Danganronpa: Pony Nightmare

Chapters

Prologue - Making Introductions
Prologue - Monokami's Game
Of Dilemmas and Feathers - Daily Life
What's in the Box + Graveyard Shift (Free Time with Blue Ray)
Of Dilemmas and Feathers - Deadly Life
Of Dilemmas and Feathers - Class Trial
Prologue - Welcome to Future Academy

Prologue - Making Introductions

"Alright then, it is settled!" said the peace-talker with a pleasant voice. "Who would like to start?"

"Me, of course!"

There was a blur of colors in the air as the rainbow-maned mare somersaulted through the air and landed right in front of the vending machine with what sounded like a thunder clap.

"Hello there everypony! Name's Rainbow Dash, and I'm the Ultimate Speedster! I'm the fastest flying pegasus in the world, future Wonderbolt, and the only pony ever who pulled off a Sonic Rainboom! That's how I got my cutiemark, by the way. Isn't it awesome?"

She turned around and struck a dramatic pose so everypony could see her cutiemark. I, however, was just staring off into space, lost in thought. A Sonic… Rainboom? I got my own cutiemark that day! I was failing an entrance exam for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, when suddenly there was a blast of colors and I got so startled that my magic overloaded. I hatched my dragon assistant Spike that day, and did some… crazy things by accident. So that rainbow explosion… that was Rainbow Dash?! About nine years ago?! How did she pull that off! She truly had to be the Ultimate Speedster if she broke the sound barrier.

"So yeah, anyway, if any of you wanna challenge me to a race, don't even bother."

"I won't," said somepony bitterly.

"What else… Hmm…" Rainbow Dash stopped for a second, before flaring her wings. "Oh, right! I was born in Cloudsdale, but I spent some years living in Ponyville. It's a village near Canterlot, you can see it when you look down from the edge. In free time I practice my tricks… and nap. Mostly. Okay, I think that's it!"

And with that, she took off to the air and landed on one of the tables.

"Hey, don't step on that!" exclaimed somepony.

"Relax, my hooves are clean. Besides, I get a pretty nice view from here!"

Our peace-talker was probably about to ask for the next volunteer, but yelped in surprise as something flashed right in front of her. The blue magician mare called Trixie popped out of nowhere, and didn't waste any time.

She pushed her hat up with her right hoof, gave us all a cocky smile, and revealed her purple eyes, sparkling with confidence.

"Come one, come all, to see the breath-taking might of the Great and Powerful Trixie, The Ultimate Illusionist! Come see the greatest feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!"

And with that, she released a barrage of magical fireworks to the air. Colors flashed, exploded and burned patterns into our eyes as Trixie propped herself on her hind legs and unleashed dozens of sparks from her hooves.

She looked so impressive right there, taming the arcane energies and channeling them into all those spells. I caught myself envying her talent, even though my brain was telling me that it was all pretty basic spells that I could pull off with roughly 15% greater efficiency. But Trixie wasn't about numbers and research at all, that much I could tell just from her spellcasting methods. It was bombastic and energetic, over the top and beautiful. I was a scientist, but she was an artist.

She eventually ended her performance and I realized that I wasn't the only one enamored by her magic. Most of my classmates had their gazes fixated on her, the pink colt even had his mouth wide open. The peace-talker stomped her hooves with a patient smile on her face. We joined her one by one, and the room was soon trembling with our enthusiastic stomping. Trixie had a wide smile on her face, bathing in attention and praise.

"Showoff," said Rainbow Dash. I only now noticed her look of mild disgust.

Trixie laughed boisterously, then locked gazes with her new rival. "Oh, you are one to talk. Do you feel threatened? Do you fear that your empty boasting will fade in comparison with the Great and Powerful Trixie?"

"Ladies, may I have a word?" The peace-talker's voice was warm and calming, yet forceful in a subtle way. They both turned to her, and she continued. "Please remember the purpose of this introduction game. It would be very unfortunate if we grew distant instead of growing closer, and some more taciturn members of our group could feel uncomfortable introducing themselves in a hostile atmosphere. For the sake of us all, please refrain from such rivalry, at least for now. You may settle your differences later, in private."

She punctuated her speech with a charismatic, cute smile. Oh my gosh, stallions must be all over her if she can just make a smile like that on the spot.

Rainbow Dash folded her wings and begrudgingly sat on the table. "Fine."

"Hey, at least don't SIT on the table, for Celestia's sake!"

"Oh will you shut up?"

"E-ehm."

Oh, of course. The peace-talker just asked us to avoid conflicts, and they started bickering just two seconds later. Both sides of the conflict went silent in embarrassment.

"Before I was so rudely interrupted," said Trixie, "I was in the middle of introducing myself. Well. I was originally born in Manehattan, but as soon as I reached adulthood, I started travelling all around Equestria on my glorious tour! My goal is to become the most prominent star on the night's sky, the most famous pony in Equestria! My hobbies include travelling, studying magic, and of course, putting up glorious performances for loving audiences like you! That will be all."

She walked graciously away from the vending machine. The pink colt let out a loud "wooo!" and started stomping again. Some joined him, although very reluctantly. Yeah, apparently I wasn't the only one who liked her better when she was just showing off her magic.

"Excellent! Who shall be next?" asked the peace-talker. Ugh, I was getting sick of calling her that.

I suddenly got an idea and raised a hoof. "Umm, if it isn't too much trouble, could you introduce yourself? It is just… You are already such a memorable classmate, and we don't even know what to call you…"

"Yeah! Tell us about yourself!" said the stallion in overalls. Blue Ray nodded enthusiastically. Oh no, she bewitched him too? Come on, Ray!

"Ah! How kind of you all!" exclaimed the peace-talker, her grateful smile shining like a sun. The mood in the room changed. Stallions, most of them anyway, were paying more attention than ever. She owned them. She owned them with that smile. "Very well, I shall introduce myself. My name is Fleur Dis Lee, although I am better known under my nickname of sorts, Fleur de Lis. The place where my family and heart reside is here, in Canterlot. My Ultimate talent is diplomacy, and I cannot stress how grateful I am for every opportunity I was given to cultivate it. I absolutely adore travelling, much like our amazing showmare Trixie. For me, nothing feels more fulfilling than discovering other ponies' way of life, their culture, their customs, their traditions. I believe that will do for a short introduction, so: Fleur de Lis, the Ultimate Diplomat. I am honored to meet you all."

And again with her cute smile. She was so enchanting, with her sleek body of pure white and with her lovely light pink mane. I was very confident in my sexuality, I liked stallions exclusively. But still I wanted to write romantic poems about her. I was pretty sure that Fleur could make any mare play for the other team if she wanted.

"Woooah."

"So amazing, Miss Fleur!"

"You are the river that washes away all grime, the flower of the sweetest fragrance…"

Fleur let out an amused, adorable giggle. Damn it, woman, that is just an unnecessary overkill.

"My my, you gentlemen are so flattering! Especially you, such a poet! Would you mind introducing yourself next?"

The stallion in question gasped. "Honor! Such an honor! My spirit animal is purring!"

He immediately jumped out of the crowd, right next to Fleur. Then he suddenly started acting all dignified, as if trying to hide how excited he was to be there. I found it somewhat hard to take him seriously.

He was a grass green earth pony with dark brown dreadlocks. His cutiemark showed a Yin-Yang symbol, which as far as I knew originated in Griffonstone. He was slightly chubby and had a loopy look on his face all the time, even though he was acting all serious. I suppressed a giggle and let him speak.

"Welcome. Living from rivers, undisturbed by the strongest wings, nurturing and serving flora and fauna alike, I am Limpid Lake. I came upon this world in the year of the Puma, which became my companion on my spiritual journey. This academy recognizes my natural connection to… nature, and thus I earned the title of Ultimate Naturalist."

…

"Um, I have run out of words."

"It's okay, Limpid Lake, that was a very eloquent introduction. Thank you," said Fleur with her signature smile. Limpid deflated like a balloon and walked away from the vending machine. His introduction evidently didn't go the way he was picturing it, poor guy.

"Ugh, this is such a snorefest. I'm leaving," said somepony. They sounded like a mare, but had an incredibly rough, gravelly voice. Fleur, taken aback by this sudden remark, exclaimed: "Wait, we don't even know you yet! It would be unfor-"

The small sandy mare was already on her way to the door. She didn't stop or turn her head, but she did raise her voice considerably, interrupting Fleur. "Does it look like I care?! I'm not gonna suffer through this bullshit!" She opened the door, then finally turned her head to reveal a rough, scarred face, surrounded by a surprisingly striking brown mane. "If that's so important to ya, I'm Twitch. The Ultimate Fighter. Done."

And with that, she slammed the door with a shocking force, leaving us all speechless. The awkward silence lasted a solid thirty seconds.

"Umm… What's her problem?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"So many mares with attitudes," remarked a turquoise stallion who I didn't know yet.

"That was the dipshit lady!" the pink colt informed us. Several chuckles could be heard in the crowd.

"I am sure Twitch will come around eventually, even if she is a little ferocious," Fleur assured us. "And will Tot He Tei please hear me out? Polite ponies do not use that word starting with dip. It is very crude and offensive."

The pink colt jumped in shock. "Oh no! Tot He Tei didn't want to be crude and offensive! He is so sorry, so sorry, you Fleur! He will never say it again!"

"Why are you talking like that?" asked the stallion in overalls.

Fleur just smiled. "Allow me to explain. Tot He Tei, as one can deduce from his name and mannerisms, comes from one of pony tribes in Zebrica. In his culture, blank flanks are forbidden to refer to themselves in first person. They earn that right when they get their cutiemark, and they also earn the right to change their name. Hence the misunderstanding earlier. When Trixie referred to herself in third person, Tot He Tei assumed she hadn't earned her cutiemark yet. Isn't that right, he?"

"Yes yes!" said Tot He Tei, jumping in excitement. "You Fleur understand so much, Tot He Tei is lucky you are here!"

"Now that I think about it, we have already started introducing him without even realizing it!" Fleur let out a gentle laugh. "Would he like to finish it?"

"Yes yes!" Tot He Tei galloped in front of the vending machine and started jumping in place like a tiny ball of pure energy. "Tot He Tei comes from very far away! He is part of Zaruna pony tribe! He is very good at painting, he loves painting! Princess Celestia loved his picture of her, so she invited him here! He is called Ultimate Painter now!"

"Aww, you are simply adorable!" said a gray mare with a cello on her back.

"He thanks you!" Tot He Tei squeaked.

"That's all cool, but I thought this was supposed to be high school? How old are you, kid?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

"Tot He Tei is twelve!" His statement caught us all by surprise.

"Interesting…"

"What the heck?"

"Good for you, getting here so early! You must be a real foal prodigy."

"He's too young for this, don't you think?"

"Travelling, living and studying abroad, isn't it too much for a little colt?"

"Now now," said Fleur, "I am sure that Tot He Tei earned his place here and that he can handle any challenges that face him. He has our support after all, right?"

"Yeah! Um… support!"

"This flower whispers the truth."

"I can help you with studying, if you ever find yourself in trouble."

Tot He Tei was ecstatic over this show of support, even though it was almost forcibly elicited by Fleur. "He thanks everyone so much! He will appreciate all help, extra you, if you help with studying, mister… um?"

"Oh, that's right. I haven't introduced myself yet. Guess I'll go next, huh?"

It was that turquoise unicorn who has been staying quiet up until now, except for a sarcastic remark here and there. I was willing to bet that ponies in the past argued over his coat color and whether it was green or blue. His mane was a common light brown, just long enough to cover the back and sides of his head. He had a small black scarf around his neck and his intense yellow eyes were burning right through us. His face looked… strangely feminine, almost cute. He had a golden X for a cutiemark, almost as if his flank was hiding a treasure. I covered my mouth, trying not to laugh at the absurd image in my head. Then I remembered that Blue Ray was supposed to be good at treasure hunting, and my self-control almost broke right there.

The turquoise unicorn took Tot He Tei's spot in front of the vending machine and started talking.

"Nice to meet you all. My name is Thunder Roar. I know, not a fitting name for this cute face, but that's what I'm stuck with. Call me Thunder or Roar, your choice. My Ultimate Talent is interesting in a way, it doesn't mean anything on its own, but it makes talents all around me stronger. I can help you improve, give you a useful feedback, train with you, help you prepare for exams. They call me Ultimate Critic-"

"Uhk!"

Thunder stopped dead in the middle of the sentence. "I… cannot say that I wasn't expecting this reaction from some of you. But don't worry. I may be a critic, but I will not laugh at you, or belittle you. My goal is to help, not to boost my ego with condes-"

"Tsk."

"…Alright then, moving on. I like ponies that are eager to improve and share their talents with the world. I dislike arrogant ponies that lack any kind of self-awareness and just shove their talents into others' faces. I hope that most of you will turn out to be the former. I think that's all, thanks for listening."

He walked back into the crowd and headed straight for a mare that's been hiding in the back. She was wearing a purple cape, old-fashioned gray hat and big red glasses. And she was the one who interrupted him twice.

"What's your deal?" he asked her silently, with a touch of annoyance in his voice. She snubbed him and turned the other way without a word. In response, he shook his head and stopped paying attention to her.

So many conflicts, and we have all just barely met… If it wasn't for Fleur's diplomatic prowess, we would be at each other's throats in a matter of seconds. I guess competition would be normal in a school where everypony is a prodigy of some kind, but I didn't feel good in this collective. I didn't feel good at all.

"So, who shall go next?" asked Fleur, scanning the whole group with her eyes.

"Don't look at me, I've already introduced myself to everypony!" said Blue Ray jokingly.

"I believe that I don't need any introduction either," said Kunai from somewhere. She was invisible again…

"Kunai is the Ultimate Shadow, by the way," said Blue Ray. "That's what she does, just so you guys know."

"Um, is it okay if me and my friend introduce ourselves together?" asked the stallion in overalls.

"I don't see why not, it will make our 'game' progress a bit faster if nothing else," said Thunder. "Don't know about others, but my head is starting to hurt from all the names. Sorry if I forget any."

"I don't think that it will be any problem, nopony will expect you to memorize it all right away," smiled Fleur. "Alright, the next introduction will include two friends!"

Two stallions walked in front of the vending machine. One was the brown stallion in overalls that spoke up every once in a while, and the other one was a light red unicorn with slightly darker red mane and fiery eyes. The red one had a cutiemark in shape of a glass bottle, but I couldn't see what the brown one had because of his clothes.

"So yeah. I'm Bewilderer, the Ultimate Mechanic."

"And I'm Phoenix, the Ultimate Chemist."

"We met in Fillydelphia when we were just little foals, and we formed a team that invents stuff."

"Bewilderer and I have invented a lot over past few years. For example, we're behind the flying machine for non-pegasi, spell dampener used mainly for security purposes, and energy jello used in some modern machinery."

"By the way," said Bewilderer, "I might as well tell you guys right now. This thing I'm wearing on my head is a wig." And with those words, he took his red 'mane' down and showed us his burned head.

"Aaagh!" screamed the gray mare with a cello.

"You're scary! He is scared!"

"That must have been a horrible accident," said Fleur, her right hoof covering her mouth.

"Tsk. If you asked the Great and Powerful Trixie, I would grow your hair back. For a price, of course."

"I got used to this wig, thanks," said Bewilderer, putting it back on his head and covering the nasty injury.

"He's been like that since he was fifteen," said Phoenix.

"So I think that's it. Bewilderer…"

"And Phoenix…"

""The Ultimate Inventor duo!"" They said that last sentence in unison, both striking epic poses like two weird superheroes. Then they trod away, leaving the stage for somepony else.

Blue Ray tilted his head towards me and whispered: "Hey, don't you think it would be time for you to go out there?"

I haven't introduced myself yet! My heart jumped when I realized that I would eventually have to go to that dreaded vending machine and say something to the group of Ultimate students. One of them was a critic, and more then enough were competitive and confident in themselves. Oh my gosh, I was about to blow it, everypony was going to laugh at my ineptitude… Even that little colt from overseas managed to do it, and I just knew that I was going to freeze and stutter like hell! Oh no, oh no…

"I think we are nearing the end!" said Fleur. "How many of us are left? Three, four?"

"Five exactly," said the blocky gray stallion in a stoic manner. "The mare in purple cape who seems to despise Thunder Roar, the gray mare with cello, the yellow pegasus who grins like a moron, that purple filly hiding behind Blue Ray, and yours truly."

I wasn't hiding!

…

I was totally hiding. Blue Ray let out a boisterous laugh and stepped aside, leaving me out in the open. Traitor. "Come on, Twilight, don't be shy."

"I… I…"

"Twilight, was it?" Fleur directed her gaze towards me and gave me a patient, heartwarming smile. "I assure you, there is nothing to worry about. I will not let anyone mock their classmates, and I am sure you have a lot of interesting things to share with us!"

"I… Okay." I can do it. Fleur wasn't going to let anypony mock me. I was safe.

I walked in front of the vending machine, trying to calm myself down. Come on. Even Tot managed it. Limpid Lake fumbled a bit and nopony laughed at him. I just have to say a few words.

"Umm… so hello, everypony. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I am the Ultimate Spellcaster."

And then I froze. I noticed that Trixie was glaring daggers at me. I tried to go on, but I froze. She looked like she was ready to murder me.

I just barely collected myself and continued. "I, um, come from Canterlot, I graduated Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and became Celestia's personal protégé…"

Her glare grew in intensity with every word I said. It was pure hatred, beaming from her eyes straight into my soul and strangling me with cruel contempt.

"Oh my, a personal protégé of Princess Celestia, how wonderful!" exclaimed Fleur. "That is an admirable feat, I am getting jealous!"

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Fleur. I regained my composure once again and continued. "My talent is magic itself, which means I am not restricted to any single field, I can cast pretty much any spell with difficulty index 8 or lower…"

THE GLARE. I am pretty sure Trixie was silently casting some terrible curse right now. Oh please stop, stop looking at me, stop…

"I like… I like studying over anything else. I love acquiring new knowledge…"

"Cool!" I jerked when I heard that. I saw Thunder Roar looking at me with a small smile. He winked, as if to say "you can do it."

"And I hope I can be… friends with everypony here… Gah, will you stop it? Trixie, stop it!"

"I. Am. Not. Doing. Anything." Her words were like poison flowing in my ears and dissolving my brain. I felt like I was going to faint.

"Is it a requirement to have a sworn rival in order to be accepted here, or what?" said a yellow pegasus with a wild orange-yellow mane, one of the few ponies who haven't been introduced yet.

"Holy cow, you look just like Spitfire!" shouted Rainbow Dash, immediately taking off to the air and landing right next to him.

"No way, you're a Wonderbolt fan too?"

"Am I?! Dude, I plan to join them as soon as I graduate from here!"

"Sick! I could never do it, too little wingpower. But if you ever visit Los Pegasus, I'll show you how I tame the waves!"

Their conversation shifted the attention away from me. I slowly moved on my wobbly legs, sneaking back to Blue Ray. It was done. I would not go back there again, not in thousand years. He smiled at me, calming me down a little. I still couldn't forget that Trixie's death stare, though. If I'd never see it again, I would be a happy little filly.

"Oh, we kinda stole the spot, huh? Well, I was waiting for an introduction anyway, let's do this!"

In a fashion very similar to Rainbow, the yellow pegasus jumped right in front of the vending machine and struck a pose that showed off his cutiemark: A simple wave symbol.

"Sup. My name's Sunny Day. I kinda keep to myself unless somepony talks to me, some ponies told me that it weirds them out how I suddenly explode, so sorry if I just did that to you. I live in Los Pegasus, the best damn city in the Equestria! I'm the Ultimate Surfer, and a bit of a local star. I even got some contracts from Applewood as Spitfire's stunt actor-"

"Wait, what?!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

"You heard me right! I'm a great stallion, but I can play a lady too…" he said in an over-the-top sexual voice, eliciting a short laugh from the audience. "Well, Spitfire already gets enough danger as it is, doing her tricks. I make sure that she doesn't have to risk her neck in her movies as well. But still, surfing is my number one hobby, and my Ultimate Talent! I love exotic drinks and sexy girls. Hear that, Dashie?"

"Eeek! What did you just call me?! Don't call me that!" Rainbow was so obviously flustered that she might have as well painted her face red.

"Call you what? Sexy girl?"

"No, I mean… Yes, no, I… Ghhhh!"

"You're cute when you're mad."

"I'm not cute!"

Oh my Celestia. He's been silent for this whole time, and then he suddenly cracked a lewd joke and started hitting on Rainbow. This guy was wild in every sense of a word, it was… weird that he's been hiding in the crowd for so long. He really was a living bomb. Hide, then explode.

"So anyway, who's next?" asked Sunny Day out of nowhere. There was a brief silence. Then there was a slightly longer, awkward silence.

"I thought it would come to that. We went through all the gregarious and confident ponies, and all that's left are wallflowers," remarked Thunder Roar.

"May I? If nopony else volunteers, I will gladly go next." It was that gray mare with a cello. She had well-groomed dark mane, a treble chef for a cutiemark, and a cute little bow tie around her neck. She walked with calm dignity, emitting an aura of refinement.

"It is a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Octavia Philharmonica. I come from Manehattan, the city of lights, and I already have a solid reputation as the Ultimate Musician. I am most well known for my collaborations with one and only DJ-PON3, which tend to produce a unique mix of classical and electronic music. My most favorite hobby besides playing cello would probably be calm talks over a cup of coffee."

"Oh, I know the waves you emit. Pure, loving melancholy of the strings," said Limpid Lake. He… probably meant that he knew and liked her music.

"Thank you," said Octavia. She bowed her head a little, then left the stage. Oh, the empty space in front of the vending machine was hardly a stage, but she somehow made it feel like one.

"Only two ponies left!" said Fleur excitedly. "Who will go first?"

"I'm A. K. Yearling. The Ultimate Writer," said the mare that acted so cold toward Thunder Roar earlier. Oh, I see. She must've had a bad experience with critics in the past…

Waitaminute, A. K. YEARLING?!

"I work alone, I don't really like company. Please don't disturb me unless it is urgent, thank you." She didn't even walk to the vending machine, she just stood in the back, making everypony turn their head. "That is enough for an introduction, right?"

She was here. A. K. Yearling, the author of amazing Daring Do series, was here! With me! She was in the same class! I could hardly contain my excitement! I absolutely loved her work, I've read everything she's ever published. She was a recluse though, there was never any interview with her, no signing event, nothing. Until now, I didn't even have any idea what she looked like. I can't believe it. A. K. Yearling. Is here. With me. I totally forgot my traumatic introduction, this was the best day ever.

"Not every introduction has to be elaborate. Speaking of which, I should get this over with," said the blocky gray stallion. He was the last one to be introduced. He walked to the stage, and I saw that his cutiemark was a black square with diagonals.

"I am Caesar, the Ultimate Mathematician. Which apparently means I am the only one who can count sixteen students. The world is just one large mathematical problem to me. Born in Cloudsdale. Like: Order. Dislike: Chaos."

And that was it. It didn't even feel like an introduction, he just spat out information and went on his merry way.

"That concludes our introduction game! Thank you all so much for participating!" said Fleur. "Now you can freely chat with others and get to know each other better… Where are you going, Caesar?"

"I am leaving. I am not interested in socializing."

"I will not force you, but this is a great opportunity to grow closer to your classmates. Everypony will be here…"

"That buffoon Twitch left before our game was even finished. And Kunai is gone too." She was gone? When did she leave? How did Caesar notice? Their Ultimate talents were messing with my head!

Caesar left without another word. Fleur looked a little bit down for a second, but then her chipper attitude came back.

"Oh. Well then, we are missing three ponies, but we can still make this work splendidly! I am sure we will-"

"Wha-ha-ha-ha."

That voice… it wasn't anything like the voices I've heard up until now. It was rough, weirdly upbeat, and… predatory. I had an urge to run just from hearing that malicious laugh.

"Well aren't you all going along just wonderfully. I am terribly sorry to interrupt this camaraderie, but we are running on a strict schedule!"

Everypony heard it. It wasn't natural. It wasn't us. It wasn't coming from anywhere. And it was terrifying.

It growled playfully. I am sorry, this was the only way I could describe it. Growled playfully. My blood was freezing from that. "Oh, I am terribly sorry, this is supposed to be an official announcement, isn't it? Ehm, ehm, let me try again. To all students: Please assemble in the main classroom for a meeting. If you are unsure of where the main classroom is, Blue Ray or Twilight Sparkle will gladly lend you a hoof. Don't be late! Wha-ha-ha-ha-haa."

And it stopped. The thing that was talking stopped talking. Only dead silence followed.

"What… was that?" asked Rainbow Dash timidly.

"What is this silliness? The Great and Powerful Trixie disapproves!"

"A predator, lurking in the shadows…" whispered Limpid Lake.

"I thought the meeting was here, in the cafeteria?" said Thunder Roar.

"Tot He Tei is scared! He doesn't want to go to classroom!" Octavia and Fleur were immediately by his side, comforting him.

"Don't worry, Toothy. We will protect you," said Octavia in a sweet voice.

"Toothy?"

"Do you like that nickname?"

"Nickname… Toothy… Toothy Nickname is scared!"

We were all scared. That dark feeling I had ever since waking up, it grew with each passing second. Now I knew what it was: Dread. That subtly horrifying sense of something wrong. Something was wrong with this whole school from the very first second.

I felt a hoof on my back and jumped, startled. It was Blue Ray.

"Relax. I won't let anything happen to you." He said it with such a calm determination that I had no choice but to believe him. I took a deep, shaky breath, and nodded silently.

"It's fine, they are probably scaring us for giggles," said Sunny Day. He was the only one still smiling.

Fleur was gently caressing Tot He Tei's blond mane, while looking around her at the same time. "My friends, please, let us not lose our temper. We should go to that classroom and see what that announcement was about."

"Whoa there, that could be a trap!" exclaimed one of the inventors. Darn it, I already forgot his name!

"Do you see any other option?" asked Thunder Roar.

"Well… There's one! Just… not going there!"

"Feel free. But I have a feeling that opposing whoever made that announcement will make you no good."

"Let's just go, okay? I'll lead the way," said Blue Ray in an uncharacteristically demanding voice. What happened to him? He was suddenly so calm, so serious…

And so we all left the cafeteria and went to the classroom. Nopony was in any rush, quite the opposite. The heavy atmosphere was weighing on us like a huge bag full of solidified tears. Blue Ray went first, I lagged behind in the back, right next to gloomy Fleur. Tot He Tei started crying and Octavia had to carry the poor colt on her back. I saw him bury his head into her mane, disheveling it and making it wet with his tears.

I didn't even know why, but I felt like crying myself.

The foreboding laughter was still resonating in my head.

It was about to get much, much worse.

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Author's Note

Let's face it, there's too many characters here! There is no way people can relate to such a bloated cast!

Prologue - Monokami's Game

It was the room I woke up in. The main classroom had sixteen small desks, as if it was made for our class specifically. We entered the room one by one, slowly filling the free seats. I could already see the class aggregating into smaller groups: Octavia and Fleur stayed close to distressed Tot, the inventor friends sat next to each other at the front, while Sunny Day and Rainbow Dash claimed the spots in the very back. Trixie annexed one of the good spots next to the wall…

I looked around in confusion. Wall? Where were all the windows?

And then I realized what was bugging me from the moment I woke up. Where were all the windows?!

I took one more look, making sure I wasn't dreaming. There really wasn't a single window in the entire room. Worse still, I didn't remember there being windows in the cafeteria either. This whole area was sealed like a bunker!

I shivered in my seat. What was going on?!

There was still one unoccupied desk. First I thought Kunai was pulling some invisibility tricks again, but then I saw her sitting in the back, right in the darkest corner. So who was missing then?

The door opened, revealing very annoyed Twitch. She glanced over us, then leaned against the wall right next to the entrance. That way, she looked less like a student and more like a tiny bouncer or a prison guard. I only now noticed her cutiemark, a yellow arrow zig-zagging down her flank.

"Excellent, everypony is here! And just in time too, I was starting to get a bit anxious!"

That horrid voice was taunting us again, but this time, it didn't sound disembodied. In fact, it was coming right from behind the teacher's desk…

And then something jumped right on top of it and revealed its teeth. Several ponies, including me, shrieked and jumped at the sight of… Was that a Timberwolf? I've read about them, they were one of the most prevalent species in Everfree Forest. Only this one was not composed of twigs and leaves, but… small stone rods, each slightly larger than an average pencil. One side of the creature was composed entirely of white, ivory-looking rods, while the other side was nearly pitch-black obsidian. A big, glowing ruby was floating on the dark side, roughly where its eye should be. The light side had no teeth at all, while the dark side was brandishing a threatening set of jagged white shards.

It looked so bizarre, so out of this world, that I felt more befuddled than actually scared.

"Eeek! What is that thing!" screamed Tot.

"That is… a weird wolf," stated Sunny Day, unsure of what to say.

"Do not look it in the eye! If it attacks, jam your hoof down its throat!" shouted Limpid Lake who jumped on the desk, ready to defend himself. "Shoo, predator! Leave our pastures so we can live in peace!"

"Jeez, will you guys calm down. It's not like I'm going to cause you a life-changing trauma," growled the wolf.

"Who… What are you?" asked Thunder, fiddling nervously with his scarf.

"That is what we are here for! Introductions! Wha-wha!" it barked.

Some of us were burying our heads in our hooves in sheer panic and confusion. Others were staring blankly at the wolf, as if it was a dream. There were several ponies who were acting tough and didn't even flinch, but I couldn't be sure whether they were truly calm or just putting up a mask. Me? I was just… sort of out of it. My brain had detected a problem and was now feverishly analyzing it. Where did this timberwolf come from? Why was he made up of stone sticks, not wooden ones? What was the purpose of that large ruby eye? Did somepony animate this thing with a spell, or was it a self-aware creature?

"I am so excited to meet the very first group of students attending our wonderful new academy! Welcome, friends, please feel right at home! My name is Monokami, and I am the headmaster of this school!"

That wasn't right.

"Wait a minute!" I cried out. "You're lying! The one in charge here is Princess Celestia!"

Monokami sniffed with its snout. "Wrong. Didn't you hear? Tia resigned! Now I'm the one running the show."

"That's… wrong! What are you doing here? What… are you?" I retorted weakly, struggling for words. What was the meaning of this? Resigned?! I last saw her yesterday! She was waving me goodbye as I left for the academy, saying she would meet me there! This two-toned magic animal was making no sense!

"What am I? I just told you, silly filly! I am the headmaster of this school, which means I make all the rules and make sure you live your high-school lives in peace and harmony!"

I didn't get it. I didn't get it at all. Was this some weird prank? Was it real? Was it fake?

"Now, if you are all done asking redundant questions, I will explain the rules and guidelines that will follow you for the entirety of your student life! Don't worry, I hate bureaucracy just like the next guy, so the rules are really easy to understand."

And with those words, he picked up a small stack of papers that had been lying on the teacher's desk with a levitating spell. He could cast magic, too? This whole situation was making less and less sense by the second. He distributed the papers around the class, each one of us got two. I immediately grabbed both papers with my own magic and started reading the first one, hoping that there would be something that would explain this nonsense.

--NIGHTMARE ACADEMY: THE RULES AND GUIDELINES--

1) Leaving the school grounds is strictly forbidden. However, you can explore the academy itself with minimal restrictions.

2) Each student has been assigned their own dormitory room. Entering other students' rooms without their consent is considered a serious privacy violation.

3) Any aggression towards headmaster Monokami is strictly forbidden.

4) All the students are obligated to participate in class trials, as well as the final voting at the end of each trial.

5) Any violation of the above rules will be punished accordingly. There are no exceptions.

6) Further rules may be added by headmaster Monokami as needed.

The very first two words on that paper confused me even further. Nightmare academy? What… What was this? I… I… I was completely at loss. I totally gave up trying to make sense of the situation. I just continued reading stupidly, like a disgruntled husband reading a shopping list.

The rule number four just added on the ever-increasing pile of questions I had no answers for. A class trial? Voting?

There was only so much I could bulge my eyes at. By now, I was just taking things in a stride, knowing that I would eventually wake up. All of this felt like a really bad joke… or maybe a weird, convoluted nightmare.

I moved on to the second piece of paper.

--NIGHTMARE ACADEMY: GRADUATION--

1) The only way of graduating, and by extension leaving the school, is to become "blackened" and pass the class trial.

2) The student becomes "blackened" after murdering one of their fellow classmates.

3) When the body is discovered, there is a brief preparation time before the class trial starts. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students.

4) During the class trial, the collective goal of the class is to discover who the blackened is. The culprit is decided by popular vote.

5) If the voted culprit is "blackened", they alone will be punished. If an innocent classmate is accused instead, everypony BUT the blackened is punished, and the killer will successfully graduate.

When I read the second rule, my blood froze. Blackened… Murder…? This was no joke!

"WHAT IS THIS HORSESHIT!" screamed Twitch. "This is supposed to be a school! What is all this trial murder blackened nonsense?!"

"If I am reading this correctly, you expect us to kill each other," said Caesar.

"No way! No freakin' way!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed angrily from the back.

"You expect the Great and Powerful Trixie to just accept these laughable conditions? I came here to become the most powerful unicorn of all time, not to commit ponycide!"

"This is just awful! You cannot mean this seriously!" exclaimed Fleur.

"Oh I assure you, I take my responsibilities as a headmaster very seriously," said Monokami. "Which is why I will now go on and explain the small nuances to ensure we are all on the same page. Please take a second look at the graduation rules, that's where all the good stuff is!"

"First, let's clarify the rule number one. Graduation is the only way to get out of this school. And the only way to graduate is to become the blackened."

The red unicorn, whose name I believe was Phoenix, raised his hoof timidly. "So, um, that means, if we don't kill anypony…"

"…you are stuck here for the rest of your lives."

That statement cut through us all like a razor. It couldn't be real, it just couldn't. There was no way Princess would allow this! This wolf was just playing tricks on us, a sick, cruel joke, that's all it was.

"…You can not be serious right now," Octavia mumbled in disbelief.

Monokami barked in anger. "WRAH! You are all so simple-minded! When there is something you don't understand, you just dismiss it as a joke, or a dream! But that will change. You will realize just how real this whole thing is, and I'll be delighted to see the looks on your faces."

And right at that moment, something whizzed through the air. Monokami's ruby eye got smashed into tiny pieces, and his whole body fell apart, spilling black and white rods all around and on top of the teacher's desk. A loud clattering sound filled the classroom as we all stared in shock at what happened.

The time stopped for one eternal second.

"That was a mistake."

The pieces made a weird whooshing sound, then reassembled themselves around another ruby that must have materialized out of thin air. Monokami, who fell apart just a second ago, was back in shape. And in his magic, he was holding a weird, thick, black knife with a very thin handle wrapped in black cloth.

"Hmm. A kunai. I wonder who threw that."

A second knife flew through the air, aimed once again right at Monokami's eye. But he stopped it just a few millimeters away from the ruby, staring at it with cold rage.

"You are persistent. But you'll run out of ammo at some point."

Kunai was not sitting at her desk. She was behind her chair, slowly backing away. Monokami flashed her a wicked grin and leaped across the entire room, right on her desk. He was towering above her. She took several more steps back.

"You did read the rules, right? Violence against me is strictly prohibited."

He jumped down from the desk, stalking Kunai and cornering her. She found herself pressed against a wall, with a devious wolf right in front of her and with no means of escaping.

"What? You've got nothing to say to that?"

"Yes. I surrender to you." Kunai kneeled down and bowed her head. I could not see her in the face, but I realized from her body language and voice that she was not afraid at all. There was not an iota of doubt, fear or panic in her. That somehow made me more uneasy than the fact that Monokami looked like he was ready to maul her.

"Shame you didn't wait till the end. Otherwise you would've known what the punishment is for disobeying the laws."

He lurked yet a bit closer to kneeling, unmoving Kunai, baring his white, wicked teeth at her.

"It's death."

When I heard those two words, I let out a terrified scream. "NOOOOOOO!"

But it was too late. Monokami fell apart once again, transforming into a whirling cloud of black and white. He hit Kunai without mercy, knocking her to the side and attacking her rapidly like a swarm of angry hornets. Kunai was thrashing around as she was getting bludgeoned all around her body. Then she got lifted in the air and smashed in the ground. A loud 'thud' and a brief cry of pain could be heard, right before she started flying around, surrounded by the furious tornado of stone and hitting the wall, another wall, ceiling, floor, ceiling again, wall, wall, ceiling, wall, wall, floor…

I closed my eyes and let out tears of anguish as I heard my classmate getting pummeled to dust. I wished I could just wake up from this nightmare, to stop hearing her screams and the dull thuds…

And then it stopped.

I hesitated to open my eyes. I didn't want to see what was waiting for me. I was terrified out of my senses, I just wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere, just not here. But then Blue Ray's voice woke me up:

"She's still alive!"

I opened my eyes in surprise. I saw Kunai, who was lying on the floor in the back of the classroom, absolutely savaged. She was bleeding from the nose, twitching occasionally and letting out irregular, jerky breaths. Blue Ray and Fleur were gathered around her, and Monokami was slowly walking back to the blackboard with a satisfied grin on his face.

"I will let this first transgression slide, since I am such a sweetheart and I just couldn't do this to my lovely students on their very first day! But here's a warning for all of you: The next pony breaking the rules will be punished by a good and proper execution!"

Octavia was at Tot He Tei's desk, hugging the poor colt who kept his head buried in her fur. The two inventors were giving each other panicky glances. Limpid Lake was feverishly mumbling some sort of incantation, his eyes closed and his whole body shaking. Thunder Roar was staring at Kunai with his mouth open. A. K. Yearling was diverting her gaze somewhere else. Rainbow Dash was panicking and climbing on Sunny Day's back, and Sunny Day himself was frozen in terror. Even hardflanks like Twitch and Caesar looked distressed, and Trixie completely gave up all attempts to keep decorum and pulled her hat over her head.

"This… this guy isn't bucking around," whispered Thunder.

"Now, back to business!" exclaimed Monokami, his spirits visibly lifted by that show of brutality. This wolf… I hated him. I don't consider myself being a violent pony, but right at that moment, I wanted to hurt him in ways even worse than he hurt Kunai. I wanted to break all those rods of his in half, grind his ruby eye against the blackboard until it was nothing more than dust, burn him in the magical inferno, curse him with forbidden black magic and then condemn his scorched, broken remains to the disgusting pits of Tartarus where they belonged.

But I didn't do any of that. I hated him so much that he brought out the worst in me, but I was afraid of him even more.

"Now, on the topic of class trials. They are the best part of your killing school life! Whenever a body is discovered by three or more ponies, an announcement will be played to inform everyone. From that moment, you will have a limited time to investigate the crime scene and try to deduce who the blackened is. And then, we will hold a class trial!"

"HEY!" I shouted. I didn't even know what I was doing anymore. "We are not going to kill each other! Never! That's not going to happen! We're not brutal, savage monsters like you!"

Monokami started laughing. It was a harsh, cruel, twisted laugh of a bloodthirsty predator. "Wha-ha-ha-ha-haaaa! Wha-hahahahaha! You think so, Sparky? Oh, that is so precious, that naive little head of yours. Let's see how long until somepony BASHES IT WITH A ROCK AND TURNS YOUR BRAIN INTO A PASTE!"

I yelped, trying to hide behind my desk. His ruby eye was glaring at me with sadistic glee.

"Or do virtually anything else that would kill a pony. Any method of murder is allowed. Stabbing, bludgeoning, hacking, slashing, choking, strangling - By the way, do you guys know the difference between choking and strangulation? - Burning, drowning, cursing, poisoning, and many more!"

Nopony dared to make a sound. All of us were completely hopeless, completely at his mercy.

"And once that is done, a class trial will soon follow. You will discuss the circumstances of the murder, and present arguments for who you think the killer is. After you've reached a satisfying conclusion, you will vote one of your classmates as the killer. If you choose right, I will execute them and them alone. But if you choose wrong… Whahaha… There will be only one pony left alive. The one that literally got away with murder."

"Please stop… Stop talking…" It was Octavia. Tot He Tei was still clinging to her and burying his head in her fur, only now he was visibly shivering and hiccuping between sobs. That poor, poor little foal… He was way too young for this horrible nightmare. No one of us deserved it or was mentally prepared for it, but he was the least deserving, least prepared of all.

"What do you plan to achieve with this? What do you want?" asked Caesar. He was possibly the only one of us who was more or less keeping his cool.

"What I want? It is so considerate of you to ask, unlike that rude, ugly mare who acts like she owns the place and bosses me around!" said Monokami sarcastically. "It's a very simple goal: I want you all to succumb into the nightmare!"

That was it? No higher agenda, no big goals, he just wanted to make us suffer? Was he really that cruel and heartless? I was crying again. I blinked out the tears, but there were just more of them coming. It was pointless to even try.

"Well, I believe that is all for now. I will take care of that poor filly Kunai. I recommend the rest of you go and find your dorm rooms. There is one for each, labeled for your convenience. Don't forget, entering somepony else's room without their permission is forbidden! Please try to follow the rules, surely you don't want to have any casualties on the very first day."

With his magic, he used his teeth to pick up limp Kunai's body, still covered in a cloak, and dragged her unceremoniously out of the classroom like a cat carrying her kitten.

He was gone.

Just like that, he disappeared. As if I just woke up in my bed, covered in cold sweat, relieved that the nightmare was over.

But unlike other nightmares, he would come back.

Twitch was the first one to leave. Then some other ponies slowly went to the door, but I wasn't paying any attention to them. I was lost in desperate thoughts.

Princess Celestia… Where are you?

Please get us out of here. Please save us.

Princess Celestia… I need you! Please!

I don't even know when I fell asleep. All the distress and horror sucked my energy away like some twisted vampire and I just gave in. I just went out like a light.

Princess Celestia…

Spike…

Anyone…

Of Dilemmas and Feathers - Daily Life

Sweet sleep…

I wriggled under a comfy, warm blanket, and nuzzled into the pillow. I was still half asleep, enjoying the silent darkness that was enveloping me. I didn't want to move ever again.

Ruby eye.

My body twitched by itself, and now I was fully awake. Monokami… That wolf… That must have been some sort of bad dream, right? I suddenly felt a faint glimmer of hope in my heart. Maybe it wasn't real after all!

I looked around the dark room, trying to figure out where I was. There were two doors, each on either side. A small bedside table was just in my hoof's reach, but there was nothing on it.

I heard a snore from somewhere below me. Confused, I looked down on the floor and saw a pony snoozing on the carpet. Who was that? I couldn't recognize them in that darkness. I fumbled a bit before I disentangled my hooves from the blanket, then left the bed as silently as possible. I started creeping towards the door on the right, carefully avoiding the snoring pony.

I probably shouldn't be lurking around like this. But in my head, I felt a burning need to know. Was all that horrible stuff from yesterday true? I absolutely had to confirm it. I could sleep later, this came first.

I opened the door and saw a bathroom. There was a simple bath with a shower, a toilet and a sink. On the first glance, there was nothing out of the ordinary, so I closed the door again and snuck to another door at the other side of the room.

It opened with a silent creak and revealed a hallway I recognized. I was walking down a hallway like this yesterday… My heart left out a beat. So I was still in the Future Academy, and the yesterday's horror was most likely real.

I closed the door behind me. This hallway was still dark, but better lit than the room I found myself sleeping in thanks to a set of magic lamps lighting up the corridor. I walked around a bit and looked at the doors around me. And with each one my hopes were dropping lower and lower. Limpid Lake, Tot He Tei, Octavia Philharmonica, A. K. Yearling, each door had a name written on it. And I knew all those names from yesterday. There was no doubt about it, we were here together, in this mess. I shook in the grim realization that I was locked here with no way of escaping and that me and other students were being harassed by a psychopathic black-and-white wolf. I turned around and went back to the door I walked out of. This one had a name tag "Blue Ray".

I jerked as the door opened suddenly. Blue Ray looked at me with his blinking, tired gaze. "Oh, Twilight. So you're awake, huh…"

"Blue Ray! What's going on?"

"You passed out on your desk. We couldn't just leave you there, so I volunteered to take you to my room. I took the carpet for one night until you felt better, and then I got woken up by the sound of closing doors. I figured it was you."

"I woke you up? Oh no, I'm so sorry!"

"Nevermind that. Are you feeling okay? You scared us big time."

I touched my forehead and tried to put all the information together. "Yes… I think I am. So it was all real, then? We are stuck here, playing this sick game?"

"Yes. Yes, we are," said Blue Ray solemnly. I could feel my head and ears lowering as my hope plummeted down and crashed against the cruel reality.

"Hey." I looked up at Blue Ray, and he gave me a small, confident smile. "Nopony will play along to that wolf's rules. We are not monsters, you said it yourself."

"Yes, but… we still aren't safe, are we?"

"Were we ever? I mean, there's always been some degree of danger in our lives, wasn't it? Now it's just a bit closer."

That sounded… disturbingly true. It was so weird, being stuck in this horrible scenario and seeing somepony who was keeping it all together. How was Blue Ray doing that? He was acting strange ever since Monokami revealed himself. He was giving off this… calm, collected leader vibe. I decided to confront him about it, otherwise it would keep bugging me forever. "Blue Ray, forgive me for asking, but what happened? You were so upbeat and carefree when we first met, and now you are so serious and unshakeable."

Blue Ray let out a short, silent laugh, then answered. "I need to do my best to keep myself and the others safe. I can't afford to be carefree."

He yawned and blinked. "Hey, do you think this could wait until morning?"

"Oh, of course, sorry," I said with embarrassment.

"Nah, it's okay. Your room is in the second hallway, the first door on the left. You can sleep there."

"The… second hallway?"

"There are two hallways running parallel to each other. Then they connect and continue on as one. If you imagine a tuning fork, that's sort of what it looks like."

"Oh, I get it! I think I'll manage to find it no problem."

He smiled again. "Cool. Oh, by the way, we all agreed to meet up in cafeteria tomorrow morning to discuss what to do next. You should be there too, we could use your smarts."

"Oh, okay. Good night, then…"

"Good night," he said and then closed the door.

This whole conversation felt awkward in some way. I didn't know what it was exactly, maybe it was the fact that Blue Ray was acting different. And I felt like he'd been trying to get rid of me…

No. No, Blue Ray wasn't trying to get rid of me. He was obviously tired, and yet he still made sure I knew where to find my room and what to do tomorrow. I can't expect him to stay up all night and babysit me! He even offered to take me in when I was unconscious, how could I ask for more?

I went around the corner and saw a hallway splitting into a shape of T. I went straight, turned around a corner once again, and sure enough, there was another hallway full of doors. It really was shaped like a tuning fork. I looked at the very first door, it had "Twilight Sparkle" written on it. Oh great, I found it! Now I won't have to return to Blue Ray, wake him up and ask him for directions again like an idiot.

Sometimes I worry that I worry too much.

I entered what was allegedly my room, and found out that it looked exactly the same as Blue Ray's. I guess we all had the same rooms, I hope we'll at least get a chance to accessorize them at some point. Although, thinking about that, I had much greater problems weighing on my mind. Like, for example, the whole "killing game" we were all a part of.

I climbed on my bed, although I wasn't feeling particularly tired. I thought about exploring the school some more, but then I remembered that we were supposed to murder each other. I really didn't want to doubt my classmates, but… better safe than sorry. There will be time for exploring once there are more potential witnesses walking around.

And so I spent the rest of the night lying in my bed, thinking things over now that I've had an opportunity to calm down. The mysterious magical wolf, the unanswered questions, the killing game, the troubling fact that nopony came to rescue us yet. Perhaps it would take a bit more time before ponies started getting worried about us, but I had a terrible feeling that no one was going to come to our rescue, no matter how long we'd wait.

"Haven't you heard? Tia resigned! Now I'm the one running the show."

That was about the most worrying thing I've heard, even more disconcerting than the fact that Monokami was trying to get us to kill each other. What happened to Princess Celestia? She couldn't possibly be in on this, something must've gone horribly wrong with her plan. What was keeping her from us? Were we being held hostage? Were we being hidden from her? Or was she just completely unaware of this whole setup?

Nothing was making sense yet, but I knew one thing for certain. We have to get out of here. On our own. We have to find that wolf's weakness, beat him and get out. Before something horrible happens.

"Rise and shine, sweethearts! It is 7 am., and nighttime is officially over! Another day full of joy, friendship and magic, waaaauuu!"

Monokami's voice was omnipresent, yet had no visible source. This, combined with his malicious voice and howling, made it about the worst sound one could wake up to. I closed my eyes as the lights in my room turned on by themselves, blinding me. I grunted and slid off my bed, trying to shake off my fatigue. What the hell? I've been resting for the entire night and most of the day, how was I tired now?

I did a quick exercise to fully wake up, opened the door and headed towards the cafeteria. Today we were all going to come up with a plan. I doubted Monokami would let us win easily, but we were Ultimates. I was sure we could find a way to fight back somehow.

Rainbow Dash and Sunny Day came out of rooms behind me and caught up to me. They were both moving quickly and energetically, I guess that was just a part of their personalities.

"Morning, Twilight!" "Sup!" they both greeted me.

"Hi guys. Are you headed to the cafeteria too?"

"You bet! We'll kick Monokami's ass!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

"Cool." Oh come on, Twilight. Don't you really have anything better to say? This felt so awkward, I didn't know how to continue the conversation. Sunny and Rainbow didn't mind though, they spent rest of the way flirting. I did my best to pretend not to be there and cursed my lack of social skills.

When we entered the cafeteria, most ponies were already there. I could see Tot He Tei, Fleur, Octavia and Limpid Lake discussing something. Thunder Roar, Phoenix and his engineer friend whose name I forgot had their own group. Trixie and Blue Ray were sitting on their own. A. K. Yearling and Twitch came shortly after us, trying their best to ignore each other and everyone around them.

"That will be all," said Caesar with no emotion in his voice. He was… cooking?

I couldn't believe my eyes. Caesar was in the kitchen, behind the counter, and was distributing sandwiches to everypony with his magic. Blue Ray beckoned me to sit with him, and I obliged, still a bit surprised. A platter with two sandwiches floated my way, landing in front of me with meticulous precision. The bread slices were perfect right triangles, and the hay, lettuce and tomato slices between the two slices were evenly spread out. I bet Caesar had calculated the optimal energy intake, too.

"Pvetty amavhing, huh?" asked Blue Ray, his mouth full. I nodded silently and decided to just eat. The food tasted amazing, and I realized that I was hungry like never before. I completely wolfed it down, both sandwiches were gone before Blue Ray finished his first one. I looked at Caesar. He gave me a weird look and sent me another sandwich. I nodded in thanks and dug in.

"When was the last time you ate?" asked Blue Ray in amusement.

"I don't know… I think it was before I got here."

"A full day without food? You're crazy, you know that?"

I blushed in embarrassment. Oh right, I must've looked like an animal, just devouring everything on the plate in a matter of seconds.

Blue Ray looked around the cafeteria. "Alright, everypony's pretty much finished eating. I think we should start the discussion."

He got up from his chair and raised his voice. "May I have your attention, please?"

His authoritative voice silenced every conversation that was going on until now. All the eyes were on him again. He jumped on the table, and A. K. Yearling sighed in frustration. Was she the one who acted so fussy over Rainbow standing on a table yesterday?

"Thanks. You all know why we're here, besides breakfast. We need to get out of this prison, so let's start with what we know."

He looked around the room again. "I searched this school top to bottom, and I concluded this: We are indeed trapped here. The entrance hall is all covered in metal, so much that it is completely unrecognizable. There are no windows whatsoever, and what's weird, the upper floors seem to be blocked off from us with some kind of magical barrier. The only high point we can reach is the central tower connecting all the wings and floors, but every single door in there is blocked as well, so there is no point in going there unless you want to exercise by running up and down the stairs. So to summarize, we are stuck in the first floor of wing one. Other floors and wings are inaccessible."

"Can't we dispel the barrier or break the metal plates?" asked Thunder Roar.

"I'm getting to that. We need to work together if we can even hope to get out of here. Twilight, Trixie?"

I shivered as I heard my name. "Y-yes?"

"You are our magic experts. You are in charge of breaking the barrier, as well as sweeping this school for any enchantments. There is so many things we don't know. What is Monokami's nature? How does he talk to all of us at once? How does he monitor us? Is this truly the Future Academy, or just a replica somewhere else? What does it look like outside? Any mystery you solve, any tidbit of information you find will be useful. How you divide the job is up to you."

"The Great and Powerful Trixie will go break that pesky barrier. Running around like a moron is more in line with Twilight Sparkle's so-called expertise." Oh great, she didn't even ask me what I think, and on top of that she was belittling me.

"Drop the insults, Trixie, seriously," barked Thunder. Trixie just tsk-ed in response.

"Anyway, Phoenix, Bewilderer, your first job will be to look around the school and find anything you could use as materials for some sort of invention. Then you'll analyze the metal plates in the entrance hall, as well as the magic barrier and walls around us. See if you can find a way out with what you have on hoof. If not, any sort of progress will do. You can cooperate with our mages if you see the opportunity."

"You got it, boss!" said Bewilderer. I made sure I would remember his name from now on.

"Next, Octavia and Fleur. You'll be our moral support. I know that things look grim and that some of us will have difficulty handling it. You will be there for everypony else, give them somepony to talk to, give them a shoulder to cry on. Oh, and also try to resolve any conflicts between classmates before they get out of hoof."

"I understand," nodded Octavia.

"I will gladly help!" said Fleur, smiling as always.

Blue Ray took a second to think. "Caesar, measure everything to see if there is perhaps a suspiciously thick wall that a secret room could be hiding in. Also, having a map of this floor could be useful for us, even though I think we'll know it by heart in several days. Think you can handle that?"

"Yes."

"And finally, everypony athletic. Twitch, Rainbow Dash, Sunny Day. You will be the muscles. Perhaps all that we need to break those metal plates is a bit of brute force. Perhaps somepony will need to carry something heavy. That's what you'll be here for."

"How about no?"

All of us turned to Twitch. She looked less aggravated than yesterday, but still had a nasty look on her scarred face.

"When did I let you become my boss? I can't recall."

Blue Ray recoiled from that, but quickly regained his composure. "Uhm, let me be clear: I am not anyone's boss. I just thought that an organized group has better chances of succeeding than a chaotic one. We all want to get out of here, don't we?"

"I want to get out of here. And I know a simple way to do that."

Twitch's words froze me to the bone. She could not mean that…

"Don't say things like that! You wouldn't dare kill one of us!" exclaimed Phoenix. His red eyes crossed with Twitch's gaze.

"Why not? Are YOU trying to boss me around now?" she asked, her voice as cold as death itself.

"That's quite enough," said Fleur. "Twitch, I get it. You do not care about anyone's well-being but yours. You have your own ways and nopony can control you. Am I wrong?"

"…" Twitch kept silent, letting her sneer to talk for itself.

"I understand, nopony will force you to do anything. But let me warn you: Aimlessly threatening us will do you no good in the long run. What if you really decided to commit murder? Remembering what you said just now, we will automatically suspect you! Even if you are not the real culprit, you will still be treated with suspicion, all because of your unnecessary hostility. Please, control yourself. If not for our sake, then for your own."

Twitch's contemptuous smile was slowly being replaced by a grim frown. She turned around and headed for the exit just as Fleur stopped talking.

"Control yourself. That's so easy to say for somepony like you. Fuck off. You don't understand me, at all. I'm getting out of here before you demonize me even more."

She didn't smash the door behind her this time, instead she just let it slowly close by itself. It was strange to realize, but she didn't seem angry to me at all. Instead, she was… Sad? Dismayed? What happened to her?

"That was about what I expected," commented Thunder Roar. "We can't count on her. Any job for me, Blue Ray?"

"Oh, um, yes. You are good at bolstering the talents of all ponies around you, right? You can, I don't know, walk around and help everypony?"

"…Sure can."

"Tot He Tei wants to help too!" exclaimed the little colt. Blue Ray seemed more and more uncomfortable with each passing second. He switched his balance on the table, looking somewhere in the corner.

"Uhh, I don't know, nothing comes to mind…"

And right in that moment, Octavia whispered something in Tot's ear, and he started jumping in place. "Oh, oh, he sees! Yes yes! Tot He Tei will not disappoint, auntie Octavia!"

He grabbed the last platter of sandwiches and rushed out of the cafeteria like a lightning bolt. Octavia just stood in place, shellshocked.

"Did he… did he just call me his aunt?"

Fleur laughed out loud, her voice ringing pleasantly in my ears. "I guess we know who is going to be the foalsitter! That is so adorable!"

I giggled a little myself, seeing poor Octavia flustered like that. She was really a mare with heart of gold, from what little I've seen of her. She'd been taking care of Tot He Tei since day one, and this little moment just made her role as a foalsitter official.

"Alright, anypony else want to say something?" asked Blue Ray. A brief silence was the only answer he got. "Alright then, let's begin. We'll meet here for lunch and see how we've progressed, okay?"

We murmured in agreement, leaving the cafeteria one by one. I sighed and mentally prepared for the taxing day ahead of me. I started assembling a collection of spells I would need for a thorough check, then started casting them one by one. I scanned the cafeteria first, then moved on.

I could already sense some very powerful spell sprawled over the whole school like a huge hibernating animal. That was a bad sign.

I used the opportunity to explore the part of school I haven't seen yet. Leaving cafeteria, I went left and saw a flight of stairs. Trixie was looking intently at a pink magical barrier that was preventing us from going up. I decided to leave her alone, I wasn't in mood for more snide remarks.

I heard a loud smash, then another one. What was that? I went in the direction the noises were coming from, reaching the entrance hall. This was the place where I passed out two days ago. It was truly unrecognizable, the glass doors I remembered were nowhere to be found, replaced by thick metal plating. Bewilderer was examining them, and Rainbow Dash was fiercely bucking into them, hoping to break out of this building. At least I now knew where the loud smashes were coming from.

"Gah! It's no use! There's not even a dent in them!" she shouted in frustration.

"They are pretty thick, I don't think even Twitch could smash through them," commented Bewilderer. I started probing the room for any enchantments, and detected a strong spell coursing through the plating.

"Forget her, she's a lost cause. Oh hey Twilight, what's up?"

I turned my head to Rainbow and responded. "Just gathering information, that's all. I don't think anypony can break this, it's been reinforced by an enchantment and I can't locate the power source."

"Well that's just peachy," grunted Rainbow.

"Can we dissolve it with acid?" asked Bewilderer. I examined the enchanted plates a bit more, then shook my head.

Bewilderer stomped the ground. "Can we blow it up?"

"No, that would end horribly."

"Can we melt it?"

"No."

"I'm out of ideas."

"Some inventor you are, overalls," said Rainbow with a malicious grin.

"Says somepony who never had any ideas to begin with," retorted Bewilderer. "Whatever. I'll just go see how Phoenix is doing."

Bewilderer left. Rainbow Dash continued halfheartedly bucking into the plates with an exasperated look on her face. "I don't wanna be here, come ooon…"

Seeing her, I started to feel concerned. "Rainbow? Do you want me to call Fleur? Or Octavia?"

"No, I just… I'll get over it. I don't like being closed away from the sky, you know?" she said with a sad smile on her face. "Hey, don't you have an uhh… some sort of job to do?"

"Oh, of course," I said, caught off-guard. The message was clear, Rainbow Dash wanted me to leave her alone. I quickly trod further down the hallway, and heard a loud, angry *bang* behind me. Maybe I should've called Fleur after all…

The next room I saw was the nurse's office. Oh no, this must be where Kunai was being hospitalized. I realized with shame that I hadn't thought of her even once today, even though she bravely stood up against Monokami. Am I that bad a friend? Did somepony even bring her breakfast?

I decided to go in and see what I could do. Better late than never, after all. But when I opened the door, I stopped dead in my tracks.

The nurse's office was surprisingly big. There was a door on the other end of the room, as well as some medical equipment. The main feature were three hospital beds, one of which was occupied. And right there, I saw the most adorable thing ever.

Kunai was lying on the bed, bruised and still covered in her shady cape. Tot He Tei was standing beside her, standing on his hind legs and hugging her. She was weakly ruffling his mane, staring off into space. After a while she noticed me and gave me a small smile.

"I got a pet."

Tot He Tei turned to see who came to visit, then squeaked in excitement and rushed towards me. "Twilight! Kunai says she is alright! She just feels a bit dizzy right now! Tot He Tei brought her breakfast, she was so happy!"

So that's where he went with that platter of sandwiches. I saw it lying on a bedside table, empty except for a few crumbs. Tot He Tei was bouncing in front of me, babbling on and on.

"Auntie Octavia said he should keep Kunai company! He is so proud of this job! Kunai says she feels better with me around!"

"That's… amazing, Tot. Can I just talk with Kunai real quick?"

"Yes yes! Kunai likes talking!" exclaimed Tot He Tei as he jumped aside, almost colliding with an empty bed. I walked in the nurse's office and took a closer look at injured Kunai.

She looked so much better than yesterday when Monokami dragged her off. She was watching me with her deep olive eyes, patiently waiting for me to start a conversation.

"So uhh, Kunai, are you feeling better?"

"Much. Tot He Tei told me there was a meeting. What did I miss?"

"Oh, Blue Ray just gave us all work to do. My task is to detect any enchantments and spells, among other things."

"Sounds important."

I wanted to respond, but instead I shrieked as a door blasted open. Bewilderer rushed out of it, his burned, bald head clearly visible. On his back he was carrying Phoenix, who was wearing the red wig on top of his mane, also red. They looked absolutely ridiculous.

"A PAINKILLER BOMB! Phoenix, you're a genius!"

"Huehuehuehuehue!"

The two inventors made a beeline for the other door, the one I entered from, and disappeared in the hallway.

Kunai summarized the situation in one perfectly fitting word. "What."

"I-I don't know what to say to that…"

"Tot He Tei thinks it was funny!"

Suddenly I was of opinion that a big, two-toned magic wolf wasn't the craziest thing in this madhouse. I distracted myself by casting one of my detection spells, and immediately noticed that Kunai was positively soaked with magic.

I focused on her a bit more, trying to identify the spell. I gasped when I realized that it was a powerful healing sequence. Broken bones were absolutely nothing for it. Injuries that would've taken whole months to heal were almost gone already. At that point, I realized two things:

The barrier, this healing spell, Monokami himself, they were probably all being powered from that one huge spell laying over the whole school like a blanket.

And whoever was casting that spell must have had power of an alicorn at their disposal. Nopony else could cast something this potent.

"You look pale," stated Kunai.

"I just… I just found out something disturbing. Celestia… why?" Was Princess Celestia really in cahoots? She couldn't be! She would never do something like that!

The only other alicorn I knew was my old foalsitter, Princess Cadence. No, she wasn't an option either! She was the princess of love, for crying out loud! A killing game is pretty much the opposite of that!

Then who was it? Who was healing Kunai right now? Who was keeping all that magic flowing?

"I have to go now. Uhh, that dizziness is probably just from magic overdose, you are pretty much healthy. Good luck!"

And I ran. Dammit, why did I wish her good luck? Didn't I just say that she was already healthy? Why do I have to be so damn awkward all the time?

I quickly continued with my search. There were two classrooms next to each other, labeled 1-1-A and 1-1-B. I went to 1-1-B first, since it was right opposite the nurse's office, and I found Caesar there. This looked like a class specifically designed to teach maths, it had a huge blackboard with a supply of chalks and large geometry tools hanging off the walls. Caesar was holding a pencil in his mouth and a triangular ruler in his hooves. He was drawing something, presumably a map of this place. I tried not to disturb him as I ran my standard spell check, then quickly left.

Classroom 1-1-A was different, and it immediately reminded me of my years at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. It was obviously fitted with magic students in mind, it had shelves packed with spellbooks, scrolls, and potions. There were even two magic amplifiers, rune catalogue, colored chalk for drawing magic circles… In short, there was everything I could ever need! I squealed in delight, taking in this treasure cove. With this, me and Trixie could cast far more powerful spells, and perhaps we could even break out of here!

I quickly made a magic check and left, promising to myself that I would return here as soon as possible.

Other places were not nearly as interesting. Teachers' cabinet could hold some interesting info, but Blue Ray and Thunder Roar were already rifling through documents and nothing else was of particular value. The central tower was even less interesting, it was just as Blue Ray said: The stairs were leading nowhere in particular, as all exits except the one I used were blocked off by magic barriers. I tried my luck cracking one of them, but it was just as I expected: The magic behind them was simply too powerful for me. Even if all unicorns in our group united, we would be helpless.

I did discover one thing, though. Just in case, I cast my magic check at the very top of the tower, and I noticed that the mysterious power source felt somewhat closer than when I tried finding it downstairs. Did it mean that the power source was somewhere above us?

I started feeling tired from all the repeated casting. Then I remembered that I had only investigated the rooms on the left from the cafeteria. There was also plenty of rooms on the other side: Our dorms, the main classroom, some other places I haven't been to yet…

This was about to be a long day.

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What's in the Box + Graveyard Shift (Free Time with Blue Ray)

The second meeting during lunch didn't yield the results we were hoping for. The inventor brothers announced that they were able to make some sort of weird bomb using painkillers, among other things. Trixie didn't manage to break the barrier, but came to the same conclusion I did: Everything was being powered from a common power source, maintained by somepony of the same power as Princess Celestia, perhaps even greater. I shared my info with others, mentioning that the power source in question is probably somewhere above us. Kunai showed up for a moment, her abnormally quick recovery was a telling example of the kind of power we were dealing with. Caesar gave each one of us a copy of a map he created.

Aside from that however, we found no clues whatsoever.

"Well, what now?" asked Rainbow Dash.

We looked at each other in awkward silence. It was apparent on everypony's faces: We all expected much more for our endeavors. After this first search, we had no idea what to do next.

"We probably shouldn't have expected it to be this easy," said Fleur. "But we made amazing progress regardless! Wouldn't you agree?"

"I know you're trying to help, Fleur, it's just a bit… disheartening for all of us," mumbled Thunder Roar. "Me and Blue Ray spent half the day going through all the papers, but it was all just worthless trash."

"Not everything was useless, though," said Fleur.

"Hear the truth from the lips of white princess," agreed Limpid Lake. "Mage of the fading sun revealed many secrets, and I am sure there are more to come."

I blushed as I realized he was praising my effort. "Thanks… I can probably research something in the magic classroom…"

A chill ran down my spine as I noticed Trixie giving me a death stare again. What was her problem? What did I do to deserve her hate? I shivered and tried to pretend I didn't see her.

"We are not finished yet," said Blue Ray. He probably wanted to say more, but was interrupted by a sound of cafeteria door opening. It was… Oh no, it was him.

"I am glad to hear that, sweetheart," growled Monokami. He walked slowly forward, a happy grin on his face.

"It would be so sad if you all gave up right away. I'm glad you are showing some spirit!"

"What do you want?" asked Octavia bitterly.

"Yeah, get lost!" shouted Rainbow Dash.

Monokami stopped right in the middle of cafeteria, then suddenly jumped on one of the tables.

"I just wanted to commend you for your effort, you don't have to be so mean! Listen, I know there is some bad blood between us, and that has been bothering me to no end. I want you all to live in harmony, so I was thinking of some way to clear the air."

"You said just yesterday that your goal was to make us, and I quote, succumb to nightmare!" exclaimed Thunder Roar in anger.

"Rrrr, you are so pedantic! Who cares about the details!" barked Monokami. "Listen, you each have a small gift box in your dorm room. A small reminder of your friends and family, a great motivation to find a way out! If you are not interested, whatever, just throw it in the garbage disposal or something. It would be a shame though, many of those items are priceless family heirlooms!"

He dashed for the door, but before he reached them, he turned around and smirked. "You do know that there is always an easy way, right? Whahaha!"

And he disappeared.

…A gift box? What was that supposed to mean? I didn't trust that wolf one bit, and I just knew there was a malicious intent behind his so-called gifts.

"He's giving us a motive," said Caesar dryly.

"Oh balls, that's the last thing we want. How about we all agree to just throw them away?" suggested Thunder Roar.

"I personally… don't want to risk it. Whatever is in those boxes could be valuable to us," said Fleur. Thunder turned to face her, ready for a serious argument.

"Are you really so sure it won't make you want to kill? Monokami probably picked the gift for that purpose specifically!"

"I know that. But we won't kill each other over anything, will we?"

"You can't know that! Do you really trust everypony here so much? Most of us won't be convinced to kill, true. But all we need is one pony to…"

"Would you shut up?" said A. K. Yearling out of nowhere. I almost forgot she even was here with us, she was so taciturn and quiet that even Kunai was sometimes more visible.

"It's up to each of us to decide what to do with that gift. You have no say in that, you arrogant prick."

Thunder snorted in frustration. "Or do I? Our lives are at stake. What if the thing inside the box convinces you to kill me? Will I have no say in THAT as well?!"

"We are not killers! Stop suspecting us!" A. K. Yearling was almost uncharacteristically fired up. Thunder Roar grit his teeth.

"There's no point in arguing with you, is there. I won't bother then. I'll just throw my own box away and lock myself up, you should all do the same."

He headed out to the door, but then stopped right in front of it and turned his head back. "You can't trust anypony in this kind of situation. Not even yourself. Bye."

Then he left. He didn't even give us a chance to respond.

A. K. Yearling snorted in disgust. "Critics. Telling everyone "I'm right, you're wrong". That's all they ever do. Douchebag."

He might have acted a bit condescending, but… he had a point. I felt a sudden shift in atmosphere. I looked around, saw the expressions on my classmates' faces, and knew exactly what they all thought. You can't trust anypony in this situation. Not even yourself. Will… will somepony betray us? Will it be me? Or will I become the victim? Will I live to see the tomorrow?

The air grew thicker and heavier with each second that passed. We were looking at each other, shifting glances from pony to pony. Some looked suspicious, others afraid. Seeds of paranoia were planted in our hearts, not only towards others, but towards ourselves as well.

Would I be capable of murdering an innocent pony? I thought. There was no way that would ever happen, right? But Monokami seemed to be very powerful and cunning, especially if he managed to overthrow Princess Celestia somehow. How much did he know about us? Was it enough to manipulate us to become killers? Was this what he meant by 'succumbing to the nightmare'?

"Friends, there is no need to be so gloomy," said Fleur assuringly. Her voice was gentle and soft, yet it pierced through the silence like a spear. "We can handle this challenge, all we need is to believe in ourselves. Nopony here would kill over some silly box, I am absolutely sure of it."

"Yeah, we can't let Monokami get under our skins," said Blue Ray. "So what do we do with those gift boxes?"

Fleur contemplated that for a second. "We can either look inside, or throw them away at the garbage disposal. I say we let each pony act however they see fit. Whatever you do, I know you will all do the right thing!" she exclaimed with a beaming smile that made our doubts disappear like shadows at high noon. They were still sort of there, but they were so small I could easily ignore them.

"Yeah, Fleur is right! This sort of thinking is what we need!" said Sunny Day, extending his wings.

"What he said!" agreed Rainbow Dash.

"Auntie Fleur, what do you think he should do? He is not sure," said Tot He Tei.

Fleur looked at him with wide eyes. "Oh, am I an aunt too? That's amazing! Well, I don't think he should open it. He is still very young, whatever is in there could hurt his feelings. But he can do whatever he wants, I am just a silly auntie that worries too much!" she said, giggling to herself.

"I still think we should be careful…" said Octavia, her head down.

"Oh don't worry, auntie Octavia! Tot He Tei will be careful!"

"Okay then!" shouted Blue Ray, drowning out the conversation. "Let's all go to our rooms and do whatever. I want this to be over with."

"Me too."

"I shall cast the damned box into the flaming pits of garbage. That way, I need not to worry about the curse of Pandora."

"Phoenix? What are you gonna do?"

"Open it. I'm way too curious to just throw it away! You?"

"Same. Let's open them together!"

"Yeah!"

I left the cafeteria first, leaving everypony behind. I too wanted to get it over with, and staying in one room with Trixie for too long was making me feel all fidgety. She never stopped looking at me, she was always, always fixing her gaze on me. I didn't feel safe around her.

I suddenly had a horrible feeling that she might pick me as a victim. I shuddered and sped up, quickly reaching my room and locking myself in. I exhaled, trying to figure out why my legs won't stop shaking. Oh, right. I was scared. I was scared for my life, thinking that maybe somepony will try to murder me any second now.

The voice of reason told me that I am too difficult a target and that whoever would go against the Ultimate Spellcaster would have a hard time succeeding. But I didn't listen to it. We were all Ultimates here, and some of us would have a great advantage if they ever decided to kill. I was afraid of Trixie, her murderous gaze and her powerful magic. I was afraid of Twitch, the Ultimate Fighter with volatile personality. I was afraid of Kunai, the ghost who could throw one of her namesakes right between my eyes before I could even blink.

There was a small wooden box on my bed. I knew perfectly well what it was doing there. It was a gift for me, a gift meant to turn me into a ruthless murderer. Could a simple object really influence me that much? But I never had any desire to hurt anypony, not even if they hurt me.

Or did I?

I remembered how much I hated Monokami just yesterday. I remembered what I wanted to do to him.

You can't trust anypony in this situation. Not even yourself.

Did I have it in me? Could I trust myself enough to open that box? I sat on my bed, picking up the box in question. Then I stared at it for a while. It felt like several hours had passed.

I didn't want to do anything. I didn't want to face this decision. But I had to.

The question whether I could trust myself or not was bugging me more and more. Should I just go for it and see? After all, if I open it, I'll have my answer. I will know just how moral or amoral I am.

I opened it.

And I supressed my urge to shriek when I saw what was inside.

Small mauve dragon scales. I didn't even have to think about it, I instantly knew who they belonged to.

"SPIKE! WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU!!!" I screamed. I knew that dragon scales were really tough, like a natural armor. They were growing directly from flesh, and pulling them off like this… That must have been a world of agony for him, same as if somepony pulled my own teeth out one by one.

Tears flowed down my cheeks as I struggled for breath. How many scales were there? Four, five, six… Six scales. Six scales pulled right out of my best friend and my faithful assistant. And under them, there was a piece of paper with something written on it. I picked it up with my magic and read the short message.

It's not too late for him.

"You… You stupid, awful… FUCKING wolf!" I cried out. I buried my head into the pillow, soaking it with my tears. Spike… my dear, poor Spike, what did he do to you? What happened to you?

I couldn't believe that somepony would be capable of doing something so horrible. What cruel, twisted, sick mind was behind all this? Who would do this?! Do they have no conscience, no morale? Is it even possible for someone to be that heartless? Why Spike?! Why him?!

Because he was related to me. Monokami used him to get to me. So this is what he wanted. He wanted me to kill in order to get out and save Spike.

I instantly stopped sobbing. I lied idly for a while, then punched the pillow with my hoof.

NO.

No, I won't give in. I won't ever submit to the likes of you, wolf. You hurt Spike, that's a declaration of war. I will never do what you want me to do, I'll resist to the very end. I won't let myself become the killer, or the victim. I won't succumb to the nightmare, no matter what you do to me. You will never succeed! I will beat you, I will get out, I will save Spike, and then you'd better run, because I will never forgive you. The only living being I'm going to kill is YOU.

I clenched my teeth and punched the pillow again. I won't allow it! For the sake of Spike, for the sake of everypony here, I will come out on top! I will not cry, I will not kill, I will not die. Not until this fight is done.

I breathed heavily, remembering my old friends. Spike, Cadance, Moondancer and her gang, my dear mentor Princess Celestia, they might all be in danger. Who knows how far Monokami's influence can reach. But I will save them. I am Twilight Sparkle, the Ultimate Spellcaster and personal protégé of the Sun Goddess! I was unsure before, unsure whether I deserved all those titles and whether I could live up to the expectations. But not anymore. This is a challenge I must pass, no matter what.

I sighed out and smiled involuntarily. Heh, it looks like Monokami's gift had the exact opposite effect. Instead of breaking me, it made me all the more adamant to fight back. I felt strange, it was a sensation I've never felt before. I paid closer attention to it, trying to figure out what it was. This warmth in my chest, this feeling of empowerment, what was it?

Oh, of course! I passed this first trial of my will. I decided to fight and never give up, when just a minute ago I was afraid I would do the opposite.

For the first time in my life, I actually felt proud of myself. No doubts, no "lucky" accomplishments. Just pride.

"I will never succumb to nightmare," I said aloud, hoping that Monokami heard it. Then I turned on my back, facing the ceiling. I kept thinking about Spike, knowing that sooner I break out of here, the sooner I can help him.

Oh Spike… I hope you're not suffering too much… I hope you're still alive… Will I ever see you again?

--FREE TIME--

I spent the rest of the afternoon just contemplating things and calming myself down. We were in a horrible situation, and I knew that this was just a tip of the iceberg. I thought about other students, pondering who could become a killer.

Just to be sure, I cast an invisible anti-magic armor on me, and I started reviewing all the self-defense spells I knew. I really wanted to believe that nopony would murder their classmates, but…

I got hungry again. Looking at a clock that was hanging on the wall above the bed, I found out that it was six in the evening. A reasonable time to get dinner. I headed out, taking slow, careful steps, looking all around me. The hallway suddenly looked darker than I remembered it. My magic could detect some ponies around me, but I didn't know where. They were probably in their own rooms. Probably…

I was getting antsy again. I breathed out and picked up a pace with a goal to reach the cafeteria as quickly as possible. When I reached it, I saw Blue Ray and Trixie inside. Oh no, why her? Why her, of all ponies?!

I went in, said a quick "Hi, guys" and headed straight for the kitchen. I made myself the same salad I had for lunch, although a smaller portion this time. Then I picked a seat right opposite Blue Ray, he was far better company than Trixie.

"So, Twilight, how did it go?" he asked.

"Huh? What?"

"The whole box thing. Did you open it, or did you discard it?"

"I… I sort of opened it." And found my best friend's skin inside. "What about you?"

"Huh, I figured you would discard it. Was it some sort of scholar's curiosity?"

"No, I was doubting myself. I didn't know if I could trust myself enough to know that I would never kill anypony. So I opened it, and… Now I know. But more importantly-"

"Know what? That you would indeed never kill?"

"Yes, but what about you? Did you open it?"

Blue Ray laid back and exhaled in relief. He gave me a small smile. "You don't even know how glad I am to hear that. And no, I didn't open it. My box went right in the trash."

"Oh… Good for you, I guess?"

Blue Ray quickly glanced at Trixie, who was pretending to ignore us. But I still felt her watching me.

"Can we talk somewhere else? I need to tell you something important," whispered Blue Ray. "Just leave the salad here, you can eat later."

I looked up from my meal. "What? Is it… is it that urgent?"

"Yes."

He was acting strange again, but in a different way. I got up from my seat, and Blue Ray quickly led me outside. We walked side by side, I was watching him in confusion, he was looking at the ceiling with a distant expression.

"Thanks for being patient with me, I know I'm acting weird," he said.

"N-no problem, what is it?"

"Let's find a place to sit first. How about the magic classroom? I doubt anypony will disturb us there."

He was leading me somewhere where we would be alone. He was acting strange. A sudden feeling of dread shot through my spine, and I slowed down, lagging slightly behind him. Was he really… Trying to…?

He looked back at me. "What's the holdup? Come on."

Blue Ray… what are you doing? What are you planning? Did you really discard your giftbox as you claim, or did you take a peek?

I was getting my defensive spells ready. I didn't want to get caught off-guard. When Blue Ray saw me tensing up, he snickered.

"Oh, riiiiight. Relax, I'm not leading you into a trap of any sort. I promise."

"Why should I believe you? You are acting suspicious!"

"Look, I'm not a killer." He gulped and looked elsewhere. "But somepony else is. And that's what I need to talk to you about. You're the only pony I trust right now, Twilight, so please, will you hear me out? Somewhere private?"

"Wait! What do you mean by somepony else?!" I panicked. Did a murder occur somewhere already? Was one of my classmates dead?!

"Hey hey hey, everypony is still alive! Relax!" Blue Ray shouted. "Hey, um, I'll explain it, I promise. Let's just go, okay?"

We continued in silence, and after a short walk we reached classroom 1-1-A. As Blue Ray predicted, it was completely empty. I was still feeling uneasy, but somehow I felt that Blue Ray really wasn't planning anything shady. He dragged one of the chairs away from its desk, then another one. The two chairs were facing each other, and he sit on one of them. A gesture tacitly told me that the second chair was mine. I sat on it, not leaving Blue Ray from my sight for even one second.

"I could tell you are suspicious of me, even if you didn't tell me outright. Sorry for all this, but I really need to get this off my chest."

"What is it, Blue Ray? Just spit it out."

He fidgeted in his seat. The door was behind him, so he had to turn around to see it. He did just that, which made me think just which one of us was acting more paranoid.

"You know that I'm the Ultimate Seeker, right?"

"Yes. You told me yourself that you can find anything."

"Alright. So… Today, just before lunch, I had an idea. Why don't I just keep looking for a pony that plans to kill?"

I stayed silent for a while, trying to process what he just said. "W-what? You could find them?"

"That's the thing, I couldn't. If I try to look for something that simply can't be found because it doesn't exist, I get this strange feeling, I can't describe it. And I felt exactly that as I was looking for a soon-to-be-killer. I couldn't find anypony who was planning a murder, because such a pony simply didn't exist."

He let out a shaky breath.

"I know it sounds crazy, but that's just how my talent works. It's a weird ability, supernatural almost. But I have it, and I can't explain it."

He seemed so on edge, so disturbed, that I suddenly felt sorry for him. "It's okay, Blue Ray. I believe you!"

He laughed weakly. "Yeah, sure you are. Just a second ago you thought I was gonna kill you."

"Sorry! I'm just really on edge from…" I waved my hoof around me, "all this!"

"Yeah, me too. Anyway, the most important part… I kept searching, even though I knew it was futile. And shortly after we were sent to deal with our gifts… That feeling disappeared."

My heart was pounding in my chest. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that now, if I really tried to find a pony planning a murder, I would find one. Twilight, somepony is already planning to kill one of us!"

And now my heart was racing. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Are… Are you sure?"

"My intuition is never wrong! My dad even gave me a nickname Clairvoyance Ray, that's how well it works! That's why I asked you how you dealt with your gift! I knew you weren't the one who I was looking for, but just in case…"

"I'm not a killer!" I exclaimed a bit louder than I wanted to.

"I know, I know! I trust you, you don't look like… that."

"Do you know who it is? Can you tell me the name?"

"I… I can't. I just know they exist…" His breathing was getting faster and faster, and he started talking to himself. "Come on, Blue Ray, get it together. Don't fall apart like this! Don't-"

I rushed to him and gave him a hug. I still didn't know if I could believe his words, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that my friend was obviously distressed and needed my help. Blue Ray found out that something horrible was about to happen, but he didn't have any evidence and most ponies wouldn't take his warning seriously. I couldn't even imagine how I would react if I got put into this kind of situation.

"I believe you, Blue Ray, don't worry." It was only half true, but who cares. He shook in my embrace for a few seconds, then calmed down and hugged me back. "S-see? My intuition is never wrong. I knew you'd help me… Thank you, thank you for hearing me out."

I patted him on the back, then broke the embrace. Blue Ray was smiling and looked far more confident now.

"So, what are we going to do?" I asked.

"I think… I think I'll just keep looking. I'll find them eventually."

"Are you crazy?! They'll just kill you!" I exclaimed.

"Really? Did you know that I am affiliated with Baltimare Police? That I know two different martial arts? That I already gave couple of baddies a good smack-down? Oh, sorry, this looks like I'm bragging."

"…You are with Baltimare Police?"

"Well, not exactly. My dad works there as an investigator, but I soon started following him around. First he didn't want me to, but once I found a vital clue one too many times he accepted me as his sidekick of sorts. I'm still too young to work, so officially I was just a young colt that wasn't attending any sort of high school. That is, until Princess Celestia came and invited me here. Everypony was so proud of me."

"So, were you planning to join the police after you graduated?" I asked.

"Nah, just a private detective. You know the type: Hard-boiled badass in a trench coat and a fancy hat, trotting down the dark streets of Baltimare… Yeah, that would be amazing. Detective Blue Ray, at your service!"

He tapped his nonexistent hat and made a silly, overly serious face. I laughed at his antics and felt much better around him. The old Blue Ray was back, light-hearted and easygoing.

"That's a great ambition! Do you read noir stories by any chance?"

"Do I? I've read every single one there is! I just love that genre!"

We kept talking about our favorite detective stories for a while, discussing storylines, plot twists, authors, every single aspect. He really was well-read in that regard, and he talked about every book with an excitement of a true fan. I personally haven't read that much noir literature, but I knew several authors who were considered the best ones. Blue Ray knew all about them and told me everything. We ended up spending hours in that classroom, just chatting.

I can't even describe how good that felt. All my anxiety melted away as I was discussing some of my favorite books with another bookworm. This was just what I needed after that horrible unboxing, and Blue Ray evidently needed it too. We talked, we laughed, and we forgot about the world around us. That is, until Blue Ray unexpectedly jumped back into reality with a very uncomfortable question.

"So, you said you opened your box? What was in it?"

And just like that, my good mood evaporated. I slouched in my chair, looking at the floor. "It was… You know, back home I had an assistant. He was my best friend, his name was Spike. He was a baby dragon."

"You even have a dragon helper? You really are the Ultimate Mage!"

"Not Mage, I'm the Ultimate Spellcaster. I'm pretty sure only Limpid Lake calls me a mage, and Limpid Lake is, well, odd."

"Yeah, I know, but it sounds so amazing, don't you think?"

"Hmm, it does sound more catchy than 'Ultimate Spellcaster'. Anyway, in that box I found Spike's scales."

"…What the buck? Scales?"

"Yes. Scales… It must've been really painful… when they pulled them off…"

And now I was the one subjected to a hug. Was I crying? I was crying. I didn't even notice. Blue Ray did, however, and he was squeezing the life out of me.

"I'm so sorry! That must be awful if your friend is being held hostage like this!"

"He was not just my friend… I first saw him when he was still in the egg, I hatched him myself… Dammit, why Spike? Why?!"

"Twi, just cry it out. I'm here."

And so I cried. I cried for Spike. And Princess Celestia. And all the other friends that I lost. There weren't many, but that made them all the more precious, and their loss all the more painful.

"I… I promised I wouldn't let Monokami break me…" I sobbed. "I promised I wouldn't cry… I have to get out of here and save him!"

"But… you won't kill."

"I will. I will kill Monokami. Eventually, when I figure out how…"

I managed to stop the flow of tears and looked at Blue Ray. "That wolf deserves no mercy. Perhaps that's what you felt when you were looking for a murderer?"

"Nah, that's not it. If it was you, I would know the moment I saw you. I have this overwhelming feeling whenever I find what I'm looking for, and you're not it."

"So we still have to deal with whoever is planning a murder?"

"Yes. But I'll take care of that. I'm not gonna sleep tonight, instead I'll just keep looking." Blue Ray gave me an assuring smile, but I was still not convinced about his plan.

"I'll find out who they are, then promptly warn the others. There is no way they're pulling it off. And they don't even have to know that I've discovered them. That's why I wanted to talk to you in private. I can't just announce it to everypony, the murderer would know I'm after them."

"It's dangerous, Ray!" I said, looking him right in the eyes.

"I know. And I'm gonna be extra careful. But if I don't act, that pony will just go and off somebody."

"…Why are you saying all of this to me in particular?"

"You are the only pony I trust, I could never imagine you as a murderer."

"Oh?" I perked my ears in curiosity. "And… why is that?"

"Well, it's just that you're so innocent and sweet…"

I realized something. We were still hugging, standing on our hind hooves and talking face to face, so close that we must've looked like we were about to kiss. And he just said that I was innocent and sweet… I squeaked in embarrassment and jumped away, leaving Blue Ray to clumsily fall back on all four. I was blushing like a radish, trying to cover my face.

Blue Ray looked equally as flustered. "Well, this is… kinda awkward, I probably shouldn't have said that…"

"I… I appreciate the compliment, I really do! I just… I don't know…"

"We can talk about this later, right? I think we should just leave it for now…"

"Yes, that's reasonable… I still have a dinner to eat."

"And I should go on my patrol."

"Okay then, I'll… I'll see you tomorrow, bye!"

"Bye!"

We couldn't leave the classroom fast enough. I galloped to the cafeteria, Blue Ray headed the other way. What just happened? My heart wouldn't stop pounding into my ribs, it was trying to jump out of my body! And this fluttering, hot sensation in my stomach, as if somepony lit a candle…

What just happened?

I reached cafeteria and went inside. I noticed right away that Trixie was gone, as well as my dinner.

That… That… pony! Who does she think she is?!

Flustered and annoyed at the same time, I went to the kitchen and just quickly grabbed some peanut butter crackers so I wouldn't go to bed completely hungry. I looked at the clock. Oh my, was it 10 pm already? Did I just spend four hours talking to Blue Ray?

I went to my bedroom, contemplating. Just two days ago, I woke up in the main classroom, completely unaware of what was going on. It felt like it happened centuries ago…

"Attention sweethearts! It is now 10 pm, and it is officially nighttime! Please be considerate of other students and don't make too much noise! After all, a loud murder is a sloppy one!"

Oh shut up!

I closed the door behind me, collapsed on my bed and fell asleep instantly. Just before my consciousness faded away, I was thinking about Blue Ray and the awkward situation in the magic classroom…

What the hell happened?

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Author's Note

Would you open it? :trixieshiftright:

For technical reasons, I'll have to write the next two chapters together before publishing them. And I'm also getting ready to start studying at uni, so it might take some time before the next update. Sorry! :twilightblush:

Of Dilemmas and Feathers - Deadly Life

"Rise and shine, sweethearts! It is 7 am., and nighttime is officially over! Another day full of joy, friendship, and magic, waaaauuu!"

The lights turned on, and once again, I closed my burning eyes and grunted in frustration. Why did they have to turn on by themselves, couldn’t we just have a switch or something? This was only a second time I got woken up by Monokami’s annoying announcement and harsh light, and I was already going mad.

I eventually got up and headed to the cafeteria for a breakfast. On my way, I met Sunny Day and Rainbow Dash again, and we exchanged nods. They were together all the time, weren’t they.

We were the first to arrive, and we used the advantage to make our breakfasts undisturbed and claim the best seats. Sunny Day convinced Rainbow to try out some fish, I just made myself a hayburger. Not that I had anything against meat eaters, as long as they kept it for themselves, but I would never touch the stuff.

Eventually, the cafeteria filled up. Fleur arrived shortly after us, accompanied by Limpid Lake and Thunder Roar. The next one to come was Trixie, who I still had to get back for that stunt she pulled yesterday with my dinner. When the inventors stormed in, they almost knocked over an entire table. They were like little foals, only bigger, heavier, and therefore more dangerous to their surroundings.

Octavia arrived later, with Tot He Tei hopping around her. The room was getting pretty lively, with eleven ponies eating, chatting, and laughing. Then the door opened once again…

…and Monokami rushed in, coming to a screeching halt in the middle of the cafeteria. He jumped in place, then started chasing his own tail. "So excited, so excited! Wauu! I can just taste it in my mouth! Oooh, are you two eating meat? We have so much in common! Wauu, wauu!"

This felt weird. Monokami was usually acting a bit different, what got him so pumped up? "What do you want?" asked Thunder Roar with contempt.

"Oooh nothing, there’s absolutely nothing I need from you! Ooooh my gosh, this is gonna be good!"

What was going to be good? Why was he so happy? What happened?

And then it hit me. Monokami’s goal all along was to make us murder each other, right? And if he was so pumped up…

Several ponies were missing. I’ve come to expect it from some of them, true. But there was one…

One pony that shouldn’t be missing…

Oh no…

Oh no!

"I… g-guys, I-I think we should look… look around!" I stammered in terror. Some of my classmates looked around the room, and in their eyes I could see that they came to the same realization I did.

Without a word, we rushed out of the cafeteria, each one of us running somewhere else. I headed for the magic classroom, maybe he was there…

…but then I saw something right in front of me. Something in the central tower.

A pony lying on the floor.

Unmoving…

His white mane all soaked in blood.

Lifeless…

His right wing sticking out in an unnatural angle.

Dead…

His blue feathers scattered all around him.

Blue Ray!

BLUE RAAAAAAY!!!

I screamed like never before. It was coming straight from my lungs, an involuntary cry that just wouldn’t stop. My legs collapsed, I ran out of breath. Then I hiccuped, my eyes fixated on the bloody corpse before me.

"NOOOOO!" I shouted once again, shakily getting back on my hooves and stumbling closer to him. "Blue Ray… What did they do to you?! Why? WHY?! Why Blue Ray?!"

I was hyperventilating. My breathing was so rapid I was beggining to feel light-headed. Somepony screamed. I didn’t know who, I didn’t even see them. All I could see were those lifeless eyes, staring into my own.

It looked so morbid… So haunting… So nightmarish… Poor Blue Ray got brutally murdered!

"Twilight!" Somepony grabbed my shoulder. It was Thunder Roar. "Focus on your breathing! Deep, slow breaths! Come on, don’t pass out!"

His commanding voice somehow got through my shock and I did as he said. I took a deep breath, filling up my lungs completely, then let it all out. In a few seconds, my breathing was back to normal.

And then I broke. I burst into tears, unable to form a single thought in my head. I just cried for Blue Ray, hiccuping against my will and shaking like a leaf in the wind. You… You didn’t deserve this, Blue Ray! Why you? Why…

"A body has been discovered! A class trial will start in a certain amount of time. Make sure you are prepared until then! Wauuu!"

The announcement only made me feel even more miserable. I wasn't hallucinating this, Blue Ray was really, truly dead!

By the time my senses came back to me, everypony had already gathered in the central tower. Most of us panicked, Fleur and Thunder tried in vain to calm them down. That was it. We lost our classmate. He was killed. And the one responsible was…

"This is so priceless! The thrills, the chills, the kills! I am so excited I am about to fall apart from all that shaking!" exclaimed Monokami, running down the stairs.

"You! You predatory, bipolar monster!" shouted Limpid Lake.

"You murdered him in cold blood!" screamed Sunny Day.

"How could you?" cried out Rainbow Dash.

"Now now, sweethearts, hold your horses! As much as I approve of this particularly nasty murder, I am not the one who did it! Nooo, it’s way better than that! I saw the whole thing unfold right in front of my eye, and the killer who offed Blue Ray is one of you!"

"No… This isn't…" lamented Phoenix.

"You're lying! You have to be lying!" screamed Bewilderer.

"Wanna bet your life? I am Monokami, everything I say is always true!"

"This killer… They were motivated by that giftbox you gave us all yesterday, right?" asked Thunder Roar.

"You're right on the money, girly face! And if they manage to conceal their identity from the rest of you during the class trial, you know what will follow! Wha-ha-ha!"

Class trial… He really wanted to force us to go through with it. This sick, perverted game of his…

"Please recall the rules by which the class trial is conducted! They will be very important in the following hours! If somepony lost their copy of the rules, feel free to get a new one from the teachers' cabinet, there's a huge pile of them right on the table."

"I… actually have my copy on me," said Bewilderer as he pulled the paper in question from a wide pocket in his overalls. We gathered around him to read the rules once again.

--NIGHTMARE ACADEMY: GRADUATION--

1) The only way of graduating, and by extension leaving the school, is to become "blackened" and pass the class trial.

2) The student becomes "blackened" after murdering one of their fellow classmates.

3) When the body is discovered, there is a brief preparation time before the class trial starts. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students.

4) During the class trial, the collective goal of the class is to discover who the blackened is. The culprit is decided by popular vote.

5) If the voted culprit is "blackened", they alone will be punished. If an innocent classmate is accused instead, everypony BUT the blackened is punished, and the killer will successfully graduate.

---

So this was it… In order to see the light of tomorrow, we had to convict whoever was responsible for this crime. It was either them, or all of us.

I felt sick…

"Oh, one last thing and I'll be out of your manes! It would be a bit unfair if you were left to fend for yourselves, after all, the only one who had some investigating experience is lying broken right here! So for this reason, you will be provided an autopsy report to help you figure out whodunnit! Fillies and gentlecolts, behold! It's a Monokami File!"

With those words, he magically sent a flurry of papers right in our faces. As usual, each of us got one, so we could all read an autopsy report describing how Blue Ray died. Part of me didn't want to see it at all, but I forced myself to.

MONOKAMI FILE #1:

The victim was Blue Ray, a 17 year old pegasus. Time of death is 6:56 am. He has suffered numerous injuries: Two left ribs have been broken, his right wing has been dislocated, and his head has suffered a blunt force trauma. The killer also managed to break his neck, which can be safely assumed to be the fatal wound. No foreign substances (poison, sleeping drugs etc.) were found in his bloodstream.

New Truth Bullet: Monokami File #1

When I raised my head, Monokami was already gone. Blue Ray… Why did you have to go on that gamble? I should've been more adamant, I should've stopped you!

Thunder Roar put his hoof on my shoulder. "Twilight, how are you feeling right now?"

"He's dead, Thunder! He's dead! It's my fault!" I sobbed.

"Don't you dare feel guilty for this! The only one responsible is the killer, nopony else," he said in a harsh voice.

"B-but I knew he was in danger! He put his neck on the line, and I didn't stop him!"

"…You might want to tell me the whole story."

I nodded shakily, and started recounting what I knew. I told Thunder everything about my last conversation with Blue Ray, about his instincts, about his vow to find the killer, and about his night watch.

New Truth Bullet: Instincts of Clairvoyant Ray

When I reached the end, Thunder was giving me a strange look of disbelief. "That is… Pretty bizarre. Is something like that even possible?"

"It's what he told me! I d-don't know if it was real or not!"

"Sure." He kept silent for a while, then coughed and shifted his balance a bit. "Hey, I know this is all really devastating, but could you suppress emotions for a while and investigate this murder for me? I still need to wrangle this herd of panicky horses," he said and pointed vaguely in the direction of our classmates, running around in shock.

I stayed silent for a while. "It… it doesn't seem like I have a choice. We're all… going to die if we d-don't figure this out…"

"That's the same mindset I put myself in," said Thunder, making a little, sad smile. "You're stronger than you think."

That surprised me a lot. "You… think so?"

"Yes. Now come on, let's get to the bottom of this. I noticed something weird about the closet under the stairs, there seem to be some magic on it. Can you take a look at that first?"

I nodded, feeling a bit better after Thunder talked some sense into me. Grief for my murdered friend was still burning like a hot ember, but I knew what I had to do. I remembered what I promised myself: Never become a killer, or a victim. Right now, I had to do all in my power to discover the killer, because if I didn't, it would all go down the drain. Me and my classmates would all die, the killer would go free, and I would never be able to help my friends outside.

I approached the closet door and noticed the weird thing Thunder mentioned. It was a magical seal, floating just in front of the door, locking it in place. Who would lock the door like this and why? What were they hiding in there?

New Truth Bullet: Magic Seal

I started preparing a spell to break the seal, I felt that whatever the killer hid in the closet would help us greatly. But I got stopped by somepony.

"Not so fast, Sparky."

Trixie came up to me, her condescending tone made me remember why I had been trying so hard to avoid this mare. She continued:

"Use that brain of yours every once in a while, will you? Were you seriously considering to just break that?"

"Yes! Do you have a better idea or are you just smack talking?"

"The Great and Powerful Trixie enjoys the benefit of both, in fact. Coming up with a better idea than you, AND putting you in your place at the same time. Killing two birds with one stone, as they say."

"Will you just get on with it? What am I supposed to do, if not break it?"

"It would be prudent to confirm where that seal came from, BEFORE we destroy it for good. It was most likely from one of the scrolls in the magic classroom. But that's just a theory, we need facts."

I was caught speechless. "That's… I admit, that's actually pretty smart."

"Naturally, it was MY idea after all. I will look into that, you do whatever you want. Try not to destroy any more evidence while I'm gone, will you?" said Trixie as she let out a bitter laughter and walked out of the tower.

This pony… Wasn't she the only one besides me who was proficient in the field of magic? I looked at the seal once again. I sure didn't put it there…

"Thunder?!" I yelled. The turquoise pony in question was debating something with Fleur, but he turned his head as soon as he heard me.

"Yeah?"

"That weird thing you saw is a magic seal. It's preventing us from entering the closet, I can break it, but Trixie doesn't want me to. She says we should first find out where it came from. But the thing is, she is the only one besides me who is a skilled magician. Don't you think it's suspicious that we found a magical seal here and she doesn't want us to touch it? She might be hiding something."

Thunder paused for a moment, thinking it through, then called Caesar and whispered something to him. Caesar nodded and left the tower.

"There, he's keeping an eye on her. I don't think even the Ultimate Illusionist can pull some tricks on that guy," said Thunder.

I nodded in agreement. Trixie was acting a bit suspicious right now, but if she really proved that the seal came from one of the scrolls, then anypony could have cast it, not just unicorns. If she couldn't prove a connection, then only unicorns would be suspects. That would include me…

I stopped that train of thought before it even started, and instead thought about what to do next. I really wanted to just break that seal, but I didn't feel like unnecessarily angering Trixie… yet. I decided to check something else instead.

There was that body on the floor, right in the middle on the tower… I really didn't want to do this. Blue Ray looked as if he got run over by a stampede, just a bit worse. Whoever did this to him didn't hold back, and I felt nauseous just thinking how painful it must have been for him. But I knew I had to investigate his corpse sooner or later. Might as well do it now…

I approached his lifeless body, but then Twitch stopped me dead in my tracks. "No intruders, beat it."

"What? What is the meaning of this?" I asked, confused.

"Twitch and I are on guard duty," said Rainbow Dash out of nowhere. She was hovering above us. "She's the muscle and I'm the lookout, so nopony can alter the crime scene! Thunder's orders."

"But I've been appointed the investigator! I have to at least take a look at him, right?"

"We weren't told anything," retorted Twitch.

"Since when are you following orders?"

Rainbow flied down and landed next to me. "Heeey, don't piss her off, let's just be glad she cooperates, okay?"

"Yeah. Be glad," grunted Twitch. Rainbow Dash shook her head, then continued. "Thunder! Can Twilight look at the body?"

"Urrgh, yes she can! Wasn't that obvious?" he shouted back, obviously irritated about ponies bothering him constantly.

Twitch rolled her eyes. "Sure, whatever. Look around. But if I see you doing anything suspicious, there will be a whole lot more blood than there is already, you hear?" she growled.

"Umm… yes?" I answered, trying to stay out of her reach. Twitch was smaller than me, but had muscles and scars all over her body, and that, combined with her title of the Ultimate Fighter, made her one of the most intimidating ponies I knew.

I took a closer look at Blue Ray. I felt like crying again, seeing him like this and knowing that he would never wake up, that I would never hear him speak again. I breathed out and tried to focus on investigating instead. A dislocated wing, a bloody wound on his head, a broken neck, and according to Monokami File, he had some broken ribs too. I couldn't help but wonder: Was all that necessary? Did he get in a fight with his killer? Maybe the killer themselves got some wounds as well?

I looked back at Twitch. At her terrifying posture, her numerous scars… Some of them might have been fresh and nopony would've even noticed. I felt like I found another suspect, but as long as Rainbow Dash was flying around, I didn't need to worry about Twitch destroying any clues. They were watching each other as much as they were watching everypony else.

I took a closer look at the wing. It was actually lying on Blue Ray's back, which made it look very disturbing. No pegasus was able to move their wings into such an angle that they could cover their own back, no wonder Blue Ray's wing got dislocated.

So what did this mean for me? If Blue Ray was standing upright when he got hit, and his wings were open, in order to get in this state his right wing must've been hit from… below? Was that some sort of uppercut? I've never seen a pony do it with their bare hooves, did they have some sort of blunt weapon?

New Truth Bullet: Dislocated Wing

"I… think I'm good for now," I said. I didn't want to look at the corpse any more than necessary, I'd have to ask Thunder or somepony to investigate that for me. I just didn't have the stomach to check him thoroughly.

"That was brief," commented Rainbow. I ignored her and walked up the stairs. I needed to go somewhere, anywhere, just away from Blue Ray and other ponies. I needed to clear my head, I needed a moment of peace, I needed…

What was up with those stairs?

My eyes slowly scanned the stairs below and above me, and I figured out what was so weird about them. The last time I came here to look for enchantments, the stairs were pretty dusty. But now, they were cleaned and even a bit wet…

…But only at some spots.

It was like somepony cleaned random parts of the staircase while not bothering with the rest. I ran up the stairs, looking for all the clean spots. Overall, it looked like roughly one sixth of the stairs got cleaned, while the rest remained untouched. What in Equestria could that mean?

New Truth Bullet: Oddly Cleaned Stairs

I found myself at the top of the tower once again. Somewhere deep below me, my classmates were running around, trying their best to figure out the mystery. I sighed out, thankful for this moment of peace. I looked up, taking deep breaths.

Blood?

There was blood over there!

And my moment of peace was gone in a flash. There was a support beam right under the roof of the tower, and it had a small bloodstain on it. What would it be doing way up here? Could I explain it somehow, using the evidence I've discovered so far?

A picture started forming in my head. Maybe, just maybe…

New Truth Bullet: Bloodstained Support Beam

I fell into a trance as I descended down the staircase. I was mulling over the entire case, wondering about who could be the culprit. Could I trust that theory I had? If yes, then roughly one third of us were already clear of suspicion.

I stopped myself before I could elaborate more. Don't latch onto a theory, Twilight. In one of the books I've read, there was a detective who would always collect all the evidence first, and only then he would start making theories. This way he made sure that he would always alter his theories according to new evidence, and not the other way around.

Blue Ray read this book too. It was his favorite.

I clenched my teeth. I just couldn't stop thinking about him! He just went and died, just a few minutes ago! If the Monokami File was accurate, then he died just as we were being woken up by the morning announcement. Just a few minutes ago!

I arrived to others with tears in my eyes. I wondered: Could somepony cry infinitely, without a break?

"Just in time, Sparky! Look at what the Great and Powerful Trixie discovered while you were slacking off!"

Go away. Just… piss off. You're the last pony I want to see. That's what I wanted to say, but my mouth let out some completely different words. "What is it?"

"I opened this peculiar closet, and look at this evidence I found!"

I would've found that evidence if you didn't stop me. Is fame really so important to you that you have to steal discoveries from others? I looked inside the closet, and what I saw was…

"Is that… A bucket with a mop and bloody water in it?"

"Exactly. No doubt left by the killer after a little clean-up." She glanced over to Blue Ray's messy corpse, and there was a very brief moment of hesitation in her eyes.

"I wonder though…" she mumbled, "what exactly they cleaned."

"Take a closer look at the stairs, Trixie," I said, enjoying this little triumph over her. I figured it out before you did, ha!

New Truth Bullet: Bloody Mop and Bucket

Trixie came back to me, a bitter expression on her face. "So stairs, huh? How did you notice that? Are you used to looking at the floor as you hang your head in shame?"

"No, I just don't keep my head in the clouds all the time, unlike you," I retorted. Where did that come from? Since when was I so vitriolic?

Trixie snorted. "Well… I… If you think that I…"

She grunted in frustration and turned around, storming out of the tower. She shouted back: "And by the way, that seal really did come from the magic classroom! You're welcome!"

Truth Bullet Updated: Magic Seal

And she was gone. It felt good to get her back, but seeing her angered and hurt like this…

I suddenly felt horrible for insulting her. Why did I have to do that? Yes, she was belittling me ever since we met, but I was supposed to be a better pony and ignore her, not to sink to her level! I sat down, feeling ashamed and exasperated from all this. I've had enough. I just wanted to lie down on my bed and sleep it off.

Thunder Roar came in, tired and annoyed. "Why is Trixie walking around the hallway and cursing?"

"Twilight showed her what for!" answered Rainbow Dash. Dammit, Rainbow! Why did you have to say it?

"Yeah, that arrogant bitch was annoying us all to no end. Twilight shut her up," said Twitch.

Thunder Roar looked like he was about to explode. He pulled at his scarf, clenching his teeth. "We have… A bloody corpse… Right here on the floor… And you… Still bicker… Among yourselves?"

"I'm sorry, I lost my patience! I didn't mean to insult her!"

"She deserved it!"

"Yeah."

"But that's not important right now!" Thunder was almost shouting at this point. "We have to discover the killer, or we're all done for! You ponies have your priorities all scrambled, I swear!"

He took a deep breath. "Please tell me you at least found something."

"I did…" I just wanted to die. Thunder was right, I screwed up big time. The murder was important, our petty squabbles and rivalries were not. I felt the shame burning in my chest. I just hung my head, telling Thunder about every piece of evidence I found so far. He listened without interrupting me, nodding his head every once in a while.

"So, is that everything?" he asked after I finished.

"Yes, there's not much else…"

"Thank you for doing this for me. Why don't you go to the cafeteria to calm your nerves? I'll take it from here." I couldn't tell if he was doing this because he saw how distressed I was, or because he wanted to throw me out of here due to the Trixie fiasco. I just nodded and left without another word.

Oh Twilight, you stupid, stupid little filly.

When I entered the cafeteria, I found out that most of our class was here. Trixie was absent, probably sulking in her room. Caesar still had a task of tracking her, so he was nowhere to be seen either. Rainbow and Twitch were on guard duty back in the tower, and Thunder was investigating Blue Ray's death. Everypony else was here, counting ten ponies in total.

Fleur and Octavia were taking care of Tot He Tei, who was just staring off into space. He looked even worse than usual. I approached them slowly, trying my best not to cause any more trouble.

"Is he alright?" I asked.

"Poor colt, he saw the corpse before we could stop him…" said Fleur.

"It was just for a second or two, but still enough to scar him for life," added Octavia.

"Tot He Tei… wants to go home…" The words were lazily rolling off his tongue as if he was in a trance. Fleur gave him a gentle hug.

"We all want to go home, Tot. Don't worry, we'll get out. I promise to him."

"He… wants to go home…"

I couldn't watch anymore. Tot He Tei was apparently so devastated that he couldn't even feel anything. He was just out of it, not even hearing the ponies around him.

We were all pretty much adult ponies. We were shocked from the murder, true, but we could cope with it somehow. Why did Tot have to end up here with us? Why him, why a little foal? Was this meant to make the entire killing game even more cruel?

I wandered around, until I stumbled upon the two inventors. They looked surprisingly well, sounding only a little glum as they discussed the possible culprits.

"I still think it was Twitch. You know, if it turned out this wasn't her first murder, I wouldn't be surprised at all," said Bewilderer.

"But isn't that a bit too obvious? I mean, she would be an ideal pony to frame," retorted Phoenix.

"Bro, it's clearly Twitch. That door slamming this morning, it was her returning from the crime."

My ears perked up. "Uh, I'm sorry I was eavesdropping, but what was that about doors?"

"Oh, hi Twilight," said Bewilderer, changing his tone of voice to be a slightly more chipper. "It's about something that happened this morning. Just before the announcement, I got woken up by somepony slamming the door. It was crazy loud, at first I thought something exploded!"

"I didn't hear anything, though!" protested Phoenix.

"Well, you're a heavy sleeper. And you snore like a chainsaw, no wonder you didn't hear it."

"Shut up."

"Did you check out the hallway?" I asked.

"I did, but there was nopony there. Twitch went inside her room and shut the door behind her, it's logical she wouldn't be there."

I suddenly got an idea and looked at the map Caesar gave us yesterday. This could turn out to be a vital clue.

New Truth Bullet: Bewilderer's Account

New Truth Bullet: Caesar's Map

"This might be important. Thanks a lot, Bewilderer."

"No problem, Twi! Do you have your suspect yet? Phoenix here thinks it was Kunai, but I'm pretty sure it was Twitch."

"I don't want to jump to conclusions, sorry…" I said, but I already had a theory. It wasn't pointing to any specific pony, but it could narrow down the list of suspects considerably. And speaking of Kunai…

There were two ponies who didn't reveal their race. Both Kunai and A. K. Yearling were wearing clothes to hide any potential wings, and they might very well be unicorns as well: Kunai was so good at hiding that she might very well hide a horn under her cloak, and A. K. Yearling was constantly wearing her hat.

I said goodbye to the inventors and headed straight for A. K. Yearling, the Ultimate Writer. I never talked to her, did I? She was such a shut-in and we had so much to worry about in the past few days that I didn't even get to know her properly. If only the circumstances were better…

"Um… Excuse me, miss Yearling?"

She lifted her head from a notebook. Apparently, she's been writing something down. "Hmm?"

"I'm sorry to ask, but… What is your race? It's not exactly easy to tell…"

"Is that relevant to the case?"

"Yes! Yes, it is!"

"Alright. In that case, pegasus. Is that all?"

"Yes, thank you…"

She didn't say one more word to me, instead she went back to scribbling. I walked away, feeling slightly stupid for some reason. Nevertheless, I knew what I wanted to know, A. K. Yearling was a pegasus. Now for Kunai…

"Kunai?" I cried out. There was no answer. Was she even here? I could never tell, what with her invisibility tricks.

"Kunai, are you here?" No answer.

"Did anypony here see Kunai?" I asked everypony. The inventors shrugged, Limpid Lake shook his head and Sunny Day whinnied. "Nopony ever sees Kunai!" he remarked.

"See, bro? She's suspecting her too," said Phoenix with a touch of pride in his voice.

The door suddenly opened to reveal Thunder Roar and Caesar. They were talking about something.

"That reminds me, Caesar, I need to know who was here in cafeteria for a breakfast and who was absent."

"Don't look at me, I wasn't here."

"…Alright. Hey, ponies, we need to put our heads together! We have to make a list of ponies that were absent when we had our breakfast today!" Thunder was addressing all of us.

"Uhh, why exactly do we need that?" asked Sunny Day.

"Whoever wasn't present in the cafeteria during the breakfast is automatically a suspect. The murder happened sometime around 7 am, so the ones who were here have a pretty solid alibi," explained Thunder Roar.

"I am a suspect? Interesting," said Caesar. He stretched his wings a bit, then looked at us. "So? Who is going to make that list?"

"A. K. Yearling already has her notebook out," pointed out Phoenix. The pony in question just sighed in resignation.

"Fine, fine… Just dictate the names. I'll write them down."

"Caesar," said Caesar.

"Tiny Twitch was gone too, obviously," said Bewilderer.

"Tiny? I was not aware of that nickname. Did you conjure it in your mind?" asked Limpid Lake.

"That's her full name, you didn't know? It's right on her door, and Caesar wrote it in his map, too! Just don't say it when she's around."

"Okay then, Caesar and Twitch. I also don't remember seeing Kunai, but that might just be her hiding," said Thunder.

"Nopony ever sees Kunai!" exclaimed Sunny Day.

"We didn't see her here, which means no alibi. Write her down," ordered Caesar.

"Wait a minute, I didn't see you either, Yearling!" said Phoenix out of nowhere.

A. K. Yearling, who was silently writing down names until now, raised her head and burned Phoenix with her gaze. "Don't shout at me."

"But, you weren't here with us, were you?" asked Fleur hesitantly.

"…No, I suppose I wasn't," sighed A. K .Yearling and she reluctantly wrote her own name on the list of suspects.

New Truth Bullet: Breakfast Attendance

So this was it. The ponies who missed breakfast and therefore had no alibi were Caesar, Twitch, A. K. Yearling and possibly Kunai. I compared it to my own theory and realized that out of four ponies, I ruled out only one. There were still three suspects left…

…Assuming everything we've assumed was correct, which it most likely wasn't.

I got startled by a ringing bell, a telltale sign of Monokami's announcements.

"Time's up, sweethearts! Everypony please gather at the garbage disposal, the class trial is waiting for us! Remember, participation is mandatory, waaauuu!"

The garbage disposal? Why there, of all places?

"Is this wolf for real?" asked Sunny Day.

"He plans to condemn us to the pits of Tartarus by the means of unholy fires. The nerve!" shouted Limpid Lake.

"He's not gonna burn us like some trash, for Celestia's sake," said Thunder Roar. "Let's just go there and see what happens. Knowing Monokami, this is probably some demented joke."

He left, closely followed by Caesar. We all got up one by one, leaving as well. We went straight to the dark, spacious warehouse, which was pretty much right across the hallway, and there we entered the door to the garbage disposal. It didn't take long before Twitch and Rainbow arrived, with annoyed Trixie right behind them. She was avoiding me, and while that was certainly an improvement over constant bullying, I wasn't sure I was happy with it. Kunai probably arrived as well, I couldn't tell. This was pretty much the darkest part of the entire school, and she could disappear even in the most illuminated rooms.

The garbage disposal really wasn't a room anypony would want to hang out in. A shadowy, cold room full of dust, the only features being some shelves with forgotten items of zero value and a big burner at the far side wall, humming and spewing out flames. I felt like I was in a crematorium.

Monokami fell from the ceiling and shattered himself on the floor, startling us. Then he put himself back together, with a goofy grin on his black-and-white face.

"Thank you sweethearts for arriving so early! I'm so happy to see your eagerness to crack this case wide open, and then crack the killer's head, also wide open! Just like they cracked poor Blue Ray's head, am I right?"

"So are we supposed to hold a class trial in this garbage pit?" asked Thunder Roar, obviously exasperated and annoyed. He had to deal with so much stuff today, I didn't envy him at all.

"Oh no no no! This wouldn't do at all! I have prepared a glamorous courtroom, this is just where the entrance is!"

The burner made a weird, squeaky, metallic noise as the flames disappeared and the whole thing pulled itself apart. The squeak turned into a screech, and soon many of us were sitting down, covering our ears with our front hooves. When the unbearable noise stopped, what was in front of us wasn't a burner anymore. It was a stairway going somewhere deep below the building.

"If you are prepared, please proceed in an orderly fashion," said Monokami with an overly pompous voice.

"B-burning in the flames of T-Tartarus," stuttered Limpid Lake, visibly shaking. Fleur started consoling him as we walked into the open metallic jaws one by one. Thunder and Trixie went in first, then Rainbow and Sunny Day went straight after them. I went next, followed by Caesar.

Were we really walking down the pits of Tartarus, forever to be consumed by flames? Probably not literally…

…But we could easily end up dead in the next hour.

We were all silent. There was not a single sound but clopping of our hooves against cold stone stairs. It was a long way down, longer than I was comfortable with. The air was weirdly hot, only reinforcing that "stairway to Tartarus" feeling.

There were two possibilities. Out of fifteen ponies going down right now, only fourteen would go back up. Or only one, depending on how we decide. Blue Ray wasn't going to be our only casualty, and that made a lump form in my throat.

One of us killed him.

And because for that, we must participate in the class trial.

Deadly, cruel class trial.

The stairs were really, really long.

The clopping of our hooves was making the silence all the more oppressive.

I wasn't going to die today. No. Spike needed me. Princess Celestia needed me.

Everypony needed me.

I need to do this. I need to win.

PREPARATION: Can you figure it out?

MONOKAMI FILE #1:
The victim was Blue Ray, a 17 year old pegasus. Time of death is 6:56 am. He has suffered numerous injuries: Two left ribs have been broken, his right wing has been dislocated, and his head has suffered a blunt force trauma. The killer also managed to break his neck, which can be safely assumed to be the fatal wound. No foreign substances (poison, sleeping drugs etc.) were found in his bloodstream.

INSTINCTS OF CLAIRVOYANT RAY:
According to Twilight Sparkle, Blue Ray has been trying to use his Ultimate Talent in order to discover any soon-to-be murderers before they even strike. His alleged abilities led him to believe that one such pony was already lurking in the school, and he stayed on a night watch in order to disrupt their plans.

MAGIC SEAL:
The door to the closet under the stairs has been locked by a magical seal. Its origin was traced back to the magic classroom, containing many scrolls with similar seals. Therefore, the perpetrator was not necessarily a unicorn.

DISLOCATED WING:
Blue Ray’s right wing has been dislocated from a powerful blow that tore away many of his feathers, which were scattered all around him. The nature of the wound suggests that the blow was dealt from “below”, as if with an uppercut.

ODDLY CLEANED STAIRS:
The stairs in the central tower have been cleaned very recently, but only at certain spots scattered randomly along the staircase. The rest was left dusty.

BLOODSTAINED SUPPORT BEAM:
Near the ceiling at the very top of the tower, there is a wooden support beam. A small bloodstain was found on the side of it.

BLOODY MOP AND BUCKET:
The closet in the central tower was hiding a mop and a bucket full of bloody water.

BEWILDERER’S ACCOUNT:
Bewilderer got woken up just before 7 am by a loud noise in the hallway. According to him, it sounded as if somepony smashed their door closed. He looked outside, but saw nopony.

CAESAR’S MAP:
A map made by the Ultimate Mathematician. It displays the locations of all the rooms we can access.

BREAKFAST ATTENDANCE:
The murder occurred immediately before breakfast and it is highly unlikely that the culprit went straight from the crime scene to the cafeteria. The ponies who missed breakfast are Tiny Twitch, the Ultimate Fighter; Caesar, the Ultimate Mathematician; Kunai, the Ultimate Shadow; and A. K. Yearling, the Ultimate Writer.

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Of Dilemmas and Feathers - Class Trial

Where were we?

As we emerged from a dark corridor, we found ourselves in a weird, round room. The wall surrounding us was barren, but full of clashing colors, mixed into an abhorrent swirling pattern that made me sick. In the middle of the room were sixteen small wooden stands arranged in a circle, and behind them was a large, comfy looking bed with blood red sheets. Monokami was sprawled all over it, waggling his tail as he saw us approach.

"Is everypony here? Yes? Good, good! Then please proceed to look for your assigned seat so we can begin!"

We did as he said, walking around the circle of wooden stands, until each of us found the one with their name on it. I shuddered as I saw that one of the stands was already occupied; not by a pony, but with a large grey-scale portrait of Blue Ray, crossed out in blood.

"What… is that?" asked Rainbow Dash, her voice shaking a bit as she half opened her wings.

"It would be incredibly unfair if Blue Ray didn't get a chance to participate in the class trial just because he got murdered! So I thought of a way to keep him with us, one that didn't directly involve his corpse… Although that was the original plan."

"I hate you… I hate you so much," growled Twitch.

"Same here," spat out Thunder Roar.

"Aww, that's not very nice! You know, I went to such great lengths to save your miserable little lives, you might at least try to show some gratitude!"

"What?" My ears perked up when I heard what Monokami said. What did he mean…?

"Don't listen to the wolf, my friends. He is a cunning beast that fights not with claws, but with words," said Limpid Lake haughtily.

"Enough chit-chat!" exclaimed Monokami. "We are here for the class trial, so let's get this show on the road before you ponies bore me to death!"

"First, a little reminder of how the proceedings will go. The purpose of the class trial is to find out who is responsible for the recent murder, to expose the Blackened. You will all participate in a discussion, presenting evidence and arguments, and once you've reached a conclusion, the killer will be decided by a popular vote! If you select the Blackened, they and only they will be executed, and you will be able to continue your lives here! But if you accuse the wrong pony… I will punish everypony besides the Blackened, and they will be set free! So, without further ado, let's begin!"

"Umm, let me get his straight. So one of us really murdered Blue Ray, one of the fifteen ponies here?" asked Sunny Day.

"I thought that was a given! Why'd you ask something so stupid?" cried out Phoenix.

Sunny Day frowned on him. "I just wanted to make completely sure we didn't misunderstand. Something tells me that we should pay attention to wording of each and every sentence."

"Exactly. Let us cooperate, I am sure we can discover the culprit if we try!" said Fleur, once again using her ultimate weapon: A disarming smile.

"A whole is more than the sum of its parts," agreed Limpid Lake.

"Just out of curiosity, how do you know who the culprit is, Monokami?" asked Thunder Roar.

"I have eyes everywhere, dear ponies, I saw the whole thing play out like in a theater, clear as day!" Monokami barked excitedly.

We looked at each other, waiting for the next pony to speak up. I let out a confused "uhh", my gaze switching between ponies. Caesar? Thunder? Fleur?

"So, where do we start?" asked Bewilderer.

Caesar hummed in thought. "Hmm. I suggest to first focus on how Blue Ray died. His wounds were very unusual."

Fleur was levitating a piece of paper in front of her. "According to Monokami File, he had two broken ribs, dislocated wing, a head injury, and a broken neck. What do we make of this?"

I already had my working theory. But… it sounded a bit silly and it was full of holes. I was sure I was just missing something, so I stayed silent, hoping that others would come up with a better explanation. I would just confuse them…

"Sounds to me like he was brutally beaten to death. Which means Twitch is our main suspect," said A. K. Yearling.

"You're going straight for the jugular, huh?" said Twitch, a wicked smile slowly growing on her face, gradually morphing into a psychotic grin. "Just like me when I face a pony who pisses me off. Would you be willing to bet your life on that little claim, writer?" she hissed.

"Jeebus, Twitch, calm down!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash.

"You are threatening ponies again!" said Fleur in an urgent voice. "Didn't I tell you that it would only make you more suspicious? You brought this on yourself, you know."

"I'm not threatening anyone," said Twitch, seething. "Did you guys seriously forget already? If we choose the wrong pony, all of us are gonna die. So, writer, are you really so sure that I'm the killer? Because your life hinges on it!"

A. K. Yearling recoiled from that. "I'm… I'm not one hundred percent sure that you're the killer, but-"

"But NOTHING! Save your accusations for the closing argument!" yelled Twitch. "There's nothing that's pointing to me. So shut up and fuck you. You've done no investigating as far as I know. Your theories are biased, no-evidence bullcrap."

Octavia immediately came to life and scolded Twitch. "Watch the language, there is a foal here!"

I took a quick glance at Tot He Tei. Poor colt was just looking at ground, shaking.

"And once again, you are all bickering. We are all dead if this keeps up," remarked Caesar dryly. "Blue Ray died. How? That's what we're here for, simpletons."

A. K. Yearling nodded. "He was beaten to death, that's quite obvious. The killer had to use their own hooves and combat prowess!"

Dislocated Wing

"No, that's wrong!"

"Umm, excuse me?"

I froze, not sure what to say. "I… I don't mean to be rude, but I don't think I can agree with that. You see, Blue Ray's wing was draped over his back. That means his wing was either pulled over him, or it got hit from below as it was extended. An unarmed pony wouldn't be able to hit from such an angle."

"I can attest to that," said Kunai. She's somehow been hiding on her stand, only revealing herself now. "Unlike in armed combat, you cannot perform an uppercut with bare hooves. Those ninja movies from Applewood are… inaccurate."

"They are?" asked Limpid Lake, shock in his voice. "The moving pictures spin tall tales? This is an outrage! I was promised true stories!"

"You were fooled," stated Kunai matter-of-factly.

"Then if it couldn't be done with bare hooves, was the killer armed? But where would they hide the weapon?" pondered Bewilderer.

I saw Trixie giving me a death glare again. But this time, I felt something strange, as if her gaze was subtly different than usual. She wasn't expressing her hate this time. She was pushing me so I would speak up again. She was daring me to talk.

Bloody Mop and Bucket

Bloodstained Support Beam

Oddly Cleaned Stairs

It's all making sense.

"If I may..." I paused for a moment, still unsure if I should share my theory with the others. But then I reminded myself what exactly was at stake here. If I held back, we could all die. I could worry about any embarrassing moments later. "I don't think Blue Ray was beaten to death at all. I think he fell down from the top of the tower. All the wounds, including the wing and the neck, could have happened that way. I found a bloodstain on the support beam all the way up under the tower's roof, and the stairs were cleaned sporadically."

"Wait what? A bloodstain on the beam? I didn't see that," chimed in Rainbow Dash, confused.

"You weren't the one investigating. And I assure you that Twilight is not making these facts up: I personally checked all the evidence she reported," grumbled Thunder Roar. "Now be silent and let her finish."

He directed his intense gaze at me, his eyes begging me to end this trial right now, if at all possible. I took a deep breath and continued. "My guess is that those cleaned spots on the stairs, they were the places... that Blue Ray hit on his way down, leaving them bloodied. The killer then wiped the blood using the mop we found in the closet."

"No, that's wrong!"

That interruption startled me. I whipped my head around in confusion, trying to find the pony who said that.

She wasn't hard to find. Trixie was looking at me with what I can only describe as a shit-eating grin. She was also uncomfortably close, only Rainbow Dash was seated between her and me.

"A beautiful theory you made up, Sparky, but your story has one major hole."

"What would that be? It made sense to me," wondered Fleur.

"Same here. Right, bro?" "Right!" the inventor brothers agreed.

"Not to me, though," Rainbow Dash said, giving me a weird look. "Twilight, Blue Ray was a pegasus. We kinda don't fall, we have wings." She demonstrated by flapping her own set, raising above the ground briefly.

Oh no... they were already poking holes in my theory, I knew I would regret sharing it!

"And what's more," added Trixie, "cleaning up the stairs, hiding the mop in the closet and sealing it with magic, all of that takes time. Time that our killer didn't have. The murder occurred at 6:56 am, do you really believe that all this could be done in four minutes?!"

She was enjoying it. She probably didn't even care if I was right or not, she just wanted to make my life difficult.

A. K. Yearling came to my rescue, to the surprise of everypony involved. "Rainbow Dash: Do you fly even when unconscious? That bloodstain up in the tower might very well have been the killer knocking out Blue Ray. And Trixie: If there was no time to clean, how do you explain the mop and bucket?"

"Red herring, maybe?" Trixie retorted.

"Setting up a red herring and locking it with a magic seal takes time. Time our killer didn't have."

I almost managed to keep my silly giggling at bay. Leave it up to the Ultimate Writer to point out inconsistencies in a story, using the narrator's own words! Trixie looked as if she swallowed a whole cart of lemons, her murderous gaze deflected by A. K. Yearling's disinterested, bored demeanor.

Thunder Roar slammed his head into the wooden stand, heaving an exasperated sigh. This got him the attention of the whole class.

"Why do you think I had Yearling write up the breakfast attendance, you idiots?" he mumbled, rolling his head around and throwing the paper in the middle of the circle. It fluttered to the ground slowly.

"What Roar is trying to say is that only ponies who didn't attend breakfast had enough time to commit the murder and clean up the crime scene," clarified Caesar. "Kunai, Twitch, A.K. Yearling, and, sadly, me."

"Of course I'm a suspect," mumbled Twitch, vitriol in every syllable that went out of her mouth. "Go ahead, I'm already getting used to it."

"Suspicious waves this mare emits," commented Limpid Lake.

"Sounds like a tacit confession to me!" cried out Bewilderer triumphantly.

"Is not. And shut your face, both of you."

Bewilderer didn't let himself slow down. "It's true, isn't it? Out of those four ponies, you are the most likely suspect!"

His mind was latching onto one single goal: To convict Twitch. I had a feeling that Bewilderer and Phoenix had made some sort of bet, one that he was trying to win no matter what. Didn't he realize that choosing the wrong suspect could kill us all? Was his head in the clouds, or just short a few cogs?

I had to intervene, before Twitch started cracking skulls.

Bloodstained Support Beam

"No, that's wrong!"

"Urgh... what is it?" grumbled Bewilderer, annoyed that somepony stole his thunder.

"Have you seen the top-most section of the tower?" I asked.

"No..."

"If you did, you would know that the support beam runs close to the roof and is unreachable to unicorns and earth ponies. I doubt Twitch could jump about ten meters in the air and kill Blue Ray that way. And even if she did, she would fall down the tower, along with her victim!"

"Oh..." Bewilderer seemed dejected, the poor guy. Phoenix, on the other hoof, looked almost smug. He cleared his throat.

"So, the killer must have been a pegasus?" he asked.

"Or a unicorn," I added, not too happy to disclose that fact. My classmates seemed eager to pounce on the smallest opportunity to accuse other ponies, desperate to find the real culprit. "Unicorn could have used a spell at a long range."

"Stun spell, blinding flash, gravity flips, wind manipulation, aerial explosion, or just levitate a stone and hit him with it," listed Trixie with a small smile on her face. "There are many ways to shoot a pegasus out of the sky."

The room plunged into awkward silence for a few seconds. Then Limpid Lake spoke up. "That mare's mad."

"Anyway," I continued, "I can't imagine how Twitch, an earth pony, would go about killing Blue Ray in such a way that would result in a bloodstain on the beam. In my opinion, she is in the clear, and so are all the other earth ponies: Octavia, Tot He Tei, Limpid Lake and Bewilderer."

Phoenix was still smiling, suspiciously eyeing an empty stand. No, wrong, Kunai's stand. I grunted in frustration and focused my gaze on her almost invisible figure. Yes, she was still there, noticing our glares.

"Is there a problem?" she asked silently.

"In fact, there is. Two of our suspects are of unknown race. You and Yearling," said Phoenix.

"A.K. Yearling is a pegasus," I clarified quickly. But Kunai... That's right, I never got a chance to ask her about that. A grim thought crossed my head. What if I couldn't speak with her because she was avoiding me? Could it be that she was... guilty?

"Come on, Kunai, take off that cloak," said Rainbow Dash encouragingly.

"And no tricks, or you're dead," growled Twitch.

Kunai stayed silent, raising her hoof in slow, deliberate fashion. She pressed a black clasp under her neck, and the cloak came loose.

Then it got blasted away by something.

Kunai rapidly opened her wings. Dark olive, massive, beautiful wings. I was stunned. The only other pony I knew who could compete with Kunai's wingspan was Princess Celestia herself. With her cloak gone and her wings fully revealed, The Ultimate Shadow looked... odd, alien.

"Dark angel..."

"Wooow..."

"Scary..."

The wings seemed two sizes too large to her, maybe that was it. No, her muzzle also didn't look quite right, it was just a teeny tiny bit longer than I was used to. She must have immigrated from some very distant lands.

I also got a look at her cutiemark for the first time. I was not at all surprised to see a black, thick blade with a thin handle. Kunai, of course.

Her wings... there was something wrong with them, besides their size. They had darker spots at some places... I squinted, trying to figure out what it was...

"You keep kunais hidden in your wings...?" asked Bewilderer, bewildered.

"Plural of kunai is just kunai," clarified our dark olive, big-winged suspect. "And yes. I keep them hidden among my feathers. It is also how I throw them, with a flick of my wings. So now you know. Does that make me suspicious?"

"The answer is so obvious I'm not even gonna bother," said Rainbow Dash bitterly. Was that... jealousy I heard in her voice? I took a quick glance at her, and suddenly understood where the bitter tone was coming from. Wing envy, of course.

"Blue Ray mentioned to me that he was a martial artist!" exclaimed Phoenix. "That means Caesar or A.K. Yearling wouldn't stand a chance against him! Twitch would, but she had no way of reaching him! That leaves only you, Kunai! Out of all the ponies without the breakfast alibi, you are the only one who was able to kill!" After his accusation, he flashed a cocky smile to Bewilderer. They DID make some sort of bet, the stupid colts. I made a mental note to scold them both after the class trial, and explain to them that this was no game.

Kunai stayed silent, folding her wings. Her countenance stayed calm and collected, as if she was not just accused of murder.

"Is that actually true? Did you do it, Kunai? Why?" asked Thunder Roar threateningly. Fleur de Lis, on the other hoof, assured her: "We have not cast our vote yet. If you explain yourself appropriately, you can save yourself... and possibly all of us."

"Explain myself. What am I supposed to say?" asked Kunai. "Yesterday I opened the box that Monokami gave me. The contents were... distressing, and I faced a hard decision right then. My shrine... my shrine is in danger. And in order to get there in time, I would have to doom all of you."

She sighed. "I almost gave in. Almost. But I decided against it."

Thunder Roar pierced her with his eyes. "And we should believe you why?"

"Because I have never done anything to earn your distrust. Yes, I was absent from breakfast. Yes, I had means of killing Blue Ray. But that is not enough. All you have against me is circumstantial evidence..." She looked at Phoenix. "...and prejudice."

I hated to admit it, but she had a point. Our evidence convicting Kunai was flimsy at best. Still, I couldn't think of another candidate. We had nopony else to suspect at this point. Or were we overlooking something? I felt like we were overlooking something.

"Is there anypony else who we should suspect? I hate to break it to you, Kunai, but you are our best bet," said Thunder Roar.

"Wait. Before you cast your vote..." Kunai went silent for a few seconds and looked at Fleur de Lis. "You are the Ultimate Diplomat, correct?"

"Y-yes... what does that have to do with anything?" Fleur suddenly looked unsure, scared even.

"Good. You will understand the gravity of what I am about to do."

Kunai spread her wings and raised her forehooves, adopting a biped stance. We all recoiled, scared that knives would start flying towards our throats any second now. Twitch wanted to pounce on her, but Octavia, who was standing just to the right of her, gently stopped her.

Kunai shielded her belly with her wings. Staying in this unusual pose, she cited:

"I, silent observer Kunai, daughter of honorable warrior Shuriken and fair foreigner Atlanta, member of Katsuki shrine and sworn enemy of all things evil, vow this on my honor, life and legacy: I was not the one who murdered Blue Ray, our classmate at the Future Academy, and I shall protect the lives of every one of my classmates with all my might until we cease to be classmates."

She unfolded her wings and fell back on all four. We all exchanged confused glances.

"The fuck was that supposed to prove?" asked Twitch, for once showing a different emotion than barely contained anger. She was just as befuddled as anypony else.

"It was just words. Words can be said, written, proofread, translated, read, enjoyed, criticized, but they should never be trusted. Sorry Kunai," said Thunder Roar with heavy voice.

"For once I agree with the critic," chimed in A.K. Yearling. "All fifteen of us could make the same vow right now, and it would get us exactly nowhere."

Fleur de Lis and Limpid Lake both seemed absolutely stunned. Fleur gulped, waving her hoof in front of her, slowly regaining her composure. "No. Friends, you misunderstand, let me explain."

All the eyes were on her.

"As you can... probably tell, I am quite shocked by what I have just witnessed. Kunai, for those of you who don't know, comes from overseas, from the far east. Culture there is... different from ours. What you just heard weren't "words", it was a solemn vow on one's honor, life and legacy. That means... if Kunai lied just now, or broke her promise, she would become a fugitive in her homeland... no, worse than that. A filthy worm. It is legal, even encouraged to harass, hurt or even kill the oathbreakers. Their name is erased from history books, chronicles and genealogy trees, their families live in shame for entire generations. What Kunai just did... happens rarely, about once in pony's lifetime, if even that."

"Big deal!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. "Her life is on a line, it is better to swear a fake oath than die!"

At that very moment, Rainbow yelped as a flurry of knives assaulted her stand. Three kunai embedded themselves in the wood, which was the only thing that kept them from burrowing in Rainbow's chest right there.

"DO NOT. Ever say that again," exclaimed Kunai, raising her voice for the first time ever. Her eyes were glimmering in righteous fury, but her face stayed stoic.

"NOW YOU'VE DONE IT!" screeched Twitch, already galloping around the circle towards Kunai. She almost managed to hit her, but the pegasus flapped her wings and leaped back, hovering just out of reach.

"Faux-pas! Faux-pas! That's all it was! Twitch, calm down! Calm down! Rainbow didn't mean to insult your honor, Kunai! Twitch, no!" screamed Fleur desperately, not knowing which one of the two dangerous mares to address first.

Twitch was about to pounce at Kunai, but yelped as she got yanked back by something. It was Monokami, hoding her tail in his terrifying jaws.

"Thish ish a classh trial!" he growled through strands of brown hair, then spat them out and continued. "Order in the court!"

All went silent. Monokami waved his paw towards Twitches' stand, and she begrudgingly obliged. It was a small wonder, I thought, that she didn't pummel Monokami's snout as soon as he grabbed her. I didn't know her much, but I could tell that took a lot of self-control from her side. Just like all of us, she probably still remembered the beating Monokami gave to the last pony who threatened him.

Kunai gracefully descended to her own stand, landing without any noise whatsoever.

"I admit, it is heartwarming to see you guys so eager to murder each other, but it wouldn't be fun if all of you got killed at once! One murder is enough for the day. Actually, let's write that down, shall we? New rule!"

Something flashed in Bewilderer's pocket. He jumped up, startled, his wig lifting off his bald head and landing slightly off.

Bewilderer fixed his fake hair and took out a paper from his pocket; It was his list of "Nightmare Academy" rules. To his amazement, and to the surprise of all of us, they were edited:

--NIGHTMARE ACADEMY: THE RULES AND GUIDELINES--

1) Leaving the school grounds is strictly forbidden. However, you can explore the academy itself with minimal restrictions.

2) Each student has been assigned their own dormitory room. Entering other students' rooms without their consent is considered a serious privacy violation.

3) Any aggression towards headmaster Monokami is strictly forbidden.

4) All the students are obligated to participate in class trials, as well as the final voting at the end of each trial.

5) NEW RULE! Only one murder can occur per day. Headmaster Monokami's executions are, of course, excluded from this limit.

6) Any violation of the above rules will be punished accordingly. There are no exceptions.

7) Further rules may be added by headmaster Monokami as needed.

Monokami showed us once again the degree of magical power he possessed. I could do many things, but writing on a paper I didn't see? That was out of my league. Wait, he even made extra space between the rules 5 and 6, changed their numbers to 6 and 7, and used the space to write down the new rule 5! He could not only write on the paper, he could also edit it!

"Now back to the class trial! Woof woof!" he exclaimed, goading us with a threatening bark.

The atmosphere in the courtroom tensed up after Monokami's intervention. He wanted us to play by his rules, and our escalations into physical conflict didn't seem to fit his image of the game.

"I swear, nopony's gonna have to kill me if this keeps up. I'm just gonna do it myself..." whimpered Thunder Roar, propping his hooves on the stand. "Now listen here! Evidence seems to point to Kunai, but that little stunt with oath is apparently a big deal. Our lives are at stake, so let's think through every possibility! Is there something we missed? Something we've assumed wrong? Anypony has anything, speak up! And if you start any more conflicts, I'm gonna blow a vein!"

The room went silent for a while. Then Octavia raised her hoof. "Uhm, I am sorry if this topic is so obvious that it doesn't warrant discussion, but we haven't touched upon the Magic Seal at all. The one on the closet door."

"Yeah? What of it?" asked Bewilderer.

"I am just saying we didn't talk this one through at all. Where did the seal come from? Who could have cast it?"

"It wasn't just unicorns, if that's what you are thinking," said Thunder Roar. "The origin of the seal was traced back to the 1-1-A classroom, it was contained in one of the scrolls. Anypony could have cast it."

"Who confirmed that fact?" asked Octavia. Thunder Roar went crosseyed, making a face one would make if he was hit by a wet blanket. "Oh goddammit, I know what you're getting at. This information was confirmed by Trixie."

"Who could lie in order to take us down the wrong path. And her magic could allow her to clean the crime scene in a record time, which would mean she would be able to attend breakfast too," claimed Octavia.

Wow. Just wow... I thought the smart ones here were Roar, Trixie, Caesar and me, maybe Fleur or A.K. Yearling in some regards. But Octavia just revealed something I would've never figured out, betraying wisdom that most ponies here were definitely lacking.

"Hahaha, you cannot be serious. To shift blame on The Great and Powerful Trixie, based on such flimsy evidence..."

"Moreover," Octavia continued, "while it is possible that anypony could have cast that seal, only a skilled spellcaster would know where to look for it. I doubt anypony besides Trixie or Twilight would come up with an idea to barricade the evidence in this manner. And let's not forget the advantage that unicorns have over us: Levitation. The cleanup would be very fast with that sort of ability, I imagine."

I gulped, feeling the suspicious glances on me. Now it was me and Trixie who were under scrutiny.

"Guys, this paranoia ain't helping anybody," said Sunny Day. "Trixie's a bit haughty, but both she and Twily are just too cute to be the killers!" He winked at me with a smirk. I didn't know what to do, so I made myself look as small as I could. Trixie let out a derisive harrumph, and Rainbow Dash shot Sunny Day a dirty look.

"While it's a nice thing to say, Sunny, we can't afford to be trusting," said Thunder. "If it was cookies in a jar, fine. But it was a pony's life that was taken. Trixie and Twilight have to defend themselves if they want to be in the clear, we can't assume their innocence because they are quote unquote cute."

"Fine, fine, I'm just sayin', this kind of atmosphere..."

I interrupted him. "It's okay, Sunny. Thanks for your vote of confidence, I appreciate it," I said as tactfully as I could.

"I agree with the son of the pharaoh. Positive waves yield positive result," Limpid Lake whispered dramatically.

Octavia gave Thunder Roar a strange look. "You are a unicorn too, Roar. Wouldn't that make you a suspect as well? Aren't you going to raise any objections against that?"

"I guess it would. And no, I won't," he responded with calmness.

"This is a travesty. Well, since neither Sparky nor mister critic seem too eager to defend the honor of us unicorns, I shall do so in their stead! Bring it on, Octavia!" exclaimed Trixie, her gaudy cape fluttering dramatically and a spark of determination in her eyes. Octavia stepped up, her countenance uncharacteristically stony and clashing with her beautiful, well-groomed mane.

The entire court room went silent as the two mares locked gazes and duked it out in a battle of wits.

Trixie Lulamoon ---X--- Octavia Philharmonica
CROSS SWORDS!

"First off! Let me rebuke those so-called arguments of yours. Regarding the magic seal, it still stands that absolutely anypony could have cast them!"

"I didn't dispute that. I just pointed out that it was far more likely to be somepony who had experience with spells. I, for one, had no idea such a sealing spell even existed."

"It is not my fault you are illiterate. Besides, it would take you a minute at most to enter the classroom 1-1-A and find the necessary scroll! You could literally stumble upon it by pure chance!"

"Are you forgetting the time frame in which the murder took place? Four minutes, Trixie. If I had that little time, I would certainly not go exploring nearby rooms."

"Which is exactly why the main suspects should be ponies who did not attend breakfast, and who would therefore have more time! I still cannot believe you let Kunai off the hook just because of her silly stunt!"

"We did not let her off the hook. We are merely exploring other possibilities."

"Well then this has led you nowhere."

"Are you sure? What if you cast the magic seal yourself, without using the scroll at all?"

"Preposterous. This is... a very intricate procedure without any help or prior preparation..."

"You could have prepared beforehoof. And you led us to believe that you are a skilled magic user-"

"I can't cast it! There. I said it. I said it! I can't cast a spell that advanced, and neither can most of this classroom. Why, Fleur, Phoenix and Roar barely even use their horns! They are not even unicorns, more like mud ponies with ice-cream cones stuck to their forehead!"

"And Twilight Sparkle?"

"Of course, she is a different story entirely. A unicorn can only learn magic pertaining to their special talent. But her talent IS MAGIC, so all bets are off."

"Is this true, or are you making things up?"

"This is common knowledge that even complete country hicks should possess! Go on, ask anypony with a horn. They will agree with what I've just said. So I couldn't have done it, there would simply be no time for a seal."

"You could have taken it before the murder. And you could have saved up a lot of time on cleaning by using simple, everyday telekinesis. You... can cast that, right?"

"Don't play with fire, pony. And would you explain to me why I should even bother with a seal? To my mind, that just screams "Hey, the murderer is a magic user!" Why would I actively create evidence against myself? Do you think me completely dim-witted? Word of advice: It doesn't pay to assume everypony is the same as you."

"You seem to have a bone to pick with Twilight Sparkle. Just a few seconds ago you pointed out how she was capable of casting the seal without the scroll, while you weren't. A simple trick to frame her, maybe?"

"Well aren't you a cocky one. Any proof of that claim?"

"Everything you've said and done until this point. The fact you sent Twilight elsewhere to "investigate" the seal yourself, the fact nopony checked your claims of its origin for some reason, the way you attempted to direct blame on Twilight just now. Need I say more?"

"Twilight planned to destroy the seal outright, I had to step in for the sake of preserving evidence. Nopony checked my claims? Well, as far as I know, that was Thunder's job, and it's not my problem if he failed miserably. And I did not attempt to direct any blame. I merely stated the facts, to whom they point is another ting entirely. To sum it up, your evidence is circumstantial, insubstantial, and just plain wrong. Face it."

"Well, what if..."

"What if what?!"

"..."

The storm had subsided. Trixie was sporting a victorious smile, while Octavia didn't let her defeat subtract from her elegance and charm.

"Nice drama, geniuses. We've moved exactly nowhere," commented Twitch bitterly.

"I wouldn't say that," said Fleur de Lis. "This exchange opened our eyes to new possibilities."

"Exactly, what caught my attention was the bit about murderer taking the scroll with the spell beforehoof. That means it would take almost no time to cast the seal during the cleanup, and anypony could have researched it long before the murder, meaning Twilight and Trixie can't be suspected just because of their arcane knowledge. Why didn't we think of that before?" asked Thunder Roar. "And on that note, why didn't I think of checking the validity of Trixie's claims? That was a major oversight, sorry everyone. Won't happen again."

"Not if we get killed because of it," sneered A. K. Yearling.

"Another thing. Kunai is no longer our only suspect, though she still is the main one," said Caesar.

"What do you mean by that?!" Phoenix was positively outraged by that claim. To my surprise, it was Bewilderer who explained it to him.

"Well, most of us had the breakfast alibi, right? But that alibi is not completely airtight, as it turns out. While we haven't found anything pointing directly to them, unicorns could have conceivably killed Blue Ray, cleaned up the room in time, return to their quarters and then go to the cafeteria as if nothing happened."

"Not cool bro! I have a horn too, you know? You're making me sound like a suspect!"

"So, who are our suspects? Just to revise," asked Fleur. Caesar lazily flexed his wings, cleared his throat and dutifully cited:

"Main suspect: Kunai. Skilled in combat, able to reach Blue Ray up on the support beam, missing alibi. Other suspects: A. K. Yearling and me, Caesar. Also able to reach Blue Ray, also missing alibi, but lacking any combat prowess. Twilight Sparkle and Trixie Lulamoon, also able to reach Blue Ray with magic, alibi invalid due to their abilities. Other unicorns are very unlikely, but still possible suspects: Fleur de Lis, Thunder Roar and Phoenix. Everypony else is cleared, either by being an earth pony, or having a solid alibi."

Something was nagging me, and for once it wasn't Trixie. It was a sudden, annoying feeling. Something was wrong. Completely, utterly wrong. We were missing something. What was it? I got completely lost in thought, leaving others to their discussion. What were we assuming wrong? Where did we misstep? The only thing I knew was that if we chose to vote now, we would be doomed forever.

Bewilderer shared that odd piece of information with me shortly before the trial. He heard doors slamming shut. That could've been literally anything, Twitch lived nearby and she could have had a foul morning. Or it could be something else...

"But that alibi is not completely airtight, as it turns out."

That was it! I got it!

"So... do we take our chances? Do we vote for Kunai and hope for the best? I don't know how to continue this trial, we are stumped," said Thunder Roar, frustration apparent in his voice.

"WAIT!" I screamed. "We got it wrong! There is one more suspect!"

Everypony looked at me funny, as if I just fell off an apple tree head first. I continued, not giving a single flying feather.

"There is one more pony whose alibi doesn't hold up! One more who could have used their talent to commit the murder and clean up in time!"

"Who exactly?" asked Roar.

1) Octavia Philharmonica
2) Tiny Twitch
3) Rainbow Dash
4) Bewilderer
5) Sunny Day
6) Tot He Tei

It makes perfect sense.

"This murder..." I started, suddenly losing determination. I was just about to flat-out accuse a pony. This didn't feel right at all, I would never, ever get used to this.

"This murder took place during a ridiculously tiny window of four minutes. Killing, cleaning up, sealing the mop and bucket, getting back to the dorms and quite likely also cleaning the blood off one's own body, all of that was done before the Monokami's announcement. In other words, this was all about speed. And there is one pony whose forte is exactly that. Rainbow Dash. The Ultimate Speedster."

Not only did I have another suspect, I was absolutely positive it was her.

"Wait what? A bloodstain on the beam? I didn't see that!"

Of course you didn't. If you did, you would have cleaned it with the rest.

She was looking at me with an expression of pure, shocked surprise. Then her expression changed. Slowly. Into an enraged grimace.

"How bucking dare you! You're on the list of suspects yourself, how dare you throw these accusations around! Where's your evidence?!"

Sunny Day was looking almost catatonic. He was switching glances between me and Dash, completely lost.

"D-Dashie, just take it easy! Twily is... she is just joking! Right, Twily? You're joking, right?!"

"This is no place for jokes," I rejected him sternly. "Dash, you had the ability to kill him in time, since you're quite likely one of the fastest ponies in Equestria. But that, of course, is not the only piece of evidence I have."

"Let's hear it, then!" she yelled at me, in the same tone one would use for an enraged death threat. "You have nothing against me! Nothing!"

Bewilderer's Account
Caesar's Map
"No, that's wrong!"

"Tell her, Bewilderer. Tell her what you heard this morning."

Bewilderer got startled by the sudden attention of everypony in the room, including one very, very ticked off mare. "Uuh... yeah... I heard a door slam. Somepony shut their door just before the morning bell. About one minute or so... But that could've been anypony..."

"Exactly! Anypony! And how does it prove my guilt anyway?!" screamed Rainbow Dash. "I swear, Twilight! I thought you were a decent pony, but once we find a real culprit and execute him, I'm never talking to you again!"

"Look at this map Caesar made for us. Phoenix claimed he didn't hear anything, so the slam must have come from somepony very close to Bewilderer's room. He has two neighbors: Sunny Day to the left, and Rainbow Dash to the right."

"Twitch is also in that corridor! She probably smashed the door in rage, that sounds so much like her!"

Twitch growled threateningly. "I didn't slam anything this morning. In fact, that annoying piece of shit announcement from Monokami woke me up. No way I slammed my door."

"I didn't make the noise either," added Sunny Day hesitantly.

"And me neither! So what, was Bewilderer hearing things?" snarled Rainbow Dash.

"You're lying," I retorted.

"Prove it! All you have is slander!"

"N-No! That's wrong! *hic* Wrooong!"

That was... I couldn't believe it.

That was Tot He Tei. He hasn't said a single word during the entire trial, and all of us gradually forgot that he was even there.

His face was all damp from constant crying and his whole body was shaking, ravaging his speech with hiccups. He sniveled a bit before continuing, pointing a hoof at Rainbow Dash.

"That *hic* that was wrong blue! Wrong blue! Wrong blue! He knew it was wrong! He was doubting himself, he was *hic* scared to talk! Everypony was so angry, he was scared and didn't wanna... *hic* But it's wrong blue! He knows!!!"

Fleur de Lis left her stand immediately after he started talking, and was now embracing him in her hooves, gently stroking his mane. The tiny colt never stopped pointing at Rainbow Dash.

"Tot He Tei..." Thunder Roar started his sentence, apparently unsure how to finish it appropriately. "If you want... sorry, if he wants to say something, please say it coherently. We have no idea what he is saying."

"Yeah, what is he babbling on about?" asked Phoenix, genuinely confused.

"The stress got to him, poor thing..." said Sunny Day, shaking his head sadly.

"Shh, shh... Take a deep breath, then he can say what he has on mind. We will listen to him," Fleur whispered gently. Tot He Tei burrowed his head into her fur, making it damp with his tears.

"He... he saw Blue Ray, *hic* he saw him... and the feathers around him... some of his feathers were right, others were wrong! They were wrong blue, not Blue Ray's blue! Her blue!" he screamed, still pointing at stunned Rainbow Dash. She recovered quite fast, though.

"What the buck dude... me and Blue Ray, we were the exact same color! There is no difference in how our feathers look!"

Tot He Tei suddenly pushed Fleur aside by force, then started screeching at Rainbow, his voice reaching an unbelievably high, glass-shattering pitch.

"You Rainbow Dash use your talent, I use it too! I know five different shades of white! I say the feathers are wrong color, they are wrong color! He will get you! Meanie! Bully! Dipshit!"

Everypony went dead silent. Except Twitch, who was trying her best to not laugh out loud.

Rainbow Dash was now hovering above her stand, her wings beating frantically and erratically. "Hey, remember how I was flying above the corpse, guarding it? I probably molted some feathers right there by accident."

"Funny thing is, Tot He Tei wasn't there at that time. He only got a look at Blue Ray for a few seconds, when we first discovered him. That was before you could ever start molting," pointed out Caesar.

"Big deal! Look at that dolt, he doesn't know what he's talking about! He's shocked, yeah, I get that, everypony's nervous from this. But you can't believe him!"

Octavia was staring daggers at this very moment. "And why exactly should we not believe him? How is his testimony any less valid than anypony else's?"

"Look at him! He's just a little colt-"

"He is NOT just a little colt! He is a very brave young pony who overcame his fears and spoke up! Don't you dare bagatelize that!"

"We're all gonna die if he's wrong!"

"And we're all going to die if he is right and we don't believe him. Your point?"

"Aaaargh!" Rainbow Dash grabbed her own head in frustration and she started flapping so furiously that she raised a few meters from the ground.

"To be honest?" said Thunder Roar. "Special talent? Weak evidence. Door slam? Also weak. Tot's testimony? Not enough. Rainbow's weird behavior since accused? Maybe just work of stress."

"Yes! Thank you, Roar! You freaking understand my point! None of this is enough-"

"-on its own. But all four together? That's starting to look like a pattern to me."

"WHAT!"

Rainbow stopped flapping her wings and fell to the ground with a loud stomp. She was hyperventilating, her eyes slowly going bloodshot from the strain.

"Okay then you dimwits! How do you explain this! I didn't know where Blue Ray was! I just assumed he was in his room like everypony else at night, and we're not allowed into the other ponies' rooms! How did I kill him then? Huh?! There's no way to kill somepony if you can't get to them! I had no way of knowing Blue Ray would be, so I couldn't kill him!"

I knew how to put her down. I decided to go for it.

Instincts of Clairvoyant Ray
"No, that's wrong!"

She gave me a scathing look, cold fury and sheer hatred in her eyes. "You again. What do you want?"

"I could point out the fact that you could have just stumbled upon him randomly, but I have a better proof. Do you remember Blue Ray's special talent?"

"Yeah, he was the Ultimate Seeker..."

"Well, I had a talk with him just yesterday. I found out that he could find literally anything that existed. Including, and now it gets strange, a pony who planned a murder. I know it sounds crazy, but he planned to reveal the murderer even before they struck, and so he decided to patrol the school during the night. You didn't need to know where he was, Rainbow; You just went about planning out your murder, and you chose a remote place to do it: The very top of the tower nopony has a reason to go in. You didn't find him, instead, he found you."

"So he told you all that stuff yesterday?" Rainbow asked, suddenly calming down.

"Yes."

She smiled. Then she grinned.

"You know what this looks like to me?"

I raised my eyebrow, expecting something silly and desperate.

"Looks to me like you're full of horseapples, Twilight. But first a small question: How DID the murderer find Blue Ray, really?"

I suddenly got cold hooves. Rainbow continued.

"Methinks you made it all up, Twilight. The stuff about finding a murderer before they even become a murderer? Come on, NOPONY can do that! But maybe, maybe Blue Ray really decided to stay on guard. And nopony knew about it, except one mare. A mare that just accused me out of nowhere and started pulling evidence out of her flank!"

I was frozen. Petrified.

"I mean come on! How likely is that Tot He Tei really recognized those feathers as mine, not his?! Even if he did, maybe Twilight took them from me when I wasn't looking, maybe she conjured fake ones, I don't know. She's The Ultimate Spellcaster, and the ultimate talent alone is apparently enough to convict somepony! So there!"

"No!" I cried out, my heart running million miles per second. This wasn't happening!

"As for the door slam, that's so flimsy I wouldn't even consider it." She snapped her wings suddenly, creating a tiny, but nonetheless loud thunderclap. "See? If I can do it with my wings, she can do it with her horn. Create a boom in a hallway, then run to your own room before somepony sees you. Simple."

She pierced me with her gaze. I didn't even have the strength to say anything. Her eyes were saying it all...

"So each and every argument she had against me is horseapples. But she accidentally revealed something really, really damning: The fact she knew Blue Ray's plan, knew where to find him! And nopony else knew that!"

"But-" she didn't let me finish.

"Didn't you guys think it was a bit suspicious how she suddenly jumped at me like a shark, after a whole trial where I wasn't a suspect for even a single second? That was planned from the start! She laid out a trap, and it almost worked!"

Trixie had a wide grin plastered on her face. "My my my, I must say I severely underestimated you, Sparky. You're a lot, lot smarter than you look. You even had me fooled. To go to such lengths, to plan out the class trial to the tiniest detail to make Rainbow Dash look like she is guilty beyond all doubt... but you got overzealous."

"Wh... what... this is not... I didn't..." I kept stammering, my thoughts entangled and violently strangling each other. I didn't even know what was going on, I lost it completely.

"Wait, how do we know she is the killer?" asked Fleur. Trixie gave her a haughty smile.

"Rainbow Dash said it. None of us had any way of knowing Blue Ray would be on a patrol that night, so none of us could possibly prepare to murder him. Only Twilight knew. She told us herself, the silly moo. To get so far only to trip at such a basic hurdle... that's almost pitiful."

"NO! No, I didn't! He was my friend, I would never... I would never! Please, you have to believe me!"

"We were all so stupid!" exclaimed Bewilderer. "We all knew Twilight and Blue Ray were kinda close, why didn't we suspect her sooner?"

"How could you... how could you, Twily?" Sunny Day lamented.

"I'm not sure... things are kind of shady, I don't know if it was really her..." said Octavia hesitantly.

"It's probably some mind magic, Octy. What if she was the one who caused that outburst to Tot He Tei? You gotta admit, it happened rather conveniently for her..." said Phoenix.

"But... but... wrong blue... wrong blue..." sobbed Tot He Tei.

"This is bullshit! Rainbow is much more likely culprit!" shouted Thunder Roar.

"Agreed..." mumbled Fleur sadly. Not even she could summon a smile in this situation.

"Let's talk about this... Let's get to the bottom of this," said Octavia, tears slowly welling under her eyes.

"Too late, time's up!" exclaimed Monokami out of nowhere. "I'm bored, no more chitchat! The voting starts now!"

I cried. There was no more thought, no more defiance, no more hope. I just cried.

"Sooooo... I see everypony has cast their vote!" exclaimed Monokami with a sickeningly chipper tone of voice. "Let's see how it ended, shall we?"

I was not even listening, I was just hearing. I couldn't stand my classmates' surreptitious glances, their obvious distrust in me, their fear of my magic, their disgusted glares. I was just sitting there, at my stand, my face buried in the cold, hard wood.

Whahahaha, this is most interesting indeed! I wasn't expecting such a contentious vote in the very first trial! I see we have two favorite suspects: One of them is Rainbow Dash, and the other is Twilight Sparkle.

I could hear the heavy breaths. The heartbeats. I didn't want to hear it. Any of it. I just wanted to go home, back to Princess Celestia... or anywhere, anywhere else, even Tartarus, just not here!

"You won't believe this, my dear, faithful students!" Something died in me as he said that. "Out of fifteen votes, one of our candidates has earned eight, while the other one is just one vote behind! Literally every vote counted, this was the closest it could possibly get! Waahahahaha!"

The courtroom plummeted into a dark abyss of omnipresent silence. Nopony dared move an inch.

"And by the decision of this vote, the accused pony, the alleged murderer of Blue Ray iiiiis..."

...

"Twilight Sparkle!"

"NOOOOOO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. It was lost! All was lost! We lost!

"Well, now the question is... were you guys correct in your judgement?" asked Monokami mockingly. I already knew the answer.

"I am happy to announce to you that you were..."

DEAD WROOOOONG!!! It was Rainbow Dash!

At that very moment, several things happened all at once.

Kunai's eyes lit up with righteous fury. Her wings turned into a blur as she threw about six or eight kunai all at once, all aimed square at the murderer.

Rainbow Dash yelped, but the kunai never reached her. They stopped in mid-air, levitating about one meter away from her, enveloped in magical ruby light.

"You got it all wrong! Rainbow Dash is the only one who's supposed to survive! Youuu, on the other hand..."

Kunai's wings unfolded themselves as a foreign force tugged on them. She got lifted into the air, trying various moves to break free. All in vain.

"I've had it with your trigger happy havoc, Kunai! You'll be the FIRST ONE TO GO!" the wolf bellowed.

Kunai suddenly started screaming. Her wings got twisted in unnatural angles, and soon the cries of agony were accompanied with vomit-inducing crunches of bone. She barely even breathed, screaming nonstop, at full volume, as her once magnificent wings got crushed and pulverized right in front of our eyes. Then in something that could almost be called an act of mercy, a set of her very own weapons whizzed in her direction and burrowed in her neck and belly.

Kunai dropped on the ground like a bloody bag full of meat. A red puddle started pooling around her.

Limpid Lake puked right there and then. Octavia couldn't look, instead crying with her head on the pedestal. Thunder Roar was standing stock still like a statue, tears passively flowing down his cheeks. Fleur and Tot... I couldn't even look at them. Caesar, Twitch and Trixie were looking away, all three visibly shaken despite their ongoing attempts to sustain decorum. The Ultimate Inventor Duo were holding each other in a hug, screaming and swearing and praying to Celestia. A. K. Yearling had a look of a pony who... gave up. completely emotionless, just standing there, waiting to die. Sunny Day tried to fly away, but he got swooped from the air by a cloud of red magic and was now being thrown around like a ragdoll, smashing against floor, walls and ceiling, much like Kunai not too long ago...

And Rainbow Dash...

I summoned the courage to look at that despicable freak. She kept her head down, flinching with every painful cry from Sunny.

"What's wrong, Dashie? Come on, you win! Show me some of that winner spirit! Go, the door is over there! You'll find the exit wide open, now go! I'll have some fun with these losers!"

She walked, no, dragged herself towards the stairs that brought us into this hellhole. She briefly looked back, and I saw her face clearly for the first time since the verdict.

Somehow, in some way, I think she suffered the most of us all.

There was no hope left for us. We were going to die.

It was over.

Author's Note

No, it is not over.

Prologue - Welcome to Future Academy

FLY ME TO THE MOON

A terrified, hopeless mare.

She was pretty. And also powerful.

But also hopeless.

Enchanted chains clamped loudly around her legs and neck.

They were strangling her.

Then she got pulled up by magic.

Higher. Higher.

She was picking up speed.

The atmosphere started burning her alive.

A rising star.

A rising, screaming, burning star.

And her ashes got scattered on the Moon.

As a black-and-white wolf howled at her grave.

Good riddance. Wha-ha-ha. Wha-ha-ha-ha! WHA-HA-HA-HA-HAAA!

Hello! My name is Twilight Sparkle. Currently I am seventeen years old, just several months away from adulthood. I was born in Canterlot, the capital of Equestria, and I’ve lived there ever since. I have always liked books and studying, especially when it came to spellcasting. My life is full of magic; it is my hobby, my subject of studies, my cutiemark. When I was a young filly, I got accepted to Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and later became a protégé of the Princess herself.

I am so lucky, having her for a teacher! She leads an entire nation, heck, an entire race, and she spends what little free time she has on educating me, a simple filly. I seem to have a lot of talent, true, but I always thought that I was just one of many. And yet I became the chosen one, the personal student of Princess Celestia. Either I am incredibly lucky or she sees something in me that I myself haven’t discovered. Regardless, I’ve been cherishing every second spent with her, and my desire to impress her became my greatest motivation to study.

I am proud of what I have achieved, proud that I am a student of Princess Celestia. Some ponies might say that I just got picked at random or that Celestia owed my parents a favor, but I made sure that nopony could ever call me ungrateful or lazy. I don’t want to disappoint anypony, much less the Princess herself. I want her to know that I am grateful; that I will fully use this opportunity I was given. Seeing her pleased with my achievements is what makes me feel alive. I will reach the stars one day, for her and thanks to her.

All of what I’ve just said should make it clear why I am so excited and nervous right now.

You see, Princess Celestia entrusted me with an important task regarding her newest project. She has recently opened a new academy, claiming that it will shape the future of ponykind. It is not just any ordinary school, far from it. You cannot simply enroll, instead you have to be invited by the Princess herself. Out of all the young ponies in Equestria, only the best of the best get picked to study here. Basically, you have to master a discipline of your choice so well that nopony can match you. You have to be a natural, a prodigy in one field or another. And if you are lucky, the Princess will recognize your talent and give you an honorary title of the Ultimate, granting you the privilege to study at Princess Celestia’s Future Academy.

As for me… My stomach is so stuffed with butterflies that I wonder just how they manage to flap their wings in there. Don’t get me wrong, I was absolutely ecstatic when Princess Celestia came to me and told me that I would become the very first pony with the Ultimate title, but thinking about it makes me realize just how much responsibility comes with that title. The Ultimate students are destined to shape the world one day, change the very foundations of our society. Am I ready to assume the role of a leader? I… I hope so. I can’t disappoint my mentor, I must give it my all.

Now that I think about it, this isn’t the first time I’ve felt like this. Back when I became Celestia’s protégé, I had some very similar thoughts and I felt equally as nervous and excited. Nerv-cited? Somepony should really come up with a word for that.

Anyway, I’ve been sent to study at the Future Academy, along with other Ultimate students from all around the world. And now I’m standing here, at the front gate, looking at the imposing building in front of me. It looks very simple yet stylish, built almost entirely out of red bricks. It is divided into four wings, each housing and providing facilities for one class. From what I've heard, there is also a hidden tower in the middle connecting all the wings and floors. If a pegasus were to look at the academy from above, I imagine they would see a big cross: The tower in the middle with four wings extending from it. From my point of view I could see two of them, one at my left and one at my right, both meeting in the middle at 90 degree angle. On top of the crux there is a huge logo of the Future Academy, a sun with a weirdly shaped cloud behind it. The campus around the building itself is quite small and mostly consisting of parks, possibly because this school was meant to house only a hoofful of students.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Come on Twilight, relax. It is at least an hour until the official meeting, I still have a plenty of time. And I am Twilight Sparkle, The Ultimate Spellcaster. I have succeeded in every challenge I faced up until now, how could I fail this time?

Unexpectedly?

Easily?

Gah, stop!

I shook my head and stepped through the gates, heaving an exasperated sigh. The meeting was in wing one, right? According to the plates on the walls, it was the one on my left. Trying to keep my unruly thoughts in check, I walked to the big double doors, entered one of the wings and looked around the hall. From inside it looked almost exactly like the castle I’ve been living in, I will feel right at home. I giggled in relief.

"Seriously, what is the worst that could happen?"

Silly filly. You don’t say things like that out loud. Just as the final syllable left my mouth, the whole world around me started collapsing. I gasped and tried to regain my footing, but I had no legs to regain the footing with. Everything twisted, shook, and disappeared as I lost my consciousness.

I didn’t know it back then, but at that moment, my life ended. At least, the life I got used to. My friends, my family, my hobbies, my mentor, my goals, they were all gone. And the world that replaced them…

It wasn't anything like what I knew. It was the world of living nightmare.

"Hello? Hello, can you hear me?" said an unknown voice.

"Hnnnngh," I moaned, a dull pain filling my entire brain. I felt incredibly dizzy, but still I managed to raise my head slightly and open my eyes. I was… sitting in a classroom?

No…

Oh no! I screwed up! Was I sleeping in class?! I shrieked and jerked my head up. The pegasus that woke me up jumped away from me, bumped into a desk behind him and flared his wings.

"Ow!"

"I'm sorry, sorry!" I exclaimed as he was recollecting himself. He gave me a slightly confused look, then smiled confidently. "No no no, it's alright! Why did you scream, anyway? Do I look that scary?"

I was on the verge of panic, feeling a cold wave going down my spine. "I slept in class, didn’t I? I’m sorry, I swear this is the last time it happened!" I screamed.

"Wow, slow down a bit! You're in a classroom, but there's no class yet."

"…Really?"

"Yes, really," he assured me and emphasized his words by nodding his head. "Listen, everypony I've found so far was sleeping, so there’s no way you are getting in trouble for that! Okay? But… There is something weird going on."

"Everypony? By everypony you mean… other students?"

"Yep. Actually, why don’t we introduce ourselves? It’s probably better to get that out of the way first before we discuss this sorta… problem we’re in. I’m Blue Ray, the Ultimate Seeker. Nice to meet you."

Blue Ray… A nice name, and pretty fitting as well, considering he was a cerulean pegasus. He looked a bit younger than me, though not that much, a year at most. He had a sleek, lightweight figure, a telltale sign of a recent growth spurt. His white mane was cut short and a bit messy. His cutiemark had a shape of a magnifying glass. I calmed myself down, relieved that I was not in trouble for falling asleep, and proceeded to introduce myself.

"I’m… I’m Twilight Sparkle, the Ultimate Spellcaster."

"Wow! That sounds pretty great!"

"It’s not that much, honestly. I can just cast more advanced spells and I am not limited by my cutiemark."

"Not limited by cutiemark? Is that a unicorn thing?" he asked, tilting his head curiously.

"Yes. Most unicorns can’t cast spells outside their field of specialty, they can only learn magic defined by their cutiemark. But since my special talent is magic, I don’t have those limitations."

Explaining something always made me forget about my problems and cheer up. I think Blue Ray implicitly knew it just from looking at me and came up with a question so I would feel better.

"Wow, that’s a pretty amazing talent! Actually, why don’t we go to the cafeteria? We can talk on the way there."

"Oh, right, the meeting! Aren’t we late?"

"No, actually. It’s about eight forty am., so we still have twenty minutes left."

I sighed in relief and got up from my desk. Blue Ray let me go out first, then followed me and closed the door behind him. As it turned out, the classroom was at the very end of a hallway. We went to the meeting place, chatting along the way.

"So Blue Ray," I said, then paused for a bit, wondering how to phrase my question. "What exactly does your Ultimate title mean? What do you ‘seek’?"

"Anything. If it exists, I can find it. Lost trinkets, hidden treasures, even missing ponies. Pretty much the entire Baltimare knows me as that one guy you go to when something gets lost." He started walking a bit faster, with a spring to his step.

"So you are from Baltimare?"

"Yep. A great city, if you like fish. Docks, docks everywhere. Half the ponies in the town are sailors, fishermen, shipwrights, dock workers and so on. And where are you from? Canterlot?"

That took me off-guard. "How did you guess?"

"Most ponies are from Canterlot, and unicorns even more so. It's the capital and the largest city in Equestria, after all."

We took a turn to the right, then immediately left.

"It’s strange…" I mumbled. Blue Ray's ears perked and he turned to me.

"What?"

"The way I got here. I stepped into the building, then immediately blacked out… And then you woke me up."

"Yep, we all had it same. I myself woke up just a while ago."

"And that’s not the only thing. This whole place… It feels weird somehow, as if something was missing. I just can’t put my hoof on it."

"Missing?"

"Yeah. I don't know what though…"

"Ten bits say I'll find it anyway."

We both let out a short laugh. My anxiety was not completely gone, but was quickly melting with Blue Ray around. I felt like I've already made a friend!

"You know what? I take your bet!" I exclaimed and jumped a little.

Blue Ray stopped suddenly. I went on, lost in excitement, until I almost ran into large glass double-door. He chuckled a bit as he saw me scramble for balance.

"Heh heh… This is it, by the way. The cafeteria."

"Oh, right, we were going here…" I shook my head and smiled awkwardly. We arrived already? Through the glass, I could already see several tables surrounded by chairs, as well as my future classmates. There were quite many of them, around fifteen or so, but two ponies immediately stood out for me. There was a blue pegasus mare with a striking rainbow mane, and a small pink colt with yellow mane that looked incredibly out of place. How young was he, for crying out loud?!

I walked through the doors, mentally preparing myself for the introductions. First impressions are very important, the Princess once told me. But with so many questions lingering in my mind I found it hard to focus. Why did I black out like that? What was that thing taunting me with its absence? And what was that subtle sense of… something, that made me want to run far, far away?

It's just social anxiety. There are over dozen of ponies in here, and I am not used to crowds. Yes, that must be it.

"Ah, Tot He Tei sees! So Trixie is a blank flank too?"

"What…? How dare you, insolent little foal!"

"Please calm down, he didn't mean it like that! Let me explain…"

There was that little pink colt. And apparently he insulted "Trixie", a blue unicorn with silver mane who was wearing a magician cape and a pointy hat. They were so extravagantly decorated, a bit too much to my tastes. And there was a tall, pure white mare with a light pink mane who was trying to settle the dispute.

"Alright, ponies! This is everyone!" I got startled and jumped a bit as Blue Ray shouted right next to me. All the eyes were on him.

"Everyone? Are you sure?" asked a brown stallion with red mane and dirty overalls covering most of his body.

"Yep. I searched this entire floor, and I am the Ultimate Seeker, so there's no way I missed somepony."

"So in total, that makes fifteen of us," said somepony else I couldn't see.

"Sixteen, can't you count?" said a gray pegasus with a blocky body.

"I'm pretty sure I can see fifteen of us." By now, I gave up on trying to keep track of who was saying what.

"It's fifteen, you dipshit!"

"Don't be rude! There are foals here!"

"I'll be rude all I want. Try to stop me!"

"Tot He Tei is just a foal, but he can handle dipshit!"

"See what you've done?"

"Bite me."

"I stay by my opinion. There are sixteen of us."

"Psst. Hey, try to look in that corner." That last sentence was said by Blue Ray, and it was directed to me. I looked where he was pointing, and…

I saw a pony. At least, I thought I did. It could be just a shadow or lights playing tricks…

Blue Ray shouted yet again. "Yo, Kunai, why don't you step forward so we can settle this silly debate?"

My legs froze when I saw a pony materialize from the shadows. She… she's been there the entire time? How? How did she disappear like that?

The mare walked into the light. Her coat was… dark olive, I think. It was hard to determine, she was covered in a black cloak head to hoof. I couldn't see her mane, her cutiemark, not even her face.

"Hi. I am Kunai," she said matter-of-factly. There was a short, awkward silence, before that blocky gray pegasus broke it with a toxic remark.

"See? I am about the only pony here who can count."

Before anypony else could think of a retort, the white mare who I had already labeled in my head as "peace-talker" exclaimed loudly: "Everypony! This was indeed a silly debate, so let us forget about it now, shall we? It does not matter who was wrong and who was right, the important thing is that we are all here now! So, I would like to propose a small introduction game. We will go in front of that vending machine over there, one at a time, and we will introduce ourselves to the group. Then, after everypony has had their turn, we will devote a bit of time to free meddling and chatting. Does anypony wish to voice their concerns?"

What followed was a sound of sixteen ponies silently mumbling, debating, and making mostly accepting sounds. Somepony snorted in protest but didn't speak up openly.

"Alright then, it is settled!" said the peace-talker with a pleasant voice. "Who would like to start?"

"Me, of course!"

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