The screen shuts down and slides open. "Is that it?" Silver asked, looking at Xander.
"Hardly, Silver." Xander answered bluntly. "That was just the beginning. Time to get up."
Silver complies and FS shuts the machine down. "I'll be back in a few hours." He tells Silver before looking at FS. "Take him to the gym, Miss Spirit and let him stretch his wings." He ordered.
Xander left through one sliding door and Silver and FS leave through another. "Can I ask you something?" Silver asked. FS looks at him and nods. "Answer's probably obvious, but why do you keep my wings closed? It's not like I have any room to fly inside and you certainly won't let me out."
It was the question that FS didn't want to hear, but it had to be asked sometime. "Xander ordered me to do it. Pure and simple answer is that the Griffons want to maintain control." She said.
FS and Silver enter an enormous gym with an obstacle course on one side and various leveled structures on the other. "Where are you from, originally?" She finally asked, thinking he might've been born in Cloudsdale.
"I don't know exactly, but I grew up in a community in the Badlands." He answered to the best of his knowledge. "They were always going on about their order had to fight the other and protect the lives of the other races." He added with a frustrated sigh. "I had no idea that the stories were true."
FS placed a foreleg on Silver's shoulder. "I wish I could do more, but..." she says, firing up her horn to release Silver's wings, "all I can do for now is let you stretch your wings." She says.
Silver flares open his wings and flutters them before lifting into the air. "Thanks. It's been a while since I did some flying." He says before taking on the obstacle course.
After twenty minutes, Silver returned to FS and lands. "Stomach reminded me that I haven't ate anything yet today. Can you take me to the cafeteria?" He asked, closing his wings. FS nods and reactivates the spell before heading out of yet another sliding door.
FS escorts Silver to the cafeteria. There were a lot of griffins in there, mixed in with some Diamond Dogs, Dragons, and Ponies. Silver was glad that there were other ponies, but at the same time he took no comfort into what they were doing to him and the others outside this facility.
It was buffet style, so the food sucked, but it was better than nothing. Silver took some eggs which he figured out on day one that they were powdered, a couple of pancakes that were reheated and tasted like rubber, some cold hash browns a couple pieces of cold, soggy toast and a small glass of warm orange juice to wash the food down with. He couldn't stomach the food for the first couple of days, but he figured out a way. FS didn't take anything, good for her, she'll probably live longer than Silver.
The two sit down at a small table, big enough for just the two of them. "I heard you were a baker at the doughnut shop." She said, hoping for some small talk before going back to whatever else Rainbow Dash had done in the past.
Silver nodded. "Yeah. My folks taught me how to cook and bake." He said, munching on the toast. "Then I ran off to Canterlot. Biggest mistake of my life." He added, noticing the glares from the other employees. "What about you, Spirit? What brought you to these monsters?" He inquired.
FS shifted in her seat. "I was studying neuroscience at Trottingham University. I wrote a thesis on what I had learned about genetic memory, but..." she trailed off.
"The professors dismissed it and gave you the boot." Silver finished. FS nodded. "If only they were here right now." He said with a weak chuckle. He made FS smile as well. Silver finished his breakfast and the two trotted back to the gym.
Silver had been flying around for the better part of an hour before Xander entered the gym. Silver took notice of this and landed next to him and FS. "I'm sorry for cutting this short, Silver, but my bosses demand that you go back into the machine." Xander said. Silver looks over to a forlorn FS who reactivates the binding spell on his wings. He knew the drill.