Lilac and light red blurred together as the world around Fluttershy slowly came into focus. Birds chirped happily outside, and the warm sun slowly covered more of the bed as she struggled to fully awaken. The mare slowly raised herself, getting a better look at the room she was in. It appeared to be her own-quite comforting after the events which Fluttershy wished were merely a nightmare. Sitting on a stool to her right was Twilight, fast asleep as her head sat on the edge of the bed.

I'm in my room? And Twilight's here?

Off in a corner on the opposite side of the room on the right sat Trixie, awake and staring at Fluttershy with a blank expression on her face.

"I see you've awakened," Trixie said in a seemingly flat manner.

"Oh, umm, good morning," Fluttershy replied as she walked out of bed, stretching her legs and wings.

"Yes, good morning, I suppose that's an appropriate thing to say after such events transpired." Trixie put her hoof to her forehead. "Sorry. I'm not sure what could be said at all here."

Fluttershy looked down.

"Why am I even here?" Fluttershy whispered. "Shouldn't I be in some cold, dark cell someplace deep?"

Trixie looked confusingly at Fluttershy, cocking her head to the side.

"Why on Equestria would we or anypony else put you there?"

"Because-because I'm a murderer," Fluttershy replied, lowering her voice throughout the sentence until it was barely audible at the end.

Fluttershy found herself spun around and taken into a pair of purple hooves in a tight hug. Fluttershy did nothing as Twilight, tears flowing, hugged her.

"She was worried about you," Trixie said, looking to the side.

"You were simply defending yourself," Twilight began saying after a while. "You are guilty of nothing. I don't want you calling yourself-"

"Twilight, please," Fluttershy replied. "Killing another pony is murder, regardless of the intentions. He already had a dead end, Twilight. I too had one. It seems we both would have died. My act was selfish, Twilight. I acted so that he would be the only one to continue onto a dead end. I'm a murderer, Twilight. There's no spinning it any other way."

That's right. Unlike when we first met Discord, I broke from my element all on my own.

"How can you say that so calmly?" Twilight looked at Fluttershy.

"I don't know. I don't know what is happening to me. I should be breaking down and sobbing, but inside I'm just confused. I don't want to deal with this, Twilight. I want to fly up as high as I can go and shut my wings."

"That would be pointless," Trixie interjected.

"You are still Fluttershy. It's just been-it's just been a horrific event, but we've been through tough times before!" Twilight half shouted.

"The tough times never involved spilling the blood of another. How can I call myself the Element of Kindness now? I've gone against it." Fluttershy retorted. Twilight started to reply, but, Fluttershy placed a hoof on her mouth. "Please don't try to argue anymore."

Twilight pushed Fluttershy's hoof away with her own.

"Now wait a second, Fluttershy. Since when did you go against your element?"

"I-I ended a life."

"A life who, as you said, was going to end anyway. A life who had ended the lives of others, and if what I learned about him was anything to go by, was going to end others, and I'm sure you know this."

"But-"

"Fluttershy, you are the Element of Kindness, and I can't think of a single thing that could change that. The event was horrific, yes, but your actions saved a great number of ponies from losing an amazing friend. Don't regret your choice to live for a single second, Fluttershy. Please, please don't."

So in the end, it was the Element that saved me? Kindness. What is Kindness, really? I'm not so sure anymore.

Silence permeated the room once more.

"Four," Trixie said, breaking the silence. "We know of four, and one of them is dead."

"Huh?" Fluttershy looked at Trixie in confusion.

"Future Diary owners. It is uncertain why or how our diaries have inherited the ability to see entries from the future, but it's doubtful we're the only ones, and entirely possible there could be others just as malicious."

"You have one too?"

"It's how I found you two."

"Are we really going to discuss this now?" Twilight asked.

"I-I'm sorry Twilight," Trixie replied. "I just-"

Twilight shook her head. The three sat in silence again.

"I need to go feed the animals," Fluttershy softly said, and excused herself out of the room. Wordlessly, the two others followed. As Fluttershy stepped down onto the ground floor, Angel ran and leaped onto Fluttershy's chest, hugging tightly.

"Why hello, Angel. Were you worried about me?"

The bunny nodded furiously.

"It's alright. I survived, and I'm going to make sure I will always be there to take care of you."

Angel shook his head.

"Wh-what? You don't want me to take care of you?"

Angel still shook his head.

"What is it then?"

Twilight sighed.
"I wonder if that's what he was going on about earlier," she said.

"About what?"

"I was telling Trixie that I plan on going through basic training with the Royal Guard. As I did, Angel here kept kicking me and pointing at your room while you were, uh, asleep."

Angel nodded furiously again, grabbing Fluttershy's leg and pointing to Twilight.

"You want me to follow Twilight?"

Angel nodded again.

"Princess Celestia has already accepted the three of us. It was a little strange how she replied to my request and included you in exactly twenty seconds after my letter, but-"

"I'd rather just forget all of this and continue caring for the animals and having picnics with you and the others. I want to leave this all behind and continue my quiet life. Why do things always have to go wrong?"

"That may be impossible," Trixie stated.

"Let's go for a walk," Twilight suggested. The other two nodded.

After the animals were all fed, the three trotted wordlessly out the door. They walked in silence, trotting side by side through the crisp October morning. The streets were far quieter and emptier than usual, and the few who were out passed the three mares without a word.

A sudden boom from above interrupted the silence, an expanding circle of rainbow shooting from above as a cyan pagasus zoomed down and skidded to a stop in front of the three. Rainbow Dash grabbed Fluttershy in a tight hug before she could react.

"Fluttershy!" Rainbow exclaimed. "I heard about what happened," she continued, her words growing subtly fainter through the statement.

Fluttershy shrunk back with a small squeak. Rainbow Dash shook her head and continued, "You did what you had to. But next time, come find me. I'll kick the plot of anything that tries to hurt you. I gotta go take care of weather duties, but call my name if you need anything or want to talk, got it?"

Fluttershy nodded, to which Rainbow saluted and flew off. The three continued on, walking past Sugar Cube Corner when a familiar pink pony walked slowly towards them, hair completely flat with a sad expression on her face. Pinkie Pie walked over and hugged Fluttershy.

"I'm sorry I wouldn't have been any help had it been your future," she whispered. The party pony wordlessly walked back into Sugar Cube Corner, and the three continued along, Fluttershy shaking her head to remind herself not to dwell on the implications of what Pinkie just said. It's Pinkie, after all.

Several minutes later, Rarity, just coming out from her boutique walked over toward the group. She approached Fluttershy cautiously, giving her a quick hug, then took an object from her saddlebags.

"This," Rarity held it in front of Fluttershy for her to see. It was an intricately woven necklace with an encrusted gem. It was cyan on the edges, growing darker in blue towards the center. Rarity placed it on Fluttershy, snapping it into place. The gem glowed warmly as it laid on the surprised mare.

"This is a very special amulet. This one is specifically enchanted to assist with the flow of magic the way a pegasus uses it."

Fluttershy's eyes widened, as did those of Trixie and Twilight.

Twilight spoke first, "Th-that's a-a, wha-how, just how did you get it, Rarity? That must have cost a fortune! I never thought I would see that sort of gem outside of the regalia of the Princesses!"

Rarity smiled. "I've had it for a while, but it's designed specifically for pegasi, so I don't really have a use for it. After, well, recent events, I think you should have it."

"I-I," Fluttershy sputtered. "I can't accept this, Rarity!"

"I'm not giving you a choice," Rarity replied. "Please, take it."

Fluttershy meekly looked towards the left and nodded, realizing it was pointless to argue with the Element of Generosity. She was met with another hug from her.

"Stay safe, Fluttershy," Rarity whispered as she walked back towards her boutique.

The studious side of Twilight took over as she violated Fluttershy's personal space to get a good look at the amulet. Noting Fluttershy's nervous expression as Twilight examined it, Trixie intervened.

"Hey, Twilight?" Trixie said. "Maybe you should take a look at it when it isn't attached to Fluttershy."

"Oh, umm, I don't really mind, not really," Fluttershy replied, her nervous smile and blush betraying her words. Twilight looked back up and blushed as well.

"Oh, uh, hehe, sorry, guess I got a little carried away. Let's move on."

Fluttershy began to make her way back towards her cottage, followed by Trixie and Twilight. Once there, Fluttershy flew over to her couch and laid down, staring off into nothing in particular. Trixie and Twilight took a couple seats of their own, and the three sat in the quiet.

A familiar voice sounded from nowhere in particular. "Oh come now, is that really the proper way to handle things?"

Fluttershy's ears perked up. "Discord?"

The familiar draconequus stretched himself out from the floor boards taking a seat beside Fluttershy on the couch. He was met with a quick hug from the pegasus, a glare from Twilight, and a curious look from Trixie. He yawned, gulping (or ungulping?), then pulling a glass out of his mouth filled with chocolate milk. He stared intensely at it, stroking his beard, before peeling it and eating the contents, throwing the peel through the floor boards he arrived from.

"Where have you been, Discord?" Twilight questioned, ignoring Discords antics.

"Oh you know, a little chaos here, a little chaos there. I've been off attending to some things. Don't worry, I'm behaving. Although, maybe that one joke I made to a filly with the three ponies at the bar was a little too-"

Noticing the glare Twilight was giving, Discord coughed before continuing. "-well, anyway, I'm here to deliver a message from Mother in case you don't quite get what the pull you'll be feeling anytime soon is doing. Basically, she wants to see you. Now."

"Mother?" Twilight and Fluttershy asked simultaneously.

"How's that little game going, by the way? Hmm? Nope, no time for that. She wants you now. I don't suggest you keep him waiting, although he probably already knows how long he's going to wait, so saying that might be redundant."

Discord snapped his claws, and the three mares only watched as the world swirled into a focal point, leaving them in darkness momentarily before the scenery shifted.

Fluttershy found herself on a circular platform attached to a larger structure with eleven other, similar platforms, forming a larger circle in itself. Each platform except one hosted a dark shape, most too obscure to give any information on what or who they could be besides their size and how they stood. The ones she could tell were of a pink hue, although still recognizable, the figures of Twilight, immediately to her left, and Trixie, to Twilight's left. On Trixie's left sported a simple wooden sign with the words "DEAD END", itself adorned with a bloody dagger. Upon closer observation, the each of the platforms had Roaman numbers etched into them. On Fluttershy's was a I, on Twilight's a II, on Trixie's a III, and so on up to XII on Fluttershy's right. The sky was a mess of different shades of a dreary grey, as if a painter opted to spill every mix of grey he could create haphazardly onto a canvas.

High up across from Fluttershy, above all the others, was a plain bone-white pedestal. On it sat a large black alicorn, the snout suggesting a mare. Her eyes were entirely white, and seemed to have a drawing property, as if the eyes held the entire universe in them, and gravity was simply drawing Fluttershy toward them. At first, Fluttershy thought the alicorn had no mane, until she noticed the grey sky near her head moved, realizing the mane blended with it. A gray smudge covered her flank, and somehow, Fluttershy suspected it wasn't her cutie mark.

The alicorn spoke, a faintly feminine voice piercing through the air. Fluttershy couldn't quite place it, but the voice sounded eerily familiar, even though Fluttershy could be certain she has never heard it before.

"Hello to you all. By now, all of you are aware that you posses diaries of which are beyond ordinary. Many of you have recieved a little information, some more than others, but none of you have the whole picture. I have brought you here to correct that. First of all, though, I suppose this calls for an introduction. Be honored, for no sentient creature born of this Equestria has ever had an audience with me until now. I reserve my true name, but you may refer to me as Harmony. I am the Goddess of Space and Time.

"Now, allow me to explain about this survival game. You all posses what Second had previously and correctly dubbed 'Future Diaries'. They are, for the most part and to put it simply, based around the normal diaries you have been writing in until now. They predict future entries as you would have written in them, with few exceptions. With them, you have up to a thirty-day foresight with which to change the future to suit your own goals, but this power has a weakness. Render the diary unuseable, and the owner ceases to exist."

Fluttershy shuddered. You mean I could have destroyed his diary, and killed him wi-without all that blood? I-I-nevermind, the outcome would have been the same. W-wait, thirty days?
Fluttershy quickly opened up her diary, flipping past the pages to confirm that there were a fair number of filled pages. She sighed in relief upon seeing it extend to the 28th of November.

"So what's up with the weird flashes and changes in the diary without us doin' anything?" a young, feminine voice interjected, carrying the hint of an accent, a familiar voice as Fluttershy noted, speaking from the sixth platform.

"It is simple, Sixth," Harmony answered. "Any action which deviates from from the normal flow of time will cause a change in a diary if it affects an entry within. This can happen in two ways. One, the foresight of any diary owner causes them to take a path they would not otherwise have taken. Two, any action carried out by myself directly."

Harmony extended her hoof, pointing to the third platform.

"That," she continued. "Is a notice of the first contestant to die in this game, as a few of you are aware. With some foreknowledge, he went after a random contestant, who happened to be First, which brings me to another topic of interest. When another diary owner has both the intent and the capability to kill another diary owner, and the future dictates they carry it out, they signal a dead end flag. This is the core of the game. Signal dead end flags, carry them out, and avoid them if at all possible if they are passed on to you."

The next interjection came from the twelfth platform, a masculine voice speaking forth. "What is the meaning of this game? Why are you telling us to kill each other, not even knowing who any of us are with being obscured and all?"

"Figuring out the other contestants will be left up to you. Collecting information is the first and probably most vital part of the game. Now, as for the purpose, there is a goal for the remaining eleven of you to reach. Kill and survive, and you will attain my knowledge and the capacity to use it, succeeding me as the God or Goddess of Space and Time."

"STOP THIS MADNESS AT ONCE!" shouted one of the larger figures, coming from the eleventh platform, a powerful feminine voice piercing through, one shockingly familiar. "Why force this cruel game on those gathered here, many of them innocents who have never seen true violence? I understand you are dying, but there has to be another way to find a successor!"

"Eleventh. I know you've shed the blood of others for the sake of your own title. You should understand that even seemingly cruel things find their ways in bringing kindness in the end."

"This is nothing like that!" Eleventh proclaimed, her powerful voice only wavering slightly, standing her ground against the goddess. "I had to do what was necessary for the good of all. I can't see how this is anything but pointless!"

"Nothing I have done is pointless," Harmony calmly answered. "And what I have done has been for the good of all, even if you can't see it. There is little point in arguing over the existence of the game. Now, I have a final few words to say: one, the only escape from this game is death or becoming God. Each of you are capable, and that is why you were chosen. I understand killing may sound appalling to many of you, but I assure you, you will think differently when faced with the possibility of your own murder. If you were to find you could not deal with this, you could always choose to die, but I already know I didn't pick a single being who isn't capable of playing."

Fluttershy gulped.

"First here proved that yesterday. It's a miracle upon miracle that you avoided a certain dead end, and turned the tables on your would be murderer. I suspect you might even be the one to win. And with that, I can call this meeting adjourned. I may call future meetings in the future, the notification for which I'll forward to your diaries. I look forward to overseeing you all. Farewell for now."

"Wait!" Twilight called out. Harmony looked towards her. "Are you related to the Elements of Harmony? What does Discord have to do with this and you? And how can you be dying if you're a god?"

Harmony disappeared without a single answer.

The bipedal creature standing on the seventh platform spoke first after Harmony's departure, a rough masculine voice. "First, it seems, is the greatest obstacle, but no matter. I hope to find you soon. You will be one stepping stone to victory. Farewell."

Fluttershy shuddered as the creature departed.

The next comment came from the fifth voice, one with the barest hint of a buzz. "I wish you good luck, First, although you already seem to posses it. Still, a little more can't hurt, especially considering you may now be the favorite target. I look forward to the outcome between us."

Fluttershy murmured as they departed as well.

"Ah don't like this. Ah don't like this one bit," sixth spoke to herself as she departed as well.

"Hmph. I'll be God, just you wait," said ninth before she promptly departed.

Eighth, Tenth, and Twelfth departed without a word.

Eleventh turned towards Fluttershy, Twilight, and Trixie. "Do not fear, my little ponies. I will make sure to protect you, and prepare you for if and when my protection fails. I want no part in this game, and neither should you. I'm confused as to why Harmony would do this, and I can't let this go on without answers. We'll speak more later. Farewell for now."

Eleventh departed as well, followed by Twilight, Trixie, and then Fluttershy.

Author's Note

Any seen correlation between the corresponding numbers is purely coincidental. Mostly.
I'm also a little apprehensive here. Dialog's one of my weak spots, and this chapter is pretty dialog heavy, but ah well. I'll never release if I obsess over every little detail.