How the Tables Turn

They were all seated in Phoenix’s living room. The guard delivering the numbers was late. Very late. It was now night in the Underground. Not that it got dark at night. Everypony had clocks in their house. Its better that the guard was late, though. It gave them a better way to explain, not having anything being forced.

There was one large couch. It expanded to three corners of the room, bent into an L-shape at the middle. It currently seated four ponies that were separated into pairs. Sunbeam sat next to Phoenix, while Rainbow Dash sat next to Cloud Kicker. One section was taken out of the oversized couch, and it was set so that it faced the four ponies. The makeshift chair was occupied by none other than the ‘professional’ news-breaker herself, Emerald Ashes. Everypony’s eyes were on her as she began to speak.

“I really hate having to break the news to everypony who ends up here. I really do. But I’m the one who’s best at it, so here goes. This place is called the Underground. The only ponies who know about it are trapped within its walls. Excluding Mistress, of course. She’s the one who rules over this place. Mistress is cruel and heartless. Some ponies say she is even insane. She assigns everypony in the Underground except herself and her guards a number. Every week, twenty numbers are pulled. The twenty ponies they represent are then taken to the Dark Corridor.”

Just the fact that it was based on a lottery, coupled with the ominous name ‘Dark Corridor’, was enough to drain all color from the faces of Sunbeam and Kicker as horrible thoughts flitted through their minds. The saddest part is, most of them were spot-on. Sunbeam spoke first.

“What h-happens in the D-Dark C-Corridor?” Just speaking the name struck fear into her heart.

“If you need to know, you’ll find out when the time comes. And by the way, there’s even a good chance that it won’t come. So don’t worry yourselves over it. You don’t have to fret. We will keep you safe.”

“Are you sure you can do that?”

Phoenix spoke before Ashes. “Of course. We won’t let you three end up like the rest of us. Now why don’t you all get some rest? I’m sure you’re all very tired. It’s been an eventful day for the two of you. There are two bedrooms in here. I’ll be spending the night at Ashes’ house. Ashes will be staying here. You can figure it out amongst yourselves, but I have to get going. I’ll be back soon, hopefully before the guards swing by to deliver your numbers. I just need to grab one thing before I go.” All four of them perked their brows at Phoenix’s hasty exit. Ashes knew exactly what he was doing, but she was still irritated that he felt that it couldn’t wait. She didn’t realize how important this was to Phoenix, though. She had never seen him do it. She didn’t understand how far he pushed himself over it.

Phoenix trotted into his bedroom, reaching out for his calendar. Then he remembered exactly what day it was. He looked over at the stack of nineteen old calendars. Nineteen; one for every year of his life. He grabbed the current calendar, along with the four previous calendars, and trotted out of the room.

He turned to face his houseguests when he reached the living room. “I’m sorry for leaving you all in this state, but I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t do this. Trust me though, I’ll be back before you know it. I know I'm giving myself a bad name by leaving right now, but I'll make it up to you by getting you out of here. I promise.”