"Are you hungry?" Samantha circled around Silver. "I was just about to see to a snack for myself."
Silver was famished, and telling Samantha felt safe. "Yes, please. Today really took a lot out of me."
"My precious dear." She frowned a little. "Did they abuse you when they had you out of my sight?"
Silver's expression flattened a little. Sure, Samantha seemed a little kinder than the guard, but she wasn't innocent of harm. "I'm afraid so."
Samantha ran magic fingers along Silver's snout. "Well you don't move a muscle. Let me feed you." And off she went, cantering with a soft humming as she went.
Silver watched her go and let out a little sigh. She wasn't sure who her allies were anymore. Her thoughts strayed to Blueblood, who seemed enmeshed in the entire affair, but possibly as an agent of the crown? He may be an ally, but showing it would blow his cover, which meant he couldn't afford that, so he was almost as bad as anyone else, in the immediate.
Thinking about Samantha, Silver decided she didn't share the religious fanaticism of the rank and file. She really did want to learn, but didn't seem to have any considerations for her subject along the way. She decided she probably should be much more angry at her. "If you didn't remind me of Twilight..."
"What was that?" Samantha entered the room with a smile. She had two plates hovering at either side of her head, steam lifting from them. "We'll eat together today. Think of it as a bonding exercise. Do you have any allergies I should be aware of?"
Silver twitched an ear at her. "None that I was aware of, even as a human."
She giggled in an almost childish delight. "First time you admitted to being human. What were you like?" She walked closer and set one plate to hover just before Silver. There was no fork or other utensil on the plate. It had mashed potatoes primarily, with some greens lost in the pile of buttered whites.
Silver formed a spoon of magic and used it to sample what would be dinner. Mmm. Captive or not, the food was decent and she began filling herself eagerly.
"Poor thing, go ahead and eat first, then we can get to that question." She stood beside Silver and ate quietly from then out. Several minutes passed in peace as hungers were satisfied. She collected Silver's plate, gently nudging her magic around the plate. Silver released it without contest, and she set both side on a counter. "Here." She produced two cups, one she kept for herself, the other she offered to Silver.
A sniff filled Silver's nose with the scent of apples, and she took the cup in her magic, sipping from it.
"A little taste of home, hmm?" She drew from her cup softly. "Apple Family grown. Best supplier of apples for quite a distance. Now, about that question. You were human, weren't you, my delicious discovery? Tell me about yourself."
Silver considered silence, though offending Samantha seemed counter-productive. "I was. Male, middle-aged, mildly overweight, but fixing that quickly."
She smiled. "A self-improver? Admirable. But you went from a middle-aged male, to a barely-adult female? There are many who would call that... indecent. Did you do it for the thrill? Are you titillated every time you look in the mirror and see a sexually-attractive female gazing back at you?"
Silver flushed lightly. "I've gotten used to how I look. This is me, even if 'me' has had a few masks. My greatest pleasure is my family, and my foals."
Samantha leaned closer. "You have a strong family instinct then? Did you before? Did you leave a mate behind? Spawn?"
Silver leaned away as her questions became a little more forceful. "N-no. None of that."
"Hmm." She turned away. "Mother said she had one other child, before she came here. I never had the chance to meet them. I suppose I never will. Pity. Well, not to me, personally. She was quite dead before I could ask that question. She did reveal this information to Father, however. Why a human female would think breeding a unicorn stallion would be a good idea escapes me." She turned back towards Silver. "Madness, don't you think?"
Silver shook her head. "Love."
"Same thing, in the end." Samantha waved a hoof dismissively. "It killed her." She rolled her eyes. "I shouldn't be so critical. It did allow me to be here, didn't it?" She sat on her haunches, watching Silver. "Have you bred outside your species?"
Silver's ears pinned back. "As a human?"
"As whatever you happened to be." She rolled a hoof as if bored with the idea. "I know you've led an interesting life."
Licking her lips, she dug back through memories. "Do Saddle Arabians count?"
A grin split Samantha's expression. "How exotic! But no, they are still ponies, despite their stature. Close, however. There certainly are differences between us. Anything else?"
There was one he was sure of. "An Anubian."
Samantha quickly looked perplexed. "A what?"
"Anubian, jackal." Silver glanced towards the machine that still spewed paper to the floor. "They seem to have human blood in them."
Samantha reared up and clopped her forehooves together. "I have to get one!"
"Granted." Nefertari stood just beside Samantha, deadly claws at the unicorn's throat. "Do you have any final words?"
Silver and Samantha both went rigid in surprise. "H-hello!"
Nefertari smiled softly. "Hello. Samantha, was it? My mate seems to be tolerating your many rudenesses, but you've threatened my people, which I cannot abide."
Samantha swallowed softly. "I meant no disrespect, miss. Perhaps you would be will--" Her words were cut off as those claws began to press into her flesh, allowing several thin trails of blood to flow. "Or not! Not is alright!"
A syringe flew at Nefertari's rump, only to be caught in her free hand with a lightning-fast flick. "An excellent attempt." She crushed it easily and tossed away what was left. "I am not a fool, however. Silver desires your life continue, so this once, you are forgiven. Know that I am always listening, and watching. Speak ill of my people again, and I will have to make Silver very sad." She was gone without motion, as if life itself had made an editing error, and she was removed in the next frame.
Samantha ran a hoof up over her neck where she'd been pierced. "You have very interesting taste."
Silver nodded as she looked around, as if she might spot Nefertari. "She's a good person, even if I scarcely understand her. I hope to bridge that gap in time."
Samantha cleared her throat. "Yes, well, good luck with that, provided you have the opportunity. Is she the one then?" Silver nodded. "I see. She doesn't seem the sort to swoon over a pretty stallion, no matter how pretty. I would ask for more, but I think my continued scientific advancement would be better served by not speaking of her any further."
Silver moved to slide from the table to her hooves, but Samantha's magic gently tugged at her. "Don't go. There're still things to be done, my pretty little pony. We've barely begun to dig at your mysteries! Why, the tracking solution in your food should be ready to go. Let's have a look at your insides." She pulled down a large sheet from above, cutting off the view of her as she started to make appreciative sounds. "Mmm, fascinating..."
Confusion descended quickly upon her. "What is this, an x-Ray?"
"What ray?" Her head poked around the side of the sheet. "A human method? I don't know about that, but this way works quite well, and your insides are a marvel, as if engineered. Tell me, were you created this way by a mother's efforts, or a unicorn's planning?"
Silver frowned a little. "I suppose a unicorn's planning, of the two. I wasn't born to any pony, and you know that."
"I do, but there are ways..." She pushed the film up and out of the way. "You can change someone's species without further modifying them. Then they are who they always were, just a different species." She smiled at Silver. "Do you think I'd make a pretty human?"
How to even answer that? "I'm sure you'd be delightful." -ly insane. She still couldn't bring herself to fully dislike Samantha. After a moment of consideration, she decided Samantha was amoral, but not actively evil. Put in the right situation, she could get a lot of good done. This was far from the right situation. "I'm a little tired. May I go?"
Samantha sat on her haunches. "Oh fine, get some rest, precious thing. I'll go over some of this data. I could spend years doing that, though getting it is so much more fun... Tomorrow! Get some sleep, because tomorrow we dive deeper into the bundle of mysteries you represent."
Silver got her hooves down to the floor as she slid off the table and trotted back towards her assigned room. A glance over her shoulder revealed Samantha going over the papers strewn over the ground, muttering to herself the whole while.