The air was damp, and smelled of flesh. Police tape surrounded the area. police officers weave their way through the scene. At the center of the area was the vic. She was a young Pegasus, who lie motionless, a metal mask around her face, blood dripping from said mask. in her hoof was a tape recorder with the words Play Me scrawled on it.
I looked at the tape, and asked "Has anyone listened to this yet?"
"We were waiting for you, detective." answered a sweet but sad voice.
"What's the cause of death, and the time?" I asked.
"Time of death looks to be about midnight, cause of death seems like bleeding, but we'll know for sure when we get that strange mask off."
"Alrighty then, let's hear the tape." I finished, and hit play. Click.
"Hello June, I want to play a game. For years you've betrayed those you love for power and influence. Some call you a vulture, I call you unfit to live. Now, The device attached to your neck is a spring-loaded death mask. in sixty seconds the spring inside it will snap, and the two sides of the mask will shut together, ending your miserable life, unless of course, you unlock the machine. To do that, you need a key. I'll give you a hint to where the key is though. look in the mirror June, look yourself in the eyes, see your evils, and see the key to rebirth. Oh, and by the way, the scalpel beside you has been freshly sharpened. Click.
I stared at the tape in confusion.
"What the hell did I just listen to?!" I asked nopony in particular. the coroner answered with
"I don't know, but it was very strange."
"No shit, Sherlock." I said sarcastically.
"No need to be rude, detective. we're all civilized ponies."
"Sorry." I muttered sarcastically. She just sighed and trotted towards the corspe.
The air was damp, and bitterly cold. The stallion opened his eyes slowly, and gasped. he was laying on a filthy bed in a small, dark, and acrid smelling room. He shot his head up, and found he wasn't alone. four other ponies were in the room, sleeping on the ground. The stallion slowly stepped off the bed, and noticed a tape recorder sitting next to him on the bed's nightstand. He levitated the recoreder next to him, and stared. After a minute or two, he hit play. Click.
Hello there. I'd like to play a game. You five probably don't know each other, but that dosent matter, because you will have to get to know the others very well in order to survive. By the end, at least three of you will be dead. Just remember, you all deserve to be here, Especially you, Prince. So enjoy the game ponies, and good luck. Click.
"What the fuck!?" The princed yelped when he heard a voice behind him. He turned to face a mare with sunken eyes and a large scar below her ear. Her terquoise coat was covered in grime and was quite disheveled. She stared at the stallion for a bit, then asked "Have I seen you somewhere? Your'e like a... Prince or something."
"I am Prince Blueblood, Princess Celestia's Mother's Nephew, and you are?"
"Lightning Dust, at your service... er, prince." In the corner two of the other ponies slowly awoke and looked around. One of them screamed, awakening the final one. After brief introductions ( Two of the ponies were twin brothers, named Flim and Flam, and the last was a mint green mare named Lyra.), they screamed for help, but it seemed they were alone together.
Lyra noticed the recorder and asked what was on it, so Bluebood played it. After hearing it, the group once again broke into panic, until Lightning dust finally calmed them down.
"Okay, so what we need to do now is to find a way out, and prefferably some light. I tried the door, but it's got a padlock so... We need another route, or the key." Lightning told the group. Flim muttered " I could pick the lock. I just need somthing like a nail or a hair pin."
"Pick the Lock? Why the hell do you know how to pick a lock?" Lighting shouted, gaping at the stallion.
"Why does it matter?! Better question, Why the hell are we even here?! The voice on the recording said we desereved to be here. I mean sure, I've done some bad things, but I never did anything to deserve to be here."
"What have you done then?" Lighting asked the stallion, an expression of curiostity mixed with anger on her face.
"Well, um... Me and my brother run a... Traveling buisness, and um... Well, not every thing we do is very... Well, nice. I've never broken the law though, as I said, nothing extremely bad. Just a few deals with with a little fine print and things of the sort."
"So... You two are con artists. Great." Lighting said, almost to herself. Then She stated "If you're here because your con artists then Me and them must be here for Similar reasons. But I'm a stunt flyer. the worst thing I've done was get a little too bitter about losing a competition or to aggresive while flying with others. except for petty theft when I was still a little fillly, I've done nothing illegal. Since we're all telling our life stories, why dosent the royal share." She said, pointing an accusing hoof at Blueblood.
"Well.. I.." Blueblood stamered " I've never broken any important laws. I mean, I've been in a few scandals and maybe, once or twine, I used tax money for private things, but that really dosen't mean I should be here!" He finally said, stomping his hoof on the last word for extra emphasis.
"Well, that leaves you Lyra. would you kindly tell why you are with us in this glorius shithole." Lightning said sarcasticly.
"I.. Well, I play the lyre in the ponyville orchestra. Before that, I was um... Well, my reluctance to tell you should explain the nature of the job, but I never hurt anybody." Lyra said, her cheeks turning cherry red as she finished. The ponies looked amongst themselves once more.
"Well, Let's look for a way out of this room."
After only a minute of looking around the room, Flam found a small trapdoor. The group climbed down and found themselves in a long room that was only about 15 feet wide. walls of glass were blocking the way to a key hanging from a string at the end of the room opposite the trapdoor. In a near corner, an old tv sat, and turned it self on the moment Lyra shut the trapdoor.
Buzz... A very strange clown puppet thing turned towards the ponies, and began to speak.
Hello there. I'm assuming you want out of the room above this one. Well. the key at the end of this room is your Only way out. unless of course you think your better off waiting till you starve. Oh, by the way, be careful, broken glass is pretty sharp.
Click.
"We're not really expected, walk throught the glass, are we?" Flim asked, a look of dread on his face.
"I... I think we are." Lighting said glummly.
"Well I, for one, am not doing something like that." Blueblood said, his vail of snobbyness still in place, hiding his terrified self.
"...I'll do it." Lyra sighed, and stepped towards the fisrt sheet of glass.
"Thank you, Lyra" Lighting said quietly.
Lyra put a hoof against the sheet. She backed up to the near wall, and then galloped towards the glass.
She Slammed through the first four sheets before collapsing, in a pile of glass shards. She screamed, and stood up, spitting a large amout blood out of her mouth.
"Are you alright?" Flam asked.
"I just ran through four sheets of fucking glass. No, I'm not okay." Lyra stammered sarcasticly, before smacking her side against another sheet, which shattered, throwing bits of glass into her coat and mane.
"Fuck, that hurts." Lyra muttered, and shook the glass off of her. She sighed, and slowly made her way through the last five panes, and found her self staring at the key. she reluctantly bit it, then pulled it off of the string, and turn to face the others. Then she headed back.
Every crunch at the ground, and sting in her hoof brought her closer to the way out. after about five minutes, she reached the group, and collapsed from the pain.