Surrounded by a plethora of tall structures and buildings, in the center of a bustling city, stood an exemplary large high school that seemed to be the center of the entire world, its glass roof, and vibrant maroon color made it the most recognizable building in the entire area.

Harmony Height's High School, or Triple-H high school as some, would comically refer to it, was a school for the gifted that was funded by the Equestrian Government to enroll those that excelled highly in their respective fields, whether it be academic or not.

It has been said that graduating from a school of this kind would lead to immense success in the near future. With hundreds of years of tradition, it sends the cream of the crop into the workforce every year.

It was built to raise harmony in the nation's future, which makes Harmony Height's a pretty appropriate name.

In order to attend this school, you must meet two requirements: one; you must be currently enrolled in high school, duh, and two: you must excel highly in your field. No normal student could enter here; the only way in is if you've been scouted and selected by the school itself.

And standing there at the gate of the ultimate school filled with the Extreme students... Was Spike.

I can't believe it the drake thought to himself, as he continued to stare at the academy with awe. It almost seemed like a bad joke, someone as boringly average as him, attending an academy for extremely gifted students, that would be a one in a millionth chance to somedragon like him. But once he opened the letter of the envelope and saw the official stamp crest at the top of the paper, he could hardly believe it. Still, there was a greater sense of inequality between him and the other ultimates, it was almost like he was a small kitten who stumbled onto a pride of lions, there was no way somedragon like him could hold a candle to the students behind those walls.

This all seems too good to be true he internally doubted, For someone like me to attend a school like this- Spike lowered his head a bit- this all feels like a distant dream!

Someone like-no, somedragon like me was invited to attend the most prestigious academy in all of Equestria- Spike clenched his fist tighter as he looked back up at the academy, "But I'm not just anyone, I'm the Extreme Academic Level Fortune Winner!" the young drake exclaimed with renewed determination.

Even if he was just randomly selected, even if he didn't have any talent, he certainly wasn't going to let this opportunity for someone like him go to waste.

With newfound hope, Spike began his first few steps into the building of harmony...however, "Ah-!" in a matter of seconds, the world around Spike began to contour and spin, as a disgusting black swirl began to overtake his vision as the world became darker, yet darker.

What the hell... was all Spike could mutter, before the world around him had gone completely black, and soon he was unconscious.

That was how it all began... And how life as Spike knew it came to an end.

Prologue

[Spike's POV]
...

"...Mmmhhh..."
...

"...Nng," I slowly began to stir awake as I began to lift my head from the top of a wooden desk, "Huh," I moaned, "where am I, what happened?" It seemed like I was in some sort of conference room which, normally, I would have shrugged off to me dozing off in the middle of a lecture but, that was when I was in class.

But, last time I checked, I don't normally study in conference rooms; especially rooms that look this nice. My eyes scanned across the room, as I looked wall to wall at the decor and wallpaper that caught my eye.

From the look of it, there was definitely a Victorian style to the room, the wallpaper had a kind of golden color to it, almost as if it were aged, but still retained that royal gleam you'd expect in a kind of castle or something. Adorned on those very walls were an array of silver candlesticks that held a white candle for each wall of the room. Strangely enough, each of the candles was lit, but that wasn't the only source of light that I noticed.

Looking down from the parallel candlesticks, I saw the roaring orange of a fire that jiggled in the pit of a fireplace. It seemed to illuminate the room quite well, which I guess wasn't too out of place, but with a room like this, wouldn't the windows be enough?

As that questioned crossed my mind, I scanned the room once more, in search of the windows, the moment I did, I was shocked beyond belief, "What the hell," I cried, as the iron plates screwed on to where the glass windows were supposed to be, covered any light that could get through, Iron plates? What the hell is there iron plates on those windows?

With that thought, I proceeded to walk towards the somewhat rusted plates, as curiosity began to overtake my mind. Once I had made it to the plates, I gave it a simple knock, and of course, an echoing 'dong' sound replied to me, So, it really is iron, it's pretty thick too,

With that curious thought out of the way,I took one last look around the room; besides the iron plates, the decor definitely screams conference room. With that thought in my mind, a pit of worry began to well up in my gut as another thought came to my mind, Why am I in a conference room> I'm supposed to be at Harmony Height's, but, I wound up here instead.

Was I kidnapped?

As that thought crossed my mind, I noticed a scrap of paper that was on the same oak table where I woke up. I pick up the piece of paper, and read the crayon writing that was scribbled on to it:

Welcome silly fillies and colts!

A new school year will begin, and to start off that new super-duper exciting year, we're taking a wittle tour of the most important building of your new school life, so be sure to have a super, awesomefic, time! Also, be super sure to get there on time, you don't want to get left behind from the group, do you!

"What the heck, this some kind of joke?" I thought to myself, as I read the strange letter

Be sure to get to the entrance hall by 8:15, you wouldn't want to be late for the tour!

Eight-fifteen? Looking around the room once more my eyes found the rustic orange grandfather clock that stood in the corner of the large room. Looking at the face of the clock I was nearly shocked by what I read, W-what the heck, it's almost nine o'clock!

"Why'd I wake up so late?" I asked, No doubt it's because of me passing out like that, but still- wait, I picked the letter back up and re-read the last line of it, "Be sure to get to the entrance hall by 8: 15," The entrance hall, I repeated to myself, I'm not sure what's going on, but maybe I can get some answers!

With that in mind, I placed the sheet of paper back on to the table and made my way towards the exit and journeyed on to the main hall, where hopefully my questions would be answered.

With little hesitance, I turned the doorknob in front of me, internally praying that nothing else weird happens, and slowly opened the door.

Once the door was fully opened, an alabaster wonderland presented itself in front of me, I was a little awestruck by what I saw, large columns stood parallel to one another, the reflective gleam patterns of the marble floors and walls, it was so pristine and clean, and a stretched out velvet carpet that had a nice fabric design to it. From the decor I saw in the conference room, to this hall, it looks like the pamphlet was telling the truth, this really was a castle.

Which begs the question; why was I kidnapped to a castle? Did some rich noble kidnap me or something?

As that thought played in my mind, I walked out into the hall, I saw something out of the corner of my eye that seemingly ended that alabaster wonder around me, as I saw the sight of a familiar, yet super strange, iron plate, What the heck! It looked so unfitting with the rest of the hall as if it was just, placed there.

I made my way to the entrance hall and continued to scan the, what I assumed were, castle halls, slowly trying to figure how what the hell was going on. Let's see, I pondered, maybe after I passed out, some weird noblemen found me, took me in his van, or limo, or whatever, and drove me here? But what, what would be the point? If it were just some random weirdo getting a ransom, that, I could understand. But if it were really some kind of noblemen, that would be a whole different story.

As those thoughts swam through my head, I noticed a few doors, doorways, and other halls past by me, or at least that's what I could notice, with the walls of those halls being white if it weren't for the velvet rug and the few shadows that seeped from certain corners and edge. As I said, I didn't really have such pristine eyesight.

But, with so many of these hallways and doorways, there was no doubting this was some kind of castle, but the fact I passed out in front of Harmony Height's and was taken to this place just raised a whole slew of questions. Why was a brought here, and, who did it was still on the top of my mind.

I wasn't long until I was finally met with the sight of the two open entrances into the entrance hall, where the sound of murmuring could be heard all the way on the other side, There are others here, I thought to myself as the more I walked towards the parallel entrance ways, the voices became louder and louder, Maybe those are the guys that brought me here? I can only hope their not crazy or anything, the last thing I need is to worry about some crazy rich noblemen, with that bit of hope in my heart, I continued on my path.

Finally, I had made it to the doors, and, although hesitantly, I entered the doorway with a hopefully, yet worried, feeling in my heart. And upon entering the hall, two things nearly shocked me to my core the moment my eyes laid on it; the first was the room itself, It was like any ordinary entrance room you'd expect from a castle-like this; marble walls, a large embroidered carpet that stretched to the corners of the large room, columns that stood parallel from one another at the corners of the front of the room, and a large circular iron gate at the front door...

Wait what, I shot my eyes up at the front once again, and was shocked by what I saw; a large circular iron gate that, for sure, would have been something you'd see out of a sci-fi fantasy story. Not only that but at the ceiling corners, near the giant iron gate, were a set of large Gatling guns that seemed to relax in front of the gates.

A giant Iron gate, and a set of Gatling guns! what the hell is going on!? It was such an odd sight, I wouldn't be shocked if I saw something like that on t.v. or at some sci-fi amusement park, but to see it in real life was a while nothing thing!

Before I could even have time to think, a voice from earlier caught my attention, "Hey, new kid," I turned my eyes from the metal anomaly in front of me and discovered something seemingly even more shocking.

[image]

"Ah, looks like another new member has joined our party," said a pudgy, unicorn, stallion

"Yeah, seems like it," a white-suited griffon added.

I'm not sure when it happened, but when I saw them, something in my mind just clicked, "Then," I began, "you all must be, the new students of Harmony Height's?"

"I think so," a somewhat familiar, feminine, voice began, "We were all supposed to attend there but,"

"We all ended up in this weird castle," a cerulean drake, wearing a black leather jacket, interjected, "did that happen to you too, bruh?"

I nodded a bit at the dragon, still, a bit shocked by the situation in front of me. Shock aside though, that one girl said that they were going to attend Harmony Height's High I pondered, does that mean, these are the other Extreme Academic Levels who were going to attend the academy?

The more I thought about it, from what the letter said, it did mention something about not getting left from the group, so, these guys were kidnapped too? If that's the case, then how could a large group of students, especially those going to a prestigious school like harmony height's, all be kidnapped so easily? Maybe if I talk to them, I'll get some more info about what's going on, With that thought in mind, I made my way down the stairs and prepared to introduce myself,

Once I had made my way down, I proceeded to introduce myself with as much strength as I could muster, "Um, hey there guys," I greeted, "my name's Spike, I guess it's good to say I'm not alone,"

I heard a small chuckle at my response, "I'd say so," a white, blue maned, unicorn jested, "considering what that wired letter said, no doubt there was something or somepony, planned this from the get-go,"

Someone planning this, it internally repeated, With everything going on in this castle, there's no doubt someone's behind this, but the big question is, who, and above all, why? It's not like any of us are super rich or famous or anything, so what would even be the point?

"You really think someone planned this?" asked a white griffon hen, whose eyes were as big as an owl's, "who do you think could have been behind this?"

The stallion paused a bit, he scratched his chin as he pondered an answer to the oddities of what was going on in this castle, "Well," he began, "I'm not totally sure about that, but there's definitely strange going on here,"

"Quite," a slender unicorn mare added, her eyes covered by a large pair of indigo reflective sunglasses, "arriving at Harmony Height's only to not just pass out in front of that very school, but to also wake up in this strange building, and to see that all of the windows have been closed, this is quite queer indeed,"

"Not only that," said an overly muscular minotaur cow, "but that paper we all found when we all awoke in this palace, its writing was certainly strange, was it not?"

"Yeah, no kidding," a confused looking hippogriff commented, "what the hey was that all about a castle tour at the beginning of our new school year. 'you think there's some kind of meaning to that?"

"That is the one million bit question, I suppose," a taller, much more mature looking, stallion said, as he proceeded to scan the room and everyone in it, an obvious inquisitive look could be seen, "but, one thing is certain, all of us were supposed to be attending Harmony Height's, yet, we all ended up in this castle, quite a query if you ask me,"

We were all supposed to attend Harmony Heights? I questioned in confusion, It would be one thing if it were just someone being kidnapped, but to kidnap so many freshmen at such a well-known school...Could someone even get away with something like that?

Before another thought could even enter my mind, a familiar, yet sweet-sounding voice, entered my ears, "Hey, hold on," the voice said, attempting, and succeeding, to get everyone's eyes on them. I turned to the source of the voice to see a pomeranian diamond dog, "before we really start asking things, maybe it's best we get to know each other, yeah?"

A few doubtful, questioning, mutters began filled the room after the pomeranian's suggestion, one of those skeptical voices who questioned the dog, was that hawk-griffon from earlier "Get to know each other," the griffon repeated incredulously, "now's not the time for some kind of meet n' greet,"

"While that may be true, however," the slender Unicorn mare rebutted, "in an odd situation such as this, it may be for the best to better know each other, would it not?"

"I guess," the white stallion replied, "if we get to know each other, there maybe be something we'll figure out,"

"Sure, why not," a Siamese female replied, "I don't plan on staying here, long, I have a match to get to in about an hour,"

A match? I repeated in thought, I turned my head over to the cat with an intrigued expression, "hey, if you don't mind me asking, what kind of match are you going to anyways?"

The Siamese seemed to scoff at that question, "Tch, if it wasn't completely obvious," she spat, "I'm a badminton player, I have a match coming up in a few hours, and the last thing I need is to be trapped in this shitty, fucking, castle,"

"Hey now," the white stallion chided, "let's cool it with the swearing, alright?" The cat, in response, huffed and turned away from the rest of the group and muttered a simple, yet audible, 'whatever'. Following that response, there was short, somewhat awkward silence that seemed to fill the room, however, that quiet would end once the white stallion spoke again, "Alright well, since you already told us a bit about yourself, would you mind giving us a name?"

The Siamese sighed at the question, "Ugh, whatever," she groaned, before finally introducing herself, "name's Maira, and like I said before, I don't plan on staying here long,"

The moment she said he name, something clicked in my mind, Maira, the Extreme Academic Level Badminton Player, I remembered seeing he name somewhere on the Triple-H forum; she's a famous badminton player that's taken almost every creature on Equus; she's even competed against a lot of the top-level players and cleared their ranks.

Not to mention her swift-footed abilities, agility, and quick thinking made her an almost unbeatable player, which earned her such a title.

As amazing as all that was, from how she's acting I was totally wrong about her, I expected a lot of athletic types to be super peppy, cocky, or maybe even a bit modest at the most. But her harsh personality is something I totally didn't expect from someone like her.

With that introduction, Maira returned her view away from the others, and back to the giant gate standing in front of us all. Once again, a short silence befell upon the room, from the looks of it, everyone waited to see who among us would speak next.

Thankfully, it wasn't long until a certain stallion spoke up again, "Alright then," the white stallion said, "well if no one else is going to greet, then I guess I'll go next-" the stallion proceeded to clear his throat, resituate his tie, and introduce himself, "My name is Shining Armor, but you can all just call me Shinning, it's super cool to meet you all,"

Like Maira, something in my mind clicked once he greeted us, Shinning Armor, the Extreme Academic Level Honor Student, I stated in my mind. From what I read, Shinning's a top-level, AP honor student that received many academic awards at his old schools. Despite his seemingly so-so attitude, Shinning was part of a subsect of a civil conservationist committee at his old high school.

"Oh so you're Mr. Armour," inquired a pink pony with a sly smile, to which the honor student smiled gratefully with a nod, "hope you don't take offense to this, but I expected a super uptight, police cadet, type pony,"

"Oh no offense, I can totally understand that," Shinning assured, "I try to sort of break that stereotype, while still not breaking away from my mission,"

The pink earth pony giggled at the response, "I hear that" she replied, "it's good to see ponies breaking down stereotypes," she complimented with a wink, to which the stallion seemed to blush, responding to the mare with an embarrassed smile.

"I-it's nothing really," Shinning stammered, before continuing back on the main topic "anyways if you don't mind, would you introduce yourself, miss..."

"Oh right," the mare said in realization. "my bad, my bad, I'm a bit of a flirt if you can't tell," she jested, "I'm Pinkimina Diane Pie, but you can just call me Pinkie, Mona, or Diane if you want, I'm super charmed to meet you all!"

Pinkieamena Pie, from what I remember from that forum, she's the Extreme Academic Level Event Planner, right? She's very well known for her over-the-top, extravagant, parties, celebrations, and events. She's hosted many parties from those in the royal, wealthier parts of Canterlot, to the snowy mountains of Yakistan for a Yakistani prince's birthday party.

It was once even rumored, she held an event for a known serial killer. Luckily, it was just a rumor...right?

Before I could respond, someone else spoke up, "Wait," a griffon-hawk halted, "you're that Pinkiamina?"

"The one and only," she responded with a smirk.

"I know you looked familiar," the griffon continued, "I remember seeing you at one of your events, I think it was somewhere in North Canterlot for some noble-ponies celebration, I can appreciate someone who can give one-hundred and ten percent on their craft. "

"Oh wow," Pinkie exclaimed in realization, "it's quite a small world, and thank you for the compliment, mister..." Pinkie paused, waiting for the griffon to fill in the blank for his name.

"Ah, right," the griffon said in sudden realization, "where are my manners, the name's Gunther, nice to fuckin' meet ya," he greeted with a wide smile.

The second he greeted us, I could tell that there was something familiar about him, Gunther, the Extreme Academic Level Baker. From what I can remember, Gunther is an internationally famous baker that, like Pinkie, has catered many important, royal, events, and has even made some appearances on daytime talk shows.

Not only that, but the dishes he makes have been widely beloved by many food critics, even the most anal of foodies, and has created the most extravagant of dishes.

However, what's set's him apart from the other top-level bakers was his, very, abrasive attitude.

Once Pinkie heard his name, she let out an 'ooh' in feigned intrigue, "So you're that, Gunther," she said, "you know I've actually tasted one of your dishes at that event in North Canterlot,"

"Oh really," Gunther replied, "what did you think?"

"It. was. a-mazing," the pink mare exclaimed in delight, a small blush appeared on her face in what I could only assume was the long memory of the dish, "I swear the moment your fool landed on my tastebuds it was like 'oh-my-Faust, like how can a biscuit be this awesome!"

"That good, huh, "I commented with a chuckle, heh, well, they don't call him the Extreme Academic Baker for nothing,

Gunther let out a small chortle at the mares gushing about his meal, "Well hey, I just take pride in my work," he stated, as he resituated the collar of his faux leather jacket "I wanna give one-hundred and ten percent on everything I do,"

"I see, that's quite a way to live by," the muscular minotaur commented, "If I may, I would like to introduce myself, my name is Pasiphae, it is a pleasure to meet all of you,"

Hmm, that voice, that physisch, the moment I heard her name, there was something I remembered about her from that forum. Pasiphae, the Extreme Academic Level Pankration Expert, she's a very well known martial artist from Minos that has competed in many competitions since she was a sophomore in high school. She was mainly known as 'The Iron Fist,' by many of her fans, she has won over one-hundred fights, since then.

Gunther's eyebrow raised in surprise upon hearing that name, "Huh, no shit," he replied, "me an' my old man used to watch a lot of MMA back in the day, I actually remember seeing one your fights; all I gotta say is, I got mad respect for a gal like you-" Gunther let out a small chuckle, "you know, I actually wanted to become a fighter before my pops got me into cooking, maybe you could teach me a little something?"

Pasiphae smiled at his words, "Perhaps once we figure out a way out of here, I could take you to my local gym-"

A sharp, forced, cough interrupted the minotaur cow's conversation, "Excuse me," the posh sounding voice said. I turned over to the source of that voice to see a lavender unicorn with a slicked back, indigo, mane. His current expression read something along the lines of pure annoyance, and impatience, "But if your quite done philandering with one another, perhaps we can continue?"

Gunther sneered at the stallion's sharp response, "Tch, I'm pretty sure you can wait for a few seconds dude, why don't you take that stick out of your ass,"

"Please," the unicorn scoffed, "as if I should listen to some low-life, Grackle, like you?"

"Grackle?" Gunther hissed, his brow furrowed at that comment, "' the fucks' that supposed to mean!?"

The lavender stallion glared back at the fuming griffon, "What do you think," he sneered, "your nothing more than some shitty little bird that does nothing for society,"

Gunther chuckled darkly, as a demented smile grew on his face, "Yo, you mind comin' a little closer-" he proceeded to crack his knuckles in a threatening manner, "I don't think I heard you quite clearly," Gunther's wings flared, as he was about to walk towards the uncaring stallion to what I could only assume was going to be the worst beating of that unicorn's life.

However, before he could take a second step, Pasiphae, placed her hand on the enraged griffon's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down, to which Gunther stared back at the martial artist with an angered look, " Wha' the hell do you think you're doing?"

Pasiphae looked back at the griffon rooster with a stern expression"Gunther, please," she consoled, "there is no need to get violent so quickly, if anything it is more important now, more than ever, to come together as a group, wouldn't you agree?"

Just from looking at Gunther I could tell there was nothing he wanted to do more than to beat that unicorn into next week, that fiery look in his eyes and his clenched fist said it all. However, after a short moment of silence, Gunther unclenched his talons, his angered expression soon faded, and his body relaxed, "Alright," he affirmed in a somewhat apologetic tone, he furrowed his brows once again, however, once he turned his attention back to the stallion that was just saved by that grace of Pasiphae, "Your ass is lucky she's here to hold me back,"

The stallion, once again, scoffed at the griffon's remark, "Same to you,"

Following that tense moment, Pasiphae looked over to the saved stallion, in the hopes to alleviate some of the tension, "Now then, if we could perhaps you could tell us your name, mister..."

"Shine," the stallion responded rather bluntly, "Dusk Shine,"

'Well, I guess that would explain the attitude, considering he's the Extreme Academic Level Noble, it makes a good bit of sense, not that condone it or anything, but it was probably to be expected of him,'

'From what I learned about him on that forum, he's the heir to a large corporation somewhere in Canterlot. Not only that, but Dusk has attended many top-level school's since he was just a foal, it's no wonder why he acts the way he does,'

"Ah, I see," a feminine voice said with an intrigued tone, "truly, a befitting of some stallion such as yourself,"

Dusk cocked his eyebrow at the response, "Oh, so you have heard of me?" he asked, to which the slender mare giggled.

"Why of course," she replied, "why wouldn't I know a stallion such as yourself?"

Dusk simply shrugged at the response, not caring much from the mare's praises, "No matter," he replied with that same nonchalant attitude, "anyways, since you're already speaking, would you mind giving us a name?"

"Oh, why of course," she replied with a seemingly, apologetic, smile, "scusami, where are my manners-" before she began her introduction, the mare proceed to bow in front of us, "Buongiorno a tutti, my name is Lady Visine, but if you like, you may just call me Visine, I wouldn't mind at all,"

The second Visine introduced herself, a familiar thought emerged from my mind, Lady Visine, I repeated internally, as the sudden realization of who she was struck me like a baseball bat, "Wait," I said aloud, calling for the mare's attention, "You're that, Lady Visine?"

"The one and only," she giggled.

Lady Visine, I remember her name from a card-game forum one of my friends showed me not too long ago. The Extreme Academic Level Strategic Gamer, from a simple game of Rummy, or Poker, to challenging games such as Dagonesse Checkers or Chess, no matter what the game was, she would always end up as the winner. she's a top-level challenger in the tabletop game community, even joke game like Cards Versus Equus wouldn't be able to dodge her winning streak.

Following her introduction, another voice, a much more nasally sounding one at that, praised Visine, "Hohoho, I see yet another warrior cut from the raven's claw I see,"

Cut from the raven's claw, I inquired internally, that sounds like something a fighter would say in those arcades beat'em ups. I guess this guy wants to make a good introduction,

Hearing the bit of praise, Visine turned her attention over to origin of that voice, and upon doing so, found it to be that of the pudgy stallion from earlier, "Hm, so are you another fan of mine?" she asked with her trademark smirk.

The stallion chuckled deeply, or as deep as he could sound, before responding to the mare in a somewhat pompous tone, "I wouldn't say a total fan," he replied, "I could just tell by your Intelligence Level that you and I are on the same wave,"

Visine let out a small giggle at the reply, "Oh, veramente," she replied in her Itailian speech, "and what makes you think that mister..."

"Oh right, how rude of me not to begin with that," he said with an endearing smile, " I am Sir Dutch Angle, of the North Applewood village of the Coltifonia Kingdom! But if you like, you may call me, The Grand Creator if you like,"

...I'm not sure how, but I'm pretty sure almost everyone was giving this guy some pretty odd stares, myself included. Seriously, what's with the gothic lingo

"Intelligence Level?" Maira recited.

"Hohoho, why of course," he replied with another deep chuckle, "for you see I am the one known as the Extreme Academic Level AV Editor!"

AV Editor, I repeated internally, before the sudden shock realization of it hit me, Wait, he's that famous stallion that almost everyone in Applewood is pining for!?

From what I read about him, he's a world-famous Audio production editor who's techniques are so advanced that almost every studio production company is asking for his help. He's worked on many films, even ones considered box office blunders, to give it his special kind of AV magic. In fact, his techniques are said to be so advanced, that even veterans in the industry are unable to replicate it.

Now, as amazing as all that is, his whole physich was something I'd ever imagen from a video and film editor, especially on from Coltifornia. I don't mean to stereotype, but I was really not expecting somepony with that kind of talent to look like that,

Luckily for me, I wasn't the only one who thought that, as Maira glared at the prideful stallion with an incredulous expression, "Really, you're Dutch Angle," she questioned, to which the smirked with pride. The Maira groaned, "There's no way a fat shit like you is in Applewood, at most you probably some producer's errand-pony,"

"Hey don't be so rude," a feminine voice chided, "You shouldn't stereotype creature like that!" Maira, upon hearing the scolding, began to look around the room with a vengeful glare, "Who the hell said that?" she hissed as she scanned the room.

However, while the voice was somewhat alien to Maira, it sounded familiar the moment it entered my ears. In fact, I knew where that voice came from.

Just like Maira, I too scanned the room for that voice, and luckily for me, it didn't take too long. No way, I thought to myself, the moment my eyes landed on her, Is that-? before I could even respond though, the punk pomeranian noticed me as we and beamed a radiant smile, "Spike," she exclaimed excitedly.

"Avah?" I asked, that feeling of befuddlement still within me, "Is that you?" Rather than respond, Avah quickly jogged up to me and greeted me with a warm smile.

"Oh my Cainus, I can't believe it, it's really you!" Avah exclaimed in excitement, "I haven't seen you since grade eight, how have you been?"

"I could say the same thing about you," I replied with a chuckle, "and, I've been good, what about you?"

Avah giggled at my response, "Oh you know how it is," she began with a wave of her paw, "My going on tour, meeting fans, and singing at shows, I've been pretty busy this past summer, but it feels pretty good to just chill out and hang out with my friends again. But now that you're here my enjoyment had doubled!"

"Heh, well that's good," I replied, I can't believe I didn't notice almost notice her before, I scolded myself, I mean, I don't really have an excuse considering who she's part of a rock group known all around the world!

Avah, the Extreme Academic Level Vocalist, she's the lead singer of an all-girl punk rock group, that had received many awards, and notoriety, for their music.

Their hit single, Ruff Love, topped the charts at number ten only a year ago, and not only that, they have an exceedingly large fanbase!

And considering how large that fanbase is, if any of them knew about us, they'd be pretty envious of me right now

"No way, you know Avah?" Ah, speak of the devil, Before I even had a chance to turn to see who the voice belong to, I was greeted by the vibrant eyes of a pink hippogriff, who's wide excited grin nearly reach the corner of her eyes. I jumped back in shock the sudden appearance, letting out a small cry as I did so, I almost wondered how she appeared there so quickly until I noticed the flapping of her wings, well that explains it,

The hippogriff mare reeled back once she noticed my surprised expression, "Oops, sorry about that," she said apologetically, "I tend to get a little too excited sometimes,"

Yeah, I can tell, "I-it's alright," I told her with a dismissive wave of my claw, "I mean if I saw my idol a few feet away from me, I'd be pretty psyched, too,"

"Totally!" The mare replied happily, she then stretched her talon to me and, with that same gleeful attitude, introduced herself, "By the by, the name's Silverstream, but most of my friends just call me Silver, pleased to met'hca!"

Silverstream, upon hearing that name, bells began to ring in my head, wait, I know here, she's that famous poet that won several literary awards since elementary school. Despite her seemingly air-headed personality Silverstream has the admiration of many authors, amateur poets, and even those in academia.

So the title Extreme Academic Level Poet would make the most sense, wouldn't it?

Not wanting to be rude, I reached for the outstretched claw and shook it firmly, as I wanted to make a good impression to at least someone here, "Nice to meet you, My name is Spike," the second I introduced myself, Silver's eyes seem to sparkle.

"Oh wow, that's such an awesome name!"

"Uh, thanks," I said with an awkward smile, I wouldn't really say that my name is that awesome,

"Lady, if you think that's awesome, then you got some low standards," chided a new voice.

Silver's gleaming expression had changed into an annoyed on upon hearing that comment, "Huh, who said that?"

Rather than respond to Silver, the individual let out a single chuckle, "Heh, if you wanna see something really cool, then check this shit out!" following his words, the hard sound of flapping wings could be heard. I turned my attention to the individual behind the voice, to see the red-spined, cerulean scaled drake, and black leather jacket from earlier.

The drake continued to fly around the room, showing off some of his tricks by doing a few spins and small loops, and whatever else he could do in such a confined environment; the gleam of his leather jacket shined as he flew.

As I, as well as some of the others, stared at the drake, I noticed something very unique about his wings, rather than the inner part of his wings be the same light-blue color as his underbelly, they were a rainbow type color that flashed towards us each time they opened.

Soon, the drake's show came to a close, and with one last spin, the drake landed in front of me, Avah, and Silver, "The name's Dash, how's it hangin'!" he agreed with an outstretched claw.

"Dash?" Avah repeated inquisitively, "do you mean, are you the same Dash from the Demonfosu aerobatics team?"

Dash smiled smugly at the diamond dog's intrigue, "Oh, you must be a fan of mine, heh," he said with a chuckle, "if you want, I could go ahead and give you an autograph, but if you don't have any paper, then it's fine, just go ahead and stick your chest out, and I can just write it on the sweater puppies you go there, sweetheart,"

I-is this guy for real! I turned to Avah to see he interested expression shift into one of cringe the moment those words left his mouth, her smile almost looked forced the second he said that, it'd be one thing if he was asking that to some other girl, but to say it so bluntly to someone like her? His confidence must be off the charts!

Silver, somewhat disgusted by the drake remarks, scolded him, "What the heck, guy, don't say something so gross" she scolded with an unpleased expression.

"Hold on a sec', lady, all chicks I've met after my shows are totally okay with it, so don't get all feminist on me and shit, a'ight?"

"After your shows?" I recited, "So does that mean-" before I could even finish, the drake chuckled once again.

"Haha, yeah that's right, bruh," he affirmed with pride, before flaring up his rainbow wings in a heroic type pose, "just like that chick said earlier, I'm part of the local Demonfosu acrobatic group-" Dash then let out a loud cackle, "Flyin' Demons, bro!"

As soon as he mentioned that name, I think I was able to figure this guy out, his attitude, his look, those wings, if memories serves right this was Dash, the Extreme Academic Level Aerobatic Flyer; he's part of a local high-school aerobatics team that won various competitions in Cloudsdale, and have acted at the warm-up act for some very well-known teams like the Wonderbolts.

As exuberant as his personality is, this is what I would kind of expect from someone with such a background, especially a drake with a talent such as that.

While I was a little impressed by his talent, Silver, on the other hand, was not impressed as her expression remained unchanged, "Well," she began, "even if your an aerobatic flyer or whatever, that still doesn't give you the right to talk to someone like her. Besides, I'm pretty sure she out weight's you in terms of popularity," Silver jeered, which the Dash widened his eyes in umbrage.

"Huh," he gasped, "Like hell she does, I've got a shit-ton of fans- not to mention groupies- that are pretty much at my beaconing call! What's so important about this chick," he rebutted, as he pointed over to Avah.

By this point, my amazement of the drake soon began to deter the more he down-played about Avah. It's not like I'm one of those nerdy dragons who only acts as a shoulder to cry on in the hopes of getting some, but I wasn't really cool with the way he was speaking to her, 'This guy's kinda annoying,' I thought to myself.

I was about to tell him off, but before I could, a meek sounding voice came to Avah's defense, "Well, considering she's part of a globally loved rock band, it's probably for the best you treat her with some respect Mr. Dash, sir," without much thought I; as well as Dash, Silver, and Avah, turned to the source of that voice to see the owl-eyed griffon hen from earlier. When my eyes landed on her, she flinched a bit, startled by the sudden attention she was receiving, "O-oh, I'm sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to interrupt,"

Avah, sensing her nervousness, smiled reassuringly at the griffon, "It's alright," she said, "thanks for the assist, anyways,"

The griffon hen blushed at Avah's thanks, or at least what I could say was blushing considering he had a good amount of fluff on the top half of her body, "I-it was nothing really," she negated, "I-i'm just, kind of, like your music a lot,"

"Wait a sec'" halted silver, "are you a RuffLover too?"

RuffLover? That's quite a name... I thought to myself, slightly cringing at the title, I assume that's what the fandom calls themselves, but, out of everything Avah's band has done couldn't have the pick a less lewd name,

But just my luck, or what little luck I have considering this strange situation, I wasn't the only one who found the name queer, as Dash was attempting and failing, to hold back his laughter, "RuffLover?" he questioned, as he struggled to simmer his chuckles, "what the hell kind of name is that?"

Silver, once again, gave the drake an unpleased look, "RuffLovers is a cool name," she refuted, "not to mention it's waaay easier to remember,"

"She kinda has a point, " I added with a bit of a chuckle.

Dash was unimpressed by that response, however, as his laughter only simmered to a light snigger, "Heh, yeah right, you know, I'm sure a certain type of dudes would be totally into your little group with a name like that,"

Silver simply scoffed at Dash's comment and turned away from the back and back over to the griffon hen, "Anyways," she continued, "would you mind introducing yourself?"

The griffon hen, gave Silver a confused look until she quickly realized what she meant, "Oh I'm so so sorry," she apologized frantically, "I didn't know!"

"It's alright," I said with a reassuring smile, "just tell us your name,"

The griffon hen cleared her throat, and before she would introduce herself, she proceeded to bow in a graceful manner, "My name is Grizelle, and from the bottom of my heart, I hope we can all get along,"

After Grizelle finished her introduction, I felt an odd pang in my chest. I'm not sure how to describe it, but with the way she greeted herself, to the flustered look on her face, it was kind of cute in a way.

"My my," Visine began, "what a respectful young hen you are, I can only assume you are the Extreme Academic Hostess?" the mare jested.

Grizelle giggled a bit at the slender mare's jest, "Hmhmhm, actually, I'm known as the Extreme Academic Level Roboticist,"

Robotisist? Wait, does that mean she's that Grizelle, the same one many of the modern techs marvels not just in Equestria, but in other countries as well! To say her inventions were an amazing creation would be quite the understatement, she's created many life-changing innovations such as the hoverboard that would be used by man skater athletes, robotic exoskeletons used by the Griffonstone Kingdom, as well as various medical devices that have drastically changed not just the medical community, but life expectancy for many creatures as well.

It seemed I wasn't the only one surprised by the griffon hen's talent, as Gunther turned to Grizelle with a look of intrigue, "Oh shit, so your that scientist chick responsible for those exoskeletons?" he asked. Grizelle simply nodded, blushing a bit in embarrassment at the attention she was receiving once again, "w-well, yes,"

Gunther let out a small chuckle, "Heh, well, ain't you something," commended Gunther, "You know my sis' in the Eagle Mark division of the Griffon Stone Military, so there's a good chance she's already tested that shit out,"

"Oh whoa," Silver exclaimed, "your sister's in Eagle Mark? That's soo cool!"

"Your clan must be very proud of her," Pasiphae added.

Gunther dismissed the compliment with the wave of his talons, "Hey, she's just doin' her service to the kingdom, don't think too much into it,"

"I wouldn't say so, dude" a new voice replied, the accent sounding very surfer-like when he spoke, "Goddess Maia has gifted your sister with grand strength and agility, as well as the mind, to enter such an organization that allows her to protect the ones she loves,"

"Goddess Maia?" I restated inquisitively, "I don't know why, but I feel like I've heard that name before?"

"Ah," the voice gasped in interest, "So you've heard about the Church of Maia then, my dude?"

Church of Maia- a sudden spike of curiosity entered my mind once I hear that church. I remember hearing about it on T.V., it's one of the largest growing religions in South Equestria, with almost one-hundred thousand members by attendance alone.

'Not only that but from what I can remember, the leader of this church was a just a simple high schooler. Which would mean-' I turned over to the origin of the voice to see a brown and white Cretan goat, wearing a long silk jacket, "Hey," I spoke to the goat, "if you wouldn't mind asking me, you wouldn't happen to be-"

"That is correct my child," the familiar-looking goat interjected, "My name is Puneeth, but if you like you can call me Ness; I am known as the Extreme Academic Level Preacher,"

"I knew you looked familiar," Pinkie commented "I remember seeing a lot of your ads online,"

Ness smiled at the comment, "Well, it's good to see the message of my church spread through the confines of the interwebs,"

"Did you just say interwebs," Maira chided, "Geez, you sound like my grandpa,"

'Well, internet lingo aside, it was still impressive to meet someone like Ness. From what I read on that forum, his family has a long history of religious work. Ness is well known in his religion for his new-age techniques and talks in his church, as well as his ability to gather a crowd, are almost unrivaled to any other public speaker.'

'Not only that, but his growing religion has gained him a grand amount of media attention, both national and global.'

With that thought in mind, it seemed like I've met just about everyone, there's no doubt, they all definitely have a sort of something that makes them extraordinary in their abilities. just as that thought passed my mind, Silver spoke up, " Alright," she began, as she scanned the room once more to see any other faces, "so that should just about-" she paused mid-sentence, upon noticing another creature, "oh hey," she shouted, trying to get their attention.

I turned in her direction to see who she was talking to; she appeared to be a dark- brown diamond dog, who standing near the corner of the room, she seemed to have a pondering look on her face until she looked back at Silver and me, "Hm, oh sorry," she said, "I didn't see you, My name is Cebba,"

Cebba, I restated internally, trying to remember who she was; however, nothing really came to mind, 'Hm, I don't recall seeing her name anywhere on that Tripple-H forum, so maybe she's one of the newer students attending this academy like me? Maybe once we figure out this whole situation, we can really understand what's going on here,'

"Alright then," Dusk began, his deep, authoritative, voice gaining most of our attention, "now that we've wasted enough time, let's get back to the situation at hoof,"

"And what would that be Sir Dusk," Asked Dutch with a confused look.

Maira turned to the stallion with an annoyed expression, "What are you, retarded," she scolded, "to figure out why the fuck we're here, numbnuts!"

Shining, umbraged by her harsh language, glared at the Siamese with an unpleased look. He then cleared his throat, calling for our attention towards him, "While I don't approve much of Maira's words," he stated, getting a returning glare from the cat "but I pretty much agree, we need to figure out not just what's going on here, but why we're here in the first place,"

Visine scratched her chin with an inquisitive look, "Perhaps, this is the work of some organization?"

"Organization," Grizelle repeated, her eyes wide with confused fear, "do you think we were kidnapped by some mafia or something?"

Visine hummed inquisitively at the question, "Well if it truly was the work of some crime syndicate-" she turned to Avah, "could it be for some sort of ransom?"

"Ransom," Avah repeated with a worrisome look on her face, "Are you saying, that someone kidnapped me for some kind of bribe!?"

Suddenly, an expression of, what I can only assume, a faux shock appeared on Visine's face, "Che scioccante," she fake gasped, "how narcissistic of you to assume it was only you, that they wanted,"

"W-what do you mean?" I question the mare with the same look of worry of Avah.

"Well, consider who's here," the mare continued, "There's Mister Shine, a well known Canterlotian Nobel; Dash, Maira, and Pasiphae, all three of whom are famous athletes that have, from what I can only assume, earned some grand amount of bits from their competitions. Finally, " she continued, "There's Gunther, Silver, Pinkimina, and Dutch, who again, all there have made much success from their talents alone,"

"So what you're sayin' is," Gunther interjected, "the guys who kidnapped looking for a ransom?"

Visine smiled pridefully at the response, "Corretta," she replied in Itailian, "it would appear our kidnapped is after something very dear to us,"

A ransom, I pondered, That would probably be the best answer to this who situation, but- I pulled myself out of those thoughts, and questioned Visine with a hesitant rebuttal, "I think, that sounds so right, but-"

"But what," Visine questioned, "does it not make the most sense, considering our abilities, and the fame we receive, there is no doubt there are those out there willing to kidnap us for their own benefit,"

"I'm not saying your theory is totally wrong, but if it really was some random looking for a ransom-" I turned towards the giant metal gate standing in front of us, "then, what about this giant metal door, the iron plates, and this whole castle? "

"The creature behind this must have a crap-ton of money to pull this off, so what would the point n a ransom be?"

After my rebuttal Visine giggled coldly, as if she was unphased by my questioning, "perhaps it is not money they are after."

"W-what do you mean," Silver stuttered in a worrisome tone.

"What I'm saying is," Visine continued, "maybe it is something much more, perverse..."

What is she saying? I pondered fretfully, Something perverse, what the kind of kidnapper are we stuck with!

"D-don't be so crass!" Silver rebutted, a much more, terrified expression appeared on her face at the mention of the word "There's no way-" Before she could finish, a dry, throaty, laugh interrupted the hippogriff.

I turned to the source of that laugh to see Ness laughing with a wide grin at the statement as if he was just told the best joke in the world, "N-ness," I began cautiously, "what's that laughing about?" Ness, attempting to stop his laughter, took great breaths, "Whew, sorry, dude," he began, letting out one last chuckle, "But, you dudes and dudettes really need to chill ya know,"

"Need to chill," Pasiphae repeated inquisitively, "are you not troubled as to what's going on,"

"Hahaha, no way!" he chuckled, "if there's anything I've learned from Lord Maia; never allow a trickle of deception to stray you from the path, Aries 3:16,"

"What are you saying?" Maira demanded.

"What I mean is, it's super obvious this is some kinda prank done up by the administrator or something,"

"I-it's all just a prank," Grizelle stuttered out, with a hopefully, yet worrisome, look in her large eyes, "So, maybe they'll let us out of her once orientation is over!"

"Without a doubt my dudes," Ness replied with a relaxed smile, "We just gotta wait until the meeting with the headmaster and everything will be great!"

I'm not sure how, but the mod in the room seemed to become less tense after Ness said his piece. Heck, even I started to feel a little calmed down after everything I've experienced.

"So, it's all some kind of joke," Gunther question with a somewhat skeptical look, "If that's really the case, then what's with us gettin' knocked out before entering the academy; what point would there be for the school to do that to some- griffon, let alone students of their own academy,"

Before he could answer, an unsure look appeared on Ness' face, as he thought on that question, "M-maybe someone like the Extreme Academic Psychiatrist caused us to pass out, to further fortify the prank?"

"That sounds a little suspect," Pinkie commented, "why go the extra length just for a weird joke like this?"

"Well," Silver began, "weird joke or not, I just wanna know what the heck's going on?" The second after Silver said that a blaring ring sound echoed throughout the room, causing some of us, myself included, to cover our ears at the noise, from the sound of it, it was almost like that same rhythmic chime you'd hear in schools for the announcement, "W-what the heck!?" Silver shouted in sudden surprise.

"The fuck's goin' on!" Gunther shouted in a mix of annoyance and confusion.

Maira growled lowly, completely enraged by the noise, "Whoever the fuck is doing this, better prepare to have my racket shoved so up their fucking ass they better pray to Faust to get it out!"

"What's going on!?" I shouted as I covered my ears in pain from the loud chime, i-is this part of the joke? If it is, please, just make it stop

Soon, as if by some miracle, the blaring noise began to lower in volume, and finally, the blaring noise stopped, but before we could even thank whatever god for stopping it or question what that was, another sound followed, "Oopsie, sorry about that," the strange, child-like, voice apologized, "I didn't notice the audio was turned up so high, my baddie-bad,"

What the hell, I questioned with a great look of fear and confusion covering my face, where is that coming from? As if on cue, I turned to the right in the upper corner of the room, to see a large speakerphone responsible for the voice, as well as the blaring audio from earlier, A speakerphone, how did I not notice that thing before? I thought to myself, as the voice continued on.

"Welp, no need to cry over spilled audio right," the voice jested with a small giggle, "Hehehehe, anyways, would everyone please make your way into the Throne room, I've got a super awesome surprise for you all!"

"S-surprise?" Dutch parroted.

The voice chuckled loudly once more, "In a few wittle minutes, a shaft elevator should be coming in about-" ding "right now!" Following that odd announcement, the piece wall between the parallel exit ways of the room came apart to reveal, just as the voice had said, the doors of an elevator shaft appeared before us, it was like something out of a mystery movie.

"W-what the hell!" Maira shouted in surprise.

"I second that," Dash commented with a worried expression.

Despite out comments, the odd voice continued, "Please enter the elevator shaft ASAP, you really don't wanna miss this! Hehehe," with that last giggle the announcement ended leaving us all in, what I could only imagen, a mixed state of confusion and fright.

A tense silence had encompassed the entrance hall, no one was really sure what to do at this point, between this entire situation, and that odd message from the speaker, we all waited for someone to make the first move.

The silence in the room was broken by the voice of a certain Gamer who approached the elevator with a nonchalant expression, "Well then, shall we?" she said, as she proceeded walked into the elevator with a calm, undeterred, smile.

I was a bit taken aback by Visine's reaction! In a situation like this, and after being told something so ominous, who in their right mind would go in there? I was about to call her out until a certain stallion spoke up for me, "Hold on there, Miss Visine," Shinning called out, catching the attention of the card gamer, "are you sure you wanna do that?"

Visine cocked her eyebrow in, what I could assume was, faux confusion, "Whatever do you mean?"

"I mean," Shinning continued, "who knows what that kidnapped has in-store for us once we get in that elevator?"

"I agree with Shinning," Silver commented, "Are you sure we can just trust what they say?"

"I guess we'll just have to see," Dusk said, as he too made his way to the elevator with a calm, yet intrigued expression.

"M-mister Dusk!" Grizelle exclaimed in surprise.

"Might as well get this over with," Groaned Dash, as she flew up to the rugged floor atop the parallel stairway. After Dash, Gunther flew up the parallel stairway as well, letting out a deep sigh before he did so. Following those two, others began to make their way into the elevator, whether it was due to their own autophobia, or the general curiosity behind the situation.

One by one those who were on the floor of the entrance hall walked up to the elevator with a respective reaction.

"H-hold on a sec'" Dutch shouted as he quickly trotted to the top of the staircase to catch up with Pasiphae and Silver.

As almost everyone entered the elevator, I simply stood as a great sense of worry began to wad up inside me. It was one thing to be trapped in this castle, and it was another thing to kidnapped all fifteen of us, but after that strange announcement, and the sudden appearance of the elevator shaft I wasn't sure what to think of next? What should I do? I pondered, as that same unsure feeling sat within me, who knows what could be there, I mean for all we know this could be some kind of deathtrap or-'

Before I could finish that last thought I felt something grab my hand, I turned to see a certain alabaster pomeranian, "Avah?" I said in surprise at her appearance.

"Spike," she said in a calm, voice, "It's going to be okay, we can get through this. Things may seem strange now, but all we need to do is hope for the best, okay?"

I wasn't sure what it was, but these soothing words of Avah's seemed to do the trick, I felt a surge of something I hade at the beginning of this whole event, a type of feeling that I had when I looked up at the academy gates this morning. It was a kind of feeling that allowed me to put my worries behind me and look towards my goal, Ihave to face this! "Let's go," I replied with a firm tone.

Avah smiled at my determined words, and soon, the two of us made our way to the elevators along with the others. I still wasn't sure what would come, but as long as she's on my side, I have nothing to worry about...right?

With that thought behind me, we all entered the elevator, each holding a bit of hope and worry within us. Ness was the last to enter, I could only assume he was saying a little prayer before he entered. Once his whole body entered, the doors closed shut with a soft clunk, and without little hesitation, the elevator came to life and made its assertion towards the throne room.

With each clunk and thump of the elevator shaft, the others and I made our ascension towards the throne room, where whoever, or whatever kidnapped us is waiting.

As we rode towards our uncertainty, a thick quietness seemed to fill the air, a sense of fear and worry about what awaited us in that room. Could it be the kidnappers that brought us to this strange palace, or something much more sinister? What are they going to do to us? I fretfully pondered, as the rhythmic sounds of the shaft played in the background,Are they going to kill us, or are they going to make us do something beyond that... I thought with a shutter.

"So," Gunther began, breaking the silence that clouded us, "what's going to happen once we get there?"

"Who the hell knows," Maria replied, her usual annoyed tone being present as ever, "all I know is, the second I see the asshole who brought us here, I'm gonna tear his fuckin' nerves out!"

Avah physically cringed at Maira's threat, "I don't think attacking it would be the best idea," she rebutted, "we don't really know who, or what is doing this to us. The best thing, for now, is to just calm down, and think,"

"I'm with wannabe," Dash commented, earning a harsh glare from the hippogriff fan-girl next to him, "I'm not saying that I couldn't take him, cause you know, I totally could, but I just wanna be sure that the Faust freak over there is right, last thing I need is another lawsuit,"

"Faust freak?" Ness replied, a little umbraged by his remark.

"Oh, you mean about this being a joke or something?" Pinkie asked, "I don't know, that still sounds a little-" before she could finish, the movement of the elevator came to a slow halt, as a soft ping sound echoed throughout the small room, "huh?" We all turned towards the door, as silent uncertainty filled the air once again. Some of the athletic-looking students seemed to ready themselves, while, the other's simply stood, awaiting whatever came from the other side.

I won't lie, I was pretty nervous about all of this. I wasn't sure what would come next, or what would be waiting for us on the other side. All I could do now, what hope for the best.

The doors slowly opened as a bit of light entered the elevator, it was as if we were about to enter a final boss battle or something.

Once, the light had died down, we were greeted by a both stunning, and odd, sight; in front of us all. It had everything that you'd expect from a throne room, a long stretch of carpet, large stain-glassed windows that were parallel from one another, and a large throne chair that sat atop a step-led platform.

And of course, like the rest of the building, the walls were alabaster.

As nice as the room looked, the nervousness of possibly seeing our captor overshadowed my amazement at the room's decor.

However, that didn't seem to deter the others, as Silver was practically in love with the room, "Whoa," she gasped, as she scanned the room with wide eyes, "this is so nice, if we didn't know this place was a castle I'm pretty sure this is a good indicator,"

"I agree," Visine commented, "it seems our assumptions were correct,"

"While that may be true," Dusk said, "We're not here to gawk, that announcement earlier told us to arrive at the throne room, I could only assume that our kidnapper is going to show his or herself to us,"

Maira chuckled at the statement, "for their benefit, I hope they don't show up-" she extended her claws out- "Unless they want their fucking eyes gouged out,"

"T-there's no n-need t-to get violent," Grizelle stuttered, "I-i'm sure we can figure this out calmly,"

"I totally agree, getting violent with me is just super not fun," chided an odd, yet somewhat familiar voice.

"What the heck," I exclaimed in surprise at the uninvited voice. It didn't seem I wasn't the only one who was shocked by the child-like voice, as other expressions and gasp of surprise seemed to appear on everyone's faces.

Well, almost everyone, "Who the fuck said that!" Maira growled as she readied to pounce on the one who called her here.

"Well then, it looks like everypony's here, so let's get excited!" With that cheerful exclamation, the room went quiet for what seemed like a full minute as the literal anticipation of what would happen began to build-up. Would this be it? the moment we were face to face with our captor?

Suddenly, the large throne chair slowly began to rumble, as a loud hissing sound could be heard emanating from it which, of course, caused a major red flag to pop in my mind, 'W-what is this? I thought to myself, as I both physically, and mentally, prepared myself for what would happen next.

Soon, the chair began to shake, as the hissing sound got quieter and quieter, looks of fear and confusion could be seen clearly on everyone's face, myself included. Finally, the rattling of the chair and the hissing sound stopped, and as if on cue, a loud boom sound penetrated our ears, it was like a cannon had just gone off or something!

However, rather than expecting some kind of stone ball being shot at us, A giant cloud of confetti appeared behind the velvet-colored throne chair. That only added to our collective confusion, however, something else would appear out of the cloud that freaked us out even more; Doing some kind of summersault in front of us, a small darkened figure appeared out of the cloud and landed onto the seat of the chair with a perfect landing.

Once the light in the room hit the figure, my eyes widened in shock at what I saw; standing in front of us all, with a wide creepy smile, was afoot tall, black and white, rabbit plushie, "Hey, there everyone, I'm Monobunny, and I'll be your guide for this tour!"

'Guide?!'

Author's Note

The beginning of the end!

Took a while to finish this rewrite, so be sure to tell me what you think in the comments. All critic is welcome.