CHAPTER 1: The Generous murder of the good ol’ days!
After reading the rules, especially the sixth rule regarding promotion, we all looked at each other with weary eyes.
They probably were thinking the same thoughts as I. Or worse.
Surely, this class - this Cheerilee’s class wouldn’t be plotting murder as we speak. No way.
“We can’t give up! We may not be able to oppose him right now, but there’s gotta be a way. Afterall, the good guys always win in the end!” Featherweight suddenly spoke up, breaking the thick, cold silence filling the air amongst everypony.
“What’s with the idealism? You saw what happened. Surely you’re not that naive, right?” Silver Spoon curtly asked.
“And how can you be so sure? The princesses; if they were here, they would’ve came by now. And if we plot anything, we might get punished!” Sweetie Belle expressed her worries.
“But it says we can live a communal lifestyle here, and that we can investigate this place as much as we want. We’ll just use that time to come up with a plan that’ll get us out of here alive. We might find Miss Cheerilee! And I’m sure we’ll find the real Princess Twilight too! We can’t let him shake us!” Featherweight pressed us all with hope.
But will things be that easy? When he has such fearsome guards at his side, just where will we even begin our plans?
“Featherweight, we’ve known each other for a while, but this isn’t just you being naive, right?” I walked up to my friend. My voice was calm, but filled with a whole bucket of doubt.
“Like I’m saying, we’ve yet to really try. We have families at home, right? We have to at least try. For their sake.” I see. He’s scared. But he doesn’t want to submit to fear. He doesn’t want to submit to despair.
“Because Miss Cheerilee wouldn’t want us to kill each other, huh?” Truffle Shuffle spoke at last. As expected of the teacher’s pet.
“That’s right!”
“Hmmm, hmmm...” Truffle closed his eyes and went into a deep thought none of us could tell what he was thinking. But if Featherweight could believe in him; believe in all of them, believe in me, then I suppose I should too.
If we submit to despair, we’ll never see our families again.
But if we don’t submit, what then?
Before I could open my mouth, I hear the blowing of several loud horns sounding a brief alarm, the kind that one would hear in a real kingdom.
At that moment, we looked above at the source of the sound and saw a large screen displaying Monobear sitting in a throne, holding a chalice. It’s as if he were some higher form of power truly looking down on us.
“Okay you bastards! It’s night time! As of now, all shops and restaurants are forbidden to enter! Go to your homes and sleep! Sweet dreams!” Monobear’s announcement echoed throughout the kingdom, loud enough to ring our ears.
Soon after, we saw several of those ‘Monoguards’ in the sky.
“Wow. He’s sharp. He’s even got his guards on patrol from the air.” Rumble commented.
“Ah’ just done realized somethin’: he only said the shops and stuff are locked up. Ah wonder, what if it’s okay to enter each other’s homes? What if we could just waltz on in an’ kill somepony?” Apple Bloom, much to everyone’s surprise, made a horrifying speculation. Despite how much sense it made, it’s still scary to hear Apple Bloom of all ponies say that.
“Apple Bloom...” Twist was obviously appalled.
“Despite how she said it, she has a point. The rules don’t forbid that. That bear does expect us to kill each other.” Rumble backed up Apple Bloom’s speculation, taking the implication in stride, but providing fair warning.
“But don’t! Please guys, don’t! We kill somepony, and for what? You go home, but you’ll have to shoulder that guilt forever! You guys can’t really be prepared for that, right?” Featherweight stomped a hoof down, warning everypony as sternly as his consciousness would allow. He wasn’t the kind of pony to be strict.
“H-h-he’s right! I mean, I’m sure you guys won’t kill anypony! It’s just all some ruse, and the princesses may save us any minute now!” Scootaloo started rubbing her left forearm, looking tense.
“Oh, if you’re so scared, just board up your door! The rules don’t forbid blank flanks from acting like little chickens!” Tiara quipped with a sharp tongue, with every intention of getting under Scootaloo’s skin.
“I AM NOT A GODDAMN CHICKEN!” Scootaloo’s eyes shot daggers at Diamond Tiara the second she was called a ‘chicken’. I’ve never seen Scootaloo snap before, so this is a first. Her seething struck fear into me, causing both myself and Featherweight to back away just a little bit.
“Ah remember tha first time ah called her that! She even bit my head off. Ah’d like to see where this is going!” Apple Bloom actually looked happy for some reason.
“Okay so, like, we’re gonna exit; stage left.” Snails, having his hoof point backwards, starts backing away slowly along with Snips, but quickly picking up their pace.
“Yeeaaah, I can’t watch this.” After Snips’s comment, their slow steps turned into a full-on gallop.
“G-geh...” Tiara’s eye twitched. “It’s not my fault you can’t fly! I’m just gonna go! Maybe by tomorrow you’ll get over yourself! Let’s go Silver Spoon. I can’t stand the sight of those blank flanks any longer.”
“It’s okay, Diamond Tiara. No need to be scared.” Silver Spoon commented, obviously trying to hold back laughter.
“I’M NOT SCARED!” Tiara could be heard in the distance. She looked back at us, and then looked away, as if she were saying ‘hmph!’
“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle meekly called out to her friend, but she was already walking away.
“Leave me alone, Sweetie Belle. I need some time alone.” Scootaloo walked off, going to her home as well.
“Let’s go find our homes, Sweetie Belle! We’ll just have to stay alive!” Apple Bloom said, full of optimism.
“For what, finding your cutie mark? But there’s no time for that.” Twist faced her with a grimace, saying what she thinks.
Apple Bloom looked down for a minute, her mane covering her eyes. For a moment, I thought she was going to cry, and I suddenly felt bad for her.
But I didn’t think about cheering her up, once. This issue is about the proof of your talent: the cutie mark. That cursed mark that everypony feels is what makes you who you are.
The mark that gives you an identity to fit into society.
Seriously.
But her head rose up, eyes focused on Twist, giving her a very strange smile.
“Hah. Ya know, Ah’ hate that. Ah’ hate hypocrites like you. Ah’ bet ya’ll got some fancy title when we got those lil’ colorful bands, but me? Ah’ ain’t got none.” Apple Bloom tilted her head, keeping up her obsessive smile. “Just as Ah’ have no cutie mark, Ah’ don’t have one of them fancy Super High-School Level titles. Even Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo got’em, and Ah’m super happy for’em! But Ah’m not gonna let that git me down at all! After all, a cutie mark crusader never gives up!”
“.........!” Twist suddenly felt terrified of Apple Bloom, looking away from her. “She’s right...!”
Twist whispered to herself, backing away from stating her opinion again.
Despite the optimism in Apple Bloom’s tone, despite her smile, both of us could definitely see something deeper in that smile.
After Apple Bloom walked away to her assigned home, so did Twist and Sweetie Belle.
“Pip, are you okay?” Dinky and Ginger went to the young stallion, still horrified at what happened to Grace.
“A-ah, yeah, I’ll be fine! I-I’m just not used to seeing really real blood, ya know? And you don’t think he’ll just kill her anyway, right? Like, some sort of mad scientist performing an experiment and turning her into a non-working frankenstein or something?” Pip hesitantly answered, thinking the worst already.
“The rules state not to use violence against him, but that probably means that if our attack lands on him, he has the right to respond in self-defense, or something like that.” Ginger Snap speculated.
After that, the three of them walked off to their homes as well. Even Truffle Shuffle walked home, just as dejected as everypony else.
Rumble would walk up to Featherweight and I, quickly saying his piece.
“I’m taking off as well. Featherweight, I would suggest that you learn all you can about this situation first, then apply all the hope you want to it. Tonight wasn’t a good time to throw in one of those speeches. Everypony’s volatile right now.” Rumble offered his quick word of advice before walking to his assigned home.
“Well, guess he means try tomorrow. It’s been a long day. I’ll try to sleep. You should get some rest too, dude. And remember: nopony’s going to die.” Featherweight said, full of confidence.
“How can you say that? After what we just witnessed-” I started to assume the worst again.
“We need to believe in them. They’re our friends, remember? We may not have kept contact with them, but they’re still our friends! So just believe in’em!” Featherweight finished, his voice beaming with hope, just before trotting off.
Now it was just me, alone. The commotion has ended.
The noise is gone.
I looked at the night sky once again. I want to enjoy this view. I want to feel at ease looking at the stars.
But seeing the Monoguards flying about, that’s not even an option.
I even noticed the red glare from their sockets. It’s as if my eyes kept meeting with theirs.
I’d rather sleep. I can’t have the Monoguards swooping down to slice me to pieces just for standing out here.
Then again, they probably wouldn’t mind if I wanted to kill somepony.
I walk up to my assigned home, ignoring the other homes around me as I walked down the street. The path then splits into two different directions: left and right. Nothing is up ahead except for an obvious shop of sorts. At the corner of the street, I see a signpost, that shows that I’m currently at the Generosity district.
Now that I look at the ground in the middle where the path parts, I see a few diamond-shaped gems drawn on the ground.
I’m pretty certain that that’s Rarity’s cutie mark.
It was the one story house right here, the very first home I saw. It was a luxurious-styled home from the outside, the kind you’d see in Canterlot everyday, but with two front windows and a door in between two pillars of the sunroof.
Now that I look down at the grass, I can see a daisy with what appears to be an eye in it’s center. This might be one of the flower cameras listed in the rules. I just hope they’re not fragile.
At the blue, wooden door, I saw a picture in the middle with my name underneath it. The picture itself was an eight-bit version of me.
I use my right forehoof to push the door open, but it wouldn’t budge. I then tried my left hoof, and it opened, just like that. Inside, is exactly as I expected: an entirely open room with all of the common necessities, save for the two security cameras at the ceiling corners, positioned to cover the whole room. To the left, I see a kitchen with a working refrigerator, sink, stove, and microwave. I walk inside the kitchen to investigate a little.
Inside the drawers, I find a conspicuous lack of spoons and stirring utensils. There are plenty of knives and forks though, each the name “Shady Daze” engraved at the handles. Underneath the utensils is a note.
Forks: 5
Knives: 5
Skewers: 2
Fine utensils for butchering the competition!
At the bottom right corner of the paper is a stamped mark of Monobear’s face.
That bastard.
Despite that, this note might be important, so I better burn it into my memory at least.
Inside the cabinets, I find plenty of porcelain plates and teacups. On that door is another note showing what’s inside the cabinet.
Plates: 5
Teacups: 2
Small dishes: 3
Glass cups: 5
Have a bloody fun teatime!
At the bottom right of the note is the face of that bear again.
He’s serious about this killing game, isn’t he?
Inside the refrigerator, I find various microwavable veggie meals and bottled beverages.
Guess that Monobear somehow knows we’re vegetarians.
I leave the kitchen and look to my right. There’s a single bed with a pretty royal-looking headrest and mattress. On top of that headrest, I see a note taped on top. I use my mouth to pull it down to the white sheets to read it.
“An Announcement from Your King, Monobear”
“There is an anti-picking mechanism installed in the each house.”
“The doors can only be opened by the house’s owner, as the signposts at your door will read your ID Bands and automatically open the door for you.”
“There is a shower installed in every room. Please note that during Night Time, no water comes out.”
“If you haven’t already, I’ve fitted each of your kitchens with a sufficient amount of dishes and eating utensils.”
“Your benevolent king thought you all would be hungry for blood!”
............
Well that explains why I couldn’t open it at first.
I guess I better keep this note too. Never know when It’ll come in handy.
After folding the note up and quickly placing it into the nightstand drawer, I plop onto my bed and stare at the ceiling.
I didn’t care how long. I just wanted to look at it. Today’s events wouldn’t let me sleep. I really didn’t want to sleep.
And yet, this bed feels more comfortable than I thought. The soft mattress is making my eyelids heavy.
Before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep at last.
________________________________________________________
I wake up the next morning, feeling somewhat groggy. I look outside the window to notice that it’s still a little dark outside.
I guess I didn’t sleep that long.
Since I’m awake, I might as well go outside to get some fresh air and explore this place.
The moment I step out, I can see that the sun is rising off in the distance, albeit, a little slower than usual. Maybe it’s just me still feeling anxious. Still, that means I slept somewhat properly.
Taking a look at the shop I saw last night, I can see somepony looking through the window.
I think that’s Ginger Snap, right? Better see what she’s doing here.
“HA!” She suddenly swung a hoof at me. I barely managed to dodge in time.
“Whoa, watch it!” I scolded, shaken up from almost having a tooth knocked out first thing in the morning.
“Sorry, sorry! That was my reflexes!” Ginger waved off her attack, and I quickly forgave her. After all that’s happened, I guess I can’t blame her for being even the slightest bit paranoid.
“So what are you doing here?” Naturally, I was curious.
“This place looks like a bakery of sorts, so I was thinking.” She answered without hesitation.
“About what?”
"It’s what Featherweight said to us, and I think he’s right! So I wanted a chance to go bake cookies for everypony, maybe get their spirits up!” Ginger said with plenty of enthusiasm.
“Oh, that. About not giving up, right?” I remembered his words.
“Well, I think it was more on the plan of escape. I thought it’d be great to discuss an escape plan while eating cookies and milk. Of course, we’d have to do it the Canterlot way.” Ginger said it like I was supposed to know what she meant.
“What’s the ‘Canterlot way’?” I inquired.
“Drinking just about everything from teacups. It’s all about the teacups if you ask me! But don’t get me wrong, I’m not a wannabe princess or anything. It’s just that I’m originally from Canterlot. Besides, it might be better to get ponies like Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon to participate.” Ginger made her intentions clear. Honestly, hearing these plans actually puts me at ease.
“I didn’t even know that. You sure don’t look the Canterlot type though.” Seriously, she didn’t. She looks the part of a Ponyville native through and through.
“I get that alot. I only left Canterlot because I wanted to be a girl scout. You wouldn’t believe that a girl scout is Canterlot material, huh?”
“Well, no. Not really, I guess.” I hesitantly answered, thinking that it’s a little weird. And then I suddenly asked, “Wait, did you leave on your own?”
“Yeah. If I’m gonna be a scout, mom and dad won’t be around to protect me from the manticores, sea serpents, and bears, right?” She happily asked.
“..................... What?”
I was at a loss for words. Just what kind of scout group did she join!? Did they make her camp in the Everfree Forest!?
“What? It’s not like I’ve become a military recruit yet, but it’s a dream of mine. Sometimes you just need to do what you must to collect those merit badges. Beats getting a cutie mark.”
With that mentality, no wonder she hasn’t earned hers yet..
“Aren’t you getting too old to be a-” She cut me off before I could finish that question.
“My, my, I’m not old or anything.” With her emphasis on that word, I think I may have gotten under her fur a little bit. “The older scouts are usually aspiring to join the royal guard. I’m even leading my own group of fillies! I’m training them to earn their merits in besting the world’s dangers, teaching the ways of Canis Canem Edit.”
“Canis Cane-wha?”
“It’s the name of our girl scout group.”
“Sounds hardcore...” I nervously spoke my mind.
It’s then, that Monobear’s image appeared above us, just like last night. Sitting on that throne.
“This is an announcement from your king! It’s now 7 AM! Get up everyone! Let’s all strive for royal entertainment today!”
Shortly after Monobear’s announcement, I hear a series of clicks, including one right by our ears.
Looks like we’re free to explore now.
“Let’s go inside. You never know what you’ll find!” Ginger immediately opened the door and trotted inside.
“It’s just a sweet shop.” I muttered to myself. Thankfully she’s too fired up to hear me.
Despite that, I go inside anyway to look around.
I see a security camera on the ceiling at the far off corner the moment I opened the door. Those cameras always stand out to me. They’re a constant reminder that we’re being watched.
The floor is made out of white, marble tiles with violet streaks. The circular tables are made of a bright, well polished wood, and matching chairs. Counting the chairs, it seems like this place is specifically fitted to hold sixteen ponies.
To my left, I see a counter with various types of doughnuts and cookies inside the glass container. Behind that, I see a wooden shelf with many different bags of coffee beans and bottles of flavoring lined across. There are also coffee mugs here as well, all made out of porcelain.
“Umm, Ginger? This might be a coffee shop instead.” I grabbed her attention while pointing over at the shelf.
“Is it?” Ginger seemed surprise at my claim. She probably didn’t see this shelf when she looked through the window. “Oh, you’re right! Pardon my mistake! I guess I thought it was a sweets shop when I saw all the yummy doughnuts in the container.” She gave a wry smile.
Still, this is pretty convenient. We’ll be able to drink a little coffee to stay awake and focused.
“Oh, Shady! Ginger!” Featherweight called out to us when he walked inside.
“Featherweight, glad you’re here! I was thinking we should take this time to at least catch up with everypony. Coffee and Cookies are the best ways to bond!” She showed her enthusiasm to Featherweight, who instantly formed a smile on his lips.
“Yeah, and that may calm everypony down too! We can use that time to discuss our findings later. For now, I think we need to explore. We’ll gather up here at three o’clock.” Featherweight suggested, activating his ID Band and checking the time. “Come on, Shady!”
As Featherweight began to trot out of the shop, his face bumps into another pony, knocking her down to her rear. Her red-framed glasses even fell off, which sent her into a panic.
“A-ah! I- I need those glasses! My glasses!” Twist frantically pressed her hoof around the ground, searching for those glasses. Thankfully, Featherweight picked them up just in time.
“Umm, Twist? I have your glasses.”
“Ah! THANK YOU!” She screamed, snatching the specs away and putting them back on. “Seriously, thank you.”
“Err, no problem...?” Featherweight was clearly unnerved by her sudden panic and change in attitude. “I guess you can’t see without them?”
“I apologize for my outburst.” She meekly lowered her head. “It’s just, for me, it’s no different than turning off the lights.”
Turning off the lights? Isn’t that just a normal thing to do?
“Oh, Twist! Just the pony I needed!” Ginger called out from within the shop. “Could you help me set this party up? I know you specialize in candy, but you can handle cookies, right?”
“Well, I guess? As long as it’s sweet, I can try my hand at it.” Twist walked past us, answering Ginger’s question.
I guess she’s going to help out with the party.
“In any case, let’s check the kingdom out! We gotta find SOMETHING useful, I’m sure!”
“How about we check the houses first? I want to know just how safe we really are.” I suggested.
“You’re paranoid too, huh? I’m not surprised.” He looked away,crestfallen, “Everypony’s probably been on edge since that bear took over, but there’s still hope, right?” Featherweight walked ahead, headed straight for the center street.
“You got a point.” I replied. Afterall, there’s no motive to kill. We can’t just slaughter one another without motive, right?
________________________________________________
With that, our investigation began, starting with the houses. Of course, one pony is already in front of a home, pressing his head against the door.
“Whoa, I can’t hear a thing at all! Even Trixie’s showers were more loud and noisier than that, and I had to stand outside!” Snails mumbled to himself.
“Hey, Snails! What’s happening?” Featherweight asked.
“Ah! Y-y-y-you didn’t hear me, did you!?” He frantically asked, “O-of course you didn’t! I’m not that kind of colt, I swear! The Great and Awesome Snails is innocent and pure, I tell you!”
“Relax, we wanted to know why you’re pressing your head against the door.” I asked, trying to wash that image out of my head.
“Right, right. You see, Snips wanted to try making some noise, to test something out. But I can’t hear anything at all!”
“So these houses are soundproof? Just what are they made of?”
“I wouldn’t begin to imagine. When Snips and I hung out at each other’s houses when we were little colts, he’d snore really loud!”
“Wait, you guys don’t hang out anymore?” Featherweight asked, surprised at the possibility.
“Don’t get me wrong, we’re still cool! It’s just I can’t talk about The Great and Powerful Trixie around him.” Snails answered.
“Why not? I thought both of you were Trixie fanboys.” I said, judging from his attire.
“Wow, way to utterly and totally get her name wrong, guys.” Snails lowered his eyelids, sounding disappointed, much to our confusion. “C’mon, she’s The Great and Powerful Trixie. You say the whole thing! You wouldn’t like it if I got your names wrong, huh?”
Before the two of us could answer, Snips comes out of the house, saying that the place is soundproof after all.
“I wondered why nopony heard my snore, so I needed to find out for myself. Lo- and behold, I can’t be heard.” Snips went on. “So, what brings you guys here?”
We tell them that we’re investigating the kingdom and that we’re to discuss our findings later during the party.
“Well that’s great! Just make sure Truffle Shuffle doesn’t get there before us. Not only when he eats, he gets all high-and-mighty when he’s no longer hungry. That fatass pisses me off.”
“Now, now, The Humble and Awesome Snails thinks you’re being a little hateful.”
“Eh, we’ve done our part here. Leeeeeeeet’s go.” Snips walked off, with Snips chasing after him.
Huh. Did Snips hear what we were talking about somehow?
Nah. That wouldn’t make any sense.
“Hey guys!” Dinky Doo called out to us, standing next to a strange bulletin board in front of the alleyway between the coffee shop, and a building to the right of it. Curious to know, we walk up to her to see what she wants. “You guys should’ve seen this a long time ago!”
“What is it?”
“Like, it’s a map! Duh, whaddya expect? Some kind of lesson on how to not get lost?!”
That’s the purpose of a map though...
“Huh, it’s like those maps you see at the mall!” Featherweight said.
“That ain’t all! How about touching it with your ID bands?” Dinky suggested. We simply nod in agreement before I do it. Once my left hoof touched the board, the light on my band lit up, displaying a map of our current spot and small holographic figures of everypony’s home in the area, as well as the location of the coffee shop. I even see small little colored dots that match our manes and coats, so I easily can tell where everypony is. I feel a little silly for not figuring this out earlier.
“I bet you feel so silly, huh? Or maybe you were just lazy?” Dinky teased, playing the fool here. She had to be. She knows my apparent “talent” already.
“Well, thanks for telling us about this map.”
“Everypony already found out about this! You two were just the last on the list. I hope you guys had fun having a hard-working time figuring that one out!” She giggled to herself, but I just put a hoof to my face, sighing in disbelief.
What a bad pun.
“W-well, at least this’ll help us, right?” Featherweight played along, giving a dry laugh to Dinky’s pun.
“Dude, look up here at the map! There’s a place right here, and a place we can go up to!” Featherweight pointed out to the left of the Coffee shop, indicating that there’s an alley to go down to, and to the far right from it, there’s a second alley and a boutique.
“A boutique, huh? That’s an interesting spot.” I muttered to myself.
“You’re thinking what I’m thinking?” Featherweight asked.
“Only one way to find out.” I answered, following his lead.
So we gallop to the indicated boutique on our map, but it wasn’t what we thought it would be.
“I thought It’d be something like Carousel Boutique.” I was sure I’d see a replica, especially considering the mark in the road and the title ‘Generosity District’.
The building itself looked nothing like what I expected it to be. It instead, it looked somewhat plain. A simple one-story building, but only the kind you’d see in Canterlot. It didn’t look anything like the Carousel Boutique that I’m used to seeing in Ponyville.
Despite it being one-story, the area of it was so much bigger. But it’s expected in this Canterlot knockoff.
...
Should I really be calling this place a Canterlot knockoff? The only thing about it is that the houses and buildings look all royal and whatnot like they belong in a kingdom.
“Well, I don’t think we’re THAT far off the mark. It is called ‘The Rarity Shop’.” Featherweight said reassuringly before pushing the door open and walking inside. But as he said, this place is named after Ponyville’s talented fashion designer and the Element of Generosity.
As I expected, the place is huge and spacious. To my left, I see various shelves of clothing fabrics, sewing materials, and gems. Not far from those shelves, I see several racks of clothes on their hangers all beautifully made, and separated by gender.
Behind there is the changing rooms, which are all open. I glance inside each of them, noticing that they’re all the same: White, wooden barriers, a door to close them off, and a large mirror.
There’s a security camera at each corner of the ceiling as expected. To the right, is the cash register, and behind it is several folded towels, bed sheets, and other various linens all neatly lined up.
The moment we walked a little further inside, I heard a little rustling by the clothes.
“Y-you heard that, right?” Featherweight asked, looking at the clothing racks suspiciously.
“Yeah.”
“Oh, hey Shady n’ Feather!” Applebloom popped out from between the clothing racks. “What’s with the look? Ya’ll didn’t think Ah’d murder ya’ll just to earn my cutie mark, huh?”
I stared into Apple Bloom’s eyes, filled with cheer, joy, as if full of hope, not a hint of despair. Is she seriously taking this in stride so easily?
“Apple Bloom, please don’t joke about that.” Featherweight worriedly said, giving her a stern look.
“Ah’ wonder.” Her eyes lowed, smiling once more.
“Ahem.” I clear my throat before she can speak any more nonesense. “Where’s Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle?”
“Yo, Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo came out of one of the changing rooms, holding a set of clothes in her mouth, then threw them on the rack. Turning her attention to us, “Didn’t expect to run into you guys here. You’re investigating here too?”
“Yeah. Did you find anything?” I inquired, hoping for some new info.
“Well, nothing interesting. What about you?” She asked Apple Bloom, who shook her head left and right.
“Guys, come over here! I found something!” Sweetie Belle waved them over from behind the shopping counter. We trot on over to her quickly, curious to see what she’s so excited about. “Look at these!”
“Are those receipts?” I looked inside the basket Sweetie Belle held out to us, only to find a few receipt copies. Printed on them seems to all be the exact same thing: ‘School Uniform: 500 bits’.
“School Uniform? That’s weird. This place isn’t even a school.” Scootaloo said what I was thinking.
So why?
“Hmm, weird. This place doesn’t look the type to sell uniforms to begin with though.” Featherweight noted.
“Oh, those things might be useless anyways.” Scootaloo said, dismissing the idea.
“Well, I guess.” Sweetie Belle looked crestfallen all of a sudden, as if she wanted to pursue the topic a little more.
“What’s wrong, Sweetie Belle?”
“You know what’s wrong already.” She answered bitterly. her feelings probably welled up when she remembered the name of this shop.
“Oh, don’t worry, I miss my sister too! But she and her friends will save us! And so will Big Mac and the rest of the Apple Family!”
“How can you be so sure?” Sweetie Belle... every time she thought of her sister Rarity, she’d always look tearful for some reason. Shouldn’t she be more hopeful?
“Because the Apple Family is HUUUUUUUUUUGE, ya know? Get on their bad side and they’ll buck ya harder than train ramming some plywood!” Apple Bloom managed to get a small laugh out of Sweetie Belle with her weird analogy.
“Yeah! You’re right! I’m sure she’ll be here for me! I’m... sure of it!”
“Heh. I’m not worried a bit. Rainbow Dash has my back! She did promise to get me a shot at going to the Wonderbolt Academy as soon as my flying’s up to snuff, so I know she and her friends’ll get us out!” Scootaloo seemed to have some hope as well.
The cutie mark crusaders... I’d hate to see anything bad happen to them. Their friendship seems to work around picking each other up, despite not having a cutie mark.
To be honest, I think they tried to recruit me at one point, but I turned them down.
I don’t care for having a cutie mark.
“That’s great though. I’m happy to see you guys hanging in there! I was worried when everypony was tearing into each other last night, but I think we’ll be fine.” Featherweight showed how relieved he is.
“We will be as long as we have each other!” Scootaloo grabbed both Sweetie and Apple and held them close.
I sorta resisted the urge to smile to myself after seeing such a heartwarming sight, even if it was brief.
After that brief conversation, legs take me to a conspicuously empty clothing rack with several hangers on the pole.
“Hmm, maybe the school uniforms on the receipt could’ve been on those hangers?” Sweetie Belle speculated, examining the metal rack as if she were looking for something, with Featherweight doing the same.
“Who knows, there’s no label on it.” Featherweight noted.
“Ah’ have a super idea!” Apple Bloom suddenly shouted. We all inquired to know what she wanted to know, and she simply pointed a hoof at the shelf with all the scissors and needles. “See all of those? We need to box them up!”
“Wh-why? isn’t that stealing!?” Sweetie Belle tried to reason to no avail.
“Ya think somepony would care about that if they wanted to kill?” Apple Bloom wore a strange smile, almost as if she were melancholic.
“Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo scolded, but she didn’t care. Apple Bloom had a good point, even if it just screams paranoia.
“What? Ah’m just hoping to earn mah cutie mark in keeping everypony safe!”
For all the wrong reasons.
“So you’ve become paranoid?” Sweetie Belle hesitantly asked, looking Apple Bloom in the eyes sternly.
“Not really. Ah’m just prepared, that’s all!”
“Same thing!” Scootaloo retorted.
“Hmm, I wonder. A cutie mark in preparation sounds nice~. A nice talent that suits me really well.”
“.............” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both seemed unnerved by Apple Bloom’s words.
She’s really obsessing over her talent, isn’t she?
“A-a-anyway,” Featherweight changed the subject, “Well, even if the purchases are for uniforms, perhaps there were ponies here before us?”
“It’s a kingdom here! What if everypony before us broke the rules? They probably got locked in the dungeon!” Apple Bloom speculated.
A dungeon, huh? Actually, that’s a pretty big possibility. but I’d rather not get into that without any evidence.
“There is no dungeon!”
“You again!?” Scootaloo backed away quick the second she saw him standing in the middle of our circle. Where the heck did he come from!?
“What do you want!?” I angrily asked.
“To tell you bastards that there is no dungeon in this kingdom! I’m a bear! Why would I need a dungeon?” Monobear angrily asked, glaring at us fiercely.
“To trap us there when we break the rules?” Apple Bloom answered as if she were proposing an idea.
“Oh, that’s boring. I’ll just kill you instead if you break the rules.” Monobear cleared that up nonchalantly.
“!!!” Sweetie Belle gasped, trembling for her life.
“Oh, but you’re not breaking the rules, so don’t be such a chicken!” Monobear turned his head to Scootaloo, knowing full well she hates being called that. “The only ones you should fear are yourselves! You never know when someone will play pin the tail on the donkey! U~pupupup~” Monobear went away after that.
.........
“Umm, Apple Bloom, err, a-a-about that plan of yours!” Sweetie Belle nudged her friend, who replied immediately.
“See what Ah’ mean? Point proven!”
Scootaloo pushes a box up to them with her head, and the girls all start sliding the lethal items off the shelves, letting gravity send them into the box.
Afterwards, the box is handed off to us.
“We’ll take the box into the coffee shop!” Apple Bloom elaborated her plan, having her friends place the box on my back.
“Wait, I didn’t-”
“Just do it!” Scootaloo ordered.
.....................
“Fine.” I agreed, but not without a series of complaints.
“It’s fine, if it’ll keep them calm, then we have to.” Featherweight calmingly said.
“Whatever.” I groaned. Even with Featherweight helping me keep the box on my back, it’s more heavy than it looks. Just what did they pack in here!?
Once we arrived in the Coffee shop, we saw Ginger and Twist, working hard at setting up the party, and Pipsqueak, who must’ve just arrived. She was surprised to see us back so soon, but we explained to her about Apple Bloom’s idea of keeping all the lethal items in this box.
“I see. But shouldn’t that extend to us?” Ginger made a confusing statement.
“Huh?” I had to ask, wondering what she was getting at.
“We have knives and such at our homes, right? We might want to box those up as well.” Oh, so that’s what she meant.
It made me remember all the knives and forks and such supplied in our kitchens.
“Woah, scissors for nipping off the important bits!” Pipsqueak was suddenly looking in the box we had set down. “And needles too! Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in your EYE! Man, that sends a chill down my spine! Haha!”
“Pipsqueak, stop that!” Sweetie Belle pleaded.
“I don’t really mean it, ya know? I was kinda remembering a few movies and plays I saw, ya know! It’s just, the last time I was in Trottingham, these things were used as props for a horror play I took part in. But uh, they were fake and stuff.” Pip tried to justify his enthusiasm.
“In any case, we should probably get around to grabbing our knives and such from our homes, and let everypony else know. When that’s done, we can continue to investigate!” Featherweight said, then suggesting for somepony to look after the box.
“I’ll look after the Killing Goods!” Pip immediately volunteered, giving the box a name.
‘The Killing Goods.’
Truthfully, the name actually fits. All of the items in this box are capable of killing somepony in some way. The more I thought about it, the more I thought keeping it all in one place actually had some merit.
With that, Featherweight and I informed the other ponies, locating the others using the map from our ID Bands, telling them to gather all of their killing items into one box. It took a little while, but eventually, everypony contributed to the plan, and now we can begin our meeting.
___________________________________________
At this time, Everypony has gathered around, with several desserts, baked by Twist.
“Woooooow, it’s been way too long since I ate one of your cakes Twisty~” Truffle spoke with his mouth full.
“If you like it so much, swallow it all instead of being rude and talking with your mouth full?” She muttered, her eyes suddenly going ice cold.
“Hm?” Truffle asked, completely oblivious to Twist’s sudden change in attitude.
“...Nothing.” Twist sighed.
Those two; I thought they spent Hearts and Hooves day together at one point. Was I mistaken on what I saw?
“Sooooooooo~” Applebloom started, sitting at a table with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, “Does everypony feel safe n’ sound?”
“Well, I do feel somewhat safer.” I answered, just to humor her.
“H-ha! I’m always safe! I’m Diamond Tiara! I don’t need a blank flank like you asking ME that!” She pointed her hoof at her.
“Pfft. Sure.” Dinky Doo snarked under her breath.
“In any case, what did you all find?” Featherweight asked.
“The King’s court is out there, behind this Coffee Shop! You should’ve seen it, it’s bigger than a tower of forty wedding cakes! I swear it, you must see for yourselves on how locked the place is!”
“Wait, locked? So the place is locked, what’s the big deal?” Dinky asked.
“It’s the fact that there are even more Monoguards stationed there than at the gates to the next two areas.” Rumbled said, sipping on the milk from his cup. “Specifically, there are ten Monoguards at the doors to the central building.”
“King’s Court? Makes me wonder if there’s anypony else inside. I’d like to know if we’re truly alone or not.” Silver Spoon set down her teacup and continued, “We can’t be the only ones here. That bear said for us to ‘entertain him’ by killing each other, but just whom are we entertaining?”
“Maaaaaaaan, we’re probably entertaining a jury of demons or something, ya know?” Pipsqueak surmised.
“A King’s Court and a jurists’ court are two different things, idiot!” Diamond scolded.
“Who cares! What’s this about other areas? Are we really just confined to this one!?” Scootaloo chimed in with her question. “The rules claim we’re free to explore, but what’s with the guards blocking the gates to other areas?!”
“Maybe those areas have things they don’t want us to know! The known unknowns I say!” Snips said, making a good point.
“Oh, a great and mysterious conspiracy you mean!” Snails said, then widened his eyes. “Wait, they’re like, weird and mechanical, right? Can’t we like, bust’em up?”
“Oooooooh, that’s a great idea! The rules don’t forbid that!” Pipsqueak lit up in smiles.
“Perhaps it would be akin to taking down a manticore~.” Ginger said, trying to not look too happy at the prospect of fighting.
“This looks like fun! Can I join in?” It’s the voice of a bear we did NOT want to see.
“Sure thing, MonouuuuuuuuuaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!?!?!” Pip fell out of his chair the second he saw Monobear right next to him.
“It’s MonoBEAR! Get it right you bastards!”
“W-w-what are you doing here! Nobody invited you!” Snips snapped.
“That’s right! No evil stuffed teddy bears allowed! SHOO! SHOO!” Tiara made a motion with her hoof, trying to make Monobear go away.
“My own subjects treating me like some puppy off the street! I could die the next moment when I starve to death!” Monobear morbidly spoke in jest.
“THEN DIE!” Scootaloo picked up a cookie with her hooves and prepared to throw it, with Sweetie Belle holding her back.
You’re not gonna take down Monobear with a cookie.
“That’s a pretty funny irony though. Your king will have mercy on you bastards. You failed to invite ME to this little party, even though I brought you all a very special present!”
“We don’t want presents from someone like you!” Sweetie Belle angrily pointed at Monobear.
“Are you sure? Because it’s a go~od present. Beary good.” Bear puns aside, his proposition suddenly sounded a bit sinister.
“We should accept.” Ginger suggested, her voice hushed.
“Y-you don’t think he’ll-” I knew what Dinky was thinking.
“Yeah, he might.” Ginger surmised.
“Fine. We’ll accept your present!” Featherweight answered for all of us.
I have a bad feeling about this.
“Good choice!” The moment Monobear rose his hand, a smokescreen blew into the room, blinding us briefly.
After a moment of coughing and trying to catch our breath, the smoke cleared at last. But what we saw wasn’t what we expected.
“See, I found this cute little dog and thought she’d be fun and entertaining! Like Lassie!” Monobear held out his arm, pointing to the ‘dog’ in question.
“ARF! ARF!” With such generic barking sounds made, our eyes widened in horror.
But that was no dog. Not this one that glared at Monobear, then looked at us with worried eyes.
That wasn’t supposed to be a dog. But being called as such is the biggest insult to Miss Cheerilee.
That’s right. This ‘dog’ is our favorite teacher, Cheerilee wearing a big, gray-colored dog-suit where that light pink mane on her head can clearly be seen poking out of the mouth portion. Seeing that same purple coat, and light pink mane that we’re all used to seeing, trapped in some sort of large suit, sent a shiver down our spines.
On her mouth is some sort of strange, steel-looking muzzle.
“Thank goodness you bastards took her in! After going through all that trouble of fixing her up, I would’ve had to put her down like Old Yeller if you didn’t accept!” Monobear sighed a breath of relief.
The tower of cookies Truffle Shuffle was eating from flew off the table to the left, revealing an unspeakable fury. “P-p-put her down?!”
“Euthanasia! Put to sleep! Lethal injection! MERCY KILL!” Monobear answered Truffle’s question, making it painfully clear that Miss Cheerilee would’ve died if we hadn’t accepted.
*Whimper*
“Why in the world can’t she talk?” Truffle asked.
“Because she’s a dog! Dogs don’t talk!” Monobear gave an irritated obvious answer, jumping on the table.
“It’s that strange dog muzzle, isn’t it?” Rumble asked, referring to that mechanical, dog-like muzzle covering her whole mouth.
“Whatever do you mean? Dogs bark, whine, and whimper for love, care, and attention!” Monobear, stating the obvious, only served to make our blood boil.
“Starting now, there’s now an additional rule: From here on out, each of you will take turns to feed that dog, take her out on walks, and so forth! I call it Doggie Duty! Check your ID bands to find out who’s on Doggy Duty for today! I even added a doghouse in the neighborhood to take her to for feeding! Failure to comply will just tell me that you don’t want the dog anymore, so I’ll just put her down!” Monobear tore into our hope by bringing in this new form of despair, continuously making it worse as he spoke so sternly and nonchalantly.
“So love and tolerate this mangy mutt, you bastards!”
We’ve been looking for Cheerilee all this time, trying to find a way to escape.
And here she is. Our teacher, now reduced to the role of a pitiful dog.
Having never been in those shoes, never knowing how a dog thinks or feels, we couldn’t possibly imagine what could be on Cheerilee’s mind, or how she’s even taking it.
But if she’s here, she knows about this game.
She has to. But if she doesn’t, we have no idea of knowing, because she’s our dog now.
Our class pet.