Breaking the Bars

“New here?”

Twilight looked up at the person who’d addressed her rather than her aluminum tray. It was a short stubby woman whose hair was pink, large, and almost unscientifically curly. Her blue eyes were full of excitement, which Twilight found odd.

“Yes,” said Twilight. “How did you know?”

“I know everyone,” said the woman, reaching her hand out. “When you cook for a lot of people, you tend to see a lot of faces.” Twilight handed her her plate and watched as the woman loaded it with meat, vegetables, fruit, and a carton of milk. “What’re you in for?”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Twilight. “The cook looked up and shook her head. “S-Sorry.”

“No need to apologize,” said the cook, still as cheery as she was before. “I’ll find out sooner or later anyways.” The cook handed back the tray, looking behind me to deal with the next inmate. Twilight wondered if she was bluffing or not as she picked up her tableware and headed to the table area.

Aside from the line at the door, the cafeteria was packed with long tables. The ceiling for this room was higher than the corridor that led here. Twilight’s eyes scanned the crowd, focusing on Rainbow’s colorful locks from a mile away. She started heading in that direction, avoiding the other inmates. She reached the table and put her tray down next to Rainbows. She picked up her fork and poked it into the meat.

“What’s up?” said Sunset, shoveling some vegetables in her mouth. “You and Rainbow found the cell you were looking for?”

“Kid’s actually pretty smart,” said Rainbow. “Figured it out herself.”

“I was asking her,” said Sunset, annoyedly. Rainbow Dash didn’t retort. Twilight looked between them, then took a bite out of the meat she was given, chewing slowly. “Is this your first time here?”

“Yes,” said Twilight before swallowing.

“You liking it so far?” asked Sunset.

“Not particularly,” answered Twilight. She liked the small talk. I helped her forget she was in prison. She shoveled a bit of vegetables into her mouth. “Am I supposed to?” Sunset chuckled.

“Nah, not really,” said Sunset. The table became quiet for a few minutes. Then, Rainbow started up another conversation.

“You got any friends on the outside?” asked Rainbow, finishing her apple slices. Twilight gulped down some of the milk before answering.

“Yeah,” said Twilight, excitedly. “I have a bunch of friends. Like Moonie, Lyra… Celestia.” What Twilight took as a small listing of her friends, the two at the table took as a sucker punch to the gut.

“Celestia?” asked Rainbow in bewilderment. “Like, the Chief Justice Celestia?” Twilight nodded her head slightly, and Sunset shared a glance with Rainbow. “Jesus.”

“You’ve got friends in high places,” said Sunset, seemingly unfazed.

“We’re probably not friends anymore,” said Twilight. “I think I crossed the line of what she was willing to accept when I was sent to jail.” Twilight chuckled darkly.

The table went quiet once again. Twilight’s appetite vanished, and she pushed her tray away. Her mind was filled with the woman who she called her best friend. Before it could become too awkward, the loud clatter of a tray hitting the table echoed next to Twilight. Quickly, someone slid into the seat next to her.

“What’s wrong with her?” asked the cook, sitting down to eat. She sifted through the meat on her plate. “Eat up or you’re gonna regret it.”

“I’m not that hungry right now,” said Twilight, politely and quietly. “Maybe later.” The cook took Twilight’s plate and shoved it back at her, much to Twilight’s confusion. “I said I—”

“I’m trying to be nice, here,” said the cook, her voice still kind of bubbly. “Either you eat now and stop wasting my time, or you don’t eat for a week. It’s your choice.” Twilight wasn’t sure if she could do that, but she didn’t want to take any chances.

“Lay off her, Pinkie,” said Sunset, pushing her tray away. “You shouldn’t get so riled up over nothing.” They locked eyes for a second before Pinkie ceded, returning her eyes to her plate. As the table became silent once again, Twilight pulled her plate closer and ate.

Twilight’s eyes scanned her surroundings to pass the time. The cafeteria looked like your normal school cafeteria, albeit a bit larger. As her eyes moved all around, they locked onto a corner of the cafeteria. She saw someone walk up to what was seemingly a wall. She stood there for a while, probably talking to something other than a wall, then got handed something. She nodded a few times, then turned and left. Twilight stopped eating for a second to raise a question.

All too soon, though, the loud bell sound returned from earlier. Twilight was only halfway through her meal when she saw the others get up from the table. She followed suit, bringing her half finished meal with her to the trash. As she turned around, she collided with someone much larger than herself. She bumped into the trash can, tipping it over.

“Oh, uh,” Twilight had no words as everyone in the immediate vicinity turned to see her blunder. She figured she might as well apologize to the person she’d collided with and faced them. The woman was large, at least a few heads taller than Twilight and wider as well. Her face was twisted in an annoyed grimace, a large splotch on her chest. Her tray was on the floor. “I’m—”

“Watch where you’re going, newbie,” The woman shoved Twilight back, knocking her down into the trash. Needless to say, everyone in the cafeteria’s attention was captured by now, even the guards. Twilight could feel the bits of food and spilled milk get on the back of her clothes and hair. She pulled herself up off the ground slowly. The guards swiftly moved in keeping the watching prisoners moving. One of the guards came to Twilight and jerked his head towards the door.

“Shift, inmate,” he said. Twilight turned and left the cafeteria last without another word. She could feel herself inching closer to tears, but threw her head back to avoid letting them fall down her face. As she walked down the hallway that the door to the cafeteria connected to, she realized she didn’t know where she was going. She dug into her pocket and pulled out a wet, useless schedule. She stopped moving, looking over the paper as she tried to remember what exactly where she supposed to go. She took a deep breath and stuck the piece of paper back in her pocket.

“Lucky I memorized it,” she whispered, looking around. No other prisoners were around her, so she did not know where exactly she was supposed to go. She felt kind of scared, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself. After a few seconds, she realized that being scared wasn’t going to get her anywhere. So, she took off down the hall looking for anyone who could help her find her place in this large unknown place.

Twilight slowly walked along a narrow path, rows of cells on either side of her. She was mostly looking to the left at the top of the cell where a bronze number was placed. She slowed herself and eventually came to a stop in front of the seventh cell on her left.

As far as she could tell, it was identical to the six that preceded it. To the left of the room, there was the bed, lightly adorned with white sheets and a small pillow. Behind the top of the bed was the toilet: small, metallic and probably unbelievably dirty. Directly across from the cell’s entrance was a small window. It had a bar going down the middle but was otherwise a direct link to the outside. Right now, light poured in.

To her left, there was a desk, only a few feet long. It came accompanied by a plastic chair and a trash can on the floor next to it. Twilight twisted the handle on the door, noticed that the door was unlocked, then walked in, closing the door behind her. Her eyes couldn’t focus on much else, considering the white paint on the walls was rather bland. Twilight contemplated taking a seat on the bed before remembering her situation with the back of her uniform.

An idea popped into Twilight’s mind, drawing her attention. She walked out of her cell and to the next one; number 8. Sure enough, there was someone inside. Twilight retreated to cell number 6, finding someone else engrossed in a book, turning the pages slowly. Her schedule said she had to report for an exercise period, but these people weren’t following her schedule.

“Of course,” she said to herself. “They have different schedules...” Twilight walked down the small aisle, leaving B-Block. The large space beyond was mostly empty, save for a few other prisoners caught in conversation. The other block entrances were also here. Twilight, however, headed straight for the large hallway that led to the showers.

She slowed down her hurried pace as the two guards at the doors of the showers came into view. She came to a stop, but couldn’t help but attract the attention of the guard at the door. This was the first female guard Twilight had seen so far. They kept eye contact for a few seconds before Twilight croaked out a few words.

“Uh… my outfit is, uh, a little dirty, so I thought that I should t-take a shower to wash some of the stuff off.” Twilight cursed her nervousness. She was breaking schedule. She didn’t know what the guards would do if they found out she wasn’t following their protocol.

“That’s fine,” said the guard. “But where are your things?” Twilight put on a confused face, making the guard sigh and roll her eyes. “Your towel, soap, and rag? You don’t have any of that?”

“She’s probably new,” said the other guard, a man like the others she’d seen. “You want to head down to the commissary and get those before doing anything else.” Twilight nodded slowly before turning around and heading off, glad that she wasn’t found out to be skipping her exercise period.

“Hold up,” said the female guard. “How’d you manage to get your uniform so dirty?” Twilight turned back to the guards.

“I, er…” Twilight took a deep breath. “I was pushed into some discarded food on the floor.”

“Damn. That sucks,” said the guard, much to Twilight’s surprise. She expected them to be especially nasty about it, for some reason. “Well, I was just curious. Hurry on.” Twilight continued her trip to the cafeteria, quickly walking past other inmates. As she walked, she realized that she had no money. How would she get the things she needed? Were they free?

Twilight’s thoughts persisted until she reached the door to the cafeteria. It was noisy from out here, and she knew that there would be another two guards. She took a deep breath once again, then entered the cafeteria. It was the same as before, except the mess she made was cleaned up. The two guards said nothing as she walked in deeper. To her right, in the corner, there was a large, shack-like booth. A woman stood behind the rectangular hole in the wall that separated the shop from the rest of the cafeteria. Twilight cautiously walked up to her, stopping just in front of the hole.

“Well?” asked the woman, her voice a little gravelly and deep. She seemed to be a prisoner herself. “What’re ya buyin’?”

“U-Uh…” Twilight stumbled over her words before calming herself. She took a few slow breaths before continuing. “I need some stuff to take a shower with. Just like soap, and the like.”

“Sure thing. Account number?” Twilight looked away with a coy smile on her face. “You don’t remember it, do you?”

“Sorry,” said Twilight. The woman rolled her eyes and went over to her computer.

“Name?”

“T-Twilight Sparkle.” The woman tapped a few keys on the keyboard—most likely Twilight’s name—then turned back to Twilight. “Sorry, I’m new, a-and my schedule got ruined, so—”

“Your account number is 2947,” said the woman. “You can probably get a few hygienic supplies, but nothing too flashy until you pick up work. Oh, and don’t worry too much about the schedule. Nobody follows that to a T anyway.”

“Really?” asked Twilight. “Then why even print them out and give them to us?”

“They’re more like healthy suggestions,” said the woman, rolling away from her computer in her chair and turning to face a row of towels. “As long as you’re not breaking any rules, or disobeying the guards, you can go wherever the hell you want.” After picking out a towel for her, she gravitated over to the rack that held the soap, grabbing a bar at random. She picked a pair of plastic slippers off of the hook and put them with the rest of my things. “It’s ‘cause the new warden wouldn’t know strict if it slapped her across the face. Er… blue or red toothbrush?”

“Blue, please,” said Twilight, taking in this information. From Rainbow’s reaction to her, to her apparently amazing leniency, Spitfire was certainly an interesting person to Twilight. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind when the woman reached her computer once again and started typing. “Um… what does all of this come up to?”

“Don’t worry about it, newbie,” said the woman. “I like you. You’re kind curious/mysterious aura is pretty cool.” Twilight wondered what about her was mysterious. “You don’t find people like you often.”

“T-Thanks, uh…”

“Chrysanthemum,” said the woman. “But you can just call me Chrys. Everyone else does.” Twilight nodded, gathered her goods, and gave Chrys a smile.

“Well, I’ll see you around then,” said Twilight, turning away from the window. She exited the cafeteria and made her way back towards the shower area. Twilight looked down at the things she’d gotten for free, a small thought rising in her mind.

“Why was she so nice to me?”

Twilight had never felt so weird being bare.

She clutched her towel as it was wrapped around her with one hand while grasping soap in her other. She remembered to deposit her toothbrush back at her cell. She watched as the other woman walked by without any trouble. She took a deep breath then walked up to one of the booths. She opened it, walked in and immediately took note of its size. She could stretch out her arms for space on all sides. Twilight found a small metal hook on the back of the door and placed her towel there. She put the soap on the floor and twisted the knob until water came down.

“Eep!” screamed Twilight loudly. She covered her mouth quickly, hoping no one would care. Unfortunately, a large mess of pink hair poked up from the left booth. Pinkie’s eyes soon followed. “I-I’m sorry,” she whispered, covering her body from Pinkie’s eyes.

“What, you didn’t expect water to come when you turned the knob?” teased Pinkie with a chuckle.

“N-No, it’s just…” Twilight was still flustered from her earlier screech. “I just didn’t expect it to be this hot. Can I turn it down somehow?”

“Nope,” said Pinkie, retreating to her own booth again. “I’m just happy I got hot water at all. You’ve got to think on the bright side more often, Twilight.” Twilight raised her eyebrow before testing the water to see if she could handle it.

“N-not to be rude, but,” Twilight slowly entered the water, letting the pellets drop against her smooth skin. “How do you know my name?”

“Rainbow told me,” said Pinkie. “In exchange for some of my own information.”

“What did you tell her?” Pinkie started giggling. Twilight picked her her soap and rolled it around in her hands before rubbing it on her skin. “W-what’s so funny?”

“Oh, oh my,” panted Pinkie, recovering from her laugh. “Sorry, Twilight, but you don’t just get things. If you get a penny, you need to give a penny.”

“Then why are you being so nice to me?” asked Twilight. “You and Sunset and Rainbow Dash… If that’s true, why do you all keep treating me nicely?”

“Dash probably already told you,” said Pinkie. “She’s always bored and just likes to have fun. I just didn’t want you to waste the food I worked so hard on. And Sunset…” Pinkie paused for a few seconds, letting the sound of the showers take over.

“And Sunset…?” asked Twilight.

“You’ll find out when the time is right,” said Pinkie out of her normal bubbly demeanor. “When she wants to tell you, that is.”

“Y-Yes, of course.” Twilight’s attention returned to her shower. She lathered herself, then washed clean all of the stuff that was on her before. Finally, the silence was broken.

“Though I guess I did cheat you,” said Pinkie, her normal voice back. “I learned a lot about you from Rainbow and Sunset. I even know what you’re in for now!” Twilight’s heart skipped a beat, a low groan escaping her lips. Pinkie’s head popped up again.

“I-I didn’t do it,” Twilight said nervously. Lowering her voice to a whisper, she added, “I’m not… a liar or a murderer.”

“Hm…” said Pinkie. Twilight could feel Pinkie’s eyes boring into the top of her head as she looked down at her feet. “I actually didn’t ask them. I didn’t expect you to believe me.” Twilight looked up to find that Pinkie was basically hanging over the divider from the belly up. She was still beaming. “Don’t worry. I won’t judge.”

“W-What are you doing?” asked Twilight, turning off the water and grabbing her towel. “Aren’t you embarrassed?”

“Nah,” said Pinkie with a chuckle. “So, I’ll give you a hint to what I told Rainbow Dash since you had a little slip of the tongue.”

“Really?” Twilight asked excitedly. She kept her eyes locked on Pinkie’s. “What is it?” Pinkie’s smile turned to one that was a little devious. The upper corners of her mouth becoming sharp and her eyes narrowing.

“Things are certainly going to change around here,” said Pinkie. “And it’s going to be awesome.”