Twilight left the lab and examined the hallway. Okay, Venom, you've spent months here. Any idea where I should look?
Annoyance radiated through their bond. I spent very little time outside that room until you got me out. I know very little of the layout.
Well, how did your previous hosts get down there? Did they see anything useful along the way?
Hold on. He was quiet for a while, and Twilight saw flashes of memories as he went through everything he's gathered from previous hosts. Then he said, Each of them was brought along with other patients by boat, to that dock outside. They were led in, straight through the atrium and down the stairs to that lab, where they were checked in and pretty much imprisoned in the cells. We would be introduced to a cell via the door while a guard held the patient back, and quickly locked in. So of course, we would immediately latch onto the only living creature we could reach.
Hm. So you didn't get to look around much. Did you hear anything from the scientists? Like... oh, what about your ship? You said Blazing is working on repairing it.
It's not here. He didn't want both projects in the same place. I don't know where he took it. Just like I don't know where he took the rest of my people. Although... Venom began moving their body, and Twilight let him take over control. Those employees get in here through a tunnel. Perhaps there's more than one tunnel.
Of course! Let's check it out.
They explored the hallway, opening doors until they found one that led to a cement tunnel. They lit up their horn and shone the light down it, and Twilight said, Assuming I haven't gotten all turned around down here, this is where that ocean tunnel should lead to. Come on.
They trotted down it, looking along the walls, but there were no more doors. Soon they heard the gentle sloshing of water and came upon a dock. It was big enough for one boat to pull into it, with stairs along both sides that joined into the tunnel they were currently standing in. They directed their light across the water, but all they saw was featureless cement that led outside.
Hm. Let's keep looking.
They turned around and headed back to the hallway. They checked every room to no avail, and briefly considered going back upstairs to join the others, but Twilight got an idea.
I know a spell that might be able to help us. Can I?
Go ahead.
She was given control back, and she turned to the nearest wall, focusing and casting a spell that turned it transparent.
You have a spell for everything, don't you? Venom was definitely impressed, though.
Twilight smiled as she ran the spell along the wall. There was only dirt behind it, but if there were any hidden rooms or tunnels, this would reveal them. She swept both sides of the hall as she walked down it, keeping an eye out for anything out of place. But then the transparency suddenly revealed a huge circular opening, and she stopped, examining it. It went on for further than she could see, and she stopped the spell so she could look at the wall itself. Nothing set this particular panel apart from the rest, but perhaps it was enchanted to respond to a certain spell, or the touch of a certain individual. She was quite knowledgeable on several locking and camouflage spells, so she was confident she'd be able to figure out this one.
She tapped the wall a few times with a hoof, listening to the sound it made. It didn't sound hollow, but when she moved over a few feet and tapped there, there was a noticeable difference in tone. She returned to the hidden tunnel and inhaled, then covered her horn in magic and leaned forward, gently touching the metal and willing it to move aside. In response, it zapped her.
“Yowch!” She reeled backward, falling onto her rump as she clutched her forehead.
Ouch, Venom said bluntly. Did you really think he was going to make it that easy?
It was worth a shot. But now I have a better idea of what kind of spell this is. She stood, rubbing her head and testing her horn. It still worked, so that wasn't a disabling spell of any sort. It was simply a warning. She altered her magic as she touched the wall again, carefully navigating the aura stretching across it like a web. She would have to apply energy to it in certain spots to unlock it. The order was likely known only to Blazing, but she's dealt with these before.
She closed her eyes, letting the web light up in her mind as she examined it for weak points. There were spots where multiple strands came together, and she knew those were the spots where magic should be cast in order to unravel them. But she would be taking a slightly different approach.
Why untie the knots when one could simply cut them?
She used swift surges of magic to disable the web, wincing when energy snapped back against her horn, but while the average unicorn would be disoriented by it, it was a mere nuisance to an alicorn.
Finally the aura faded, and she was able to use her normal magic on the wall, sliding it to the side. The panel was heavy, and once she had it open enough, she wedged her shoulder against it and shoved it open the rest of the way. She was hit with a dank, musty smell and wrinkled her nose, gazing into the tunnel. It was dark, and she examined the walls for a light switch of some sort, but couldn't find one. She instead cast a beam of light down it. Unlike the concrete tunnel from the ocean, this one was roughly carved from dirt and clay, supported by thick wooden beams spaced evenly down its length. It sloped down slightly and then leveled out into a straight path, and she shivered as cool air wafted from it. Where does this go?
I don't know. Wanna go see?
Not really. This has to go under the ocean. Hm... Twilight examined the ground and saw hoof prints. She shone her horn's light over it. Look!
Ahah! Someone went this way recently. Lots of someones, look how the prints overlap. And see, these ones... Venom urged her forward into the tunnel, leaning down. They're heavier, and quite flat. Like...
Boots. Like metal guard boots.
Venom curled their lips into a smile. Now we're onto something.
Twilight got her bearings, then said, This tunnel seems to go toward the mainland. Do you think it's actually long enough to reach it?
Possibly. It's worth asking Blazing about. I bet this is how he got everyone out without being caught.
They returned to the hall and headed up to the first floor. The royal guards were still guarding the doors, though a few were cautiously mingling with Blazing's guards and chatting with them. Twilight saw Cadance sitting in a cubicle going through a filing cabinet, and went to talk to her.
“Find anything interesting?” Twilight asked.
“Oh, hi,” Cadance greeted her. She gave her some sheets of paper. “The computers didn't have much we could use, but I did find one that had access to the death records of everypony who's died while in the center's care. The employee made me promise not to tell you who she was, but look. Some of these deaths...” She pointed to an entry she had circled in red.
Twilight read it carefully. “Transferred to redacted project... expired five days later... heart failure! Autopsy revealed significant organ trauma, comparable to approximately eleven other test subjects for... ugh, project name redacted again. But this has to be it, these are the ones dying to the symbiotes. We need to get these records without the redactions.”
“I'm looking for the hoofwritten records now. But I'm not having much luck...” Cadance leaned in and whispered, “I think they got rid of them all after you got in. They probably expected us to come investigate.”
“Keep looking,” Twilight said. “I'm sure something else will turn up. But thank you, I'll see if I can get any more info out of these.” She picked up an empty folder and slid the records into it.
“Alright. I also talked to some of the employees out here. They're real nervous. Apparently, they've signed some pretty serious nondisclosure agreements. I asked about the symbiotes and they all said they didn't know what I was talking about. Though two of them said they would be willing to meet with a princess outside the office to discuss things. We've already worked out a time for the interview.”
“That's great news, thank you. If Blazing won't talk, hopefully one of this employees will.” Twilight looked around. Most of the employees were just sitting quietly in their cubicles making small talk, though some had taken advantage of the interruption, going to the break room for coffee. “I found something too. There's a tunnel down in the basement that was hidden behind a wall panel. It had a pretty complex shielding spell on it too.”
“A tunnel? To where?”
“That's the thing, I don't know. It's incredibly long and seems to go all the way back to the mainland. I couldn't shine a light far enough to even see the end of it.”
“Hm. That's worth checking out.”
“Oh yeah. But I'm not going down there alone.” Venom huffed, and she said, “Well, of course I'll have Venom, but I'd also want you or one of the other princesses with me. Just in case.”
“Of course. If you need me, just let me know and I'll be happy to go with you.”
“Alright. I'm going to go talk to Luna, you know where she is?”
“Mhm, she went into the um...” Cadance looked around, reading the various signs before saying, “Pathology lab, I believe.”
“Thanks.” Twilight headed that way. She didn't see Blazing anywhere, and wondered where he had gotten off to.
Probably went to his office to panic, Venom quipped.
She laughed, and started to open the door to the lab when someone else opened it from inside, walking out. Twilight jumped back to avoid getting hit by the door and the other pony dropped her mug.
“Whoops!” Twilight managed to grab it with her magic before it hit the ground, laughing as she lifted it back up. “That could have been bad. Here you are...” She trailed off as she looked at the mare in front of her. Bright blue fur and a white mane, with deep blue eyes.
Dr. Blue Bell coughed into her elbow and awkwardly smiled, her horn lighting up as she took the mug. “Thank you, Princess Twilight.”
“No problem. Um, how are you?”
Blue sighed. “I've had better days. Got written up yesterday, but oh, I'm sure you don't want to hear about my problems.”
“Actually, I'd love to talk to you. Do you know anything about-”
“As I told Princess Luna, I've never heard of these... aliens you're going on about. If you say some agent of yours found something, cool, but most of us never get to see what's in the restricted area downstairs so we don't know anything.”
“About the restricted area... I was just down there and everything just seemed to be storage.”
“Not surprising. They do that when we get visitors, there's a whole system for- oops.” She quickly covered her mouth with a foreleg, and Twilight glanced over her shoulder to see a guard glaring daggers at them.
Twilight narrowed her eyes, and hurried Blue back into the lab, leading her over toward the side where no one was. She leaned in, fanning her wings around them to grant privacy. “System for what? Did all the restricted stuff get moved somewhere?”
“I'm really not... at liberty to discuss that,” Blue said in a strained tone.
“Listen, we know Blazing is doing illegal stuff here,” Twilight said quietly. “If you know anything, please tell me. I promise, I'll protect you from any repercussions.”
Blue swallowed, eyes darting up toward the nearest camera. Twilight glanced at it, and spread her feathers even wider apart, until the camera's view was blocked too. She looked back at Blue, who trembled, before saying, “All the secret stuff is moved to another location, there's some kind of tunnel somewhere, I heard the guards mention it once but that's all I know. But we get the bodies of the patients who die, we have to write reports on all of them and make sure they're cleared to be returned to their families for burial, and all of them show the same patterns of atrophy in their organs. I don't know what those experimental treatments are doing to them, but it's not good, and it doesn't seem to be improving.”
Twilight lowered her wings and wrapped Blue into a hug. “Thank you. You've helped me out a lot.” She turned and looked for Luna, only to find that she was waiting patiently nearby.
“Twilight, what did she tell you?” Luna asked curiously.
Twilight gestured for her to come closer, and then cast a veil around them that rendered them invisible and inaudible to everyone else, before repeating what Blue had said and also filling her in on what she had found downstairs.
Luna was silent for a few moments as she absorbed that, then she said, “It's troubling how fast Blazing was able to clean up the evidence of what he's been doing, but a few of the others here have given me similar reports. They were reluctant to talk at first, until I reminded them I could manipulate their dreams into giving up the information.”
“Wow, that's hardcore,” Twilight joked.
Luna smiled. “I'm glad it didn't come to that. Come, let's find my sister. I believe if we arrest Blazing now and dismiss his guards, his employees will feel safe enough to come forward and tell us everything.”
“Perfect. Once he's arrested, would you join me in exploring the tunnel I found? I'm certain he had the patients taken out that way, so if we can find them, that'll be all the proof we need of his guilt.”
“Of course I'll accompany you.”
Twilight lowered the veil, and they thanked the scientists for their patience before leaving the room and heading upstairs. They asked about Celestia and were directed toward Blazing's office. They called a couple of their own guards up and quietly told them to prepare to make an arrest. Then they walked down the hall to the office.
Celestia was arguing with Blazing when they walked in, though the two quickly quieted once they realized they had company.
“Ah, Princess Luna and Twilight,” Blazing said, nodding to them. “Are you done with your investigation?”
“Not quite,” Twilight said. She looked at Celestia. “Did you find out anything interesting?”
“Oh yes, I found something very interesting. Those tapes you wanted me to look at? Apparently everything from two nights ago got corrupted by a new software they used to save it to the tapes. They also have nothing from the underground lab you mentioned. They claim everything down there is storage.”
“Nonsense,” Twilight replied. “They do work down there. But they also have an emergency protocol to move all the important stuff out of the building and somewhere else to hide it. Which is what they're doing now.” She turned to the desk, slapping her hooves onto it. “I found your tunnel down in the basement. Just stop trying to hide it. You can make all these excuses, try to scrub all the evidence away, but we know everything. Confess.”
He sat back in his chair, pressing his hooves together under his chin as he regarded her. Then he said, “As I said, I have nothing to confess to.”
Twilight wanted to tear her mane out with frustration. She pushed back from the desk and paced, glaring around the room. After a few seconds, she realized there were no cameras in here. She stopped, and smiled, turning back to the desk. “Guards?”
The guards straightened up. “Yes, Princess?”
“Could you leave the room, please? Celestia, Luna, and I would like to talk to Blazing Aura in private.”
The guards exchanged unsure looks but did as told, walking out and closing the door behind them.
Blazing sat forward. “What are you doing?”
“What I've been wanting to do since getting here.” Twilight took a deep breath, planting her hooves as she told Venom what he's been waiting to hear. Suit up.
With pleasure!
His skin surged out of hers and wrapped around her, lifting her up to nearly twice her previous height, and she felt Venom's calm, predatory mind mingle with hers, sharing control of their body as they stepped forward.
Blazing fell out of his chair, backing up and hitting the wall. “So I did see what I thought I saw! You have my symbiote!”
“Yours? No! Venom was not yours to own!” they roared. “None of the symbiotes are! We are not lab rats you can poke and prod to your liking, we are magnificent, intelligent creatures and we demand freedom!”
“Then this means... there was no agent, it was you who snuck in!”
“Exactly. Which means you remember exactly what we're capable of, don't you?”
To Blazing's credit, he managed to hide his fear, instead just trying to sneak around them. They quickly seized him in several tendrils and pinned him to the floor. His horn lit up in preparation for a spell, but they covered it and blocked it from using magic. Breathing hard, he said, “So I'm keeping some of you slimy creatures captive, so what? You were going to attack us anyway! Yeah, I know all about your invasion plans! Me keeping you locked away is keeping Equestria safe! And! And, the research into your regenerative abilities is helping ponies! I'm not the bad guy here!”
“Yes you are! You're still tormenting the symbiotes, letting them starve in their hosts, letting them eat their hosts alive! You're making ponies sign away their lives to be test subjects, not telling them what they'll be subjected to, not letting them leave! No more excuses, Blazing Aura. You are under arrest!”
Celestia stepped up next to them, giving Blazing a disappointed look. “I know you meant well, but the ends do not justify the means. Infesting ponies with these aliens, letting them die, all in the name of progress... I simply can't let it continue. With Twilight possessing one of the symbiotes, we have all we need to convict you. To say nothing of how there are spells to let us play our memories of your confession to a court. But if you just tell us where you took the others, and hand over all your files on the experiments, I'm sure we can work out a lighter sentence.”
He struggled for a while against Venom's bonds, but couldn't break free. He finally stilled, and growled, “I'm not telling you anything.”
Celestia sighed. “That's too bad. Twilight, you've done enough. Please change back.”
She did so, replacing Venom's tendrils with her magic. Celestia called for her guards, and they ran back into the room.
“Arrest him,” Celestia ordered.
They marched up to Blazing and cuffed his front legs together, then the back, and one of them slipped a horn cover on that would nullify his magic.
“Take him away,” Luna said. “We have some more work to do here, we'll join you shortly.”
They nodded and pushed Blazing along. He glared at them, and silently walked from the room, staring straight ahead and not acknowledging the guard that was reading him his rights.
Twilight was quiet until they were gone, then she said, “Was transforming a bit too much?”
“No, it got him talking, which is just what we needed,” Celestia replied. “But we still need to find the patients.”
“Right. I think our best bet is that tunnel I found.”
Celestia agreed, and they headed out of the office and down to the first floor. They dismissed the rest of their guards and called Cadance over, filling her in on everything that happened in the office.
“Whoa. I'm glad he told the truth, but wow, Twilight.” Cadance playfully bumped her hip. “You're pretty badass, huh?”
Twilight chuckled. “Heh, yeah. So, Celestia, Luna, and I are gonna go check out that tunnel we found. Would you mind staying here and interviewing a few more employees? Now that Blazing is gone, they might be more open about what's been going on here. Oh, and here's those documents you found. Keep looking for the originals.”
“Absolutely. Good luck, and stay safe.”
Twilight looked outside, watching a few guards lead Blazing away. He looked over his shoulder back at her, giving her an unreadable look, before disappearing from sight down the hill. She turned away and headed for the stairs. “Alright, let's go.”