START GAME
42 ponies remaining
It was strange. Twilight had never pondered on the thought. Maybe she had slightly contemplated it while scanning enthusiastically through a text book, then locking the cogitation deep at the back of her mind for future recognition. Then again, it was like her to discover fascination from the least likely things. Given her whereabouts at that moment, perhaps that was what developed her abrupt interest. Or maybe, she was just an egghead. Despite constant reminders of this notion, she never really did take the statement to heart, because who could she kid. She was an ‘egghead’ and even more importantly, she adored being one. Who wouldn’t? Delving deep into books to discover astonishing facts and mysteries of the world, that didn’t sound remotely – how did Pinkie put it? “Boredarific” - toTwlight in the least. Is it such a crime to want to study? She couldn’t resist it; she just had an extreme thirst for knowledge. Nevertheless, this one question itching away at her brain was going to leave her parched if it remained unanswered.
Just how long does it take the water in the river source atop Smokey Mountain to reach the west coast? she replayed the question gain in her mind, while continuing to stare aimlessly out the carriage window, every few moments wiping the thick glass condensation away with a hoof. The outside was gloomy and dreary. Covered by the light flickers of rain, Twlight could just make out the Unicorn Range Mountains from her window seat. They were mostly hidden in shadow by the overcast, black, clouds above, each letting out a low rumble in their own time. The storm had worsened since pasting by Canterlot. The once glistening, snow-covered peek of Smokey Mountain, protruding into the blue skyline was now becoming progressively harder to recognize, as the sky made its gradual change from grey to black. The rain was positively torrential now and the small taps and patters against the windows perked Twilight’s ears, a small change from the constant chugging of the train’s engine.
She frowned slightly at the streams of droplets running down and long the window frame. This extra rain will definitely affect the variables in my hypothesis of the water’s velocity she thought; annoyed that weather was ruining her fun. Wait, was determining variables considered fun? Turning her attention from the window, she glanced at the large clock above the carriage entrance. It was made of old, dark, splintered wood and the frame was chipped in several places. It looked familiar, similar to the one inside Ponyville town hall Twilight recalled. Eight o’clock, had it really been that long? Surely they should have arrived by now? How far away was Vanhoover anyway? Twilight grunted and turned back to her window. She felt heavy-eyed and somewhat sluggish. Tired, that was it, she could sleep off the remaining journey time. Taking in a deep breath, she positioned her fore leg on the small window ledge, resting her cheek in her hoof. Releasing an audible long sigh, she closed her eyes. She felt herself starting to drift away, as the minor motions and movements of the carriage rocked her gently to a peaceful slumber.
“TwIlight…Twilight…TWILIGHT!”
“GAHHHH!” Twilight shot up, smacking her head against the overhead storage compartment before landing wide-eyed and dazed.
“You alright?” Spike asked, examining the unicorn, whilst she gathered surroundings. After finally discovering her waker, she gave him a quizzical look rubbing her now aching horn.
“Spike, don’t you know better than to sneak up on ponies?” she questioned, inspecting her forehead for a bruise. Her blurred vision from the awakening slowly adjusted, as she looking at him puzzled.
“Oh, sorry Twilight,” he mumbled, taking a huge bite out of a cookie. He held up a claw grasping the bulging treat bag. “Hey, want one?”
She groaned still rubbing her temple. “No thanks Spike, I was just-” Don’t say analysing river velocity. “- Taking a nap, that’s all.” She grinned anxiously.
“Oh well, you should, Mrs. Cake made them for the trip, they’re real good,” he chirped, taking another bite. “You should come sit with us Twilight, Pinkie is gonna show us all how to make balloon animals, Oh, and Mr. Filthy Rich said he used to live in Vanhoover so he was telling me all about what-”
Twilight quickly raised a hoof to hush the dragon. “That sounds great Spike, I’ll be over in a while, okay?”
“Sure.” He smiled, turning to waddle back down towards Pinkie and the others at the bottom of the carriage. Scooting to the aisle seat, she craned her neck round watching her small companion walk away. She stifled a small giggle upon seeing the crumb trail Spike had left along the carriage floor.
Glancing down the carriage had exposed Twilight to the pink bounding blur that was Pinkie Pie, zipping to-and-fro groups of ponies offering up treats and ‘hilarious’ antidotes. She didn’t know how, but perhaps all that sugar had finally had an effect on the mare. Was it even possible for Pinkie to get sugar rush? Scanning further, Twilight was relieved to see everypony seemed to be enjoying the journey, all clustered in small groups discussing their plans for the trip ahead. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom where gazing up and chuckling and at Scootaloo, doing some sort of hoof bump in the air, whilst doing lengths of the train car. Some ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’ new cheer no doubt. Likewise, from the row behind Silver Spoon was raising a hoof, whispering in Diamond Tiara’s ear about the ‘display’. Blossomforth, Thunderlane and the rest of the weather team were all perched round a table playing, from what Twilight could tell, some form of card game. The buff white Pegasus, she remembered as Snowflake gave a thunderous, “YEAH!” before reaching out his fore-hooves, raking in his winnings of small change and some of Pinkie’s cherry candies. Twilight gave a sigh, must be poker.
Across the aisle from the game, Big Mac, his cousin Braeburn and a blue stallion Twilight often saw working the fields around Sweet Apple Acres called Baritone were in quiet conversation about the trip ahead. Twilight had questioned why Braeburn was on this trip. In all honesty, the journey to Vanhoover was a complete mystery to her. When Spike had handed her the summon only three days prior stating that fourty-two lucky residents of Ponyville had been chosen to attend a special royal gathering, she was positively intrigued. Even Mayor Mare had seemed clueless when she had enquired about the event on the station platform before boarding. It turned out she was about as oblivious as that grey mail pony Twilight would spot on delivery day. Still, this didn’t answer Twlight’s question on why Braeburn was here. Braeburn wasn’t a Ponyville citizen, was he? Besides, Trixie was here too! She had stifled a harsh glare Twilight’s way when they had crossed paths in the carriage gangway. Why was she here? She had imagined Trixie to live miles away from Ponyville, also she travelled all across Equestria with her magic shows. Trixie shouldn’t be here and to some extend Twilight thought she shouldn’t either. Deep down she felt cold, anxious, like something bad was going to happen. But that was Twilight, analysing every little step before she even took one. Yet something smelt fishy about this whole trip to her, and it wasn’t Applejack’s baked-bads.
Speaking of Applejack, Twilight had noticed her from across the train car, asleep with her trusty Stetson covering her eyes, rising and falling as she breathed. She hadn’t shifted since passengers had first boarded. She had sat alone, just watching the passing scenery deep in thought. Twilight could swear something was wrong with the mare, ever since the delivery of the summons and the news of the trip she wasn’t acting her usual self. She seemed distant from everypony, on edge. Whenever the trip was brought up in conversation she would change topic, roll her eyes in irritation or simply leave. This didn’t help Twilight’s already uneasy mindset. Did Applejack know something? Or was she just over analysing things…again. Probably the latter, but one thing Twilight was certain of was something was troubling the country mare and she was going to put her hoof on it, one way or another.
At long last, she finally arose from the window seat. Giving her hooves each a quick jiggle to rid herself of the building numbness, she set out down the carriage towards Applejack and the others. Upon passing, she gave Rarity and Fluttershy a petite smile and nod, as they continued their conversation to Cheerliee and Zecora. Twilight couldn’t quite make out the topic of conversation, but she heard something about ‘100% Saddle Arabian silk’, Rarity’s choice of subject surely. She continued down the gangway, avoiding the crumb trail and pink frosting ground into the wood panelling. How could Pinkie and Spike drop so much food? It wasn’t like their mouths were small, especially Pinkie’s! The carriage was crammed, how forty-two ponies could fit into such a small carriage, the studious mare would never know. She dreaded to think how densely packed the train would have been if the rest of the town had attended. Thank Celestia it was just a selected few. Twilight took an instant to think of her mentor. She hadn’t had the glory of her presence in three months. Perhaps she had a hectic schedule to uphold, she was the Princess after all. Although, she had become anxious when her daily letters from the Princess had turned into weekly ones. Maybe she was at the gathering? She recalled seeing her beautiful signature, written in golden ink on the summon. Of course she would be! Twilight breathed a sigh of relief; she really could get too agitated. Twilight was half way down the train car when a familiar purple claw reached out to the aisle, drawing her attention with prod to her side.
“Here Twilight,” the small dragon called giving a wide grin, “sit down." She humbly obliged, heading for the seat, as Spike patted the cushion, beckoning her over to the table he and a group of other ponies where sitting.
“So, does it still hurt? I heard you did a wicked noise dive and BOOM!!” Vinyl Scratch bawled, pounding the table then creating an exploding gesture with her fore hooves.
“What? Nah, just a scratch.” The rainbow mare shrugged.
Twilight knew of Rainbow’s way of showing no weakness to ponies, it was a trait she highly envied, but this was ridiculous. The crazy mare had undergone an intensive life threatening operation, not to mention a temporary coma! Now she was passing it off as a ‘scratch’. It only happened three weeks ago, for ponies sake! Twilight was used to Rainbow crashing into the library; she could deal with that norm. It was only when Applejack had dragged her from her latest copy of ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ that she had learned of her new trick a.k.a barrelling into Ghastly Gorge and causing a rock slide. Well done Dash. Twilight had remembered the horror when the rescue team finally found her crushed and unconscious under a mountain of rock. Thank Celestia she recovered… eventually. Most ponies don’t bounce back as easily from neurosurgery. Twilight opened her mouth to interject to Rainbow’s pride, but was interrupted by a classy grey mare sitting beside Vinyl.
“Vinyl! Must you be so boisterous?” Octavia exclaimed, pushing her friend back down into her seat, “I’m sure Rainbow Dash doesn’t want to relive that dreadful incident.”
“What? I was just asking, geez!” the DJ shrugged, slumping back into the cushioning of the chair.
The gray mare swept her black mane back with a hoof, giving a bewildering look, “Well you shouldn’t.”
The two musical mares continued to bicker, whilst Twilight glimpsed at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow tried to contain a smile, but to no prevail, Octavia was right; she didn’t want to relive the accident. She wasn't the strong pony she made herself out to be, at least not anymore. This was a fall she couldn’t get up from. Rainbow had tried to talk to someone about it, she really had, but it was difficult. These nightmares and mood swings weren’t helping in the slightest. She thought Twilight might have had some book or spell to suppress them, but with the trip to Vanhoover keeping everypony pre-occupied she didn’t want to trouble the studious mare. She caught Twilght glancing over and returned a smile. Flexing her bandaged wing she sat back, resting her eyes and continued to listen to Vinyl and Octavia’s rambling.
Twilight saw that most of the other ponies where setting down, it must be getting later than she thought. Spike had already fallen asleep, resting against her side. Now that she thought about it, a lot of ponies where asleep. She couldn't even hear Pinkie’s babbling.
“Hey Twilight, are you okay?” Rainbow asked, opening an eye to peek at Twilight frantically scanning up and down the carriage aisle.
“Yes, I’m… fine.” Faking a smile, she slowly responded, “I don’t know, earlier I had this weird feeling and now I think-”
The car slammed to a halt, producing a high screech, as the wheels and track grinned in unison. Even through the carriage the sliding of steel against high volumes of rain water could be felt, the Ponyville Express battling for its wheels to obey. Twilight was thrown forward with nothing but a table to stop herself turning into a purple projectile. It wasn’t most comfortable airbag to have. She pushed away from her hard landing surface, as the motion finally subsided. Rainbow too trying to steady herself upright, clearly having just witness the same fate from the table as Twilight. Both gawked at each other, letting a moment of silence past and trying to come to some realisation of what had just happened.
Dash spoke, breaking the silence, “What the hay is going on?” Looking out the window was useless; the storm had made fine work of painting the windows with white condensation and rain. Rainbow stared at Twilight, seeking some reassurance.
“We probably just broke down.” She shot a fake, conscious grin. Rainbow gave a nervous laugh. She wasn’t buying it. Twilight didn’t even find comfort in her own words. That niggling feeling was back again.
“Sure, of course, thats totally why…Right?” Rainbow was getting anxious now. She couldn’t deal with situations like this anymore. Okay, so maybe this wasn’t that bad, trains brake down all the time, but it was there eating away at her mind. That damn accident, she hated herself for being so stupid. She had tried brushing it off, it was nothing. It was only nightmares, but she had never felt this way. Nervous, panicky…scared. Oh gosh, she was turning into Fluttershy!
Twilight stared down the aisle towards the engine car, every so often squinting to peer through the window glass at the carriage door. Standing out of her seat, she gave a curious look around then to Dash.
“Everyone’s asleep,” she rubbed her head with a fore hoof, “That’s strange, surely someone would have noticed that emergency stop.”
“Really?” Rainbow peeked over the back of the seat, tapping Lyra’s head, while Bon Bon snored softly beside her, “You’re right, this is creepy.” Rainbow hadn’t even noticed Vinyl and Octavia’s arguing had ended; they too were asleep, silent.
“Okay, I’m going to talk to the driver-”
“What! Wait!” Rainbow interjected, leaning over the table.
“You just say here I’ll be right back, you can’t use too much energy in your condition.” This time her smile was reassuring, she started down the train car, “I’ll be back, Pinkie promise.”
“Okay, sure thing, I’ll just… say here.” Rainbow breathed, Twi was right the train just broke down, she was always so logical. Any courage Rainbow had built up was shattered, upon the uneasy flittering of the carriage lights. Any other time, this would have been funny; they kind of looked like strobe lighting, the crazy patterns and timing of the lights. Vinyl and Pinkie would have had a field day. However, this was just perfect, let’s make this even more awkward and weird.
Twilight glanced up to the unexpected light show. Okay, this is perfectly normal the emergency stop must have alliterated the electrics. Scanning around, everypony was asleep, it was like something she’d read in a horror novel. Finally, the purple mare stopped, focusing at the right corner of the carriage; she gave a small gasp in surprise. Applejack. At first she didn’t move, but the raise of her hat told Twilight otherwise. She wanted to call out to her, any other pony would have, why wasn’t she asking her what was going on? She just stood there, frozen. Applejack gazed back a very cold, uneasy stare. At least, she could just make out her glare, the lights weren’t helping and did her vision seem blurred? No, it’s just the darn lights. Twilight knew something was going on, at that moment she unsteadily raised her hoof to walk back towards her. Then she stopped. It was the very stern shaking of Applejack’s head, which gave Twilight the message, she didn’t even know what it meant, but giving a firm nod she started back towards the door.
Creeping down the aisle, amongst all the slumbering ponies was very unsettling. At least the dim glow of some candles Pinkie had left on a cupcake upon a table helped guide Twilight through the dark carriage. Something was defiantly wrong for Pinkie to leave a cupcake abandoned. On approaching the carriage door, she peeked through the glass. Nopony was around, but the lights were on, that was a good sign. Engulfing the door knob in an opaque purple aura, she opened the door. She tried, and then tried again. What the heck, why is it locked? She grabbed the handle in both fore hooves, harvesting all her strength and unleashing it onto the door. It didn’t budge; she wasn’t a strong pony like Applejack or Rainbow.
She leaned in closer to inspect the lock, before calling down the carriage, “Rainbow the door is locked, I could use your help with it.” There was no reply, what was that mare doing? She only left her for five minutes.
“Rainbow, are you listening?” Twilight had a high tolerance for Rainbow’s pranks and shenanigans, but this was talking it way too far.
“Rainbow…Rainbow Dash?... Hello?” Okay, now it was getting weird.Why wasn’t she answering? Why wasn’t anypony answering?
“Hello.. is any p-pony awake?” Everyone was asleep, she was alone and Dash had gone somewhere. Something was coming over Twilight and it wasn’t just panic and worry. Was it always misty in here? Wait, mist?
“Ugh, I don’t feel so good,” she stared back down towards the table where she left her colourful friend, “R-rainbow?” That was it, at that moment, it all dawned on Twilight. She looked up to the ceiling, slanting her head in observation. A thin mist was hovering and swirling inches from the carriage roof. She could see it now, she waved a hoof, as it wrapped and coiled in the air around her. Great Celestria!
Galloping back towards the door she yelled, trying to stifle her coughing, “Gas, there’s a gas leak in here…ugh” Twilight’s fore hooves buckled from beneath her, horrified she pushed her torso forward, crawling low towards the door.
“Hey, somepony! H-help!” she couldn’t breathe, her lungs grasped and clung in her chest. There it was the burring vision again, only this time it wasn’t the gas. Her own eyes were deceiving her. She went down hard, containing her coughing attack, she edge forwards reaching her fore hooves out for the invisible pony that would save her, but nopony came.
Twilight squinted, straining to see. Appearing from a cloud of haze, the carriage door opened to reveal a black silhouette. Through the smear of the carriage car, the figure approached her. Twilight couldn’t think or even believe what was unveiling before her was real. The last thing she saw, that image stapled to her mind. A dark stallion in uniform, wearing an old gas mask studied Twilight, letting out deep, tinny sounding breaths.
Twilight with her last ounce of strength reached for the stallion, whilst quivering at his dark, piecing stare. She felt the life suck out of her, as she fell limp her hoof slumped down smacking against the wood panelling. Then she saw nothing, darkness.
Twilight blacked out.
It was safe to say the Ponyville Express didn’t reach Vanhoover. The multi-coloured locomotive detoured north, in perilous combat against the powerful storm, finally reaching the coast. Not many ponies had visited the north coast of Equestria, never mind lived there. It was known to be quiet and peaceful, but unknown to be harvesting a horrifying secret. After bypassing the city, the train wove its way through various countrysides and farms before it finally stopped.
The stallion who was middle aged with the streaky grey mane looked like the typical humble train driver. Still wearing his oxygen mask that was slightly digging into his chin, he turned towards the train’s passengers with a faint look of pity, for he knew of what would become of the ponies’ fate. He offered remorseful sigh towards his fellow ‘sleeping’ passengers. When seeing a royal guard, dressed in indigo blue armour tap against the window, his face stiffened whilst proceeding to open the carriage doors with a wave of magic. Dozens of masked ponies clothed in battle gear rushed in.
Illuminated by the moonlight, the grey concrete pier gleamed like white bone, whilst the surrounding waves flicked and danced, lapping against its underside. Beyond was a small ship prepared to transport its cargo of ‘players’, swaying and bobbing slightly amongst the black open sea.
42 ponies remaining
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For a moment Twilight thought she was back in the library. She sniffed the light musk of the oak desk and felt its patterned grain under hoof. Far too often she fell asleep after catching up on some midnight research. Looking up, she realised she was far from the library’s refuge. It looked like a usual classroom, there was a lectern, an old, warn blackboard with still visible hoof prints and chalk smudges and above a scrolling projector screen. She sat amongst rows of desk and chairs, each made from oak glued onto steel tubes, whilst in the centre an aged projector whirred and hummed softly. On her own desk someone had had carved some treasonous graffiti into the corner: “Celestria is gonna Molestia.” Then Twilight noticed everypony slumped and sprawled across their desks, all forty one completely asleep, who only moments ago (well that’s what it felt like) had been riding the train together.
She raised her hooves to feel the unexpected item of clothing she was wearing, regardless of it being soft and comfortable against her coat. It was a black, nylon jacket with orange accents down each side and a hood. Inspecting the others, she saw everypony was wearing a jacket; only differentiating between ponies was a large orange number on the back. She leaned forward, inching closer to see the pony in front she noted as Trixie, though hard to tell without her signature hat and cape. Number 39. She calculated that everypony was seated in number order, one being at the other side of the room, Aloe from the spa Rarity loved so much, too herself. A smaller number embroidered on her pocket, showed number 40.
Surveying the room she realised she was the only one awake, the others still deep asleep. She had a good view of the room, being placed at a desk to the left by the windows. She realised that there was something odd about the situation (not that it wasn’t anyway). The windows were all bordered up with some form of black sheets, only allowing small sunbeams through, struggling to push sunlight into the classroom. The sheets looked like steel, as they provided a distorted reflection of the fluorescent lights over head. Likewise, the windows to the outside hallway were draped in black cardboard and fabric. It was impossible to determine the time of day. If only she wore a watch like some other ponies. Maybe there was a spell to summon a clock or watch; there certainly wasn’t one hanging in the classroom. Twilight proceeded to close her eyes to imagine the perfect spell. This whole place felt strange, but there was something in particular that disturbed her. Twilight then immediately realised what it was.
Faced down on her desk, Rarity had above her jacket collar a silver, metal band wrapped firmly around her neck. Trixie’s was hardly recognizable, as her jacket had been zipped up tightly. Twilight then realised everypony was wearing one. The thought then sprang to her mind. She swiftly raised her right hoof to her neck and felt something hard and cold to the touch. Tugging at it, she tried to find some hook or release. Suddenly, she became conscious of how tight it was. It was suffocating.
After fumbling with it for a few moments, she stopped to think. She felt like a dog, or some animal ponies would pay Fluttershy to walk for a small fee. She began to worry. What happened to the trip to Vanhoover? Was this supposed to happen? Was this even…real? Twilight looked down and saw her saddlebag resting by her hooves. She had casually thrown together a few necessities, some paper, a quill, a tooth brush and a book… or two for the trip. Everpony else had their saddlebags by their desk.
Suddenly, a large slam erupted from the classroom door, as a pony proceeded to enter. Twilight looked up. A pony came in. The figure towered over her and the others, giving a stern look, as she approached the lectern. Their eyes stayed locked for a good minute, perhaps only because she was the only one awake. Twilight tried to scour her mind for a single word to utter, but to no prevail, she could barely breathe. She tried to find reassurance in the ponies gaze, but it remained harsh and unwavering, whilst a dark thought crossed her mind. Others started to wake up, breaking the stare, as low groans and nervous breathing started to take hold across the classroom. From down the row were Twilight was seated, Spike proceeded to silently mouth words of concern to Twilight like: “What’s going on?” in which she could only shrug in return. Then, pointing a hoof towards her neck, displaying her new shinny collar. Looking left and right, Spike began clawing at his own device, like Twilight only moments ago.
Whispers and murmurs were only audible, as each pony consulted their neighbouring friend about the current situation. The likes of Rarity, Fluttershy and few others aimed their anxious looks towards her from across the room, but she shook her head, she knew as little as they did. The tall pony continued to approach the lectern, raising her higher above her ‘students’ and drawing everypony’s attention. The muttering ceased, followed by purely oblivious looks, as all heads turned towards the lectern.
As soon as everypony seemed awake and focusing their attention on her, the pony spoke up in a cheerful voice, “Huzzah! Has everypony awoken? I hope you all slept well.”
No pony replied. Not even Pinkie Pie. The room remained silent, as each pony looked to one another with glances of unease.
Finally the silence was broken by the raspy, young voice of a filly, as Scootaloo asked, “Princess… Luna?”
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Luna continued to wear a broad grin, “Okay everypony,” she began, annunciating every word. “My name is Princess Luna. Well done young filly, you guessed correctly!” She pointed a hoof towards Scootaloo and then proceeded to write her name on the black board in large letters with chalk.
“You haven’t been living on the moon for a thousand years, like somepony.” she gave a small chuckle to herself. No pony else laughed. “Now, I shall proceed with the introduction. I am your Bridle Experiment Game supervisor.”
All eyes turned, as Mayor Mare stood from her desk, her chair making a small grinding sound. “I don’t understand what’s going on here Princess,” she asked, adjusting her glasses to the end of her muzzle, “What happened to our scheduled trip to Vanhoover?” She looked to the surrounding ponies and was met with nods of agreement, preceded by an avalanche of questions:
“Where are we?”
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t remember coming here, do you?”
“Did we fall asleep?”
“What time is it?”
“Something’s wrong. This isn’t Vanhoover, is it?”
Twilight looked at Luna, as she continued to listen to the desperate cries. She noticed a few ponies remained silent, while inspecting the classroom. Rainbow Dash was sitting, unmoving, not even meeting anypony’s gaze. She was at the front of Twilight’s row, surrounded by most of the weather team, which she paid no attention too, despite constantly addressing her. Trixie sat with her head in her hoof, giving what could only be sighs of boredom, continuously bestowing a ruthless glare towards Luna. Finally Applejack, who was opposite Twilight at the back of the room, she gave a small worried look towards her surrounding friends, before reaching into her saddlebag and retrieving a shinny apple. Now wasn’t the best time to have a snack! She bit into the fruit, making a small crunch, continuing to watch Luna as her jaw moved.
Twilight looked to the front of the class. She saw Rarity was still staring towards her. She looked to Spike, but he was now in deep conversation with Fluttershy from across the aisle. Her eyes were trembling and looked dark, not the usual azure brightness that beamed upon the onlooker. Twilight gave her a stern nod, then recited the calming gesture Cadence had taught her. This seemed to have a soothing effect on the unicorn as she copied Twilight’s motion, giving a small smile.
“Please be still!” Luna sounded, clopping her hooves together several times, as the uproar subsided. Once again all eyes inverted their attention upon the dark alicorn. She raised her hoof, coughing to clear her throat, preparing to speak again.
“Let me explain the situation my little ponies,” she began, returning a small smirk, “The reason you have all been gathered here today…”
Then she said, “… is to kill each other!”
No one moved. No one responded. The words hung in the air for a few moments of silence. Every individual remained frozen, until Twilight noticed Applejack, still chomping on her apple. Her expression didn’t waver. Twilight swore she saw a glimpse of a faint grin flash across her face upon hearing Luna’s words.
“Ponyville has been selected for this year’s Bridle Royale experiment.”
Nopony spoke.
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“W-what’s that suppose to mean?” A chair fell over as Thunderlane stood up. His voice piercing through the silence, sounding high pitched as anxiety engulfed him. His cheeks blushed red, highly visible due to his contrasting dark coat. His fellow ponies looked upon him with hope in their eyes. Yeah you show her! She’s talking crazy. But he failed to deliver, as Luna’s haunting stare subsided his verbal attack.
“She’s gone mad! Dad, does she know who you are? Who we are? Well do you?” Diamond Tiara continued the onslaught, pointing a hoof towards her father, Filthy Rich. Filthy nodded in agreement with his daughter, opening his mouth to protest, but Luna interjected.
“Ha! Silly foal, so you think your family should be given special privileges just because you have more wealth than the next pony? Didn’t your parents ever tell you that we are all equal? Hmm, but judging by your pathetic excuse for a father, I guess not!” Luna retorted, leaning over the lectern towards Filthy, as he sank lower hiding into his chair.
“Here is a free lesson my subjects. Listen closely. All ponies are born equal. Whether you’re from a rich family or a poor family, whatever race you may be. However, this does not determine superiority. You must all realise this is beyond your control. So, do not lead yourselves to feel that you are special or individual – because you’re NOT!” The princess gave a joyous mocking laugh, leaning back to a more casual stance.
“It is too late for you, my ponies. You will all come to the same messy end!” Her face made a daunting change to wicked smirk, her eyes shooting towards Twilight as she said it.
Twilight sat back to process what was unveiling in front of her. Princess Luna was never this cold and intimidating, at least not on purpose. Whatever was happening, it wasn’t good. Twilight had sensed this from the start and now here she was again wanting to go with her gut feeling and run. Just run, far away from this intense reality, which felt like a dream until Luna had stared deep into her own eyes. She needed to escape from whatever this was.
“Oh, that reminds me.” Luna waved a fore leg towards the classroom door, signalling somepony outside. The door slid open as three royal guard ponies entered, only not wearing the usual royal armour. Twilight was familiar with its appearance, her brother being captain of the royal and all. They were all in a camouflage jackets, made of dark greens and browns and on their hooves wore black, lace up combat boots. They were obviously some kind of soldiers. They each had a brown satchel attached to their sides. Twilight recognized the peculiar shape of the satchels, but she didn’t want to believe it. If those were what she thought they were, well she knew that Luna wasn’t bluffing, danger was ahead. Judging by their build, they were all guard ponies and loyal to Luna as they had dark coloured coats. The largest of the three, a black stallion, with a square chin and a grin plastered to his muzzle, was carrying a large black, bulging bag with points and dints showing through its lining. Clearly there was something fascinating inside. The two smaller stallions wheeled in a cart stacked high with black saddle bags, lined with the same orange on Twilight’s jacket. Each a different size, some with items protruding from the main compartment, though Twilight couldn’t see clearly.
“You still don’t believe this is happening do you?” Luna announced, waving her guards to come closer, “Fillies and Gentlecolts, these are some of my fellow guard and they will be aiding in the Game as well. Now, if you don’t believe your Princess perhaps this will persuade you otherwise. Friendly Fire, show our friends what’s in the bag.”
Friendly Fire, the smallest guard, a unicorn, started to wield his magic. A yellow aura engulfed the zipper and he proceeded to pull something round and dripping in red liquid from the bag.
“AHHHHHHH!” One of the mares in the front row proceeded to let out a wailing scream before the entire ‘item’ could be pulled from the bag. The shrieks and cries continued in a domino effect, as Friendly Fire raised the object higher with his magic, proudly displaying it for the whole room. Clatters and scrapes of chairs resonated as everpony backed away, finding shelter at the back of the classroom. Rainbow was the fastest, darting somewhere behind Twilight positively horrified. Applejack finally gave a reaction spitting out her apple and lifting her hooves from the desk where she had placed them, inching forward trying to believe what was presented before her. Twilight heard somepony start to cry, she couldn’t tell who. She remained in her seat, fixated on the object in the yellow aura, she wanted to cry like that other mare, but she just couldn’t. She was paralyzed in shock. Twilight held her breath.
Swallowed by a yellow aura, floating in midair was Princess Cadence’s (now former Princess) decapitated head. It remained still and lifeless; despite is constant bopping from the stallion’s levitation spell. Her once pink coat was stained all shades of maroon and fresh, bright red blood continued to drip and splat against the wooden panel flooring from her now bodiless neck. Her eyes were like glass marbles, rolled back into her head and one watched the ceiling, giving off a watery shine due to the fluorescent lighting. Her mane was missing in patches, and Twilight swore the grey jelly was her brain trying to escape from her skull. The bag remained open of the floor showing a stale, pink hoof and wing extend beyond the bags edge.
“PONIES! BE STILL!” Luna boomed, but the screaming and shouting wouldn’t subside. The larger stallion reared up onto his hind legs, reaching for his weirdly shaped satchel. Twilight knew she was right, as the earth stallion grabbed its contents within both fore hoofs, placing the device under his chin and peering towards the floating remains of Cadence. Twilight prepared herself for the shot, she had read about the strange devices called guns, but she couldn’t predict what happened after. The stallion progressively raised the rifle to his eyesight, before firing. Twilight expected a warning shot into the ceiling to calm the room, but he aimed for the head. He was a good shot and continued to pump three shots into Cadences skull. The head flew apart, as shrapnel of skull and brain escaped from it, splitting in two after the final shot. Sprays of red bloody mist splattered some the onlookers unfortunate enough to be in the front row. The split head made a squelchy clatter as Friendly Fire realised his magic field, one piece rolling behind Luna. The echoing of gun fire settled, faintly ringing in Twilight’s ears as the stallion lowered the weapon. He picked up all that remained of Cadence and threw the bag into the hallway, out of sight.
The screaming stopped.
__________________________________________________________________________________
The reality of what had just happened took an age for Twilight to process. An uncomforting and deadly silence washed over the classroom, only for the clopping of hooves as ponies slowly returned to their seats. It was broken by somepony groaning behind Twilight followed by a damp splashing of vomit, it smelt awful.
“Now listen well my subjects. The Bridle Royal Experiment is an Equestrian tradition and has been practiced for many centuries. But, as you can see we have some royal naysayers like Miss Cadence here. Unfortunately for her, she couldn’t be persuaded, she thought this was corrupt!” Luna laughed in a mimicking tone, flicking her mane in a mocking manner.
“She thought she could try and save you. Well let’s just say, she might want to work on her strategy a little better next time. As for you all, your families will be informed of your ‘departure’. So, a lot of you will be mysteriously falling down wells or getting into train wrecks in the next few days.”
The room remained silent, as if cogs in everypony’s head were whingeing away, absorbing Luna’s speech. The reality was finally sinking in to Twilight’s head. We were really going to kill each other? This was real. It wasn’t just one of Pinkie’s harmless pranks. Twilight was trying to think clearly, being rational was of her better traits. But the horrendous corpse of Cadence had put her mind in a daze, it sickened her. Parading it about as part of a terrifying, twisted horror show. She clenched her eyes shut; blocking the hot tears from escaping. She resisted the overwhelming urge to cry, she had to be strong.
She had to escape. But… how. She didn’t even know what this Bridle Experiment was. If she stayed with her friends she would be unstoppable, they could escape. The elements of harmony would never be broken; she would never stoop so low to harm anypony she knew. Elements? Twilight couldn’t believe she could she so stupid. That’s it! Magic! Twilight closed her eyes to perform her teleportation spell. It was a pretty advanced spell, but nothing she couldn’t handle. Collecting the images of all her friends in the room, she imagined the cool, lush grass outside her library, picturing it to the very last detail. She cast it, causing a blinding purple flash to erupt.
She peeked her eyes open, even before seeing she was still sitting inside the classroom, she heard Luna’s cackle.
“Ha! Miss Sparkle did you really think you could just use your magic to leave?” She paused waiting for Twilight’s response, still smirking.
“I… I…” Her body tensed up, choking on a lump in her throat. Lowering her eyes to the floor, she couldn’t meet Luna’s piecing stare. Everypony looked remorseful, at least she was brave enough to try and escape their temporary nightmare.
“That’s what I thought! Just like your brother. He didn’t know when to listen to orders either. But don’t worry my faithful guards here showed him some manners. Didn’t you?” Luna nodded towards the guard ponies in the doorway. They laughed and beamed with pride upon their mention by such a powerful figure. The large earth stallion even made a mocking bow towards the class. Twilight’s anger reached the tipping point, she didn’t care anymore. She had to fight back some way, hurting her family was the last unforgivable straw. She opened her muzzle to object, but another voice sounded in the room.
“What did you do to Shining Armour!?” bawled Spike, standing from his chair. His face was flushed red with rage, whilst making a broad stance, puffing out his chest.
“Oh, who would have guessed, the smallest one has the biggest voice.” She teased, leaning over the lectern to see Spike. “Well, like Princess Cadence her husband was very uncooperative. They both didn’t accept the tradition and symbolism that Bridle Royale represents, they were going to inform the whole kingdom! So, to keep him silent my guards had to…” Luna continued calmly, “…break his legs. Oh, but don’t worry. It is not like he is dead.”
Spike then bounded into the aisle; he was now wild with rage. “I’ll kill you!” he bellowed, unleashing his explosion of anger, pointing at Luna. He marched forward, approaching the front of the class. His expression had changed now, it was engulfed in fury and revenge, all meaning was being put behind his words. He’d always been so friendly to everyone. No matter what the circumstances, it was impossible to make him truly angry. Nopony had ever seen him like this, or could even imagine Spike to act so harsh. Even Twilight had never seen this side of him. He had a temper, but this was a different side of Spike, it was dark and unforgiving, it was like… a dragon. Even when he had rampaged through Ponyville Twilight had felt less nervous. But someone he loved and adored was hurt, and this was his extreme response.
“I’ll kill you, you’re insane!” he continued to scream, “I’ll kill you, you… bitch!”
“Hmm.” Luna hadn’t reacted in the slightest to Spikes onslaught. “Are thou being serious? One must take responsibility for the things one says.”
“Shut up! You hurt my friends, so yes I am being serious.” He was close to Luna now and didn’t show any hesitation in his speech. The surrounding ponies looked on in complete disbelief. “I will KILL YOU!”
Twilight finally broke away from her temporary shock and stood from her desk. “Stop it, Spike! Stop!” Spike didn’t even acknowledge her cries and continued.
Luna laughed and spoke in a strange tone. “Young Spike, I think what you are doing is voicing your opposition to a member of royalty. Is that correct?”
“Shut up!” Spike didn’t stop. He was too blind with rage to even listen. “I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you!” Spike readied himself to jump over the lectern at Luna. She shook her head in false pity and raised a hoof signalling the guards still standing in the doorway. They all developed a menacing grin and walked towards the centre of the class where Spike stood.
“High treason.” She spoke in a soft whisper, barely audible over Spike’s ear-piercing cries.
It all happened too fast for anypony to act or even acknowledge what was going on. Twilight was only able to raise a fore hoof, as Spike’s budging eyes grew wider. Three automatic pistols exploded at once. The three stallions welding them stood in a line around Spike, peppering his body, as it danced and shook from the impact. Ponies only had time to duck as bullets bounced and pinged, deflecting off Spike’s thick scales. The gun shots continued as he crashed down hard into a desk to the right, clutching his body from the excruciating pain. The scales protected him from the bullets penetrating, but not from the continuous torture. He was able to gaze into Twilight’s eyes for a few seconds, before one piercing shot made them go lifeless.
Thin smoke from the barrels extended upwards, as the fire stopped. Twilight continued to stare at his face between the legs of the desk. His eyes fell back into his head, whilst a thick line of blood began oozing from the bullet hole between them, slowly gathering in a pool around his body. Twilight wanted to collapse; hot tears ran over her cheeks.
“SPIKE!” she wanted to run over to him. He couldn’t be gone. This was a nightmare. She swallowed hard and raised her hoof towards him, but Rarity who was sitting closer, was quicker.
“Spike…NO!” she screamed, as she crouched beside his lifeless form. The largest stallion aimed his gun at Rarity and pulled the trigger. Rarity tumbled forward on top of Spike. Twilight couldn’t tell if it was from the shot or to protect his body from further dishevelment. The gun moved to Twilight, still standing, she froze, only moving her eyes towards Rarity’s hind leg. Blood began staining her pristine white coat, as it wept from a bullet wound just above her left hoof.
Luna peered over Rarity. “You will not leave your desk without my permission.” She glared over at Twilight. “That goes for you too, Miss Sparkle. Sit down!”
Twilight tensed has she heard Luna’s sick words. “What are you doing!?” she stomped a hoof against the wood panelled floor. “We need to get help for Spike… and Rarity…”
Luna waved her hoof dismissively and groaned, “Forget about it and sit down. You too, Miss Rarity.”
Rarity was completely pale from looking at Spike lying dead beneath her. Even though she looked pale with her white coat, Twilight could see the life being washed from her. She slowly looked up at Luna. She seemed overwhelmed with anger not pain; she hadn’t made a sound from the agony she was suffering. She looked wearily back to Spike.
“Please get help,” she whispered each word sternly. “For Spike.”
Spike’s left arm was slightly twitching, as his stone eyes gawked at the ceiling. Even if he was treated immediately his injuries would still be fatal. It would be a miracle if he was saved, something Twilight was wishing on more than all the books in her library, but she had lost all faith in seeing remorse from the Princess of the Night.
The dark alicorn sighed deeply. “Friendly Fire, will you take care of the situation.” Before anypony could register what she meant, the unicorn stallion raised his gun once more and unleashed a single shot. Spike’s head bounced up once, forced by the momentum of the bullet, as it lodged into his skull. Bloody debris sprayed up covering Rarity’s face, as her mouth hung open. Twilight imitated Rarity, as his body lay now completely motionless.
“There,” Luna announced. “He was already dying, now return to your seats.”
Twilight obeyed, sinking slowly down into her seat, never shifting her eyes from Spike. She was paralyzed by the flourish of emotions taking over her. He was gone. Memories of him started crowding her dazed mind. Staying up late studying, moving to Ponyville, how he always brought out the best in her. What she would give to hear his atrocious snoring one more time. To think he was slaughtered by the very Princess he was so loyal to. He didn’t even have to chance to tell Rarity his true feelings, and he never would. Twilight began to cry silently, she couldn’t hold back anymore emotion. Burying her face into
her hooves, she thought about the last conversation they shared.
__________________________________________________________________________________
“Twilight, can I ask you something?” Spike quietly requested, as he proceed to pack his blanket into his backpack.
“Sure, one sec.” Twilight continued studying the bookcase, whilst books bobbed and weaved around her, each wearing a purple magic aura. They finally landed safely on their belonging shelf, as she turned round placing a hardback novel and a spell book in her saddlebag.
“Okay, what is it? You know you can ask me anything, right?” she beamed, trotting over to her scaly companion.
“Yeah, well…” He began, shuffling his feet, not meeting Twilight’s glaze. “Rarity… Well… She’s never going to love me is she? N-nopony is ever going too!”
“Oh, Spike,” Twilight placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Rarity does love you, all our friends do, most of all I do, why would you even think that?”
“No Twilight, she doesn’t, nopony ever will because I’m a dragon!” He protested, shoving her reassuring hoof away. “And don’t say I’m being stupid, you wouldn’t understand.”
Twilight sighed, she was brewing up some comment along those lines, but he was right. She had no idea what it was like to be a dragon living in a world of ponies. She sat down, frowning. “You’re right Spike, I don’t understand, but don’t ever say nopony will ever love you because I always will, you will always have friends.”
“Yeah, friends,” he huffed in annoyance. “More like friend-zone.” He wandered over and continued stuffing his blanket into his bag, pounding at it with a fist to make it fit.
“I thought you told Rarity about… Well, you know?” Twilight followed, using magic to aid him with the blanket.
“Falling to your death isn’t the most convenient time to spill your secrets to someone, Twilight” He sarcastically snapped back. “Besides, I had too…” His voice broke, as he tried to contain his choking tears.
Twilight constantly followed Spike’s movements, giving his a quizzical look. “What do you mean?”
“Well I… Forget about it, Twilight.”
“Spike?” she shoot a stern stare and the young dragon obeyed her, as he looked back to his pony friend.
“I-if you know that the person you care about most in this world is not going to be in it for much longer.” he stammered, but continued. “You owe it to that person to tell them your true feelings. Because if you don’t you will regret it for every waking moment and so it is the noble thing to do.”
“So… I guess falling to your death is a perfect opportunity, but more importantly because well, I couldn’t stand to see her hurt in anyway. So, if telling her my feelings made her last breath that much painless then I would scream it out to everypony!”
Twilight sat unmoving, bewildered by Spike’s sudden outburst of heart. “W-wow.” She spluttered, before returning a hoof to the dragon’s shoulder.
“I would rather die than see anyone I care about hurt… E-especially Rarity” he buried his face into Twilight’s coat and mumbled, “Oh, and you of course.”
“Spike,” Twilight returned the hug, holding back small tears of her own.
“Twilight…”
“Yes?” he looked down to find her small companion buried in her chest, his wide eyes glazed in fresh tears.
“Could… Could you do me a favour? You have to promise me you’ll do it, okay? Pinkie promise?” he gazed up at Twilight, not wavering in the slightest.
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” she recited, whilst performing the matching hoof gestures, careful not to stick a hoof in her eye.
He nodded and smiled at Twilight’s ‘performance’. “Okay, you have to promise that… I-if anything happens to us and our friends that you’ll…” he wiped away a tear with a claw and continued to whisper. “You’ll protect Rarity.”
Twilight paused trying to analyse his request. “But what about everyone else… I-I don’t understand Spike what is-”
“Yes, protect them, but… Please, Twilight? Please for me? Protect her. I know you can.” He nestled back into Twilight and stayed silent. Twilight stared at her the bookcase. Was Spike asking her to choose between her friends? Maybe there was a book about it? Geez, stop being stupid, of course there wasn’t. The seriousness of his request stirred around in her brain. She loved him more than anything; he was her first friend after all. She had to say yes, didn’t she? All this was confusing, but that was the thing about emotion, it was always confusing.
He took a deep sigh and rested her muzzle against his forehead. “Yes, I swear on Celestria’s sun and Luna’s moon.”
“Thank you” he breathed, holding her closer.
“I promise.”
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