Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Deep

The staircase ended, and Twilight found herself in a corridor. It was poorly lit, but not properly dark. By how much time it had taken to get there and what she'd seen out the windows before, she was fairly sure she was underground at that point, and the way the air felt over her skin reinforced that belief. It was cold, but closer to a chilly spring breeze than to autumn's winds. Still not cold enough for a pony not to get used to it.

The walls were made from large chunks of squared stone, with the occasional torch giving off the cold light blue light that filled the corridor. No sounds as far as Twilight could hear. A couple of doors up ahead, one on each side, and then the corridor bent at a sharp angle. Twilight walked carefully forward, eyes and ears alert for anything beside the sounds of her own heart and breath, and as she reached the first door she inspected it with her magic.

No spells, as far as she could detect. She pondered about sending a magical wave to check for anyone behind it, then decided it would be more risky than doing it the old fashioned way. So she placed her ear on the door, and listened. Silence on the other side, and her hoof moved to the doorknob and turned. Locked, the door didn't move.

Twilight pulled back. Maybe it was worth it to try to magically unlock it, but it could be a major problem if someone came back while she was in there. She couldn't exactly open the door and leave while they were there, and she only had so much time to spend there before the portal was closed from the other side. So she turned, walked a bit farther still, and inspected the second door instead. No spells there either, no sounds on the other side. And somewhat to Twilight's surprise, it actually opened when she tried it.

The room she walked into was small, and somewhat barren in terms of furniture. A desk against the wall to her right, a chair in front of it, and a few filing cabinets that took up most of the remaining space. Twilight closed the door behind herself, and finally decided a minor light spell was a low enough risk that she could afford to take it there. She was curious about the contents of the cabinets, no doubt, but the stack of papers still on the desk was probably a better target to start with. She began with the one on top.

She was a bit surprised, but mostly glad, that the language they were written in was mostly the same as her own, only presenting minor differences as far as she could tell at a first pass. But she didn't particularly focus on the style and syntax of what she was reading, it was a bit hard given the contents. Though she did note, whoever had logged the test results had done so with surprising steadiness for someone writing about a pony screaming in pain and melting down in front of them.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

And so Twilight finds the Nightmare lab. Now, what does she do with this information... and how much longer can she push her luck in this world?