Prologue: A Sudden Detour 1
I deserved this vacation.
I had been looking forward to it for weeks. Don't get me wrong, I love my job and will always be grateful that Princess Twilight left me in charge when she became the Ruler of Equestria. But the responsibilities and the grating nature of bureaucracy can add up, and I haven't had a break in a long time. So I quickly and meticulously powered through some important documents, rescheduled as many meetings and classes and parent-teacher conferences as I could, and soon enough, I had managed to score an entire week where I would have absolutely nothing important to do. I then promptly marked myself as unavailable during that week, packed my bags and teleported away.
Twilight was more than happy to let me use the Crystal Mirror for my vacation - I wanted to go somewhere I hadn't been in a long time. She told me to say hi as I slipped through, feeling the glass ripple and contort around my body like room-temperature pudding. My body stretched and morphed, a sensation much like an extra-firm massage - my forelegs turned to arms; my hooves turned into hands, fingers, feet and toes; my ears and muzzle shrank in size; my fur, horn and tail vanished. I came out on the other side of the mirror facing a high school, my transformation complete.
With my human hands, I fished through one of my bags for the cell phone Twilight had reverse-engineered and adapted for my use. I quickly dialed up a taxi and waited somewhat impatiently for it to arrive. Ever since Twilight had first traveled through the mirror ten years ago, Equestrian magic had slowly but surely permeated this world; it was still rare but not unheard of for a human to gain magical abilities of their own. Alas, there was just not enough ambient mana for me to cast much more than simple levitation on small objects... faster methods of transportation such as teleportation was right out. But as the taxi approached, I put the subject out of my mind and hopped in, giving the driver an address. I was excited to see her again.
~
"Starlight!" Sunset shouted happily as she stood in her open doorway. "You didn't tell me you were gonna visit!"
"Hi, Sunset!" I grinned. "Thought I'd surprise ya! Oh, Twilight says hi."
Sunset looked as radiant as ever as I strode inside her apartment. The decor was light, warm and airy, despite the multitude of books arranged on any spare shelf and otherwise scattered everywhere. When she wasn't at her job as a humble sushi restaurant waitress, she was hard at work on a degree in chemistry, despite already having a Masters in both Physics and Math, and successfully teaching herself computer programming. She had explained that such subjects were the closest things to magic in the human world... at least until Twilight had arrived.
We spent the rest of the day catching up with each other. She ordered Chineighse food on her computer and had it delivered, and we talked as we ate and watched some TV. The sun had set before we knew it; Sunset brought out some blankets and pillows for me to use on the couch. Then she called her workplace while feigning a sore throat, claiming that she felt ill and wouldn't be coming in tomorrow. Since she had been a loyal, hardworking employee for so long, her boss was more than happy to give her the week off. Smirking at her success, she then put on a movie and grabbed some popcorn, and we watched it together on the couch, all tucked in with blankets. We talked about how to spend the week, meeting up with all our old friends - one of which was now actually Sunset's housemate, but she playfully wouldn't tell me who. They were due home in a few days from their busy schedule, so it would be a surprise.
Partway into the movie, I fell asleep; warm, full, comfortable and happy. This was going to be a wonderful vacation.
...Or so I thought.
~
A cold wind rustled my hair as I slowly awoke. My eyes snapped open once I realized that I was not in Sunset's apartment anymore.
Wha?! ...Where... am I...?
I was in the middle of a dense forest. The sun was shining, but the air was chilly. As I looked around, I first saw a fire pit with some logs around it, unfortunately unlit. The fire pit sat in the center of a large circle of concrete to avoid the possibility of a stray ember falling out and setting the forest on fire. Beyond the fire pit was a large wooden building, with a slightly larger wooden building to the left, lined with a thick, tarp-covered row of firewood. There were gravel paths on either side of the first large building, but I couldn't see where they led from where I was lying.
Okay... up we go...
I rose shakily to my feet, feeling slightly lightheaded. The first thing I noticed when I turned around was Sunset lying on the ground a few feet away.
"Sunset...? Sunset...!" I yelled as I jogged over to her. She groaned at the sound of my voice and opened her eyes.
"Ugh... what the... what?! Where am I?! Where are we?!" she gasped, blinking repeatedly as she sat up. "What the hell is this?!"
"I dunno," I shrugged helplessly. "Looks like some kind of camp." Looking around again, I saw that the forest wasn't just dense... it was dark, too, seemingly unnavigable. There was a huge, snow-capped mountain in the distance ahead of us, while beyond the forest were sheer cliffs on all sides. Frowning, I then turned my attention to what lay behind Sunset: a collection of small, wooden cottages arranged in an L shape opposite the other two buildings. Counting to myself, there were sixteen in total. Two more gravel paths led away from both diagonal ends, but I could see where these paths led. I gulped as I saw that they led into the forest, but were each blocked by a tall, thick metal fence covered in barbed wire and spikes. Weapons that I had seen on Sunset's TV before, called miniguns - sat on top of the posts, pointing downwards and loaded with ammunition.
It was then that I noticed the multiple video cameras set up everywhere, from the roofs, on tripods... it was as if there was nowhere the cameras couldn't see. Each video camera also had a fully-loaded minigun perched beside it on the roofs, or on top on a swiveling base - logic dictated that that seemed very impractical, the recoil would just knock the camera onto the ground and leave the minigun to wildly fire into the air - but I didn't exactly want to see that theory tested. There were also monitors and speakers embedded into the outer walls of the buildings, or hanging on trees or posts. They were all either powered off or nothing was playing, as they were all dark and soundless.
"What are all these cameras for?" asked Sunset. "And monitors?"
"Besides that... what are all these guns for?!" I winced fearfully. As soon as she noticed the various miniguns beside the cameras, Sunset quickly scooted towards me until we were standing back-to-back, staring in terror at our surroundings.
"Okay, calm down..." she breathed shallowly, trying to convince herself just as much as me. "They're not moving, we're not dead yet... oh god, I feel like I'm gonna get shot if I move again." We stood there for a few moments, waiting for the miniguns to suddenly point straight at us... but nothing happened. Gradually, we allowed ourselves to relax.
"Alright... that's a good sign," I sighed deeply. "So... what should we do?"
"Call for help, obviously!" Sunset shrieked as she dug into her pockets, her face growing more fearful with every passing second. "Where's... uh... oh no... oh no...!"
"What?"
"My phone's gone!" she wailed. A pit formed in my stomach as I began searching my own pockets for my own cell phone... but it was nowhere to be found.
"Mine too!" I quivered.
"Shit!" Sunset spat. "What the hell is going on here?! Did we get kidnapped?!"
"I hope not..." I frowned. "But... if we were foalnapped, wouldn't we be, like, tied up in a dark room somewhere? Not out in the middle of a campground?"
"That's true..." she calmed down a little. "...Well, there must be a way out of here, or something we can use to get rescued."
"Yea... let's look around," I agreed. "Where to first?"
"Let's start with the little cabins there," Sunset pointed to the sixteen cottages. We nearly ran as we checked the doors to each one, only to find that they were all locked tight. Oddly enough, each cottage door had a plaque on it with someone's pixelated face, each one unique. Even Sunset's and my own face appeared on the doors to two of the cottages, but despite seeming that they were ours specifically, the doors were still locked.
"That's odd," I muttered.
"Alright, uh... I guess that big cabin across from us?" Sunset pointed as our next move. I nodded, and we quickly made our way over and inside.
The cabin was large and spacious. A hallway led us past a laundry room to our right and what appeared to be a store on our left. At the end was a huge dining hall, with long tables and many chairs, a shelf that extended down the entire far wall at about waist height, and a kitchen to our right. But most importantly four other people were there, poking around as if looking for something... perhaps they had shared the same fate as Sunset and myself?
"Look, people!" Sunset gasped, a smile returning to her face as she jogged over. I followed, gasping inwardly as I realized that one of these people in particular looked awfully familiar.
"Oh, dear, two more I see? I believe that brings us to sixteen total," a tall man stood up. Compared to myself, Sunset and the others in the area he seemed to be older than us. He had brown hair and blue eyes and was wearing a brown plaid suit with matching pants and a green bowtie. A golden hourglass patch was ironed to his breast pocket, and wrapped around his neck was one of the most hideous scarfs I'd ever seen - it was easily a minimum of twenty feet long and was a chunky design of solid black, brown, white, yellow, gray and red.
"Sixteen, huh? I dunno if I like the sound of that..." spoke the shortest of the group. He also seemed to be younger than the rest of us. He wore an unruly mop of long, rust-colored hair that matched his eyes, with a red, yellow and white-striped beanie barely covering the top of his head. He wore a white sweatshirt with a large, black icon of some kind of video game controller, brown and lime-plaid shorts that came down past his knees, and dingy flip flops. He smelled like a family of skunks had taken up residence in the sweatshirt before he'd put it on, making my nose curl.
"Ah, you worry too much, lil' guy! The more there are, the better the chance we'll get out of here!" the only female of the group grinned. She was tall and slender with a muscular, toned physique - one glance at Sunset and I knew she was already smitten. She had long, wavy silver hair in a high side ponytail on the right side of her head and piercing golden eyes, the left covered by her bangs. Strangely, she was wearing what appeared to be a black and yellow racing suit with bright red borders, with tens of various sponsor logos neatly arranged in two columns down the front, and one huge one on the back. Her suit was left zipped open to her belly button, exposing her white bandeau bra, and she wore matching black boots and gloves. The design of the racing suit made it appear as though the boots came all the way up to her thighs, ending slightly above the midpoint on the inner thighs and extending all the way to the top of her hips on the outer sides.
"Yes, well... judging by our surroundings, we can't be too careful, now," spoke the last of the group. I had to remind myself that this version of Equestria was a parallel universe, as this man looked exactly like Sunburst if he were a human. His otherwise neatly-combed red orange hair and goatee had a few frazzled hairs sticking out at odd angles, and he wore an azure suit jacket bordered with light blue, with stars lining the inside of the open jacket and a pin matching the Sunburst-from-home's Cutie Mark on his lapel. He also wore a plain, white collared shirt and shoes, azure pants, and golden wire frame glasses.
"So, I'm guessing you guys are stuck here, too?" asked Sunset.
"If you mean 'woke up here for some reason', then yes," the woman spoke as she held her hand out to Sunset. "My name's Silver Arrow, and you are...?"
"Buh... I-I'm Sunset. Sunset S-Shimmer," she stuttered as she clumsily took Silver's hand and tried to both shake and kiss it at the same time.
Oh, dear... it's started already...
Thankfully, Silver simply laughed. "I see I've already gained a fan! Thanks, dear... you're not half-bad yourself," she winked.
"My name's Starlight Glimmer," I chimed in, trying not to giggle at Sunset's red face.
"I'm Button Mash," the shortest one shrugged.
"Sunburst," the man who looked just like Sunburst said. Part of me wanted to screw with him and say that I already knew that, and then launch into the whole parallel universe thing and tell him he was a pony there... but seeing how there were apparently fourteen others that had been foalnapped and wound up here, now probably wasn't the best time.
"And I am Dr. Time Turner-Hooves," the older man finished. "Whether you call me Dr. Hooves, Time Turner or something in between, that's perfectly alright with me."
"So, it would seem that we have all been brought here for some reason... the question is, why?" Sunburst pursed his lips.
"Sure doesn't seem like any kind of kidnapping I've heard of," Silver sighed. "Wonder what kind of ransom they're asking for? ...Good thing my team has pretty good kidnapping insurance."
"You guys wouldn't happen to have your phones on you...?" I grimaced.
"Nah, it's gone," Button grumbled. "I could at least be playing something if I had it."
"It would appear we are completely cut off from the outside world at the moment," said Dr. Hooves. "I haven't even noticed a plane flying overhead, nor have I found anything I could use to signal one."
"Damn," Sunset mumbled. "...Wait, you said there are sixteen of us?"
"Ah, yes. The others are searching the rest of the cabin as we speak," said Dr. Hooves. "There's two more in the Kitchen, then three each in the Laundry Area and that Store, last I checked... the last two may have gone to that other cabin to the right."
"I see... well, guess we can go introduce ourselves," I suggested to Sunset. "Maybe they've found something." Sunset nodded in agreement and we left the four to their search.
We entered the Kitchen, finding it to be exquisite in design. Everything was white or stainless steel, there were copper pots and pans hanging from hooks on the walls, and hand-forged knives from Neighpon clinging to a magnetic strip. Four gratings on the terracotta tile floor allowed for the easiest form of cleaning: simply hosing everything down and letting the water drain away. The pantry, cupboards and refrigerators were fully stocked with every utensil and appliance we could ever need, as well as a plethora of fresh and dry ingredients; we wouldn't be going hungry for quite some time.
Indeed, two more people were checking the place out... both boys. One was lean but muscular, with spiky indigo hair and green eyes. He wore a blue sports jersey with a yellow lightning bolt design over a black long-sleeved undershirt, with matching pants and shoes. The other was an absolute unit of a man, towering over the other boy by at least a foot, and simultaneously ripped and fat at the same time. He had short fuzzy black hair and brown eyes, and he wore a dark green robe with a gold dragon design, held together by a black sash, and unusually-shaped black sandals.
"Oh, I recognize that guy!" Sunset yelled, pointing to the shorter of the two. "He was the star forward of the boy's soccer team back in high school! I always wondered what happened to him, he was really good..."
"I was?" the boy turned to look at Sunset in confusion. After a few moments, recognition dawned on his face. "...Oh, yea! You're Sunset, right? We never really talked, but I'd remember that hair anywhere!"
"Ah... yea..." Sunset shrank back, looking suddenly embarrassed.
"HO! IT IS GOOD TO SEE FAMILIAR FACES, IS IT NOT?!" the very large boy shouted, his voice deep and boisterous. "IT IS A GOOD OMEN, I SHOULD THINK!"
"Yea, whatever, big guy..." the other boy grumbled as he rubbed his ear.
"Well, uh... I'm Starlight Glimmer," I introduced myself.
"Hey there. I'm Soarin'," he replied with a wave.
"AND I AM KOTENAGE!" the very large one puffed out his chest. "THOUGH YOU MAY CALL ME BY MY RING NAME, KINRYU!"
"Ring name?" asked Sunset. "So... you're like, a professional wrestler or something?"
"WRESTLER?! HA! I AM NO MERE WRESTLER!" Kotenage lifted one of his legs high into the air and slammed it down with enough force that the pots and pans rattled in the kitchen. "I AM A RIKISHI!"
"Uh... most people in this country don't know what that is, bro," Soarin' advised.
"AH. RIGHT. I AM A SUMO WRESTLER. THE FINEST IN MY DIVISION!" Kotenage continued. "STUDENT OF YOKOZUNA HAKURYU HIMSELF!"
"Sumo wrestling?" I tilted my head.
"Oh, from Neighpon," said Sunset, nodding. "I get it."
"So, what brings you two lovely ladies here?" asked Soarin'. Sunset and I explained our plight and our hopes in that someone had found a clue as to why we were here, or more importantly, a way to rescue ourselves. "Sounds just like me... one minute I was playing with my phone in bed until I felt sleepy; the next minute? I'm waking up in the grass."
"HM. I, TOO, WAS TAKEN FROM MY STABLE WHILE I SLEPT," said Kotenage. "IT WOULD SEEM THAT WE WERE ALL TAKEN IN OUR SLEEP."
"Well, if we find anything, I'll be sure to let you girls know," Soarin' frowned. "No dice so far, I'm afraid."
~
We took our leave and decided to go into the Laundry Area next. It was rather plain, with white tile walls and floors, some tables and chairs and a shelf that contained irons, laundry soaps and fabric softeners. There were six washing machines arranged in a row on one side of the room and six dryers on the other, with a collection of ironing boards leaning against the far wall. There were three girls looking around inside, one of which seemed slightly familiar to me.
"Oh..." Sunset mumbled, stopping in her tracks. I quietly asked what was wrong. "I... kinda remember these girls..."
"'Sup?!" one of the girls yelled as she noticed us. Her hair was a dark blue mullet with streaks of dusty and light blue in it, and she had orange eyes that glittered in the light along with her multiple ear and facial piercings. She wore a lime green ski jacket with orange flight goggles hanging around her neck, light blue cargo pants, orange skate shoes and a matching backpack.
"Ugh... Zap, didn't I tell you to stop yelling in here?!" another girl growled. She had long, fluffy white hair collected into low twintails, while her long bangs were combed back and held in place by a pink barrette. Her pink eyes were framed by coral-colored glasses, and she wore a thick mauve turtleneck sweater, white leggings underneath a navy blue pencil skirt and navy blue shoes.
"Wait a minute... I remember you two!" gasped the last girl. She had shoulder-length teal hair also arranged in low twintails, held together with ties that resembled sprigs of juniper berries. Her eyes matched her hair, and she wore a long royal purple trench coat with a sky blue scarf, a short black skirt, purple shoes with sky blue leg warmers and purple glasses. "Sunset... is that you?! And... uh, I remember your face, but not your name..."
"Starlight," I answered. "Starlight Glimmer."
"Right, right..."
"And you... uh... Juniper Montage, wasn't it?" I asked.
"That's me!" she nodded.
"Oh, Sunset... yea, I remember you now!" the girl apparently named Zap shouted. "I'm Indigo, remember?"
"Fucking duh... who didn't know who Sunset was back in high school?" snapped the third girl, turning up her nose. "I don't remember ever seeing you, however... name's Sugarcoat."
"Hi," I waved. Sunset and I proceeded to ask if they had found anything useful, to which they shook their heads.
"But this place has great acoustics!" Indigo pumped her fist in the air. "...Too much damn white, though. I can't wait to find some spray paint and fix that!"
"Please don't," Sugarcoat grumbled. "I don't know what people see in your crude, brutish excuse for artwork, and I especially don't want to see it now."
"Anyway... so, you guys are here, too?" Juniper asked. "I wonder why... eesh, I hope this isn't like, some snuff film or something..."
"Good grief, why is that the first thing that came to your mind?!" Sunset recoiled.
"Well, I mean... the cameras and guns everywhere..." Juniper gestured around. "I don't know, I just have a really bad feeling about this."
"That's quite the understatement," Sugarcoat pouted.
~
Next we decided to check inside the Store. As soon as I laid eyes upon it, I knew that this was no ordinary store. There was the usual fare of snacks, drinks, T-shirts and pamphlets about the forest and nearby mountains, but there were also houseplants, works of art, a suit of armor, a massive decorative vase, building blocks, perfume bottles, gummy vitamins and a giant drawing mannequin displayed all around the room, as well as numerous other random objects. Against the wall sat a black and white vending machine labeled as a "MonoMono Machine"... and while the two girls in the room browsed the shelves, the only boy was staring into the machine's window.
"Flash?!" Sunset gasped, pointing at a boy with blue spiky hair and eyes. He wore a black down jacket with an emblem of a blue shield with a lightning bolt over it, jeans and black sneakers with lightning bolts horizontally down the sides. There was also a black leather case on his back shaped like an acoustic guitar. I blinked in disbelief as I heard her shriek - she couldn't possibly be talking about her ex-boyfriend from high school, could she...?
"Sunset?!" Flash gasped in return. "What are you doing here?!"
"I wish I knew," she replied with a frown. "This is getting really weird."
"You can say that again," he grumbled, but his expression lit up as his eyes met mine. "Oh... hey, I don't think we've met yet."
"I'm Starlight Glimmer," I shook his hand. "Sunset's told me a lot about you... good things, don't worry."
"Ha, I'm sure," he grinned smugly at Sunset.
"So... have you three found anything we can use for a rescue in here?" Sunset asked, grinning back.
"No... and I'm not really... with them," he shrugged. "They came in after me. The blue-haired girl is kinda... spacey. And the pink-haired girl... well... you'll see." He pointed to each girl in turn.
The pink-haired girl had the left side of her head shaved bald, dark brown stubble beginning to peek through her scalp. The rest of her hair was shoulder-length and styled over to the right, with a lone streak of white in her bangs. She had purple eyes and a blue surgical face mask hanging from her left ear. She wore dusty blue short-sleeved scrubs patterned with yellow-gray skulls, the decorative gray piping making it appear like it was a robe with the right side folded over the left. She also wore a yellow-gray long-sleeved shirt underneath, gray scrub pants and black shoes. A pair of blue latex gloves and a rubber tube of some sort stuck out of her many pockets.
"Hello, mortals," she droned somberly in a low, monotone voice. "Are you in need of my services?"
"Uh... and what services would that be...?" I answered nervously.
"People only come to me when someone has perished," she continued matter-of-factly. "My name is Memento Mori... I am a mortician by trade."
"Oh..." If I still had my fur, it would be bristling right now. Instead, I felt my skin suddenly grow cold and clammy.
"Yes... few are willing to dabble in the arts of death... let me see the cadaver, annnhhh..." Suddenly, she began to snicker at first before dropping her morose expression and laughing. "Hahaha... I had you going for a while, didn't I?"
"Uh..." Sunset blinked. Neither of us were sure how to react.
"Ahh... sorry. Most people get all freaked out when I mention my job, so I can't help but play along," Memento smiled, holding out her hand. "I'm Memento Mori. Don't worry... I haven't handled any bodies today, I'm totally clean!"
"H-Hello," I forced a smile as I shook her hand. Thankfully she seemed to leave it at that and continued on with examining the shelves... inwardly, I was quite pleased to not continue the conversation.
The other girl had very long turquoise hair with azure streaks in a high ponytail and fuchsia eyes. She wore a maroon hoodie overflowing with fuchsia fleece, light pink pants with a design of a jagged, turquoise blue musical note over a red heart on the right back pocket, and bubblegum-pink knee high boots. Looped around her left wrist was a black ribbon, from which a large, ruby red jewel dangled.
"Hi, guys!" she beamed. "I'm Sonata Dusk."
"You...!" Sunset suddenly gasped and pointed angrily.
"You, uh... remember her?" I asked.
"She's a Siren!" Sunset scowled. "Back in high school, she and her sisters tried to take over the world with their singing! My friends and I had to stop them!"
"Hehe... yep, that was us!" Sonata giggled.
"Oh," I recoiled in surprise. She seemed so... nonchalant about it.
"But that was back then... Dagi, Aria and I are toootally not evil anymore!" Sonata smiled. "I mean... we can't really absorb negativity anymore, after all."
"You can't...?" Sunset raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
"Nope! It's alright... I don't have to be all evil and brooding anymore, either. Now I'm free to eat all the tacos I want!"
"...You seem to be taking that defeat much better than I thought you would," Sunset pursed her lips.
"Eh, water off a duck's back," Sonata shrugged. "Anyway, nice to see you again, Sunny!"
Uh... the fact that we've all been apparently foalnapped and we're stuck here now doesn't seem to bother her in the slightest...
~
We left the store and headed for the final building. It was strangely shaped in that two-thirds of it was bigger than the other, which seemed to have been added on as an afterthought; and it had three separate entrances, two of which were located in the bigger portion. However, we quickly discovered them to be locked, so we entered the door to the smaller part of the building.
It seemed way bigger on the inside than it appeared. There were shelves covered in every conceivable thing: tools, waterproof matches, accelerants and kindling sticks for starting campfires, sleeping bags, freeze-dried foods, jugs of water, paint cans, toiletries, winter clothing, towels, fertilizer, plates, board games, silverware, camping gear, fishing gear... and one boy carefully examining a tackle box.
"Oh, hey there," he waved once he noticed us. He had shaggy blonde hair that partially covered his green eyes, and wore a blue long-sleeved shirt underneath a khaki utility vest that just quite didn't cover his protruding belly, khaki shorts and a matching hat that hung down his back from the cord around his neck. Strangely, he was barefoot.
"Hi... I'm Starlight Glimmer. This is my friend, Sunset Shimmer."
"Right on. I'm Ocean Lucky," he gave a thumbs-up. Just then something clattered off of a shelf nearby, causing us all to jump and Ocean to let out a yelp. A few moments later, a girl poked her head out from behind some nearby shelves.
"Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you guys," she apologized. Her long, black hair was tied into a high ponytail, her blunt bangs perfectly framing her green eyes. She wore a black long-sleeved shirt underneath an extremely-fluorescent orange utility vest that barely covered her chest, baggy green, black and brown camouflage pants and brown hiking boots. Again, if I still had fur, it would've bristled as I glanced at her necklace - a simple leather cord adorned with the teeth of multiple animals. Her build was very slender, but I could easily tell she was also quite muscular. "My name's Mountain Lucky, but everyone just calls me Emmy... I see you've met my brother already."
"Your brother?" Sunset asked.
"Yea... believe it or not, we're actually twins," Ocean remarked. "She's the best hunter I know, and I'm the best angler I know."
"Yep! Deer, elk, bear, moose, squirrel, rabbit... show me a critter and I'll show you dinner!" nodded Mountain. "And Ocean can catch any fish, no matter how rare or stubborn! He even once landed a cutlassfish in a freshwater lake!"
"Ah, that's... cool..." Sunset grimaced along with me.
I sure hope ponies are off the menu...
"Anyway... I take it you guys don't know how you got here, and you haven't found a way out or anything, huh?" asked Sunset.
"Whoa! That's totally right!" Ocean gasped in shock. Mountain rolled her eyes.
"There's plenty of stuff in here to signal for help, though. We can make signal fires, reflect sunlight with shiny objects... we'll get rescued eventually, so I'm not too worried," she shrugged. "And after I've made myself a bow and some arrows, we'll have even less to worry about."
"Bah... why bother with that when there's a bunch of perfectly good miniguns around?" Ocean drawled.
"Ocean... as awesome as you think it would be to hunt animals from a helicopter with a minigun... that's just ridiculous," Mountain groaned, slapping her palm over her face. "There'd be no meat left to make it worthwhile. Besides... there's no helicopter around here."
"Yea... but it'd still be pretty kickass," Ocean grinned. He glanced over to me and my ill, green face, and his own face fell slightly. "Uh... you okay, Starlight?"
Uuugh... I'm not exactly sure what these two are talking about, but I can already tell we won't be friends...
And then... a strange sound echoed throughout the speakers strewn all around the campgrounds. Little did I know that, though innocuous by itself, it was a sound I would come to dread.
*ding dong, bing bong*
"What was that?" Mountain whipped around warily, as if she were a deer reacting to the sudden snap of a twig.
"It sounded like... a school bell," I stated.
"Why, though? This ain't no school here," snorted Ocean. There was a burst of static and feedback from the speakers, and then... he spoke.
"Ah... uh... Mike check! Mike check! Ah... can you hear me? Can you hear me?!"
The voice was laid-back and gleeful, high-pitched and slightly robotic. In a place like this, it felt entirely out of place. Somehow, I could sense a deranged, malicious madness deep within it, hidden away and yet hiding in plain sight. The air around me suddenly grew even colder than before, and I shuddered as my body began to freeze.
"Puhuhu... surprised? You were totally surprised!" the voice continued in a contemptuous, mocking tone. "Riiight... Now then, sorry to keep you all waiting for so long. It's time for the main attraction! You guys better hustle over to the fire pit in the center of the campgrounds!"
"What? Why?" Mountain asked out loud. But with a pop and a crackle, the speakers went dead. I blinked in confusion, an unconscious nicker escaping my lips as I took one step back.
"Whoever that was, that might be whoever brought us all here," Sunset pursed her lips. "Maybe they'll tell us what they want from us?"
"I dunno, man... I don't like the sound of this," mumbled Ocean.
"Well, I'm going," Mountain growled as she swiped a walking stick from one of the shelves. "I want to get to the bottom of this."
"Er, you're gonna fight them?!" I gaped.
"If it comes down to it," she replied stonily. "You don't kidnap a huntress... unless you want to become the prey yourself."
Sunset and I exchanged worried glances. Though we weren't sure how to proceed, we had no real choice but to do so. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, and I nodded.
"...Let's go see who's behind this," I frowned. With Mountain boldly leading the way, we exited the supply shed, as ready for whatever was going to happen as we ever would be.
...
...
...
...
...
...I was not ready for what would soon happen next.
Not even close.
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Yeah, I was figuring that much.
There ARE a few characters that I definitively hope make it out, but I won't say which ones to avoid tempting fate.
But I'd love to see Starlight spend free time events with Sunburst.
So Starlight gonna be are main protagonist for this interesting
Also I’m really REALLY hoping sonata makes it out of this alive because she’s my number 1 favorite MLP character and favorite siren. Plus she doesn’t give out the evil vibe like her sisters
Also I would LOVE to see starlight and sonata spend free time together. Sense I can see them getting along. Perhaps sunset can join free time together to
Also I can DEFINITELY see Sonata Dusk having the aoi asahina vibe. Anyone else agree with me
That is good that most of the Rainbooms are safe. But Sunset, Starlight, Flash, Human Sunburst, Human Dr. Whooves, Sonata, and some of the Shadowbolts are in danger.
And is the Tantabus even Dead??!! Unless this one is the Human/Equestria Girls Verison of the Tantabus itself!!! Or this is the Real Monokuma!!!
You're welcome! I wasn't expecting to see the sequel so soon, goodness.
And oh, Button Mash is here. Good. I like having a character around whom I hope dies as soon as possible.
But seriously, this is quite the interesting group. I can see some tension building already between Starlight and the hunter twins. The sumo wrestler guy is hilarious. I'm positive that Silver Arrow is going to kill someone sooner or later. Maybe Sunset. (Though I don't blame Sunset for being entranced right away. I would be too in Sunset's shoes.)
Actually I'm almost certain Sunset's going to die first, or at least early on. Having a friend she knows isn't something Starlight's going to get to keep around for very long. A pity too. Poor Sunset. I'll miss you when you're gone.
Flash might also kick it sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, Sonata? I'm thinking she's a survivor. Interesting choice to use Sonata rather than Adagio or Aria. I'm guessing you needed someone who was Pinkie Pie like and Sonata was the best thing, and you already have a couple of meaner people in the form of Sugarcoat and Juniper.
Dr. Time Turner-Hooves is the choice that's most intriguing to me. I want to say he'll be like Flam and stick around, buuut at the same time... he gives me a Luna vibe. And that's not a good vibe.
So I vote to speak with him first. That's who I want to see an FTE with.
10638420
Agreed. She's going to be fun. If we're picking vibes like that, I think Sugarcoat might be more Fukawa or Togami, while Flash might be Hagakure if he's lucky. If he's not Hagakure then it's going to be someone else, like the sumo guy.
10638889
Yeah! Sonata just give those vibes of Aoi. Plus she was the ultimate swimmer. And sonata a siren and there personality are the same Aswell!
10638849
Okay I have to know what your issue is with Button Mash. Like... I don't love him or anything, but why him in particular you hate?
10638896
Well, it's not so much that I hate the character as presented in canon as I dislike what was done with him in fanon. Yes, Jan Animations was all nice and good and fun, until you realize that behind the scenes, the character's mother was designed more for the sake of incest child porn with Button rather than as an actual, you know, character. And that's all they seem to be used for by the fandom. I don't like that.
But like I said, I have no problem with the character as presented in canon. And he's not a bad character, really. I just don't like him much because of what I associate him with. I have that same feeling towards a lot of other popular OCs in the fandom.
10638916
Really? I never got THAT vibe from her.
I mean, yeah, there is a fair amount of incest porn between Button and his mom, but I feel like that's just a natural (or as natural as you can get) byproduct of the fandom, and not so much an intentional thing.
10638919
There was a controversy way back when Jan Animations was popular, some leaked audio from the creator featuring Button sexually assaulting his mother. This was one of the things, I believe, that lead to its cancellation. It's been years since I looked into this though, so I don't recall anymore.
And in any case, I'd prefer not to clutter witegrlninja's comments with this conversation. We can take this to PM if you feel the need to continue it.
10638932
I think we can just end this conversation there.
10638943
...Good god, really? I only ever knew of him from the show and maybe one or two much more innocent fics than that. ._.
Well, I've already got plans for him...
Is this going to follow the same structure as the first one, with the two part prologue, each daily life being three chapters, and each deadly life being three chapters?
10640444
Yep. It might also have a bit of an interlude between chapters.
10640573
Alright
All rights sequel time. We're here for the 4 things.
1: the mystery
2: murder
3: execution
4: and finally Monokuma
Bless your soul, there’s a sequel already out? I’ve been playing that boardgame/rpg add on from V3 which has got me in the mood for some good old fashioned killing games.
Ah shit, here we go again.