Orange is Not Your Color, Darling

I must have fallen asleep at some point, because I was awoken by a young stallion in orange standing in my door telling me to get up. I don't know if I dreamed last night at all.

Slogging out tiredly from the cell, I looked upon the scene in front of me. By nearly every cell door stood a young colt of some size and shape, their manes cut short and simple, their eyes all tired, standing straight ahead. An officer pony was standing tall at the front of the room, looking from pony to pony until his eyes fell on me. He lingered for a moment then asked,

“Miss Belle?”

“Y-yes sir?” I squeaked.

He merely nodded and then looked at the colt next to me,

“Mr. Shine, will you distribute the seats?” He asked calmly, though I doubt it was a request.

“Yes sir!” Shine responded, walking over near the first cell where several seats lay stacked. Grabbing each in his mouth by a handle, he stacked a few on top of his back and began his way to each cell, setting a seat next to each colt with a plasticy ‘thunk’. Only four in and he had to get some more, but made haste in his efforts. Every other colt remained standing, still and patient. Eventually Shine reached me and paused for a moment, but only a small, unnoticeable moment, setting the chair down with another thunk as per usual.

Once finished setting all the chairs, the colt returned to his door, which was next to mine. The officer’s eyes swept the room.

“Hygiene, all of you. I want beds folded and tucked.”

Immediately, every colt went into their cells, the sounds of running water and flapping linens quietly filling the large, stale room.

“Miss Belle,” he said, startling me from my observations. The officer motioned for me to come over to the J-shaped desk and, ruffling through a drawer, plopped down a small plastic bag. I immediately walked up and saw it had a toothbrush, a small bar of soap similar to the one from my shower before, a small tube of toothpaste, and some type of vial that I couldn't make out just looking at a glance.

“Here’s your hygiene kit,” he stated factually, “Right now you have 5 minutes to do your hygiene and make your bed. I want your bed folded like so,” he pointed to a small photocopied diagram taped to the wall behind me, “and when you’re finished, stand at attention outside your cell.”

“Yes sir.” I started, quickly grabbing the bag in my mouth and going over to study the diagram. I had to move quickly, obviously. I didn't want to possibly get in trouble--

“Oh and, Miss Belle,” he said, cutting through my thoughts and putting a small gray brush on the desk for me to grab. I briskly trotted over and placed the brush on my back to carry, eeped a small ‘thank you’, and returned to the diagram.

It showed the 3 different layers of the bedspread. The first was a sort of sack that the mattress went into. I had wondered what that was. The second was just a sheet, and the third was the blanket. The sheet was to be tightly tucked, and the blanket folded, laying across the bottom of the bed and tucked. It also showed a pillow, but I didn't have one so I paid it no mind.

Trotting back to my room, I quickly made the bed as instructed, and it wasn't too dissimilar to how I had made it the night before, only I didn't use the mattress cover as another sheet layer. Once finished, I quickly opened the bag and trotted to the sink. It was stainless steel with a similar button-system as the shower I’d previously used, but instead of a simple spout pointing down, it pointed up. Opening the bag, I fished out the toothbrush and toothpaste, which was a clear gel. Thankfully, the water didn't spray me in the face, and merely arced up like a drinking fountain and straight into the washbasin. Wasting no time, I brushed my teeth, then brushed my hair.

Suddenly I heard a great ROAR! and jumped in fright, yet nothing happened. It seemed to have come from the next room. I couldn't waste any time, Celestia knows how much had already passed, so I briskly brushed my mane, hoping it looked good as I had no mirror, and emptied the bladder I didn't know was full into the toilet connected to the sink.

Turning around, I looked for some sort of lever to flush the toilet, but there was none. There were, however, three buttons on the sink panel; two on either side of the faucet, and one slightly larger off to the left. Having already pressed one next to the faucet earlier, I pressed the large one, and was immediately startled by the immense noise.

I should have figured that was where the horrendous sound from earlier had come from, and now that it was over I heard many more throughout the room outside. I guess everyone must save that for last, heh.

Having finished all I had to do, I stepped out of my cell and stood next to it as instructed. By this time, nearly everypony had finished. I let out a sigh, not realizing I had been holding my breath.

I probably should have kept holding it though, because I saw the officer stallion begin inspecting each room! My stomach dropped a little the moment I realized this, and I tried to do my best to stand tall and not worry--

Did I leave a corner untucked?
Was it tight enough?
Oh no! I forgot to do something with the toothbrush! Was I supposed to put it back in the bag?!
What was going to happen if he saw that?
Was I going to get into trouble?
What happens if I get in trouble? What could possibly be worse than this already?!--

“Good.” I suddenly heard, and looking up, saw the officer standing in front of my cell. I hadn’t even noticed him come by, and like that it was over. Letting out a held breath, my body visibly deflated from its pent-up anxiety, and I felt my face flush a little red. He stood and looked at me for a moment but, saying nothing, turned to inspect the next cell.

Suddenly, the smell of food wafted in front of my nose. Taking a small sniff, my belly growled in confirmation.