Danganronpa: Pony Nightmare

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…