Jötunheim

Chapter Five: Machine
~BlackRoseRaven

It wasn't actually a terrible night: Antares was happy to stay in, read, and eat the strange salad that the dwarf dropped off for them, while Innocence went out and prowled around the town, spying on people, poking the horses, and testing the magical shield that protected the village. She was very interested to see their defenses weren't entirely unnecessary: there were definitely unpleasant things lurking in the dark outside the village that she was unable to help herself from taking a closer look at.

She came back with a few trophies, ignoring Antares eye-roll: a skull, a bizarre-looking dagger, some corpse remains that she kept herself busy experimenting on for the rest of the night. At some point, Sticky the fuzzy minotaur showed up to yell at them, but he was clearly cowed by the fact that Innocence had both managed to harmlessly pass through their barrier, and kill some of the monsters on the other side of it.

Their plan was to leave before breakfast, but Donnedown was waiting for them outside, and invited them inside for a 'quick nip.' It lost them an hour to food and conversation: not that Antares really minded, but it did annoy him that the genial groundling was trying to get so much information out of them. Okay, to be more accurate, the way Donnedown went about getting information annoyed him because they kept going off on rambling tangents about meaningless things, like favorite foods and the best parts of the day and too-much-information about the things Innocence liked to do with her claws.

He couldn't say it was boring, either, though, or that they didn't get plenty of out Donnedown in return: more than enough to give Antares an idea of what route they should take to the city of Banding, and what they should expect after that.

Banding was two days' journey roughly northwest: if they really wanted to go the direct route to Yggdrasil, they would be better off going northeast, but something told Antares it would be better to check out the nearest 'city' to get a better sense of what they were in for first. Plus it sounded to him like his parents had gone that way...

That didn't make sense.

Luna and Scrivener were known for being unpredictable, and Mutt in particular could be rude and difficult and perhaps even unprofessional. But it wasn't like either of them to run off to party or ignore what they had been sent to do, especially not when they were fulfilling a favor to their mutual soulmate, the third and most important part of their strange trinity.

They walked along a game trail, Antares musing to himself as Innocence trampled along behind him, her cloak fluttering around her body, swinging a stick carelessly back and forth through the air with telekinesis and absently poking now and then at the weird fauna they passed. He had rolled up his own cloak and stored it in a satchel, but he had wrapped his forelegs in magic-infused cloth for a bit of extra support and a 'just in case' measure, because he had this uncomfortable feeling that they were being watched.

Did this have something to do with why Luna and Scrivener had apparently gone traipsing off across Jötunheim instead of directly to their target?

No, Antares didn't think so. Maybe their zigzagging through the land of the giants was what had drawn the ire of this thing now currently tracking them, but Luna never ran from a fight and if Morgan had been worried about something else getting to Mimir first, then she would have just dropped Luna and Scrivener right at the base of Yggdrasil.

Well, even if this was completely unrelated, at least a fight would take his mind off things.

Antares meditated as he looked around, noting they had entered an area with younger trees spread further apart, pillars of wood stretching up towards the sky, their reaching branches not quite managing to touch one-another, leaving the canopy of leaves above staggered and broken, through which jagged beams of light shimmered. Travelers along this path had worn the grass down and packed the earth, and the stallion slowed to a halt, tilting his head back and starting calmly: “So, I think it's time that-”

Sin's stick whapped painfully across his rump, the stallion squawking and leaping forwards, and the mare winced and blurted: “Sorry!”

“Goddammit, Sin!” Antares snapped, rubbing at his rump before he scowled as he set himself, while Innocence whistled awkwardly as she looked quickly away, half-hiding the stick behind herself. “Great. Way to ruin the moment.”

“I didn't do it on purpose!” Sin whined, before she huffed and mumbled: “Big baby.”

“You're a baby.”

“I am the baby!” Sin shouted, and then she stomped her front claws wildly against the ground before she yelled: “Get out here and fight us, you stupidhead! We know you're there!”

“Cool. Fine, yeah, steal my moment, too. Eat a dick, Sin.” Antares grumbled.

“Not yours!” Sin said triumphantly, and then she huffed as she looked around, hearing only the caw of birds, and the occasional almost mocking call of an animal in the distance. “Besides, like. It's a lot less cool when the bad guy doesn't leap in to fight you or whatever even when you scream get out here and fight goddammit!”

Sin's roar of challenge went unanswered apart from a few animal squawks, and then she groaned and looked almost pleadingly at Antares, who shrugged and said finally: “I mean, I can't really just make the bad guys appear, Sin, as much as I'd like to. Would make a lot of things way simpler. We could just skip right to the end of the movie.”

“I don't like movies.” Sin complained, and Antares rolled his eyes in amusement before he clicked his tongue, and the mare grinned as her horn gleamed before she snapped it sharply at Antares, sending a blast of black flame at him.

He slammed a hoof into this as it glowed bright white, and the magic missile was redirected, zipping past Sin's shoulder and smashing into the base of a narrow tree, the whoosh of black flames that breathed past searing plants and driving a shape out of hiding.

Innocence immediately tried to snare this with telekinesis, then gritted her teeth in surprise when her magic refused to catch on the creature, like she was trying to grab something impervious. For a moment, they were in stalemate, Antares and Innocence both studying the shape as it stood in the shadows of the burned trees, ignoring the weak flames that nibbled at the plant life around it.

It shifted backwards, and Antares grinned as he called derisively: “Okay, fine, catch up later then, huh? But if you don't want to play, you better do a better job of hiding next time.”

The figure's attention refocused on them, then spoke to them in a monotone, so flat that Antares could barely distinguish that it was feminine: “You will be given no further warnings. Do not attempt to violate my mission.”

“Oh, like this?” Sin stomped a hoof, and the earth beneath the creature erupted, launching it forwards into the clearing. But before she could cackle at the expected face-flop, it gracefully caught itself on two front hooves, then flipped its body sharply forwards, landing neatly only a few feet away from them.

It was an earth pony mare, her coat a stark and metallic chrome yellow, her eyes neon, painful blue. Her mane was long and gorgeous, flowing to one side of her face in thick dark waves, and she was tall, and strong, and yet peculiarly... designed.

“Replicant?” Antares asked curiously, but the mare didn't react to this.

“Antares Mīrus. Innocence Sparkle. I have been ordered to avoid engagement unless absolutely necessary-”

“Engage this!” Innocence shouted, leaping forwards and slamming a fist into the mare's face, but the mare didn't so much as flinch and Innocence's claw cracked loudly, her eyes bulging before she leapt backwards with a howl of: “Fuck! Fuck fuck fuckity fuck that fucking hurts!”

Her eyes watered as she rubbed slowly at her claw, then she glared furiously at the mare, who didn't smile, didn't blink, didn't react as she said: “You are advised to retreat. Failure to do so will be met with force. My mission takes priority, and will be completed at all costs.”

Innocence began to snarl, then yelped when Antares grabbed her and shoved her to the side, a moment before the mare shot through the space where she had been a moment before with such violence that she tore a wound in the earth when she stomped a hoof down, continuing to fly forwards even as she spun around on the axle of her leg and launched herself in a long kick at Sin.

Antares slipped in front of his sister, gritting his teeth as he blocked the kick with his forelegs before cursing, nearly knocked onto his back as the synthetic pony kicked smoothly off him. She flipped and landed neatly, surveying them for a moment as Antares glared back at her, steadying himself as he muttered: “Take this one seriously. I'm guessing this is our drop-in.”

Innocence grumbled, but nodded quickly before she snapped her horn out, and the earth pony mare maybe gave the slightest scowl of disapproval as a bubble of magic formed around her before hefting her into the air and shrinking just enough to stop her from moving her limbs freely. The spherical prison gleamed as a smile quirked at Sin's muzzle before she bragged: “Like this seriously?”

Antares began to open his muzzle, then winced when the earth pony simply flexed, shattering the prison around her before she dropped to the ground, energy sparking across her body fruitlessly as Sin flinched from the magical recoil. “Uh. More seriously.”

The mare was surveying them callously, and Antares grimaced as Innocence ground her teeth together before she bucked her satchel bags off and muttered: “I'm gonna do it.”

“Don't even think about it.” Antares mumbled back.

“I'm gonna do it!”

“No, Sin.”

“I'm gonna fuckin' do it!”

“Sin-”

“Here it comes!” Innocence roared as she slammed her claws into the ground, dark mire immediately spreading out in a pool around her and making Antares wince as he leapt hastily to the side, and the earth pony mare immediately rushed forwards in that moment of vulnerability-

Innocence grinned a moment before the mare crashed through her, the scaly unicorn shattering like glass: there was perhaps the slightest hint of surprise on the earth pony's face as she staggered forwards before grimacing as her hooves became caught in the sticky gunk, a moment before Innocence blasted out of the ground behind her and slammed gauntlet-covered claws down into the mare's back-

“Shit! Robot!” Innocence snarled, then she yanked her claws downwards, peeling synthetic coat from the back of a metal shell before she squawked when the mechanical mare ripped her hind legs free from the muck and drove them into the unicorn's belly.

Sin crashed to the ground and rolled several times with a wheeze, landing in a sprawl with her legs in the air as she groaned, before she mumbled as the machine-mare continued to tear herself loose from the slime: “Think I might actually have to Wyrm it up if this keeps up...”

“Let's not attract more attention to ourselves than we have to. But I need to see what we're dealing with. Think you can do that?” Antares asked as he set himself, and Innocence grunted as she rolled up to her claws.

The mechanical pony was still surveying them, clearly not hindered at all by the ribbons of coat that hung from its torn-open back to reveal the glint of armory metal beneath. It studied them callously, and didn't so much as flinch when Innocence snapped her horn forwards, sending a blast of black flames washing over the creature, dark fire greedily catching and consuming whatever it could in a matter of moments before whiffing out into toxic black smoke.

The smoke cleared, and revealed the pony still standing, unmoving, unflinching. Her eyes were the same, pitiless cold blue lights that glared into them from a featureless steel face that all the same moved strangely, as if the metal were somehow alive.

Her body was much the same: there were only a few thin lines here and there were metal plates were segmented or joined, and her joints were protected by what looked like steel caps beneath which was flexible black mesh, muffling the noise of complex machinery moving beneath it.

“Oh great. We've got a roided-up Worker Drone on our hooves.” Antares said pessimistically, before he paused and corrected: “Upgraded? Modded? I don't know. What's the robot equivalent of steroids?”

The machine's eyes hardened, which told Antares this wasn't entirely a machine: that it didn't just understand he was being derisive, that he was creating a response that wasn't purely logical. Was there a soul under that hard steel shell? Was there a heart beating in that machine?

“My analysis is complete.” the robot stated, like a warning, and it gave them a moment to process this before it attacked.

It was next to them in a flash, slamming into Antares and seizing him before flinging him backwards into the puddle of mire Innocence had created, sending him splashing through the slog with a curse of disgust. The robot leapt at Sin next, but the mare managed to catch her aggressor, gritting her teeth as her gauntlets squealed against the steel of the machine's features, feeling metal shifting beneath her claws as she growled: “What the hell are you?”

The mechanical mare didn't answer, instead twisting suddenly and slamming a hoof up under Innocence's chin, sending her flying into the air with a squawk before one of her legs was seized and she was yanked through the air like a doll, slammed face-first into the ground on her belly. Before she could get up, the robot leapt onto her back, shoving both hooves down into her and making the unicorn hiss, then howl in agony as electricity surged across her jittering body.

Antares lunged forwards, but the robot didn't even look at him as she gracefully spun on the axle of her forehooves, swinging a hindleg in a wide arc towards the stallion. He blocked on instinct, realizing too late what a terrible idea that was as electricity surged across his body from the gentle tap, making him gasp and flinch.

The robot took advantage of this opening to kick her other leg out hard, slamming into the end of his muzzle and knocking him backwards in a fine spray of blood before she sprung off Innocence and stomped both hooves into Antare's stomach before he could even hit the ground, crushing him into the earth with a gargle as drool and blood burst from his jaws. His eyes bulged, uncomprehending for a moment before the robot sprung forwards off him to try and finish Innocence, but the scaled mare rolled herself out of the way before she shoved up to her hooves-

The robot slammed into her side and knocked her over before grabbing her: no flash, no hesitation, just a quick, hard grapple, holding her down as electricity pumped across her body. Except Innocence gave a grin as her body began to glow, the magic she had insulated herself with absorbing the lightning before she quickly slammed one of her rear hooves hard up into the robot's underbelly.

It connected with a dull, useless thunk, the robot's eyes sharpening before she pressed harder down, and Innocence wheezed in pain as she managed out: “You... work out, huh?”

“No.” the robot answered, before emitting a shockwave of lightning from its body that drove Antares staggering backwards with a wheeze of pain. “Warning. Lethal force will be authorized.”

“Thorn! Thorn you mother fucker!” Innocence shouted angrily, and the robot seemed to have an odd sense of recognition that gave it a moment of vulnerability before Innocence suddenly phased downward into a puddle of muck precisely her shape and size, a moment before that mire hardened into crystal, trapping the robot's claws.

Innocence reappeared in a flash of light a moment later with a roar, slamming a claw into the face of machine as it glowed white, and the robot's mechanical workings gave a squall of outrage as its head twisted to the side in a spray of silver fluid and metal shrapnel.

It tore itself loose from the crystal and leapt backwards, only for Antares to intercept it in midair, slamming both rear hooves into the robot's back and sending it crashing downwards, straight into a blast of magic from Innocence.

The robot was knocked spinning wildly out of control across the field before it crashed down on its face and rolled violently to a stop against the base of a tree. It sparked and fizzled as Antares landed with a short flap of his wings besides Innocence, the stallion grimacing as Sin grumbled: “Yeah, yeah, I get it. That metal or whatever's coating it diffuses my magic. So babydoll, are you from the Clockwork Empire after all?”

The machine straightened, a few crackles traveling through its body before it looked up with a face that was broken and battered, and yet Antares couldn't help but narrow his eyes as he saw the dented, broken cheek and missing plate of skull were slowly filling themselves in, as strange ripples traveled across the features of the robot. It was almost like it was... healing itself.

Did robots 'heal,' or did you just fix them?

What were they dealing with here?

“I am not a servant of the Clockwork Empire. I have no nation and no home. My purpose is my own.” the robot answered, and then it suddenly stomped its forehooves into the earth, and Antares and Innocence both winced at the flash of light that filled the air.

In the few moments it took for them to be able to see again, the robot had fled, vanishing into the forest without a trace. Antares and Innocence were left looking dumbly around before they shared glances, and the mare grimaced before she tapped at her horn and mumbled: “Things that negate magic aren't fair.”

“I'm more worried about what she implied. Or it implied. Or whatever it is implied, I'm worried about the implications.” Antares said after a moment, shaking his head quickly before he rubbed at his eyes. What they had just fought bothered him: not the part where they'd nearly gotten their asses kicked by a robot – that was, strangely enough, not all that unusual – but rather the fact that he could piss it off, he could read its movements, and it felt like a living being.

Was this one of Thorn's experiments, or a past creation by Valthrudnir that had been unsealed by that hapless nincompoop Orex?

What the hell was it doing here, and what did it want?

Antares scowled, then he half-turned, nearly falling over as he reached back into his satchel and dug wildly through it. Innocence, meanwhile, let her gauntlets vanish as she plodded over to some of that silvery liquid that had spilled in place of the creature's blood, leaning down and sniffing it for a moment before she touched it and carefully wiggled a claw through it, watching the way it separated at her touch, then pooled itself back together, even defying the slope of the earth to do so.

“This stuff is definitely liquid metal, like the stuff used to put those bug soldiers of Decretum together.” Innocence paused, then leaned down and spat loudly a few times into the goop, but when her spittle only dripped across it, she added helpfully: “Looks like it's higher quality stuff, though. It's not being disrupted by other liquids. I mean, I can pee in it if you want me to be really sure but-”

“Thorn Blackfeather.” Antares said loudly, and Innocence cocked her head in surprise as she realized Antares was holding a small round gemstone, communication symbols across its surface flaring to life before the stone glowed bright.

A moment later, a small, illusionary image of Thorn Blackfeather flared to life above the stone, the stallion scowling at them as he asked: “What is it? I have a meeting in ten minutes.”

“We just ran into a robot. Did you send a killer robot after Mutt and Dad?” asked Antares waspishly, and Thorn looked at him for a few moments before the slightest of smiles bridged his muzzle as he quirked an eyebrow, which just made Antares scowl deeper. “Listen, you... you cocky cock, I'll-”

“Antares, as amusing as this is to me, why would I send a 'killer robot' rather than Muse, or Rex Prox Danzsöngr, or any of the other more-than-capable options that come before 'killer robot?'” Thorn asked, and Antares huffed before the stallion inquired: “Replicant, Dogmatist, or-”

“It was a robot!” Antares and Innocence both shouted at almost the same time, as the scaly mare shouldered her way in front of the image beside her brother. “Hey, it was also made of liquid metal! Or at least it was partly liquid metal. It had liquid metal! I punched it and made it bleed liquid metal!”

“It is not 'liquid metal,' it is...” Thorn sighed as Innocence growled, then he muttered: “Yes. Fine. 'Liquid metal;' I assume this was not a chimera-class war drone?”

“I did not get my ass kicked by a bug thing.” Antares huffed.

“I didn't get my ass kicked at all!” Innocence added, and when Antares gave her a pointed look, she huffed and muttered: “Hey, we totally won that fight. I won that fight for us. The fact my magic wouldn't work meant it was cheating, too. It was cheating and I still beat the snot out of it.”

“Really?” Thorn glanced away from the screen, and Antares could tell he was either running calculations or checking his database... probably both. “I need more information.”

“Well, it looked like a mare at first. It looked like a robot pony, well beyond your usual Replicant or Dogmatist. It...” Antares mused. “Huh. It didn't drop its name, or what she was doing here, or anything like that. She... er, it... it was weird.”

Thorn nodded, then started: “Do you require-”

“If you even finish that sentence I will jump through that communication stone just to shove your head up your ass.” Innocence threatened. “We don't need your help, whether it's Auntie Swan or more killer robots. If you're gonna send me killer robots then send them to my house so I can play with them at my leisure.”

Thorn looked at her for a few moments through the communicator, and then he returned his eyes to Antares, saying bluntly: “If you do not require anything further and you don't want any help, then I don't know why you contacted me.”

“Hey, can't it be just to see your handsome face, hear your darling voice?” Antares asked sweetly, and Thorn looked at him moodily before the stallion winked, then quickly flipped the crystal over, closing the connection.

He scowled a little as he squeezed the stone moodily, and Innocence cocked an eyebrow at him as she said: “We could have at least told him to send us some stuff. Like a car or motorcycles or guns or something.”

Antares only grunted, and Sin hesitated before she asked in a quieter voice: “So what's got you so mad, huh?”

“Just a bad feeling, that's all. Thorn can be kind of a dickhead, after all.” Antares said with a hint of moodiness, and then he shook his head and tossed the communication stone in the air a few times, muttering: “Unmarked drop module drops a robot who says she's not representing any nation. Mutt and Dad are here somewhere, but not where they should be. We got dropped a thousand miles-”

“Not literally!”

“-away from Yggdrasil.” Antares' features puckered a little as he put it together as best he could in his head, then muttered: “But what role are we playing? If it's not a test, are we bait? Or what?”

“Looks like we've got a mystery on our hooves.” Sin intoned, waving her claws in the air, and then she smiled and awkwardly reached up to pat her brother's face firmly, Antares blinking and wincing, then scowling at her before she said lamely: “It'll be okay?”

Antares looked at her for a few moments, then he sighed and opened his forelegs, and Sin opened her own, the two scooting awkwardly towards one-another and embracing carefully for a few moments before they almost violently shoved themselves apart.

Then Sin grinned, and Antares rolled his eyes and shook his head before he said almost grudgingly: “Thanks for... you know.”

“Yeah, I know.” Sin said with a grin, and then she winked and asked: “So time to get on the road again? Because there's really no place to go but forward. And don't worry, big brother, I'll protect you from the scary death robots.”

Antares smiled wryly, then he absently rubbed at his stomach before he frowned a little. He probed the injured area harder as he glanced down at himself, but as clear as the bruising was, it didn't feel all that tender or injured.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, you're not that badly hurt. It's the energy concentration in the air. Jötunheim isn't a mortal realm, it's a magic realm connected to Asgard.” Sin informed. “I'm pretty sure that means if you die here, it's like dying in Helheim or Asgard; you're kaput for good. But it also means we get the same benefits as in the Vale of Valhalla.”

“So we'll heal faster and it'll be harder to die. Fantastic.” Antares paused, then asked curiously: “You think it affects that robot?”

“Do machines have electric souls?” Sin asked wryly, and then she shook her head before trotting quickly around the clearing, picking up her satchel bags and absently healing the mire-filled wounds in the earth as she passed them.

Antares put his communication stone away, then shifted his saddlebags to a more comfortable position before he pressed his hooves down into the earth and closed his eyes, breathing deeply as he felt out what nature around them was saying, and got a sense of where to go next.

The city was still a day's journey away. But if they made a quick march, there was...

A piercing shape filled his mind, cold and dark, and Antares flinched a bit before he opened his eyes to see Sin frowning uneasily at him, and the stallion smiled briefly as he muttered: “Due north. Think there's something waiting for us.”

“Oh, sure, no spoilers.” Sin said sardonically, and then she huffed as the stallion winked before striding past her, grumbling as she hurried up to his side and muttered: “You're a real jerkass, you know that?”

Antares only shrugged, and they walked on together: down the game trails, through trees and out of forest and over great, high slopes, in this space between civilizations. They walked on beneath beautiful, clear skies, and the constellations of diamond stars that shone alongside the sun through that glassy blue ephemera.

As the sun began to set and new stars swam across the sky, Antares and Innocence found themselves striding up a lonely, flat-topped mound in the middle of a vast plain, the tallest of a pimpling of hills that disrupted the otherwise flat fields. Antares smiled as they reached the top of it, and Innocence whistled to herself as they discovered the ruins of a campsite, marked by a tall, imposing obelisk of black crystal.

Innocence immediately hurried forwards and touched this, shivering for a moment as her claws squeezed into it before she rested her head against it, murmuring quietly: “Daddy.”

Antares joined her, touching the spire of black gemstone, closing his eyes as he felt the pulse that ran through it: not all darkness and power, but also a father's love, and dedication. He felt the memories that had been trapped in this crystal, heard laughter resonate through it, saw the flash of his mother's eyes, her careless grin...

Then he let his hoof drop, and he shook his head before murmuring: “Dumbasses.”

“Super dumbasses.” Sin agreed as she stepped back from the pillar, studying it for a moment before simply smiling and flicking her claws to either side, and the pole of crystal dissolved into motes of dark energy that floated harmlessly into the air, releasing an almost-invisible thrum of power.

Innocence rose her head, meditated for a moment... then grinned as she felt a thrum in response. Antares couldn't feel the magic vibration, but he saw Sin's eyes light up, and he smiled as he asked: “So they're here, huh?”

Sin nodded firmly, answering: “I bet they're waiting for us in that city ahead. I don't know why or what they're doing, but it feels like they're that way.” Sin pointed in what Antares guessed was probably the direction of the city. “Are we going?”

“No. We'll make camp here tonight.” Antares answered with a brief shake of his head. “I want to get a better sense of what the nights here are like, and make sure we're not going to just spend all night fighting off zombies or something.”

“Lame. I'll just take them all over.” Innocence wiggled her claws, but then she rolled her eyes as Antares gave her a mild look. “Fine, fine. Do you want me to set up wards?”

“Just the basics.” Antares answered, and Sin grunted as the stallion shrugged off his bags and added: “I'll get to setting up camp while you do that. You want to eat tonight?”

“Snack time!” Sin agreed, and Antares smiled despite himself before he shrugged amiably and went to work, as his sibling did the same.

A few hours later found them sitting in front of a roaring blue fire, the eternal flames dancing and twisting carelessly over a single wooden log Antares carried just for this purpose. They were quiet, Sin wrapped in a blanket and sipping hot chocolate from a mug, Antares tossing a bottle of cider he wasn't drinking back and forth between his forehooves.

He looked at the little tent he had set up: bigger inside than outside, like pretty much everything else they had. He smiled briefly, then murmured: “We're pretty lucky.”

“Yeah.” Sin agreed almost reluctantly. “And I hate it.”

“Me too.”

Sin was quiet for a moment, then asked finally: “You think this is about making us earn our keep and not just abuse our superpowers?”

“No, that's dumb.” Antares smiled slightly, glancing over at his sister with a shrug. “Part of me says this is a test, but if Thorn's involved somehow...”

“Yeah, he doesn't usually do the whole 'help Mutt with her dumb ideas' thing.” Sin paused, then added with relish: “Except for Mutt's birthday gift last year. That was everything I ever could have dreamed. That was an early birthday gift for everyone.”

“My name is Thorn Blackfeather, and I am here to put a stop to you, Mother.” Antares recited, as he made mechanical gestures with his forelegs, and Sin snorted laughter before the stallion relaxed with a grin. “That was a lot of fun. I don't know why we can't do things like that more often.”

“I mean, Mutt did basically 'attack' another world and we went in to stop her. Sort of.” Innocence rolled her eyes, saying wryly: “God I hope there's a parallel me out there somewhere. And a parallel you! As long as they're as fun as Darklady Luna Nightmoon and Her Holiness Celestina Celeste Sunbless of the Third Age.”

Antares and Sin shared a laugh, then they both settled back, staring into the blue flames for a time before the stallion said quietly: “Tell me I'm paranoid.”

“I can't, because you're usually annoyingly right.” Sin answered with a brief smile, and then she shook her head and murmured: “But I'm definitely open to the idea of hoping that for once you're wrong, and this isn't a prelude to something bad happening. Because if everyone's working together without telling us anything...”

“Something bad's happened, and they either want us ready... or they don't want us to interfere.” Antares quieted, then he shook his head and murmured: “I hate being the good guy sometimes.”

“Hey, at least you are a good guy! I'm supposed to be bad bitch number one, ooh, the evil bad sister.” Innocence snorted, then smiled briefly as she shook her head and murmured: “Instead, here I am. Because they know that fucking Thorn will get the job done, but you and me?”

“We'll turn it into another rotworld fiasco.” Antares said with a small smile in return.

Innocence nodded, and Antares could tell by the way she tightened up that she felt they had done the right thing there. Hell, he did too: they had done what was right, but maybe not what was good, or in the best interests of what they had been supposed to be doing.

They had been asked by their mother to help Thorn evacuate a group of ponies from a dying world. Of course they'd been eager to help, and they'd arrived with every intent of saving as many people as possible.

Why was the world dying? What was causing it? Those questions hadn't really been answered, but ultimately hadn't mattered, either. Sin and Antares had both just wanted to help.

They found out on descent that the world wasn't really dying, but rather the destabilization caused years ago by the destruction of World Without End meant that some of the worlds had slipped from their eternal tethers, and a few of them, like this one, had 'sunk' towards Helheim.

They descended on a mortal world that had been bathed in demonic energies, causing massive distortions in the laws of physics, turning mortals into demons and half-demons, causing insanity in a world that had been structured and quiet and peaceful, an almost-perfect copy of the Core World that held all their worlds together, that was now a cracked funhouse mirror reflection, a parody, an insult of what it had once been.

And Thorn's soldiers had already been there, culling and killing the 'affected,' those Thorn had decreed in his callous, unflinching way were 'too far gone to save,' while other Kirin were herding 'pure' ponies through enormous portals and onto refugee transports for 'appropriate resettlement.'

That had been bad enough, but some of the ponies – those who showed more than a trace amount of corruption in their bodies, or failed one of a dozen other arcane sniff tests – were being sent over to a quarantine zone, where they were told they would be 'kept safe.' Antares had understood instantly.

They were saving the 'worthy' ponies, and Thorn was just going to leave the rest of them to die.

He'd been so mad.

And yet even when he'd been yelling at Thorn, he'd understood.

Limited resources. An entire world to save, rotting into oblivion as it sank into a sea of Hell's chaos and corruption. Worsening tremors and unpredictable chaos events.

But being logical and correct didn't mean it was right.

So he had threatened, begged, and wheedled as much as he could. And when Thorn refused to budge, he'd snuck Innocence into the quarantine zone and had her open a portal to Looking Glass World. And while the Kirin were trying to stop her, he'd stolen one of the transport ships and zoomed off to try and save as many people in the 'too dangerous' areas as possible.

He nearly crashed the ship into a fortified camp the survivors had built, and evacuated every person he could: some of them were demons, some of them glowed strangely, some of them were downright assholes, but all of them were people who just wanted to escape this hellhole, and he was the person to do it.

He was barely able to cut ahead of another transport in line and essentially crashed the transport in the mire just outside of Imperia. Of course, after that it hadn't been long before Thorn's enormous Clockwork Titans had arrested him and dragged him to join Sin and Thorn.

Thorn had scolded them for wasting time and resources and putting lives at risk, but it had been halfhearted, because, contrary to what most ponies believed, he did have a heart in there somewhere.

But duty superseded his heart, as Antares and Sin both clearly saw when they watched on a monitor with horror as the rotting world had been annihilated by what Thorn called a 'planet cracker' bomb.

Thorn had destroyed a planet, because that was what he, Helheim, and Asgard had all agreed was the only possible thing they could do. Because if it had continued to sink through reality, the entire dying planet could have fallen on a slice of Helheim and caused immense, incalculable devastation.

So they had acted, long before that could happen, with some vague, brief gestures towards 'saving innocent lives.'

After that, Antares and Innocence hadn't really talked to Thorn or the rest of their family for a few weeks, and instead focused on helping the ponies who had arrived in Looking Glass World resettle, helping them find homes, work, begin a new life here and leave the horrors they had experienced behind.

It made it harder to treat all of this philosophy of right and wrong, good and evil, as an academic discussion, however, when you were standing there with actual ponies rather than facts and figures and soulless numbers.

“Hey.” Innocence said quietly, interrupting his moody thoughts, and Antares glanced at her as the mare smiled a little. “If being too good of a good guy is your worst quality, then... you could be worse off.”

“Yeah. But it sucks for you, bad girl.” Antares said, smiling back after a moment with a small nod.

Innocence shrugged, then turned back to the fire, and the two gazed into the eternal, dancing flames in silence, neither knowing what to say, but neither having to speak to understand that no matter what happened, at least they would always have each other.