Equine Royale

by MemoryLane

Inauguration

Vinyl Scratch woke up before everyone else, her electric blue mane spread out all over the place in a jumbled mess. She shielded her scarlet colored eyes, as the room was dark, but a single light lit up the whole room dimly. She noticed how the walls were made out of steel, and that there was only one door. She sat up, but sickness brought her back down. Her head throbbed like nothing before, which says something, since being a DJ usually gives her an immunity to such things. She almost felt like vomiting, but held it back for sanitary reasons. The alabaster mare looked around to see 30 or so ponies sprawled out on the floor just like her in random places throughout the room. The only part of the room that didn't have some sort of a large rack that was right next to the door full of small backpacks. Vinyl sat up and looked around confused.

There various mares and stallions gathered all around her. They all laid sprawled out in some sort of unconscious state.

"What the-" Vinyl was interrupted when the room violently shifted to the other side of the room, tossing every pony up into the air, and down with a thud, which was just enough to make every pony jolt awake.

Everypony groaned and rubbed themselves, comforting their injured bodies. It didn't take long for the room to be filled with panic, however.

"Where are we!?"

"I was bucking shot!"

"The door won't open!" Said one rainbow maned pegasus, as she desperately pulled on the door, and failing to open it.

Vinyl searched through the room of hysteria for her best friend, finding her almost balled up in a corner with a yellow pegasus.

"Octavia! You're here too!" She almost screamed, trotting up to her and hugging her best friend. The grey earth pony smiled at her happily.

"Vinyl!" She exclaimed, hugging her friend back.

So many thoughts were running through the former DJ's mind. Where were they? What were they doing here? She was just glad that she had her best friend with her, she didn't know what she would do without her.

Octavia and Vinyl had been friends ever since college, and then some. Although it really didn't make much sense. Octavia was a cellist in the Philharmonic Orchestra, while she was, still, a DJ. Ponies would often come up to her just to ask how they are such good friends. She didn't even know herself, but it made her happy nonetheless. The good times in her life were mainly due to Octavia, and her caring attitude towards life. Vinyl admits that she could be a jerk to her every now and then, but she never truly means it. Vinyl broke the hug and looked around.

"Where are we!?" She yelled over every pony else's chatter, having to literally hold onto her friend to avoid getting separated. Octavia looked at Vinyl pitifully.

"How should I know? All I remember are some sort of guards, and tranquiler dart..." She stated, he her eyes getting bigger as the realization hit her.

Vinyl tried to remember, and it slowly came back to her, some kind of guard. Wait, she remembered the armor that they were wearing, it looked familiar, could it possibly be the Royal Guard!? What did Princess Celestia want with everyone?!

Vinyl looked around, it was apparent that they were on some sort of ship. A room can't just shift like that on it's own. Suddenly a loud and deafening excuse for a noise erupted from some sort of hidden speaker system. Everypony else held their ears and fell to the floor submissively, shouting to make the sound stop. Octavia even fell to the floor, she wasn't used to such loud noises unlike Vinyl, who simply stood there as every pony else flailed around. Vinyl even found herself chuckling a little bit.

After a whole five minutes of the noise, it finally stopped. The injured ponies finally made their way to their feet, clamoring silently. A blue magic covered the wall nearest the door, and on the 'screen' appeared none other than Princess Celestia. Many ponies in the audience gasped.

"Hello, my little ponies," She said monotonously. "I bet you are all wondering what you are all doing here, on my ship, on the coast of the Royal Private Island" She said. Many of the ponies in the audience agreed, especially one yellow stallion in particular.

"Ya darn tootin' I am! What's the meanin ah this!?" He yelled.

Celestia laughed and looked directly at what he was standing. "Braeburn..." The yellow pony took a step back when the Princess acknowledged him. Must be some sort of...visual telephone? "You will find out soon enough. All of you will."

"I have summoned you all here because, frankly, you're all bad ponies." Celestia said. Some ponies shouted remarks back to the Princess in protest, while some couldn't deny the gruesome fact. "For one reason of another, you've all done terrible things in your lives, so I decided to let you all be...how should I say this..." Celestia put a hoof to her chin, thinking before saying the next combo of words. "Test subjects."

The room became increasingly quiet until a mare spoke up from the crowd, a very slim and regal looking mare. "What do you ever mean by 'Test Subjects'?" She asked.

"I'm so glad you asked, Fluer de Lis...because I am just getting into that."

Fluer de Lis? Vinyl knew that name from somewhere, but couldn't remember where exactly...

"Take a good look around you, because either one or two of these things will happen: You will kill them, or one of them will kill you." Celestia stated.

W-What did she say?

"You're all the test subjects in a new style of...death match. Take a good look, I'll be back in a few minutes with more updates." And with that, Celestia disappeared from the wall, but the blue screen remained there. Vinyl and Octavia looked at each other nervously.

"What did she say?!" Vinyl said as the whole room exploded with nervous cries.

"We're going to...kill?" Octavia repeated. But...but why!?

Vinyl did as Celestia said, and looked around the room at the ponies that she'd have to "kill".

Or worse, get murdered by.

Instantly, her eyes landed upon a sobbing grey pegasus mare literally right in front of her, her hooves were buried in her face and her cries were deafening. Vinyl put a hoof on the mares shoulders.

"Hey, hey calm down it's alright..."

"No...i-it's not!" She shouted in-between sobs, Vinyl Scratch didn't know what to do when it came towards comforting others, so when Octavia moved closer to the pegasus, Vinyl didn't object.

"Yes it will, tell me, what's your name?" Octavia cooed. The mare looked up at her, showing Vinyl and Octavia her odd yellow eyes.

"My name is Ditzy Doo..." She murmured, looking down. Octavia gas her a kind smile, her purple eyes showing nothing but compassion.

"Ditzy Doo, well it's nice to meet you!" Octavia exclaimed, the room had finally started to calm down now, as everyone was talking about. "My name is Octavia, and this is my best friend Vinyl Scratch." Octavia pointed at Vinyl, who waved.

"Yo."

Ditzy gave a reassuring nod, although a frown still bore her face.

"I'm going to die...but I can't." She whispered.

Octavia looked at Vinyl and raised an eyebrow. She then looked back at Ditzy. "What does that mean?"

"My beautiful filly, Dinky...she's expecting me to come home any day now..." Ditzy said, tears filling her eyes again. Octavia let out an audible "aww" sound and rubbed the mare's back.

"Don't worry Ditzy. We're going to make sure we get you out of here." Octavia assured, provoking a smile to finally appear on Ditzy's face. Octavia wanted to comfort the mare anyway she could, stretching the truth couldn't hurt at a time like this.

Vinyl took the time to look at the other strangers in the room, some of them she knew before her and Octavia spent some jail time together.How was she supposed to know the guy she was seeing was a thief, secretly stashing things at her place? Vinyl was not pleased after that, and Octavia wasn't either after they were both sent to Ponyville Penitentiary.

She noticed that her childhood teacher, Cheerilee was here, chatting with...is that...Photo Finish?! What's she doing here? She's famous! She practically runs the fashion industry! Vinyl noticed that Photo Finish wasn't even wearing her designer clothes, showing off her blue body and letting white hair flow down her sides. She actually looked very pretty. Vinyl already missed her signature purple shades...

Vinyl saw Spitfire and Soarin together chatting, before the rainbow pegasus from before showed up again, visibly freaking out. She must be a big fan?

She looked to the other side of the room to see Pinkie Pie...the only pony that was happy right now. Vinyl Scratch wasn't surprised at all the she was here...she's always doing...weird things. Crazy things for that matter. She was literally bouncing around the room, singing to herself. That doesn't exclude the fact that Pinkie and her used to be pretty good friends a while back.

Vinyl Scratch also noticed ponies that she had never really seen before, but had heard of.

Snowflake, she remembered him. The stallion is unstoppable. He murdered three ponies in a single evening, single hoofed. He stood their, eying up every pony intently, as if he was imagining what he was going to do to every single one of them. When his eyes met Vinyls, he gave a toothy smirk before going back about his business.

Trixie Lulamoon was here. That's...odd. Vinyl knows that she does have a criminal record after running around spreading lies, apparently that's falsifying information, or something, and is taken seriously around Equestria. That Ursa Minor incident was pretty terrible though, many ponies homes got destroyed. Vinyl noticed Trixie was eying up Twilight Sparkle on the other side of the room, glaring at her.

Next to Trixie was...Prince Blueblood? Vinyl wasn't at all surprised. He was recently caught embezzling bits from "Auntie Celesia". Vinyl had a feeling in her gut that she'd see her here. But it also unnerved her. He must have had previous access to this ship, and the 'Island'. Which puts Blueblood at a he advantage.

Vinyl jerked her heard back to the screen, along with Ditzy and Octavia as the 'visual telephone device' flicked back on.

Celestia once again appeared on the screen, with a confident glow radiating from her face.

"Hello all, I have returned. I trust that you have all got acquainted when I was gone?"

No response.

"Good." Celestia cheered. "I will go through the rules. Pay attention."

Everypony looked at each other nervously.

"First off, I will call your name, where you will randomly grab a bag and head out the door. In each bag there is one full canteen full of fresh water, three days worth of food, and either a weapon, or a useful survival tool, along with a sleeping bag. Each pony that leaves will get a five minute head start to run before I call the name of the next pony. So best hurry. As time goes on, area's of the island will be magically blocked off, forcing you to get closer and fight. If you are in one of those zones when it closes, a magical shield will come down and, let's just say your death will not be pleasant. But don't worry. I'll tell you when the area's are blocked off..." Celestia said.

"But what if none of us play?" Fluer de Lis asked.

"Oh you will. Either you play, or all of you will die." Celestia commented. A black pegasus with a light blue mane leaned over to a grape colored pony with berries and grapes as her cutie mark and whispered.

"Psh, I'll just fly out of here..."

"Nice try Thunderlane, but the island is magically sealed off to prevent escape, best not be flying anywhere over restricted areas, because you will be killed." Celestia crudely remarked, Thunderlane didn't respond.

"Any questions?" Celestia asked, searching through the crowd. No one said anything.

"Why are you doing this?" A soft voice said. Vinyl wasn't very sure who actually spoke that time. Celestia was getting tired of explaining this, so she just decided to give them the short version.

"This nation is falling apart. Murderers, thieves...everything of the sort. So, ponies want to kill each other, then here's there chance. You are my test subjects right now, whether you like it or not." Celestia spoke. "Now, if that is all, then I would like to get this underway..." Celestia took out a piece of paper and read it out loud.

"Number one....Scootaloo."

Scootaloo?

Vinyl watched as an orange pegasus pony slowly walked up to the rucksacks, shaking immensely. She looked as if she was on the verge of tears. Vinyl was outraged. A filly?! Doing something like this!? This whole thing is inhumane, and then she throws a filly in the midst!? Vinyl was seething with anger. She didn't need to even be here...

Vinyl looked at Octavia, who gave her thatWe have to help her stare, and Vinyl nodded.

Scootaloo grabbed the first bag she could reach, jumping as the doors to the exit, and to the island, unlocked and opened. She took one last look at every pony who was watching her go, before letting a tear fall down her cheek as she ran out the door. The door clicked and locked behind her.

Five excruciating minutes pass before Celestia takes out her paper again, getting read to call pony number two.

"Number two...Lyra Heartstrings..."

A mint colored pony stood up this time, she was about to go up and grab her backpack, but a cream colored pony stopped her and gave her a passionate hug. They exchanged a few words, and Lyra walked away to the backpacks. The cream colored pony ultimately cried as soon as she broke the hug, and was having trouble calming herself down.

"Bon Bon!" Lyra shouted, as randomly grabbed a backpack and put it on. The beige mare known as "Bon Bon" looked at her. Lyra only smiled, and saluted. Bon Bon did the exact same thing back, a smile now on her face.

The door opened, and Lyra disappeared outside, letting the door click and lock behind her.

"Number three...Zecora." Celestia said, five minutes later. What Vinyl didn't know was that there was a Zebra on board. She watched the zebra silently grab a bag before trotting outside, not even bothering to save face.

The zebra seemed...fine.

"Number four....Octavia."

Octavia's heart stopped and she looked over at Ditzy and Vinyl, expecting them to say something, even though she knew they couldn't. Vinyl grabbed both of Octavia's shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes.

"You're going to be okay. Ditzy and I will find you. Just keep running. Ok?" Vinyl told her. Octavia looked over at Ditzy Doo, who sheepishly smiled. Octavia felt a little bit of hope inside of her, as she slowly walked over to the rucksacks. She looked carefully, and decided to go with a slightly larger one than the others. With one last goodbye, she disappeared out the door. As Vinyl heard the door close, she felt as if her life is over.

Even though it might just be.

"Number five...Fluttershy?" Celestia said, five minutes later. Celestia knew who Fluttershy was, and was very confused as to why she was here. But it was still to late now.

Vinyl turned to look at the yellow pegasus behind her, who was still shaking in a corner. When she realized that her name was called, Fluttershy's head poked up, and she stood. Tears were flowing from her face like a river, and she quickly grabbed a bag and trotted out the door.

Vinyl had a bad feeling about her...

Five minutes later, Celestia continued. "Number six...Ditzy Doo."

Ditzy sighed, she knew her name was going to be called sooner rather than later. She was always gifted with bad luck. She hugged Vinyl before randomly grabbing a bag, which seemed smaller than the rest, and flew outside, almost running into the door itself.

"Lucky number seven...Carrot Top."

A mare with giant orange hair stood up from the front of the room, grunting loudly. Vinyl noticed that she had already had a bandage around her left foreleg, and limped every time she took a single step. Her green eyes scoured the room as she picked up the first bag she could reach, and painfully walking out the door. Vinyl felt extremely bad for Carrot Top. This was all so unfair...

"Number eight, Trixie Lulamoon."

"Finally, The Great and Powerful Trixie is called!" She bellowed arrogantly. She shoved her way up to the front and dramatically threw her bag on her back. "This will be easy for Trixie. The win is almost guaranteed!" She made her way for the door, but not before stopping to glance at Twilight Sparkle, who was sitting in the front row closest to the bags.

"I'll see you on the island, minor." She rasped as she literally ran out the door. Twilight looked like she was going to give a decent rebuttal, but remembered the Princess' presence and ultimately stayed quiet.

"Number nine....Vinyl Scratch."

Vinyl was glad her number was called sooner than later. It'll be easier to find Octavia and Ditzy, who she hoped she could trust. Hopefully they'd be able to find that little filly as well, Scootaloo, Vinyl thinks her name was. She trotted up to the bags and picked one from the bottom, causing all the rucksacks on top to come crashing to the ground. No one said a word as she headed for the door.

"Good luck guys. Let's all try to have a good time." She said, as she left the room, the door clicking and locking behind her.

Comments

[MemoryLane]

1656373

[MemoryLane]

1656975

Oops!

Thanks for reminding me!

[MemoryLane]

1656975

Oh, and Battle Royale and the Hunger Games are completely different...even though the plot is similar :3

Both are pretty BA in my opinion >_>

[Fimbulvinter]

Intriguing premise

I thought it may have been a hunger games, but then thought of battle royale and it fitted.

One thing I noticed was you switched tenses a few times during chapter 3, moving from past to present tense for a few words and then shifting back.
E.G.

Vinyl was glad her number was called sooner than later. It'll be easier to find Octavia and Ditzy, who she hoped she could trust. Hopefully they'd be able to find that little filly as well, Scootaloo, Vinyl thinks her name was.

The line is done in past tense but 'thinks' is present. it should be 'thought'

[Eighth Note]

WHY IS FLUTTERSHY THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
I DEMAND YOU TO TELL ME!

[Darksymphony777]

2407610
corrupt cops me thinks (flora)