//------------------------------// // PROLOGUE: Introductions First // Story: Super Ponyronpa: Cacophonous Symphony // by TrackdNTraild //------------------------------// Once all of the ponies were inside the school, the doors shut tight behind them. The force of the winds from the door closing nearly knocked some of the ponies over, cursing to themselves as they steadied their balance. Light murmuring went around the group as they looked around. For the most part, the inside of the school was relatively empty. There was a large staircase in the very center of everything, and a few rooms on either side. The floor seemed to be made of marble, and it was so shiny it must've been polished while everypony was outside. Starlight almost felt bad walking on it because she knew she would dirty it up. Her attention was quickly brought back to reality when she heard the sound of something mechanical moving. She looked up just to see part of the floor disappear right in front of them. An oval shape was cut out of the floor, and 3 more oval shapes emerged creating a multi layered stage. In between each rise of the stage there were many sets of bright lights in blue, pink, and purple. At the very center of the stage, a small podium emerged. That somehow familiar squawking sound from over the speakers was heard again, and the room suddenly got a lot warmer. The group ducked back and flinched as immense heat suddenly flared up at the center of the stage. A flame ignited at the top of the podium, but was quickly calmed when something else formed from the flames. On top of the podium, a large adult phoenix was perched. It seemed to be a female, and it preened itself while waiting for the group to look up at it. They all remained silent, confused with what was going on. The phoenix coughed, and tapped one of its feathers against the microphone. It clicked, and the sound of the microphone turning on echoed through the school. Starlight had to cover her ears because it hurt, but when it seemed like it stopped she relaxed again. "Hello everypony!" The phoenix spoke with a happy chitter. "Let me get my introduction out of the way, my name is Philomena! Let me welcome each and every one of you to the Ultimate Academy of Gifted Ponies! You all have been selected as new students for this school year, and you will all be taught underneath me!" "I'm sorry, the what?" The blue pegasus blinked. She was just as shocked as the rest of the group. "You heard what I said!" The phoenix flapped her wings and adjusted on the podium. "I don't wanna have to repeat myself! Now, let me explain a few more things since you all seem to be confused. As some of you expected, there are dorms on this campus that you can live in as long as you're at this school, you can find them to my left!" She extended her wing and pointed to a hallway of dorm rooms on the other side of the building. "Are we allowed to ask questions during this... introduction?" Twilight inquired. "Well you just did!" Philomena cackled, but she quickly composed herself. "So, the answer is yes. If you've got questions, feel free to speak up." "Can you tell us how we got here?" Twilight asked again. "I'm afraid that I cannot," Philomena cawed sadly. "It's against a very strict set of rules that I've been given by the headmare! All that I'm allowed to tell you is that you enrolled in this school before!" "We don't remember ever doing that!" The white unicorn stallion from before said. "How do we know we can trust you saying that?" "Well, because..." Philomena played with her feathers. "I'm the manager of this place! Everything done in this school falls under my supervision! I'm not allowed to lie to my students, it would break my moral conduct and I'd be another step closer to self-destructing. But, that's besides the point." "Can you at least tell us why we're here?" Starlight demanded, stomping her foot on the floor. She didn't care about the nice polish anymore. "To be my students!" Philomena squawked. "And we're going to play a little game!" "A game? I love games!" The pink pony clapped her hooves together excitedly. "Before we can fully get into this school year, we should get introductions out of the way!" Philomena flapped her wings and adjusted herself to sit on the edge of the podium. "I want you all to line up in front of this stage, single file! You can be sideways or diagonal or facing the podium, doesn't matter to me, but line up! We're going to go down the line and one by one you all are going to introduce yourselves by name and talent! Everypony understand?" The group took a moment to adjust to the pace of what was going on, but eventually they each nodded and mumbled out a 'yes' here and there. They all began getting in line, deciding that they would form a line from the podium to the door. Starlight found herself in the middle of the line, but she didn't particularly mind. "Alright, you're up first!" Philomena motioned for the pony at the front of the line to come up onto the stage, and they went quickly. The first pony to step up was the pink pony. "Ahem!" She cleared her throat and adjusted herself so she stood tall to face the other ponies. "My name is Pinkamena Diane Pie, but everypony just calls me Pinkie Pie! I'm the Ultimate Party Pony, here to bring joy and smiles to everypony around!" To showcase her point she pulled a red balloon seemingly out of thin air. She blew it up and tied it into a balloon animal, more specifically a phoenix. Philomena excitedly squawked as the pony handed her the balloon. "Well aren't you sweet!" The phoenix took the balloon and stashed it under the podium. "Very good introduction! Next!" Pinkie stepped down off to the side of the stage, and plopped down on the ground. "Some of you already know my name," said the purple alicorn as she stepped up onto the stage to face the line. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, I'm the Ultimate Magic Prodigy. It's nice to meet you all." Twilight dipped her head, and stepped down off the stage to sit beside Pinkie. The blue pegasus from before took her place instead, spreading her wings and bringing a smirk to her face. "They call me Rainbow Dash!" She introduced herself confidently. "I'm the Ultimate Professional Flyer, and a true Wonderbolt at heart! If you want an autograph, just let me know." She winked and flew herself through the air a few times, showcasing her speed and her control over her flight. She skidded to a stop beside Pinkie and Twilight, and chuckled proudly as she situated herself to sit down. Starlight rolled her eyes. Glad to know we have a narcissist among us... She wondered if any pony rolled their eyes too. Judging by the unamused look on Twilight's face, she might've. "So many interesting ponies so far!" Philomena clapped her wings together. "C'mon, keep the train rolling!" "My turn!" The bouncy golden stallion stepped up, brown frizzy mane flowing around with as much excitement as was written on his face. "I'm Cheese Sandwich! I'm the Ultimate Party Planner! 🎵 When you've got a party, but don't know what to do, just call for Cheese Sandwich and he'll pull you on through, hey! 🎵" The stallion clapped his hooves as he sang, and rolled himself off the stage in a ball. He sat down beside Pinkie, and they both laughed over the small performance. Starlight had to admit that little slogan was catchy. She'd have it stuck in her head forever... "Such fun!" Philomena laughed, wiping fake tears from her face. "Who's next?" "I am," Shining Armor stepped up on the stage and turned to face the crowd. "Like with Twilight, some of you already know my name. I'm Shining Armor, the Ultimate Guard. I lead the royal guard in Canterlot. Not a big deal, but... thought I'd mention it." The stallion rolled his shoulders as he step down to sit with the rest of the ponies. "Such an important pony!" Philomena cawed with surprise. "Who knew? Well now I wonder how they're going to lead themselves without their leader... Oh well, whatever, next!" "My turn!" The white unicorn sang as she stepped up on stage, happily flaunting her beautiful mane. "The name is Rarity, and I am the Ultimate Fashionista. If I had the chance, I would showcase some of my work but... I suppose it will simply have to wait until we can leave." She hummed happily as she stepped off the stage. "Ah, is it my turn already?" Starlight noticed she was at the front of the crowd, and her own nervousness took hold of her. She cleared her throat and walked up onto the stage, trying to hide her fear. "I-I'm Starlight Glimmer." Dammit! I stuttered! "To be totally honest, I don't remember what my talent is... S-sorry about that, Philomena." "It's fine!" Philomena waved her wing dismissively. "You'll remember sooner or later and we can update your file proper! Next!" Starlight stepped down off the stage with shaky hooves, and sat down with Rarity. "Don't be too upset, darling." Rarity patted her back to try and comfort her. "You'll remember soon, just like Philomena said. Don't stress." "I know." Starlight smiled at the fashionista, feeling a little bit better about her horrible introduction now. "Alright, my turn!" The stallion with the streaked hair looked awfully excited to finally step up on the stage. He flipped his hair and posed at the side. "Feather Bangs, that's the name. They call me the Ultimate Singer. I'm a bit of a big deal." He glanced off to the side, catching Starlight's eye and winking at her. She hated to admit that she blushed. He stepped down with a chuckle and sat down beside her, making her just roll her eyes. She scooted closer to the other ponies she sat beside, wanting to be even the slightest bit further from that stallion. "Me next, me next!" The light blue unicorn stallion hopped onto the stage. Now that Starlight noticed it, he was the third pony with super messy hair in this bunch... "Name's Party Favor! They like to call me the Ultimate Balloon Bender. I'm the best of the best when it comes to making balloon animals and doin' balloon tricks!" Like Pinkie, he also brought out a balloon out of thin air, and created a balloon animal with it, this time of himself. He left it on the stage as he stepped down. "My, there sure is a lot of party ponies here!" Philomena gently nudged the Party Favor balloon behind the podium. "This place sure is going to be fun filled and fantastical! Who could top three whole party ponies in one place? I know I couldn't!" "I bet I could!" The blue unicorn mare hadn't said much this whole time, but she was sure to make up for it as she stepped up onto the stage. "I am the Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon! I am the Ultimate Magician, ready to blow you away with show stopping spells, tricks, and stunts galore!" Starlight wasn't sure why, but she felt like she recognized this pony. She had quite the interest in this pony's 'spells, and tricks, and stunts.' Trixie held her head high as she walked off the stage to sit with the others. The mare's cocky attitude was a bit of a turn off, but Starlight was sure she could adjust. Based on how many ponies shared that overconfident aura, she might have to whether she wants to or not. "A magician and party ponies? Hot dog!" Philomena cackled. "This is shaping up to be a fun year!" "Fun is one way to describe it," The golden unicorn stallion stepped onto the stage, ears twitching with nervousness. "Um, h-hi, I'm Sunburst. Ultimate Scholar. No big deal, haha." Sunburst laughed nervously as he quickly stepped off the stage. As he settled beside the other ponies who had been introduced, he played with his cloak to calm down. Starlight couldn't help feeling bad for him, but she would feel awkward getting up to move and comfort him right now. "Let's get my introduction out of the way," The white unicorn stallion spoke up as he stepped onto the stage. He held his head high and looked down on each pony like he was superior. "Prince Blueblood is what you will refer to me as. Full name only, please. I am the Ultimate Prince, and I expect to be respected for that reason." As he stepped down, Starlight could only think of curse words to describe him. She was infinitely grateful that she wasn't sitting next to him. She felt bad for the ponies that would have to. "Wow, this line is movin' faster than the jam line durin' Zap Apple season," The orange mare said as she trotted up onto the stage. "Y'all can call me Applejack, I'm the Ultimate Farmer and dang proud of it too!" She crossed her legs in a sort of pose for just a moment. She tipped up her hat before she stepped off the stage and sat down with the rest of the ponies. "I'm up? Aw, sweet!" The white stallion stepped up onto the stage, adjusting his hair so it was out of his eyes. "I'm Double Diamond, Ultimate Snowboarder. Snowboardin' champion for the last 5 years, I pride myself on that every day!" Starlight couldn't help clapping her hooves together to congratulate Double Diamond as he stepped down and sat with her and Feather Bangs. He passed her a nod and a laugh as he sat down. "Is it my turn already?" The light brown stallion looked around in disbelief. "My, that did go fast." The stallion ran up onto the stage and adjusted his tie. Despite seeming so well put together, even this stallion was nervous to be situated on the stage. Once his tie had been fixed, he opened his mouth to speak. "I've been called many things, from Time Turner to Doc," he began. "But, you can call me Doctor Whooves, and I am the Ultimate Inventor. I like to believe science and truth are the most important of all things, and my inventions are evidence of it! Oh, I do wish that I had brought some had I known I would be coming here..." The stallion mumbled something to himself as he took a seat with the rest of the crowd. "O-oh..." At long last, it came down to the last pony, the most frightful of all. The yellow pegasus had intentionally moved to the back of the line so that she could be last. Starlight had noticed she moved back several times in the line as it got shorter. She had been directly behind Starlight before she did her own introduction, she remembered that much. Starlight could sympathize with the mare. Her legs were horribly shaky as she stepped up onto the stage and swallowed hard. "F-f-fluttershy i-is my name," the mare said, barely audible even in the deathly silent room. "I-I'm... I'm the U-Ultimate... Ultimate A-Animal Caret-taker." She whimpered pitifully as she quickly ran off the stage, hiding herself amongst the sitting crowd of ponies. Starlight definitely felt bad for her, her stage fright was horrible... "So many wonderful introductions!" Philomena hopped from talon to talon. "Now that everypony is all introduced, it's time to get into the second most important part of our welcoming ceremony!" As the phoenix spoke, the group stood, and moved to the front of the stage again to see everything properly. Philomena in turn adjusted herself to be at the front of the podium again. "For the second part of this ceremony," Philomena continued. "I would like to give all of you your Phoenix Pads, and showcase the map of the school's first floor!" "Phoenix Pads?" Starlight mused. "Yes!" Philomena spread her wings, and some machinery descended from the ceiling above each pony. It lowered to showcase a tablet that was currently turned off. "Take a tablet, everypony! They have hoofprint verification!" Starlight lifted up the tablet with her magic, and when she took hold of it, the machinery that had dropped it went back up into the ceiling. The sounds were always delayed, as some ponies were still afraid of taking the tablet. Eventually all the machinery went back into the ceiling, and all at once all of the devices turned on. They each asked for a hoofprint before access to the device would be permitted. Starlight wasn't sure if her hoofprint would really open this tablet. She had never used it before, so how would it know what her hoofprint was like? She took a deep breath and decided to just test it out for herself. She lifted one of her hooves, placing it into the scanning section. A blue beam went across the screen, scanning her hoof. When it stopped, she could remove her hoof. Her hoof still felt cold from the screen as she set it back on the ground. It took a few seconds to verify, but the tablet unlocked and she was met with a welcoming sound and the homescreen. She heard the noise echo through the crowd as everypony activated their tablets, and Philomena seemed very happy that all the tablets were on. "Now that you're all acquainted with your little tablets, it's time to get into the next important part of the meeting!" Philomena hopped down from the podium, to stand at the very edge of the stage and stare out over the crowd. "It's time to get to know what your tablet is, and how it works, as well as what's been installed on it by yours truly!"