Lyra laid facing the wall, lost deep in thought.
She rolled unto her back and stared at the ceiling. She felt bad about how she had acted towards Redheart before.
'Should I just tell her?', Lyra looked over at the pony in question who had taken to sitting at the end of her bunk memorizing the details of the floor, 'What do I tell her?'
Lyra sat up drawing Redheart's attention. She looked away before she started. "I-"
Lyra was interrupted by the sound of the door opening down the hall. The sound of hoofsteps echoed down the hall heading in their direction.
They looked at each other for a moment before both preemptively getting up and standing against the back wall.
Moments later the same officer from earlier approached the door to their cell. "Good news. Your ride is here, and your paperwork is in order. You're free to go.", She pulled her keys off her vest and unlocked the cell, "Just follow me."
The two complied and soon found themselves following the officer down several hallways heading towards the station's lobby. They passed office after office, room after room, all empty, as though nearly every officer in the station had left for some reason.
Redheart leaned over to Lyra and whispered. "Where is everypony? This place was packed earlier."
Lyra was on edge as she whispered back. "Yeah. Something's not right..."
Finally they reached the lobby where a single officer sat behind reception sipping coffee and watching the news.
Alan was sitting in wait nearby. He jumped up when they approached. "Redheart!"
The officer looked to him "They're all yours. Try to keep them out of trouble." She turned to leave.
"I will.", He called back before turning to address the two ponies in front of him, "What were you thinking?! You do know you just ended your career? Do you even care?!"
"Of course I care!", Redheart responded, "This matters, Alan! That robot matters!"
Lyra turned away, letting the two argue in the background as she approached the reception desk. "Excuse me?" She addressed the officer behind the counter.
The pony put down the coffee an turned to her lazily. "Huh?"
"I was just wondering where everyone is.", Lyra said, "This place was full earlier."
The officer looked back to the TV and gestured towards it. "They're all downtown trying to get control over the big protest."
"Protest?" Lyra said, concerned.
"You haven't heard?", The officer looked back to her, "Here." He turned the TV so that she could see.
The volume was turned down too low to hear, but it didn't matter. The footage showed it all.
Live footage streamed in from a news chopper showing teams of police and SWAT gathered in wait at the edge of a makeshift barricade. Hundreds of officers, all gathered in teams just waiting for the order to storm the crude wall and bring down riot control. On the other side, thousands of ponies from all over the city had gathered. All of them standing out in the pouring rain, many waiving waterlogged paper signs and rough-hewn flags.
In the center of the crowd they parted giving breathing room for what they were fighting to protect.
I single small figure sat, barely moving, drenched by the rain, looking broken and grave.
Occasionally ponies would approach her and give some offering of comfort and support.
"Alphie..." Lyra felt something tear at her heart seeing the robot's state.
She watched as Alphie's damaged form looked up slowly to the news helicopter, almost as though she had hear her speak , one eye glowing dully through the rain.
Redheart and Alan had stopped fighting and headed over to see.
Redheart covered her moth in shock. "Oh Celestia!"
The view changed to an interview between a reported and some of the ponies in the crowd. At the front of them, a young stallion with a few small bruises stood speaking to the reporter.
Alan read the caption.
Dennis R: Crash survivor, Protester
"Dennis?" Alan looked on in shock.
Redheart turned to look at Lyra, but she was gone. "Lyra?" She turned in time to see the station's door shutting.
She grabbed Alan. "Come on!"
Alan didn't object. The two rushed out into the storm after Lyra.
Redheart ran down the street after her. Alan started towards where his car was parked. "Over here!"
The two quickly turned to follow him.
The three of them jumped into the car. Alan turned the key. The engine cycled once, followed by the ineffectual buzz of the starter.
"No. No! Start you son of a-!" Alan slammed his hooves down on the steering wheel.
Redheart looked to him. "What wrong?"
"Everything but the stereo..." Alan growled as he continued, in vain, to try to start the vehicle.
"Are you kidding me!?" Lyra shouted. She flung the door open.
"Lyra?" Redheart looked.
"We don't have time for this bull!" She jumped out and began sprinting down the street.
"Lyra!" Redheart called.
Alan and Redheart looked at each other and hesitated.
"Come on!" Alan jumped out and headed after the unicorn.
Redheart followed. "Lyra wait!" She shouted as she tried to catch up.
Alphie was cold.
She was barely aware of what was happening around her. Yet she held on.
"Hello?" A small voice drew her attention.
She looked up to see a young filly looking at her curiously. Across the way in the crowd a couple of ponies, presumably the parents, watching intently.
"Hello..." Alphie managed to say weakly, barely audible over the downpour and the roaring crowd around them.
The foal smiled and rushed forwards grabbing Alphie in a hug.
The robot winced but managed to reach up and hug the filly back and smile warmly at the comfort.
After a while the child let go and backed off slowly. She looked at Alphie and hesitated before giving her one last smile and running back to her family.
Alphie returned to looking at the ground, waiting. 'They'll be here... Just a little while longer...'
There was a shift in the crowd's uproar and moments later she could hear a voice shouting over a megaphone. "Attention everypony!", Alphie shifted try to hear better, "City government has declared this an illegal gathering! You have 20 minutes to disperse and surrender the robot or we will enact riot control measures!"
The crowd roared in anger of the announcement. Ponies raged, shouting profanities and throwing trash from across the barricade.
The officer repeated. "Again! You have 20 minutes!"
The anger of the crowd only grew. Ponies crashed like an ocean wave against the barrier, throwing things, waiving their signs, and shouting with deafening volume.
Alphie simply watched and listened.
There was a change.
The opposite side of the crowd began to fall into silent, whispers growing closer. Alphie could see them parting for something.
"I said, let me through!"
Alphie looked up towards the familiar voice.
Finally the crowd parted, and Lyra stepped into the circle, followed by Redheart and Alan.
"Alphie!" Lyra cried as she rushed to the robot's side.
Past her Redheart stood watching. Alan rushed to check on his son.
"What happened to you?" Lyra grabbed her as tears streamed down her face, barely visible through the rain.
"Had to... protect..." Alphie muttered.
Lyra held her tight. "Yeah... You did good...", She choked through sobs, "I'm very proud of my daughter."
The cold was gone.
Alphie felt as though some greater part of her had been completed. Her world was whole.
She choked. "I don't want to go..."
Lyra didn't let go. "I don't want you to go..."
"They're going to hurt all there ponies.", Alphie sobbed, "They're only trying to protect me... I can't let them..."
"I know...", Lyra finally let go and stepped back, "Why do we give up everything, Alphie?.."
Alphie looked to Lyra, and smiled.
"So someone else can have more than us."
Lyra smiled, trying to hide the tears through the rain.
It was the words she had searched so long for. All of it laid out before her.
One last gift.
Alphie struggled to her hooves.
The crowd had fallen silent.
Alphie turned to address them. She spoke as loud as she could. "Thank you all so much.", She smiled, genuine, happy, peaceful, "But it's time for me to say goodbye to you all now." She turned and began heading towards the barricade.
The crowd burst into a roar unlike anything that had come before.
Ponies move to stop Alphie, Redheart among them. Others moved to stop them. Including Lyra.
Ponies cried openly, shouted angrily, or simply watched in shocked silence.
Alphie pressed forwards. It was slow, painful progress, but she made it.
SWAT teams rushed forwards to move the barricade, keeping weapons trained on Alphie at all times.
Once a path had been cleared Alphie stepped through.
Members of the crowd grabbed at her to stop her, but the police forced them back, shouting warnings, and blocking their movements.
Alphie glanced at the ERoCo. members watching the scene unfold from the sidelines. One of them, an older stallion, watched her closely as she moved through the barrier.
Several officers rushed over and placed hoofcuffs on Alphie. Not that they needed to.
One officer stepped up and addressed to robot. "Alphie the robot, you are under arrest for public endangerment. You are malfunctioning and require reformatting.", There was a hint of pain in the officers voice as she spoke, but she continued, "You are being detained. You will be taken to the nearest police station, where you will be processed. After which you will be returned to the Equestrian Robotics Corporation where you will be taken to have your network imaged for analysis, and then be erased and refurbished. Do you understand."
"Yes.", Alphie looked up, "I'm ready now. Thank you."
The officer winced visibly at the robot's response. Yet she did nothing to stop the other officers from pulling Alphie away.
They carried the failing machine over to a police van and began loading her inside.
Alphie looked out one last time, trying to spot Lyra or Redheart among the crowd. She couldn't make them out through the storm.
The police shut the van and began driving away.