Silver woke up and stretched. No one came for her. She hadn't been woke up, and a quick check revealed the door wasn't locked. There wasn't a shower there, or food, so she decided to emerge and seek out Samantha. The inquisitive unicorn was in her lab, driving a needle into her own flank with the faintest flinch. She drew the needle free, blood drawn. "Is that you, my darling discovery?" She brought the needle around. "You may want to see this."
Trotting closer, she could see Samantha bring over a dish that had blood that glowed her own silvery light. "Look," urged Samantha enthusiastically, squirting her own blood into the dish. The silver faded initially before turning to a gentle magenta color. "See?"
Silver didn't. "What does that mean? Your magic isn't that color."
Samantha flashed a bright smile. "So you can see magic. It takes a great deal of practice to gain that ability, which I'm told you don't have."
Silver tilted her head. "You're confusing me. All humans can see that."
"Another fact." She made a scribble in her book. "You are a font of information!" She leaned in on Silver suddenly, lashes fluttering. "Why don't you tell me everything."
One thing came to Silver. "There's one thing. A factor that makes most of the research of the last day likely invalid."
Her nose went pale and she began to tremble. "You're joking! Please, don't even suggest... Why are you still looking so serious? What secret did you keep from me! Did you lie?! I thought... I thought we were friends..."
Silver reached and put a hoof on Samantha's chest. "I didn't lie to you."
Samantha sagged with a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. Then why are you suggesting I have something wrong? I checked and double checked everything before I moved on to the next!"
Silver drew her hoof back to her own chest. "I'm something different. More than human, pony, and whatever else. I'm dead."
"Dead?" Samantha raised a brow high. "I have evidence that proves otherwise. You are not dead."
With a snort, Silver smiled. "Well, no, not right now, but I was. Dead, totally dead. Twilight used huge gobs of magic to break rules we're not even supposed to know about to drag me out of that deep pit of oblivion. I can't promise anything you find from me is valid, because I am not valid. I shouldn't be here."
Samantha stared at Silver evenly a moment before she shook her head violently. "No. No! I refuse."
"It's tru--"
"I believe you." She glared at Silver. "You haven't lied to me. You are my precious little subject. No! It's what you said I don't believe. There are no rules you 'can't' break out of some moralistic obligation. There are just rules we haven't fully grasped. If we knew them fully, we'd either know how to circumvent them, or they couldn't be broken. You did break them, so they can be broken. Simple as that."
Silver slowly nodded. "Sure, I can see where you're going with that, but it's still an unknown factor. You can't assume I'm reacting to things the way another alicorn slash human might react. Hell, I'm not even female by birth, but you know that. What kind of baseline am I providing?"
Samantha'a horn glowed softly as a finger ran up and down Silver's snout in gently pets. "You are adorable, and so thoughtful! That's it. I'm going to set you free, and then we'll be friends forever." She rose to her hooves and turned for the hallway leading to Blueblood's office. "This way. I'll talk to the 'inquisitor' and he'll let you go." She trotted forward with confidence. "After I convince him it'd be best, you'll be on your way home soon. Do you think Twilight could use a lab assistant? That'd keep us nice and close."
Reeling from the emotional whiplash, Silver followed after her until she held up a hoof, and vanished into Blueblood's office. It became quiet a moment before she heard something muffled, but loud. Like a gun? Her heart beat powerfully in her chest as silence returned. Should she charge in? She really wasn't sure. For all of Samantha's breaks... "You're a good pony." Silver pushed open the door to see Samantha sprawled across the floor, blood pooling around her.
Blueblood sat in his chair, seemingly waiting for her. "There you are. I'm afraid she wouldn't take no for an answer. Dreadful waste of life, that. She was so bright, too, if a little insane."
Silver staggered back a step, the thumping of her heart rising up into her eyes as she looked at the cooling body of the one that wanted to be her friend in her own twisted way. She didn't deserve that. "Why?! She wasn't a bad pony. Why kill her?!"
Blueblood sighed softly. "I told her to go back to her lab, and to enjoy her time with you, but she had it stuck in her head to take you from this facility, which would get her hunted down, you recaptured later, and your foal possibly killed. It was one life against three. I had no choice."
That answer wasn't good enough. Silver hurried the still form of Samantha and threw herself over the mare. "Don't be dead. Don't be dead!"
"Leave her," ordered Blueblood. "She's dangerously unstable and ready to get you both killed."
Silver didn't oblige that, instead feeling for where the injury pierced her friend and pressing against it. Her hoof radiated powerful heat as she tried to mend the wound as one might encourage a plant to grow, and plants did grow. A mossy covering swiftly swept over the wound, blocking further bloodflow from the critically injured unicorn.
"Even if you do save her, she'll just risk the life of your own child. Don't you grasp that? Priorities, my good mare. We'll rescue you both, in time."
Ignoring his words, she tilted Samantha's head back and sank her teeth into the bared neck. Making blood flow the other way felt strange and induced waves of nausea that crashed against her even as she forced the flow into the wounded mare, replenishing some of her lost vital fluids. When she drew back with bloodied fangs, the bile refused to wait a moment longer. She felt the contents of her belly rise and she unleashed it across the carpet with a pained sound.
Blueblood put a hoof over his face. "You're making this much more difficult, your majesty. Take her to your room. The replacement guard arrives tonight, and he will be informed she misbehaved and is now your co-inhabitant."
Silver gave a shaky nod. "Fine... But she doesn't die."
He narrowed his eyes. "You understand the only way I can keep you together is a truly debauched tale. Anything else would have her quietly 'removed', much the same as I performed."
Silver raised a brow. "Like what?"
He rolled a hoof. "I give you more credit than that. You've formed some kind of tawdry relation with your inspector and have taken her as a mate. I can recommend keeping her alive and close to you, as leverage. They may like that. Go, before the guard arrives." He grunted softly. "If you see one of the servants on the way, send them here to clean up this mess. Disgusting." He turned in his chair away from Silver.
Carefully hoisting the unconcious form of Samantha on her back, Silver walked back to her room. She wondered what kind of double life Prince Blueblood truly led. To just casually murder a pony and complain of the stink produced more than any reservations of what actually occurred. It was beyond her grasp.
In her room, she closed the door and set Samantha gently across her bed, tucking her in firmly. She seemed stable and well, which was a little bright spot in Silver's day. "I saved you, at least." She leaned in and kissed Samantha's cheek, which was apparently enough to rouse her.
Samantha's eyes fluttered open and looked around. "Wha? Oh.. I've failed. I thought I had all the variables figured..."
Silver gave a little smile. "I'm afraid there are a few you didn't. You're with me now."
She sat up with a wince and pushed off the blanket with a twinkle of her horn to reveal the green patch that covered her lower torso in an uneven patch. "What manner of assault did they use? Did you see it? I wasn't aware the inquisitor had any such ability."
Silver shook her head slowly. "That was me, afterwards. I didn't want you to die."
"Dying is terrible for scientific progress." Samantha frowned a moment before she looked up at Silver. "You really did save me, didn't you? You absolutely perfect specimen! We really are friends! Why, I think I could mark down today as a fine day." Her notepad appeared with a pop and she made a quick scribble in it. "Now, about escaping."
Moving quickly, Silver put a hoof over her snout. "No! Stop that. I need you to believe me."
Samantha drew away from the hoof. "But I already believe you."
"No, I mean internally. You really need to change your plans." Silver lowered her hoof to tap on the ground. "No escapes. We are here until I say otherwise. Try to stay with me. They'll probably call you nasty names, and make terrible and lewd jokes, it doesn't matter. So long as you're near me, I'll try to protect you, just no more escapes."
Samantha let out a slow sigh. "Fine, no escapes... I'll be a nice little prisoner beside you." She looked around slowly. "Why are we in the same room, by the way? I'm not complaining, but it's a little irregular."
Silver nodded. "Right, well, they think I've claimed you as a mate and have gone quite protective about you."
Samantha blinked softly. "What? Absurd. Why, you're not even a stallion. Why would they think that?"
Silver's eyes went half-lidded. "Your research didn't turn up anything about that?"
Samantha tapped her hooves together a moment before they clopped loudly. "Oh! Yes! That was mentioned, if briefly, in the 'moral sins' section. I ignored that mostly. What a bunch of hogwash and wasted ink. Wait, do you mean it was accurate?"
Silver put a hoof over her face. "Yes."
"Show me."
"Why?
"I want to see, of course. Is it functional? Is it fertile? Have you reproduced with it before?"
"Yes, yes, and yes." Silver put her hoof back down. "Satisfied?"
"No! I still want to see it. You're a trustworthy account, but still second-hoof. I need to take measurements, samples, and get readings!"
Silver leaned towards her. "Samantha... I like you. Really, your insatiable desire to know more is just endearing to me, but we're both captives. You can't get readings right now."
Samantha tapped her hooves as she pouted just a little. "Maybe not, but that doesn't make me want to not see new things, and take notes. Oh, for the record, thank you."
"Huh?"
"For rescuing me." She smiled. "It's difficult to learn while you're sleeping, and being dead is worse than sleeping, so, thank you. You really are the best specimen I ever had."