//------------------------------//
// Daily Life 1 - Wondrous Despair 
// Story: Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc: Wonderland's Despair 
// by MangaKamen 
//------------------------------//


Daily Life 1

Wondrous Despair 

TTT – TTT 


There was an awkward silence as the fifteen individuals watched as Cheshire just stood there with that sewed on smile of his. 

“K… Kill someone?” Tracer questioned. “Are… Are you kidding?”

“Oh, this is no joke,” Cheshire answered back as he walked in between the large number of students. “I’m completely serious on this.”

“Yeah, didn’t you notice zat last chapter he spoke in italics and bold?” Francis pointed out, with the goat shuddering. “Writers only do zat when zey wanna point out somezing out dramatic or somezing like zat… We’ll probably see zat a lot in ze future.”

“Bleh, that sounds like a technique that fan fiction writers use,” Lore gagged with her tongue stuck out. “Not that I don’t mind doing that every once in a while.”

“Would you two pay attention?” Hawkward snarled at the two as he lowered down to have a dazed Misch roll off his back. The pegasus cleared his throat out and narrowed his eyes down at the stuffed cat. “Why exactly are we here, and why can’t we leave this place without killing someone?”

“Why? Why why why why why,” Cheshire sighed as he pulled his top hat down over his eyes. “What’s with all the whys? How about some whos? Or whats? Or maybe some hows? I assure you that I’m quite the interesting guy…

“But, remember you all came to Twilight Academy of your own free will. Not like anyone twisted your arms or hooves or whatever you use.”

“So wait, is this something the school is behind?” Kopuz questioned, the minotaur staggered back from the cat.

“How would this be okay by the Princess’ standards?” Elo asked bluntly. “And who ever heard of a cat being in charge of anything?”

Cheshire shrugged in reply, “That my fine horned ox and nerdy mare, is something that should be obvious. This wondrous place was made for you all! After all, you’re the first generation of Twilight Academy, we need to make sure that you’re safe.

“But if you really wanna leave, all you need to do is kill someone without getting caught. Beating, stabbing, pounding, cutting, burning, grinding, choking, slaughtering, cursing, body checking – Method doesn’t matter! All you need to know is that you can’t leave unless you murder someone.”

Tracer blinked a few times, without a care in his voice, this living cat doll spoke some of the most depraved words imaginable. And when the words ‘you can’t leave unless you murder’ were uttered, Tracer could feel a lump tie up in his throat.

“Back in Equestria, that hardly ever happens,” Cheshire playfully announced as he lifted his hat back up. “Such a shame too since it can be such a rush – Your heart beating against your ribcage, the blood racing through your veins as you watch that very same liquid pour out of another individual… All by your own paws too! 

“It’s so exciting! Such a thrill!”

“Why do we need to kill each other to leave?!” Zure shouted out. 

“Yes, this is completely insane!” Godfrey added in. “Let us leave NOW!”

“Insane?” Cheshire questioned.

“Sanity… Is that really all that important?” Cheshire cackled out. “After all, sanity and happiness are an impossible combination. What’s sanity good for anyway? I’m giving you a chance to rid yourselves of the dull sanity that Equestria has drilled into your heads, a chance to free yourselves from the shackles of the outside world and live the rest of your lives in Wonderland!

“From here on out, Wonderland is your home, it’s your whole world. So kill to your hearts’ content! Kill or be killed! Kill! Kill! Kill ‘til nothing’s left! Whahahahahahaha!”

“S’alright, little dood,” Freki spoke up as he walked up to the cat. “Where’s the hidden cameras?”

“Oh?” Cheshire mused.

“You got us real good, little cat,” Freki continued with a large smile on his face. “Are we done with the joke?”

“Joke?” Cheshire questioned with his head tilted. 

“Alright, that’s enough!” Smokey roared as he stomped towards Cheshire. The dragon towered over the small cat, cracking his knuckles loudly. “Listen here you lousy pile of crap…”

“Smokey! Don’t curse!” Lore gasped loudly. 

“Yeah! You’re gonna raise ze mature rating of the story already!” Francis added in. “Oh wait, we were just told to kill each ozer, so zat’ll raise ze rating as well…”

But the red dragon continued onwards and grabbed the small toy cat by the scruff of its jacket, and lifted Cheshire up. “You said that we gotta kill someone to get out? Does that include you? Cause you’ve got ten seconds to let us outta here!”

“Hey! That’s my line!” Freya barked out.

But Smokey didn’t listen, rather he was more preoccupied with the struggling cat in his claws, gone was the smoke that filtered out of the dragon’s mouth, and in its place were several flames, “I could give two shits if you’re a cat or some sort of toy! I’ll break you in two and burn you to a crisp if you don’t let us out!”

“WAH! This is against the rules!” Cheshire cried out as he tried to free himself. “You can’t attack the headmaster!”

“Who gives a fuck about your rules?!” The dragon roared back, lifting the cat higher in the air. “Let us outta here now!”

It was then that Cheshire stopped moving completely and remained silent.

“What’s the matter?” Smokey chuckled with the flames licking against the side of his face. “Cat got your tongue? Heh, see what I did there?”

“Get rid of him!” 

Everyone turned to see Crowquill finally standing on all four hooves, his eyes narrowed through his mane, “Didn’t you hear me?! Throw him!”

“Huh?” Smokey yelped before he turned back to Cheshire, noticing that there was an odd purple aura around Cheshire’s body. “The Tartarus?”

“DO IT!” Crowquill yelled.

A little stunned at the sudden gear shift in Crowquill’s demeanor, Smokey reeled his arm back and then threw Cheshire as far into the air as he could throw. And with only a few seconds after the throw, the aura around Cheshire grew more intense before he exploded into large surge of energy and sound that pushed everyone a little bit back.

When the smoke and energy from above began to dissipate, Smokey fell back onto his tail with a loud gulp, “I… I… What just…”

“That was an offensive magic spell,” Alchymist gulped with one of her front hooves lifted up. “If… If you hadn’t gotten rid of that thing, we… We could’ve been…”

“Killed? Why of course!”

Everyone turned back to the fountain to see that seated on the edge of the fountain with a cup of tea held in his paws was none other than Cheshire. However, when he tried to take a sip, all that happened was that the tea spilled down onto his jacket, “You can’t go around breaking the rules, and attacking the headmaster is one of the worst rules you can break. Just be grateful that I’m a gentleman and let you all off with a warning.”

“T-That was a warning?!” Tracer yelped loudly.

“Indeed, but next time,” Cheshire replied, tossing the cup into the fountain water. “Don’t expect to get off lightly.”

‘I’d hate to see him when he’s not holding back,’ Tracer thought.

“But since I’m not heartless,” Cheshire continued as he pulled his hat off and reached into it. “I’ll give you something that’ll make sure that won’t happen again.”

When he pulled his paw out, Cheshire drew out several little blue card-like devices that had a familiar star-like mark on the back of them. The cat tossed them into the air and they slowly floated towards each of the fifteen individuals in front of him. “Here’s your student ID, with it, you can not only see those rules of mine, but you’ll also be able to enter certain areas, know who you are, and even keep notes for classes!

“Okay, so that last feature may not be as predominate as the others, but this ID can do other neat things too! So, go ahead and explore them all! After all, you’re going to have nothing but time here folks! Well, unless you do one certain thing…”

It was then that Cheshire himself began to float up into the air, “Go ahead! Kill! Spill some blood! Do what comes natural to you, especially if you wanna get out of here! Toodles!”

And in a flash of light, Cheshire disappeared. 

“… Who says toodles?” Tracer stated with a loud gulp. 

“After everything that happened, that’s what you focus on?” Freya asked, a dulled look aimed at the earth stallion.

“It… It’s just a little weird,” Tracer muttered with his head lowered. 

“Regardless,” Elo spoke up as she used her magic to look at the student ID. “Now that the board’s been set, we need to consider our options. So far it looks like we’ve only got two, either to live here forever, or…”

“To kill someone,” Hawkward sighed. 

“Um, so we’ve been trapped in a weird place,” Alychmist muttered under her breath as she lowered herself to the ground. “… And then told we must kill… each other… S-Someone! Anyone! Tell me what’s going on around here?!?”

“Uh, this has to be a joke right?” Freki asked with a nervous laugh. 

“This is too serious to joke around with!” Kopuz answered back, his hands wrapped around in a bunch of beads he had. “Heavens above! Please grace me with an answer to this situation!”

“Whether it’s a joke or not isn’t the issue,” Hawkward stated bluntly. “What should be our main concern… Is if someone here took it serious.”

And once again, the silence returned.

Everyone looked towards each other, and the weight of Cheshire’s words began truly weigh down on all fifteen of them. As everyone’s stares bore into each other, Tracer could practically hear his heart beat faster and faster with every passing second. 


From gazes attempting to catch a glimpse into each other’s hearts, there was a tinge of animosity.

At that moment, it occurred to Tracer how truly horrendous this Wonderland’s rules were. 

Beneath the colorful exterior and playful demeanor, the darkness of 
‘You can’t leave unless you kill someone’
Crept about everyone, slowly taking root in everyone’s minds with a single question.

“Will I be betrayed?”



TTT – TTT 

Rule 1
Students are to live out their lives together exclusively within Wonderland. 
Indefinitely.

Rule 2
From 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. is designated as ‘nighttime.’ Be aware that certain areas will be prohibited during this time.

Rule 3
In order to access your personal living quarters, your Student ID is required to open the door. Lending your ID to other students is against the rules and will be punished accordingly.

Rule 4
You may investigate Wonderland to your hearts’ content. 
No limitations have been placed on your actions unless otherwise stated.

Sub-Rule of Rule 4
Magic of all kinds is fully permitted in the Wonderland. In addition, any unicorn must identify all of their spells if asked by a fellow student. Be warned that the headmaster already knows all of your spells, and withholding information from such a request warrants a penalty.

Rule 5
Violence against the headmaster, Cheshire, is forbidden, as is the destruction of surveillance cameras is also prohibited. The headmaster may not punish a student unless the student has broken any of the rules.

Rule 6
Please refrain from polluting nature: place any and all trash and recyclables in their proper receptacles. Failure to do so will result in embarrassment.

Rule 7 
The villain who kills one of his/her companions will be allowed to ‘graduate,’ provided his or her crime is not discovered to the other students. Only one individual may kill up to two others.

Rule 8
Additional rules may be appended to this list if deemed necessary.


Tracer sighed to himself as he looked through the list of rules that were on his Student ID, the small blue piece of plastic seemed to have some sort of magical charms on it that with a single touch on the screen, one could easily access either the rules or the note pad. There was even a recording mechanism to it so one could speak and it would be recorded as words.

‘This would be pretty awesome,’ Tracer thought to himself as he slid a hoof over the screen. ‘If my life wasn’t in danger, I’d ask if I could get music on this thing.’

“Hey! Tracey! Don’t fall behind!”

“Yes, you should be able to keep up with us.”

The earth stallion pocketed the Student ID and tried his best to keep up with the other two members of the small group – Lore and Godfrey. After someone had managed to snap out of being dazed by everything, it was decided amongst the group to explore whatever locations were here in Wonderland, and see if there was a way out.

Flight was out of the question, especially since Misch was still knocked out from that weird storm. Some tried to walk off the paths and disappear into the distance, only to appear on the other side of the road, opposite from where they started. Either through spell, or by convoluted logic, no matter how far they stepped off the paths, they would always return to the paths.

There were five groups of three – Making sure that no one would fall prey to any unsightly business, they were mixed with groups that could handle each other. For example, Kopuz and Smokey were in the same group since they were roughly the same size and could more than likely defend themselves from each other.

Also, for some reason, Francis wanted to join that group – Much to the confusion of everyone else. 

Another group was with Hawkward, Crowquill and Misch – Hawkward wanted to find where everyone would be sleeping and hopefully get Misch some rest. 

As for Tracer’s group…

“Sorry, I was busy checking out the rules,” Tracer chuckled sheepishly as he caught up with the small pegasus and fashionable griffon. “Ya know…”

“Yes, yes,” Godfrey sighed under his breath before he turned away from the dull earth stallion. “Better to be prepared, that Hawkward said. Still, this situation is just ridiculous, if I knew that something inane like this would happen, I would’ve tossed that letter in the trash.”

“Well, this isn’t the best situation, Freyrey,” Lore stated with a warm smile on her face. “But…”

“Please no nicknames,” Godfrey growled as he pushed up his glasses. “I realize that you’re trying to make the best of it, but now’s not the time.”

“Oh,” Lore muttered, her ears lowered down slightly.

“Hey, there’s no need be like that,” Tracer pointed out with his eyes narrowed slightly. “She’s just trying to make you feel better.”

“Yes, I realize that,” Godfrey sighed loudly as he walked forward. “But you need to realize that we’re practically in Tartarus, paranoia whispering in our ears. Now, we’ve got bigger issues, let’s continue on this path.”

Tracer narrowed his eyes further as he watched the griffon walk forward and then he turned over to Lore, “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Lore sighed before she stood up straight and playfully trotted after Godfrey. “Besides, it’s obvious that this is pretty good set up – Paranoia, characters getting on each others' nerves, desperate situation – It’s nifty!”

And it was then that Tracer was able to catch a glimpse of the horror novelist in that little mare, there was a little chill that ran up his spine when she listed off those attributes.

“By the by, Tracer,” Godfrey called out to the stallion, not bothering to look at him. “I can’t tell because of that tacky vest, but you wouldn’t happen to be a pegasus too, would you?”

“Uh, no,” Tracer chuckled, trying to catch up with his two winged companions. “Full on earth pony here.”

“Shame,” Godfrey admitted with a shake of his head. “We would’ve been able to fly a bit and find… What were we looking for again?”

“According to the map,” Lore answered back as she knocked the Student ID out of her dress and onto the ground. “There should be a place called the White Rabbit’s Storage at the end of this path… Ooh! I think I see it!”

“I do as well,” Godfrey continued as he adjusted his glasses with his talons. With a sigh, the griffon’s wings spread out. “When we get done with this, I’ll have to give my feather’s a good preening and stretch.”

“Wow Freyr… I mean, Godfrey,” Lore corrected herself. “Your wings are really nice! They even shine!”

Tracer squinted his eyes slightly, and indeed, Godfrey’s wings did seem to have a bit of a sheen to them. Being a hornless and wingless equine, Tracer didn’t need to worry about the extra necessities that came with added limbs (Although, he’d admit that he’d often imagine what he’d be like if he had magic or a horn like his siblings).

“Why thank you, Lore,” Godfrey chuckled with his chest and ego swelling with pride. “Perhaps when we get the chance, I can use my talents to give your wings the same shine! And maybe I can do something with your manes as well, that includes you as well, Tracer!”

“Huh? Again with my mane,” Tracer muttered, bringing a hoof up to his hair. “Seriously, what’s wrong with it?”

“Oh, nothing, you’ll have to forgive me,” the griffon chuckled as he stood up on his hind legs, reached into shirt pockets and produced a pair of scissors in his talons. “I’m an elite stylist, my second goal in life is to make sure that everything is beautified! Everyone should look excellent, and it’s my job to do so!”

“Amazing! You’re really determined aren’t you?” Lore praised. 

“Indeed,” Godfrey chuckled as he spun the scissors in his talons. “These scissors are a representation of my determination of beautification, custom-made for yours truly!”

“That… Must’ve cost a lot,” Tracer stated as he looked at the pure silver scissors that the griffon tucked away. “And you said second goal, what’s the first?”

“Please, I’m too much for you to ask that question,” Godfrey answered before he dropped back to his talons. “Besides, we’ve wasted enough time, we’ve got the White… What was it again?”

“White Rabbit’s Storage,” Lore answered.

“Right, that place,” Godfrey coughed. “It’s real close, so we should hurry up.”

Both ponies nodded and followed after the griffon.

It didn’t take long for the three to reach the White Rabbit’s Storage, and like the other buildings, this one was an oddity in and of itself. If it wasn’t for the sign that was near the door to the building saying it was the White Rabbit’s Storage, one wouldn’t think it was that at all – after all, the storage facility itself was built to resemble that of a large top hat with a door and windows.

All three of the group blinked at the odd building.

“Now that’s just tacky,” Godfrey grumbled, pulling off his glasses so he could clean them. “A building like that is an eyesore and doesn’t seem to be structurally sound.”

“Why is it a top hat?” Lore asked, looking to Tracer and Godfrey for an answer. 

Neither had an answer that question though. 

“Let’s just head inside,” Tracer suggested with his hoof lifted up to the doorknob. With whatever magic ponies had to grip onto items with their hooves, he tried to turn the knob, but it just wouldn’t budge that much. “Huh? It’s locked?”

“Well of course it is!”

The three turned towards one of the many trees nearby to see that amongst the branches was none other than Cheshire himself, a small key spinning about his tail. “After all, this is a storage facility, you wouldn’t want just anyone coming in all willy nilly, would you?”

“It’s Mister Kitty!” Lore gasped.

“Hmm, love the nickname,” Cheshire giggled, and for a moment, it looked like the large smirk on his face only grew. “In any case, there are a lot of places locked up to you all, so much so that I decided to not put them on your map apps.”

“But this one is on the map,” Tracer pointed out to Cheshire.

“Oh, right,” Cheshire admitted before he leapt from the tree and landed on the ground before the three. “Well, I guess I should unlock this for you… Or better yet, you can do it yourselves. After all, you’re all old enough to take care of yourselves, so here’s the key!”

Cheshire whipped his tail and tossed the key into Godfrey’s talons, “Just be sure to read the sign – Lock up when every living soul is out of there. Don’t need anyone locked up in there with all my favorite snacks and magazines.”

“Are you kidding?” Tracer asked. “Is that all that’s stored here? Snacks and magazines?”

“Of course not!” Cheshire replied with a wag of his paw. “I have movies, games, comic books, action figures and the basic necessity of all – Train sets – in there!”

“Really?” Tracer asked as he leaned towards the cat. “You wouldn’t happen to have the Power Ponies Comics in there?”

“Every single issue up to date,” Cheshire whispered back. “I also have the Masked hero series too, if you’re interested…”

“Are… Are you serious?” Tracer asked with his eyes brightening up. “That’s awesome! You got the W series?”

“Indeed,” Cheshire cackled, his arms held up. “But you may want to hurry up, the other two went ahead inside.”

“Huh?” Tracer muttered when he realized the door the White Rabbit’s Storage was now open and the other two members of his group were in the building. “Oi!”

Cheshire faded away as the earth stallion galloped into the hat-shaped building. 

Inside the storage building, Tracer skidded to a stop inside the building and took a look around, the entrance room seemed to be more of a lounge.

The room had a wooden floor with a chair in the corner, a small coffee table next to the chair that had a blue vase of tulips on it, and several paintings over the walls. On the wall over the chair was a small window, and at the wall opposite of the entrance was another doorway that led to another room. Godfrey was investigating the other room while Lore was relaxing in the chair.

‘Compared with everywhere else,’ Tracer thought to himself. ‘This place is rather tame, it’s really weird.’

As he took a step on the wooden floor, Tracer noticed that the boards creaked loudly, which drew Godfrey’s attention away from the other room. “Oh, about time you stopped shooting the breeze with our captor, take a look at this.”

Tracer looked into the room, and true to Cheshire’s words, there were shelves upon shelves of books, magazines, movies, comics and other forms of media. But there were some shelves that had other items: blankets, pillows, toilet paper, shampoo and even some boxes that were labeled clothes. 

“Looks like this place is stockpiling a lot of items,” Godfrey pointed out as he walked into the slightly darker room (there was another window, but it didn’t really illuminate the room that well). When he reached a shelf that had the toiletries, the griffon lifted up a bottle of conditioner from the shelf, “At least we won’t have to worry about being dirty or bored… Such great priorities.

“If we don’t kill each other, we might starve here because of that stupid cat.”

“Well, at least we’ll be entertained,” Tracer replied as he spotted some saddlebags on a shelf. “Think the cat would mind if I borrowed some of the reading material here?”

“You’re an idiot,” Godfrey sighed loudly. “We’ve got bigger issues to deal with, and you’re concerned if you can take a couple comics with you?”

“Well, not really,” Tracer answered back as he reached with his head and pulled out the Student ID, with the map on it. Then as best as he could, Tracer continued. “Cause ‘ccordin’ to this, there’s a cafeteria around here – And we’re meeting everyone else there when we get done, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”

“That’s not the point, you dolt,” Godfrey groaned loudly. “We don’t know if we can trust him or not, for all we know, he’ll try to…”

“OOH! My book!” 

Both Tracer and Godfrey turned to see that Lore had was flying slightly in front of one of the bookshelves and had pulled a book out from it. When she landed in front of the two, Lore placed the book on the ground before them, “One of my works is here! This is so nice to see anyone with a copy of ‘UNDER A CRIMSON STAINED MOON’.”

Godfrey sighed before he slapped his forehead with his talons. “Alright, I give up! So we’ve seen what’s here, let’s go meet with the others.”

“Yeah, just give me a minute,” Tracer replied as he turned back to the comics. “Now, where are those Masked hero comics…?”

“Hold it!”

All three looked up to see Cheshire… Only this time he stood upside down on the ceiling. When they noticed him, the fancily dressed cat tilted his hat slightly towards them. “Now, while I said that you can take anything from here, one item per individual can only be taken out. With the exception of toiletries, of course.”

“Wait, I have to come back to get the rest of the comics?!” Tracer gasped loudly as he reeled back.

“Don’t forget you need to bring back the item that you originally borrowed,” Cheshire added as he walked around the ceiling rather easily.

“I love how you’re not even phased about how a cat is leisurely walking on the ceiling,” Godfrey pointed out with a push of his glasses.

“Well, this Wonderland is obviously different from Equestria,” Lore replied, smiling innocently. “So, it would stand to reason that there are some rules that don’t apply here.”

“But these rules are weird!” Tracer replied before he turned back to Cheshire, who was now seated on the ceiling with a comic book in his paws. “C’mon! Can it be at least three comics or whatever?!”

“Tell you what,” Cheshire replied, not bothering to look up from his comic. “Kill someone, and you can take as many as you like.”

“Uh, one’s fine,” Tracer chuckled sheepishly. “I… I’ll just stick with the first issue of W… Where is it?”

“Oh, I’m taking it for the evening,” Cheshire answered back.

“DAMN IT!”


TTT – TTT 


After making their way on the paths to the cafeteria, Tracer’s group reached the building that housed it – It looked to me a normal two storied building that one would find in Equestria, resembling that of a log cabin with plenty of bushes and trees around it. When the group entered the building through the opened doors, there was only one other group there…

“Oh, look who’s here,” Freya greeted with a wave of her paw, looking away from the chessboard in front of her. “You find anything useful on your little escapade?”

“Eyes on the board please,” Elo requested as her horn lit up and lifted up one of the chess pieces up. With a loud clack, Elo’s mouth curled up slightly into a smile as her piece landed on the ground. “Checkmate.”

“Wait! What?!” Freya yelped as she looked at the board. “I… I… Wait, what if I do… This!”

The diamond dog picked up her king and placed it on another square on the board.

“Then my bishop has it in its sights,” Elo explained. “Move it to the left, then my rook will take out the king. Back, my pawn. Take out the pawn, then the knight.”

“… Grr…” Freya growled loudly with her fur standing on end. 

The two were having a little chess match on the coffee table of the cafeteria’s first floor, and with how Freya’s fur was standing on end and the deadly leers she was shooting at the unicorn across the board.

“Have you two just been playing all this time?” Godfrey asked as he walked up to the table to see Elo setting up the board again. 

“Of course not,” Elo answered back as she placed the pieces back. “We searched this building top to bottom, after we searched, we waited for you guys – But Miss Freya here wasn’t feeling too good just sitting around. So, I offered a game of chess…”

“And I say you’re a cheater,” Freya growled with her eyes narrowing down. 

Godfrey’s eyes dulled slightly as he looked towards the diamond dog, “You do realize that her cutie mark is a chess piece, right? Elo Castling’s known in the Canterlot Scene as one of the best chess players in Equestria.”

“Wait, so I got conned?!” Freya yelped, her leer aimed at Elo now more intensely. 

“Not conned, just out classed,” Elo answered back with a warm smile. “You’re more than welcomed to continue trying, I welcome the challenge.”

“Meh, I’m going up to the second floor,” Freya grumbled loudly as she pushed herself from the coffee table. “I’m getting kinda hungry.”

And with that, the Diamond Dog slowly dragged herself up the steps.

“Hey, Tracey!” 

Tracer yelped slightly, a little more preoccupied with the exchange that had just occurred. With Lore next to him with an innocent smile, the mare trotted a little ahead of him, “Wanna check out the second level?”

“Uh, sure, I guess,” Tracer muttered under his breath. ‘Truth be told, I’m a little thirsty myself…’

“So, Mister Godfrey, are you interested in a match?” Elo offered with an innocent smile.

“Hmm, are you sure?” Godfrey chuckled, wagging his talon slightly. “I wouldn’t want to outshine the champ at their own game.”

“Oh? You think you stand a chance?” Elo chuckled with her gaze behind her glasses sharpening slightly. “Then bring it on!”

“Wow, never pegged those two as the competitive type,” Tracer muttered as he followed Lore up the stairs to the second level. 

The upstairs of the cafeteria wasn’t all that elaborate, resembling that of a café that had a roof and an obvious kitchen that was in another room connected to the café filled with tables and chairs. Tracer and Lore noted that Freya was walking into the kitchen, grumbling about ‘cheating or something’ while seated at one of the table was none other than Alchymist, nursing a drink while her horn was lit up tending to one of the potted plants that was put on decoration for the tables.

Tracer sighed under his breath, ‘We really are the first group back here… I hope nothing happened to the other three groups…’

“I’m going to get something to drink,” Tracer told Lore. “You, uh, want something?”

“Well, if they have grape juice, that’d be great!” Lore replied before she trotted over to Alchymist’s table. “I’ll be over here with Misty!”

“… Misty?” Alchymist questioned looking up from the flowers she was working with. 

Whatever reason the little pegasus mare had for giving anyone she met a nickname was just odd for Tracer. But the earth stallion just shrugged it off and walked into the kitchen, much to his non-surprise, it was a rather average for a kitchen.

Standard fridge, standard cupboards, standard counter, standard stove…

“Ah! Look who’s here!”

Tracer knew that Freya had entered the kitchen earlier, but the diamond dog had her paws on her hips and smiled at the earth stallion. There was something odd about the smile, then again, Tracer was dealing with a creature that was known to be a carnivore.

“Tracer, right?” Freya asked as she sauntered up the pony and threw an arm around his neck. “How’s it going?”

“Well, in the thirty seconds since we last saw each other,” Tracer bluntly pointed out, although, when he realized that her fangs were a little closer to his neck than he would’ve liked, he chuckled nervously. “N-Never better!”

“Good! So, you’re in tip top shape, right?” the female diamond dog asked as she ran her free paw on one of the lenses of Tracer’s goggles. “Of course you are! Earth Stallions are known for their endurance and strength! So, you wouldn’t mind making some tea for everyone, would you?”

“Wait, what?” Tracer questioned as he pulled away slightly from Freya. “Why should I make tea?”

“Well,” Freya started to answer, releasing Tracer and lifting her paws up to her sides. “Let’s put it like this, is it not a fact that Earth Ponies have a unique magic that allows them to have more control over nature? Fauna and flora, correct?”

“Uh, I guess so,” Tracer admitted, wondering where this was going.

“And tea leaves are still technically a part of nature, even if plucked, right?” Freya continued.

“Yeah…” Tracer stated with a leer in his eyes.

“Plus, I’m sure a stallion of your caliber,” Freya continued onwards as she lifted her paws up to one of Tracer’s front legs. “Especially considering these strong legs, you would obviously have the perfect talent to make even redwoods quiver!”

That little compliment made Tracer puff his chest out slightly, if there was one thing he was proud about, it was his legs. “Well, I don’t know about redwoods, but I’ve been known to kick up dust and make some flashy scenes…”

“Then we’re in agreement!” Freya chimed back with her paws clasped together. “You’ll make some fine tea for us all! Thank you so much!”

“Yes I…” Tracer started before he realized what he had just done. “Wait! I…”

“Oh, and if possible,” Freya stated before she walked out of the kitchen. “I’d like some milk with my tea, so please put in a small cup on the side, will you? Good, thank you!”

Before Tracer could retort, Freya had disappeared back into the cafeteria.

The stallion hung his head down in defeat. ‘What the Tartarus just happened? Ugh, I guess I’ll just do it…

‘Just one problem… How the Tartarus do I make tea?’


TTT – TTT 


By some miracle, and a burnt hoof, Tracer was actually able to make a pot of tea – Which consisted of mostly just some hot water with a few tea leaves floating in it – along with a small cup of milk and a grape juice box. And using a tray that he managed to rummage from some of the cupboards, Tracer managed to get the teapot, a few cups and the cup of milk on it.

Now getting it out to the cafeteria itself, that was a task in and of itself.

With the edge of the tray clenched between his teeth, Tracer slowly inched his way towards the cafeteria.

“Hey! You made tea?” 

The moment that the earth stallion had poked his head out of the kitchen, a pair of green hands grabbed he tray from his mouth. It was Kopuz who now held the tray in his hands, “Thanks little guy! Some tea is just what the doc ordered!”

The green minotaur easily took the drinks from Tracer, which allowed the earth stallion to see that the cafeteria was now full – All fifteen individuals were seated at the tables, including Misch who, besides being a little toasty around the feathers, seemed fine.

Hawkward cleared his throat and lifted a hoof up, “Alright, now that all of us are gathered again, we should…”

“Question!” Freki interrupted, lifting his paw up into the air. 

“Yes?” Hawkward sighed.

“Why are you leading us?” Freki asked, his paws all on the seat he was on. 

“You’re being unusually straight forward,” Geri pointed out, looking at his fellow Diamond Dog.

“Heh, it’s just something that’s bugging me,” Freki admitted as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Oh, I have no qualms about letting anyone else take charge,” Hawkward answered back with his front hooves lifted up. “If anyone wants to do so, take all the responsibility and such, feel free to do so. It’d be a real relief from my shoulders should someone actually take Cheshire’s words to heart and consider stealing the life of…”

“Moi will do it!” Francis cheered out loudly, lifting his hooves up over his head.

“I didn’t even finish!” Hawkward sputtered out.

“Aw, well, moi didn’t want to deal wiz ze whole ‘fighting over leader’ cliché,” the beret wearing goat explained before he clapped his hooves together. “After all, we need to work togezer and…”

“And you think you’re best suited for it?” Zure asked as Kopuz placed the tea set on the middle most table with Lore quickly snatching the juice box on it. “What about anyone else? Should we not at least vote to see who would be more suited to…”

“Yeah, but zat’s boring!” Francis interrupted again, his head tilted to the side. “Moi means, pretty much each of us here are Elite, so any one of us would suffice. Zen again, moi am ze Elite Cook Chef here… And moi am sure ze Elite Sculptor wouldn’t do well either as leader.”

“Now wait just a minute,” Zure huffed as she stomped towards the goat. “What does me being a sculptor have to do with leadership skills?”

“Nothing,” Elo spoke up, her attention not even focused on the group’s meeting. “And that’s the point of the matter. We’re all Elites here, but being an Elite Leader isn’t among the talents here – The only ones that would come close would be the Elite Negotiator…”

Elo finally turned back to the group, her eyes aimed down at Freya, who was pouring herself a cup of tea. Elo continued onwards even though the female diamond dog returned the look, “And I’d suggest myself as the Elite Chess Master, but then again, neither are suited for being as a leader role.”

“Well, maybe I should take a crack at it,” Kopuz offered with a goofy smile on his face. “I mean, shouldn’t the oldest here take the reigns?”

“What makes you think you’re the oldest?” Smokey questioned, his guitar case no longer strapped to his back but rather placed on the chair next to him. “In case you don’t know, Dragon’s age at a slower rate, so for all you know, I could be twice your age.”

“Whoa, I’m just putting out ideas here,” Kopuz replied as he lifted his hands up defensively. “I mean, we just need to try to work together here, right?”

Francis sighed loudly when he brought his hoof up to head, “Zis is ze drama moi wanted to skip.”

“… Sometimes these things happened,” Alchymist pointed out, shrinking down into her seat as she muttered out. “So… So many…”

“If you’re all done squabbling,” Crowquill spoke up once more. “It’s been a long day, so can we please discuss what we’ve discovered?”

“Are you trying to take charge?” Godfrey questioned with a wag of his talon.

“No,” Crowquill answered sharply. “I have no interest in leading this group, all I’m interested in is getting some sleep at the rooms we found.”

“Oh yeah! The rooms are nice!” Misch chimed in as she lifted her arms up. “The beds are so soft! And I think they’re sound proof too. The rooms I mean, not the beds, that’d be weird if the beds were sound proofed.”

“What makes you think that the rooms are sound proofed?” Zure questioned.

“Well, Crowquill and Hawkward were arguing pretty loudly outside my room,” Misch explained as she rubbed the back of her head with a nervous smile on her beak. “I mean, I didn’t hear them duke it out till I opened the door.”

“Oh, and what was the argument about?” Godfrey asked.

“Nothing that needs to be brought up,” Hawkward stated with a nod. 

“Indeed,” Crowquill added.

“Uh, well, anyway, everyone can enter their rooms with their Student IDs,” Misch continued as she reached into the belt around her waist and lifted up the little device. “And they’re easily labeled so it shouldn’t be hard. The rooms I mean, even got cute little pictures of us on the doors.”

“Each of the rooms has a restroom complete with shower system,” Crowquill listed off, not bothering to look at the group. “Along with a little bit of furniture and a bed. Of course, I wouldn’t expect privacy in your room…”

“What does that mean?” Freya questioned.

“You see those cameras?” Hawkward pointed out as she gestured towards the camera that was in the corner of the cafeteria, watching the group from its perch in the ceiling. “Yeah, they’re in the rooms as well.”

“Oh! Please tell me they aren’t in the bathrooms!” Alchymist pleaded with a large amount of crimson appearing on her face. “T-That’d be… That’d be incredibly indecent!”

“What are you complaining about?” Freki questioned with a goofy grin. “Wasn’t it only a few years ago that a lot of ponies started wearing clothes as the norm? Before then, the lot of you just ran around all willy nilly.

“Tartarus, us Diamond Dogs wore clothes all the time before it was cool to do so!”

“Still, it’s obscene,” Alchymist huffed to the side.

“Not like any of us would watch,” Kopuz stated as he poured himself a cup of tea as Freya walked up to the table with tea. “The only one watching that stuff is that bakeneko in the suit and hat.”

“Bakeneko?” Tracer asked. 

Kopuz took a whiff of the tea before he turned down towards Tracer, “Oh, it’s Neiphonesse for ‘Ghost Cat’, supposedly it’s a spirit that messes with folks – So, I thought it’d be appropriate to refer to Cheshire as such.”

“Sides,” Misch added in. “I’m pretty much the one here with the least amount of clothes – My headband and belt – and you don’t see me freaking out by not wearing pants or a shirt or a skirt.”

“If ze FCC existed in zis universe,” Francis chuckled. “And if zis was a TV show, we’d get slammed with a cease and desist order.”

“Back to the matter at hoof,” Hawkward cleared his throat loudly. “No, there aren’t cameras in the bathrooms, at least none that we saw when we were investigating Misch’s room.”

“Then I guess it’s my group’s turn,” Freya said as she grabbed the teapot with her paws and poured herself a cup. “We looked over this ‘cafeteria’, turns out it’s fully stocked with food and stuff, should be enough to last us a while.”

“Yeah, but who knows how long that’ll last us,” Smokey huffed, breathing out some smoke as he spoke.

“Actually, it’s replenished every so often,” Alchymist explained as she shrunk a little bit into the seat she was in. “Cheshire told me so.”

“You saw him too?” Godfrey questioned. “He was in the storage house…”

“And there was a ton of cool books and stuff there!” Lore added, taking a moment to breathe from her juice box. “There was even a copy of one of the books I wrote!”

“Might as well talk about our location,” Godfrey stated as he produced a key from his pocket and placed it on the table. “You need this key to enter the building, and you need to lock up after you’re done in there. Also, while you can take things from there, aside from toiletries, you are only allowed to borrow one at a time before. 

“Some kind of odd rule that Cheshire was really adamant about…”

“So, are we going to leave the key with someone?” Geri asked as he brought a paw to the key. “Or should we leave it here so that we can use it to access the storage?”

“I can get behind that,” Smokey stated with a nod.

Most of the others agreed with the proposal, the only one who didn’t was Freya – Who was more preoccupied with her tea, pouring the milk into the mixture.

“Now that we’ve got that done,” Geri continued onwards. “My group, which consisted of myself, Freki and Zure, we traveled around the grounds in an attempt to find a way out of here. Unfortunately, as I’m guessing most of you found out, it isn’t as easy as stepping off the path. There seems to be a powerful spell that either pushes you back, or brings you back to the path.”

“I even tried digging into the ground to escape!” Freki chimed in, showing off the dirt on his claws. “But when I got to a certain point, there was this large steel plate that got in my way! I tried digging around it, but it kept on getting in the way, I think it might be underneath the entire way.”

“And while we didn’t find a way out,” Zure added. “We did find a laundry room, quite a few washing machines and dryers in it, and it’s in the building next door.”

“So, that leaves the last group,” Hawkward stated as he cleared his throat at Kopuz.

The minotaur was about to sip his cup of tea when he realized that he had most of the eyes on him, “Oh? Well, we didn’t really explore anything. Me and the walking pair of red boots over there were arguing the whole time.”

“Moi can vouch for zat!” Francis cheered with one of his hooves lifted up. “Zey were about to exchange blows, but moi was able to stop zem!”

“Yeah, it was weird,” Smokey commented as he scratched the side of his head. “The goat stopped us by throwing rubber chickens at us.”

“Where did he get rubber chickens from?” Geri questioned.

“He won’t tell us,” Kopuz replied.

“BLEH!”

Everyone turned to see that Freya had spat out the tea was sipping on, with her tongue out, “GAH! I FEEL LIKE I’VE BEEN POSIONED!”

Both Freki and Geri leapt from their seats to help the smaller Diamond Dog, while everyone else was surprised at what just transpired. Kopuz, who had some tea in his hands, sniffed the cup and then took a sip himself. 

Two seconds later, he spat the tea back into the cup and then laughed, “Wahahahaha! Don’t worry! It wasn’t poisoned, the tea is just crappy!”

Tracer’s eyes dulled slightly, “I didn’t want to make the tea in the first place, I don’t even know how to make tea.”

With a shake of her head, Freya leered at the Earth stallion, “Great, all that effort gone to waste.”

“You have only yourself to blame,” Geri scolded with a roll of his eyes. “If you wanted tea, then you should’ve asked the professional cook chef here. I’m willing to bet that he could whip up some half-way decent tea.”

“Not just tea, ya know!” Francis laughed before he trotted towards the kitchen. “How about moi gets something in our stomachs? It’s been a long day, and moi is sure a good meal will relieve some of ze tension.”

“Hope you don’t mind,” Hawkward chimed in as he followed Francis into the kitchen. “But I’d like to keep an eye on you, maybe I can learn something.”

Francis stopped and leered at Hawkward, “You know, I have no intention of poisoning the food – A real cook chef would rather die first than serve something that could harm his clientele. And the fact that you think I could even do such a thing… 

“It’s like you’re spitting in my face.”

Hawkward reeled back slightly before he shook his head, “My apologies, but you can never be too sure. I’m just trying to make sure none of us fall over dead.”

“Oh, well, if zat’s ze case,” Francis replied with a smile. “Grab a hairnet and a tail-net, you’re moi's official helper!”

Francis’ hooves grabbed Hawkward’s jacket and immediately the two disappeared into the kitchen, with Hawkward yelping in surprise. 

“So… Anyone got a deck of cards?” Tracer asked, trying to break the awkward air. “Or anything while we wait?”


TTT – TTT 


After a surprisingly delicious meal, Tracer decided to go to the rooms, especially since the ‘sun’ in the sky was starting to set and night was slowly embracing Wonderland. Much to his surprise, the rooms were styled after a two storied hotel, and he could clearly see a picture of a smaller version of himself plastered on the door. 

For a moment, Tracer just stared at the little ‘chibi’ version of himself before he opened the door to his room. Inside, the room only had a few pieces of furniture – A bed, a desk, a couple lamps, and a table. There was another door in the room, and Tracer figured it was for the rest room. 

On the table was a key that was connected to a small piece of wood that had ‘Tracer’ carved into it. Tracer sighed loudly before he used his tail to lock the door behind him. ‘If what Cheshire says is true, then I’ll be stuck here for a while…

‘Can I even trust what he says? Can I trust anyone here?’

Tracer leapt onto the bed, which he had to admit was rather soft, his head atop of the pillow. ‘I… I wonder if my family misses me… Are they alright? I suppose I should’ve asked about that, but when they haven’t heard from me in a few days, someone will come…

‘Maybe…’

For a few moments, Tracer just laid there, his eyes closed as a thought slowly popped into his head, ‘If you curl up in fear, you won’t accomplish anything. If you want to succeed, have courage and step up front!’

A small smile appeared on Tracer’s face as he slowly lulled himself into sleep.

While I slept, little did I realize that things would get worse before they got better.

The days of peace that I had grown accustomed to – delivering food to customers, spending time with my friends, and possibly earning myself a new future at Twilight Academy. Those days would be shattered.


TBC