telekinetic grip and dragged through the air to hover in front of the sapphire mare, the two glaring furiously at each other.

Then they both looked back at almost the same time as Innocence leaned awkwardly into the doorway, and Scrivener winced a little as he asked quietly: "Sin. What are you doing here? It's... well, actually, maybe we should all just... head somewhere a little... not here."

"You're right, Scrivener Blooms. You and your whores should leave so I can work." Hecate smiled icily as Luna snarled and Scrivener's eyes narrowed slightly. "She's your daughter, yes? And like mother, like daughter, isn't that-"

Luna firmly flung Hecate at the ground, the head squawking as Luna bounced her violently several times like a basketball before punting her through the air. The head thudded into a wall and fell almost straight down to land with a fleshy thud and a dizzy groan. "Yes, like mother, like daughter. I am her Móðer, Hecate and I am proud of her... Twilight is proud of her, and for all of Innocence's barbs 'tis Twilight whom I see in her most! And she is no... flesh mistress!"

"Yes, more like just a flesh puppet." Hecate muttered, but she sounded sulky and beaten, and Luna only growled grouchily in the direction of the head before Hecate sighed tiredly and said sourly: "Fine. Perhaps we're all... sensitive right now. Why don't you do us all a favor and just leave?"

The sapphire mare grumbled under her breath, then she turned around to look at Innocence, who was frowning uneasily as she looked up at Luna, unable to stop herself from saying: "I'm nothing like Twilight Sparkle. I'm a lot more like you, Mutt, and like Daddy..."

Luna smiled wryly at this, shaking her head slowly before she said softly: "Nay, Innocence. For I am stupid, and so is Scrivy. And thou art anything but that: thou remembered how to form runes off the top of thy head, and thou art gifted, and intelligent, and strong. I imagine thou must be like a young Twilight, if Twilight had only possessed... a little more confidence, and been a little more brash."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Innocence smiled faintly and shook her head slowly, unable to stop herself from arguing quietly: "I have more darkness in my heart than Twilight Sparkle ever will."

But at this, Luna shook her head slowly, leaning down and saying softly: "Nay. Thou may not understand it now... but for all that the tenderness and compassion Twilight possesses, how bright her skies are... there is great, great darkness inside her as well. 'Tis only kept hidden, and repressed, and in a place where few will ever see it. And that is how things should be."

Innocence frowned uncertainly, tilting her head, but then Scrivener strode forwards and said softly: "Hecate's right about one thing, though. We should get out of here and... leave her to whatever she's doing." Scrivener grimaced a bit over his shoulder as the head moodily picked herself up, then flung herself forwards with telekinesis... and with a roll of her eyes but not a glance over her shoulder, Luna's horn glowed brightly and caught Hecate's head before she could smack back down to the ground, the nasty version of Celestia wincing in surprise before she was almost-gently floated back to her buggy and dropped down on top of it. "Please don't... take dead people's stuff next time."

"I'm glad you think I'll be around long enough to watch more of your friends die. But insulted you think I'd be interested in helping myself to their things. Cowlick's designs are a little different than some hoof-full of bits or material waste." Hecate muttered, shaking her head with a look of distaste as she carefully righted herself, then gave a thin smile as her neck-cap clicked into place in the buggy and it fizzled a little. "There. Now get lost."

Hecate turned her attention back to whatever she was working on, and Luna huffed grouchily before muttering: "Accursed witch."

With that, the sapphire mare turned and strode out of the door, and Scrivener shrugged briefly before he turned to follow as well. Innocence lingered for a moment, silently studying Hecate as she picked up the fallen blueprints, and then the polymorphed unicorn shook her head before turning and following her parents out. Part of her wanted to approach the head, question her, speak to her more about the subject of power and what she could learn from her... but she figured that now might not be the best of time for that.

They silently made their way through the mostly-empty, shut-down building, making their way out a side exit and into a narrow alley that smelled of smoke and was littered with cigarette butts. Luna and Scrivener both looked down silently for a few moments, thinking of Cowlick; thinking of how she had taken her life, before Scrivener looked up, and the sapphire mare heard his thoughts as clearly as she did her own. She must have hated herself.

Luna simply gave a brief smile, lowering her head forwards and nodding silently after a moment, and then both ponies sighed before Innocence looked up uncomfortably and asked: "Can we... I'd really like to train with you two."

"But you have to promise us that tonight you'll read at least two chapters of the theory book with Twilight." Scrivener replied with a pointed look down at Innocence, and the mare sighed tiredly before she grumpily nodded, the stallion smiling at this. "Good. Thaumaturgy?"

Innocence brightened immediately, nodding firmly a few times, and the two ponies traded looks before Luna said finally: "Then go and find us a spot along the forest path where we may practice. Scrivy and I must speak to Twilight Sparkle and ensure our friends are faring as best as possible before we join thee and train."

The polymorphed unicorn nodded... then hesitated for a brief moment before she turned and hurried off. But they both thought the hesitation was good... it was maybe a step forwards, breaking through the sociopathic tendencies that had been ingrained into Innocence.

Training wasn't anything either pony wanted to do right now. But their daughter was... right, in a strange sense. They had to keep their lives going, they had to keep themselves moving, and take on some kind of normalcy. For not just their own sake, but everyone else's... yet all the same, Luna shuddered and sighed quietly, murmuring: "'Tis very difficult, Scrivy."

"'Tis." Scrivener echoed after a moment, and then he shivered a little as he reached up and touched his head. Cowlick's corpse had been thoughtfully covered, but all the same... "What about her funeral? Do you think..."

"I am sure Twilight will wish to help Rainbow Dash as much as possible... I am not sure whether Ross will... should... be there or not." Luna smiled briefly, glancing over at Scrivener Blooms. "I realize now how... how little we ever knew about Cowlick. We do not know if any of her family is still alive, who her associates in Manehattan were... anything apart from that mare she has mentioned now and again, Narcissa."

"And we know she didn't like her... I guess... we'll just have to hope there's specific instructions in her..." Scrivener fell silent, then he reached up and rubbed at his throat slowly before glancing up and asking quietly: "Do you think we'll ever see her again?"

Luna was silent for a moment, and then she closed her eyes and murmured: "Perhaps, when we pass on ourselves, Scrivy. Twilight Sparkle may yet find Heaven but I fear that we... we deserve Hell."

Scrivener Blooms grunted, and then both ponies winced at a sharp shock of static through their heads, feeling Twilight's violent reaction to Luna's words, and the stallion quickly looked up and said lamely: "Hey, it wasn't me, it was Luna."

"Coward! Tattletale!" Luna exclaimed, and then she swung a hoof at the stallion, but he winced and swung a Talon up, narrowly catching her hoof. The two gritted their teeth, forelimbs flexing as they tested one-another's strength, and then the sapphire mare cursed and yanked her foreleg back, glaring daggers at the stallion as he glowered moodily back at her. "Thou art a blamer. A blame-maker. A blame-shifter. Well, shall we discuss the time I caught thee putting on Twilight's undergarments?"

"No. Because you forced me into those undergarments because you insisted on setting up that... pole." Scrivener shuddered as memories he'd rather forget surfaced, and then he said moodily: "Cowlick just died. Try and be a little respectful."

"Cowlick would not want us to be respectful. Cowlick would want us to get drunk and take medication for not-intended purposes and... I do not know. Drive fast vehicles." Luna paused, then softened a little as she looked out down the alley, saying quietly: "We should do something to honor her memory, Scrivy, but I do not know what is fitting. I do not know what she'd truly want."

"She wanted us to be safe, and to be happy. And she wanted us to spill a little blood, because... that's just the kind of pony she was." Scrivener smiled a little, looking down and shaking his head briefly. "She wasn't a bad pony. But she wasn't your average pony by a long shot, either."

Luna nodded a few times, and they both looked down before the stallion said softly: "And she did love Ross. No one could ever doubt that... she was probably the only pony who treated him like an equal a hundred percent of the time. Well... almost, anyway. I don't know if... at the end..."

"No. If thou wert dying, Scrivy... I may act the harsh mistress, the uncuttable Valkyrie... but I remember when thou wert sick, I greatly preferred to think of thee as..." Luna halted, then laughed quietly. "Nay. I could not even stomach the thought that thou might not... survive. That is how badly it hurt me so, Scrivy. And that is precisely why..."

She stopped, then looked over at him with a faint smile. "'Twas only cruel to Ross... 'twas only a lie, if he did not understand. And Cowlick said that somewhere inside... Ross understood. Aye, we... we must invite him to the funeral. We shall tell him that she sleeps now, but this is his last chance to tell her goodnight, and how much he loves her, before... well, I do not have the rest of the words, but I am sure thou shall think of something."

"Alright. I think that's a good idea." Scrivener said softly after a moment, giving a small smile, and the two looked at each other before they both lowered their heads, the charcoal stallion adding quietly: "I just hope... we don't screw things up."

"Cowlick would not mind." Luna said softly, and the two traded faint smiles again before she held a hoof out, and Scrivener reached up a Talon and gently took it, squeezing it tenderly, stroking his thumb-claw along the edge of her ankle. "Damn everything, Scrivener Blooms."

The stallion grunted and nodded, murmuring in reply: "Damn everything, Luna Brynhild."

They stood for a few moments in quiet in the back alley, before both ponies looked up as puffy-eyed Twilight pushed through the door, rubbing slowly at the trails of red tinged tears. Both Luna and Scrivener stepped forwards and embraced the Lich from either side, and the violet mare clenched her eyes shut before dropping her head forwards, whispering: "She... she's gone."

"Aye." Luna nodded as she and Scrivener slipped back, both ponies grasping one of the Lich's shoulders, and the violet mare looked back and forth as her lip trembled before she stumbled forwards and hugged them both fiercely around the neck, dropping her head between them and breaking down into quiet sobs. They could feel bitterness, selfishness, regret coming from her... mixing both beautifully and blackly with sorrow for Cowlick, and what the engineer had been driven to.

After a few minutes, however, Twilight regained control of herself, straightening and shaking herself out as she mumbled: "I... I'm sorry. It's just... it reminds me that not everyone... it makes me think about how Applejack died, and even if she came back, that was a complete fluke. If... when... the others die... we might not be so lucky. And Cowlick... Cowlick's... gone. There's no way Hel is going to give up her soul... is there?"

"No. And I would not dare to ask, Twilight Sparkle. Even asking such a question could have terrible consequences." Luna said softly, shaking her head briefly before she turned her eyes towards Scrivener Blooms. "But we should make our way out to see Sin, and... train with her. 'Twill not be very fun, but it may be... a step towards resuming daily life. Cowlick would not want us to sit and weep over her, after all..."

Twilight nodded and rubbed at her eyes quietly, then she sighed a little and lowered her head, murmuring: "I know that's right, but... it doesn't make anything any easier at the same time. I already miss her... how... how forceful she was. How it seemed like even after she got so sick... nothing and no one could stop her. I... I always admired her. For so many different reasons."

Luna nodded in silent agreement, then she gave a faint smile and shook her head briefly. "Aye, I did as well... she was truly fearless. Truly strong. Truly a friend to us as well, and worked for our benefit until the very end. And that is what we must remember and strive to honor."

Twilight nodded, then she slipped back a step and looked up hesitantly, asking after a moment: "Do... do you think Sin understands what's going on at all? Or is she like... like a foal that's not old enough to... to grasp what happened? Or did Gymbr change her so much that she just... she doesn't..."

"She cares, Twilight Sparkle. I do not think she would have seemed so uncomfortable if she did not care. She has a great depth of empathy inside her... 'tis... 'tis just difficult to see it sometimes." Luna said soothingly, and the Lich nodded hesitantly after a few moments, giving a small smile up to the winged unicorn she loved and trusted so dearly. "Please look after Rainbow Dash and the others here, Twilight. Thou wert always a good friend to them all, and... thou must not let Rainbow attempt to take all the burden of managing Cowlick's affairs onto himself. His loyalty can be a crux at times; especially when he knew her best and longest."

Twilight nodded a little, then she licked her lips slowly before murmuring: "I wish... Pinkamena was here. She'd know what to do... and she and Dash are close, too. She'd... she'd keep us all moving, too, by berating us and shoving at us and just... making us move forwards whether we wanted to or not. She was good at that. That's... what we need right now."

"Well, I can do that, Twilight Sparkle. I am giving thee all manner of orders at the moment right now, am I not? 'Tis close enough for the moment." Luna replied softly, and the Lich laughed a little as she glanced up quietly before Luna leaned forwards and kissed beneath the mare's horn gently. "Do not fear, Twilight Sparkle. All shall be well."

"I hope so." Twilight said softly, and then she smiled a little when Scrivener reached up and gently stroked the Lich's face, giving her a supportive smile as she rested her cheek into his Talon for a moment, their eyes locking and emotions whispering back and forth. Then the Lich watched almost longingly as Luna and Scrivener turned away, half-wanting to call them back for a thousand different reasons... but resisting the urge to, knowing she had to deal with this on her own, she had to not be selfish... and that they all had their own burdens to deal with during this trying time.

Luna and Scrivener strode out of the alley and in front of the engineering building, and both looked with surprise at the crowd that had gathered: Cowlick, after all, hadn't exactly been the most popular mare in Ponyville. She spent ninety percent of her time cooped up in the engineering lab, and most of the rest of the time drinking, drugging-up, and shooting things. And all with a healthy dose of verbal abuse in the mix for good measure.

Then Luna scowled as she realized many of these ponies had cameras, while others were wearing suits and didn't look as upset as they did irritated. The winged unicorn narrowed her eyes as she approached the group, and Scrivy winced a bit but followed behind her as he smelled the stale stench of bureaucracy long before Luna asked the nearest pony in a suit: "Art thou a lawyer? Thou has the look of a lawyer."

"Yes." The earth pony glanced at Luna, then he did a double-take, but hurriedly regained his composure, trying to look nonchalant as he asked calmly: "Do you know when this facility will be open for business? I have an order to serve on behalf of Hellhorse."

"Good luck. I'm here on behalf of HMH Holdings. As most of this technology is reverse engineered from the designs of the company I represent, you're wasting your time." said another lawyer, and then he gave a wry grin. "Unless you're just here for the show and the money."

"Hey, you guys fight it out as long as you want. I'm getting eighty bits an hour just to serve a letter. Of course, my boss is getting something like a hundred, and he's just sitting back at home. But I guess it looks more impressive when you show up yourself." blandly stated a pony in a courier's uniform, before another pony – clearly another lawyer – chuckled quietly.

"Server's fee. Five hundred bits for the first hour. Three hundred for each additional hour. A 'good faith' service charge for being present to present the letter myself. Seven hundred and fifty bits an hour for my company's services if and when we go to court with the rest of you over ownership rights." said the silver-maned unicorn, and one of the other lawyers whistled, looking unperturbed. "Manehattan Defense Systems. We have a thin claim from when a government and semi-public weapons lab merged with us to form the present company. Kilby Kwolek was an employee there for quite some time, and it was recently discovered that she was never officially terminated, nor did she quit. Under her contract, any designs she made can be claimed by us."

"I'll look forwards to seeing you in court, then. Well, my boss will. Sounds like we're all going to make a lot of money." noted one of the lawyers, and another one shrugged as he reached into his coat, pulling out a pocketwatch to study it with boredom.

"Yeah, but it's whichever one of us wins that takes home the big prize. And no offense to any of you, but that's going to be me." said this stallion dryly, and then he sighed and glared at the double doors, shouting at one of the camera-toting ponies near the front: "Hey, you, knock on it! Tell them to open up, I have a deposition in Canterlot in an hour!"

"All of Cowlick's ideas were her own property. They will be passed to her husband and her friends, whatever has been stated in her will." Luna said stiffly, and this drew a variety of looks from the crowd before she narrowed her eyes at them. "How did any of thee even hear that she had already... that she was..."

The lawyers only smiled to each other, looking pleased with themselves, and one of the reporters said almost defensively: "Kilby Kwolek was known throughout Equestria as a dangerous weapons designer, responsible for the creation of guns that have taken hundreds, if not thousands of lives! The public has a right to know about her death!"

Another reporter suddenly turned, the Pegasus flapping his wings to launch over the crowd and snap a picture of Luna and Scrivener, making them both wince before he asked eagerly: "Did you know her well? Is it true that she committed suicide with one of her own weapons? Can we see the body?"

Luna's eyes widened, then blazed with fury as she snarled and her horn glowed, shouting furiously: but if she said any coherent words, it was lost in the blaze of lightning that shot down from the sky, driving the crowd of ponies into panic before she charged angrily straight at them, the herd of reporters and lawyers turning and bolting as more streaks of lightning shot down from the sky around the and Luna roared furiously: "Out, out, out of my Ponyville, out of this sanctuary, and never return! Damned scum and filth and rot, get thee hence back to thy kingdoms of dung and never return here to my sacred home, get out, get out, get thee gone!"

Luna – with Scrivener lagging behind with his head lowered tiredly, but a faint sense of both anger and justice thrumming in his veins – chased the herd of ponies all the way down the street to an intersection, where they hurriedly scattered in all directions. The sapphire mare huffed angrily, her soulstone horn pulsing slowly as Scrivener Blooms strode up beside her, then he kissed her cheek gently and said softly: "I think Cowlick would have liked that."

There was silence for a moment, and then Luna closed her eyes and smiled faintly, dropping her head as she murmured: "Aye. She would have, would she not? Then... perhaps I should thank these idiot curs for giving me a moment to honor her memory, and the chance to fight for her, one last time. Perhaps it shan't stop the gears of bureaucracy and greed from attempting to grind down the engineer's memory... but all the same, I think they shall at least think twice before daring to intrude into our sanctuary again, our beloved kingdom of Ponyville."

"I've always loved how you refer to everything as your kingdom. You're not a king, you know." Scrivener said mildly, and then Luna grinned over at him as she straightened, breathing slowly and feeling a hundred times better as she met his eyes warmly.

"Nay, I am so. I am a mighty King, amongst all stallions." Luna said proudly, reaching up and touching her chest before she winked over at the charcoal pony. "I am in possession of a most mighty battering ram, am I not?"

"Just stay away from my closed gates." Scrivener said mildly, and Luna giggled for a moment... then threw back her head and laughed, and with laughter, came a relief, a release, a feeling that in spite of what they had lost... they still had plenty to be thankful for, and that there would always be some good to be found in this wide, wild world.

Scrivener smiled as well, unable to help himself, relieved by the mare's happiness as he felt her whirlwind emotions changing, strengthening like they always did: her moodiness was sometimes one of the things he hated most about her, but at the same time, it was something he adored. He always seemed to be at the same level of vaguely-nihilistic cynicism... Luna could be in despair one moment, and in delight the next.

They looked at each other for a few moments once the mare's laughter faded, and then Luna finally nodded to him before leaning forwards and nuzzling him quickly. He smiled at her, reaching up to run his Talons through her ephemeral locks, and her eyes slipped close as iridescent mane flowed like water around his digits before she said softly: "Come beetle. We've been keeping our daughter waiting. We should go to her and... make the very best of things that we can."

The charcoal stallion nodded after a moment, and the two studied each other again for a few moments before they traded a soft, quick kiss. Then they both turned to stride down the road side-by-side, their heads raised, smiles on their faces as they made their way towards the gates leading out of town and onto the road that led into the Everfree Forest.

But both ponies became a little more somber as they looked back and forth, seeing how the news of what had happened was spreading. Maybe a lot of ponies hadn't liked Cowlick... but they were both beginning to realize that all the same, a lot of ponies had respected her, and for good reason. Cowlick had been the reason they had been able to keep so many enemies at bay, after all; Cowlick had been a large part of what had kept Ponyville safe, and helped put the town on the map, industry-wise. It was Cowlick's facility that had provided a lot of jobs, and Cowlick who had been responsible for a lot of the technologies shipped in and out of Ponyville, making lives easier for everyone.

The Nibelung at the gates had their heads bowed, standing still, hands behind their backs: they were mourning, in their strange way, for the mare that had passed on. But Cowlick had been one of the few ponies glad to employ the dwarves, and had reached out to more than just the architects: after all, who knew how many Nibelung workers were from the dwarven lower-classes that had thought they were destined for nothing but moving dirt around and living short lies as expendable soldiers? Cowlick had changed all that by giving them a home, training them to pursue long-lost crafts... she had given them hope, and a chance at a better tomorrow.

Scrivener Blooms and Luna Brynhild strode side-by-side out towards the Everfree Forest, and both ponies looked towards the animal care center as they passed it: it looked like Nirvana was on duty with Fluttershy, but the Pegasus seemed a little off-kilter today, a little upset. Then again, even if Apple Bloom was responsible for a lot of the repairs and upgrades on the building and it surrounding area... Cowlick again. Just like the walls around Ponyville, and... everything else.

Luna shook her head briefly, and Scrivener hesitated before he looked over at the sapphire mare, saying after a moment: "So one of those guys... said he was from HMH Holdings. But that's... well, technically he's saying Helios Mutual Holdings Holdings, right?"

"Shut up, Scrivy." Luna said gently, and the charcoal earth pony gave her a lame smile before the sapphire mare frowned a little, looking ahead and muttering: "Although aye, thou art correct, but they did not all seem intelligent insomuch as... self-assured and sleazy. I did not like them, Scrivy. Any more than I enjoy the fact I only managed to set one of them on fire."

"You'll do better next time, dear. Besides, we're trying not to kill innocent ponies, remember? Even when they're jerks." Scrivener said delicately, and Luna huffed.

"There is no such thing as an 'innocent' pony." the sapphire mare grumbled, and then she shook her head briefly before muttering: "Buzzards. Of course the cowards wait until she is dead before they try and make their move. Cowlick would have done far worse to them than I."

The stallion grunted in agreement, nodding a little before he nudged her gently with his shoulder, saying softly: "Well, don't worry, Luna. All-in-all, I think you still did pretty damn good."

"Thou art my husband. Thou has to be supportive. Fie on thee, thy words are nothing but pleasant nothings. I shan't believe a single thing thou says on the subject." Luna paused, then looked meditatively over at Scrivener Blooms before poking at him lightly with her soulstone horn, making him wince and shove at her absently. "But thou should still tell me more about how well I have done and further extol my greatness. There is much greatness to be extolled, after all."

"I should start with how modest you are." Scrivener said dryly, and Luna nodded seriously a few times before the charcoal stallion sighed tiredly, but smiled a little all the same at the mare. "Have I ever told you that I wish I married Twilight first?"

"Have I ever told thee I wish the same?" Luna shot back, then she furrowed her brow and added awkwardly: "For... myself, I mean, that I had married Twilight first and not... thee. Thou... thou art stupid. And fat. And a buttocks."

Scrivener Blooms sighed a little, but he was smiling in spite of everything, gazing with entertainment over at the sapphire mare as he shook his head slowly. Luna only huffed at him again, then she leaned forwards and bopped him lightly with her horn, making the stallion wince only a little before the mare said mildly: "'Tis very fortunate the foals take after me. But 'tis no real surprise, as they are intelligent and not silly like thou art."

"Hey, you said yourself that Innocence takes after Twilight." Scrivener pointed out, and Luna nodded thoughtfully a few times before the charcoal earth pony softened as they entered the forest, adding quietly: "And you know, it's funny how right you are about that. I mean... there's similarities. They're weird and you gotta look hard for them, but they're there."

"Such as how Twilight may be a good leader, but she seems to enjoy when instead we are the ones in the lead, giving her direction and guidance." Luna smiled wryly and shook her head slowly, murmuring: "A unicorn of spectacular power and prowess, and a Lich... and still she looks up to us and Celestia as if the old days had never faded into memory. 'Tis wonderful, but at the same time... I wish she would try and lead more, not just follow."

Scrivener smiled a little, shrugging a bit and saying softly: "She likes to organize things, and keep everything moving behind the scenes, but not headline. You're a headliner, Luna. You like to show off and kick things in the face and yell and complain until you get your way. Me, I just let you do your thing, shrug along with most stuff, and bitch and moan and refuse to do anything when I really want something in particular."

"Aye, 'tis most annoying." Luna said agreeably, and Scrivener Blooms rolled his eyes before the sapphire mare shook her head, then halted and looked down curiously at a smear of black goo on the trail, reaching out and touching it gently. "'Tis from Innocence's powers... strange, what is it doing here? I do not sense her nearby..."

Scrivener frowned a little, then he stepped forwards and touched the corruption himself, and he felt it resist only for a moment before the almost-alive black goo suddenly became... docile, servile to him. He grimaced a little, feeling a little awkward like he always did: he didn't know why the corruption was always so willing to obey him, even though there were things Sin could do with her so-called 'Panacea' that he could only dream of.

The stallion closed his eyes and breathed slowly in and out, concentrating on the poison... before a shiver ran through his body as he muttered: "Her emotions were a little... turbulent. She didn't mean to create this... but she was angry, and upset about... something. I can't read that deeply into it..."

Luna nodded uneasily, looking back and forth before asking slowly: "Can thou tell if she was hurt? Or was it just..."

The stallion bit his lip, closing his eyes... and then he winced a little, rearing back as he felt the corruption almost speak to him, an image flashing through his mind. "It was just lashing out, yeah. And I can feel it... yeah. She's a little way ahead. There's a whole lot more corruption, and it's... broadcasting her emotions. I can almost tune in to it..."

Luna looked curiously at Scrivener Blooms, and the stallion looked back at her before he made a face and shook his head hurriedly, saying sourly: "Hell no, Luna. I'm not about to go spying on our daughter. I don't care if she might be secretly plotting to kill us, she deserves privacy at least in her own mind. We're not Gymbr."

"Gymbr would not spy upon her mind. He would simply appear before her and torment her until he got what he desired. Or perhaps an order would be all that would have been required." Luna scowled a little, then she shook her head briefly when Scrivener Blooms gave her an awkward look. "I am fine, I am fine, simply... simply aggravated, that is all. Damnation, Scrivy."

She stopped, then hesitated to speak, looking over at the stallion even as they started forwards again before she asked quietly: "Does thou think that perhaps... this has something to do with Cowlick? I know, I know, it makes little sense but... the other night, perhaps they passed on the path. And Innocence is no masterful manipulator but she at least usually has some control over her emotions, or does better at hiding her spats of anger from us. With what has happened and how eager Innocence has been to get away, I cannot help but think..."

"I don't know. I don't know if I want to know." Scrivener said truthfully, and the sapphire winged unicorn grunted and nodded, looking down meditatively. There was silence for a few moments, and then the two traded awkward look before the charcoal stallion finally shrugged and sighed a little. "It could be, I guess. Again, though... I'm not about to spy on her. We can just... ask her, I guess, if she seems... off at all when we talk to her."

Luna grunted in agreement, nodding firmly a few times before they both fell into quiet as they continued along: but in their minds, they traded thoughts and images back and forth, both frowning a little as they strode onwards towards their goal; their daughter. The two ponies were unsure of precisely what they might find or what could be troubling her, but both had more than just a promise to keep to her: they were worried about her, and about what this could mean.

After all, it seemed like if they really wanted to help Innocence... if they really wanted to get her to heal... they were going to have to reopen old wounds, and make the mare re-experience as many bad emotions as she would good ones: in order to learn to trust, she was going to have to understand how Gymbr had betrayed her. If she was going to learn she was safe, she would have to understand that her current behaviors were too often leading her into danger. If they wanted her to learn to be compassionate again... then she was going to have to feel pain for those ponies who were suffering themselves.

Scrivener and Luna traded looks again, and faint smiles: you couldn't have darkness without light, or right without wrong. Life, the entire universe, was about balance: that was why they had been forced to take down Gymbr, and why they would next have to conquer this Light. Extremes would lead to nothing but the scales tipping over, and if the scales fell too heavily to either side, all that would result... was destruction.

They reached Innocence after only a few more minutes: she had cut off down a little side trail from the main path, but left clear tracks behind her, and a few claw marks on the trees. That meant she was truly frustrated or upset about something, and Scrivener halted to study one of these marks uneasily, noting that there were black stains in them. Little droplets of poison and infection... she wasn't even keeping her powers under control that well right now.

Something that became all the clearer when they entered the field she was in... or rather, the bog. Innocence hadn't just transformed the area around her into mire, however, she had transformed the trees all around the edge of the field, and she was half-clutching, half-sprawled over a boulder that had turned entirely to black crystal from her powers. Her body trembled a little, and Luna softened at the sight of her daughter as she and Scrivener stepped into the mire.

And as always, the moment Scrivener touched the dark goo, he felt it ripple beneath his hooves and Talons... then change, as if fawning over him, as if abandoning Sin and choosing him as master instead. Thankfully, Sin didn't seem to notice, not even looking up until he asked: "What's wrong, Sin?"

She jumped, startled by the sound of her father's voice as she spun around, then attempted to force a smile to him, whispering: "N-Nothing. I was just... sleeping."

That was an even worse lie than Sin's usual lines about 'oh, just thinking,' or 'I was just admiring you.' Luna and Scrivener both looked at the mare curiously, and Sin looked uncomfortably back and forth before she silently lowered her head and murmured, trembling faintly: "I... I just can't stop thinking about... Cowlick. She... I mean... I don't know why, she shouldn't matter to me, she shouldn't matter, but I feel..."

She swallowed back the word 'guilty,' instead looking up and whispering: "Bad."

Scrivener and Luna traded looks, both ponies softening visibly, and then the sapphire mare said quietly: "Aye. And that is perfectly alright. Nay, it's not pleasant, but it is alright, Sin... and thou should not be ashamed of this, nor fight these feelings."

Innocence only shook her head, looking down and reaching up a trembling claw to grasp her features before she stared up at her parents, her eyes filling with tears. She didn't understand the guilt wracking her, or the emotional pain running through her body. She didn't understand why she kept failing to try and put all her plans in motion, and just kept settling contentedly in with her... her family. And she hated, most of all, this feeling that she was... she was utterly helpless to do anything except play this role she didn't want to but she found so goddamn comforting at the same time...

"Mutt... D-Daddy..." Innocence trembled, and then she ran forwards, and Scrivener and Luna caught her. They caught her, and they held her close, and they made her safe, and they comforted her. And for a little while, all she could do was cry, held tight in their embrace, both loving and hating how they made her feel as part of her screamed for more power, and the other part whimpered and begged and pleaded to remain safe here, forever, to serve her parents, to make them happy... to be their good little filly again...

For now, she did her best to block everything else except the safety and the sanctity she felt in her parents' embrace. She closed her eyes, breathed uneasily in and out, and trembled a bit as she silently wished that everything could be easier... that she could have both her family and all the power she desired, and she wouldn't be forced to choose between one or the other.

Little-by-little, she felt herself calming down: her emotions were coming back under control, and she smiled faintly, feeling the faintest tinge of embarrassment run through her system... but almost all of that was overwhelmed by a mixture of relief and gratitude. She blushed a little, nestling herself further, closer in against her parents as she breathed slowly in and out, then she murmured quietly: "I'm... I'm okay. I'm sorry. I don't want you to worry about me, I'm just... I'm upset. We never... cared about each other..."

It was a weak deflection, but Luna and Scrivener both smiled down at her, nodding slowly and clearly believing that she was telling the truth. She felt a strange kind of relief at this, mostly because... she was afraid of appearing too vulnerable to them, or having them understand why she was really feeling the way she was, what was really bothering her.

They didn't press the issue, and the mare was able to recover a little bit more, finally awkwardly pulling away and smiling lamely up at her parents. Here she was, claiming to be older than Antares... and yet acting like she was younger than she had been when she'd left. She was all too well aware of the irony, and the mare silently lowered her head before she cleared her throat and said finally: "Well, if it's okay with you... I'd like to maybe... practice my thaumaturgy now."

She quietly rubbed a claw through the mire, then frowned a little and looked down curiously, concentrating on it. It responded to her, rippling silently... but at the same time, there was something... different about it. And it only took a few hesitant pokes before she realized what it was: the mire was no longer keyed to her. Just by stepping into it... her father had taken dominance of the entire bog, just like the mire had always obeyed Gymbr over her as well.

She looked up at him with surprise, and Scrivener tilted his head... which only further added to Innocence's amazement. Her father wasn't even aware of what he'd done, that the mire was keyed to him now instead of her, and she opened her mouth... then hesitantly closed it, instead asking impulsively: "Can you feel the pulse in the Panacea?"

"Corruption." Scrivener mumbled, but then he nodded slowly, closing his eyes and grimacing a little. "And I can, Sin, yeah. It always feels... so alive. Like it's got a mind all its own... it always bothers me. More than I should let it, really..."

Innocence smiled faintly at this, looking down before she murmured quietly: "You shouldn't be afraid, Daddy. It feels alive to you because it... obeys you, it's attached itself to you. It desires your orders, your leadership, your mastery. There's nothing bad about that, now is there?"

"I guess it depends on how you look at it." Scrivener muttered, and then he shook his head briefly before grimacing a bit and asking finally: "Does it... feel the same way to you?"

Innocence simply nodded, not wanting to reveal quite yet that he had taken control over the mire over her, that right now, it felt like something that would obey her only so long as Scrivener didn't try to override her control... and even him offhoofedly willing the mire to do one thing when she was trying to order it to do another would be enough right now to override her. Because the Panacea, Corruption, Clay of Prometheus, whatever you wanted to call it... it didn't have sentience, but it did have its own life.

There was silence for a few moments, and then the mare finally gave a small smile and leaned forwards, saying quietly: "I know you don't like it when I say this, but... I'd like to try and teach you a few things, Daddy. Will you listen to me, try to do what I do?"

Scrivener Blooms looked less than thrilled, but when he turned his eyes towards Luna, she simply shrugged and gestured at him moodily, saying finally: "Do not look at me, Scrivy, I am no mare for advice on these matters. But even I did swallow my pride when Antares offered to teach me how to use earth pony magic."

"He taught you how to plant flowers without killing them. Which is impressive, considering Scarlet Sage couldn't teach you how to tend to the damn garden without having to get up and leave every five minutes because you'd kill something." Scrivener said wryly, and Luna huffed. "It still amazes me that we can grow our own night-thriving crops, but you try and plant a single flower and you end up killing it."

"Well, as thou will recall, I made thou and Twilight Sparkle do most of the gardening and planting." Luna remarked mildly, and then she shook her head and turned a small smile to Innocence. "I wish to ask for a small favor, a small promise, my daughter. Do not... do not do harm to thy father, nor press him with thy more dangerous arts. We must all start small."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Sin nodded uneasily before she looked down, then smiled faintly and said quietly: "Okay. Can you... make objects float?"

"I'm not a unicorn." Scrivener said mildly, then he frowned and looked awkwardly up. "Well...I mean, I guess I am a unicorn, but I mean I don't have a horn, so... I'm not... really a unicorn even though I am by blood, and there's the whole Clockwork Pony thing too..."

Luna leaned over and firmly bopped Scrivener with his soulstone horn, making him wince and then glower at her, before he sighed and turned his eyes back to Innocence, saying dryly: "No."

Innocence shook her head slowly, then she easily swept a claw out over the mire beside it. Immediately, it hardened into a small, crystalline island before she simply made a rising gesture while very pointedly raising her horn to show she wasn't using her magic at all. And Scrivener and Luna both stared in surprise as the small platform of mire hovered silently into the air, dripping a bit of excess before Innocence said softly: "The Panacea contains a lot of energy... that power can be focused in all kinds of ways. I'm... a little disappointed, actually, that you and Mutt only use it for... well, you know. Simple things. Valthrudnir used this to power massive machines, didn't he? Gymbr used it for many of his own artifacts and machinery as well. All you have to do is... try."

She didn't know how else to phrase it, but Scrivener Blooms nodded hesitantly, studying her silently before he gave a small smile and mumbled after a moment: "Here I am, getting a lesson from my own daughter in stuff that... well, I used to be the only pony around who could actually do this stuff. It's a little scary, especially seeing... how far you've come."

Innocence smiled faintly, shrugging a bit as she silently reached up and touched her own feature with a claw, murmuring as she lowered her head: "I'm the darkness, Daddy, that's all... you just have to look at me, and you see that I'm... a Tyrant Wyrm. I was fated to do this, to have this kind of power and control over other forms of darkness."

"No, Sin." Scrivener said softly, looking down with a quiet laugh. "You look the way you do because of me. Because you were born between a Clockwork Pony that was supposed to be some kind of... Tyrant Wyrm, shapeshifting... monster, I don't know, and... and a Lich. I hate to say it, but your... our... genetics were against you from the start... and who knows how the fact you were born from... well, my... uh... stuff... and in the womb of a Lich, a pony powered by magic, by belief in self, by conscious and subconscious desire..."

Scrivener looked down, shaking his head briefly. "I'm sorry. I've always seen myself as a Tyrant Wyrm. I feel sometimes that that has something to do with why you look the way you do... as well as all the Tyrant Wyrm genetics in my body and... everything else. And Twilight... I know you have a hard time believing this, but she sees me the same way. And sometimes she sees herself as a little bit of a monster, too... a monster like... us. Not a monster as in... you know. I'm... I'm sorry, Sin, I doubt I'm making any sense here."

His daughter was looking at him, though, and Luna was smiling faintly, so Scrivener lowered his head and finally continued on awkwardly: "I know what you look like, and I know that... it must be hard for you at times, and I see your powers, but... Sin, none of that matters. The only thing that matters is what you choose to do with yourself, and your abilities. That's all. You can choose to stay in the darkness if you want, to use nothing but... darkness, and shadow. Or you can choose to... to stride into the light. You're not trapped in darkness, and you're... a good person inside."

That sounded so naïve... and yet all the same, Innocence gave a faint smile as she lowered her head, blushing a little. She felt... just to hear her father say those words, it comforted her in a way she didn't want to admit to, as her eyes roved back and forth and she breathed softly in and out before finally nodding a little, murmuring quietly: "Thank you. I... I just want to be the very best that I can be. I want to be strong, strong enough to..."

To rule? Or to keep others safe? To have everything she wanted? Or so she could protect others... although in her mind, that protection was a form of control, of rulership, of maintaining power over the weak. She looked down, shifting a bit before she reached out and touched the platform of black crystal, and it readily dissolved back into mire that spilled down into the bog already around the, the mare looking up almost shyly as he invited: "You try, Daddy, okay?"

Scrivener Blooms hesitated, then he sighed a little before reaching uneasily out to the side, touching the mire... and grimacing at how easy it was to create his own island of black crystal, looking down at this for a few moments before glowering at Luna when she hopped on top of it. She looked at him pointedly, and Innocence only giggled a little before the mare said softly: "Yes, Móðer. Daddy shouldn't have a problem lifting you too. Just concentrate on what you want it to do, like you would with... anything else."

The charcoal stallion grunted, then he touched the edge of the island as he focused on it uneasily, not entirely sure of what was about to happen... but to his surprise, with the simple command from his mind, the platform of crystal shivered before it lifted slowly into the air, floating a foot or so above the black ooze as Luna swayed awkwardly on it before looking down and saying thoughtfully: "Well. This is not bad at all, Scrivy. Perhaps thou might actually have more use now than just throwing mudballs at thine enemies."

Scrivener rolled his eyes before glowering at her, and a moment later, the island of crystal dissolved into muck and sent Luna spilling back to the ground with a squawk, sending up a splash of black ooze as Innocence laughed. Luna looked less thrilled as she stood slowly, wiping grouchily at herself as she muttered: "Fantastic, Scrivy. Just truly fantastic. This does not at all make me desire to pummel thee into unconsciousness."

"I hate to point this out, but if you do that, you'll pummel yourself into unconsciousness too." Scrivener said awkwardly, and Luna huffed at him loudly before the stallion turned his eyes towards his daughter, clearing his throat a bit and giving her a small smile. "It wasn't that hard though, you were right. It just took a thought, a push in the right direction... I have to say, Sin, I really am impressed that you seem to know your powers so well."

He stopped, looking down and flexing a Talon slowly: not a single trace of mire would stick to the strange, silvery metal, and he hesitated before looking up at his daughter and asking quietly: "Have you ever... I mean, when you use your powers excessively... do you ever feel like they're taking you over? Like you're losing control?"

Innocence shook her head hesitantly, looking down and thinking of when she'd been a child, first learning to practice her thaumaturgy... "No. Remember how they used to make me sick, though? Well, all it took was... practice and a little... a little help from Gymbr. But I think it was mostly the practice, mostly learning to master myself, getting used to it over the years that helped me. I know you avoid using your powers as much as possible, Daddy, but... if you don't master them, what's going to stop them from mastering you?"

Scrivener was quiet for a few moments, then he reached up with a smile and quietly ruffled his daughter's mane, making her huff but blush a little in pleasure all the same before he said softly: "Maybe you're right. We really are lucky to have such a brave little girl, aren't we?"

"I'm not a filly." Innocence grumbled, but she couldn't deny that it gave her an awkward sort of pleasure to feel like no time had passed, to act like she really was just a sixteen year old again... and her rational, logical mind tried to tell her this was because it would help make it all the easier to get what she was after, nestle herself in the safe comforts of her parents while beginning to pull their strings and guide their actions to her desires...

But the rest of her only relished the sight of Luna and Scrivener smiling at her, bowing her head forwards silently and gratefully to these ponies she adored: to the parents that she still loved in spite of everything she had been through and claimed, even if now she was a little twisted, now even her love came with motives, and spiderwebs, and complex schemes... and beneath it all, a desire to always be the center of attention and the most important thing to these ponies, no matter what kind of masks she would have to wear... or what she would have to do to anypony else to make sure no one could ever take her Mutt and Daddy away from her.

Not even Twilight Sparkle.