Once we all looked at the rules on our Monopads, we collectively decided to check out our rooms. After collecting our keys, we split into two groups heading in opposite directions. There were eight rooms in each guest wing, four north and four south. The rooms in the west wing, starting clockwise from the top left, were assigned to Moondancer, Limestone Pie, Trixie Lulamoon, Trouble Shoes, Octavia Melody, Lemon Zest, Zephyr Breeze, and Aria Blaze. The east wing rooms were assigned to the following in the same order: Myself, Snips, Scootaloo, Iron Will, Apple Bloom, Rarity, Cozy Glow, and Capper.

As the eastern group approached our rooms, Snips tried to step up to reassure Cozy Glow, but Capper put a hand on his shoulder and simply shook his head softly. Now wasn’t the time. Even Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and I weren’t attempting to keep her calm anymore. No, we all needed to process things at our own pace. Without a word, we all entered what would be our new living quarters for the foreseeable future.

The room itself was nice all things considered. There was a king-sized bed with plenty of pillows, a writing desk, a wall mounted TV and remote, a minifridge, a nightstand, a fancy dresser, an alarm clock, a small couch with a coffee table, and a reading lamp. There was of course also a security camera. The bathroom had a nice shower/bathtub combo and everything you’d need to keep up good personal hygiene.

The closet held a bunch of outfits identical to the one I wore, along with some winter-wear for outside. The dresser had underwear, night shirts and gowns, pajama pants, and a few swimsuits. There was also a sewing kit, but I put it down the moment I noticed a set of instructions on how to “efficiently end lives” with everything inside. Finally, there was a first-aid kit in the bathroom. It had basics such as bandages, alcohol, cotton balls, etc. Real basic stuff. I’d probably have to go to the pharmacy if I needed anything more.

For a while, I simply sat on the couch and tried to make sense of what was happening. Who was Monokuma? Why was he doing this to us? Why take sixteen strangers and put them into this killing game? He claimed that his only goal was sowing despair, but was that really it? I had a feeling that Cozy Glow was on the right track when she questioned it. It just didn't make sense to me.

“Okay. Let’s lay out what I know so far.”

Obviously Equestrian magic had something to do with it. The presence of the statues was a dead giveaway, as was the deliberate use of the word ‘harmony.’ As far as I know, I’m the only Equestrian with permanent residence in the human world, so it would make sense to kidnap me. Whoever Monokuma is, he knows a lot about me. The statue, my ultimate talent, my missing geode…I’m important to him and it probably has to do with me being Equestrian. But what did the others have to do with any of this? Why orchestrate this killing game? And what was the relevance of the statues? There were just too many mysteries. I’m going to need some help.

“I wish she was here. She was always good at mysteries. Dammit, why can’t I remember her name?! Or face…or voice. Or…any of them. Ugh, what the hell did you do to my head, Monokuma?”

My friends. The ones who had saved me from myself. The new princess from back home. I had very vague thoughts, but nothing came to me. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that any memory from after I first emerged from the mirror into the human world was fuzzy at best. Attempts to force myself to remember gave no results other than a minor headache, so I stopped trying. That avenue of thought wasn't going to get me anywhere.

At approximately 11:30, there was a knock on my door. I went to open it and saw Limestone Pie standing there. “Hey Sunset. Listen, I’m trying to gather everybody in the restaurant for a group meeting. We need a gameplan and we won’t get anywhere just moping in our rooms all day.” I looked out the door and saw she had brought along Octavia and Lemon to assist. With a shrug, I left my room and locked it behind me. Before long, I was sitting in the restaurant along with most of the other unwilling guests. Someone had rearranged the tables into one long table for us all to sit at. We all sat in silent apprehension as the last few people filed in. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Cozy Glow, Trixie, and Moondancer all hadn’t yet arrived.

Trixie and Moondancer filed in next, both looking annoyed at having to gather with everyone. Finally, after a few more minutes, the last three arrived. Once everyone was there, Limestone sat at the head of the table. “Thanks for coming, everyone. I have a few things I’d like to discuss with all of you. It won't take long. So, let’s get started.”

“What exactly is this meeting about, anyway?” Scootaloo spoke up, raising a hand as if she were in a classroom.

“Well, the first thing I’d like to get out there is for everyone to clear up these “Ultimate Talents” Monokuma assigned us.” Limestone said. “Most of them are self-explanatory, but there are a few of you I’d like to get some clarification from so nobody jumps to conclusions. Specifically, I’d like to hear from Capper, Snips, Aria Blaze, Cozy Glow, Lemon Zest, and Sunset Shimmer. Any objections?”

Capper was the first to speak up. “It’s just like the label says. I’m a con artist. I’d also accept hustler, rogue, mountebank, or charlatan.” The rest of us were aghast at how open he was about his misdeeds. He simply shrugged it off. “Oh, don’t be like that. I only mess with folks who deserve it. You know, like…Robin Hood.”

“Oh I’m sure you’ve got a heart of gold.” Aria rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. “The explanation for mine is simple. Monokuma just wanted to insult me. I’m not a backup singer, I’m an equal part of the pop sensation trio, The Dazzlings. The fact that Adagio named the group after herself doesn’t mean shit.”

“Um…who?” Apple Bloom didn’t show a hint of recognition, nor did the rest of us. There was an awkward pause.

“…Seriously? None of you? We’ve been around for years! We opened for PostCrush for crying out loud!”

“Did you? Huh. Must not have been very memorable.” Trixie’s reply had Aria silently seething, moving her mouth and wringing her hands in rage.

“And what’s this about your age? Says here you’re older than you say you are?” Scootaloo brought up a good point. Aria Blaze was the only one of us who had their age hidden. Why was that? I wouldn’t be getting an answer to that question quite yet.

“You…l-lots of famous people lie about their age! It’s none of your damn business!” Aria looked like she was ready to strangle Scootaloo.

“So famous that none of us have heard of you.” Lemon Zest muttered under her breath.

“What. Was. That?” Aria growled almost like an angry beast, causing Lemon to quickly regret her offhanded remark.

“Nothing!” Lemon carefully leaned away from Aria and gulped fearfully. “A-anyway! I…kind of don’t have a job right now. Aaaand I spend a lot of my free time jamming to all kinds of music. I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call myself the Ultimate Rocker, but I guess it kind of fits?”

Snips was next in line, and he still seemed annoyed at his title. “Mine’s just an insult! I’m no sysafend!”

“Sycophant.” Moondancer corrected.

“Right, that. I’m no sycophant! I’m my own man!” He puffed out his chest and closed his eyes, just barely opening one to see if Cozy was paying attention to him. She was, and the moment he turned away to try and be inconspicuous, she rolled her eyes. “But…if I had to guess why Monokuma called me that, I did used to follow people around a lot in high school? Still, he should’ve called me the Ultimate Barber or something! That’s something I’m good at. I cut my buddy Snails’ hair all the time!” I raised an eyebrow at that. I wouldn’t have pegged him as a barber. Guess you can’t judge a book by its cover.

“I’ll go next.” Cozy seemed to be much more composed than she had been earlier. She’d even taken the time to wipe her face and reapply her makeup after her tears had caused it to run. “The Ultimate Chessmaster is a good title for me. I’ve always enjoyed chess. I’ve got a natural talent for it. It’s not just chess though. I like all sorts of board games. If we find any, I’ll be happy to play with you all to pass the time!” And there it was, her trademark overly sweet attitude. Seems like some time to herself really did some good. Though I wondered why Limestone would want clarification of Cozy’s Ultimate Talent. A chessmaster is someone who’s good at chess. It seemed self-explanatory to me.

And now it was my turn. I felt everyone’s eyes boring into my soul. How could I possibly explain a title like The Ultimate Demon to them without sounding totally insane? I took a breath and decided to just stick with the barest of basics. “Well…mine’s not entirely inaccurate. I…used to be a pretty terrible person.” A few faces looked a bit shocked, but most kept a look of stoic impartiality. “I made a lot of people’s lives miserable. I wouldn’t be surprised if any of them thought of me as a demon. I’m sorry, I don’t want to get any more into it than that.”

“That’s it? You expect Trixie to accept such a pitiful answer? How can we trust you if you don’t tell us everything?” The haughty magician huffed in dissatisfaction.

“If she doesn’t wanna talk about it, that’s her business. Leave it be.” To my surprise, Trouble Shoes spoke up in my defense. I shot him an appreciative look and he simply nodded his head.

“It wouldn’t matter anyway.” It was Moondancer’s turn to interject. “Even if she did explain in minute detail, I still wouldn’t trust her. As a matter of fact, I don’t trust any of you. And if you’re smart, you’ll all follow suit. We’re in a killing game, remember? Any one of us could be a future murderer.”

“No way in hell I’d ever kill anybody!” Apple Bloom shouted and slammed her fist on the table. “You don’t know what yer talkin’ about, Moondancer! Maybe you’d kill to get outta here, but Ah never would! Mah family raised me better than that!”

“How can you be sure?” Moondancer retorted.

“What do ya mean?” While still angry, Apple Bloom looked a bit confused by the question.

“How. Can. You. Be. Sure?” Moondancer spoke slower in a condescending manner. “Can you really say you’d never kill someone? What if your family were held hostage? What if the only way to assure their safety was to kill someone else? Can you really say you wouldn’t do it? Can any of you?”

Apple Bloom stammered for a moment, but she had no response. Moondancer’s logic was sound. We all took a few moments of silent contemplation. She was right. With the right motivation, who knows what any of us are capable of? Before we could go too far down that train of thought however, Limestone got all our attention.

“Okay, that’s enough of that.” She stood up and put her hands on her hips, looking at all of us with an air of authority. “Moondancer has a point, and that’s part of why I asked all of you here. If we’re going to survive this, we need to establish some ground rules we can all agree on.”

“Rules? Yes, that would probably be for the best,” said Octavia. “While I doubt a killer would follow any rules, the rest of us doing so might make it more difficult for them to kill.”

“Exactly.” Limestone nodded in agreement before sighing and sitting back down. “It’s not exactly a foolproof idea and I can’t strictly enforce them, but I think it’s worth trying.”

“And who exactly died and made you the boss of us?” A still peeved Aria sarcastically remarked.

“Nobody! And I’m trying to keep it that way so shut it!” Limestone slammed her hand on the table, startling the rest of us. Her face was contorted into a grimace as she clenched her teeth. Apparently not wanting to escalate a confrontation, Aria simply rolled her eyes and turned to face away from her.

“Oh, pay no attention to her. What are these rules you propose, darling?” Though clearly on edge like the rest of us, Rarity was doing a great job at keeping poise and classiness in her demeanor.

“Right. Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all worked up. Here’s the rundown.” Limestone held up one finger. “First, it’s probably a good idea to stay in our rooms during nighttime. The rooms lock and Monokuma’s rules say that breaking into locked doors is forbidden.” She held up a second finger. “Second, I’ll be holding morning meetings every day when the restaurant opens at 7. We’ll use those to convene and discuss anything we need to as a group. You’d better all show up.” She held up a third finger. “And third, we need to work together to find a way out of here. If anyone discovers something, you need to share it with the rest of us. That’s all for now. Any objections or questions?”

“Um, actually…Apple Bloom and I did find something out on our way to the meeting.” Scootaloo piped up and everyone turned their gaze to the duo. “After Limestone had gotten both of us, we said we’d go get Cozy Glow.”

“Yeah, we felt pretty bad for her.” Apple Bloom chimed in next, gently placing her hand on Cozy’s shoulder as she continued. “Considerin’ how upset she was, Ah decided we shouldn’t just bang on her door. So, we stood outside and tried talkin’ to her. Softly at first, but we got louder when she wouldn’t answer.”

“I didn’t hear anything. I didn’t even know they were there until they decided to ring my doorbell and start knocking.” Cozy shrugged her shoulders. “I think our rooms are soundproof. I was…crying a bit loudly at the time.” Her face got a twinge of red in it as she mentioned that.

“Yeah! When she finally opened the door, we asked if she’d been asleep. Then she looks at us all confused, asking ‘did you guys seriously not hear any of that?’ After that, we tested it a little more by yelling. And whoever was on the other side couldn’t hear a thing.” Scootaloo leaned back in her chair, putting her feet up on the table. “So, yeah. The rooms are totally soundproof. You’ll have to ring the doorbells or knock pretty hard for anyone to hear anything in there.”

Everyone sat in silence for a few moments before Moondancer spoke up. “Hmm…not bad, you three. That’s good information to have.” Despite the compliment, she didn’t sound particularly kind or complimentary. Was she always like this? And while I agreed that this was important to know, something about what was said was bothering me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it though.

“Alright, then if there’s nothing else…meeting adjourned. Go do whatever you like. And make sure to follow the rules! I can’t force you, but you’ll be safer if you do!” With those final words, Limestone stood up and left the room.

With our first meeting concluded, our group began to disperse. Before leaving the restaurant, I made my way over to where Cozy Glow was sitting and gave her a worried look. “Hey Cozy, how are you holding up?” The curly haired girl tilted her head to the side slightly, as if she wasn’t sure why I asked that. However, realization dawned on her and she lightly giggled, giving me a big smile.

“Oh, I’m doing great, Sunset! Thanks for asking!” As I was about to question her sudden good mood, she put a finger up against my mouth to shush me. “Look, before you say anything, there’s no need to worry about me! Yeah, I was a little scared earlier, but I can handle it. I already told Apple Bloom and Scootaloo the same thing…oh!” It looked as though Cozy had come to a revelation as she quickly stood, dragging me up out of my chair as she did so. Placing her hands on my shoulders, she looked at me with a too big smile on her face. “That just gave me an idea! I’ve started trying to make some friends here and you should totally do the same thing! I mean, you and I are already great friends, I can tell, but it’s always great to have more! If we can all get along as best friends, then nothing that Monokuma jerk does will matter! Anyway, no time to chat right now, so I’ll see you later Sunset!” The strange girl flashed me one more smile and left the room, going off to who knows where.

“That…was something.” While I was taken aback at the way she was acting, I had to admit that she might have a point. Things wouldn’t be as simple as she was making them out to be, but making friends with everyone was probably a good idea.

I’ll deal with whatever’s going on with Cozy Glow later. Maybe I can convince Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to help me figure out what her deal is. She sure attached herself to those two pretty quickly after all.

Deciding to take Cozy’s advice, I scanned the room for anyone who might still be there. Aside from myself, there was only one other person still in the restaurant, slowly making their way to the exit. Deciding that she was as good a choice as any, I began to approach Lemon Zest. I had something I wanted to ask her about anyway.

“Hey, Lemon Zest? Do you have a minute?”

The green-haired girl turned to me, pointing at herself as if she wanted to make sure I was talking to her before answering. With a shrug, she gave me a friendly smile. “Yeah sure, what’s up?”

“This might sound a little weird considering our situation, but…do you want to hang out for a little bit?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, sure thing! I was actually just on my way to check out the lounge. Feel free to tag along!” I was admittedly expecting her to be a little less nonchalant about it, but Lemon Zest was taking my request in stride.

’I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. She seems like an easygoing person.’

And so, I proceeded to spend time with Lemon Zest. The two of us made our way to the lounge, which happened to be empty when we arrived, much to my relief. I was half expecting Trixie to be mucking about in here again. Once we entered, Lemon Zest made her way back towards the sound booth. “Just a sec, I wanna check on something.” I waited patiently as she did whatever it was she was doing. After a few minutes, she let out a triumphant yell. “Woohoo! Found something! Finally, I can actually jam to something!”

“Wait, really? I thought Monokuma said there wasn’t anything here for you to listen to.” True, the bear could easily be lying. But why would he lie about something so easily disproven?

“He said I couldn’t use my headphones with anything that’s here. He didn’t say a thing about music in general! And check it out, there are CDs and Vinyl records here!” She started piling a few of said CDs and records onto the sound booth. “We’ve got PostCrush, My Cantering Romance, Colt Play, Songbird Serenade, Feather Bangs, DJ PON3, Whinny Houston, Sapphire Shores, Coloratura, Elvis Hoofsley, even off the wall stuff like Weird Cheese Sandwich! Talk about variety! Sucks that this soundboard is too old to even think about it having Bluetooth tech for my headphones, but I guess I’ll make do and just jam out in here.” I recognized all the artists she named, but there were quite a few more in the pile who I had never heard of.

’Huh. Maybe I’ll end up expanding my music taste while I’m here?’

Before I got too distracted and forgot about it, I decided to ask a question that had been burning in the back of my mind since I met Lemon Zest. “So…about that school uniform you’re wearing. I’m pretty sure that’s a Crystal Prep Academy uniform. I’ve got to ask…how come you’re wearing a high school uniform? N-not that it doesn’t look good on you! It’s just, you’re the same age as me so it seemed like an unusual choice. I mean…ugh, this sounded a lot less rude in my head…” As I mentally beat myself up for being so inconsiderate, Lemon Zest just started laughing.

“Haha, don’t worry about it! I thought it was pretty weird too when I woke up with this thing on. Honestly, I hadn’t touched the thing since I graduated.” I felt a bit better knowing I hadn’t offended her. Then again, hearing that she had no idea how it got on her had some potentially uncomfortable implications. I chose not to mention them just in case she hadn’t thought about it. Realizing something I had said, she now looked at me with curiosity. “Hey, how did you know this was a Crystal Prep uniform?”

“Oh, that’s easy. I went to Canterlot High, so I saw a lot of that uniform any time the Friendship Games happened.”

“Whoa, no way! You went to CHS? That means we’re both from Canterlot! We’ve probably seen each other around town and never even realized it! We might have even seen each other at the games a few times!” She was clearly excited to meet someone from the same place as her. I couldn’t blame her. I felt the same way. In this strange situation, it was comforting to have a small bit of familiarity, even if we’d never actually met before.

“I’d say it’s likely. And that’s just one more reason for all of us to try and get out of here together. Once we do, we can hang out properly at the mall or something. I’m sure my friends would love you. You seem pretty cool.” I of course neglected to mention that I currently couldn’t remember a thing about said friends, but there was no need to worry her about that right now.

“Oh, I’m so down! My friends will probably like you too! I mean, some of them might take a little warming up to, but they’re awesome, I promise!” Based on how she was speaking, it sounded like she was having no trouble remembering her own friends.

’Good, I’m happy for her. But…why can’t I remember mine?’ I sighed internally and tried to focus on the positives for now. ’I’ll figure that out later. For now, I hope Lemon Zest and I can get along as friends.’

Got Friendship Fragment! Lemon Zest: 1/5

Lemon Zest and I hung out for a while, reminiscing on various hangout spots in Canterlot while occasionally sharing our tastes in music. Eventually, we split up and I began to wander the hallway towards the lobby. I refused to look in the direction of the demon statue. I stood there for a while, staring up at the towering Christmas tree. It was truly a thing of beauty, a complete contrast to the monster that kept us here. A monster whose motive was still infuriatingly unknown to me. What was his end goal? Why gather a bunch of strangers and make them kill each other? Surely there was something else to it, right? It was all just too weird. As I lost myself in thought, a lovely voice spoke from my left.

“It’s quite beautiful, isn’t it?” I turned to see Rarity standing next to me. When did she get there? I didn’t realize I was so deep in thought that I wouldn’t notice anyone approaching.

“Huh?” It took a moment for me to realize she was referring to the massive tree in front of us. I’d been so focused on trying to figure out Monokuma’s motives that I’d completely forgotten it. “Oh, yeah. It’s pretty for sure.” Rarity stared up at it for a moment longer before turning to look at me with a peculiar look on her face. Her finger tapped against her chin as she pursed her lips, clearly thinking about something. I raised an eyebrow, not sure what to make of her scrutinizing gaze. “Uh…is everything okay? Do I have something on my face?”

Rarity blinked a couple of times and gave me an apologetic smile. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry for staring darling. I have a habit of analyzing clothing, you see. Monokuma was accurate in calling me the Ultimate Fashionista. I’m quite in tune with the world of fashion. Although, what I’m most interested in is using that knowledge to make and design clothing for my clientele. It would be just as accurate for him to refer to me as the Ultimate Couturier if he so chose. And since you do have a rather…’eye catching’ style, I couldn’t help but take it in.” I wasn’t entirely sure if that was a compliment or not, so I didn’t say anything about it. Her eyes looked me up and down again before she cleared her throat. “Ah, but…that’s not why I wanted to speak with you. I apologize for getting distracted and carried away there.”

“Hey, it’s no big deal. I can understand getting distracted by your hobbies. If a guitar shows up, you can bet I’ll be fiddling with it as much as I can.” Rarity’s eyes seemed to light up for a brief moment when I mentioned my interest in the guitar. Maybe she was into music too? “Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“Oh, yes! That. To be honest, I wanted to apologize.” She began to nervously twirl a finger through her purple hair, not wanting to look me in the eye. I had to admit, it was kind of adorable.

“Apologize? What for?”

“Well…it’s about when we first met. When Capper began flirting with you, I couldn’t help but notice how well you received it. Not that I can blame you. He’s handsome and just oozes that roguish charisma.” The fashionista sighed as her mind wandered for a moment. No doubt she was fantasizing about something. Thankfully, she quickly snapped back to reality. “Anyway! Seeing you so flustered, I decided to join in and tease you a little bit. It was a spur of the moment decision.” After a moment’s hesitation, Rarity continued with a slight flushing of her cheeks. “And so…I wanted to apologize if I made you uncomfortable. Yes, it may have been harmless flirting that certainly paled in comparison to Capper kissing your hand. And yes, I had no way of knowing just how dire our situation was. Even so, it simply wouldn’t do for me to leave things as they are.”

I simply stood there in silence as I took in everything Rarity said. While I understood where she was coming from, she was really making a mountain out of a molehill here. Yeah, she had been a bit flirtatious, but that was nothing! And besides…I didn’t exactly dislike it. But instead of voicing any of this, I decided to let her have this. It wouldn’t be right to deny her apology, even if I felt it wasn’t necessary.

“Hey, it’s alright. There’s no harm done.”

“You’re sure?” she asked with a hint of trepidation.

“Yeah, no worries. If it makes you feel better, let’s start over.” I held out my hand in front of her, deciding to further take Cozy Glow’s earlier advice to heart. That girl was weird, but she was right about the importance of friendship. “Hi, I’m Sunset Shimmer. It’s nice to meet you. Would you like to be friends?”

Rarity widened her eyes in surprise for a moment before a relieved smile crept across her face. She reached out and shook my hand with a surprisingly firm grip. “A pleasure, Sunset Shimmer. My name is Rarity. Perhaps this can be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

We both laughed at the slight absurdity of it all. Here we were in a terrifying life or death situation, and yet we were acting so casual about deciding to be friends.

’Maybe we can get out of this if we all work together…as friends.’

Got Friendship Fragment! Rarity: 1/5

Rarity and I hung out for a little bit longer, mostly discussing fashion. I wasn’t an expert on it by any means, but I found it strangely comforting to hear her expound her interests. Eventually, we bid each other farewell. I briefly stopped in the kitchen to grab a small bite to eat before it closed for the night. I hadn’t had anything to eat today and I’d skipped the scheduled evening meal that was listed in the rules section of my Monopad. After that, I went to my room and made sure to lock the door behind me. I didn’t want to distrust the others, but I wasn’t about to take an unnecessary risk.

*Ding Dong, Bing Bong*

The sound of a school bell rang throughout the hotel. It was the same chime that had played before Monokuma had put forth his announcement to come to the lobby. This time, the monitor in my room lit up with an image of the bear. I assumed all the other monitors in the hotel did the same. He was sitting in what looked like an office of some sort with various monitors showing locations throughout the hotel behind him. Sitting next to him was a glass of wine. I wondered briefly if he could even drink wine, but his shrill voice cut off any such thoughts.

“Mm, ahem, this is a hotel announcement. It is now 10 p.m. As such, it is officially nighttime. Please return to your rooms and relax. The doors to the restaurant and the courtyard are now locked, and entry is strictly prohibited. Okay then…sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite…”

And with that, the monitor turned off. Feeling the weight of the day catch up with me, I collapsed onto the bed without even attempting to change clothes. I'd deal with that later. I thought about what Monokuma said at the end and let out a frustrated groan.

“I swear, if there are actually bedbugs here, I might scream.”

Author's Note

And we're off! Remember to comment who you'd like to see Sunset spend Free Time with and I'll try to work with that!