"This is a waste of the archmother's energy," Snipped Hirrel, leering at the large lake of healing water. It glowed softly with gentle sparks of magic coming off of it, painting the surrounding beaches in a pale green-gold hue. The griffon beat his wings irately as he watched a great rainstorm of the same water pour down overhead. "Gigajoules of magic, dumped into a useless puddle in the middle of nowhere. What were you thinking?" He asked, looking at his compatriots: A changeling, a pegasus mule, and one of Hyacinth's own Seraphs.

The changeling, sighed. "You are looking at this too short-sightedly, Hirrel. We don't have time to-" She started.

"To what, Antecesse?" Hirrel snipped. "Our entire planet is dying, and here we are making a land feature no one important is going to see!" He bellowed.

"The Empress is dying, Hirrel," The mule expressed with a soft sigh. "I have seen the medical records as of late. The puppets are struggling to cope with the load. If we don't do something, they're not going to last much longer, and neither are we," They expressed.

"So what? We're just diverting a massive chunk of their resources to nothing?" Hirrel scoffed. "I knew your kinds were bad at decision making, but honestly-"

"Hirrel, that's enough. Please," Antecesse pled softly. "What Alloy Heart is trying to say is that we need to lighten the load. This is going to worsen the problems for right now, but once the project is up and running, it's going to make things easier... I hope, at least," She expressed.

Hirrel stared at them for a while, eyes burning. Finally, however, his expression softened a bit as he grit his beak. "Fine," He muttered. "Remind me what we're doing here, then. Standing on the side of a freezing hill isn't my idea of a good time. It's not Griffonia's idea of a good use of mining equipment, either," He remarked.

"The Empress has lost a lot of puppets in their time alive, be it through combat, workplace hazards, or other means of attrition over time," Antecesse expressed. "It took some convincing to get us here, but we managed to get a Seraph," She patted the massive puppet's leg, unable to reach much higher, "To show us where the bodies are taken to rest. We're going to blast apart this fake hill so the rubble falls into the lake."

"Once the rubble falls into the lake, a Cambrian and a few of its Seraphs have agreed to try resculpting whatever falls in. The hope is that we can make something that eases pressure on the gestalt, even if it's just a bunch of extra hooves" Alloy expressed.

Hirrel looked back at the pile of mining explosives behind him. It was quality material: ideal for working on the tough stone of mountains. Griffonia's finest. "...You want to blow up the Empress' graveyard so we can use a lake to resurrect whatever's left inside," He repeated back brusquely, unimpressed.

Alloy sighed. "If you want to be cynical about it, yes. But, it's the best we have, short of just trying to kick every last spawn out of the Empress directly," They remarked.

Hirrel clenched his beak again, but sighed. "Fine. What're we waiting for, then?" He asked.

"We have a Herald in there painting out spots where it can see fault lines," Antecesse replied. "There's puppets who want to see their load lightened, too."

Just as she said that, a small, tired-looking puppet with a scaly face emerged from the crag. Its nose dripped with remnant bits of mucus, and its posture slumped deeply despite the cold making it tense. The Seraph scooped the Herald into its grip, holding it close to keep it comfortable. The Seraph only nodded to the group of individuals, and took off into the sky.

"That's our cue. Let's go," Antecesse commented, walking towards the bundles of explosive and taking as much as she could carry in her magic. Alloy and Hirrel both scooped what they could onto their backs, and the three wasted no time in stepping into the crag.

The interior of the crag was warm, a break from the snowfall of mixed gases from the outer atmosphere outside. The stone was pink, and ever so slightly soft, clearly made from the remnants of old puppets. Conspicuous lumps, and even still-intact pieces of plant matter or Anchorage structures occasionally poked from the ground.

Hirrel shuddered. "This place gives me the creeps," He remarked. "I hope we don't unleash something that decides it'd rather take back what it gave when it was alive."

"It's all connected to the Empress anyways," Alloyed Heart commented, looking around. She gently rubbed the half-melted head of some long-dead puppet as they walked by, taking in the sheer scale of the crag. "They wouldn't wish any harm against us. Not if they knew what we were doing."

This made Hirrel raise an eyebrow. "You didn't tell them?" He asked. "How the hell did you get a whole-ass Cambrian to help us then?"

"We asked it instead," Antecesse replied. "Puppets are thinking creatures. Dependent on the Archmother, but capable of working alone if necessary."

Hirrel simply nodded, giving a small grunt of acknowledgment.

The first spot was marked with a smattering of mucus that surrounded a large crease in the crag; some sort of fault line. "Be careful around the mucus," Alloy expressed. "One good smear and a single spark could catch you on fire from a inches away. The Heralds use it for firestarting."

"Mucus? You telling me that thing just sneezed everywhere?" Hirrel huffed, setting down his load of explosives to tuck a few bundles into the fault.

"It's not exactly hygienic, but when it gets set on fire right after it doesn't matter to them," Alloy commented, watching Hirrel set up the explosive cache, complete with a small magical nub attached to the end of the fuse.

"Whatever you say, Mx. Puppet scientist," Hirrel muttered as he worked.

"Gestologist, thank you," Alloy puffed softly. "Someone has to keep an eye on the Empress' condition."

"Play nice, you two," Antecesse requested. "We have job to do. Then you don't have to talk to each other again."

"Yes mom," Hirrel rolled his eyes, securing the bundle of explosives. "This one's ready. You said we had five of these to do?" He asked.

The group crept carefully through the crag, ensuring sufficient bundles of explosives were laid where the Herald had marked. The meandering path they took targeted a series of fault lines on the side of the large "hill", aiming to knock a significant chunk of material off the side of the elevated land so it would slide mostly intact down to the lake. As clean a cut as one could make with explosives, at least.

Hirrel heaved as they got back to the entrance they had come in at. "Finally," He grumbled. "Now, let's get out of here and crack this thing before Hyacinth decides they'd rather not have us raiding their morgue," He remarked, already opening his wings.

Alloy and Antecesse both nodded, following Hirrel a short distance into the air. "I hope this works..." Antecesse expressed, looking down at the hill.

"There's only one way to know for sure," Alloy expressed, looking at Hirrel. "Hit it."

Hirrel nodded, giving the textured surface of the magical detonator a hard scrape with his claw. A number of purple sparks leapt from his the striker, before poofing away into small blinks of light. "Brace yourselves, the shockwaves can jostle you even through the air," He warned.

The explosion was, almost literally, earth shaking. The side of the hill erupted, sloughing off in a number of large pieces.

"Direct hit!" Hirrel jeered as the "land" began to slide down towards the lake. The griffon briefly faltered in the air as the shockwave rushed past them.

While Alloy managed to stabilize herself after the rush of the blast wave, Antecesse's buzzing wings had much more trouble accommodating for the sudden pulse of air pressure. She flailed, rapidly dropping towards the earth with a yelp.

"Shoot- Ante!" Alloy called after the changeling, diving down to catch the changeling and help her reorient.

Hirrel grimaced, watching his two colleagues now both diving towards the path of the sliding material. He dove down, following after them, aiming to catch the flailing changeling.

Together, Hirrel and Alloy managed to stabilize Antecesse, righting the changeling and pulling her up out of harm's way.

"Easy, now," Alloy puffed softly. "You're okay, Ante. Just catch your breath, we gotcha," They expressed, watching the land tumble past them, plumes of dust and debris coughing around them.

"Just watch the dust," Hirrel remarked. "We're not totally out of harm's way. One good kick of rubble and we're back in the danger zone," He remarked, trying to pull the other two up a bit.

Antecesse heaved, her wings buzzing back to life as she lifted herself in the air once more. "I'm okay, I can fly. Let's just go see what crawls out of the lake now," She expressed.

Alloy and Hirrel both nodded, the three flying towards the lake proper.

The three watched as the Cambrian went to work. The colossal puppet first grabbed the largest chunks of material, crushing and slaking them between its hooves in the water. Seraphs flew around it, occasionally contributing pulses of healing magic, almost looking like pixies from the size difference. The puppet detritus, crushed and suffused with healing water, began to turn into a thick paste, eventually developing a dark purple hue. It bubbled up between the Cambrian's hooves, pulsating and oozing. It was like a gargantuan heart, attempting to beat for a body that had not yet formed.

"What the hell is that?" Hirrel muttered.

Alloy blinked. "I don't... Know. I've never seen puppet mass be anything but pink before," They expressed, staring at the massive construct.

"It looks like it's rotting," Antecesse expressed softly. "Like all the time it spent petrified is finally catching up with it."

"Last I checked, most rotting corpses don't have a heartbeat," Hirrel remarked.

What concerned the three the most, however, was the look on the Cambrian's face. The normally serene, or even content look on the titan's face was replaced with one of stress and strain, beads of sweat rolling down its face. It struggled to keep the heart together, holding the squirming, pulsating mass tightly in its massive hooves. The Seraphs around the Cambrian were more active now, with one going so far as to fly into the open aorta at the top of the heart, limb rings blazing with powerful magical energy.

Hirrel squinted as the heart continued to beat. His blood ran cold as he saw it getting faster. "Get down," He said to the other two. "Behind the Cambrian. Now."

Antecesse blinked. "What, why?" She asked.

Hirrel didn't justify that with an answer. He grabbed the two, dragging them over the Cambrian's shoulder and landing harshly against the trunk of the tree on its back.

The escape came not a moment too soon, as a deafening crack could be heard over the other side of the Cambrian. The wave of energy released, spirals of golden green healing energy fighting against dark purple magic, lit up the sky brighter than any thing had since the sun had disappeared. It blasted away the healing storm clouds, scattered Seraphs in all directions, and even made the Cambrian reel a bit. In an instant, almost half of its foliage died and regrew, dead husks of plant matter drifting towards the ground as they were immediately replaced.

"Wh-what was that!?" Antecesse chirped. "That was louder than the explosives!"

"I... Don't know," Hirrel admitted. "You two, stay here," He barked, digging his talons into the Cambrian's coat to crawl around its side, sidling under one of the massive puppet's legs. He squinted over the rising steam from the now half-evaporated lake of healing water.

The Cambrian's hooves, now marred with burns from the energy release, held a... Surprisingly small creature. Maybe a bit taller than a Praetor. Something was... Off about it, though. A thick stripe of its tail was made of thick, black, slimy material, and its fur was dappled with blister sacks of a similar shade. That and the massive orifice in its underbelly revealed large swathes of dark black and purple. It looked... Gangrenous. Rotten.

And yet, the creature opened its eyes, trembling slightly in the grip of the still-dazed Cambrian. Its eyes were strange: It had irises, unlike puppets, but yet still lacked pupils, unlike Hyacinth. Something between them. The voice that croaked forth from its mouth was a strange tone; almost feminine, perhaps, but deeply rough. "Mother..." It whined. "Where is mother..."

Hirrel nearly lost his grip on the Cambrian as it began to move. The titan stood up, placing the new creature on its head. Slowly, the Cambrian began to lumber towards Canterlot as the new arrival continued to call out for its mother.

Hirrel panted as he clawed his way back onto the Cambrian's back, where Antecesse and Alloyed Heart were sitting among the great roots of the Cambrian's tree.

"Alright, scientist, what the hell is that thing?" He asked slightly frantically, pointing upwards to the gangrenous creature now sitting on top of the Cambrian's head.

"I don't... Know," Alloy admitted, looking up towards the creature. "Some kind of puppet, I guess, but... Something doesn't feel right," She expressed.

"It's controlling the other puppets," Antecesse said softly, her eyes closed and horns gently lit. "At least, I think so. Their moods match. I've never seen a Cambrian feel so... Homesickly before."

"It's..." Alloy blinked. "Oh no," She murmured softly.

"What's 'oh no'?" Hirrel asked. "What the hell did we just make, Alloy?" He continued, gripping the mare's shoulders.

"It might be... Another Archmother," Alloy winced. "We might've just incited some sort of schism event."

Hirrel's eyes widened. "So what, this thing's just going to take a chunk of Hyacinth all for itself?" He asked. "How do we stop this thing?"

"Hirrel, it's a Cambrian, you'd have to throw a meteor at it to even slow it down," Alloy expressed nervously.

Hirrel pounded the creature's back with a harsh, "Damn it!" as he processed what they'd done. "I knew this was a bad idea!"

Alloy shrank, posture curling tightly between a few roots. They didn't know what to do at this point. "I-I only wanted to help..." They whined quietly, breathing getting heavier.

Antecesse looked at her comrades. Anger, sorrow, confusion, helplessness... She felt it all. But not just from her compatriots. She also felt it from the creature now seemingly piloting the Cambrian that was carrying them. She took a deep breath, beginning to scale the Cambrian's mane, feeling unsteady flying with the Cambrian lumbering forward like this.

As she made it to the Cambrian's head, she saw the creature sitting on top of it. The creature continued to call out for its mother between soft sobs.

Antecesse managed to negotiate her way up to the creature's side. "Ah... Excuse me, large one," She began, having to look up to meet the creature's some eight foot tall stature. It easily cleared double Antecesse's height, at least.

The creature turned to look at her, its pupilless eyes marked with tears. "M-mother?" It asked with a soft whine.

"No, no... I'm not your mother. But I know your mother," Antecesse replied gently, sitting next to the large creature now. "I can help you reach your mother, okay? But you have to be gentle, because right now, you're scaring my friends, and a Cambrian can be very dangerous," She explained.

The creature sniffled. "B-but... This one needs to see mother," It expressed with a soft whine.

Antecesse nodded. "Do you need something from them?" She asked softly, meeting the creature's gaze.

"It has been so, so long..." The creature whined. "This one was alone. Always crying out for mother, but mother never heard. Now this one can speak, and this one needs to see mother..." It sniffled, wiping its face fruitlessly.

Antecesse nodded. "Okay, well... Just keeping going forward, but be careful where the Cambrian is walking. It's big enough to crush buildings and squish people if you're not careful..." She began to guide the creature towards Canterlot, trying to avoid any sort of cities or major roads.

---

Hyacinth had been resting in bed for some time now. They had been trying to find a middle ground between managing their puppets, their inherited kingdom, and resting so as to not potentially hurt their growing foals. But, now that they were focusing on trying to sleep, they could feel something coming closer. They recognized the psionic roiling immediately; titans like Cambrians were unmistakable, even at great distances. But this was not at a great distance. This was near the base of Canterlot mountain.

There was, however, a presence one Hyacinth didn't recognize, but despite that, it still felt familiar. Slowly, and with some significant effort, Hyacinth stood. They wobbled a bit as they stepped towards the door, able to feel the presence getting closer. By the time they reached out to open the door, it was already right before them.

"Mother!" The creature cried as it lunged forward, pulling Hyacinth into a great big hug. Hyacinth jumped a bit, the sudden shock enough to make them spawn. A pupa tumbled from their side, swelling dramatically before hatching into a new Anchorage. But Hyacinth was not focused on that right now, their attention instead on the very new presence currently hugging them.

"Ah, hello..." Hyacinth greeted, looking down at the creature. They gently hugged back, stroking the creature's mane. "You sound so upset, dear... Are you alright?" They asked, nuzzling the top of the creature's head.

They were shocked to meet coloured irises as the creature looked up at them with teary eyes. "Th-this one has finally found mother..." It whined, a trembling smile on its face.

Hyacinth closed their eyes, pressing a gentle kiss to the new arrival. Slowly, it began to make sense. "Hello, dear," They repeated quietly. "Mother is here, it's okay. Shhh..." They cooed softly.

The creature began to cry softly into Hyacinth, nuzzling into the crook of their neck. Hyacinth's eyes opened as they rubbed the creature's back, their gaze drifting to the Changeling, Mule, and nervous-looking Griffon behind the new arrival.

"Now," Hyacinth began softly. "I am not upset, but I would appreciate some explanation as to how you've found one of my children that I've never met before," They expressed gently.

"L-look, it's uh... A long-" Hirrel started.

"It was my idea, your highness!" Alloyed Heart confessed immediately. "I'd heard through Glistening Ward that you'd been having trouble lately, so I wanted to try and find some way to lighten the workload on you!"

Hyacinth smiled gently. "Ah..." They chuckled softly. "You sound like that was a bad thing to do, then. I appreciate your worry, small ones," They expressed. "It is... True. I have been taxing myself and my children heavily to try and ensure the world runs as normally as it can," They admitted.

"You're not mad?" Hirrel asked. "Isn't that thing, like... Fighting with you for control as we speak?"

"Fighting? Oh, no, dear. This little one just wanted to see me," Hyacinth expressed, nuzzling the top of the creature's head gently.

"So... When we saw it controlling the Cambrian earlier..." Antecesse spoke up softly.

"I could have stopped it if I'd sensed any harm," Hyacinth nodded. "But she, well... I'm sure you remember getting lost when you were young, hoping your parents would come and rescue you," They expressed gently.

"So... I was right, then. She was just homesick," Antecesse expressed softly.

Hyacinth nodded. "That's all it was, yes. Thank you for returning to her to me," They expressed softly.

"So... Wait, what kind of puppet is she, then? I've never seen one like her," Alloy asked, looking over the new arrival once more.

"Well... Of that much, I'm not exactly sure, dear. She doesn't feel like my other children," They admitted.

"Does she have a name, at least?" Hirrel asked.

"Ah, hm... I suppose a special little one like her does deserve a name, doesn't she?" Hyacinth mused, gently rubbing the new creature's side. They contemplated that for a long moment, rubbing their chin lightly. "How about... Cardion?" They asked softly, smiling a little.

"Cardion?" Alloy blinked. "That... Sounds great, your highness," They smiled cumbersomely, leaving out the part where that name fit Cardion seemingly perfectly, given she was once a massive gangrenous heart.

Antecesse just smiled. "I'm glad this all worked out in the end," She expressed softly. "I hope Cardion can help you with the load of managing the kingdom, your highness," She added.

Hyacinth smiled gently. "I'm sure she will," They expressed. "I suppose for now, though, we should rest. It has been..." They yawned a bit. "A long few days."

"Right, sorry to bother you, your highness," Hirrel replied, immediately turning to leave.

Hyacinth waved. "Take care, all three of you. Thank you for all your help," They expressed, gently moving back into their room. "Come along, little one," They cooed softly, to which Cardion quickly followed.

Hirrel sighed heavily as the door closed, now walking away with his two comrades. "Hhholy Celestia..." He groaned, rubbing his face. "That was the most stressful thing I've ever done."

Antecesse heaved. "I can't say it was any different for me," She admitted.

Alloy just began to laugh. "It... It worked! It actually worked!" They expressed between chuckles, pulling the two into a wing hug. "We did it!" They cheered.

Antecesse smiled a little. "We did, Alloy. We did," She commented, hugging back.

Hirrel just heaved. "You ponies and your hugs, I swear," He remarked quietly, chuckling a bit to himself.