Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc: Wonderland's Despair

by MangaKamen

Down the Rabbit Hole

So… It’s happening again. I thought we’ve taken care of this stuff before.

The forces of despair are rather persistent, sir.

I’m getting too old for this. Alright, who do we have lined up for this situation?

Um, Tracer, sir.

Oh no! Not Tracer!

Afraid so, sir.

Isn’t there anypony else? What about Spade or Marlowe?

Sir, they’ve been dead for ten years.

… Isn’t there anyone else?

Sorry sir, but according to the list, he’s next.

… Well, I guess we don’t have any other choice. Better get started on this before things get out of control.

TTT – TTT

Wonderland’s Despair

TTT~TTT

Prologue

Down the Rabbit Hole

TTT~TTT

Congratulations!

We at Twilight Academy for the Elite have selected a number of individuals across Equestria to become students of this prestigious school. Our goal is to unify every sentient specie across the world – Griffons, Diamond Dogs, Minotaurs, Ponies and etc., and you have been selected as one of the many to help pave the way to a peaceful world among all.

You have been selected among many young candidates, chosen for your talents in your respectable field to become a part of this new academy. Should you accept this invitation, then you will not only receive a great education, but compensation for your acceptance. You will be part of the hope of uniting this world against any threats that Equestria may face in the future.

Thank you for your time and I hope to see you at this academy,

From the desk of Princess Twilight Sparkle.

TTT ~ TTT

The enormous academy towered over the vast plains, its shadow loomed over the grass as a single figure slowly trotted on the path towards the large building, taking note of the star-like symbol that was on the tall tower that was made out of stained glass. The figure stopped at the large gates and gulped loudly at the tall building, ‘S-So… This is Twilight Academy, a lot bigger than I thought it’d be.’

The figure turned back towards the path that led to the town known as Ponyville, the many buildings and crystal castle just barely in view. With a sigh he looked back at the academy, ‘What am I doing here?’

That was a good question – among ponies, rumors were spread that Twilight Academy had been in the works for the last few years and was said to be a means for anypony blessed enough to enter through its doors would be given a chance at greatness. While it was uncommon for ponies to acquire education after a certain age, Twilight Academy served as a parallel to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns to aid those to improve their skills.

The only difference was Twilight Academy was open to more than just unicorns – Pegasai, Earth Ponies, Griffons and many, many more species – All were said to be invited to this academy. The reason for this was to instill a peace among all of the sentient creatures of Equestria. Filled with the elites – The best of what they did, all aiming to not only refine their talents but to also to unite the world.

From the Elite Musician, to Elite Cook Chef, to the Elite Horror Novelist and even the Elite Negotiator: They and many more were said to be selected from hundreds of thousands of individuals to not only develop their talents, but to aid others with such talents.

At least, that’s what the figure had heard. Rumors were rather fantastical things, even in a world of dragons, magical horses and a sun that could be risen on a whim.

Still, that further begged the question to the individual at the gates of this academy – Why was he here.

‘All I am is just a simple delivery-colt,’ He thought to himself as he gulped nervously. ‘How the Tartarus did I get accepted into a place like this? It… It makes no sense.’

But, when he received that letter that asked him to come – At first he thought it was a mistake (wouldn’t be the first time he got someone else’s mail: Tartarus, one time, he got a muffin in the mail), he decided to see if this invitation was the truth or a farce.

The opened gates seemed to wait for him to pass between them. Even though it was just a building, the reputation that was built around it was enough to stifle him – This was something that was out of his league.

So, with a deep breath to muster whatever resolve that he held in his soul, the young individual lifted his front hoof into the air and took a step into the school’s yard. With whatever was about to happen, whether this be a dream come true or just a simple mistake, all that would come to pass soon enough.

And then the whole world went black.

TTT – TTT

“Uh… My head…”

The young individual slowly lifted his head up, his vision slowly becoming clear. After a few blinks, the young stallion realized that he was seated at a desk, “Where… Where am I?”

After a few moments, he realized that there wasn’t just one desk, in fact, he was what appeared to be an entire classroom – Desks, a chalkboard, even some windows that had quite a bit of sheen to them. The classroom itself reminded him of the one he was in when he was a colt… Only bigger.

And he was pretty sure there wasn’t a camera that stuck out of the ceiling in the corner of his first classroom.

“What’s… Going on?” He asked as he used his hooves to push himself off of the desk, which was easier to say, his entire body was stiff and his joints

His first steps from the desk were shaky, but it didn’t take long for him to get his bearings. The first thing he did was walk over to one of the windows, hoping to see the plains outside Twilight Academy – Perhaps he’d fainted or something and somepony dragged him inside.

However, he was only met with gaze of a silver stallion with a messy black mane, the unruly mess only held back with a pair of goggles with a star emblem on the right lens. The stallion was rather thin and had a sleeveless white and black hoodie over his torso. His cutie mark – A wheel with a wing sticking out of it – was on display on his flanks. With a hoof lifted up, the stallion rubbed his sore head.

‘Well, I guess this is a mirror,’ He thought to himself as he shook his head at his reflection. ‘Still… Looking good Tracer!’

Tracer pulled away from the mirror and sighed under his breath. ‘I guess I’m in the school, did something happen? How the Tartarus did I get here?’

BING-BONG-DING-DONG!

Tracer blinked a few times when he heard that bell ring out loud through the room. As the young earth stallion looked about, Tracer’s eyes landed on the chalkboard that started to change, the green was changed to a static screen that had a shadowed figure on it. From what Tracer could see, the figure on the screen seemed to be adorned with a top hat, and had a gleaming left eye.

“Hello! Hello!” The figure on the screen called out playfully. “I hope you all can hear me! This is my first time doing this, so let’s do our best!”

Tracer stepped back – That voice certainly had a little bit of joy to it, but there was something ominous behind that whimsical tone. Certainly didn’t help that the image on the screen wasn’t the best and considering his situation, it was a little jarring. There was also that word that Tracer caught.

All.

Obviously there were more here than just him.

The figure on the screen cleared their throat loudly, “In any case, I hope you all are feeling well – If not, then my apologies. Please head to the Main Court, I’ve placed signs all over the place so you can all reach it. So, unless you’re illiterate, there shouldn’t be a problem.

“You have ten minutes, so please try not to be late.”

And just like that, the screen faded back into the chalkboard from before. Tracer turned towards the single door of the classroom and sighed. There was only one thing for him to do, and it was to go forward. With a deep breath, the young stallion walked over to the door and lifted one of his front hooves up to push the door open.

The door’s creak was enough to make Tracer’s ears droop down slightly and the light from outside the room made him turn away slightly to shield his eyes from the bright glow that poured into the room. For a moment, Tracer closed his eyes to what was causing the light, but when his sight adjusted, the young stallion’s jaw fell slightly, “I… What?”

What he saw through the doorway was something that he never expected.

Right before Tracer’s eyes was… The outside.

At least, that’s what he thought it was. Equestria was a very beautiful place to live, no doubt about that, but he was pretty sure that the grass wasn’t white and blue in perfectly symmetrical squares. That alone wasn’t what took him by surprise though, as he stepped ‘outside’, Tracer noticed that the sky was a rich gold, with the sun directly overhead, there was no way that the sky would look like that if the sun was like that (and he remembered the time that the sun and moon were practically side by side with each other).

Over the hilly horizon, Tracer could see many odd buildings, strange statues, and even more foliage: the large, multicolored mushrooms were something that he was pretty sure were a rarity even in Equestria. Tartarus, there was one of the large mushrooms right next to the room he was in (which he discovered seemed to be built into one of the strange houses), the mushroom seemed to tower over the building by a couple of yards.

At least there were some normal plants strewn about, like the rose bushes… with some of the white roses on it actually dripping white paint. How did Tracer know it was white paint? Well, because of the freshly opened paint cans that sat next to some of the bushes with paintbrushes placed on top of the opened containers.

Tracer blinked a few times and realized that the paint cans were set next to a bush that had a few red roses on it, “Painting flowers? Who does that?”

Next to the bush of red roses, Tracer saw what the static figure on the television had requested from him: A sign that was bolted to a rather crooked post that pointed down an oddly out of place cobblestone path – Compared to the rest of the colorful scenery, it was kinda… Bland.

In any case, the sign also had words that were painted under the big red arrow:

-----
Main Court

‘I could go left,’ Tracer thought to himself with his brow narrowed. ‘But, I don’t know what to expect here: There could be lions, tigers, or bears… Or maybe the dreaded sales pony! Ugh, I can remember the last time that happened, Dad got mad at me for buying so many blenders.

‘So, I’ll just follow what the nice voice requested.’

And so, Tracer began to walk down the gray path to follow the sign.

Meanwhile, as the young earth stallion began to walk away, at one of the nearby trees a small black tail unfurled from one of the nearby branches, its white tip wiggled a little bit, “Upupupupupu… Seems like all the pieces are in place.”

TTT – TTT

It didn’t take long for Tracer to find the Main Court – Probably a good three minute walk from the building that he had woken up in. It helped that there was a bright, open gate that had a neon blue sign on it that flickered ‘Main Court’ over the doors of the gate. On each side of the gate, Tracer saw the large hedges that lined the Main Court.

“Hey!”

Tracer’s gaze turned towards the opened gates, where he saw that he wasn’t alone – Within the gates were several individuals, one of which was gesturing for him to come in.

“Hurry! Hurry! Everyone’s waiting!”

A little confused, the silver stallion blinked a few times but then shrugged as he slowly stepped past the gates. Beyond the gates was a rather beautiful courtyard, with a large fountain in the middle of it, but that’s not what drew Tracer’s attention, rather it was the individuals that stood around the fountain.

Tracer had never seen such a collection of species in one place – Yeah, he wasn’t the only pony there, but there were diamond dogs, a pair of griffons, a zebra, a minotaur, a goat, and even more surprising, a dragon! He knew that there would be a diverse student body at Twilight Academy, but this was… Well, this was kind of unexpected.

The young stallion cleared his throat, trying to come up with the right words to break the ice – Whatever the situation, he had to make a good impression, “Hi! I’m acquaintance! It’s nice to make your Tracer!”

‘DAMN IT!’

“Great, we got ourselves a genius here, folks,” one of the individuals pointed out.

“Hey, be nice!”

“And with him there’s about… Let’s see, fifteen of us! Quite the interesting number we’ve got. And such a diverse crowd too.”

“Humph… Seems a little too diverse if you ask me.”

“Now, now, zis is supposed to be a school… Moi zinks zat we should at least try to get along.”

“Oh? Are schools usually like this for Equines?”

“Does moi look like a pony? Moi is a goat.”

These were the students that were chosen for Twilight Academy – Aside from Tracer, each and every one of these individuals were known for their special talents, picked from many in their fields to come to the academy, the elite.

From each individual, Tracer could feel… something emanating from each of them. It was almost like he was an ant amongst giants, that’s how Tracer felt as he stood before this diverse group of characters.

But there was more than just the individuals before him that caused that knot in his stomach to tighten up, there was also the situation: These fifteen strangers were all in a location that was completely foreign and seemed to be ripped from practically another world.

“Well now,” one of the diamond dogs chimed in, a female diamond dog from what her voice and build suggested. “This looks to be a good number of individuals – So, how about someone start explaining what’s going on here?”

“Huh?” one of the griffons, a girl griffon who seemed to have some grease on her feathers. “What exactly are you talkin’ ‘bout?”

“Obviously she’s talking about the situation,” The dragon growled, a small blood vessel appearing on his head. “Moment I get to the gates of that Equine school, I fade to black and suddenly I’m in a place with giant fricken mushrooms!”

“Hey, at least they didn’t explode,” the minotaur joke with a large smile plastered on his face.

“Who cares if they didn’t explode!?” The dragon barked back, making his way towards the minotaur with his claws balled up.

“That’s enough,” a red stallion coughed out as he stepped forward. The dragon stopped in his tracks and huffed to the side, “Save the fighting for later, we have bigger issues at hoof.”

“Right!” The goat chimed in as he jumped into fray. “Like we need to have ze introductions!”

“Aren’t there bigger problems, dood?” another one of the Diamond Dogs, this one a guy. “Like where we are and that kind of junk?”

“True zat,” the goat answered back, using a hoof to clack against the floor a couple times. “But zen again, moi doesn’t want to be referred to as ze ‘goat’, and moi is completely sure zat none of you want to be called griffon, pony, ozer pony, dragon, or minotaur: it’d be a great deal easier for ze readers to follow along.”

“Ooh! That’s right!” a small pegasus mare added. “That’s a one-o-one for a basic narrative! You need to have the characters established when you introduce them, unless you’re cheap or inexperienced.”

“What are you two going on about?” The zebra mare questioned with a raised brow. “I think everyone can see that this is serious situation, no doubt.”

“Still, they have a point,” The other griffon admitted with a nod. “Surely it’d be best if we did know each other’s names. After all, a name is a blessing that represents ourselves at our finest.”

“Okay, then how are we doing this?” A female unicorn asked, although, she tried to keep her distance from most of the group.

“How ‘bout we let ‘acquaintance’ here start us off here?” The minotaur suggested with a goofy grin on his face. “He was so willing to introduce himself before, why not give him a second chance?”

“Huh?” Tracer yelped slightly.

“Aw, there’s no need for that,” the small pegasus mare chimed in as she bounded next to Tracer. “I’m pretty sure we got Tracey’s name just perfectly!”

‘… You say that, but that’s not my name,’ Tracer thought to himself with a flat look in his eyes.

“I’ll start!” The very same small pegasus announced as she lifted a hoof up.

Since he was close enough, Tracer was clearly able to look at the small pegasus mare – She was lithe, practically half his size. She had a long white mane that was tied into a pair of tails with black bows in them to keep them in place and out of her face. Over her small body was a black dress that with holes for her tail and wings, and had a few odd paper charms pined to the fabric.

“Hi! I’m Lore Monstrum!” The young pegasus chirped brightly. “I’m super excited to meet you all!”

There was a moment of silence amongst the rest of the individuals around: at least until the minotaur spoke up. “Wait, Lore Monstrum? Hold up, isn’t that the name of that Elite Horror Novelist?”

“Ooh! Yup yup!” Lore answered back with an all too innocent smile. “Have you read some of my work? Maybe you read ‘UNDER A CRIMSON STAINED MOON’? Or maybe ‘ON A TENGU’S WING’?”

“I read that first one,” One of the griffons muttered. “But damn, it’s hard to think that somepony as cutesy as that is a horror writer…”

“Appearances can be deceiving,” Lore answered back with a smile. “That’s something you need when making a good murder mystery!”

Hearing such a cutely dressed pegasus, one that was so small, talk about that – It was more than a little jarring for Tracer. Especially since she had such an innocent smile on her face.

‘Lore Monstrum… My dad told me to look some stuff up about my fellow classmates – and she was actually one of the easiest to find out about. After all, it’s not that often that a filly who didn’t have her cutie mark yet actually wrote a best seller horror novel.

‘That usually happens after they get their cutie mark, and even then, they don’t usually have a best seller every year since.’

“S’alright,” The female griffon sighed loudly. “You’re weird. Time for a little normalcy, folks call me Misch Metal.”

The griffon in question was a sleek creature with black feathers and gunmetal gray fur, marred with a ton of yellow markings on her feathers and talons. Unlike most of the other individuals around, she only had on a gray headband with a few rings in it and a tool belt wrapped around her waist.

‘Another character that was easy to look up. Although, it was hard to find out what Misch Metal’s real name was – some ponies think that she wanted to emulate us and had her name changed like that. Then again, those are just rumors. She’s said to be a mechanic who created the steam engine that trains and wagons use now-a-days.

‘I even read that she helped refine the helicopters that we’ve got in Manehatten.’

“Misch Metal?” The male griffon questioned with a roll of his eyes. “Ugh, what an unbecoming name for a griffon – And couldn’t you have at least cleaned up before coming here? You smell like a garage!”

“Heh, sorry, but I didn’t have a lotta time this morning,” Misch answered back as she scratched the back of her head. “Tends to happen when you work in a garage all the time.”

“A mechanic?” The dark red stallion asked with a raised brow.

“You got it!” Misch chuckled with her chest puffed out slightly. “One of the best in the Griffon Kingdom!”

“How uncouth” the other griffon muttered under his breath.

“Excuse me?” Misch questioned as she leered at her fellow griffon.

“Yeesh, no need to start up a fight,” The minotaur chuckled with his arms crossed. “We’re all buds here, right?”

The minotaur was a tall guy, that was for sure. He was almost as tall as the dragon, but seemed to be a bit skinner than what minotaurs Tracer had seen before with his green skin and emerald fur. Amongst his horns (one was broken,) was a large mess of hair and a beard under his muzzle. Dressed in baggy black pants and a matching coat over his shoulders, the minotaur’s pants pockets were stuffed to the brim with tarot cards, charms, crystal balls and various other stuff, and there was a necklace of prayer beads around his neck.

“Why not let good ole Kopuz settle this for you?” the minotaur offered as he held up a few tarot cards between his fingers. “How about I give everyone a taste of your futures? All for twenty percent off!”

“You’re trying to get us to pay us for you to flip some cards?” The dragon questioned with a dulled look in his eyes. “Great, a con artist.”

“Oi, I’m a clairvoyant!” Kopuz snarled back as he crushed the cards in hands in a fist that he pointed a fist at the dragon. “And I’ll have you know that I’m roughly forty percent right seventy percent of the time!”

“I think your math is off a little bit,” the dark red stallion pointed out.

“Point is, I’m not a con artist!” Kopuz barked before he put on a bright smile. “So, how ‘bout those futures?”

‘Sounds like a con job. Sometimes it sounds a bit too much – But with this guy, Kopuz, it might not be. He was actually said to be able to see into the future and managed to be right… Somehow.’

“Perhaps later,” The dark red stallion sighed with a roll of his eyes. “Right now, let’s continue with the introductions, shall we? The name’s Hawkward, charmed, I’m sure.”

Hawkward: A sleek, yet tall stallion with red fur and a blonde mane that’s been tied back into a rather endearing pony tail (how the stallion managed that, that was a mystery to Tracer and it was even matched with his tail) and he was dressed in a black short sleeved jacket with a winged emblem on the back. There was a large amount of chalk strapped to a belt that was wrapped around his stomach and his cutie mark: a runic circle with a ruby, sapphire, topaz and emerald on it – was on display.

The stallion nodded for a moment and then lowered his head slightly, “I’m done.”

‘Not much on this Hawkward guy. All I know is that he’s… Well, he’s an alchemist. Not much else about that, but I thought he was a pegasus from what I heard.’

“What a lackluster introduction,” the female diamond dog sighed loudly as she wagged one of her paws in the air and wagged one of the digits. “Allow me to show you…”

“Hi!” One of the other Diamond Dogs interrupted with a goofy grin on his face. “I’m Freki!”

As the stalky diamond dog stepped in front of the female, he held his paw up in a peace sign: The diamond dog was similar to that of a Doberman with black and silver fur on his body. Over his stalky body was a red vest with sapphires adorning and his unruly hair atop of his head wasn’t unlike a mullet.

“Freki!” the female diamond dog barked out. “You’re ruining my…”

“And I’m Geri,” The other male Diamond Dog continued with a slight bow towards everyone else. “Please treat us well and we shall do the same.

The other male diamond dog lifted his head up, and like the previous Diamond Dog, he resembled that of a Doberman, only he was muscular and tall with some extra brown fur combed over his right eye. Over his muscular form was a blue vest that has amethysts adorning it with a bow tie around his neck. His tail was actually quite short, almost like it was cut off at some point.

“Freki! Geri!” The youngest Diamond Dog yelped loudly.

“And this is Freya,” Geri continued as he gestured towards the younger Diamond Dog. “We are in your care.”

Recovering from the other two Diamond Dogs interrupting her, the third diamond dog smiled with a slight bow. Unlike the other two Diamond Dogs, she was like a pup resembling that of a golden Pomeranian breed with pulled back hair and a curled tail that wagged slightly. Over her short body was a rather fancy black jacket with a few emerald buttons and cufflinks on it. She has large blue eyes and has a necklace of gold with a fire ruby in it.

“Yes, well, I’m perfectly capable of making my own introduction,” Freya sighed, her head lowered slightly. “And I was all set to make my own amazing intro.”

“My apologies,” Geri answered back, bowing slightly towards the smaller Diamond Dog.

Tracer shivered at the sight of the three diamond dogs, he wasn’t really a fan of the species… with good reason. ‘These three… Oh, these three. I’ve heard a lot of theses – They’re supposed to be a part of the Dober Family. The Dober Family’s a Diamond Dog group that took advantage of it and became a jewelry group and even managed to corner the market.

‘They may be a corporation on the outside, but everypony knows that they’re more like a mob group.’

“Quite well spoken for Diamond Dogs,” Hawkward said out loud.

“Gone are the days of broken speech, my dear stallion,” Freya replied with a coy smile on her face as she twirled some of the hair that had fallen to her shoulders. “You’ll find that over the years, Diamond Dog culture has evolved.”

“Still have a penchant for jewels though, I see,” Hawkward commented, looking towards his cutie mark. “Then again, I’m not one to talk.”

“At least ours are real,” Freki chuckled with his tongue stuck out. “That little stamp on your rump can’t hold a candle to the jewels we’re packing, dawg!”

“Could you stop saying jewels?” The dragon sighed loudly. “You’re making me hungry. So clam up or I’ll grill ya… Literally.”

The dragon spat out some smoke from the side of his mouth as he turned away from the group, he was roughly the same height as Kopuz (give or take a few inches) with red scales covering most of his body save for the dark blue underbelly and dark blue spines on his head and tail, some of which were combed over the side of his head. Over his slim frame was a leather jacket with a guitar case that that had a bright blue strap over his chest. At the corner of his right eye was a small mark – Black scales in the shape of a musical note.

Silence echoed through the Main Court as all eyes fell down on the dragon.

“What?” the dragon growled, smoke seeped out of his mouth as he talked.

“Uh, shouldn’t you introduce yourself?” Tracer asked, a sheepish chuckle slipping from his mouth. ‘I hope he was kidding about the grilling comment…’

A sigh escaped the dragon’s maw, “Fine, it’s Smokescreen. There, happy?”

“Ooh! Ooh!” Lore chirped as she hoped towards Smokescreen. “Can we call you Smokey?”

“Huh?” Smokescreen Smokey yelped, taken a little off guard by the pegasus who gave him the name. He turned away slightly and coughed, trying to hide the little patch of pink that showed up on his face. “I… I don’t mind it.”

“Yay!” Lore cheered before she nuzzled up against Smokey. “I’ve always wanted to be friends with a dragon! They’re so cool!”

The pink on Smokey’s face grew a little more noticeable.

‘I’m… Having a harder and harder time believing she’s a horror novelist,’ Tracer thought to himself with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head.

‘And this dragon… I… I never heard of a dragon attending a school with other species, or one with a guitar.’

“Oi, Mister Dragon,” Kopuz coughed out as he walked over to the dragon. “Out of curiosity, that’s not real leather… Is it?”

“It’s faux, you idiot,” Smokey spat back with the cold look in his eyes aimed at the minotaur near him… It was hard to keep that cold look in his eyes when Lore was still nuzzled up against him. “Stop that!”

“Idiot!?!” Kopuz yelped before he narrowed his eyes down at Smokey. “You wanna try saying that again?”

“For someone claiming to see the future,” Smokey sighed as he cracked his knuckles. “You’re not able to see the ass whupping you’re on the road for.”

“Really?” Kopuz answered back as he lifted up a crystal ball. “Cause all I see is you face down in the mud… Although, I’m not entirely sure if that’s mud…”

“Oh? Then how about we test to see if your future sight is on the mark?” Smokey offered as he lifted a balled up fist.

“Cease your prattling,” the zebra chimed in as she stepped in between the two. “This entire situation is already unsettling.”

“At least we’re not the ones rhyming here,” Kopuz sighed, tucking the crystal ball back into his pockets.

The zebra sighed right back, “It’s just a nervous tick. Not every zebra rhymes naturally in speech… I wish.”

The zebra was rather tall, able to reach up to Smokey’s and Kopuz’s chests, with a quite a bit of muscle to her frame. As with most zebras, she had black stripes over her white furred body, while her black and white mane was pulled back with a purple hair band and had a long strand of purple hair hanging in front of her face. The purple vest over her form had a few carving tools in it and around her legs were a number of bands that had clips on them.

She moaned with her head lowered down, “In all honesty, I just keep trying to make sure that I don’t get stuck with the tick – Its hard trying to make sure that I don’t talk in rhyme… But it slips out sometimes…”

It took a moment for her to realize what she just said, tears streamed down her face. “DAMN IT!”

“Uh, are you okay?” Tracer asked a little taken back.

“Fine… Just a little crestfallen,” the Zebra answered back. “Oh, and I almost forgot, I’m Zure.”

‘Zure, the traveling Elite Sculptor. She’s been around Equestria’s corners, leaving her mark everywhere: She’s made so many statues all around wherever she went – Tartarus, I’ve even seen her work in Manehattan’s central park, my sisters love climbing all over that statue of hers.’

“Huh, your name starts with a ‘Z’,” Hawkward pointed out with a raised brow. “Isn’t that another cliché that zebras have?”

“It’s the same with Griffons,” Misch added with a nod. “That’s why I had my name legally changed…”

“What’s wrong with having a Z or a G as the first letter?” the other griffon asked, obviously insulted. “A name’s a name, it just adds a little charm to character if there’s a coincidence somewhere in it – Isn’t that how it goes for ponies?”

“And what sort of name were you graced with?” Zure asked.

The male griffon chuckled as he stood up on his hind legs and produced two pairs of scissors from his shirt. “Oh, is it my turn? Very well, allow me to give you the blessing of my name – I am the great and talented Godfrey: At your service!”

Standing up on his hind legs, Godfrey showed the white feathers at his head and silver fur that were perfectly groomed and preened, even to the point that there was a sheen to his large dark bluish-gray wings. At his beak were a pair of glasses, over his torso was a white button up shirt, and a green scarf around his neck. With a twirl, Godfrey tucked the scissors away into his shirt and landed on his talons.

“Hmm, some good, some bad,” Godfrey muttered out loud. “I’d have to give some scores, but there’s something I just don’t care for… You! The one with the goggles!”

“Huh? Me?” Tracer questioned as he pointed towards himself.

“Yes! You!” Godfrey moaned with displeasure. “That mane of yours… It’s… It’s just a mess! Have you never heard of a damn comb? I can see the split ends from here!”

“Well… Uh, sorry?” Tracer retorted, a little confused as to how to respond to this.

‘I have no idea who this guy is.’

“Ugh, now if you had at least a fraction of style and grace as her,” Godfrey responded, gesturing towards a mare who was in the corner of the Main Court. “Then you’d be a lot easier on the eyes!”

The mare yelped when she realized that all eyes were on her. “Oh, uh, hello.”

“And there’s a hint of modesty amongst her as well,” Godfrey chimed in, pushing up his glasses.

The mare in question was a dark violet unicorn mare with a long red mane with two long banes that she has in front of her light blue eyes. Over her thin body was fancy red and black dress that seemed to have frills that covered most of her body, along with the leggings that she had on her body. Her well groomed tail stuck out from the back of her dress.

The unicorn sighed and looked to the side, “Oh, I’m supposed to introduce myself, right… Well, I suppose Alchymist is appropriate.”

“Alchymist?” Hawkward stated. “That’s an odd name.”

“Well,” Alchymist coughed slightly as she looked away. “It’s the name of a flower, a rose specifically. I couldn’t tell you why I was given the name…”

‘Another pony I don’t know anything about. She looks as confused and scared as I do.’

“Don’t sell yourself short!” the goat laughed up. “After all, its leagues above my name, after all, moi is just written as ze goofy guy!”

“Now hold on a second,” the goat huffed as he held up a marker between his two hoof toes.

“Much better!” The goat laughed tossing the marker over his back. He was a rather plump tan goat with some brown spots with messy butterscotch hair that was held in check by a black beret, and the beard at his chin was wrapped up with a little tuft at the end of it. “Howdy folks! Ze name’s Francis! And like ze conveniently placed picture said, moi is an Elite Cook Chef!”

“Uh, what picture?” Tracer questioned.

‘This guy’s just plain weird.’

“You know, ze same pictures zat have been popping up when we introduce ourselves?” Francis explained, scanning the crowd of mixed creatures. “What? Haven’t you guys noticed? It’s a meager attempt to liven up and add padding to ze chapter… Unless the beta’s reading zis, and zat means zat ze author hasn’t gotten ze pics yet.

“I feel bad for ze beta, he’s missing out.”

“Okay, moving on from the crazy goat,” Kopuz turned to the last two ponies who didn’t introduce themselves. “How about you two?”

The last unicorn of the group stood forward, a rather scrawny royal blue unicorn mare with a pulled back blonde mane to show her glasses covered face. She was dressed in a bright brown sweater vest and white button shirt. Her cutie mark was a black King Chess Piece and she had a checkered box strapped to her right front leg. “Elo Castling, and now that I’ve seen most of the opening, I think we should get active and try to figure out where we are.”

“So, what’s our opening move?” Elo asked as she rubbed her chin. “We’re in a weird place and who knows what’s going to happen.”

‘Even I’ve heard of Elo Castling, Elo’s supposed to be some sort of celebrity in Canterlot – Supposedly about being a Chess Master, I heard she even managed to win a match against Princess Twilight. But… Something doesn’t seem right…’

“Well, we’ve got one more,” Zure stated as she turned to the last pony in the Main Court.

The last pony was seated against the hedges, a tall white pegasus stallion with shaggy black hair that covered the most of his face with a streak of white on the left. Over most of his body was a large black surcoat that exposed his forelegs, wings and black tail. The stallion remained silent and turned away from the rest of the group.

“Great, another wannabe cool guy,” Kopuz sighed with a shake of his head. “You got a name Mister Emo?”

The white stallion shook his head, “Crowquill.”

“Yeesh, even his name is a little dark,” Kopuz chuckled nervously.

‘Another thrown onto the list of those I don’t know about – This guy is weird.’

“I think we’ve got other things to worry about,” Hawkward answered back, his eyes narrowed down. “For example, where we are?”

“That’s what I said,” Elo chimed back in. “Where in Equestria are we?”

“Are we even there to begin with?” Smokey asked.

“Hmm, if this were a literary work,” Lore started to say as she pulled away from nuzzling from Smokey. “I’d have to say that this would be a long winded start to a game – Where we’ll probably be forced to run from some sort of terrible creature!”

“Ooh! Zat’d be awesome!” Francis chuckled as he bounced around. “Moi wonders if it’ll be a big blue monster, maybe like an blue Oni or somezing like zat… And zere would be zis jarring music aat plays as it chases us! ooh! We could even have a weird guy wiz glasses and a pink mustache in ze corner of each page wiz him screaming everytime ze monster appeared!”

“You two need some professional help,” Freya sighed loudly with a shake of her head. “But enough of that, which one of you told us to come here? You have ten seconds to come forward.”

“Why do you assume it was one of us?” Misch questioned as she rolled her eyes at the diamond dog. “Maybe there’s another one coming or… Or…”

“Now, now, now… No need to fight amongst yourselves. Please save that for later!”

All fifteen of them look up towards the sky as a single item began to float down in front of them. When it was about to land on the ground however, the item froze in mid-air and floated in front of the fountain. Everyone was surprised to see that it was nothing more than a black top hat with a card tucked in it that has ‘10/6’ written on it.

“Seems like we’ve got all the players here! In that case, let’s get the show on the road!”

The hat shook and wavered about before it popped out a ton of smoke. From the smoke, a single figure jumped from it and as the smoke began to clear, the figure landed atop of the hat.

“Huh?” Alchymist questioned. “Is… Is that a cat?”

Indeed, what sat on the top hat before everyone was a black cat dressed in a suit that was white on the right half and black on the other half. The cat wasn’t totally black, as it had a tuft of white hair atop of its head and even had a white underbelly – It almost looked more like a doll than a living creature to be honest.

What was really offset was the fact that the creature had an eyepatch covering its left eye that had a purple star on it with a few other stars around it.

“Aaaawww, it’s a kitty!” Lore squealed as she fluttered a few feet off the ground.

“Seriously, how are you a horror novelist?” Kopuz questioned, his head tilted slightly at the side. “You look and act too cutesy to be that.”

“She can act however she wants,” Smokey answered back.

“Uh, anyone else see the floating plushie?” Tracer asked.

That was when the cat doll lifted its head up and revealed the large crescent shaped smile on its face, “My how rude! I’m not a plushie – I’m Cheshire. And I’m the headmaster here at Twilight Academy, or should I say your headmaster!”

That voice, it was so carefree yet calm, there was something out of a page of fiction especially when the cat leaped off of the hat and placed it atop of his head. “Greetings, and welcome to Wonderland!”

“W-What the?!” Misch yelped loudly as she jumped backwards. “It’s… It’s talking and moving!”

“Regain your composure,” Godfrey warned, a little nervously though. “It… It’s probably just being moved by a spell. Which one of you unicorns is doing that?”

“Oh, I’m so ashamed that you think that I’m just a puppet,” Cheshire answered back with a loud sigh as he lowered his head. “Youngsters these days just don’t know how to talk to their elders, they need to show respect to their superiors. And you diamond dogs, please refrain from eyeing me like I’m a well-seasoned stake.”

Indeed, both Geri and Freki were leering at Cheshire, the only reason why they hadn’t taken a step towards the odd feline was that Freya was standing in front of them with her arms held up. “Alright Mister Cheshire, you’ve got ten seconds to tell us what’s going on here, and if you don’t, then I’ll let these two go.”

“Can we assume you’re the one who called us here?” Hawkward asked, his eyes narrowed down at the cat. “Or the one who brought us here in the first place?”

“Hmm, well, you all did accept those invitations to get into the school,” Cheshire replied before he leapt onto the fountain and began to balance himself as he walked on his hind legs near the edge. “So, you all came here on your own free will, but I was the one who did direct you to the Main Court. After all, I’m sure you all have questions about what’s going on.”

“Alright, then spill it,” Zure demanded as she stepped forward. “Why exactly are we here?”

“Why, you’re here for an opening ceremony of course!” Cheshire answered, not even bothering to look at the group. “So as I said before, welcome to Wonderland! The place where fantasy resides, and where you all shall reside as well!

“The duration of your stay… is indefinite!”

Cheshire stopped and bowed to the fifteen individuals, “So please learn to get along with each other! Because you all are required to spend the rest of your days here!”

“Wait… What?” Tracer yelped.

“Oh? Were you not paying attention?” Cheshire asked before he placed his front paws on the edge of the fountain and began walking around on his front paws. “I said that you all get to live in Wonderland for the rest of your days.”

There was a moment of silence within the Main Court, many of the individuals looked to each other.

“Yeah, screw this,” Misch sighed loudly before her wings fanned out. “I don’t know ‘bout the rest of you, but I’m flying out of this sty.”

And like that, the slightly greasy griffon flew up into the air, with everyone else watching. Cheshire sighed loudly, “Well, if that’s what she wants, who am I to stop her? By the by, would one of you with wings or magic get ready? Miss Metal will be rejoining us in about…”

Still on his front paws, Cheshire used his tail to reach into his suit pocket to produce a silver pocket watch, “Three… Two…”

KER-RASH!

The sky all of a sudden turned dark as night, with several bolts of lightning that crashed through the air. A loud scream pierced the air as a familiar figure fell from the sky, and as Misch continued to plummet closer and closer to the ground… A red blur flew through the air and caught her.

When the blur landed on the ground, Hawkward skidded to a stop with a dazed Misch on his back, one of her wings singed badly from the lightning.

And as quickly as the storm appeared, it faded away back into the colorful sky.

“Upupupupupu,” Cheshire snickered, now back on his feet. “As a little warning to those who can fly, I would suggest that you don’t fly too high in the air, the weather around here is a little violent when disturbed at a certain altitude. So, it’d be best if you stay here on the ground.”

“Alright you overdressed hairball,” Smokey growled as he stomped towards the cat, the red dragon towered over the toy-like feline. “This is getting on my nerves, so you better start yaking on how we can leave this little Tartarus-hole right now!”

“You wanna leave?” Cheshire questioned with a gasp, honestly shocked by the dragon’s demand. “Really? Well, I suppose I could tell you how you can leave. All you have to do…

“Is kill someone.”

Those words echoed through Tracer’s head, and most likely everyone else’s… And time began to slow down.

TBC

Comments

[MarkTheWolfpony]

Already this hook me from the very beginning. A nice diversity of the cast and I really love the art you put. Hope you also have a resault of the end of the chapters as those always show accomplishments.Now who is going to be the first victim and the blacken?

[kochamara]

Interesting cast of characters. I hope you bring in some world building for the non-pony races in the future. Give them different cues to how they act socially. There's not enough stories where all the races interact with each other. Great job. Also like the artistic touch. We could use some more illustrated fanfics.

The characters were really great and different from what I'd expect. For OCs, they show a lot of promise. I think you should tone down the fourth wall breaks. They're generally considered comedic and random, which is a bit too jarring in a story based on a video game about teenagers killing each other.

On the other hand, there were some spelling and grammar mistakes. Not enough for it to detract from the overall enjoyment, but still distracting from time to time nonetheless. I don't want to be one of those people who constantly nitpick, but if you want me to point out my issues I will.

I'm sorry if I sound too critical, because I did enjoy this chapter well enough and plan on reading more when you post 'em!

[MangaKamen]

4829460

Thanks for the advice and I shall do so.

As for the fourth wall breaks...

Wait till the second game comes out, Ibuki Mioda will shatter that wall.

[CrypticMetaphor]

Nice idea man, will read this

[Clive]

How long did those pictures take you to make?

Because depending on your answer, I might not alert you that you have two Frekis, in fear of rage-assisted suicide.

[MangaKamen]

4830524 Not that a little editing can't fix

[Davaba19]

looks good so far keep up the great work!!

[Axle the Cobalt Exorcist]

I can't watt for the rest. Alice in Wonderland is one of my favorite stores ever

On a side note. I will be reading all of Hawkward lins in Vic Mignogna's voice and Misch in Caitlin Glass's

[touileasaso]

I like this, all the characters look like they have potential. Speaking of which, are you also going to show art of their deaths and executions? I know that would take a lot of work, but it sure would be cool!

[MangaKamen]

4834065

I was actually planning on it.

[MarkTheWolfpony]

4834100 Yay! I also hope you show a result screen of every chapter on who is left.

[ClickClackTheBrony]

Elo's cutie mark in the picture is a King, not a Rook...

But that's just me being nitpicky! A triple crossover (four if you count the Edward Elric Expy), now that sounds fun to me~ You're making me so amped up I'm getting my own equicidal urges! Better get back to mine! *darts off*

[the one guy on the left]

4834100 ...DANG IT! Now i have ANOTHER story to read! (good job it usually takes two chapters to get lefty hooked)