Briar finishes the last drop of his water, lets out a satisfied sigh, and starts twisting his neck side to side until it cracks. “That hit the spot.” He turns back to face me and gives me a toothy smile. “Thank you so much for the patience, Princess.”

I said nothing to that, only managing what would probably come off as a goofy grin. I hated it. Briar’s words, though sincere in tone, came off in the completely opposite way that he might have intended. Perhaps it’s just my imagination playing tricks on me, but I can’t shake the ice in the pit of my gut.

“Now, where was I?” The suddenness of the voice makes me flinch. Thankfully, I’ve gotten pretty good at keeping such displays subtle. A princess can’t show any kind of fear in times of upheaval. It’s not good for morale. I came to learn that pretty quickly.

The doctor’s expression darkens. “Right. I was about to tell you about the complex itself.” He slumps in his chair, hooves knocking together. “It is not something that I can describe without it coming off as… well—” he murmurs something I cannot understand, cutting his own words off. “—When I first arrived and laid eyes on the finalized complex, it's hallway design confused me.” Briar’s eyes sharpen.

I step into the hallway, and the first thing I feel is overwhelming entrapment. The walls close around me, tightening their grip until I’m nothing but a red smear.

I take a step back into the central hub, body hovering at the entryway between the two areas. I grit my teeth and shake my head, more out of shame than fear. Dammit, it’s just a hallway. Why the hay are you so scared of it?

I take another uneasy step forward. I feel myself shiver. The hallways can’t be larger than your average single-story house, yet they feel far smaller. Walking further into the murk, the hall increases in size, opening into a new hub chamber with various rooms, all of which no longer had metal doors attached to them, but hydraulic hatches that could be opened or closed remotely. The rooms are currently being used for storage, but I know that won’t be the case for long. I’m not entirely sure why Grogar decided not to turn the rooms into the living quarters, but a part of me is thankful for that.

Going further, I find what I have come to call ‘the labyrinth.’ I have to follow a map issued to the staff just to navigate it. It doesn’t help that parts are murky due to insufficient lighting. Crossing the labyrinth is the only way to reach the test chambers—dozens of rooms with all the accommodations any pony could want. The entrances are thick blast door-like hatches wired directly to the central observation hub. The rest of the chambers went unused for now, though I didn’t doubt Grogar would fill them, given enough time.

I don’t linger there for long. Something about the place seems to be pushing me away...

I put a hoof to my temple. That wasn’t an answer at all, but more of a story that gave no insight. Briar’s narration wasn’t doing anything to really get my anywhere. Worse, I can already feel the anger clouding my judgement. “Okay, why don’t we talk about something else?” I take a deep breath of air and steady my nerves. “Okay, something has been bugging me since reading the leftover reports found at the site. Just what was the purpose of Dr. Grogar’s project?”

Briar’s expression changed. I can swear he also loses some of the color in his coat. “I. Guess. It was only. A matter of time. Until you asked that question.” Briar inhaled. “The ‘official’ purpose was to test and observe the effects of extended isolation on the equine mind—that was on the reports being sent out to the world. The true purpose of the project, however—”

“Was to learn and harness dark magic.” I snatch the words right out of Briar’s mouth. He looks through me, eyes narrowing and lips curling into a snarl. I take notice and quickly change the question. “D-did the doctor ever hint at any other goal?”

Briar’s eyes narrow further as he speaks his next set of words. “All Grogar—and I guess myself by extension—wanted was to prove dark magic could be harnessed. He never hinted at any other goal.” He shifts his gaze to the table. “He had this, obsession with it. Moreso than even I did when I first started studying the occult. He wanted physical proof that such power could be controlled without losing one’s mind or becoming corrupted in the process, and he wanted to be the first to achieve it.”

“Earlier you mentioned you had used black magic before.” I pause, trying to get a read on the doctor’s face. “Black magic is, well, evil!” I have a brief flash of Sombra’s malicious cheshire grin as I said the word. “Why would you and Dr. Grogar try and prove something everypony already knows?”

Briar’s upper lip curls upward as a soft smile overtakes his face. “Princess, you’ve got it completely wrong. Black magic isn’t evil in nature. Magic has no alignment; it is power and power alone. To consider it as ‘evil’ because somepony doesn't understand it is ignorance at its finest.” He loses his smile as soon as the last sound leaves his mouth, gaze growing steely as he sets his full attention on me. “All magic can and must be considered ‘evil’ when in the wrong hooves, Princess. A simple telekinetic spell can levitate a foal high enough that the impact from the fall would kill them; a simple teleportation spell can make somepony disappear and reappear inside a concrete wall; a simple transfiguration spell can transform a pony’s lungs into an onion and a turnip.” Briar’s eyes harden. “Magic in and of itself isn't the thing that’s evil. Ponies are what make it evil.”

I shift my weight on the seat at his words. Part of me says to take Briar’s reply and roll with it. Yet, I can’t help but retort. Even when I do, my eye twitches. “And,” I pause, “why would you say that ponies are the ones that make magic evil?” I almost shout, lips pursing as a mixture of anger and defiance rises.

A grin once again forms on Briar’s lips. This time, it was crooked. “That’s a question without an easy answer.” His eyes never leave mine. “We can take you as an example.”

I’m taken back by the doctor’s words. “M-me?!”

Briar nods. “You’re in a position of both power and influence over this nation. Your actions thus echo far louder than those of the average pony. Therefore, you are the best example I can think of right now.”

I’m not sure if I should feel flattered or disturbed by Briar’s words. I’m more inclined to feel the latter, but I keep as best a straight face that I can manage as he continues.

“Allow me to pose a question to you.” Briar crosses his hooves, his gaze growing darker with every word. “What are your intentions with me?”

I don’t even stop to think about the answer. “I want to know the truth about what happened in that bunker. You are the sole survivor, therefore, you are an integral part of my plans far as this case goes.”

Briar nods. “How desperate are you to get answers from me?”

This time, I do stop to ponder the question. It should have been simple to answer, yet the a real answer—one I could be content with—was difficult to formulate into proper words. I berated myself for not having something to say now of all times. Perfect time to lock up, Twilight! I grit my teeth, my eyes drifting away from Briar as sweat starts to pool in my brow.

Before I can even finish formulating my thoughts, Briar continues. “What are you willing to sacrifice to get those answers? And once you've reached your goals, then what will you do with what you’ve learned?”

Briar’s words finally give me full pause. They are all things I hadn’t fully considered when I first set hoof into this interrogation room. Sure, I had an idea of what my goals were, but I hadn’t really stopped to really—really—ponder them up until this very instant. That, of course, was going against many of my personal values of planning and preparation. This is like the summit meetings all over again! At least, I have the excuse that this really is new territory. Regardless, Briar’s questions stung. Celestia would be able to answer all of this without even thinking about it. Luna would find some retort that made her come out to be capable, while also eloquate. Hay, even Discord would probably have some witty quip ready to turn Briar’s questions back at him! I. I had nothing. Despite holding up my stoic expression, I can’t help but let out a subtle sigh as the beads of sweat in my brow start to trickle down my face.

“Even if your intentions can save the entire world, there will always be those who will be against you.” Briar’s words snap me back to reality. “Whether it’s because your means to an end are unnecessary, because they are jealous of what you are and can do, or because their way of thinking goes against your way of thinking. In the end, morality is and will always be dictated by the majority. That’s the ‘true’ nature of what good and evil is.” Briar’s grin once again disappears as his gaze drifts away. “That said, Grogar’s methods were…” He pauses, visibly shaking. “He believed the answer to black magic’s true essence waited beyond our plane of existence. He wanted to connect this world and the one that exists hidden.”

My eyes widen at Briar’s words. “Wha... How…?”

“I. I. I—I don—don’t know. All. I, I, I, I—know, is that he. Needed the hosts. Needed the hosts, to be—to be strong, enough to survive. Possession, but weak. Enough to be—be possessed. In the first place.”

I placed both hooves back on the table and cleared my throat, eyes never quite meeting Briar’s. I had to really fight the urge to curse Grogar’s name. “That doesn’t make much sense,” I said, hoping it would help clear my thoughts. “What kind of pony could meet that kind of criteria?”

Briar completely looks away from me. I can see his lips quivering, and a part of me already knows why. The hairs in the back of my neck stand on end as I clench grind my teeth together. Whatever doubt I once had is all but gone now. I am threading into a place that can only lead to suffering. Do I really need another taste of the same horror that Sombra had harnessed to rule an entire empire?

My rising animosity couldn’t just be directed just at Dr. Grogar. Part of it fell firmly on Briar and his philosophy. But at the same time, my perception on him was changing. Where I once saw nothing but a depraved scientist meddling with malicious elements, I was starting to see a clearer picture of just how he saw the world, and I didn’t like it.

Why though?

Because a part of me knows—understands—that Briar has a point. No matter how much I try to tell myself otherwise, ponies are capable of evil without ever being exposed to magic. After all, the founding of Equestria herself had come about as a direct result of hate running rampant.

So if I understand and even agree with Briar, why can’t I accept his worldview? Why do I continue to be so adamant, so willing to write him off? Could I really that closed minded and stubborn?

No. It’s something else. Something about the doctor that just doesn’t click with me.

“Just, how did you receive the two wounds on your flank?” My eyes drift towards the doctor’s flank as I ask the question.

Briar’s eyes widen, his lips quivering as they try to rise into a smile, but force themselves down. Even his teeth begin clattering.

Something’s not right here. “Doctor?”

“Grogar. Did something. Else, to the. Rooms during. Construction.” Briar stops moving and relaxes his face. Another smile forms on his lips.

“What!?” I place both hooves on the table and lean over. My wings can’t help but flare at the prospect of new intel. I’m sure that to the guards on the other side of the one-way glass, it looks as if I’m about to pounce on Briar.

“H—he, had dozens. Of odd symbols, carved into. Walls.” Briar leans back on his chair, no doubt in reaction to my action. “He then,” he takes a deep breath to steady his voice. “He then had this, thick coat of paint placed over them, rendering them virtually invisible to the, well, naked eye.”

I lightly slam my hoof on the table. “We couldn’t access those rooms. Most of the installation had caved in when we arrived. Can you describe what the symbols looked like?”

Briar’s face goes pale. “I-I. I’ll need a piece of paper.”

I nod and levitate a piece of paper towards Briar. Soon as he has it in front of him, he begins to draw strange symbols using his own magic. They are sigils I have never seen before. More interesting is the fact that as soon as he begins his work, he looks absolutely absorbed into his own world, all but forgetting that he was in an interrogation room several stories below the city of Canterlot. As I gaze into the glyphs, I feel a shiver run up my spine and my very blood turn cold. I can’t even bring myself to look at it for too long without it causing my stomach to churn and head to throb in pain:

I... have no way to decipher the odd lettering. Not even with all my knowledge of Equestrian history have I ever seen such a language. If it even is a ‘language’ and not something altogether different.

After Briar finishes writing, he returns to normal. He looks down at his own magical scribbling and recoils, eyes going wide. A few patches of his coat stand on end near his neck, and he seems ready to drop on the floor.

“If. If I-I had k-known what Grogar h-had planned next, I, I, I would have q-quit then and... He decided not to tell me the finer details—to any of us—until we were all gathered at his ‘fortress.’ By that point, even if any of us wanted to leave... I doubt we would have been allowed to. The security team he hired was absolutely loyal to him and the payout. I-I get the feeling had it been necessary, he would have ordered his security team to terminate anypony bent on leaving the installations.”

“We’ve talked a great deal about the project and some of its details,” I say, diverting my thoughts away from the anxiety now bombarding almost all of my senses. “You were the physician—that means you would have known about the test subjects in detail. When our expedition team arrived on the site, virtually no records of the test subjects could be found. You are the only pony in the world that knows anything about them.”

“That is, true. Yes. I do know a great deal about the subjects, though that knowledge only extends to a single name. Only Grogar had knowledge of the other two names. He avoided telling any of us in order to create an even larger divide between the researchers and the test subjects. He feared—justly—that should we know their names, we would do everything in our power to prevent them from suffering their ‘required’ destiny’.”

I take a long gulp. “A-and what destiny was that?”

Briar’s eyes seem to glass over at my question.

“Dr. Grogar, I need to speak to you,” I say just as I catch up to the doctor a little after lunch hours.

“Sure, what do you want to talk about?”

“It’s about the subjects. I’ve looked the documentation over, and I can’t help but feel something’s not right about one of them.”

Grogar mumbles something under his breath before turning his full attention to me. “I had a feeling you would be the one to voice concern. Let’s take this to my office.”

Grogar and I walk down the main installation hub towards the control room. The few researchers present are doing standard calibrations on equipment and pay us no mind. We soon reach a small room separated from the rest of the control area. Unlike most of the installations, the walls are thick and sound-proof. I have no doubt that when the office had been originally built, it had served as the offices of a big-wig, likely the complex’s overseer.

Grogar led the way, and once we were inside, he shut the metal hatch, sealing us from the rest of the world. He takes a seat in front of his desk and levitates three manila folders, each one bearing the picture of a pony. Or rather, two grown ponies and a filly.

“Let me take a wild guess here,” Grogar started. “You’re concerned over the age of the filly, aren’t you?” He slid the filly’s folder closer to me.

“While her age does concern me, it’s more as to how she became embroiled in this project.” I look directly into Grogar’s eyes. “I know the project calls for ponies without cutie marks, but I think this is taking it too far.”

Grogar chuckles. “That may be, but you and I both know well that progress can only be achieved by those willing to sacrifice in the name of the greater good.”

I gaze at the filly’s picture. She looks so happy and carefree on it. “I’m having a hard time justifying the use of such a young test subject though. I mean, she can’t be older than ten.”

“She’s thirteen, actually. Well within the age of consent. At least according to Stalliongrad law.”

“Which has nothing to do with Equestrian law,” I retort.

“We are in their soil. Their rules,” Grogar’s smile never wavers.

“How did we even get such a young filly to sign up for this test anyway? Did her parents dump her on us in the hopes of making some money?”

“Sadly, she’s got no parents.” Grogar sighs, yet he still manages to keep a pleased expression. “As you probably know, Stalliongrad, while being a part of Equestria, is fiercely independent down to the way they run their infrastructure. Unlike the rest of the nation—which has almost no child abandonment or abuse to speak of—Stalliongrad is stuck in a very different time. Fillies and Colts here are lucky if they have parents that care for them. Those that don’t might as well be dead. The orphanages care little for them, and the whole child care system is little more than an excuse to traffic them for many nefarious purposes, truth be told.”

I can feel the hairs in the back of my neck start to stand on end. “Doctor, did you…?”

Grogar laughs. “Heavens no!”

I sigh in relief.

“I found her roaming the city streets, half starving to death. I told her what I had planned, and she willingly joined. To her, it was a far better prospect than dying on a gutter.” Grogar’s grin grew. “I’m surprised you only care for the filly. What about the other two subjects?”

I look down at the two other folders sitting in front of me. “Not much to say about them, honestly. One’s an average unicorn just barely hitting his twenties whose only unique trait is that his cutie mark has been forcefully removed. The other is an older Pegasus mare who happens to be a blank flank. It’s not really common to see that, but it isn’t exactly unique either. Some ponies just never find that one thing they are good at.”

“So it’s just the filly that’s getting under your skin?”

I nod in reply. Something about admitting it verbally doesn’t sit right with me.

Grogar puts a hoof on his chin. “Somehow, I find your concern a bit… well, concerning.” He snickers. “Here I was thinking you would be brewing up a storm over the subjects and their possible fates, but instead, you’re only concerned about a filly that may be too young.” He narrows his eyes. “You haven’t even raised a hoof about the potential fallout of the project. I find it odd as to why.”

I raise an eyebrow. “I’m not even entirely sure what you plan on doing here. You’ve been pretty quiet about it. But even if you did tell me, it’s not like I can stop it. The other two are adults who volunteered of their own volition. They signed the paperwork.”

Of course, that was a partial lie. While it is true that I don’t really know what Grogar has planned, my gut tells me things won’t exactly end well for them. I have to know more.

“Excellent then!” Grogar exclaims, standing up and walking over to me. “Don’t worry about the finer details. Those will be revealed in time. Right now, your priority is making sure the subjects are ready for testing. They will be arriving within the week, so have your clinic stocked and ready to go. Let me know if you need anything, I’ll make sure to give you all the necessary supplies, as well as few extra things you can only get up here in Stalliongrad.”

I give the doctor a nod and head out the door. Before I can open it, he speaks out one last time.

“One final thing. Try not to get too attached to your patients. They are here to serve as subjects first and foremost.” His tone drops into a cold, distant, and near monotone. “Remember, there cannot be progress without sacrifice. Nothing can be gained without first giving something up. Thermodynamics 101, Briar.”

Briar looks away from me and shifts in his chair before forcefully exhaling. “I-I’m sorry, but I think I need another break. The memories, they flood back in, and. I-I need to relax before they become overwhelming. Is it okay if we take... an hour this time?”

I give the doctor a nod. “I’ll return in an hour then. I’ll have some of the guards escort you to a holding cell and bring you some refreshment.”

“N-no,” Briar interjected. “I-I think I’ll. Stay here. If. If that’s okay with you.”

“That’s usually against protocol, but I guess I can bend the rules in this situation.” I give the young stallion a nod. “Alright. I’ll see you in an hour then.” I stand and head for the door. Briar just sits there, gazing down at the table with a glassed-over look. A trio of guards enter the room, and I tell them the current situation. They nod and take positions opposite Briar. As I move towards the exit, I feel another chill run down my spine. I still don’t know what to make of it, but some instinctual part of my begs me that I never set hoof in the room again..

For the time being, I have more questions than answers. It’s not something I enjoy. The more I learn about project Harbinger, the more I feel like I want to forget about it and never speak of it again. Everything is starting to build into a crescendo I do not want to hear play. Regardless of my feelings though, I have to hear it. I have to know the truth if I am to prevent something like this from happening again.

I groan and clench my teeth. Maybe you really can’t gain anything without first giving something up.