//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10: Day 10 
// Story: An Equestrian Freedom 
// by FullMetalFurbee 
//------------------------------//

	There weren't any sounds aside from faint snoring. It was as if the night itself had fallen into slumber. The darkness hung like a blanket, yet Fluttershy couldn't find sleep. She alone lay with eyes open, gazing into the vast murk of the library. Salvator's revelation earlier that week continued to haunt her as if some sort of long-lasting incantation. The truth concealed under his words bit into her. Princess Celestia's rage was buried somewhere just beneath the surface. The ruler's simmering reaction to their brief departure had truly struck fear into her. It had been six days since they were detained to the library and there had been no sign of Celestia since. She hadn't visited once. Fluttershy struggled to comprehend such abnormal behavior from her infallible sovereign. However, the safety of her own life and those of her friends lay at the root of Celestia's actions. She'd made a habit of frequently reminding herself of this.
She flopped onto her side and tried to find a comfortable position. At this most unholy hour, even the stationed guard had drifted off to sleep. Yet, Fluttershy couldn't find rest. Only the sheer blackness of night accompanied her thoughts. She sighed despairingly. The whole world was spinning without her, unraveling itself faster than she could possibly hope to stitch it back together. She just wanted normal life to resume. To erase the past week and a half and live with the assurance of a safe, happy tomorrow.
An emerald glimmer slowly came into view outside the library doors. Fluttershy looked up curiously as the radiant aura grew in size. It was soft, yet too harsh to be a unicorn's magic. Metallic clinking coupled with the light as it gradually grew brighter. Soon enough, its source moved past the doors. For a brief instant, the dark form stopped and gazed inside. Fluttershy's breath caught. Two burning halos peered back at her. They didn't blink. Just as it came, the thing continued on its way. Fluttershy let her breath out slowly and rubbed her forehead. 
What in Equestria...? 
She wriggled silently out of her sleeping bag and rose to her hooves. She thought maybe the thing was a strange animal that stumbled into the castle somehow. If that were true and the guards found it, they wouldn't waste time relocating it. Fluttershy cast a fearful glance at the snoozing watchpony. His spear lay idle on the ground. Still, it was there for a reason. Should he wake, he might opt to use it.
Ever to her favor, the library doors produced no sound as she strode into the hall. Once again the timid pony found herself directly disobeying Celestia. 
What am I doing? I should just go back inside...
Yet, she didn't move. Her insomnia was in full bloom. With each passing second, the thought of getting shuteye became increasingly distant. Coincidentally, so did the incandescent creature. 
Oh Celestia.
She carefully paced down the nebulous hall. The animal clinked along, lights vigilantly illuminating the path ahead. Fluttershy made sure to remain perfectly embedded in the shadows as she slinked. 
Along they walked. Prey and stalker both skulked down the endless corridors. It was exceedingly difficult for Fluttershy to pinpoint their location within the castle. After a few minutes of undisturbed creeping, they took a turn south. The thing abruptly swiveled around a corner that Fluttershy failed to see at first. She almost missed the turn, but quickly adjusted her course. The wing of the castle was unfamiliar to her. There wasn't anything on the walls. Even the floor was bare. The thing took another quick corner, then another. Fluttershy was beginning to wonder if this peculiar being was truly lost. Its movements appeared  to be swift and calculated. The two descended down a narrow, high-stepped set of stairs. 
Fluttershy gulped and whimpered to herself. If the thing turned around now, there would be nowhere to hide. If it was violent, there was nowhere to run. The creature had more pressing matters to attend to than turning around, however. It ceased moving at the bottom of the staircase. The path was a dead end. Only a solid wall stood at the end. With the enclosed walls of the staircase compressing its eye light, the thing's form became vaguely visible. It was a stocky quadruped with top pointed ears. It was pony shaped.
Fluttershy watched as the odd pony lifted a hoof to the wall and pressed it into the stone. An electronic crackle sounded overhead, followed by a pre-recorded voice. “Password?”
The pony thing let loose a series of loud beeps and various pitches.
“Welcome, Mark-I,” stated the voice. 
As if by magic, the wall clunked heavily and slid open to the side, bathing the stairs in a harsh white light. Fluttershy was mystified by the spectacle. At this point, her reservations had since been replaced with wonder. The creature wasted no time in making its way into the light. With a hoof to shield her eyes, Fluttershy cautiously made her way to the bottom of the stairs. Unfortunately, the door began sliding shut before she had time to consider just what she was getting herself into. She had a creeping feeling that she was getting in way over her head. There was no logical reason to enter the door in front of her, but she'd already come this far. If she found out what this thing was, she could alert Celestia in the morning. So Fluttershy made the most important decision of her life. She muttered a silent prayer and leaped through the door – into the light.
The door's internal locks clunked back to rest not a half second after she was in. The room was white. White walls, white lights, white tables. She decided it must have been an engineering marvel to wire electricity down this far. Now that any darkness was gone, Fluttershy inspected the thing walking away from her. She gasped silently and quickly reeled back into a corner. The “animal” was shaped like a pony, but it was not alive. Its skin was comprised of tempered metal sheets and little gears spun frantically at the joints in its hooves. On its back was a silver appendage she didn't recognize. The thing didn't blink. It didn't breathe. It was a walking machine made in its creator's image. 
Fluttershy's eyes were wide with horror as she stared at the robot. Its metal hooves clinked loudly as it trotted away toward its predestined location. Only after waiting for quite some time did Fluttershy timidly press forward. Every room was white. The area frightened her. It made no sense. Clearly it was some sort of laboratory. Worktables sat everywhere, equipped with tanks of polychromatic liquids and a dozens of electronic boxes. What made the place terrifying to her was its gaping emptiness. There were dozens of work stations, but there wasn't a single soul anywhere in the disorienting maze. Each table's chair was pushed in neatly and all the equipment appeared to be securely tidied. She blindly wandered through hallways, quickly coming to realize that finding an exit was no easy task. At last she came upon a completely barren room. It served only as a connector for two parallel halls. She sat down against the cold wall to collect her thoughts. What precious little information she had didn't seem to help. She was lost, there was some kind of... thing wandering around, and the only exit she knew of was sealed tight. If this was where ponies worked, there had to be food somewhere or an emergency escape or-
Her ears perked. Voices echoed from nearby. Two of them: one very familiar and one not. The two conversed out of sight until they rounded a corner and trotted into the vestibule where Fluttershy sat. She gazed up into the astounded faces of a young zebra scientist, and Princess Celestia.
Silence. Silence still, as if Fluttershy's existence defied physical reality. 
“P-Princess...” uttered the pegasus in a hushed whimper.
Celestia simply stood staring at her unsettled subject.
“You're not supposed to be here!” protested the zebra urgently. “How did you get in here?”
Her face flushed with guilt. “I followed the robot thing down here. I-is this some kind of science lab?”
“Yes...” affirmed Celestia with a blank, emotionless expression. “Only authorized workers and members of the Royal Family know about this lab. Can you offer me any explanation as to why you're sitting in front of me right now?”
“P-please don't be angry, Princess. I just wanted to... I...” she stuttered. She couldn't form a cogent explanation because she didn't understand anything herself.
Celestia's eyes slowly softened until she looked upon the diminutive pony with a kind of sadness. “You followed the robot down here?” she asked with a frail voice.
“Yes. I saw it walking through the castle. I thought it was an animal and I wanted to help it... I'm so sorry, I'll go back right away...”
Celestia slowly took a few steps forward and sat down next to her subject. “Fluttershy, I...” she started. Tears welled in her eyes. “Why did you come here? Why did you have to come here...?”
“I'm really sorry! Please don't cry!” pleaded Fluttershy, about to cry too.
“You disobeyed me again. Do you know how deeply that hurts me? I just wanted you to be safe... and you disobeyed me twice. Even after I told you not to. It tears me apart inside that you'd do that...”
Her limbs felt like jelly and her heart was pounding. “I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I promise! I'll never disobey you again! I-I don't want to hurt you, Princess! I love you! All I want is for things to go back to normal... I'm so sorry...” She buried her face in her hooves and sobbed. Celestia just looked upon her with a mixture of regret and sorrow. 
“It pains me so much to know that I can't protect all of my beautiful subjects,” continued the ruler. “I've lost so many of my beloved ponies... Knowing I can't save them all makes me sick.”
Fluttershy just blubbered helplessly to herself. The zebra hadn't moved. He stood with a pained look, not sure what to do. 
“I thought I could save you all,” Celestia lamented. “I thought I could keep you and your friends safe here at the castle, but twice you disobeyed me...twice you tore my heart in two. I love you Fluttershy. Why do you hurt me like this...?” She closed her eyes and held her head. Something wasn't right. She shook her head from side to side. “Why? Why? Why?”
No response. Fluttershy was a mess. Celestia turned a grief stricken face up to the scientist. “I need you to to something for me. Please mix five grams of Sodium thiopental, one hundred milligrams of Pancuronium bromide, and one hundred milliequivalents of Potassium chloride. Bring the solution to me.”
The young zebra grimaced and stepped back. “Wait, isn't that...? A-are you serious?”
Celestia looked exhausted. All the luster in her coat was gone. “I am quite serious,” she told the zebra. “Please don't make this harder on me than it already is.”
“T-that's...unethical! No, evil! I-I can't be a part of that! She didn't mean to stumble down here! It was an accident!”
“I know. That only worsens the pain. I wish with all my beating heart that there was some other alternative. I love my subjects so much. Each and every citizen is very much a part of me...”
Fluttershy looked at her. Something seemed off.
“Princess Celestia, surrender to reason!” prayed the scientist. “This pony – Fluttershy, she's completely innocent! You're not making sense! Please, don't do this! Don't make me do this! I want no part in this!”
Celestia sighed. “After today, you may resign without consequence if you so wish. Now do as I say.”
The zebra breathed heavily. It looked as though he might faint. After much hesitation, he turned and trudged down the hall. Fluttershy sniffled. She shivered violently. “Princess...?”
Celestia wrapped her hoof around the unraveled pony and hugged her tightly. “Yes, my dear?”
“W-what are those chemicals?”
The ruler stroked Fluttershy's mane softly. “Ssh. Don't worry. There's nothing to worry about.”
The two sat in terrifying silence until the zebra returned. He said nothing. Instead of approaching, he dropped a syringe on the floor and kicked it over to the mares. “I won't be back,” he said.
Celestia picked it up and examined the thick substance inside. “I just wanted to save you...” she whispered to herself. Then looking back to the pony in her embrace, “Fluttershy, may I see your hoof please?”
Fluttershy sniffled again and looked at Celestia. “Princess?”
“I said, may I see your hoof please?”
She nodded and shakily extended her left hoof. “You're giving me a shot?” she squeaked in confusion.
“Yes, my dear. There won't be any pain. All you'll feel is a little pinprick.”
“Oh, okay...”
Princess Celestia carefully slid the needle into Fluttershy's tender hoof. She hummed softly as the serum slowly drained away.
“Princess, what's going to happen?” whispered Fluttershy.
Celestia removed the needle and cradled the pegasus in her lap, still stroking her mane. “You're safe now. Nothing can hurt you now.”
“Princess...I'm so sorry...”
“Ssh,” whispered Celestia. “There is no pain. You won't feel any pain. I promise.”
Tears trickled down Fluttershy's cheeks once more as she lay helpless in her Celestia's hooves. “I- am I...”
Celestia kissed her forehead softly. “Just relax, my dear. You're finally going home. Let them come take you home...”
The pegasus nodded weakly. “Home...” she repeated in a barely audible voice.
Celestia cried all over again as Fluttershy's eyes started to close. “Yes,” she said. “Home.” She continued to hold her, listening to her breaths becoming softer and shorter. “My sweet, sweet Fluttershy...”
A soft whimper.
“I'm so sorry...”
One last breath.
“You're finally home...”
With a tiny exhale,the kind yellow pegasus finally lay still.
Celestia wept endlessly, flung far beyond her breaking point. She set Fluttershy down and struck the wall in anger. She pounded it over and over, hoping vainly to overcome her devastating misery. She screamed curses into the silent air. She cursed many souls, but most of all herself. She loathed herself. She collapsed into a heap on the cold linoleum and drowned in her despair. She cried until her eyes burned and continued to sob well after the tears stopped coming.