Abnormal Days 1

TTT – TTT

Those words kept echoing in Tracer’s head, hearing them in Crowquill’s voice. Tracer had tried to talk to the pegasus after the group had gotten their ‘motives’, however… The pegasus had disappeared from the Main Court when no one was looking.

Even though their spirits were high, the photos still existed and many of the group wanted to be alone with their thoughts, and that included Tracer himself. Although he had put on a strong front, he’d be lying if he wasn’t worried about his two sisters. So, in an attempt to calm his nerves, Tracer headed to the White Rabbit’s Storage in hopes that the comics there would do the trick.

And yet, when the stallion reached the storage, he wasn’t the only one who came up with the idea.

“Haha! Looks like I wasn’t the only one to come here!” Kopuz laughed loudly as he looked up from the digest-size comic book he had in his hands. “Grab yourself a series and join me, Tracer! Dive into the pages of sequential art and forget your troubles!”

“Yeah, well, I’m used to giving bad news to others,” Kopuz chuckled as he rubbed his broken horn with one of his hands. “And I usually got death threats in return, and a lot worse news than what I just got – Amazing what you can get used to in a few short years.”

‘Do I even want to know what he’s been through?’ Tracer thought as he looked at the book in Kopuz’s hands. “The Ancient King series? Never pegged you as a comic fan, let alone that series.”

“What can I say?” Kopuz laughed with a large smile on his face. “I love the aspect of smacking enemies around and having them bleed bits. Throw in the fact that the hero gets her power from Ooparts, and I’m sold!”

“Ya know, Out-of-place artifacts,” Kopuz explained as he flipped through the pages of the comic before he came to a page and showed it to Tracer – Revealing a masked pony holding up skull made entirely out of crystal. “The Crystal Skull! Said to be the remains of an ancient race called ‘humans’!”

Kopuz flipped a few more pages, this one showing another masked pony, only this one had a number of lines over its body with glowing yellow wings. “The Nazca Lines! And many, many more! It’s simply fascinating how all the characters have a sort of connection to these things… And the ancient energies that these things have!

“Detective fan, eh?” Kopuz muttered as he slipped the comic under his arm. “Meh, it was an alright series… It’s no Ancient King series though.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Tracer sighed with a wave of his hoof. “Well, I’m going to go get something to read…”

“Go for it,” Kopuz answered back. “Oh, but watch out – Elo’s in the back, and she’s not in the best of moods.”

The tall minotaur rubbed the back of his head and lowered his gaze slightly, “Yeah, but still, she nearly chewed my other horn off when I went to grab one of these series. I’m just saying that you should be careful.”

“Right, thanks,” Tracer replied with an audible gulp. ‘Maybe I should find something else to do…’

But for the life of him, Tracer couldn’t think of anything else, so he made his way to the backroom where he immediately saw the Elite Chessmaster seated on the ground with a book being levitated in front of her. ‘She hasn’t noticed me yet. Maybe I could…’

“I know you’re there,” Elo stated bluntly. “You two chuckle heads are way too loud.”

“Hehe, sorry, I just wanna grab a comic and I’ll be gone,” Tracer chuckled sheepishly, taking a step to the side to make sure that he wasn’t in the warpath of the mare.

Tracer sighed under his breath before he walked past her and slowly made his way to the shelf with comics. While Tracer was looking at the various books that were stacked up, he couldn’t help but turn back to Elo – He’d be lying if he wasn’t curious about what was on everyone else’s photos.

But, no one was willing to show what was on their photos back at the Main Court – It was something understandable, but still…

Tracer shook his head out from his thoughts and realized that Elo was speaking to him. The goggle wearing stallion nodded towards the mare, “Y-Yes?”

“Let me ask you something,” Elo questioned, leering at the Earth Stallion. “How can you stand to read comics after what Cheshire pulled?”

“Well, I don’t really know,” Tracer answered back. “I mean, I could be like Godfrey and deny it, but, truth be told, I’m really nervous if my family’s okay – But what can I do? I could never bring myself to kill somepony, even if it was to see if my family was alright.”

“… What lovely sentiment,” Elo stated. “But saying something like that will probably get you killed.”

“If you say that, you’ll be seen as nothing more than a pawn,” Elo explained with a coy smirk. “And in chess, the Pawn is the weakest piece – destined to be only a stepping stone or as fodder. If you show any weakness or the slightest opening, someone will take advantage of it. Consider it a little bit of advice from a master of strategy.”

‘What was the point of that conversation?’ Tracer thought with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head. ‘To belittle me?’

“Although, technically, you’re one of the only two Earth Ponies here,” Elo stated with a shake of her head. “You and Hawkward are the only ones here without wings or a horn…”

“You’re not sizing me up, are you?” Tracer chuckled sheepishly as he slowly backed away from the unicorn. “Cause, Kopuz is still out there and I’m pretty sure that…”

“I’m not interested in killing anyone,” Elo sighed. “I’m just giving you a little forewarning, because unlike Hawkward, who has the title of Elite Alchemist on his side, you’re only a delivery colt. The most you could do most likely run and hide.”

Tracer’s eyes dulled slightly. Yeah, he wasn’t a fighter, he was more of a runner, but he’d be able do a lot more than just run and hide. He was a traceur, an stallion who was skilled in parkour – That’s how he was able to make his deliveries on time: jumping over rooftops was a lot easier than dealing with Manehatten traffic, that’s for sure.

Tartarus, some of the delivery colts and mares who were pegasai were a little confused as to how Tracer was able to make his deliveries on time – never late once!

“I’ve got more than a few tricks up my sleeve,” Tracer answered back. “If I… I had sleeves on this thing.”

“Sure,” Elo sighed before she turned back to her book. “Just heed my advice, Tracer, it might just save your life.”

Tracer sighed as he turned back to the shelf of comics, ‘Maybe I should look for that Space themed series… I could use a pick-me up after all this.’

After a few hours of enjoying some comics with Kopuz, the two were standing outside of the White Rabbit’s Storage, waiting for Elo to come on out. Kopuz had his head stuck through the door, “Hey! Elo! C’mon! We’re about to head back to the cafeteria! You wanna get some grub with us?”

Kopuz pulled his head out just in time to have Elo come strolling out, the young unicorn had the key lifted up with her magic. After a moment, Elo turned towards the door to close it and lock it. “Unfortunately, I’m not too hungry after today. But could you two do me a favor?”

“Could one of you return the key for me?” Elo requested as she levitated the key up. “If you two are going to the cafeteria, then you can take the key for me and I can go straight back to my room for some rest.”

“Hey, I got this,” Kopuz replied before he snatched the key from the air. “There’s no need to worry, us two shall take on this endeavor!”

“You’re making this sound like we’re on some epic quest,” Tracer commented with a flat look in his eyes. “We’re just returning a key.”

“Ah come on,” Kopuz sighed loudly. “Where’s your sense of adventure? We’re on a noble deed from a fair maiden! This is the kind of stuff minotaurs live to do.”

“From what I recall,” Elo stated before she walked past the two. “Didn’t minotaurs guard dungeons, mazes and other ancient ruins?”

“That’s way back,” Kopuz explained with a snort. “Now-a-days, minotaurs tend to be more adventurous – Tartarus, I’ve even heard that some minotaurs are experimenting in magic, who knows? Maybe one day I’ll be able to levitate stuff with my mind!”

Both Tracer and Elo looked to each other for a few moments before they both shrugged at each other.

“Okay, I’m outta here,” Elo muttered, rolling her eyes. “See you two later.”

“Yeesh, I was just saying that it’d be awesome to use magic,” Kopuz chuckled with a sigh following. “You can’t disagree with me, right Tracer? Wouldn’t it be awesome to levitate things up with your mind?”

“I’m happy just the way I am,” Tracer admitted before he walked forward, the large green minotaur right behind him. “Don’t get me wrong, it’d be convenient, but I prefer my own charms and skills.”

“That reminds me,” Kopuz continued onwards. “I never did hear what your Elite Talent was – I mean, from most of the others they were willing to say it.”

“I’m not really an Elite,” Tracer sighed back with his ears drooping slightly. “I think me being here was just either a mistake or a fluke, I’m just a simple delivery colt.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Kopuz answered back, his hand scratching at the hair on his chin. “Nothing happens without a cause, everything that occurs in this world has a purpose, and that includes you being accepted into Twilight Academy. There’s a reason, just you wait and see my friend, the stars themselves will reveal your path here.”

“Well, now that we’re here, yeah,” Kopuz added in. “You know what they say, hindsight is always twenty-twenty. Even with my clairvoyance, my foresight isn’t all that great, I couldn’t predict something like this happening – Then again, how do you interpret something like this happening?”

“Good points,” Tracer replied with a smile on his face. “But you think if anyone is coming to help?”

“Dunno,” Kopuz answered rather bored. “In the Minotaur Country, we don’t really have much of a military since most minotaurs are really more like nomads, we barely have what you could call a country anymore. Not even a police force or something like that, we usually just rely on laws of other countries.”

“Me? Nah,” Kopuz chuckled back. “I’ve got enough scratch in my accounts that I can technically retire – But I do fortune telling not just for the money but also because it’s something that I love to do. Sides, most of my clientele come to me, so I just set up shop wherever for a while.”

‘He agreed just straight up, that’s rather amazing…’ Tracer thought to himself.

Eating a meal with Kopuz was rather interesting to say the least – Tracer was a little confused as to how Kopuz could eat some of the weirdest of things: Which included red peppers doused with soy sauce and wasabi, how the minotaur was able to eat that without his tongue melting was beyond Tracer’s capacity – Although it would explain why Kopuz didn’t just spit out the tea that Tracer made a couple days ago: The minotaur had no real taste buds!

Still, the fortune-telling minotaur had a great heart, and certainly seemed to be a good friend. He was just weird.

And watching Kopuz eat the insanely spicy foods without so much as a bead of sweat was enough to make Tracer lose his appetite. So grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, the earth stallion made his way back to the rooms, leaving Kopuz with his spicy meal.

‘At least he didn’t offer any of it to me,’ Tracer thought to himself with a shiver. ‘I could never stand it when customers ordered peppers on their orders… The smell, ugh!’

However, the stallion’s thoughts were interrupted when he reached the second floor of the dormitory – Mainly because of the black and gray griffon who was trying to get into his room. “C’mon! Open up! I’m scanning the Student ID thingie right!”

“Misch? What are you doing?” Tracer asked, keeping a little distance from the griffon – Not because he was worried she was trying to break into his room to kill him, but mainly because she reeked of grease.

The griffon turned towards Tracer and then laughed sheepishly, “Oh, uh, well, you see… I’m just trying to get into my room, but the damn ID isn’t working!”

“… You do know that’s my room, right?” Tracer questioned with a dulled look in his eyes.

Misch blinked back in confusion as she turned back to the door, “… How can you tell?”

Tracer sighed loudly, it would’ve been obvious with the picture that was… Wait a second, where was the picture?!

It wasn’t just his door that was missing the small picture of himself, all of the doors were bare – And just his luck, he didn’t know where anyone else’s room was, he only paid attention to his (he remembered it since when he opened the door he was met with the sight of a tree that had painted white roses directly across from his door).

“Tartarus if I know,” Misch answered back. “I’m just tired, and I wanna get this grease off of me with a shower.”

There were so many questions in Tracer’s head, but he went with the first thing that popped into his head, “… Why do you have grease on you?”

“Well, ya know that there’s a laundry room, right?” Misch began to explain with a large smile on her beak.

“You see, I got this little tick,” Misch chuckled sheepishly. “When I see new machinery, I gotta take it apart and see what makes it tick! And I’ve never seen washing machines and dryers like that, so I had to rip’em apart!”

“You’d be surprised,” Misch chuckled before she slammed her talons into the door. “Now open up! I wanna take a shower!”

“Oh yeah? Can you prove it?” Misch retorted with her arms crossed over her feathered chest. “Cause I bet you can’t!”

This just wasn’t fair, but Tracer pulled out his ID from his hoodie and headed towards the door. Misch still had that confident smirk on her face as Tracer lifted the small device up to the digital lock to the door… And that smirk melted away into a surprised look with a blush painted over her face as the door opened up.

“Aw, damn it!” Misch growled with her head lowered. “So, where’s my room?”

“I don’t know, sorry,” Tracer admitted. “Without the pictures all strew up around here, I can barely tell where my room is.”

“You’ve got Godfrey to thank for that,” A familiar voice called out as Zure appeared at the stairs.

“What’s the glimmerous flop done now?” Misch groaned as the zebra walked up to the two.

“… Glimmerous?” Tracer muttered out loud. “Don’t you mean glamorous?”

“Godfrey was complaining earlier about how tacky the pictures were,” Zure explained, unfazed by the small exchange. “He wanted to make some ‘customized’ nameplates for us all, so he took all the pictures off.”

“Couldn’t he wait till he at least had the nameplates done?” Tracer asked with a raised brow. “He’s not going to remember who’s door is who’s.”

“He said it wouldn’t be a problem,” Zure sighed back with a roll of her eyes. “I swear, he said that he’d be able to remember where everyone’s room is.”

“Well, that’s just perfect,” Misch grumbled. “Thanks to that glimmerous flop, I can’t find my room – and I’m out a shower!”

“If you really need to shower,” Tracer muttered as he gestured towards his opened room. “You can use mine if you like.”

“Really?! Sweet!” Misch cheered out as she made her way towards the opened room.

However, before the griffon could get too far into the room, she was pulled back out by her tail thanks to Zure. Both Misch and Tracer were a little confused on the matter. When she spat out Misch’s tail, Zure spoke up, “Misch, it’d be better if you used a girl’s shower, you’re more than welcomed to use mine.”

“The one at the far end,” Zure replied, leading the griffon down to her room. “See you later, Tracer.”

“Yeah! Thanks for the offer though!” Misch added before the two headed to Zure’s room.

Tracer sighed with his eyes glazed over slightly, ‘Another chance to have a girl in my room, and once again, I screw up. Wait, why am I thinking this!? Ugh, I need some sleep…’

With the door locked behind him, Tracer leapt onto the bed, his entire body heavy from today’s events. When he closed his eyes, the young stallion could see his two sisters – Mana and Prism. And the flood of questions poured into his subconscious.

And what about his father? He was still looking after the two young fillies since they were too young to be on their own, but he was nowhere in the picture – Was he okay?

Those thoughts kept haunting Tracer until he finally dozed off into the embrace of sleep.

Tracer yawned loudly as he stepped through the doors of the cafeteria in hopes of getting something to wake him up. Although his bed was soft and there was hardly a sound, Tracer had barely managed to get a wink of sleep last night, the thoughts caused by the ‘motive’ was enough to trouble the stallion.

His mane was disheveled, his goggles were around his neck instead of his head, and his hoodie was a wrinkled mess – All topped off with the bags he had under his eyes.

Tracer lifted his head up to see that Godfrey was the only one in the cafeteria with a large pitcher of dark pink liquid in his talons. The griffon looked as prim and proper as he usually did, with a rather bright smile on his beak, “Come on over! I’ve got some fresh homemade lemonade! It’ll put some spring in your step!”

All Tracer could muster was a couple of grunts in response as he trudged towards the table.

“Ah, morning zombie speech,” Godfrey chuckled before he poured the lemonade into a cup. “Here, this’ll perk you right up!”

Without so much as a grunt, Tracer slumped to the table and used his hoof to hook the drink towards him. The stallion took a few sniffs of the drink before he brought the glass to his mouth. The stallion took a sip and almost immediately his eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

Indeed, the drink was incredibly candied to the point that the drowsiness in Tracer vaporized the moment the lemonade touched his tongue. “WHOA! What… What did I just drink!?”

“My personalized red lemonade,” Godfrey chuckled before he took a sip of the lemonade. “I usually make it for my customers while they wait for their appointments, another reason why I’m popular. What you think, Split Ends?”

“It’s… It’s a little sweet,” Tracer admitted, finding it a little hard to talk with the fact that he still had the sweet burning sensation on his tongue.

“Thanks,” Godfrey stated with his chest puffed out. “I’m willing to bet that you’re wide awake now, though.”

Tracer did have to credit that to the griffon, he was wide awake now. “Uh, so, is Francis here cooking?”

“Nope, and I’ve been here for a couple of hours,” Godfrey answered back with a slight yawn. “I guess he’s on his way, it’s almost seven.”

Tracer looked to the clock in the cafeteria and grumbled under his breath, it really wasn’t even seven o’clock, and why he was awake at this time was anyone’s guess. ‘I guess I didn’t get as much sleep as I thought…’

“So, what’s your goal for today?” Godfrey asked as he poured himself another glass of lemonade. “Going to waste more time at the White Rabbit’s Storage?”

“Well, it’s either there or the laundry room,” Tracer pointed out as he pushed up the goggles up to his forehead. “And I’d rather be near the comics.”

“Understandable, I suppose,” Godfrey answered back. “But you know, whether or not you plan on holding yourself up in there, you should at least try to make yourself presentable – If not for yourself, then for everyone else – You kind of have that morning musk.”

“Is… Is it that noticeable?” Tracer muttered with a sheepish smile on his face.

“Split Ends, I suggest you take this opportunity to shower,” Godfrey pointed out with a sly smile. “After all, the others will be arriving so, and you’d like to be at your best, right?”

“I… I guess so,” Tracer replied before he pushed himself up from the table. He didn’t think he really stunk that badly, but, if Godfrey noticed it, then it wouldn’t hurt to freshen up.

“Besides, one of the Diamond Dogs already took the key to the storage,” Godfrey pointed out.

Tracer’s eyes widened before they narrowed down at the griffon, “Gee, if I had known that, I wouldn’t have come here first.”

“Well, whatever goes for you,” Godfrey chuckled back with his second glass of red lemonade. “Not like I’m going to stop you from doing that.”

And with that, Tracer galloped out from the cafeteria, nearly tripping over the stairs in the process. Godfrey shook his head at the scruffy stallion, “I swear, some just don’t have that spark in the morning.”

It was rather an uneventful trip to the White Rabbit’s Storage for Tracer, but it wasn’t that long of a trip for the stallion.

When he reached the strange building, Tracer noticed that the Diamond Dog in question was Freya – Which was odd considering since most of the time she was with either of the other two Diamond Dogs. She seemed to be trying to get into the building, but seemed to just stand in front of the door with her paws wrapped around the knob.

“Curse this blasted thing!” the female diamond dog growled before she drew her paws back and held the key up. “The door’s busted!”

Tracer was about to edge away and possibly come back later, but it was then that Freya noticed the stallion and his escape was suddenly ruined, “Well, well, well, lookie who’s here! C’mere will ya, Tracer?”

“What’s the word you ponies use?” Freya muttered out loud before she snapped her paws. “Ah, be a gentlestallion and help a damsel in distress, will you?”

Tracer couldn’t help but sigh, there was no way out of this now. “What’s wrong?”

“The door’s broken,” Freya answered back with her arms crossed. “And after hearing about there being something to alleviate the boredom, I wanted to pick up a book for the day.”

“Well, there’s plenty of books in there,” Tracer replied as he walked towards the door. “But the door was fine yesterday…”

“Then you try it,” Freya scoffed as she held the key up to Tracer. “It’s not working.”

A little suspicious, Tracer took the key in his mouth and fitted it into the lock. He then tried to turn it, but it wouldn’t budge. Tracer tried a few more times before he drew back the key and spat it to the ground, “Huh, the door’s broken.”

“Brilliant deduction,” Freya grumbled with a roll of her eyes. “If you had bothered to listen, then it would’ve spared us some time.”

“Sorry,” Tracer answered back with his ears lowered. “But what do you want me to do about this?”

“Well, is there a second way in?” Freya asked. “Maybe we could open it from the inside.”

“There is a window on the side,” Tracer opted before he began to walk over to the side of the building. “We could jump in and open the door from the inside.”

Not having anything else to do, Freya shrugged and followed the stallion to the side of the storage building, and immediately her eyes fell on the opened window… Which was quite high up on the wall. Freya sighed as she shook her head, “That’s way too high, unless you can suddenly sprout wings…”

“Just watch,” Tracer replied as he crouched down slightly and pulled his goggles over his eyes. The stallion had his gaze set on a nearby tree before he smirked, then he galloped towards the tree.

With a leap, Tracer slammed all four of his hooves onto the tree before he kicked off of the tree and flew through the air towards the window with his front hooves lifted up. Freya watched as Tracer quickly closed the gap between him and the window and clapped her paws together when Tracer’s hooves hooked around the window. “Huh, impressive.”

Tracer smiled as he pulled himself up to the window a little more, “What can I say? I love sailing through the air, my old man thinks that I’ve got some pegasus blood in me and…”

Tracer had pulled himself up to the window and was about to slide in through, but when he looked into the room, his eyes widened and his breath suddenly escaped his lungs.

“Ah… Hah…” Tracer stammered before his grip slipped and he fell to the ground. “GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!”

Tracer yelped when he landed on the ground, and surprised Freya, the diamond dog brought her paws up defensively, “Wha… What the Tartarus is wrong!?”

Both Freya and Tracer turned to see Smokey running up to the two, the red dragon skidded to a halt in front of them, “I heard screaming, everything okay?”

“N-No!” Tracer yelled as he got to his hooves. “We gotta get inside! Elo’s hurt!”

“What?!” Smokey snarled with smoke billowing from his nostrils. “Alright! We’ll break down the door!”

“That’s only for the cameras,” Smokey moaned before he narrowed his eyes. “Sides – This is an emergency!”

Both Tracer and Smokey ran to the front of the storage building, with Freya following the two. When the stallion and dragon were in front of the building, Smokey tossed his guitar case to the grass, “On the count of three Tracer, we ram the door with everything!

Both Tracer and Smokey charged towards the door, and then the two rammed their shoulders into the door, knocking it to the ground with the two spilling on the floor of the White Rabbit’s Storage. Freya was right behind the two and froze when she saw Elo’s prone form. “Oh… My…”

Tracer had never seen so much blood before in his life – There was no way he would ever forget that sight. Elo Castling, the Elite Chess Master was laying in a pool of blood, the surprisingly bight liquid melted into the wooden floor and into the carpeting.

“I’m afraid not,” A rather cheery voice, one that really offset the real mood.

Tracer, Smokey and Freya turned to see Cheshire behind them, his hat lowered over the upper part of his face, although his large crescent moon smile was still visible. The cat chuckled loudly, “Wonderland has just seen its first murder!”

“You… You can’t be serious,” Freya gasped with her paws up to her muzzle.

“You lousy little bastard!” Smokey snarled with fire pouring from his nostrils. “What the Tartarus did you do!?!”

“Me? Oh, nonononono,” Cheshire replied, still keeping his hat low. “I had nothing to do with this – And yes, I am serious, just look at the body. Anyone with two good eyes can see it’s obviously murder.

“Look at the face – It’s the face of someone cursed with losing their life for the sake of another’s ego. Throw in the bright coloring around, and it’s obvious that its murder.”

“Well, feel free to be blissfully ignorant if you’d like,” Cheshire sighed with a shake of his head. “But, that may just cost you in the end. Now if you excuse me, I need to do something.”

And just like that, Cheshire disappeared in a cloud of smoke. But it wasn’t the last that the three heard his voice…

BING-BONG-DANG-DONG!

"A body has been discovered!

“Will everyone who is still alive please report to the White Rabbit’s Storage immediately – Further instructions shall be delivered when everyone living has arrived. Tardiness will not be tolerated, so please hurry up.”

And with that weird announcement, the three turned to each other. Freya still had her paws to her muzzle before she ran back out, the some really unpleasant sounds following afterwards. It took everything Tracer had not to toss his own cookies, but Smokey on the other hand seemed to just be pissed off.

Tracer looked around the room, there was a lot more in the room that he didn’t see when he was at the window. Scattered all about the room were several red feathers, mostly near the window where Tracer had spotted the… the body.

“I… I don’t know what to say,” Tracer sputtered out, his eyes brought back to Elo’s lifeless body. “I’ve never seen… Well…”

“Uh, yeah,” Tracer admitted, a little surprised. “You don’t seemed phased though…”

Smokey took in a deep breath before he sputtered out some smoke. “Dragon culture my friend, dragons tend to be very territorial with each other, we also happen to kick each other’s asses even to the point of killing each other.”

“Do you really wanna know?” Smokey retorted. “Sides, this isn’t the best time to discuss this…”

The gravity of the situation weighed heavily on Tracer’s back, someone he knew was dead – Not just dead, but killed, and if what Cheshire said was true – It was one of the others he knew.

Both Tracer and Smokey turned back to the doorway to see that practically everyone else was cramming themselves into the building, but stopped when they realized when they saw Elo… And the large amount of blood.

The only ones who weren’t there were Geri and Freki, who were most likely outside with Freya (who was still probably upchucking at this point in time).

That’s when a familiar laughter filled the air, “Upupupupu! Well, looks like everyone who’s alive is here!”

In the middle of the room, away from the blood, Cheshire appeared with a cloud of smoke that wisped away. “As you all can see, one of you bastards killed someone.”

“And what if you’re the sicko who did it?!” Kopuz yelped, his face looking a little greener than usual.

“Puh-lease, I didn’t have a reason to kill her,” Cheshire answered back. “If you believe anything, believe that – Unless a rule is broken, my hands are cleaned. And I wouldn’t do anything to tarnish the serenity of Wonderland, I’m rather infamous amongst alleyways for being the king of rules among stray cats, however, politics are the one thing I don’t want to deal with, too much paperwork.”

“But then…” Lore questioned, visibly shaking at the sight of another pony sitting in her own blood. “Who… Who…”

“Didn’t I just say this?” Cheshire asked as he pushed his hat up. “One of you bastards killed Elo Castling!”

There was an awkward silence that lofted through the air, as everyone looked to each other, flashes of disbelief and distrust gleaming in the eyes of everyone.

“Don’t take it so hard,” Cheshire continued onwards as he looked towards Elo. “All that happened was: one of you guys killed the mare so you could leave! That’s the rule, and there’s nothing wrong with it!”

“You’re… You’re lying, right, Monsieur Pussy Cat?” Francis chuckled nervously.

“Of course he’s lying!” Zure yelled out as she stomped towards the well-dressed feline. “You’re the one who did this, aren’t you?!”

Cheshire looked at the zebra and slowly shook his head. “You wanna keep blaming me? Fine, keep that delusion up, after all, that’ll be your downfall, and who am I to stop you from doing that? The killer is one of you guys, and the one who did it, is standing amongst you.”

Tracer’s blood froze, and he could feel that everyone was trading glances at each other – Everyone thinking that there was a killer amongst them.

“Enough,” Hawkward spoke up as he walked up next to Zure. “Very well Cheshire, let’s say that the killer is among us, that means that they alone is able to leave, correct?”

“Feigning ignorance is a waste of time,” Hawkward continued with his eyes narrowed down. “You said it yourself, one can leave if they commit murder.”

Cheshire brought his paws up to his mouth, trying to stifle a little chuckle he had until he just erupted into a burst of laughter, “UPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUPUP – HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“Of course!” Cheshire sputtered out through his laughter. “Did you think that it’d be that easy?! Nononononono! That’d be way too unfair! And besides, this is where the fun really begins!”

“F-Fun?!” Tracer growled. “Someone’s dead, and you think this is fun!?”

“Of course!” Cheshire repeated with a little chuckle following afterwards. “You see, there’s a condition that the murderer… Or rather the ‘villain’, has to do before they can actually leave. As I’ve said already and listed in your rules, ‘you can’t leave unless you kill someone’. But, there’s another condition that has to be met before you can leave.”

“Bingo! Bango! We’ve got a winner!” Cheshire cheered out. “You can’t just kill, kill, kill! You gotta do the dirty deed, and get away with it!

“So, after the deed is done, we’ll see if you’re smart enough to get away with it – Through a class trial!”

“A class trial!” Cheshire explained as he pointed a paw towards the gray griffon. “It’s where the villain has their fierce showdown on the courtroom floor versus the remaining students – the heroes! The question at the trial is simple:

“‘Which of you guys is the Elite Villain?’

“The answer to that question will be decided by a majority vote conducted at the end of the trial. If the answer you guys is the correct one, then the villain who tarnished Wonderland will be punished, and everyone else will be allowed to live in Wonderland together!

“However, there’s a flipside to that coin – If you vote wrong, the villain will live on, escape Wonderland, and the rest of you heroes will be punished. If that happens, of course, your lives together here at Wonderland will come to an end.”

“Excusez-moi,” Francis chuckled nervously as he lifted a hoof up. “But, you keep using zat word – Punished. You don’t mean zat…”

That word was so straight forward and came out so quick that everyone froze in place, and Cheshire kept on going. “Flame-broiled, strung up, stuffed into an animatronic animal with all the parts still inside it, being… Oh, I don’t know, what’s a weird way to die? Oh! Dying while making a list of the ‘Top Ten Funniest ways to die’!”

“Point is,” Cheshire continued onwards. “I’m talking execution! EX-E-CU-TION! Just like how King Sombra was executed!”

“Celestia wishes she had a judge system like this in the world,” Cheshire cackled. “You’re the ones who decide who the criminal is – But that decision isn’t meant to be taken lightly of course, you’ll be deciding to punish someone, so you’ll have to put your own lives on the line as well!”

Cheshire pushed his hat up, and then turned towards Elo, “A shame isn’t it? This is probably one of the first murders you all have heard about, let along seen first hoof. And yet, it happens more often than you think, this isn’t the pampered world that you’ve all be raised in, being forced fed lies – This is reality, and the reality is simple:

For the last few minutes, Cheshire had been piling on harsh words and hard realities, but that grim (and slightly creepy) demeanor faded back into his joyous personality. “Now then! You’ll all have some time to waste before the trial, investigate, try to escape, or just wallow in sadness – Your choice!

“But when its time, I’ll be sure to send you all a message of where to head for the class trial!”

For a few moments, everyone remained silent, the heavy atmosphere of depression almost enough to choke the life out of them.

One of them had committed an unspeakable act – One of them had taken the life of another.

And they had to find the one who committed the act or else it would be their lives that would be lost next.

Everyone turned to see that Crowquill had spoken up again, watching him walk into the storage room and near Elo’s body. “We need to figure out who the killer is – Otherwise all of us will be executed.”

“Precisely,” Hawkward added. “Although it’s sad to see one of our comrades dead – We need to put aside our feelings for the sake of survival. That being said, Kopuz, Smokescreen…”

“Would both of you stay here and guard the crime scene?” Hawkward requested.

“Uh, question!” Misch announced as she lifted a talon up. “Why do we need the big guys here?”

“We need to preserve the crime scene,” Crowquill explained. “If the culprit actually managed to tamper with the crime scene, we’d be at a disadvantage. And we can’t have a single being watching the scene, if they were the culprit, they could destroy all the evidence they want.”

“So you want the two big guys watching the scene to make sure that no one tampers with the scene,” Freki stated as he stepped into the building, stopping to look at the corpse of Elo. He froze for a second before he sighed. “M-Makes sense, doods.”

“I’m good with that,” Smokey admitted as he walked over to the corner of the room, crossing his arms. “But could someone get my guitar case? I tossed it out there.”

“Um, w-well, sure,” Kopuz answered back as he headed towards another corner of the room. “As long as I don’t have to touch the body, I think I’ll be good.”

“If I may make a little observation,” Godfrey pointed out. “Does anyone else see all the feathers here?”

Tracer looked and indeed, he did notice the red feathers when he got a better look at the scene. And then it clicked, “Wait, you’re not saying…”

It was when that everyone turned towards Lore, who had just came to the realization, “W-Wait, you guys can’t think that… That I’d… I wouldn’t!”

“T-That’s easy to say,” Alchymist muttered out loud as she looked to the side. “B-But you’re the only one here with red feathers…”

“Hold up!” Smokey snarled. “You can’t be serious! You think that Lore did it!?”

“We’ve got the trial to discuss this,” Crowquill replied. “So save your accusations till then.”

“But, it’s something consider,” Freya pointed out, finally coming into the storage building, using Geri as a crutch to keep her on her paws. “We need to keep our options open, and everyone is a suspect – After all, all we know that is Elo was alive yesterday, and this morning, she’s dead.”

“Y-Yeah!” Tracer added in. “Me and Kopuz were with her last night before... And…”

“And as long as we don’t have a time of death,” Freya continued with a sly smirk. “Everyone’s a suspect.”

Everyone looked up to the ceiling to see Cheshire standing on the ceiling, his hat held up to make sure it wouldn’t fall off. “In order to give you all a running start, I’m going to give you all something very special!

Several beeps echoed through the air, and everyone reached for their student IDs, all of which now displayed an odd picture of Elo’s corpse with details underneath the picture.

Cheshire File No. 1
Victim: Elo Castling
Estimated Time of Death: Approximately 2:30 A.M.
Status of Body: The victim’s body was discovered in the main hall of White Rabbit’s Storage. The cause of death was stabbing with a sharp object. The victim was stabbed once in the chest region. The victim also sustained a small fracture on her head, but was not the cause of death, there were no traces of poison or other drugs.

“I had the data sent to your Student IDs,” Cheshire explained. “I wouldn’t want to give you guys a disadvantage. Now then, enjoy your investigation!”

Tracer dropped the Student ID, allowing the device to clatter against the wooden floor, ‘… I still can’t believe that one of us is really dead… Why? Why did one of us have to die?!’

Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc: Wonderland's Despair

by MangaKamen

Abnormal Days 1 - Sweet Soul!