//------------------------------//
// By A Thread 
// Story: By A Thread 
// by TheExhaustedBrony 
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	As I sit in my cell, I can't help but wonder how my life came to this.  I don't regret the decisions I've made, but I'm wondering, why did I make them?  Perhaps it was fate?  Yes, that's it.  It was Fate that brought me here.  Why did she want my life to be like this?  I'll never know.  However, I do know that there's no use in questioning it.

I got up and moved over to the small opening to the outside.  I am just able to get my muzzle over the ledge to see the world.  The bright sun over Canterlot nearly blinded me.  I closed my eyes and relished its warmth.  I could hear the sound of hooves on the cold stone floor as they gradually got closer and closer and then stopped.

"It's time."

Great, I was in the middle of enjoying something.  Oh well.  Lets get this over with.  I stood facing the wall as the guard shackled my legs together with chains.  In all honesty, I don't think it's at all necessary.  I'm not going to run.  I've come to terms with my fate.  Even if I'm not the one responsible she wants me dead and that's how it's going to be.  The guard knows this but I guess I can't blame the guard for doing his job.  It's protocol to ensure that escape is impossible for prisoners during transport.  

The chains rattled endlessly as I was escorted out of my cell and past other prisoners.  As I walked past the cages, I saw ponies with sad or angry expressions on their faces.  Some cursed and some wept.  I can't fully understand why that is.  It's not like they're the ones getting hanged today.

"Please keep moving." The guard's young voice snapped me back into reality.  I shook my head and continued moving towards the exit.

When we left the holding area, we entered a large hallway, tiled to the likeliness of a typical Manehatten hotel lobby.  Another sound was added to the ensemble of death.  The sound of my hooves clicking against the floor joined in with the chains.  Together, they created a very calming atmosphere.  It gave me something to focus on.  It sort of made time pass by a little faster.

"I'm sorry that this has to happen." The guard said sympathetically.

I didn't bother to turn my head towards him.  I just concentrated on the cuffs on my forelegs.  The dark steel almost seemed black against my coat.  

"Well, mistress Fate has something in store for us all." I replied.

He didn't say anything else after that.  What else was there to say?  Sorry that you've met such a cruel fate?  In all honesty, Fate is not cruel.  To be met with a cruel fate implies that our ends are unjust, that we didn't deserve it.  On the contrary, everything that we do in our lives doesn't matter.  Fate has laid out every conscious moment of our lives.  She has carefully fabricated the order in which things happen in our lives.  She determined when I decided to look around the hallway.  Even my thoughts as I examine the paintings on the walls were all set in stone before I was born.  

I really just want to get this over with.  If I have anything to ask Fate, it's why do I have to have these shackles?  The just make things take longer.  I sighed, who am I to question the higher power?  The one who decides who lives, who dies, when and how.  

The sound of my hooves clicking disappeared as the tile turned to gravel and the roar of hundreds of ponies boomed in my ears.

"Die scum!"

"You're getting what you deserve!"

"I hope you suffer you trash!"

Those were the few that managed to reach my ears and join the ensemble with my chains and the crunching gravel.  I walked up the wooden steps of the gallows and was told to stand in the center.

You have been found guilty of the murder of Lyra Heartstrings.  The jury had decided that the punishment for for such a crime is to be hanged to death.  As such, you have been condemned to death."

You aren't choosing the way I die.  You're just killing me the way I am meant to be killed.  From the beginning, Fate has been behind every action, every thought you've had.  That stallion's just another clueless soul that thinks he has control over his life.  I pity him.  He'll probably never realize that Fate wanted him to think he had control.

The wooden platform creaked and moaned as ponies walked across it.  The planks are probably going to give away in the next few months.  This thing really is a death trap.  I chuckled at the thought of what Fate might do to ponies that step on this platform a few months from now.  I looked off past the crowd to see a big mess of scaffolding and grinned.  What is it you're planning on doing Fate?

The creaking grew louder as the executioner, donning the black hood, approached me.  He put the noose around my neck and slid the knot tight.  I could hear his heavy breaths.  I looked up to the sun, high in the sky.  It must be hot under there.

The ensemble ceased playing as the crowd went silent with anticipation.  The guard who brought me here removed my shackles with very little noise, unfortunately.  

The guard cleared his throat, "Do you have any last words?"

"Fate has something in store for all of you." With those words, I heard the sound of sliding wood and the next thing I knew I was falling.