Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Journey Through the Dark - Part 27

"We've got a deadline," the earth pony said, as the pegasus groggily lifted himself off the floor. "Orders came in early. Up high, apparently she was here." He was easily the tallest pony in the room, though still a little shorter than someone like Big Mac. He was bulkier than him though, his frame wide but not necessarily fat. He reminded Twilight of that white pegasus she occasionally saw in Ponyville, though his build was much less defined. His coat was a greyish orange and his long mane grey with a few green stripes, and he wore a faded brown lab coat too small for him to close it properly.

"Oh sh-" The pegasus cut himself off with a yawn. He was lanky, thin and a little taller than Twilight, light blue coat and a deep red mane that looked like he'd cut it himself with scissors while still half asleep. He had a regular white lab coat too, though he'd been using it as his pillow while on the floor. "Not like here here, right?" he asked, worried.

"We're not cleaning your remains off the floor, Torque, so no," replied the unicorn mare from another corner of the room. She was a little short, wore rounded glasses with almost no frame, and her brown mane was done in two short braids that fell over the bright yellow of her coat. "We've got three more cycles of recon, and then they're going."

"Huh." Torque picked up his lab coat from the ground and threw it on without even dusting it a little. It was large even for a regular pony, though the right length for his height, and calling it a loose fit would have been a generous assessment of the situation. "Thing's basically already done, surprised we're not attacking right away. Never seen her wait this much before." He headed for a table, and somehow dug out a mug with some coffee in it from underneath a pile of folders and paper sheets. "Still the same plan?"

"Still attacking the Empire, yes," said the stallion who'd opened the door. "I think part of the reason she's fine with waiting is she's sending more of those things up here."

The pegasus mare, a red one with a spiky ice-white mane, audibly frowned at that, probably on purpose. "Never liked those things."

"I don't think anyone likes those things," the earth pony said. "I think that's kinda the point. They're for killing stuff and tearing things down, you're not supposed to like them. Just be glad you're working here and not on making them."

Twilight had noticed it already, but took another moment to mentally note, among the actual notes she was quietly taking, that only one of the ponies there was a crystal pony, the remaining pegasus who had yet to speak. His gem-like coat was a light cerulean and his mane, medium length and well kept, black with hints of copper depending on how the light hit it.

The red mare's disgusted expression deepened. "Do you think they're, like... Do you think they're actually, you know... You know."

"Either that or the army's made some fucked up deal with dragons or something," replied Torque, who'd finished his coffee and donned a pair of what almost looked like sunglasses. "We don't throw soldiers away like that, it's not hard to figure out."