//------------------------------// // Walls of Grey // Story: Subject // by Aphotic //------------------------------// My home, my cell that I've known almost all my life. Every day I am greeted by these walls, and every night I'm put to rest by them. They confine me, yet, they do not define me. They only hold me, keeping me from experiencing the wonders I've read about the world outside my cell. I've read that outside my walls there are dragons, griffons and other wondrous creatures to behold. Many amazing ponies of fabled strength. Protecting the values of friendship; holding the morals of peace. The most recognizable figures in all the books are two princesses of unimaginable beauty, Celestia and Luna. Celestia, the eldest, rises the sun for the day while the youngest, Luna, rises the moon for the night. It's inspiring to here such a wonderful thing, but then again it's bittersweet knowing I'm still trapped. Locked within these walls of grey. I sat here in my cell contemplating the legends I've been reading my whole life. How each has one resounding figure, Celestia. As I pondered I hadn't noticed that one of the authorities was standing outside my cell. Authorities are armored ponies, no face but instead a mask. The armor is a solid layer of steel seeming to entrap the wearer, cover almost every aspect of their body. They are the only ponies other then the colts in white that I am allowed to see. The authority was standing outside my cell, slowly growing impatient as I was lost in thought. *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* "Hey, Fallen, your needed for testing again!" The authority hollered through the door. Fallen was my code name since I never had a name of my own. I rose from my spot, "Alright, but why? We just got done with testing yesterday." I stated. "Yeah, but we they've made a breakthrough. So, they need you to test it." He replied, I just shrugged my shoulders and decided to get this out of the way. Testing eventually becomes trivial, you stop caring what they do as long as it doesn't kill you. I trotted to the end of the cell as the authority opened the metal cased door. I stopped in the doorway and waited for the authority to begin moving so I may follow. I held a slight canter behind him as we trotted to the lab. The colts in white preferred that all experiments are held in that location. I never understood why though, must be all the fancy machines. We continued at this pace all the way down the corridor. The sides of the stone walls we littered with loose vines and other foliage. They complimented the dull exterior by adding a sense of life to it. I always enjoyed seeing it; a pleasurable thing to calm me before another go round with the colts in white. The corridor began to narrow as we neared the end of our journey. We came upon a large, ardent door that has some sort of circuitry adorning it. The authority walked up to the door and started pressing, what seemed like, random buttons. boisterous bleeping noises could be heard from the door. then a signal sounded, the door flung open, and the authority stepped to the side. He motioned me to enter the room. I nodded in agreement and walked into the incandescent room. The lights seemed bright at first but my eyes quickly adjusted. The room was massive and teeming with life. The colts in white moved avidly throughout the lab, checking results and running experiment. One of the Colts in white happened to notice me upon my entry. "Ah, Fallen, my favorite subject come with me!" He said enthusiastically as I began to follow him. "We have been making great strides to find ways to make you stronger genetically. And today we have done it, we have found a way to make your hide regenerate four times faster then a normal colt. With this any injuries that occur will heal faster, and your chances of surviving them all the greater!" the colt in white stated. "You want me to regenerate, really? you think you can make me regenerate?" I asked. "Well in a sense yes, you will still need a day or two to fully heal but it is a vast improvement." The colt in white replied. "Now if you would kindly lay down on the table we will begin." I hadn't realized we were already in the room since I was lost in our conversation. I looked at the table and it had been modified to transfer liquids through a pony. Tubes and tanks were decorating the sides of the metallic table. As I inspected the table the colt in white roughly coughed. I jumped to attention and carefully climbed onto the table. The colt in white walked over and began strapping me into the table. The leathery straps harshly bit at my coat but it was only a minor irritation. The colt in white finished his routing and began the next. He flipped a switch and the tanks on the sides filled with an elegant blue liquid. The liquid glimmered in the bright setting of the lab and bubbled carelessly as air escaped the tank. The colt in white grabbed a few of the tubes and stepped in front of me, "Now, this will sting but it is necessary for a proper transfer." He said calmly. I looked down and saw that he had a syringe that was full of a clear liquid. The colt in white moved the syringe over my heart, he let out a stressed sigh and sent it into my chest. The liquid filled my veins and cause me to break out into a cold sweat. My heart vigorously pounded in my chest, beating my sternum as if were trying to escape. My vision became blurry and my thoughts were fogged. I saw a white silhouette of a pony before me, "Now we can begin, Fallen," The colt in white stated. A sharp, stinging pain could be felt in my arm as the tubing was carefully slid in. Then I fleetly lost feeling in my body as my blood was sucked out. Now my mind was in a deep haze, unable to process anything as it was being sapped of life. But before I could let go of the world I was quickly pulled back in. The pain I felt as the blue liquid shot into my veins was agonizing. I brought my head up as I gasped for air, and the cold sweat I had before had suddenly vanished. The lava like liquid began to pierce my heart; I hollered in duress as the torture continued. My back arched with me as the jolts of pain curled around my body. Eventually my torment was ended as the blue liquid replaced my original blood. I couldn't move as I gasped for breath. My body was soaked from sweat as it finally had a chance to escape. My muscles agitated from the affliction it was still under. I looked around the room but my neck tried fighting my efforts. I had noticed that the colt in white had walked over to an old counter and was studying something covering the counter. I continued to watch as he diligently worked; he chuckled with glee about something but I couldn't tell. The colt in white then quickly spun around and waltzed over to were I lay. He had smug look adorning his face, "It seems we were successful, Fallen. You body was perfectly compatible with the enhancements and it is now recovering from the shock." He said joyfully. "G-g-great, I.." I could barely speak after what had conspired earlier. "Shhh, you need to rest now. Here! This should help you sleep, Fallen." The colt in white said as he pulled out another syringe. he carefully put the syringe in my arm and sent the serum into my body. Magically all my pain seemed to disappear and my body cooled itself. My eyes grew heavier and I couldn't manage them anymore. I let them close, allowing sleep to embrace me in my time of need.