How the Tables Turn

They left the cafeteria, and Rainbow spared a glance around. The whole place was like a combination of a hospital and an apartment building. A system of hallways was set up like a grid, and along the blank white walls were doors leading to ponies’ houses. The floors were a plain white tile, and the ceiling was your average ceiling, lights spaced every few feet or so. There was even a sprinkler system and everything.

It was creepy how CLEAN it was. It was almost as though they had a team of house maids working round the clock to clean up every speck of dust. The bare white walls added to the demeanor, and it didn't help when they passed a hollow-eyed pony who didn't seem to notice them. The place was barren; it had an almost naked feel to it. Rainbow could see how somepony could go insane here. Coupled with whatever it is that gives them so many scars, Rainbow knew she wouldn’t last long before wanting to just fly away. She had heard that she was lucky to keep her wings.

Not that she had a way to use them anymore.

Another thing that struck Rainbow was that everything was white. EVERYTHING. Even the ponies themselves had been through so much stress and had so little light that all their coats had become a light grey, the color of clouds shortly after a light snow. That’s when it hit her.

“Will I ever see the sky again?”

Phoenix shifted his gaze, both towards Rainbow and downward in thought.

“That depends.”

“On what?”

Phoenix looked Rainbow in the face with a determined smile that teamed up with his eyes to make a bold, determined, hopeful, and, more than anything, spirited face. One that only Phoenix had the confidence to wear. “On how badly you want to get out of here.”

Rainbow smiled, mirroring Phoenix with her confidence, which was well-toned by years of racing and training for the Wonderbolts. Then she stopped, looking around. She realized that the place itself wasn’t all that bed. Creepy, yes, but it wasn’t anything she was in any particular hurry to escape from. It was really more the attitude that originated from being kidnapped that made the place seem so horrid. Now that she had friends, though, she felt that she could get used to the place.

Phoenix saw this, and hurried to change Rainbow’s mind. She did NOT want to stay here, and she’d find out why soon enough. “Don’t get the wrong idea. This place is awful. As for all of us having scars? If we can’t get you out of here soon enough, you’ll be a perfect match. So stop thinking you can get used to this place, because trust me, you can’t.”

Rainbow stared at Phoenix, dumbstruck. “How did you-”

“I’m good at this kind of thing. Oh, we’re here!” Ashes pushed open the door to her house as Phoenix spoke…

And she was greeted by a cold, unforgiving, unscarred face.

“What are you doing here?” Ashes didn’t care anymore how rude the guards pictured her as. However, the guard’s smirk showed that she would come to regret it soon enough.

“Here’s the rookie’s number. I trust you’re going to tell her what that means?” Ashes took the paper slip that the guard was holding out to her. She nodded in response to the question. She eyed Rainbow. Ashes and Phoenix were still the only ones who knew her name.

Rainbow kept it that way, deciding instead to meet Ashes with a questioning glance. “I’ll tell you in a minute.” After being promised an explanation from Ashes, Rainbow returned her glance to the guard. He eyed her with a sickening curiosity, as though he was standing in front of a fridge deciding what was for dinner. After a few moments, his pondering ceased and he trotted out the door without another word.

When the door was shut, Rainbow turned to Ashes. “What was all that about?”

Ashes and Phoenix shared a glance. Rainbow looked between the two, seeing the worry etched onto their faces. She felt herself fill up from hooves to the tips of her wings with dread. The aforementioned appendages quivered, giving away the icy feeling that was wracking her body at the sudden change in emotion.

Phoenix spoke first, with a concerned glance towards Rainbow, showing her that his words were spoken with genuine concern for her. “Maybe you should sit down before we begin.”

She nodded and walked through the hallway that was the entrance to Ashes’ home.

Ashes’ house was just like the rest of the place. Two white sofas faced off in the living room, with a table between them. Rainbow already suspected that the living room was also their dining room. There were no windows. Rainbow was struck by the realization that the Underground was named as such for a reason. There was nothing else to note upon. The living room was narrow, the two couches being up against the opposing walls they faced away from. She looked down a very short hallway. There was a room on each side. One bedroom, one bathroom. She looked further to the side and was greeted by a kitchen. It consisted of a fridge and a stove.

Everything was white, just as it was outside. This theme was beginning to annoy Rainbow. It hurt her eyes after a while.

Rainbow walked into the living room and sat on one of the sofas. It wasn’t very comfy. Phoenix and Ashes sat across from her, not replacing their concerned features. Rainbow began to wonder just how bad this news would be.

Phoenix got up, not satisfied by her proximity to Rainbow. He sat down next to her on the sofa, getting closer.

It would be bad. Really bad.

Phoenix spoke, breaking the silence that had hung over the room for what felt like hours. “I suppose we should start with the Dark Corridor."