The door to their cell swung open to admit a mare with a decided frown. She looked older, but not ancient. Late middle-ages, Silver decided. Her mane and tail had touches of grey in them, but still had plenty of rich brown left in them. She looked between Silver and Samantha with a little snort. "Even with your child in our reaches, you still managed to find another mare to claim? Is there even a limit to your debauchery?"
She was far less physically worrying than the stallions Silver had to deal with, and she rolled up to her haunches. "Are you the new guard?"
The strange mare raised a brow. "Don't confuse me with him. Uncultured brute that only knows what he's told and good for little more than applying that brute strength of his, and even that wasn't enough." She pointed a hoof at Silver. "I know all about you. Force just makes you rebellious, but you aren't immune to having your snout rubbed in your filth and reminded how how badly it smells." The hoof slid over to Samantha, who seemed to still be groggy from her near-death experience. "I admit, even I was surprised to hear you claimed her so swiftly. Do you plan to add her to your herd the moment you shake free of us? Forget it. We'll be making it clear to the ponies of this land just how deep your sin runs."
Samantha shook out her head. "What are you saying?"
The expression of the stranger turned a bit to remorse. "Poor thing. Do you want to be free? Last chance. Forsake her vile ways and know harmony once again."
Silver gently nudged her. "If you want to go."
Samantha huffed softly. "No! I have so much to discover."
The stranger put a hoof over her face. "Very well. I suggested they not accept your application in the first place. You don't even know what morality is. You'll do anything just to see what it's like, won't you?"
Samantha looked genuinely confused. "You wouldn't?"
She pulled out a familiar-looking flashlight. "Did you make this, or her?" She tossed her head towards Silver.
Samantha peered at it before shaking her head. "Neither of us. What does it do?"
The stranger's eyes focused on Silver. "Tell me the truth. I'll know if you're lying, harmony watch over us. Did you make this?"
Silver shook her head quickly. "It seems based on a spell I formalized and wrote down, but I never made anything like that."
"Hmm, you are the original source of this sin, but I believe this." She threw the flashlight at Silver's hooves. "Here."
Silver nudged it lightly. "Why would you give it to me, of all people? You want me to have it?"
She smiled in an unwholesome way. "You didn't reach for it immediately, that's better than I expected. Your horn blocker's still in place, don't you need it to consummate your dealings with your new mare?"
Silver nudged it again. "I don't even know your name. I gather you know mine, Silver Stars."
"Of course, Prince Silver Stars." She snorted softly. "How could we not? Stud of the Land." She flicked her tail. "Are you waiting to see if I can be your next conquest? I prefer my stallions more... stallion. Parts or not, you're a damn mare, and a filthy one at that."
Samantha plucked the flashlight off the ground and gave it a spin, looking it over. "What about the other way around?"
The stranger scowled. "Don't even think about it. Since you asked, Silver Stars, I'm Straight Path. My duty is to keep you here, and contemplating the nature of your many sins. Let's start with her."
Straight looked towards Samantha. "She doesn't deserve to be caught in your net of delusions. You can already barely control your own life, and you're so eager to take her in? Have you no compassion in your heart?"
Samantha brought a hoof down in a clop. "She's my specimen, not the other way around. I'm the one with questions that need answers, and she is the answer. A living, breathing, wonderful answer!"
Straight raised a brow. "Perhaps I was hasty... She seems to be as deluded as you. Perhaps you truly are well suited." She sat on her haunches and clopped her forehooves together firmly. "I am not unreasonable. If you have found true love, then who am I to stand between you."
Silver's ears pinned back. "Not that I mind the idea if you being less scathing, but why the sudden turn around?"
Straight held out a hoof silently, which became an awkward silence before Samantha surrendered the flashlight to her. "It was a test. You didn't fire this at me, despite opportunity. Perhaps there's still a ray of hope for you, or you're just a clever and wicked pony, waiting for a far better opportunity. I plan to find out which is which."
She withdrew from the door and closed it. The sound of the lock being deployed came with a loud kathunk, sealing Samantha and Silver inside.
Samantha's ears fell. "I don't think they'll ever let us go. I can only do so much science from inside this cell." A frown developed swiftly. "This isn't fair, or right. Don't they understand the progress they're inhibiting?"
Silver brushed at the blanket partially draped over Samantha. "How are you feeling? The band-aid I applied was extremely off the cuff thinking. I want to be sure there aren't any side effects, to say nothing of the blood transfusion I performed. Just the fact that you're awake, coherent, and not frothing at the mouth are all good signs."
Samantha tossed off her blanket with magic and reared up to look down at the green coating her lower barrel. "I feel mostly fine. Just one thing." She focused her eyes on Silver. "It's difficult to explain, but I feel like we're... tied somehow."
Silver cringed. "That makes it sound like Straight Path was right. I'm dragging you into my twisted net of a life."
Samantha suddenly lashed out, punching Silver in the shoulder. "That, or death? I accept being a part of your life, so long as that means I get to study you in all your impossibilities!" She raised a brow suddenly. "Does this mean you are taking me into your herd? Do I get to do those measurements now?"
"No!" Silver's wings spread wide. "Besides, you gave away the only way I'd do that without taking this ring."
Samantha pointed at the ring. "It doesn't look sealed. I could just take it off if you like."
"I'm not turning into a stallion, even just down there, for you to see." Silver looked over Samantha a moment. "Why haven't they put a ring on you?"
"Do you want them to?" Samantha snorted. "Straight seems to be running her own experiments, and they don't involve limiting my magic. I could have zapped her at any moment."
"And she was ready for it." Silver clicked her tongue lightly. "Was she a unicorn or an earth pony? She might have had a horn hidden in that mane of hers."
Samantha shook her head. "Never met her before, but she seemed to have all my facts ready ahead of time." She suddenly clopped her hooves. "Oh! I'm the subject! This is exciting. I've never been the specimen before. Am I behaving correctly? How do you think her data's coming along? She'll let me see it afterwards, right?"
Silver raised a brow. "How much of my data did you share with me after you got it?"
Samantha pouted at the question. "I showed you some of it..."
Silver smiled gently. "And if we're lucky, she'll share just as much. I'm afraid we won't get a lot from her. She's decided to judge us, and hopes to teach me a few lessons while she's at it."
"What sort of lessons?" Samantha sounded genuinely curious.
Silver found her earnestness endearing, and mildly off-putting all at once. "Remember the 'sin' part of my reports? She's much more interested in those."
Samantha pulled her blanket back up and flopped onto the bed. "She should have just used that device on you and then we'd both have data worth poring over instead of doing nothing like right now."
Silver rolled her eyes. "Even if she had, I'd just sit here looking uncomfortable next to you. I've learned the value of my family. You're a friend, I agreed to that, but friends and family are very different things. We're not having foals. Hay, saving my foal is why I'm here, not to make more of them." Something occurred to Silver suddenly. "Are you even receptive?"
"I'm always receptive." She smiled brightly at the claim.
Silver shook her head. "Not that kind of receptive. Are you in season? Fertile? I didn't smell anything odd from you."
"Oh." Samantha went quiet a moment. "How do I check?"
Silver blinked softly. "How... Samantha, this is a chat you should've had with your parents when you were a filly."
Samantha suddenly turned away. "Don't yell at me about that!"
A firm clopping came from the door before Straight poked her head in. "The inquisitor wants to see you, Silver Stars. Leave your broodmare behind. I'll make sure she's fine while you're away."
Seeing little other option, Silver nodded and trotted from the room. "I'll be back." Straight closed the door after Silver and quickly locked it. "You know the way, get going."
Silver looked at her a moment before trotting away from her. The dynamic was quite different between the angry stallion she first met, the jailer first stationed there, and Straight Path. None challenged her or even seemed to check on her as she approached Blueblood's room. Just how much was she trusted, or how much did they assume they had her broken while her foal remained secured?
She knocked on the door.
"Come in."
She pushed it open to reveal Prince Blueblood's office. The mess from earlier had been cleared away, and he was frowning down at a map of Equestria as she walked in and kicked the door shut behind herself. "Tell me you have good news."
Blueblood tapped the rolled out map before him. "For certain definitions of 'good' news, but this could be your big break. I think I know what needs to be done next, but you may not like it."
Silver sucked in a weary breath. "Tell me I won't be killing anyone."
There was a silence.
"... Fine, tell me what it is, then I can make a decision."
He settled on his haunches. "I'm terribly sorry. The situation is spiraling out of control. Even with you nominally captured and submitting, some think it's just a matter of time before you go berserk and should be treated as a wild animal." He looked Silver in the eyes. "Let's discuss options."