Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Welcome Home ([R])

"We can't keep doing this. It's the third one already."

"Conspirators. They had it coming."

"You know it won't be like that forever. We'll run out of those eventually, do you think she'll have us stop? We'll move on to other criminals and prisoners, and when the cells are all empty we'll move on to civilians."

"You keep talking like that, and you'll be the next one lying on that table."

"Like you're not thinking the same."

"I am. But whining won't solve the issue. We can only figure out what it is we're doing wrong, and try to fix that."

"What we're doing wrong? Oh, please. Everything about this is wrong. How do we know there is a way to make it work? What if there isn't? She won't listen to reason, and you know it."

"We'll figure something out. We have to. Unless you want to try running away from here, but you saw what happened to the last pony who did."

"Oh, I didn't see it just once. I pass there on my way here, they still haven't cleaned away the stain. How long has it been? Two moons at least, hasn't it?"

"Maybe. I've lost track of time, my sleep schedule has been a mess as of late. Any plans for the next test?"

"No, and I don't want to think about it. We should just ask for more time and tell her to wait on that, she can't expect better results if the tests are all so close to each other."

"It's conspirators, remember? She doesn't care if they make it through. I'm pretty sure she expects them not to. As far as she's concerned, we're doubling as executioners."

"Don't remind me. This isn't what I signed up for."

"I know, right? She isn't even paying us for that."

"Shut it. She could just convert them. Why doesn't she just convert them?"

"Do you think this is something she came up with on a whim? Because it's not. She planned this, for years. Maybe decades. Why doesn't she convert them? Because then she'd have nopony to send here. Because she'd have to force civilians to come. Because ponies are scared and mistrustful if they know they could be taken away at any moment, but nopony cares if a sentenced criminal dies in a lab or in a prison."

"She could have the whole nation pinned down under her hoof. Every single pony. Why doesn't she do that instead?"

"She tried. She failed. She couldn't run the whole thing on her own, had to ease her grip on the population, give ponies some freedoms. What do you think this is all about? The Guard? Nah. This is about her. She's working her way back up there, and we're here to build her a ladder."

"She has wings."

"You know what I mean."

"Alright. How do you know all this, anyway?"

"Went snooping through the archives."

"And you say I'm the one who risks ending up on that table!"

"The thing is, Starburst, you actually care about not being melted into a puddle as a result of a failed experiment. I, personally, would see it as an improvement."

"I told you not to call me that."

"Alright, Starburst. Wanna go back in there?"

"Do you think the smell has gone away now?"

"I don't think the smell ever will go away. But enough of it should have stuck to our coats for us to have gotten used to it by now."

"Well. Alright then. But you're cleaning up this time, I did the last two."

Author's Note:

Proofreading by IncongruousAndHarmonious

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Hmm. Signs definitely point to Nightmare Moon. The question is what the researchers are trying to do, and how she relates to the rest of the local reality. This could be years in the future or one of the timelines Starlight created during "The Cutie Re-Mark." Or both. We'll have to wait and see.