"A horn is quite priceless and treasured, you see.

"They help to keep the flow of the economy."

The walk down the hallway was a solemn and silent one. If Sweetie Belle's own footsteps had sounded like a prison guard coming to retrieve a criminal for their execution, then this was the walk to the death chamber. She didn't want to imagine Rarity's hysteria when she never returned from the university or Twilight's shocked confusion when she'd learn that she failed the exam, but both images alternated taking hold of her mind.

About ten minutes later, the five arrived at what seemed to be a loading dock of sorts with bored and apathetic-looking worker unicorns milling about with what looked to be a large cargo boat behind them. A moment or two passed until finally one of them noticed the group.

"Huh. Looks like we've got a few failures from the Pass 30s," they growled. "Guess we're ready to load."

"Not so fast," another said. "We may have some more on the way."

"No," Wonderspark piped up. "I was the final one in the group. It's just us five."

"Ah. Alright then, let's load 'er up."

"Wait."

Another unicorn pulled out a box and opened it with a click. Inside of it were dozens of strange rings. The unicorns levitated five rings and put them on the horns of the five ponies.

"What are these for?" Ophiuchus asked.

Hearing this the gruff one huffed.

"You passed the first part of the exam, you should know."

"I think they're suppressant rings," Mysty theorized.

Hearing this the worker nodded.

"Can't have any of you trying to escape. Anyway, bring it down, boys."

He gestured to two unicorns near the boat who turned a set of cranks, opening the door like a drawbridge.

"Everypony inside. Hope you don't get seasick."

Mysty and Scarlet kept their heads high as they entered while Ophiuchus and Sweetie Belle had their heads bowed with Wonderspark keeping a happy medium on her head positioning. Inside the ship was a decent amount of seats covered with thin pillows. Above them looked to be several lights hanging above them, flames flickering inside them. It was probably to make up for the lack of windows to let in any sort of light. The smell of rotting and moldy wood permeated the air as they stepped inside and took their seats. They weren't terribly uncomfortable, but they weren't the best either.

"We're gonna be making a few stops along the way, so be sure to leave some room," one of the workers sneered. "Have fun back there."

With that the door slammed shut, Sweetie Belle's hopes and dreams having fled her body. About a minute later, they heard a loud boat horn as they began to rock on the waters before the boat left the dock. It was official. They had now become Pass 30s.

For sometime, nopony spoke a word to each other. What even was there to say? They were still attempting to grasp the reality of their situation, even though the majority of them had failed this second half on purpose. The only sounds they could hear were the sounds of the boat rocking, the water hitting against it, and the clicking of the lamps above them. A few times, Sweetie Belle's heart lurched when one of the lamps swung a bit too close to the ceiling, afraid that it would shatter and potentially cause a fire.

Then out of nowhere, she heard a gentle and beautiful humming sound within their confines. Soon after soft lyrics filled her ears in a language that, while she couldn't understand, was very beautiful.

"Oy khodytʹ son, kolo vikon.
A drimota kolo plota.
Pytayetʹsya son drimoty:
'De zh my budem nochuvaty?'"

Looking around their sea-faring prison, she found that it came from Scarlet, who had her eyes held shut.

"That's really pretty," she commented, stopping the singing unicorn. "Sorry...I-I just...what's that you're singing?"

Scarlet sighed.

"A lullaby that mama would sing to me and my baby sisters...." she smiled sadly. "Every night she would sing it to us. Whenever we awoke from nightmares, she'd sing it to us....she had such a beautiful voice..."

"I'd say you inherited it from her then....what language is that, by the way?"

"It's Ukreinian."

The two turned to hear Ophiuchus finally speak up.

"Ukreinian?" Sweetie Belle repeated.

"Yes, it is," Scarlet replied. "My first language. I taught Ophie some."

"So....you're not from Trotssia?" Mysty wondered.

Scarlet shook her head.

"A lot of ponies get confused because the dialects sound similar to the untrained ear."

"And what's the song about?" Wonderspark followed.

"It's about a dream and a nap comforting a baby to sleep."

Hearing this Wonderspark smiled. Sweetie Belle could see the wistful happiness in her eyes.

"I....might sing some more later..." Scarlet confessed.

"That would be lovely," Wonderspark replied softly.

Then the group dropped into silence. About half an hour passed, and the whole time, Sweetie Belle couldn't take her eyes off of Ophiuchus. Why did his siblings show so much disdain towards him? Why did he need extra time? And why was his mane around his neck like that? But how exactly would she approach these topics? Before she could ask, Mysty broke the lingering silence.

"So....where do you think they're sending us?"

Hearing this the group glanced around at each other. Mysty had a fair point. Nopony was told where those who failed would be sent. Of course, there were theories--exile, deportation, slavery, even execution--but none of them had any concrete evidence to back them up. The only ones who knew were the ones who failed and those transporting those who failed, but the former seemed to rarely contact anyone in Canterlot or any of the other areas where magic universities were located and the latter....well, they were probably too hardened to give an answer unless you were to pay them a hefty sum, which was money that not a lot of families had.

The group shared collective shrugs.

"Maybe we're going somewhere nice?" Wonderspark suggested. "Like an island community outside of Equestria or something."

"Would we be separated from the Fail 70s? Given special treatment over them?" Ophiuchus asked. "I don't think that'd be fair."

"Who knows?" Sweetie Belle sighed.

More silence followed. An hour passed and then another. Finally Sweetie Belle decided to approach Ophiuchus on who he was. She scooted over to his left.

"So....you're Ophiuchus Starfall?" she asked.

He nodded.

"I know you're Sweetie Belle....I mean, who wouldn't know the baby sister of the Element of Generosity?"

This made her wince. Another reason she'd been under so much pressure and another reason Rarity would be disgraced.

"Um....if you don't mind me asking....what's with you and your family?"

The white-coated stallion sighed.

"It's.....my parents are kind of....astrology and zodiac obsessed. So no matter if the foal was a boy or girl, they were gonna be named after the signs. They....were only expecting 12 foals--"

"But there are two Geminis in your family," Mysty pointed out.

The stallion nodded.

"They're the only fluke in my family that my parents love because....you know, Gemini, twins. Anyway....after Sagittarius was born, my parents thought that'd be it....but surprise..."

He chuckled weakly.

"I.....popped right out of the womb. And that was the day they started hating me."

"They started hating you right from the get-go?!" Wonderspark was in absolute disbelief.

He nodded, glancing away in shame.

"But...they refused to give me up for adoption because....I dunno. I guess they considered me their.....property in some way."

"That's a fucked-up way of looking at it." Mysty sounded disgusted and Sweetie Belle nodded.

"Anyway...." he continued. "That attitude kinda spread to the rest of my siblings, mainly Capricorn and Scorpio. Don't get me wrong, those two can be kind; I've seen them be kind. But...they just hated me."

"Were there any exceptions?" Wonderspark asked.

He nodded.

"Thankfully yeah....there were a few," he admitted. "It was mainly Cancer who treated me well, at least when we got older. Because I was the baby of the family, she became rather protective of me. You saw it first-hand, Sweetie Belle. Just before Taurus ran his course."

Sweetie Belle thought back and remembered all of the questions Cancer had been asking her. They were certainly questions that a mother would ask her foal.

"She was really that nurturing to you?"

He nodded.

"She always made sure that I ate well three times a day, drank enough water, and got to bed on time. Basically she was like a second mother, or I guess the mother I should have had. In fact even before we went to the exam a few hours back, she practically dragged me over to the refreshments table; I didn't have breakfast this morning because we were running late."

"Cancer's one of the only of his siblings I like," Scarlet added. "I will admit she can be a bit irritating with how overbearing she can get, but she has good intentions."

"She treated you the same way?" Mysty asked.

Scarlet nodded.

"She also loved my baby sisters, Chartreuse and Indigo. She was so sweet with them...."

The scarlet pony drifted off and glanced at the floor.

"I just hope that she'll take care of them....was...was I being selfish by leaving them behind? I know they are strong, but....they're still my baby sisters. Should I have just....ran the course?" Scarlet looked as though she was attempted to hold back tears while the others considered what they could say to her.

"I....don't think that's a question any of us can answer," Sweetie Belle sighed. "But I wanna know...why did you three fail on purpose?"

"I'm guessing it was for the same reason," Wonderspark shrugged. "We were at risk of never being able to see someone we care about."

Mysty and Scarlet nodded with no hesitation.

Another hour passed. Sweetie Belle began to wonder if they were truly going somewhere or if the workers were just lapping around a specific course, making them think they'd be going somewhere when the five of them would probably just be thrown into the sea after some time. The thought made her panic and she wished that the silence would be broken.

Mysty seemed to take the hint, at least a bit.

"So....Ophiuchus," she began. "I kinda noticed your behavior during the course, not in like a judgmental way. But....I noticed that you had a bit of a coughing fit each time you tried to run. What's up with that? Is it your mane or something?"

There was a slight relief that flowed through Sweetie Belle, as she hadn't been sure how to approach it. However Scarlet immediately became defensive.

"He doesn't have to tell you if he doesn't--!"

"No, it's okay," the stallion assured the dark-maned unicorn. "I figured somepony would ask eventually."

He brushed aside under his mane for the others to see. To the others' surprise, it seemed to be growing from around his neck.

"Everypony always thought I was pretentious because of how it looked," he sighed timidly. "They thought it was a style choice. Me trying to be different, you know? But it's not. It's a disorder where my mane actually has keratin growing within my neck in a specific pattern."

"So how does that explain the coughing fit?" Sweetie Belle asked, hesitance apparent.

"They're not able to fully explain it, but for some reason, the keratin is produced near my throat. The hairs that grow near it irritate it whenever I do certain activities such as running, which makes me cough. It produces symptoms that match up with exercise-induced bronchoconstriction or EIB, which is kinda like asthma. So I need to be careful or I could have an asthma attack."

"And the....learning disorder?"

He shrugged.

"I dunno exactly what it is, but I have trouble with reading comprehension."

"Trouble how?" Mysty asked.

He shrugged.

"It's kinda like my mind sees sentences in another language or something, like it's going back and forth from English to some strange alphabet. It takes a lot of effort to focus on reading things because of it. That's why I'm supposed to get extra time in exams."

"And you didn't wanna try again?" Wonderspark asked.

"I....kinda felt embarrassed." He scratched the back of his head with his front hoof.

The group fell silent once more.

"So how does that relate to the failure foals?

"Send them to the factory, make them pay their toll."

Another hour passed before the boat jerked to a stop and the door opened to reveal another loading dock. A small group of apprehensive unicorns were waiting there with satchel bags. They too had suppressant rings on their horns.

"Okay," the guard pony groaned. "Since you're not total failures, we'll let you use the restroom and stretch a bit; we also have some food and water to tide you over. Keep in mind, if you try to escape, you will be restrained for the rest of the trip. You have fifteen minutes."

The five of them got out of the boat, carefully stepping off of their seats as their hooves fell asleep. It felt nice to actually be able to move around, and Sweetie Belle smiled a bit, even under their current circumstances. Signs directed her over to a set of bathrooms near the loading dock. After doing her business, she went over to the guard ponies.

"Hang on. I need the Canterlot unicorns for a minute," the head guard announced.

Apprehensively the five walked over and he commanded them to open their satchels. He checked through each one, asked some questions about what was inside, handed them some food and water, and moved on. Sweetie Belle was the last one. Cringing and trembling as he dug through her satchel, he soon stopped and took something out.

"What in the hay are you sneaking in steroids for?" he demanded.

Despite her overt fear, Sweetie Belle did her best to stay strong and assert herself.

"They're not steroids. They're pills for my anxiety disorder. I take them when I have anxiety attacks."

"Mm-hmm....a likely story."

"I'm telling the truth!" she growled. "I'm not somepony who would just sneak steroids onto a ship like that!"

"Listen here, you little--!" he began before a cough cut in. It was coming from one of the other worker unicorns, clearly losing his patience and his will to live.

"Just give the kid the benefit of the doubt. We've seen worse from other unicorns anyway." His voice was worn down and devoid of emotion.

Hearing this the guard's hoof tightened and trembled, shaking the meds like a quiet maraca, while Sweetie Belle's heart bashed against her chest. Finally he relented and placed the meds back in her bag before handing her her food and water. With a sigh of relief, she spotted the other four close to the new unicorns, going back and forth in terms of including them in the conversation. Curiously she trotted over and stood there, listening in.

"--don't really understand what they mean by that," somepony said. It was a blue unicorn with wisps of white and a black mane and tail with specks of red along with a planet-shaped cutie mark. "What do they mean by we aren't total failures?"

"I think it's because we still passed something in the exam," another answered, this one colored yellow with a green mane and a planted flower-pot cutie mark. "It's a kind of hierarchy, I suppose."

"That's messed up," groaned a pink pony with a silver mane in disgust. She had a tiara cutie mark over a peace sign.

"I should've seen this coming," a pony colored poppy-red and her mane a peach-pink, with an eye cutie mark, sighed, more to herself than the others, as she paced around the dock. "Why didn't I see this coming?"

"What? You didn't see that coming?" This one was jokingly spoken by a pink pony with a yellow and orange mane in an accent similar to Scarlet's. Her cutie mark was a film camera with a rose in the middle.

"Very funny, Rose," the tiara pony snarked as she rolled her eyes.

"Thank you, I know I am," she smirked, dropping the accent.

"So....where exactly are we?" Mysty's tone was urgent.

"Appleloosa," the flower-pot pony said plainly.

"Do any of you know where we're going, though?" the planet pony wondered timidly.

Looks of confusion spread about the group.

"I'll take that as a no...." they sighed.

"Nopony does," the tiara unicorn remarked. "We never hear from any of the ones who get sent out."

"Well, maybe it's because they're having lots of fun wherever they are," the rose pony suggested. "I mean, who knows? Maybe it's a fun camp where we learn to better ourselves and our magic. Or maybe a living community where we set up our own rules!"

While Sweetie Belle appreciated this unicorn's optimism, she had a feeling that wherever they were going wasn't going to be all that nice. After all they weren't marked as permanent Pass 30s without a reason. Though wouldn't it be nice to be taken to some sort of tropical paradise where they could all just be happy. She could live in a house by the beach, make a comfy home for herself, do a bit of reading, practice singing, write plays, make her own clothing. All without the pressure of being Twilight's student and Rarity's baby sister. She could start completely fresh, dye her mane and tell, even change her name if she wanted to!

"I mean, not that I WOULD," she thought. "But at least I'd have that choice."

"Alright, time's up! In the ship!"

The guard unicorn's voice broke through her thoughts as the other worker unicorns herded them into the ship like a flock of sheep. Once inside and situated on their spots, the door close with a loud creak and slammed shut before the ship started back up again. This time, instead of silence, the rose pony almost immediately spoke up.

"So how about we go around and introduce ourselves?" she asked. "I mean, who knows how long we're gonna be on this ship for? Might as well get to know each other, am I right?"

Silence permeated the confined watery carriage.

"Awesome!" she continued, her demeanor reminding Sweetie Belle of Pinkie Pie. "I'll start. I'm Rose Sunfall and my pronouns are she/her. I used to be a student at Appleloosa University, go Orchard Ponies!, and my talent is in film-making! I also have ADHD and I've been told I'm oblivious to social cues, though I don't really see it. Anyway, who wants to go next?"

Once again nopony said a word for a good while. Rose merely shrugged.

"That's alright, I can wait."

The tension was palpable and made Sweetie Belle's heart panic and pound. She considered speaking up, just to alleviate her anxiety, which was rather ironic considering it usually worked the other way around with her keeping silent and away from others. But unfortunately there was no option for that, seeing as the room was open and there were no places to hide.

Thankfully the pink pony with the silver mane sighed heavily after some time.

"Okay fine, I'll humor you." She rolled her eyes. "My name is Cadence Silvermound and my pronouns are she/her. I'm also from Appleloosa University and my talent is in diplomacy. There. Happy? Whatever. Somepony go next."

This time, the silence was a bit less deafening with Cadence's introduction still lingering. Soon enough Mysty decided to speak up.

"Guess I'll take a crack at it," she said. "I'm Mysty Starlight, she/her. I'm from Canterlot University and my talent is in spell-casting and shit, which I used to fail the exam. I also have ADHD and strongly-suspected autism."

The Appleloosean students were stunned.

"Wait, you're from Canterlot University--the Canterlot University--and yet you failed on purpose?" Cadence's voice was a mixture of shock and disgust.

"Yeah? What about it?"

"You do realize that that's an elite university, don't you? If you'd passed the exam, you'd get even more privileges from having attended that place alone. Why in Equestria would you give that up?"

"Because of my twin sister. And because of the way you're speaking to me, that's all I'm gonna say, princess."

Cadence merely scoffed as Sweetie Belle had tensed up at the argument.

"U-umm....I'll go next," the space pony trembled, clearly also put off by conflict. "I'm Neptune Bloodstone, they/them. I'm from Appleloosa University and my talent is in astronomy. I have generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety; doctors also suspect that I might have some sort of other disability like autism or ADHD."

"Now this is what I'm talking about!" Rose cheered. "Just a group of unicorns getting to know each other as we head off to a new life together."

"I just have nothing better to do is all." Cadence simply rolled her eyes. "Like you said, we're gonna be stuck in here for Celestia-knows-how-long. Might as well actually do something instead of just staying in an awkward silence for the entire trip."

"I'll go next." This one came from the yellow unicorn. "I'm Coreopsis Clinquant, weird name I know, you can call me Cory. My pronouns are he/they. I'm from Appleloosa and I'm a pretty skilled florist."

"So you plant flowers or something?" Mysty wondered.

Cory merely shrugged.

"Plant them, arrange them, pick them, sell them, that sort of thing."

"Lit."

"Um....I-I'll go next," Wonderspark timidly piped up. "My name is Wonderspark Hopeful, I go by she/her. I'm from Canterlot University. I'm autistic and have ADHD as well as generalized anxiety disorder. My talent is magic in general and I also kinda failed on purpose."

"How do you kinda fail on purpose?" Cory wondered.

"Well....something happened and I let my emotions get the best of me....." she admitted, her voice lowering as she fidgeted with her glasses.

"Ah."

"Hey, weird red pony," Cadence snapped, looking at Scarlet. "You look familiar. Who are you?"

"What makes you think I'm obligated to tell you, suka?" she spat back.

"U-uh, maybe just....go with it?" Neptune trembled. "I-if you wanna."

Hearing this, Sweetie Belle noticed Scarlet's face soften up a bit before she gave a heavy sigh.

"I suppose. I'm Scarlet Strange, I go by she/her. I'm from Canterlot University and my talent is in witchcraft overall. There's some suspicion I may be autistic, but currently it's speculation."

"Oh, that's why I recognized you," Cadence exclaimed. "What in Tartarus are you doing here if you're so good at witchcraft?"

"I failed on purpose."

"You too? Wasted potential. You could've been amazing, you know. You had no reason to--"

"I gave it up for a close friend of mine," she growled.

Hearing this, Ophiuchus glanced guiltily at the ground.

"I-I guess....I'll go next." It was the frantic poppy-colored pony from earlier. "I'm Poppy Prophecy, she/her. I come from Appleloosa and my talent is clairvoyance. Since we're confessing our disorders, I'm diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and autism."

"So that's why you were saying you should've seen it coming?" Sweetie Belle asked. "And what do you mean by it?"

Poppy nodded. "Everything, really....I could've prevented the five of us from being failed....."

"It's not your job to take care of everything, Poppy," Cory assured her.

"But I truly could've kept us from failing!" she exclaimed as tears gathered in her eyes. "I could've saved us...."

"It's in the past. We can't dwell on it."

"Though it would've been smart," Cadence scoffed.

"Shut up," Cory snapped. "Anyway, we've still got two more."

He looked to Sweetie Belle and Ophiuchus who glanced at each other nervously. In truth neither of them wanted to be vulnerable, but it was going to look suspicious if they kept quiet.

"Just get it over with, Sweetie Belle," she sighed to herself before addressing the others.

"I'm Sweetie Belle, I go by...she/her, I guess. I'm from Canterlot University and my talent is.....um....well, it's not exactly the most useful now....but my talent is helping other ponies get their cutie marks after my friends and I tried so desperately to get ours. I also have an anxiety disorder."

"Let me guess; you also failed on purpose," Cadence scoffed.

"No, actually." She shook her head. "I was failed due to a....I suppose you could call it a technicality."

"Oh....well, that sucks," Cory commented.

Sweetie Belle merely nodded. Now it was just Ophiuchus left.

"....I'm...I'm Ophiuchus Starfall...." he began nervously. "He/him....I'm also from Canterlot University."

"What's your talent?" Cory asked.

Hearing this, Ophie looked down at the floor in embarrassment.

"I....haven't....." he began before mumbling the rest.

"You what?"

"I haven't gotten....." More mumbling.

"Can you speak up a bit--?"

"I don't have my cutie mark, okay?" the white stallion exclaimed suddenly. "....My family took every chance they got to keep me from finding my talent...."

"Wait....that last name sounds familiar...." Poppy said. "Aren't all of your siblings named after zodiac signs or something?"

Ophie nodded reluctantly.

"And I wasn't supposed to be born...."

And with that statement, the silence returned. The rocking of the boat was becoming more violent now and Sweetie Belle swore she heard thunder. She could feel her chest tightening and her heart beating frantically. Nausea wracked her stomach and try as might to breathe, her lungs felt as though they had shrunk to the size of small oranges. Gripping on tightly to her satchel as her heart pounded against her, she shuffled through her bag for the water and her pills. Her hoof trembled as she tried to open the cap and take a pill, but eventually she managed to pop one in and swallow it.

Sweetie Belle knew that it wasn't a cure-all for her anxiety and that it would take a while for it to kick in, so she gripped onto her satchel even tighter and tried to take slow, deep breaths. The rocking still progressed to a much more intense level, making it difficult for her to calm herself. She tried to imagine something that made her happy, but unfortunately, most of it was with Rarity or her fellow CMCs, neither of whom she would see again. Tears began to gather in her eyes once more as her heart proceeded to sink. About twenty minutes later, she started to feel drowsy; it was the medication kicking in. A slight relief flowed through her; a nap would make time go by much more quickly, or at least she hoped it would. Using her satchel as a makeshift pillow, she laid down on the bench and let the meds do the work. And soon.....she nodded off.

Author's Note

I promise we'll get to the dark stuff soon. Just bear with me.