The Adventures of Test Subject SP-1K3

by Dedion

Chapter 13: Confessions

The ponies looked through what supplies they had while Sweet Crisp continued to cry her eyes out. They would set up a makeshift camp for the moment. They needed a moment to recover from what had just happened. Going through their bags, they found that they had the makings of a small campfire as well as a few MRE's. Somewhere along the way, they had lost their sleeping bags as well as a few other pieces of equipment. Quickly, the fire was started, and the meals were being prepared. It was halfway through making the meals that the group noticed that Sweet Crisp had stopped crying. She now laid on her side with her back facing the group. Little sniffles could be heard from the earth pony mare.

Questions rolled around in the heads of the other mares. Each of them wanted to say something, ask anything. However, the tension in the air seemed too thick for their liking. "Looks like lunch is done," Sapphire commented. Each pony took their MRE and began to dig in — all except for Sweet Crisp, who still laid on her side. Diamond struggled to eat at first. Being a unicorn, telekinesis was second nature to her. It was as easy to lift an object with magic for her as it was for a griffon or dragon to raise things with their claws. When she tried to lift the tab off of her soup can, however, all she received for her trouble was a throbbing headache. She kicked herself mentally for forgetting about her handicap. She growled in frustration as Sapphire pulled the lid off of her can for her. Diamond muttered her thanks before she drank her soup through a straw.

Storm Rider munched on a few crackers while she took a few glances towards the earth pony. "So... are we going to say anything about her?" Storm whispered. Diamond and Sapphire looked over to the sniffling mare for a few seconds.

"She's just hysterical," suggested Diamond, "Close death encounters

"I don't think that's entirely true, remember what she said earlier? You know, with the whole using her position for personal gains thing?" Storm replied.

"I have my theories," said an oddly relaxed Sapphire, "She said something about karma from a facility and being in heat, right? Maybe this has something to do with the rumors about her mating a dragon?"

"Okay, let's say that you and the rumors are right and Sweet Crisp banged a dragon. The mare was in heat, and she used some leverage to make that happen. Kinky and I'm sure there some reprimands to be had, but both parties got something out of it. I don't see why she's so-" Sweet Crisp interrupted Storm Rider. The pegasus jumped a bit as she heard something else besides sniffling coming from the cream-colored mare.

"It wasn't exactly... he didn't... It was more one-sided than you're making it out to be," Sweet Crisp admitted, her back still facing the group.

"...And what do you mean by that?" asked Storm Rider, her curiosity peaked. Diamond also started to listen while Sapphire's eyes widened ever so slightly.

"Ah... may have... sorta... forced mahself on a... baby... dragon," Sweet Crisp curled into a ball and waited. The silence amongst the group grew noticeable with each passing moment. Diamond, Sapphire, and Storm Rider sat in shock and continued to stare at the mare. Sweet Crisp could feel their gazes cut into her as the silence continued. She heard a shuffle followed by the sound of a tin can being kicked further down into the cave.

"That's just great!" yelled Storm Rider, "Not only are we trapped in a cave with dragons, of which we don't know where they are, and supplies that will last us a few days at best, we're stuck with a pedophile and a rapist. Just what I signed up for!!"

"Now with all due respect Storm," started Sapphire, "While they may be called baby dragons, they can be about the age of a full grown pony. The pedophile claim could technically be overlooked."

"Oh, so you're defending her?!"

"I am not defending what she did, Storm Rider. I'm just saying that she couldn't technically, in Equestria, be considered a pedophile."

"Okay, okay... I am not in the mood to be arguing with you for hours on the technicality of Sweet being a pedo," Storm admitted before turning her attention towards Sweet Crisp. "But what I am going to do is argue as to why you would do that!!"

"Ah was in heat!!" Sweet Crisp yelled, "We usually bare through it, but this time, it was just too much for me. Ah couldn't satisfy mahself and Ah couldn't get pregnant, so Ah thought there was only one thing to do. Ah just picked one that wouldn't say anything — one that quiet. Not to mention Ah paid off a security guard for good measure.

"At the time, Ah didn't think too much of it. Ah got mah heat under control and Ah was fine for a while. That was until Ah actually got a good look at him. The poor thing could barely walk, and he looked as if he just wanted to end it all. Ah starting thinking about what they do to the subjects and Ah got my hooves on some of the reports. After that, Ah couldn't sleep for weeks. " Sweet Crisp took a breath before continuing. "Ah didn't know how even to start making up for what Ah did. When Ah got transferred to the Griffon Front, Ah thought Ah could put that all behind me. But no, somehow, the universe seems to want mah head on a silver platter because the dragon from the facility is the same one that nearly killed us!"

"You can't honestly mean to say that you banged that black monster!" Storm Rider objected. Sweet Crisp scoffed.

"He wasn't always like that. He was smaller with purple scales and a green underbelly," Crisp corrected. She turned her head to Sapphire. "And Ah'm sure it has something to do with that 'Black Dragon Protocol of your's," Sapphire stared at the earth pony for a moment before looking towards Diamond. The leader of the group was fuming.

"Now, listen here, Sweet Crisp," Diamond started, "You are in no position to be demanding any-"

"In the name of Celestia's fat flanks, Diamond! He ripped off your horn as if it was a twig and burned the thing to ashes!!" Sweet Crisp yelled, "Yes, Ah used my position of power to rape a dragon. Ah will walk up to the princesses and admit that to their faces. You can have me court marshaled the moment we set hoof out of these caves or thrown in a dungeon, or anything else. Ah won't resist. But we won't be able to do any of that if we get killed!! The next time we meet him, it might be more than a horn he takes!!"

Diamond was about to retort when Sapphire interjected her. "First, you have to understand a few things. To get where we are today, sacrifices had to be made. Lives had to be lost. Despite our grudge and distrust against the dragons, it doesn't build morale to know that the life of the dragon you capture may be used to make a spell or improve an enchantment," started Sapphire. She could already see the look of shock spreading through Storm Rider's face. "So a lie or two are thrown around. A few memory replacement spells needed to be cast for those who couldn't handle it. Also so that morale remained as high as it could, and the lives of innocent ponies would not be lost." She took a moment before continuing.

"Also, I want to make it clear that, as far as I know, not all facilities are like this. Some facilities I've been stationed to are more like holding facilities rather than experimental ones. And, the Black Dragon Protocol was agreed to be used only when needed or if a particular dragon decided to continue being a threat to ponies on site. I can only assume that there was some need for a baby dragon to go through the procedure." Sapphire stopped talking as she saw Storm Rider was about to speak. However, it seemed the words were stuck in her throat as she fumbled for words to say before she sat on the ground, waiting for Sapphire to continue.

"The Black Dragon Protocol is on a need to know basis. Unless the protocol was needed or something else relevant happened, ponies like you, Sweet Crisp, would not have needed to know about it. The reason for that is that the process behind it is, from what I've heard, like torture. It involves more than a few Dark Magic spells as well as some memory altering. A byproduct of the protocol is darkening of the scales in certain areas. I should have noticed that from the moment we captured him, but I was too focused on the others."

"So you're saying ponies tortured a baby dragon?!" yelled Storm Rider.

"Yes," Sapphire answered.

"Why!?!" Storm Rider pleaded. Her eyes begged Sapphire for an answer.

"I don't know."

"Don't know or you don't care!!" accused Storm Rider. Sapphire stared at the pegasus for longer than necessary.

"We're getting off topic. Going back to the protocol, it all started a year and a few months into the war. While we had some ground to stand on, everypony knew we needed something to push the war in our favor. We needed something drastic to get the dragons disorganized and fighting amongst themselves. Princess Luna secretly gave no restrictions as to what that something was as long as ponies would not be hard in the process. It was Director Starlight Glimmer that came up with an idea. The Black Dragon spell. It was a spell that would convert almost any dragon over to our side without causing their greed to complicate things."

Everyone sat in silence. "Director Starlight Glimmer lost her mind finalizing the spell, but it worked. The few of the dragons she managed to convert became living, breathing bombs for us to use. We ended up using them in a prisoner trade. Thanks to them, we got Captian Shining Armor and a few others back. After a few days, the dragons 'detonated.' The event is what some call 'The Black Dragon Massacres"."

"So we were behind that!?" yelled Sweet Crisp.

"Strategically, it gave us what we needed. The dragons were confused beyond belief, rumors spread like crazy, and it had many dragons fighting amongst themselves because they were afraid that one of them could turn on them at any time."

"Stop with your cold strategic speaking! Because of us, thousands of civilians were murdered!! Women, men, children! All dead because of us!! Ah thought Ah was terrible, but this..."

"You think I wanted those things to happen?" Sapphire asked, "You think I like the thought that somewhere out there a mother has her children taken from her and used in some experiment where they are likely to die? You think I like the idea of a dragon being pushed into a corner so far that they kill their children, so they don't have to face us?! Do you think I enjoy the fact that dragons look at us like we're some monster?!" Sweet Crisp and Diamond were taken aback by Sapphire sudden outburst. Sapphire's nostrils flared as she breathed in and out. Once she was calm enough, she finished what she was previously saying, "Yes, we've done horrible things. Horrible things that many of us will never be able to atone for, however, most of it was for the sake of keeping innocent ponies alive, regardless of how... enthusiastic some ponies have gotten."

The silence made itself known again as no one dared make a sound. Storm continued to sit, unblinking. Her brain seemed to shut down all functions as she tried to comprehend the enormous scope of the situation. Sweet Crisp laid on her back staring up at the ceiling. Her eyes seemed to scan the roof of the cave as if searching for something to say. Diamond took a few bites out of a piece of bread and focused on chewing as slow as she could. Her mind was set on trying to have some sense of control. The situation was one big mess that none of them knew how to get out of.

"So, in regards to the baby dragon, what's going to happen now?" Sweet Crisp asked plainly. Sapphire sighed.

"As far as I can tell, there are two options. Either A: He burned through his magic reserves, pushed his body to its limits like the other Black Dragons and died. Or B: He's still up there somewhere." She answered. "If it's option B, then we need to get moving. That one is a strange case. Normal Black Dragons are meant to go after other dragons, not ponies."

"We're all going to Tartarus," Sweet Crisp stated. Sapphire gave out a weak chuckle.

"Now that's something we both can agree on," she chimed in. The rest of their time was spent in silence, and they rested not seeing the glaring eyes in the darkness at the end of one of the cave's tunnels.

---

"... I hear voices in my head sometimes," Spike admitted. If he hadn't earned the curious gaze of the teenage dragons already, he had earned it now. Fizzle stopped the stitching of Fang's wound and looked at the baby dragon. "It started around spell 600. It was also the day I got those purple flames."

"What does that have to do with anything? Besides saying that you're practically insane," Jet asked as he rubbed his neck. The collar that had once clamped around it was now on the ground, partially melted thanks to Garble.

"I think it has something to do with my new wings," Spike flapped his dark purple wings a few times. "It also might have to do with HoW I cAn tALK liKE THiS." The teenage dragons cringed as they heard multiple voices mix with Spike's voice. The three young dragons soon huddled together while Fizzle worked to patch up Fang. While they were whispering to each other, Spike could still hear them thanks to his heightened hearing.

"He's a Black Dragon, Fizzle! You know what those things can do!!" Jet stated, "I mean, I like the kid, but I don't know if I can sleep knowing a Black Dragon is sleeping next to me!" Garble used his claws to say something. While Spike didn't understand sign language, he knew that Garble agreed with Jet.

"Okay, okay... let's slow down a bit," Fizzle said as he started finishing stitching Fang's wound closed. "I'm just as scared of
Black Dragons as you are. I know about the massacres just like you do, but look at him." The two teen dragons turned their gaze towards Spike. His look of worry greeted them. He fumbled with his claws as he waited for them to finish. "I think he's an exception because if he weren't, we'd be as good as dead right now. Plus, he seemed to be more interested in those ponies rather than us. So for now, how's about we keep an eye on him. If he proves to be like the Black Dragons, we'll do what we have to do."

Garble didn't seem happy with the compromise, but Jet was on the fence about it. After a few more rounds of hushed debating, they came to a conclusion. Spike, much to his relief, wouldn't be kicked out the group. The teens tasked him to tell them whenever the voices started speaking to him again and what they said. Spike was okay with that, and the group prepared a small camp as they waited for Fang to wake up. The voices remained silent for the most part, but Spike could feel them mumbling. Whatever was happening to him hasn't stopped yet, and if he was honest with himself, he was scared to find out what would happen next.

Comments

[diablo4000]

Do Celestia and Luna know what Starlight did, and what happened to her?

[keroko]

9589933
Twilight does. And Luna is apparently the one who gave Starlight, among others, the free reign she had to do what she did. She would have some knowledge.

But even putting aside Starlight, this facility kidnaps children to experiment on. Multiples. Which have led to many of the advances the war used. There's no way the Princesses can be ignorant of an operation of that scale. And the moment you experiment on children... well, you've lost whatever moral high ground you claim to have.

[Raistlin]

9589962

I think ponies in this setting reserve their empathy first and foremost...for other ponies. Is the so-called herd instinct turned into xenophobia, the "us vs them"...to the point they can be sociopaths to member of the other races: as long as ponies benefit from it, anything can be justified.

[Redlord321]

The dragons wont stop untill every last foal is dead.

[Infamous Paradox]

Ponies became what they fear the most! Being a monster.

[Tracki]

Wait sweet crisp rape him, I thought she only forcefully kissed him.

[diablo4000]

9589962
That why they are trying to capture them if they escape tot he dragon lands the truth be revealed fully to all of them?

[DarkDMan]

9590436>>9590663 That's not really true.

Twilight is the one who found out about the rape because she did a "memory" spell on Spike to see what really happened to him so she could try to help him.

And as you read, only two members of the group really know about the black dragon protocol. No one in the group knew who they were after, until now.

And now you know.

Thank you, Dedion for this chapter. It was a great read, and could put more drama in the story for all!

[diablo4000]

9591183
no meant that is why Celestia and Luna sent them after the dragons. I figured they know what Starlight did, an does Luna regret her decisions?

[DarkDMan]

9591268
Oh that!? Sorry, replied to the wrong message. But yes, Celestia and Luna, don't want that secret to get out. But there hasn't been much said about there feelings otherwise. I'm actually worried/wondering about Twilight myself. Things didn't sound good for her the last time she was mentioned.

[TheWhisperInYourHead]

"My Little Pony War Crime Is Magic"
eagerly awaiting more

[Love able chaos]

Well I'm loving this story so far and I can't wait for more.