Zero Escape: Nine Hours Nine Ponies Nine Doors

                                                                    (Three years before the start of FiM)

Shining Armor plopped onto his bed at 10:45 PM, he had just started his enrollment as a royal guard. He had vowed to his parents and his sister he would return home as a different pony, one with courage, smarts, and strength. So far, being a royal guard was not what he had expected. Yes, he got his own bed in Canterlot, in a run-down apartment. There was hardly any action, unless you can call waking up every morning at 6:00 "action".

As hard as he tried, Shining couldn't fall asleep. "Is Twilight doing alright without me?" He wondered. "I hope she hasn't found those magazines I ordered.... Mom and Dad would kill me..." Shining shook his head and got out of bed. To take his mind off things, he went to get a glass of water. He sluggishly walked to the kitchen to grab a glass, then he trudged his way over to the bathroom. He flicked the light-switch and a dim light illuminated the bathroom. As he sipped a bit of his glass, he saw his own tired reflection, "What're you doing to yourself, Shining?" he thought to himself. For a brief moment, he almost fell asleep standing up.

He looked into the mirror again, and he dropped his glass. In his reflection, there stood behind him a cloaked figure, before he could open his mouth to cry for help, a whitish gas filled the room. It slowly suffocated him, and he dropped to the floor. "Help..." He said, as he slowly lost consciousness.

(This next part is an intro sequence, reading it adds nothing to the plot, but in case you wanted to, listen to this while reading this: Here.

"Ask yourself..."

"Who do you trust?"

"If you can't trust anyone..."

"Your fate is sealed.."

"Do you believe in the occult?"

"In the end, the smart will survive and the foolish will perish..."

"Morphogenetic Connections...."

"Dawn of a new era..."

"Not all of us can survive."

"I... I-I don't want to die!"

"Betrayed by your ally.. It's a sad, sad truth, isn't it?"

"Come with me, we'll get out, together!"

"In nine hours, this place will cease to exist."

"To stop that day from happening will save us all..."

"Please... Stay by my side...."

"Memories of what never happened..."

"Someone among us is the killer."

"Inside each bracelet, is a detonator."

"Let these words guide you... Everyone is not who they seem. "

"Seek a door that holds a nine..."

"Trusting someone else is like playing with a double-edged blade."

"I don't care about the nonary game... We're all getting out alive!"