Author's Note

Content Warnings: Narcotics

Clean and Pristine

White-tiled ceilings. White-tiled floors. Long corridors. Mirrored walls. Pristine cleanliness marred by stains of purple blood.

It shrieked at her. The animal. For that was all she could possibly see it as (she had to). Flailing tentacles bound to an open carcass of teeth and leaking sludge. Holes that she presumed were its eyes bored into her with malice and resentment.

Slurred words came from its too-large mouth in an approximation she could understand. She heard it clearly, despite the interference. Profanity and threats that held no water in the Palace.

Earth ponies in full hazmat suits raced to pin down the Malformant’s many limbs. Unicorns in lab coats used their magic to empower the mirror it had escaped from, recasting the magic that sealed it inside. Nearby, there was, well, most likely a corpse splattered against the wall. Red mixed with purple that was once a pony.

Misdosage of the anesthetic. Rounded the wrong number then moved the decimal one too far left since ‘the number couldn’t possibly be that high!’

Death felt far too extreme a consequence for a new employee’s lack of experience with these creatures, but no matter what policies they implemented, what mentors they assigned, the Palace (and most likely the other facilities) could never retain a large workforce due to pony error.

Introversion gulped, the sound muffled by the heavy scarves wrapped around her mouth. Grabbing a syringe from the inside of her lab coat with her magic, she loaded it with the chemical stored in another inside pocket of her jacket.

“...Not tested,” she muttered under her breath. “...Have to do.”

She waited for her moment.

The Earth ponies struggled. They managed to pin down the Malformant’s limbs.

Introversion took the shot.

With a burst of magic, the syringe flew through the air and embedded itself into the monster’s flesh. Another burst pushed the plunger injected the Malformant with the chemical.

Grasping For Love, the name of this Malformant, screeched, reaching out toward her. Tentacles yearned to grab her. To hurt her. Her workers wouldn’t let it. It screamed at her. A single sentence that pierced into her soul.

For the benefit of her own insanity, she tried to discard it from her thoughts.

Its flesh bubbled and popped around the injection site. It struggled for a moment more before falling limp.

“...Samples taken?” Introversion muttered.

A nearby unicorn’s ear flicked.

“Yes, Director,” they answered.

“...Lab,” she mumbled.

She left the staff to handle the aftermath.

Colourless fumes permeated the air, filtered through the scarves wrapped around her. Her personal laboratory was as white and pristine as her own fur and mane, broken only by the occasional off-colour piece of equipment or cabinets of various fluids and materials. This was her research lab, the place where most of the chemicals and substances used by Redacted were discovered.

Her focus was on a vat of purple ooze procured from Grasping For Love. Initial readings showed the substance to be a powerful aphrodisiac. Better than similar components Introversion held within her own cabinets.

“...Promising,” Introversion muttered.

She turned away from her experiment and to her desk. Just as sterile as the rest of her room, there were various papers spread across it. Most were personal requests. High level employees and Agents in need of a particular drug only they developed. Primarily Smile!, a substance that had been highly requested since its initial inception.

One stood out from the stack. Blue stationary with little snowflakes around the edges. Grim.

Dear Director Introversion,

The test was a success. I would like to request ten more vials at your earliest convenience.

Regards, Grimhoof

The empowerment serum worked! That was great news. It would help turn the tide against the Malformants if they could get the potion to their unicorn Agents. It had worked… perfectly? Introversion didn’t quite understand why there were no details.

Were there really no side effects? Introversion looked over the letter again. Nothing else noted but the brief message requesting more. A few spells confirmed there were no hidden messages. Had things just worked out with no issues?

Or was Grim not telling her?

She needed to know. Pharmaceuticals were rarely fine on their first trial run. They needed testing. However, Grim hadn’t told her that there were problems, just that it was a success. Though, weary of doing so, she would, of course, make more for Grim to use. She protected Introversion, and it was in her best interest to keep that protection. From everyone else.

Not that she really needed it. Introversion had done nothing wrong, but it never hurt to have that protection in case things went south. Especially if—

No, she wasn’t doing anything wrong.

She wasn’t doing anything wrong.

Her breathing became ragged. The scarves choked her. She ripped them off. The reflective floor revealed her wretched scars, the mouth prosthetic that attempted to cover it up. It had hurt so much then. It could hurt so much again.

No one really knew where the drugs came from outside of the Palace. That she was using the Malformants. An open secret. They put forth no effort to cover it up… but no one asked or considered the consequences.

They were using—

They weren’t. The Malformants were like… plants or animal byproducts. They weren’t like ponies. They didn’t talk. They didn’t feel. They—

I just wanted to be loved! Why are you doing this to me?!

She vomited. Splashes of green and yellow staining the floors in a gross painting of her own guilt.

No one could know.

No one could know.

If they knew they weren’t just animals— what she did to them— That not all the Malformants were like the others—

It had hurt so much the first time.

She could never go through that pain again.

“Director?”

Introversion didn’t look. She knew who it was. She couldn’t stand to look at her biggest regret while feeling so vulnerable.

“Pearl,” Introversion said. “...need …sanitize.”

“Of course, Director.”

An arm moved past her. Translucent pale skin. Bone and nerves glowing in a multitude of colours underneath. If she looked close enough, she could just make out the pattern of scales along the surface.

Sun, why had she done this to her?

Scarves were wrapped around her once more.

“It’s important to stay bundled up due to your… needs,” Pearl said.

Introversion clutched at herself, desperate for comfort. Pink flame burned away the stains on the floor. Everything was once more clean and pristine. Unlike herself.

“What are your plans for the day, Director?” Pearl asked.

“...Empower serum,” Introversion said. “...Request.”

“I will prepare your work station.”

Pearl set off to perform her tasks on behalf of a monster.

What she did was wrong. No amount of reframing or rewording was going to change that. These— no, they were animals. Materials for the advancement of ponies and their allies. That was all they were. They had to be. For her own sake.

She picked herself off the ground, her resolve once more affirmed.

Introversion had work to do.