Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto


Journey Through the Dark - Part 28

The red mare frowned still, and looked away. Torque walked past her and towards a monitor on one of the tables, giving it a read.
"Do we really need to test it more?" asked the unicorn stallion, who'd sat down at another table. "We're not going to make any changes to this thing in three cycles. The only thing that's left to figure out is a bunch of edge cases that are probably never going to be relevant."
"We'll be sending through hundreds of soldiers, and dozens of things far less well behaved." The crystal pony finally broke his silence, though he didn't turn, instead staying focused on whatever was on the table in front of him. He spoke calmly, but sternly, and everyone else in the room seemed to listen as he did. "It's almost guaranteed we'll run into at least one or two fringe scenarios. Do you want to be the one who has to tell Nightmare Moon one of her bioweapons split in half on the way to the battle and permanently jammed one of the entry portals, Sharp?"
The unicorn didn't answer, but the sound he made was a clear enough indicator that he got the point.
Torque turned back towards the contraption in the middle of the room. "Carrot, you talk to the boss too?" he asked, nodding towards the earth pony.
"No," the bulky stallion replied. "I saw him around though. Heard something about what he's supposed to do during the attack, can't remember what it was though. Lime?" He looked towards the yellow unicorn. "What was it I sad I heard?"
"That the guards said they heard him say to some other guards he was going too. And that apparently they heard she is as well," the mare replied.
"You think they got like dragons or something on the other side? Why's she going?" asked the red mare.
"Alcorns, if I had to guess," Torque replied. He was crouching slightly, seemingly studying something about the machine that Twilight clearly wasn't familiar enough with to pick up on. "Would love to actually study the place before they go and trash it. Would love if the watchers we send actually shared something more than scraps of information without us needing to beg for them."
"Would love a bed that doesn't suck and a job that pays better, and a workplace where the heating isn't busted every fifteen cycles," Sharp said from his corner. "You take what you get and you shut up, at least we're not the ones actually fighting."
"Think they're gonna put up much of a fight over there?" asked the female pegasus.
"Would she have had those things prepared if she didn't expect them to?" Carrot asked back. Hearing only silence and the low clicking of counters in response, he turned to Torque. "You up for the testing today?"
Torque tapped his odd glasses with a wing. "Already ahead of you. Knew I'd have to make it up after sleeping in." He took a step back and craned his neck left and right, setting off a series of audible pops near his shoulders as he stretched. "Where are we sending this thing then?"