My Little Danganronpa: Friendship is Mayhem

The castle at the heart of Ponyville always looked incredible in the light of the rising sun, and today was no exception. However, on this particular day, Starlight Glimmer had no time to enjoy it. She was running late, after all. The previous day, Princess Twilight had sent her a note, asking her to meet at sunrise in the castle's library, and now the sun was cresting the horizon, and Starlight was just entering the castle.

She wasn't nearly as obsessed with punctuality as her former teacher was, but still, one was not simply late to a meeting with a princess. Even if said princess was a good friend of yours, and would probably forgive you. Starlight's mane and tail streamed behind her as she sprinted through the familiar halls, her hoofsteps echoing on the tile floor.

She skidded to a stop at the library doors, and quickly entered.

"I'm sorry I'm late! I- oh..." Starlight fumbled over her words as she saw that the library was occupied by several ponies, none of whom were princess Twilight.

"What...?" Starlight frowned in confusion.

"I'm guessing you got a note too?" There was a hint of confrontation in Rainbow Dash's voice.

"Yeah, I did... did everyone here?"

"Looks like," Applejack confirmed. "Everypony here has one."

Starlight frowned and did a headcount. Including her, there were fifteen ponies. She recognized most of the ponies, and some were even close friends of hers, but a few were new faces to her. Every part of her wanted to run to Sunburst, or Trixie, but she hesitated when she heard another set of hoofsteps behind her.

"Huh? What... what's everypony doing here?" Twilight's familiar voice carried a tone of confusion.

"I could ask you the same question." Starlight looked around for the source of the unfamiliar voice, and realized it had come from one of the ponies she didn't know, who was now making her way to the front of the room. She was a tall, serious looking pony, with a plum coloured coat and a short pink mane. The pony had a scar over one eye, and Starlight had to fight back nausea as she realized that the stranger had once had a horn, but it had been broken. This was one of the most painful things that could happen to a unicorn, and Starlight pitied her instantly.

Twilight ran past Starlight as she recognized the stranger. "Tempest! What's going on?"

"You should know, princess. Apparently, you're the one who invited everypony here." She passed Twilight a note that looked nearly identical to the one that Starlight had received.

Twilight looked over the note and frowned, her wings shifting anxiously. "I didn't write this... Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see you all, but I didn't invite anypony here."

The room filled with murmurs of confusion.

"If you didn't ask us here, who did?!"

"Do we have to stay, then?

"What's going on?"

"The notes were fake?"

Starlight felt unease pricking in her stomach as she listened to the others' concerns. One voice began to rise above the others, drowning them out as they paused to listen. The voice wasn't saying anything. Instead, it was laughing. It sounded like a foal, but in the wrong way. It reminded Starlight of the laughter of cruel young ponies tearing off the wings of a dragonfly.

The doors to the library slammed shut behind her, and the sound made Starlight whirl around with a yelp. Things were happening so very fast. Much too fast for her liking. It made her anxious. The air was still full of laughter, but the source of it couldn't be pinpointed, or even guessed at. Everypony was making noise. Everypony was scared. Nothing made sense. None of it made sense.

Nobody noticed the sleeping spell that had been cast throughout the room, until ponies began to drop one by one. Starlight's vision began to blur. She stumbled as the joints in her legs turned to jelly. Her rear legs gave out first, and she landed hard on her rump, the dull pain from her landing going barely noticed. Her head was too hazy now. She barely had enough conscious power to fold her forelegs before they gave out too, and carefully lower her head to the floor. It was so incredibly difficult to keep her eyes open, and her head swam as she struggled to stay awake for just a little longer, to fight the spell even as the ponies around her succumbed to it.

One pony stood out to her, though. One that hadn't been included in her head count. Standing in front of the library doors, laughing, was a black and white foal. The foal seemed unaffected by the sleeping spell, but he couldn't possibly have been the one to cast it. He was an earth pony. But then who had?

Starlight whimpered quietly. Trying to think only made her head spin more, and she wasn't sure how much fight was left in her. It seemed like none of the others were even still awake. She was the last one.

The black and white foal had noticed this as well, and calmly cantered over to her. When he put his hoof on the back of Starlight's head, another hazy thought bubbled in her mind. He was cold. Living ponies were not supposed to be that cold. He was too strong for a mere foal as well, and something inside Starlight stirred with a deep feeling of disturbance. Everything about this foal was just as unusual as everything else that had happened today. It was fitting in a way.

The foal leaned down, his muzzle just barely brushing against Starlight's ear. She couldn't feel the breath that should have been coming from his nostrils. Whatever this foal was, it wasn't natural.

"Nighty night," he whispered, then drew back and slammed his hoof into the back of Starlight's head. The very last thing Starlight saw before losing consciousness was the two-toned foal walking away, her own blood staining his white front hoof.