Danganronpa vP: Harmony of Despair

Chapters

Prologue: School of Despair 2
Mortal Peril, Mortal Ignorance - Daily Life 1
Mortal Peril, Mortal Ignorance - Daily Life 2
Mortal Peril, Mortal Ignorance - Daily Life 3
Mortal Peril, Mortal Ignorance - Deadly Life 1
Mortal Peril, Mortal Ignorance - Deadly Life 2
May the Best Pony Survive - Daily Life 1
May the Best Pony Survive - Daily Life 2
May the Best Pony Survive - Daily Life 3
May the Best Pony Survive - Deadly Life 1
May the Best Pony Survive - Deadly Life 2
May the Best Pony Survive - Deadly Life 3
Bloody-Pink is Not Your Color - Daily Life 1
Bloody-Pink is Not Your Color - Daily Life 2
Bloody-Pink is Not Your Color - Daily Life 3
Bloody-Pink is Not Your Color - Deadly Life 1
Bloody-Pink is Not Your Color - Deadly Life 2
Bloody-Pink is Not Your Color - Deadly Life 3
The Triangle Waltz: Hope, Harmony, Despair - Daily Life 1
The Triangle Waltz: Hope, Harmony, Despair - Daily Life 2
The Triangle Waltz: Hope, Harmony, Despair - Deadly Life 1
The Triangle Waltz: Hope, Harmony, Despair - Deadly Life 2
The Triangle Waltz: Hope, Harmony, Despair - Deadly Life 3
Together Forever, In Life and In Death - Daily Life 1
Together Forever, In Life and in Death - Daily Life 2
Together Forever, In Life and in Death - Daily Life 3
Together Forever, In Life and in Death - Deadly Life 1
Together Forever, In Life and in Death - Deadly Life 2
Together Forever, In Life and in Death - Deadly Life 3
To Sleep, to Die, Perchance to Despair - 1
To Sleep, to Die, Perchance to Despair - 2
To Sleep, to Die, Perchance to Despair - Finale
Epilogue - Hope for Harmony
Prologue: School of Despair 1
Mortal Peril, Mortal Ignorance - Deadly Life 3
The Triangle Waltz: Hope, Harmony, Despair - Daily Life 3

Prologue: School of Despair 2

We walked together to the school's entrance. Nopony had noticed it, but at some point in time a plain, wooden podium had been set up in front of the doors.

"Oh? When did this happen?" asked Rarity.

"And why isn't there anypony behind it?" Nurse Redheart added impatiently. "I thought we were going to have our questions answered now."

"Perhaps they are merely putting the finishing touches on whatever speech they have planned for us," Flam mused, fiddling with his mustache.

"Or, maybe they're scared of gettin' their head bashed in," Lightning snorted.

"C'mon, I don't have all day to waste!" Fleur shouted angrily at the podium. "I have far too many important ponies to mingle with to be stuck here with these peasants!"

But, as more and more ponies began to voice their complaints, nothing happened. Finally, after a few minutes of uncomfortable inactivity, Fluttershy timidly stepped in front of the group as they continued to complain.

"Um... if it's not too much trouble... could you maybe come out and meet us... please?"

"Why, I thought you'd never ask!" The strange voice from before was suddenly very close, no longer distorted by the speakers like before. All of the other ponies were immediately silenced by the exclamation. "Sheesh, the rest of you guys should really take a page from Butterball here and show your host some respect!"

"Host?" I wondered out loud.

"Show yourself, fiend," Celestia spoke, her soft voice hardened into a commanding firmness. "I grow tired of this foalishness."

"Aw, fine... only because you're a princess, though."

And then... just like that, it appeared.

*boing*

A stuffed bear about a foot and a half tall suddenly popped up from behind the podium and landed on the top sitting down. It was unlike any I had ever seen before: it was designed as if it had once been two different bears, and then somepony divided the two into two halves right down the middle, took one of those halves each and slapped them together. Its right half was pure white and simply-designed with a black-button eye, but the left half was jet-black, with a crimson eye in the shape of... perhaps a stretched-out bat wing. Its mouth was similarly divided in two, the right being a typical stuffed bear's snout, the left morphing into a wide, disturbing grin. Its nose was a simple, plain black, but its belly button atop its white potbelly was distended and about the size of a strawberry.

Everypony, including this bear, was silent for a good ten seconds as we struggled to comprehend just what was going on.

"Ah... is this some kind of joke?" Coloratura was the first to break the silence.

"It's cute!" Pinkie beamed.

"Looks like some kind of stupid magic prop to me," Lightning grumbled before pointing a hoof at Trixie. "Is this some kind of stupid fuckin' trick of yours?"

"How DARE you?!" Trixie gasped. "The Great and Powerful Trrrixie! ...Would never use such a cheap piece of shit in her illusions!"

At that remark, I could've sworn I saw the bear's expression fall.

"So... this thing just kinda... pops up outta nowhere... and that's it?" asked Rainbow.

"...Cheap... she called me cheap..." the bear whimpered.

Hold on... did that stuffed animal just-

"AAAGH! IT TALKED!" Bulk shouted in surprise.

"Well, duh," Fleur grumbled, putting a hoof to her forehead. "Any Unicorn with half a brain can enchant a stuffed animal to repeat some lines."

"Well, that's rude! Who said I was stuffed?!" the bear responded angrily without missing a beat. It held up its right front paw and three razor-sharp claws instantly popped out of its toes.

"Oh, um... s-sorry, Mr. Bear," Fluttershy cowered. "P-Please don't t-take offense..." While the others were still getting over their shock, I took a couple steps forward. Focusing magic into my horn, I extended a glowing, pink tendril outwards and let it wrap around the bear. It simply looked around its body as my spell analyzed its form.

To my complete surprise, the bear was, in fact, a masterfully-crafted robot, perfectly flawless in form and function. And hidden deep within its body were multiple weapons...

"It's... some kind of robot," I announced, retracting my magic back into my horn. "Interesting."

"What?! No! I am totally a real, live, innocent, not-stuffed bear!" the bear whined before regaining its composure and posing proudly. "I'm the one and only... Monokuma! And I am the Headmaster of the brand-new School of Despair!"

Again, everypony remained silent for another ten seconds or so.

"...Whut in tarnation...?" Applejack mumbled.

"But... this is Twilight's school," Rainbow scratched her head.

"Yea! You can't just proclaim yourself the Headmare like that, you meanie!" Pinkie scowled.

"...Head... mare...?" Monokuma put a paw to his chin in thought for a moment before letting out a grunt. "I'm gonna have to get used to all this pony terminology, I see... But's that's not the point! Now... now that the introduction is out of the way, I'll get to your questions!"

"Yes, that would be nice," Fleur rolled her eyes.

"Please, do continue," Celestia affirmed, her voice low and wary.

"Alright, then!" However, Monokuma's excitement quickly fizzled out as he put a paw on his chin again. "Hmm... well, you guys aren't at all like those kids I usually deal with... I'll have to make a couple changes here and there..."

"Get on with it!" Lightning screamed in frustration.

"You ponies here... yea, you guys represent the hope of Equestria!"

Oh? Well, he's not wrong, I suppose... the Princesses, myself and my friends and the Elements of Harmony-

"And, to protect such splendid hope... you will all live a communal life together, solely within the confines of this school!"

...Wait, what now?

"Everyone will live in harmony together, and adhere to the rules and regulations of this school!"

"Uh... are you just going to ignore the fact that we're all adults, here...?" Applejack weakly held up a hoof, but was ignored.

"Now, then... regarding the end date of this communal life... there isn't one! In other words, you'll all remain here until the day you die! Such is the school life you've been assigned!" Monokuma finished cheerfully.

"...HOLD UP, WHAT?!" Bulk shouted.

"Until we die?!" Coloratura gasped, as we all did in horror.

"Oh, but fear not! We have quite the abundant budget, so you won't lack for all the common conveniences!"

"Fuck that!" Lightning spat. "You're telling me I have to live with these losers forever!"

"Oh, hell no!" Fleur stamped her hoof.

"Surely you're joking!" Flam narrowed his eyes.

"I am NOT joking!" Monokuma proclaimed. "I am no liar, of that you can be 100% assured." Flam coughed. "Also, you're all completely cut off from the outside world, so you'll never have to worry about that dirty, Friendship-infested land beyond the barrier ever again! Not like you can break through it, anyway... my magic barrier is totally impenetrable! It's security one-million percent! So, with all that in mind, feel free to live out your days here with reckless abandon!"

"...That 'Friendship-infested land' you're referring to is our home!" Rainbow growled.

"This is unconscionable! The Great and Powerful Trrrixie has many prior appointments she simply must attend to, and none of them involve being stuck here for the rest of her life!"

"We aren't going to give up on our freedom that easily!" Rarity tilted her head up, looking down her muzzle at Monokuma.

"Not that it matters, but none of us are exactly school-aged," Flam protested sternly. "We all have our businesses to attend to, we have no time for this idiocy!"

"Bah..." the bear sighed. "But aren't you guys sick of all that pesky responsibility and social obligations? Here you can live in peace and quiet for the rest of your lives! Ah... but, I suppose I did forget to mention one thing..."

"Which is...?" Luna asked warily.

"There is one way for you to leave the school..."

"And... that is...?" asked Redheart.

"As Headmare... Master... whatever... I have crafted a special clause for those of you who would like to leave! I call it... the Graduation Clause!"

"Oh for fucksakes, just get to the point!" Fleur groaned.

"Oh, fine, fine, geez, ruin my delivery, will ya..." Monokuma grumbled. "You may leave if you disrupt the perfect harmony of the school... by murdering one of your classmates."

Until now, my body had felt cold and heavy... but at that statement I completely froze.

M-Murder...?!

"Murder?!" Everypony repeated out loud, whether their attitude was incredulous, terrified or somewhere in between.

"Precisely!" Monokuma shouted gleefully. "Stabbing, strangling, bludgeoning, crushing, hacking, drowning, igniting... how you do it doesn't matter! You must kill someone if you want to leave. It's as simple as that."

"Wha- no, it isn't!" Coloratura yelled. "Why do we have to kill each other to leave?!"

"That... that's so... horrible..." Fluttershy whimpered, her eyes beginning to water.

"I DON'T WANNA DIE!" Bulk shouted, sinking to the ground.

"Uh... guys...?" Pinkie spoke quietly. "...I don't think this party is any fun anymore..."

"What are you talking about?!" Monokuma threw his arms in the air. "This school is now your home, your life, your world... you can kill as much as you want! So go ahead, go on a kill-kill-killing spree!"

This was utterly ridiculous. Utterly reprehensible. Clearly this creature was sent from the deepest, darkest depths of Tartarus itself! How could this monster even fathom to make these demands?!

"Well..." Discord finally said, stroking his beard. "Gotta say, this is one of the most chaotically evil plans I've ever come across! Though I am not in the business of malice anymore, I must applaud you for your sheer creativity, Monokuma."

"Why, thank you!" Monokuma rubbed the back of his head. "To get a compliment like that from the God of Chaos himself, I feel so warm and fuzzy inside!"

"No," Applejack said, loudly and flatly. "This ain't happenin'. Not on my watch."

"Huh?"

"I don't know where you came from or why you're doing this," I stomped my hoof down and flared out my wings. "But clearly you have no knowledge of pony culture, law and order, or even just basic common decency. Murder in Equestria is almost entirely unheard of!"

"I'll do it, though," Lightning muscled her way through the crowd until she was inches away from Monokuma's face. "...If you don't let us all go right this second. This shitty excuse for a joke has dragged on long enough!"

"No, Lightning Dust," Celestia finally spoke. Turning my head back towards her, I instantly felt a deep, primal fear within my very soul as I saw her face, twisted with anger. It was a look that I had only seen perhaps once or twice during my fillyhood studies, but the fury that was soon to follow was enough to flatten entire civilizations. "I have heard enough, Monokuma. This 'communal life' proposal of yours is entirely unacceptable. You will release my little ponies, or you will suffer the full wrath of the Sun itself!"

"Ooh, big bad Sun Goddess, I'm soooo scared," Monokuma replied flippantly. My emotions spun and churned within me; half of me concerned as to why the bear wasn't taking the threat of an angry Alicorn Princess seriously, while the other half was concerned as to what might happen if Celestia somehow wasn't successful. As I wondered, he surprised us all by hopping off of his podium and hastily jogging until he was now to the right of our group. "Normally, the punishment for trying to harm the Headmastermare... thing... is death, but for you guys... oh, what the heck, I'll give you three chances to defeat me."

"Three?" Rainbow asked.

"Yea... a nice, even number. Well? If you can, then we'll forget all about this new life I've created for you guys, and you can all go home."

"Then defeat you in battle, I shall," Celestia glared, already charging her magic. In an instant her horn glowed with intense, blinding golden light, rapidly heating the surrounding air into an inferno. Even as I formed a protective shield around myself and the others, I felt my skin become parched within seconds, and sweat began pouring down my body from such close proximity. A few moments later, her spell fully charged, Celestia let out a fierce yell as she blasted Monokuma with all her might. I watched with horrified interest as Monokuma's body disappeared inside a burning blaze of light and power...

...And gasped as he emerged a few seconds later, entirely unharmed. The others gasped as well, and Celestia's glare instantly vanished, replaced with total confusion.

"Puhuhuhu... that tickles!" he laughed. "Welp, that's one chance down... you gonna blow through the rest now, or will you save them for later?"

"How...?" Rainbow whispered.

"He's not even singed!" exclaimed Redheart.

But while we stood there in shock and awe, Celestia shook her head and hardened her gaze. "Sister... I believe I will need your assistance... Discord, Twilight, you too."

Oh? Ah, I see... more power!

"Of course," I quickly trotted beside her, all too happy to fight by my mentor's side. Luna and Discord stepped up as well, the former's horn already charged with silver-blue energy. I took a deep breath and began charging my own magic as well, feeling it bubbling, swirling, churning inside my horn like a geyser under pressure. The other ponies - quickly and correctly assuming that the air around us would heat up even hotter than the last time - stepped way back.

"Now, fiend... BURN!"

At her shout, Celestia, Luna and myself unleashed everything we had, focusing our magic into a single, woven point - and fired straight at Monokuma, while Discord snapped his claws, his Chaos magic entwining around our attack and strengthening it further. Again, Monokuma's body vanished in a torrent of bright light and burning, chaotic fury. There was a large explosion after a few moments of sustained blasting, which formed a mushroom cloud above the spot. At this we ceased our attack, hoping that this was the end of that awful little bear.

The smoke cleared... and in the center of a shallow, charred crater Monokuma still stood there, like nothing had happened. As the others gasped yet again, fear began to truly take root within my mind. That amount of magic was enough to level an entire mountain range, and it did nothing?!

What... What creature... what is this...?!

"I don't understand!" Luna sputtered in disbelief. "Why are you not in pieces? Why are you not a smudge of molten iron?!"

"Puhuhuhu... because I'm the one and only Monokuma!" he answered, if that was an answer at all. "Anyway, just one chance left! After that, attacking your Headmare-Master is punishable by death, death and more death! Well? What's it gonna be?"

Celestia turned to me, now visibly shaken. "I... I am not certain we can defeat him in battle any longer... To shrug off our combined attacks like that, like it was nothing..."

"I agree, this is most troubling," Discord added. "This whole time, I've been trying to turn that bear into a teapot, or a bowl of noodles, or even an actual stuffed animal of the inanimate variety, but my magic simply has no effect on him!"

Mere magic isn't enough... but there's still one thing we haven't tried.

As we spoke, I turned my head to the group of ponies, and my closest friends ran to my side, as if they had each read my mind.

"Maybe... he just needs to be slapped upside the head with some Friendship..." Rainbow grinned.

"Ooh! I was wondering when you'd roll out the Elements of Harmony!" Monokuma wiggled his body as if extremely excited. "I've always wondered what it'd be like to be hit with a rainbow made of pure Friendship! Hah! Bring it on!"

His cockiness annoyed me greatly... it reminded me of Trixie when we first met. But between my distaste for this bear's personality and seeing the determination in my friends' eyes, I swallowed my fear and cast it aside. In its place, my heart swelled with trust, with love, and with certainty.

"We have the greatest weapon of them all... something that I don't believe this ruffian has ever felt himself," Rarity smirked.

Each of us, the six of us, focused deeply on the thoughts of our friendship. All of our shared memories; the good, the bad, the painful, the triumphant... the times we fell apart, only to mend together stronger than before. As we concentrated, our bodies began to glow the color of our Elements - though the physical aspects of the Elements had been returned to the Tree long ago, we still- no, we always had them inside of us all along. We looked back on our memories with tender fondness, our hearts swelling with a familiar power, pure and sublime.

Our light was radiant. The air around us was balmy and gentle. The power within my friends and I lifted us into the air, casting shadows on everything around us. Celestia, Luna, Discord, all ponies present gazed up at us in awe of the beauty and perfection of our friendship. Monokuma simply stood where he was, a thoughtful paw to his chin.

Finally, our emotions reached their apex. I opened my eyes, the whitest of light pouring out of them. Focusing my gaze on Monokuma, I gently aimed the accumulated power of my friends and let it rush through the air like a heavenly river. Finally, like a thousand-ton weight, a rainbow of pure Friendship dropped itself like a waterfall on Monokuma's head. Once more did the bear's form disappear from sight as we released our might, channeling everything we had into the intangible force. The light coalesced into pure white, and soon everypony was blinded by it.

Nearly a minute later, the rainbow had been exhausted and the light faded away. I blinked a few times to recover from the spell, and then looked over to where Monokuma was standing - the spell was never meant to destroy anything, only to bring Harmony to those who dearly, truly needed it, lest they destroy Equestria otherwise, or something similar.

He was silent for many moments, as were we. And then...

"...That's it? That's the magic of Friendship? Pah!" he spat.

He spat.

...No... it can't be... it can't...

"Welp, that was your last chance, I'm afraid!" Nothing had happened. Nothing had changed. The Magic of Friendship had utterly failed to affect Monokuma in the slightest.

"...Oh my Celestia..." Trixie squeaked.

"...Oh my me," Celestia murmured.

"...Oh my you..." whispered Luna.

This... This is impossible... this can't be happening...

"No... no...!" Fluttershy breathed.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me..." Rainbow's mouth hung open in shock.

"NOTHING HAPPENED!" Bulk screamed in terror. "HE'S NOT FRIENDLY AT ALL!"

"Shit... this is really bad..." Lightning gulped, her desire to fight finally stripped away.

"Now, I expect you all to behave, like good little students should! No more attacking your MasterHeadmare, or..." Monokuma's voice suddenly went silent, and his body became eerily still. If I didn't know better, it seemed like he was deep in thought. "...Hmm... ya know, I distinctly remember picking out seventeen of you..."

At first I wondered what he meant by that. In my head I recalled everypony's names: there was myself, Rainbow, Rarity, AJ, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Princesses Celestia and Luna, Discord, Trixie, Nurse Redheart, Bulk, Lightning, Flam, Coloratura and Fleur... sixteen in total.

...So who's the seventeenth-

And before I could finish my thought, yet another horror made itself known. A nearby bush began hissing menacingly.

"So... you finally noticed..."

A low, gravelly voice, raspy with endless infection, drifted into the air from the bush. A voice I had hoped to never hear again as long as I lived.

Oh come on, this just keeps getting worse and worse... Why?! Why her, of all creatures?!

The bush then morphed into a mass of black, green and blue, stretching and creaking and snapping back into its original shape. Long limbs full of holes extended outwards from a body sealed within thick chitin, with wispy, tattered insect wings fluttering from its back. Long, ragged, corpse-blue hair covered her face like a decaying veil, and glowing, green eyes stared coldly underneath a crooked, razor-sharp horn.

"I knew these foolish little ponies were weak, but to not even leave a scratch?!" Queen Chrysalis glowered as she approached Monokuma. "Pathetic! They will have no choice but to bow to me after I destroy you!"

"Puhuhu! My, you're a confident one," Monokuma giggled. "What makes you think you're so much stronger than those other ponies?"

Chrysalis chuckled darkly. "Once before did I force the leaders of this land to submit to my power... and I shall do so again, once I've gotten rid of you!"

Suddenly I began to feel dizzy and nauseous, weakening more and more by the second. My legs felt like wet noodles. My wings felt like lead weights. Behind me I heard the others drowsily panicking, and realized that Chrysalis was rapidly draining our power, presumably to attack Monokuma herself. I couldn't help but sink to the ground as I futilely struggled against her draining spell... although if our combined magic was somehow enough to defeat this bear-shaped monster and set us all free, well... maybe she could be pardoned. Just this once.

"Chrysalis... don't do it..." Celestia groaned weakly. "We... underestimated... his power..."

"And I will not," the Changeling Queen sneered. Her horn glowed a bright, sickly green, and her pupils became viperous slits as she roared. Her corrosive magic, combined with all our own, leeched out of her horn and enveloped Monokuma in its glow. I heard the hissing of steam and bubbling liquids as the toxic light intensified, and then fizzled out once the Queen finally had nothing left to channel.

A moment later I felt strength return to my body, and the dizziness and nausea subsided. Chrysalis really must've given that spell her all if she no longer had a hold over us. Indeed, she was panting heavily as the dust settled, wearing a proud, fang-filled grin on her face.

But her smile quickly fell.

"Now you've gone and done it..." Monokuma's voice was frighteningly slow as the noxious smoke cleared, revealing his still-untouched body, now holding what appeared to be an extremely large rocket launcher. "Didn't you hear me tell the others you were all out of free shots?"

Chrysalis' eyes narrowed. "There's no way that didn't melt you into a puddle. This must be an illusion!" Monokuma giggled.

"Oh, no, ya overgrown mosquito..."

There was a sudden, loud hiss as the rocket launcher fired.

Now, rocket launchers in Equestria are quite uncommon. An Earth pony invention from the past couple decades, we simply just have no real use for them, as Unicorn magic can accomplish the same task without using any resources. In addition, any Unicorn sufficiently trained in warding magic can easily block the projectile and make it ricochet off in a harmless direction, or even take the full blast head-on without any damage whatsoever.

So it was to my abject horror that the rocket not only made contact with Queen Chrysalis, but vaporized the bulk of her body in one loud, fiery boom. There were shouts of fear and disgust as her body evaporated into sickly, green mist and black ash. Pieces of chitin and what was once her left hind leg rained down in the midst of a drizzle of dark green Changeling blood. The singed remains of her skull, barely covered in flesh, landed with a graceless, wet thump by the school's front doors. Behind me, I heard Fluttershy faint.

"...I'm the real deal," Monokuma finished his sentence. "And that's the punishment for attacking your Headmaster... yea, think I'll just stick with good ol' Headmaster."

"You... you killed her..." Celestia's voice trembled.

"Sure did. Squished her like a bug! ...Anyway, kinda figured she'd do that sooner rather than later, that's why I only gave her a closet for a dormitory," he shrugged.

"Monster..." Coloratura breathed.

"Goddess, what a way to go..." Flam gulped.

"...I take back everything I said about kicking your ass," Lightning took a few steps back.

"As you should," replied Monokuma. "Consider that to be your one and only warning. Any naughty... boy-horse or girl-horse who violates my rules won't get off with just a little swat on the butt. Don't think I won't know about it, either, that's why there's all the surveillance cameras everywhere."

"Everywhere...?" Rarity spoke with concern.

"Everywhere."

"Tch, you disgusting perv..." Fleur hissed.

"Now then, lastly... to commemorate your joyous entry into my school, I have a little something to give you!" We watched helplessly as Monokuma jogged back over to the podium in front of the doors, kicking Chrysalis' skull out of the way as he went. He reached behind the podium and pulled out a stack of thin, plastic rectangles, holding one up for us to see.

A monitor? ...No, a computer tablet. Kinda like the ones back in that other universe...

"Ta-da! This is our official school handbook! Pretty cool, huh? And it even runs on pure magic, rather than the futuristic technology I usually have access to. I call it... the e-Handbook!"

"...We do have technology of our own, a computer tablet isn't exactly unheard of..." Applejack muttered. It was true; after my last trip to the other version of Equestria I had brought a few electronics back with me for study, and other scientists and mages in Canterlot had reverse-engineered and recreated them for our own use. Still, however, they were a fairly new technology. Only the top scientific institutes and universities in the country had them.

"Yes, well..." Monokuma paused. "...This handbook is absolutely vital to a healthy school life, so don't lose it! When you start it up, it should display your name. Always make sure you have the right one!"

He then took a few minutes to pass the e-Handbooks out to everypony, although he just gently tossed Fluttershy's at her unconscious body. As soon as I received mine I tapped the power button, wondering what I would find.

"Now, these aren't your everyday notebooks, they have so many more uses than that! Also, it's completely waterproof, so don't be shy about taking it in the bath with you! And thanks to its space-age design, it can withstand a crushing force of up to ten tons! More importantly, it contains all our school regulations, so be sure to review them thoroughly! ...You'll hear me say this a lot, but any violation of the rules will not. Be. Tolerated."

As Monokuma continued on about his deadly consequences, my e-Handbook finished booting up. I was indeed greeted by a message that read "Welcome, Princess Twilight Sparkle", but the honorific beneath it caught my eye.

...Ultimate Organizer...?

I raised my hoof.

"Oh! Yes, Miss Twilight?" Monokuma acknowledged.

"Um, what's this 'Ultimate Organizer' thing about?"

"Ah, yes..." Monokuma took on a nostalgic tone. "Just a bit of a holdover from all my past students... Back home, they were known as Ultimates, the very best at what they did. Kinda like you lot, so I've heard, what with your butt pictures and all".

"You mean our Cutie Marks?" Redheart asked, turning her flank towards him.

"Yea, those... 'Cutie Marks', eh? Ugh, ponies are weird..." he muttered under his breath. "Welp, that brings our entrance ceremony to a close! Please do enjoy your abundantly dreary school life! See ya!"

And with that, Monokuma disappeared behind the podium, which sank quickly into the ground through a trap door and clapped shut before anypony realized what had happened. Nopony spoke for quite a while, all of us too stunned to even form a coherent thought.

Finally, Rainbow broke the silence, if only with a simple, confused grunt. But it did encourage more discourse.

"So... live here together, forever... or kill somepony..." Trixie sat down roughly, all her usual bravado long gone.

"Man... that sucks," muttered Lightning.

"WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?! I DON'T WANNA KILL ANYPONY, BUT I DON'T WANNA LIVE HERE FOREVER, EITHER!" said Bulk, whose voice nudged Fluttershy back to consciousness. Her hazy eyes happened to rest upon Rarity first.

"...Oh! Oh, Rarity... I just had the most terrible dream! An evil bear trapped us in Twilight's school and told us that we have to live there forever, and that we can only leave if we killed each other!" she swooned.

"I'm afraid that dream of yours is our reality now," Rarity sighed.

"Wh-What?!" My heart hurt for poor Fluttershy, she was far too gentle for such a twisted game... Everypony was, really. I can't imagine any of my friends or these others have it in them to commit murder. And I certainly have no interest in killing anypony... not only out of my love for my friends or the ethical and moral ramifications of such an act, but then I'd also be the worst Princess of Friendship ever! And Princesses Celestia and Luna would never betray the trust of their ponies, either. And Discord... well, I'm sure he's thinking of ways to fake other ponies' deaths or otherwise trick Monokuma. Fluttershy would never forgive him...

"Now, now, my little ponies," Celestia spoke, calmly and gently. "I promise you all that my sister and I will do everything in our power to get us all out of here safely."

"As will I," I added. "I'm sure we can find a way out of this place if we work together!"

"Yea," nodded Applejack. "We've gotten outta bigger predicaments than this before. We just need to stick together!" Most of the other ponies came together in agreement, their fears subsiding, although Fleur and Lightning both sighed in annoyed reluctance. As we reassured each other, there was a loud click, and we turned to watch the school's front doors finally swing wide open.

"Hey, look! The doors are unlocked! We can go inside!" beamed Pinkie.

"Do we really want to?" asked Flam. "Who knows what's inside if Monokuma's in control of this place."

"Maybe so," said Coloratura, "but there might be something useful inside, or maybe even a hidden way out!"

"You're... awfully optimistic," Trixie mumbled.

...Well... it is my school, and back home there were a couple of hidden escape tunnels leading into caves in the mountain behind it...

"We won't know until we look," I spoke up. "We should go inside and check it out, anyway. We'll be fine as long as we stay together."

"Welp, no time like the present! Let's go, everypony!" Applejack said as she began corralling the others inside, amid a few mild protests. I quickly trotted to the front of the group and took a deep breath before walking inside.

I sure hope my school isn't booby-trapped or something.

Mortal Peril, Mortal Ignorance - Daily Life 1

"Wh... What happened to my school?!"

I don't know quite what I was expecting, but definitely not this. The hallways of the first floor of my School of Friendship had been entirely redecorated! The soothing pale blues and purples I had chosen for the walls had been replaced with either a garish green-and-black checkerboard or bright-fuschia wallpaper, and the lights seemed to only intensify the already-bright colors. Peering down the left and right corridors aside the main entrance, my special-order statues of Princesses Celestia and Luna had been replaced with grotesque stone effigies of Monokuma, one in a Haywaiian shell bikini, the other in some kind of poncho and straw hat combination. Either way, neither were very tasteful to look at.

"My goodness!" Rarity shrieked. "It's... hideous!"

"I dunno, I kinda like it," Discord shrugged.

"Ew, no," Fleur grumbled. "I can't believe I'm being held captive in such an ugly place..."

"Hmm..." Trixie's horn lit up with magic as she put a hoof to her chin. "Well, I don't sense any hidden traps or anything of the sort... so do you think we could move on past the foyer?"

"Um, maybe we should look at that handbook first," Coloratura's voice wavered. "Monokuma said there's rules we have to follow... and I don't really want to get blown up for doing something we shouldn't have done."

"Good point," replied Redheart. "For all we know, taking one step further could be against the rules."

Everypony nodded in agreement and began switching their e-Handbooks on. Since mine was already activated, I dived right in. There was now a main menu that could be tapped, which lead to a class roster, a basic map of the school (it seemed Monokuma had left the rooms and general structure of the place mostly intact), and most importantly for the moment - school rules and regulations. Taking a breath, I tapped at the option.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time.
"Nighttime" hours are from 10pm until 7am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.
Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly.

Oh... I bet the punishment is the same. Sigh...

With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore the School of Despair at your discretion.
Teleportation magic is strictly prohibited while on campus. Flying is acceptable.

Ooh, good thing I didn't when I first saw the statues! Geez, that would've been bad...

Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras.
Anyone who kills a fellow student will become "blackened" and graduate, unless they are discovered.

..."Blackened"...? And discovered...?

Additional school regulations may be added as necessary.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

...Wait, that's it? But what's "blackened"?

Soft pinging noises alerted me to the fact that most of the others' e-Handbooks had finished booting up. While I mulled over whatever the seventh rule could mean, I absentmindedly went back and tapped on the school roster. There it listed all sixteen of us, along with basic information like our ages, height, weight, chest size and blood types (what? why?), and finally, our titles granted to us by Monokuma:

Myself, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Ultimate Organizer.
Rainbow Dash, Ultimate Weather Pony.
Fluttershy, Ultimate Animal Caretaker.
Rarity, Ultimate Seamstress.
Pinkie Pie, Ultimate Party Planner.
Applejack, Ultimate Farmer.
Trixie Lulamoon, Ultimate Illusionist.
Lightning Dust, Ultimate Daredevil.
Nurse Redheart, Ultimate Nurse.
Bulk Biceps, Ultimate Bodybuilder.
Fleur de Lis, Ultimate Supermodel.
Flam, Ultimate Con Artist.
Coloratura, Ultimate Pop Idol.
Princess Celestia, Ultimate Diplomat.
Princess Luna, Ultimate Strategist.
Discord, Ultimate Chaos.
Queen Chrysalis, Ultimate- ah, who cares, she won't make it long here anyway.

...Well, then.

Various noises arose from my companions, whether they were of surprise, annoyance, anger or anxiety. I looked up from my screen, seeing the same stormy expression on everypony's faces.

"Well, there goes my plan of just killing that stupid bear..." Lightning grumbled.

"Not that that would'a worked, ya know," said Applejack. "You saw whut he did to Chrysalis..."

"I wonder..." Luna hummed, "...just what exactly does Rule #7 mean?"

"Oh, yea, the 'blackened', part," said Rainbow. "Sounds to me like if you do... kill somepony... you gotta do it clean."

"No witnesses. No loose ends," Redheart solemnly stated, staring off into nothing. "...Nothing left behind."

"Uh... what do you mean...?" Fluttershy whimpered quietly.

"Nopony can know you're the one who did it, obviously," Lightning replied brusquely.

"But... But why? Why do we have to do this?" cried Coloratura.

"We don't, my dear little pony," Celestia extended one of her wings around Coloratura to comfort her. "As I have said, sister and I will ensure that such horrid acts never come to pass as long as we're here." Luna nodded.

"Yea, we'll be alright as long as we all stay levelheaded," agreed Applejack. "Now's not the time to get all panicky."

"Aww... but I like to scream! It's so much fun!" whined Pinkie.

"...This is hardly the time or place for any of that," Flam chided. "But, now that we're aware of the rules, perhaps we may now explore this school?"

"About damn time! Let's go already!" Lightning shouted. Before I could even suggest that we search the school in groups for safety reasons, Lightning zipped through the air and out of sight, with Rainbow following her lead a split-second later. Fleur walked away as well, her grunts of displeasure more than enough of a sign that she wanted to be alone.

"Wha... hey, you guys! Wait!" Coloratura wailed as she reached out with her hoof in vain. "Going off on your own could be dangerous!"

"Forget it..." Trixie sighed. "They're already gone..."

"Grouping up would be the most prudent action to take, after all," said Flam. "I presume that was what you had in mind?"

"Yes," I cut in before the situation got any further away from me. "Let's make a plan..."

After studying the map of the school and grouping everypony into parties of two, we agreed to meet in the dormitory's cafeteria and discuss our findings. The other groups left, while I joined Applejack and Coloratura as they set off.

Straight ahead of the foyer was the Gym, the doors to which were flanked on both sides by restrooms for each gender. The gym itself was pretty typical: retractable bleachers on either side of the polished-wood court, currently marked out for an indoor game of Buckball. There was a large scoreboard above a small stage at the far end of the court, with a trophy case lining the stage's back wall.

Turning left from the foyer, there was the Student Store immediately to the left, facing the mare's restroom. After that was an Infirmary, in case a student suddenly became injured or ill. Along with a simple cot and chair, there were various simple first-aid supplies such as bandages, disinfectants and over-the-counter medicines. There was a minifridge here now that wasn't there before; upon opening it we discovered things like insulin and spare packets of blood with instructions for transfusions.

"Er... isn't a blood transfusion a little above a school nurse's usual duties...?" asked Coloratura.

"Yea... that's kinda weird," I agreed. "If any student of mine needed that kind of medical attention I'd just teleport them directly to the hospital myself!"

"Well, we can't exactly go to the hospital now," said Applejack. "Ah guess if we're ever in a situation where we need it... Redheart'll know whut to do."

True... although, this medical stuff does have a somewhat short shelf life...

The corridor opened up into a larger area, lined on the left by the Scrollwork Classroom and on the right by my own Headmaster's Office, with the unpleasant statue of Shell Bikini Monokuma in the center surrounded by lounge seating. One of the two flights of stairs to the second floor was beside the office, but I was confused to find it blocked by a magic barrier similar to the one outside, trapping us all here. A surge of hope electrified my heart as I rushed to the Scrollwork classroom, hoping I could get a message to Spike, but the door was unfortunately locked tight. Not even Applejack's bucking nor my own magic could get it to open. I felt the hope in my heart begin to falter, but I couldn't give up now, not so easily!

We went into my office next, after I recalled that one of my school's secret passages was located inside. However, to my extreme annoyance... my office turned out to be completely empty of any and all furnishings and objects, save for a few random pages scattered on the floor from various legal paperwork I'd had to go over and sign when I opened the school. And even when I checked them all, just in case - somepony had scribbled all over them in red crayon.

Sheesh... how rude!

My horn cast a pink glow on the walls as I searched for the hidden panel but found nothing but solid mortar and brickwork. Monokuma had erased all trace of it.

Damn... well, I suppose that one would've been the easiest to find, for somepony going to such lengths for this sick little game...

We left the office and made our way to the right corridor. Facing the stallion's restroom was another Classroom, then after that was another open area with Poncho Monokuma in the center. On the far left was the Guidance Counselor's office, with the second stairwell to the next floor beside it, also blocked off by a magical barrier. We searched the two rooms, finding nothing of use.

I'm so glad Starlight isn't here... maybe she and Spike will notice we're all missing, and they'll come save us...? ...Although, deep down in my heart, I somehow knew they couldn't help us.

The room beside the classroom... well, it should've been another classroom, but instead it was completely sealed, save for two large, bright crimson doors that faced the double doors to the Dormitory. There was no obvious way to open it, nor could my magic pry the doors apart. At any rate, we were finished with the school's first floor, which we appeared to be limited in exploring for the time being. I led my two companions as I opened the doors to the dormitory, wondering what could possibly be inside.

The doors opened into a painfully bright, white tile hallway. Overly generous with its empty spaciousness, the Dormitory gave me a strange feeling at first, something akin to loneliness. But the feeling quickly faded as I saw other ponies walking around, checking out their new living quarters.

To the left was a Cafeteria big enough for an entire school's worth of students to fit in, comically large for just the sixteen of us. It wrapped around the Kitchen in a U-shape, which had many horizontal openings for food to be passed through. The kitchen itself was well-stocked with plenty of raw ingredients and every cooking utensil one could ever need. Floor-to-ceiling-length windows made up the back wall of the cafeteria, giving us a lovely view of the grain and vegetable gardens in back.

Next to the cafeteria was a room I'd never expected in a school or a prison like this. First there was an area full of lockers for ponies to put their belongings and a couple stacks of white, fluffy towels on a table. Then beyond a thick cloth curtain was a small but fully-functional spa! There was a shallow pool full of steaming hot spring water, an area to the left side where one could wash up before and after, chaise lounges along the right side, and in the back of the spa was a sauna big enough for ten ponies to comfortably sit inside. The scent of warm cedar and teakwood was heavenly; for a brief moment I even forgot all about the dreadful situation we were all in.

The last area to check out was our own personal rooms, the entire area slathered in creepy, dark crimson wallpaper, floors and ceilings. Each had been chosen for us beforehoof, designated by a small sign with our names and a pixelated picture of our faces. Each door also had a peephole, a sturdy lock and a doorbell. Starting from the right was Redheart's room, then Fluttershy's, then Bulk's; then along the back wall was Rarity's, my room, then Trixie's; then along the left was Flam's, then what would've been Chrysalis' room (Monokuma had indeed given her only a broom closet-sized room...), a Garbage Room with an incinerator for disposing of trash, and finally a large Storage Room by the stairs to the second floor of personal rooms, on the other side of which were Applejack's and Discord's rooms and another staircase. Peeking inside the Storage Room, we found shelf after shelf of seemingly endless supplies, everything from snack foods and reams of cloth to silverware and toilet paper. Finally, heading up the stairs closest to Redheart's room, we found the last of the personal rooms arranged in another U-shape with empty space in the middle to look down from - the first was Princess Celestia's room, followed by Fleur's, then Rainbow's, then Coloratura's, then Princess Luna's, then Pinkie's, and finally Lightning's room.

"Well, how 'bout we check out our rooms, then let's go meet up with everypony else?" Applejack suggested. We agreed and headed off. Approaching my room's door, I found that the key to the lock was sticking out of it, with a small keychain of my own face attached to the key.

No doubt about it... it's my room.

Turning the key, I heard it unlock, and I headed inside. It was actually a rather nice room, save for the bright scarlet walls, white crown molding and azure carpeting.

I can already hear Rarity's complaints about the design...

It was spacious, yet cozy... perhaps 25'x50' altogether in size? There was a decently-sized bed to one side covered in plain but plush white blankets and a single pillow. Beside it was a chair and a desk full of drawers. I checked inside each one, just in case... only finding a sewing kit with an attached note that detailed where one could stab another pony with a needle and pierce their vital organs.

Geez, what a sadistic little...

On the other side of the room was a long table that doubled as a bookshelf, then a small, round dining table and a more comfortable chair. A window sat beside the dining table, with a latch enabling it to be opened to let fresh air in. A lockable door close to the bed led to a standard bathroom, containing a shelf for towels and toiletries, a shower and bathtub, a sink and a toilet. What really got under my fur, though... even though there were surveillance cameras and monitors in every room I had entered up until now, there was still even one of each inside my room, the camera giving a clear view of the bed. I shivered at the thought of that horrible bear watching and giggling as I potentially got murdered in my sleep, or worse.

But this wasn't the time to dwell on such things. I shook the thought out of my mind and left my room, locking the door behind me. Applejack exited her room as well, and a moment later I heard Coloratura walking down the stairs. Both wore a look of reserved satisfaction on their faces as they nodded their acknowledgement to me.

Well, we've looked over every place we could here...

"Nothing else to do but wait, I guess," I said. "Let's go to the cafeteria."

And so we sat down and waited. It was about ten minutes until a group of ponies entered, and another ten before everypony was finally present.

"Alright, we're all here," I counted again just to be sure. "So, did anypony find anything we could use to escape?"

"Mostly, I tried to discover who is responsible for imprisoning us all here," Luna began, looking pensive. "A robot as advanced as Monokuma simply does not build itself, therefore we can only assume somepony is controlling him! ...But, I've found nothing, I'm afraid."

"Um, our rooms are rather nice," Fluttershy spoke quietly. "But Discord and I found out that they're completely soundproof..."

"Aye, if somepony were to sneak inside when you weren't looking, you could scream your lungs out but everypony else would be none the wiser," he agreed, his own lungs sliding out of his mouth as he spoke before inhaling them back inside his body, crossing both his upper and lower limbs and standing on his tail.

"Oof... that's not promising," said Redheart.

"There was a room for each of us... I think it's safe to assume that whoever's behind this thinks we'll be here for a while," nodded Flam.

"The Scrollwork Room was locked. Even my magic wasn't enough to get inside," Celestia sighed. "If only I could send out a scroll for help..."

"And the upper floors are all blocked off by the same barrier as outside," Rainbow added. "Trust me, I tried."

The upper floors are where the other secret tunnels are located... damn!

"WELL, WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT FOOD, AT LEAST," Bulk yelled. "I WAS CHECKING THE FRIDGE IN THE KITCHEN WHEN MONOKUMA SUDDENLY APPEARED."

"He did?!" Lightning growled, slamming one front hoof into another angrily.

"YEAH. HE SAID THAT THE FOOD'LL BE RESTOCKED AUTOMATICALLY EVERY DAY. THEN HE DISAPPEARED AS QUICKLY AS HE CAME. IT'S SO FREAKY HOW FAST HE IS!"

"...Do you have any other volume besides 'screaming'?" Fleur hissed.

"I'M NOT SCREAMING!"

"He didn't, like, try to eat you or anything?" asked Coloratura.

"If he's a robot, I don't think he even has to eat," I replied, thinking it over.

"Aww, but there's so many tasty things to eat! I bet he's just jealous that we can eat stuff and that's why he wants us all to kill each other!" Pinkie blurted out, perhaps a bit too cheerily.

"Yeaaa... don't think that's it," Redheart shook her head disdainfully. "Whatever the reason, however, he's made one thing perfectly clear: nopony is leaving this place... unless one of us dies at another's hooves..."

"And none of us are gonna kill anypony. Celestia and Luna and myself 'ave made that pretty clear," Applejack narrowed her eyes.

"But can you be certain of that?" Redheart continued. "Surely some of us have already considered that possibility."

"Not to mention four of you are immortal," Fleur glared. "That's quite unfair, don't you agree? Any of you Princesses or Discord there could simply kill us all and leave scot-free!" As soon as the words left her mouth, Celestia's face grimaced with a painful anger. But before she could make her arguement...

"Oh, don't you worry about that little detail..." that voice suddenly spoke up.

Oh, no...

*boing*

"Sure, there may be three Alicorn Princesses and a literal god of Chaos amongst you," Monokuma suddenly appeared on one of the kitchen's countertops, his butt wiggling in the air as he grabbed a bottle from a small wine rack. "But I'm all about a fair game, here. So, I've used my own magical powers and I've taken away their immortality!"

What?! I was too stunned to speak, as was Discord, who only gasped along with the other non-Alicorn ponies.

"What?!" Luna shouted in her Royal Canterlot Voice.

"No... How have you done such a thing?!" cried Celestia.

"Simple! ...But I can't tell you, of course," Monokuma smirked. Luna blinked several times before shaking her head.

"No... No, I don't believe you, vile creature. You cannot possibly be that powerful!"

...Yea, she's right... what he's claiming, that's just plain impossible...

"You know, sticks and stones may break bones, but words will leave lasting psychological damage that will never, ever heal," Monokuma sighed mournfully. "But I guess you won't believe me unless I prove it... Well then, Princess Sunbutt, how's about you do what you do best to that sun outside?"

"What about it? And I would urge you to reconsider your little nickname you chose for me," Celestia glowered.

"The clocks do say 7:37pm, and sunset was supposed to be twenty minutes ago... but your sun is still high in the sky!" he gestured. Indeed, outside the windows, the sun was directly overhead as if it were noon.

...In fact, I don't think the sun has moved at all since I woke up here...

A look of confused concern washed over Celestia's face. "Strange... I'm positive I was still guiding the sun through the sky throughout this most peculiar day..." Her elegant, ivory horn sparked to life with a golden aura as her eyes closed in concentration. Everypony watched the sun through the windows, eager to see it set.

...

...But as Celestia's gentle expression grew more and more strained, the sun stayed put. An icy, dark pit formed deep within me as the others began to murmur worriedly, and she opened her eyes in horrified surprise.

"I... It won't move... the sun will not move..." she breathed raggedly. Luna gasped, and her own horn became aglow with silvery-blue light. Her eyes cringed shut as she willed the moon to rise for the night, groaning louder and louder as it refused to answer to her.

"The moon will not move for me, either!" she cried.

"Puhuhuhu..."

"What have you done to us?! Answer me, now!" Celestia roared, her eyes boring a hole straight through the despicable bear.

"I told you! Removing your connection to the sun and moon has left you both as mortal as they come! Now you, too, can experience all the wonders and joys that getting murdered has to offer! And I did the same kind of thing for the other two, too!"

"Is... Is that why I can't...?" Discord muttered to himself, taking this revelation much better than I currently was.

H-How?! Is that why our magic hasn't worked against him?! Has my own magic been so severely weakened?! B-But I'm the Element of Magic! This c-can't be happening!

"Oh, but don't worry... I'll do your jobs for you and keep the sun and moon going," Monokuma grinned as he suddenly held up a small, black-and-white device that resembled an egg timer. "Now you'll have all the time you'll need to start plotting the unfortunate demise of one of your beloved subjects! ...If either of you happen to graduate, I'll be more than happy to give you your connection back, of course." I watched with wide-eyed curiosity as he switched the dial of the device from the white side to the black; within less than a second, the sun plummeted beneath the horizon and the moon rocketed into the sky simultaneously, instantly turning day to night. "There we are!" he nodded in satisfaction, while Celestia and Luna stared with a mixture of horror, disgust and rage.

"...They really are just like us, now..." Redheart chuckled darkly under her breath.

"Welp, now all that's left to do is wait for the killing to begin! Ooh, I'm so excited... I bet you ponies have all sorts of wonderfully inventive ways to murder the crap outta each other! Don't disappoint your Headmaster, now!" And with that remark, Monokuma hopped down from the counter and out of sight. A lack of noise coming from the kitchen confirmed that he had vanished once more.

Everypony was silent. Now that it was painfully clear that myself, Celestia, Luna and Discord could be killed off at any time, just like the others... the rush of cold fear made my body tingle. I hadn't even considered it seriously myself until now, but... before I had been somewhat convinced that we'd all make it out of here just fine, but now... I was terrifyingly vulnerable.

"...This changes nothin', ya hear?" Applejack gently but forcefully stomped her hoof on the table. "Nopony's killin' nopony, an' that's that." Before anypony could say anything else, Rainbow's face reddened as her stomach growled loudly enough for everypony to hear.

"Ehehe... I haven't eaten anything all day," she blushed as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Let's have some supper, then," Flam saw an opportunity and quickly changed the subject. "Perhaps after we've eaten, we'll be in a better mood to come up with our next move."

"Ooh! I know just the thing to cheer everypony up!" Pinkie shouted as she leapt out of her seat and began bouncing towards the kitchen. "There was plenty of chocolate in here when I checked!"

"Eh, ah'll go cook, too," Applejack grinned as she shook her head. "Somepony's gotta make sure we get enough greens to keep up our strength!"

"I GOTTA HAVE HIGH-PROTEIN FOOD," Bulk yelled as he got up and followed Applejack. "IT'S IMPORTANT IF I WANNA STAY IN SHAPE. THESE MUSCLES DON'T BUILD THEMSELVES, YOU KNOW!"

"I have always wished to learn how to cook!" Luna stood up and trotted towards the kitchen as well. "Sister forbade me from using the Royal Stove years ago..."

"That's because the last time you tried to cook eggs, you nearly burned the castle down!" Celestia protested as she hastily got up and ran after her sister. I couldn't help but feel deeply relieved as my companions here relaxed and returned to their usual selves so quickly. Not to mention that Flam was right; we'd all feel more clearheaded after a nice meal.

It was nearly Nighttime when the food had been cooked and eaten with gusto. Even the finicky Fleur had picked at her plate with much less rudeness as usual. After levitating the used dishes and cutlery into the dishwasher and turning it on for the night, we took note of the late hour.

"The Great and Powerful Trrrixie... has a suggestion to make."

"Yes?" I replied.

"I've been thinking... the rule that talks about Nighttime... it would be best if we all agreed to stay in our rooms until morning. Though the rule says nothing about staying up, I believe it would put everypony's mind at ease if nopony went sneaking about during the night."

"A wise decision," Celestia nodded. "Even though our doors lock, it would certainly allow for a more restful night's sleep." I and most of the others were quick to agree to this impromptu rule amongst ourselves. However...

"Whatever... I'll be in the Spa, trying to forget about this horrid day," Fleur huffed.

"As Princess of the Night... I don't believe I'll be able to sleep. I'll see if I am still able to reach the Realm of Dreams... if not then I'll use the time to continue searching for a way out of our predicament," Luna bowed respectfully.

"Feh. You can't tell me what to do..." Lightning grumbled.

...Well... I'm sure Luna'll keep those two in line...

"Then let's all meet in the cafeteria first thing in the morning," Celestia continued. "From there, we'll make plans for the day to try and find an escape from this dreadful confinement."

After several agreements and a couple of noncommittal grunts, most of us retired to our rooms, as did myself. I made sure to lock the door behind me before setting the key and my e-Handbook down on the desk beside my bed. I had just grabbed a towel from a shelf in the bathroom and was about to step inside the shower when I heard the monitor switch on by itself.

*ding dong, bing bong*

Monokuma cleared his throat as he sat on a swiveling office chair with a full wine glass in paw, his cheek resting on his other. Behind him were several monitors, each showing footage from one of the many surveillance cameras watching our every move.

"Ahem... This is a school announcement. It is now 10pm. As such, it is officially Nighttime. Soon the doors to the Cafeteria will be locked, and entry at that point is strictly prohibited."

Hm... probably to restock the food, like Bulk said...

"Okay then... sweet dreams, everyone! Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite..." And with that abnormally-cheery bedtime wish, the monitor switched off. My fur bristled as a cold chill shot through my spine.

But as soon as I stepped inside the shower, the hot water melted my worries away, and the soap carried them down the drain. Warm and comfortable I crawled into the bed, finding it very soft and cozy, almost like lying atop a cumulus cloud.

There's nothing to worry about... some of us might be a bit uptight, but nopony's going to kill anypony... we'll all escape from here... together.

My eyes grew heavy, and I drifted off into sleep.

Mortal Peril, Mortal Ignorance - Daily Life 2

*ding dong, bing bong*

I was woken up by the same chime that had heralded Nighttime. Once again, Monokuma sat in his office chair, wine in paw with his background of monitors. His voice was far too cheerful for the early hour, even for me. Furthermore, it was still as dark as midnight outside the bedroom window.

"Goooood morning, everyone! It is now 7am and Nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!"

As the monitor flickered off, the moon in the sky plummeted like a rock in a pond, and the sun shot up into the air like a deflating balloon. The sudden change in lighting made me groan in pain as I snapped my eyes shut and rolled over in response. Was this really how we were going to be woken up every morning from now on?

But I was quickly distracted by my stomach growling.

Ah, right. Princess Celestia wanted us all to meet in the cafeteria first thing in the morning. I'd better not be late!

Aside from the Royal Sisters, I was the first to arrive. Having lived with her for the vast majority of my fillyhood, I could clearly recognize when Celestia had had a restless night, despite her regal, aloof appearance. Princess Luna looked much the same, perhaps even a little bit more so.

Surprisingly, a large breakfast had already been prepared for us. All manner of pancakes, waffles, pastries, fruits and cereals were laid out like a buffet, accompanied by a modest assortment of syrups, jams, jellies and juices. Separate pitchers for coffee, tea, milk and cream sat beside the plates, silverware and stacks of mugs and glasses. I was just about to ask Celestia where this feast had come from when Pinkie Pie bounced her usual, happy self into the cafeteria.

"Time to eat, doo doo, doo doot doo doot, time to eat, doo doo, doo- oh! Somepony already made breakfast! Guess I don't have to anymore!"

"I came here as soon as the doors unlocked," said Luna. "Monokuma did not unlock them himself, so I assume he can do so remotely... but anyway, all this food was already set out for us when I arrived. I assume it's because we cannot go in there any earlier than 7am, and he wants us to... 'make the most of this wondrous day', I suppose," she finished with a groan.

Makes sense to me... although depending on how long we're all stuck here, surely we'll grow bored of the same stuff over and over.

Soon the others began trickling in, one after the other. Some ponies were more cheerful than others; Lightning Dust, the last to arrive, brought her pillow with her, set it on the table and slammed her face into it as she sat down.

"Uuuuugh... way too fuckin' early for this shit," she mumbled.

She was also the last to grab herself some food. Once we had all sat back down, Celestia gently cleared her throat.

"Did you all sleep well, given the circumstances? Nothing sinister to report, I hope," she began.

"As well as I ever have... pretty nice bed, if I'm honest," said Rarity.

"I have... rather unfortunate news..." Luna sighed. "It would appear that Monokuma has not only severed my connection with the Moon, but with the Realm of Dreams as well."

"That bear sure thought of everything, didn't he..." Flam grumbled.

"So, I used the Nighttime to search for clues, anything that could possibly help us... I've still yet to find anything, I'm afraid."

"I see... well, nothing to do but get comfy and adapt to life here for the time being, then," Nurse Redheart leaned back in her chair.

Lightning Dust raised her head from her pillow. "You might be okay with living in this dump, but no fuckin' way am I staying here! I want out of this bullshit!"

"Can't even get properly blitzed in this fucking place, I can't believe it..." Fleur tutted. "All that stupid bear has in that warehouse is cigarettes, and I have to smoke in my own room like a filthy commoner."

"Well, that's just being polite, you know," replied Coloratura.

"Well shit, you light one up in the Spa when you have it all to yourself, and he went and sprayed me with a fire extinguisher! Do you know how long it took me to get that shit out of my mane?!" I glanced around the table; nearly everypony was glaring at Fleur, while she remained blissfully unaware. "And THEN he went and made a fucking rule about it... like, okaaay, goooood..."

"How selfish of you. Some of us would also like to use the Spa, without it smelling like an ashtray!" Rarity huffed. I pulled out my e-Handbook and looked at the rules to see for myself. And sure enough...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Smoking is prohibited on school grounds, except for your own dormitory. This means you, Fleur.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hmph, like I give a shit," Fleur pouted. "You should all be thrilled that a pony like me is stuck here with you lowlifes. Giving me hooficures, serving me drinks whenever I want them... I bet that charlatan over there is already plotting to sell everypony my bathwater once we get out!"

"...Say, that's not a bad idea..." Flam rubbed his chin as he stared off into space.

Oooookay...

"Well, if you're as popular and beloved as you think you are," Redheart interjected, unimpressed, "...then I'm sure the authorities are already searching for you."

"Oh! Of course!" Trixie sat up. "So many important ponies suddenly vanishing, Princesses included, and the Sun and Moon moving around in the sky like they are... I bet all of Equestria is looking for us!"

"Yes... the entirety of the Royal Guard should be losing their minds over where you two might've gone, eh?" Discord pointed towards Celestia and Luna.

"Hahahaha... the Royal Guard? Seriously?!"

*boing*

Just as the faintest glimmer of hope began to shine in our eyes, Monokuma suddenly appeared from beneath the table and hopped on top of it, threatening to knock over a few glasses of water and juice. Most of us shouted in surprise, but our expressions quickly soured.

"The Royal Guard? You're putting your faith in the Royal Guard?!" Monokuma giggled.

"Yea? What about it?!" Rainbow scowled.

"You guys... seriously... do you understand what role the Royal Guard is meant to fill? All they're good for is being a foil, playing against a villain or an anti-hero or evil organization. The bad guys come along and destroy them, and that shows just how badass they really are! Are you sure you wanna rely on such an unreliable group of losers?"

Celestia's face turned purple with rage. "My Royal Guard is made up of Equestria's most elite soldiers! Surely you must've taken us all by surprise, as you never would have bested them in a fair fight!"

"...Although, he does have a point," Pinkie Pie mumbled under her breath as she nonchalantly ate her cereal, unaware that everypony had turned their attention to her. "I can't even count how many times the Royal Guard was totally useless during all our season finales and openers on the fur of my right foreleg."

...Pinkie... oof.

"Er... I don't think it's been quite that many times..." I spoke up nervously, mostly trying to keep Celestia's false hope alive.

"...Nah, she's kinda right about that," Rainbow shrugged.

"Yep. They're no help at all," Fluttershy agreed softly, shaking her head. Monokuma, for once, was stunned silent for a moment.

"Oh... well... uh, anyway, I mean, come on! If you really, REALLY wanna get out of here, all you gotta do is kill!"

"And we ain't gonna!" Applejack stomped her hoof.

"Yea, yea, you say that now... Lemme tell ya, this here ain't my first rodeo, partner," Monokuma swayed as he made a mockery of Applejack's accent. "I've been running these killing games for a while now, and even though it's only been a day, I know just the thing to get those murder juices flowin'!"

"There is nothing you could possibly say or do that would make us want to kill each other!" I retorted.

"Isn't there?" Monokuma giggled. "It's a little thing called 'motive'. And I've got the perfect one to kick-start this killing game!" He then triumphantly held up the egg-timer device used to control the Sun and Moon in the Princesses' stead. "Listen up, everyone! The first student to graduate from the School of Despair... will also become the new Supreme Leader of all of Equestria!"

Everypony gasped in horror, Celestia and Luna the most troubled of all.

No... impossible...

"You... you can't do that!" Luna shouted.

"Oh, but I can," Monokuma grinned.

"But Celestia and Luna are our Princesses! You can't just... usurp them like that! It's... unthinkable!" Coloratura wailed.

"Sure you can! They're mortal now, after all. One quick little murder and bam! Look at you. You're the Princess, now!"

"No!" I cried. "They've ruled benevolently over us for over a thousand years! We can't just-"

"Precisely! Isn't it time another pony takes over? A thousand years of the same old thing... it bores me to tears! But you guys, any one of you could switch things up! Just think of all the laws you could enact that benefit only yourself!"

"No!" I choked on a sob as I kept repeating that word. An Equestria without Celestia or Luna? Madness! But even as I sat horrified, I looked around at my fellow ponies. Though they appeared equally appalled, I couldn't help but wonder what exactly they were thinking... Some more so than others...

I... no, no! Nopony would even dare! What would happen to them when they got out and the rest of Equestria learned about this?! No... no...

"Why..." Fluttershy whimpered. "What did we ever do to deserve this? Why are you doing this? What do you want from us?!"

"...What do I want from you? Well, if you must know..." Monokuma paused for a moment before his red eye flashed, and he revealed a wicked grin. "...Despair. That's all."

...Despair...?

"If you want to know more than that, you'll have to figure it out for yourselves. Do whatever you need to uncover the mystery of this school. I won't stop you... 'cuz to be honest, it's entertaining as heck watching you guys search so desperately for answers! So... I guess I want amusement from you, too."

Everypony was silent. Celestia and Luna began to carefully eye their fellow prisoners.

"Whoo, feel that tension! So thick you could cut it with a knife! ...Of which, there's plenty for everyone in the kitchen. Puhuhuhu..." And with that final, haunting laugh, Monokuma jumped back down off the table and disappeared beneath it. He was already gone as soon as I ducked my head underneath to look.

"That little fiend!" Rarity gasped.

"Does he even realize the ludicrousness of his offer?" Luna frowned. "Or the repercussions?! Centuries of democracy and the trust of the ponies are now at stake!"

"He can't do that... he can't do that!" Trixie grabbed her cheeks with her hooves. "...Can he?"

"Pretty sure he just did," Redheart sighed, her face bearing a harder expression than before.

"No, no, this simply will not stand!" Luna continued. "Sister and I are the only ones so many other royals trust! The Diamond Dogs and the Abyssinians refuse to speak to any other, and we are so close to forming a trade agreement with them both!"

"It's alright, Sister, please calm down," Celestia soothed as she wrapped a wing around Luna. "As long as we all work together, we will remain unharmed."

"I... you're right, Sister," Luna sighed as she regained her composure.

"Besides... ruling over a successful kingdom would be extremely tiresome for the singular average Pony," she added quickly. "So much bureaucracy, endless red tape, having to listen to all those pretentious nobleponies and their first-world problems... even if your rule didn't end prematurely with an angry mob beating down your door, you'd never find the time to truly relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor."

...She's trying to make becoming the Supreme Leader of Equestria sound like it's not worth it... "Supreme Leader"... just the title alone sounds ominous.

"I don't know... I'd make it a law to force everypony to dedicate a full day every week to pampering themselves until they were nearly as beautiful as I," Fleur swooned.

"...I suppose I wouldn't be opposed to a mandatory spa day once a week," Rarity mumbled under her breath, only for realization to dawn on her face. "...But then I wouldn't be around to enjoy it!"

"Your sacrifice is duly noted," Fleur grinned smugly.

"You don't have the balls," Lightning growled. "A priss like you would scream bloody murder as soon as a drop of blood touched your coat. Then we'd all know it was you."

"Would y'all stop it, already?!" Applejack shouted, commanding everypony's attention. "How many times do ah have to say it?! Nopony is murderin' nopony, an' that's THAT. Even if it means ah'll have to hogtie each and every one o' ya for as long as it takes!" At the threat, Coloratura blinked quickly a few times, her face slightly turning red.

"That... won't be necessary," Flam coughed nervously, sweat beginning to form on his brow.

"THEN WHAT SHOULD WE DO TODAY? WE'VE ALREADY SEARCHED THIS ENTIRE PLACE FOR A WAY OUT," asked Bulk.

"Well... I would suggest that you all simply remain calm," said Celestia. "Take the day to relax and perhaps continue your search at your leisure. I will continue to search for a way out, or perhaps a weakness in the barrier."

"...Or maybe begin her plot to kill us as nicely as possible so the country can continue to run..." muttered Discord. He had spent his time forming an impossible staircase out of sugar and cheese cubes, and had now set a hardboiled egg on the stairs to roll down them for eternity... or until he ate the entire structure in one distended bite.

"I shall assist you, Sister-" Luna yawned, "...but may I rest a while first? Apparently, losing one's immortality makes one very sleepy after staying up all night."

"Of course, dear Sister," Celestia smiled. But under that smile, I felt the weight of the world resting on her shoulders. It was truly the most terrible of dilemmas.

I can't even imagine how she must feel about this... to condemn us all to death so that she may continue to lead Equestria into peace and prosperity...? Or to refuse to harm any of us, but to possibly leave the fate of our country in the hooves of somepony so... vastly underqualified? And what about Luna, her beloved sister...?

Our meal was finished in uneasy silence. After rinsing my dishes and placing them in the dishwasher, I returned to my room, lost in thought.

I felt a little better after a few minutes of alone time to think. But I couldn't help but feel antsy just sitting around. I needed to do something.

I left my room and wandered around the dormitory, looking for anything to take my mind off of our predicament. However, it was only a few moments until somepony answered that unspoken call.

"Twilight! Just the pony I wanted to see!" Spinning like a top, Discord suddenly appeared in front of me - having turned into a fully two-dimensional sprite of himself, he simply spun around 90 degrees to face me.

Naturally, I screeched a little at being startled. "Gah! Don't do that!"

"Aw, poo," he replied as his body popped back into three dimensions. "But I'm bored. Everypony else is so down in the dumps about our situation, you're the first pony who hasn't thrown anything or cursed at me!"

"Well, this isn't really the time for fooling around, you know."

"Isn't it? We have all the time in the world right now. Free Time, if you will."

"But-"

"No buts! Come, let's make some minor mischief! It'll be fun...!"

Ugh...

~~~

...And so, I followed Discord around for a while as he pulled a few pranks on the others, apologizing all the way. Although I have to admit, I did giggle when he turned Fleur's coat color from white to Pantone 448 C...

~~~

"So, um..." Even though I knew there was a less than .001% chance of him truly being behind this, and even less of a chance that he'd tell me the truth if he was, I still had to ask. "You're definitely not behind this... are you?"

"Absolutely not," Discord pouted. "Really, Twilight, we've been friends for years, now. And I learned my lesson with Tirek. Do you really think I'd put you all in danger like this?"

"I mean... there have been times when you made plans for evil to come to power, only to make sure I and my friends were able to defeat it and make me feel capable..."

"What? I have no idea what you're talking about." Discord's eyes stared upwards at a halo that popped into existence atop his head as he grinned madly.

"Not to mention... this whole situation is pretty chaotic."

"It is, isn't it? I'm quite impressed, if I do say so. Even at my evilest, I daresay a game like this would have never crossed my mind. It's so wonderfully, cruelly inventive! I... I might have even developed a bit of a mancrush on that bear!"

I winced uncomfortably.

"But to include you, and Fluttershy, and all our friends in something so potentially unpredictable and deadly, and make the immortal mortal? Including myself? That's too crazy, even for me!"

My eyes went wide. An angry heat bubbled in my belly as I thought back to Equestria's last attempted destruction.

"...Unpredictable? Unpredictable?! You got three of the worst villains Equestria has ever seen to unite and almost destroy everything! Equestria, every creature, even Friendship itself! It was only because my six best students managed to unite their respective races together with us Ponies that I realized the truth, and that our magic won!"

"...But it did, didn't it?"

"That's not the point! I... I really thought that all this time, all the times my friends and I triumphed... it was just you playing with my emotions. Our emotions! I thought I wasn't strong enough, or good enough, that Friendship had no power at all. I wasn't worthy of being the Element of Magic, let alone the future ruler of Equestria."

"But you are," Discord's face grew serious. "I've seen you prove yourself many times, even when I honestly had absolutely nothing to do with whatever you were facing. And I do truly apologize for that whole mess... I saw how terrified and frantic you were when Celly and Woona first decided to spring the idea of their abdication on you, and I thought you just needed a good push to realize that you were indeed as fully capable as I knew you were... the push to end all pushes! But by the time you were planning the final Summer Sun Celebration, and when I saw how you handled all of the problems that suddenly appeared, without even a hint of panic... I wanted to stop my plans, but it was too late. I was already in too deep. And then it turned out that they had been conspiring against me... of course, I kinda figured they would, but I didn't think they'd get quite that strong."

The weight of his words were heavy. I knew this was the truth he was speaking, without a doubt in my mind.

"Seeing how poorly I had miscalculated, and seeing how close we all came to our destruction... I decided that the next time I had such a brilliant idea like that, I'd turn myself into stone first! So, please... believe me when I say that I have absolutely, positutely NOTHING to do with this crazy killing game."

"I see..." I paused. "I believe you, then. But if it wasn't you, then who in the world could come up with such a twisted game?"

Discord frowned. "I've been thinking about that myself, of course. I may have made many enemies throughout my life before you lot, but I'm quite sure none of them are this powerful, or this bloodthirsty... even if all of them got together and whipped this up-" He gasped suddenly after a moment, holding his paw and claws to his cheeks. "You don't think... this is some kind of weird crossover, do you?!

"I... don't think that's the case, no."

Well... who really knows at this point?

"At any rate, I'm not worried... our show is rated TV-Y, after all."

...Huh? Sounds like something Pinkie would say...

But Discord seemed content to leave it at that. We talked for a little while longer until parting ways.

There were still quite a few hours to kill until dinner and Nighttime. I wandered the halls aimlessly, not really sure what to do next.

My wandering eventually led me to the Student Store, a room I hadn't really paid attention to much. I opened the door, expecting a small room filled with notebooks, quills and other kinds of stationery. Instead, I found a small room crammed full of random objects to the point of bursting. Books, dolls, gummy vitamins and toy building blocks lined the shelves, along with bottles of liquid, ribbons, a convincing forgery of the Pona Lisa and a tiny set of scales. A full suit of plate armor, a Cuteceañera piñata and a tall vase stood watch behind the counter. Beside the counter sat a strange machine filled with dual-colored plastic balls the size of a small orange, decorated with black and white paint and advertising that the balls contained anything from fresh food and drinks to elaborate clothing and weapons, and even perfectly-healthy live animals, all of which were puzzlingly larger than the ball itself. While I pondered the various magic spells that would be needed in order for the machine to work as advertised, I heard somepony walk inside.

"Oh! Hello, Princess Twilight," Flam bowed his head slightly. "Say, isn't that MonoMono Machine there simply fascinating? I wonder if my brother and I could create a similar machine once I get out of here."

"It is!" I agreed. "I was just thinking about all of the spells and reagents Monokuma would've needed to make it."

"Ah! Well, how about we do a little brainstorming together, then?"

~~~

Flam and I talked about the MonoMono Machine and what magic he would require to build his own. I didn't even have to explain most of my theories; to my surprise, he was actually very knowledgeable about various high-level spells and reagents.

~~~

"Say, Twilight... may I call you just 'Twilight'?"

"Sure, I don't mind at all."

"Capital! Well... being the Princess of Friendship and all, I was wondering if you could help me with something."

Oh? Being one of a pair of con artist brothers, I'm not sure I'll like where this is going...

"What did you have in mind?" I braced myself, just in case.

"Well, as you know, Flim and I legally acquired Gladmane's Resort in Las Pegasus. All perfectly by the book, if you can believe that!"

I can't.

"Finally, we're makin' bits hoof over horn! It's everything we ever dreamed of since we were colts! And..." he paused thoughtfully, "...I think the time is right to begin giving back to the ponies that made it all possible."

"Huh?" I blinked in stunned surprise.

...I don't believe it... Flam has a philanthropic side to him...?

"Now, I know what you're thinking, Twilight. 'The World-Famous Flim Flam Brothers, they're unapologetically nonpareil!'" He puffed out his chest and held his head high, only for both to sink back down a moment later, grinning sheepishly. "...Well, nonpareil con artists, huh...? It wasn't until working with your friends that we finally found real success. And back during that War of the Bell, after what you and your friends had done for us, we felt it was only right to lend a hoof."

"Um... yes, well, thank you for your help, of course," I stumbled over my words. I didn't know whether to be honestly complimented or prepared for a long con.

"I was thinking... if there's anything you or your friends need our help with? You just let me know, and we'll take care of the rest! It's the least we can do for your indirect help in reaching our dream!"

I see... well, unless you know a way out of this school, I can't think of anything I need your help for. My friends and I have pretty much everything else covered, anyway...

"It's not really us that you should be apologizing to," I spoke after a few moments of thought. "Just how many ponies did you two swindle before you did reach your goals? If anypony, you should do something for all of them."

"Ah... yes," Flam rubbed the back of his head as he closed his eyes and sighed. "After all our resort's expenses have been paid, the bulk of our profits is being quietly distributed to charities and public works projects... but we still end up with quite the generous leftover sum for ourselves," he smiled.

"Well, that's a good start," I nodded.

"But what I meant was... it's easy to give back to the faceless masses. It's more difficult to give back to the six lovely mares that influenced our livelihoods so greatly."

"Ah."

"Well, I simply wish to make myself useful, with you and your friends as my top priority! So... are you sure there's nothing they need help with?"

"Hmm..." I sighed, thinking about my best friends. How their usual routines had been so drastically changed, their lives uprooted from beneath them. And this con artist - the apparently Ultimate Con Artist - wanted to help them? Us?

...Was this just another scam of his? Perhaps some kind of long-con revenge to be enacted after he got close to one of us? Or had he really changed? Ponies could change, after all. And I do remember that my students had told me that they were among the first from Las Pegasus to pledge their aid.

Well... if he's really sincere about this, then perhaps some poetic justice is in order.

"Oh, I know. Remember when you first arrived in Ponyville, and you used some of Applejack's orchards for the cider contest?"

"Of course! I do maintain that had the judge tasted the first barrels of what had been made, we would've won without a doubt."

"Right... well, before this whole situation happened, she had only just finished tearing out the stumps and getting the land ready to plant trees again. I'm sure if you explained yourself, she'd appreciate your help out there."

Either that, or she'll applebuck you where the sun doesn't shine.

"I see..." Flam sighed, as if disappointed, but quickly shook it off. "Well, if that's what she needs, then I'll be happy to help. And I must say... she certainly looked quite fetching after a hard contest's work making cider..."

...Yep, she'll definitely kick you. Probably more than four times.

"I knew you'd be just the pony to ask for advice! I'll go do that right now, so you know I'm serious!" Flam excused himself politely but quickly and galloped off, presumably to find Applejack.

...I may have just signed him up for a world of hurt.

It was about 8pm when I made it to the cafeteria with the others, although Celestia's sun was still high in the sky. Despite the warm, cheery, bright light, the fact that it was technically evening made it all the more unsettling. Dinner had just been set out on the kitchen's counters, so we lined up buffet-style, made our plates and drinks and sat down to eat. Conversation was minimal, at best.

After what felt like a century of silence, Pinkie slammed her hooves on the table. "Ack! It's too weird! Too many sad ponies here! We need to keep our spirits up!" Fleur groaned in annoyance.

"True... boredom and depression can weaken the mind and make survival that much harder," Redheart sighed. "But it's hard to feel joy in a situation like this."

"I think I know where this is going," Rainbow spoke up. "...You're thinking about a party, aren't ya, Pinkie?"

"Duh!" Pinkie bounced in her seat. "Like, a super-happy-and-exciting dinner party for everypony here! A 'We-Aren't-Gonna-Kill-Each-Other-No-Matter-What' party!"

"...That's the lamest fuckin' thing I've ever heard," grumbled Lightning.

"It's something to do," said Rarity. "Something to keep us busy while we wait for help, or figure out how to escape."

"And, if this party of yours is anything like when you attended the Grand Galloping Gala, perhaps the party itself will let us escape!" grinned Discord.

"Um... how did you know about that?" Fluttershy asked quietly. "That was before we all met you for the... first time."

"Celestia told me. Apparently it was a wild, debaucherous night to remember," he winked as he spoke. Celestia looked away with a noncommittal glance.

"Oh my god, don't ever remind me of that horrid night," Fleur growled. "My dress was covered in baked apples, somepony swam in the rum punch and I went deaf in one ear for a week because of a foal's recorder being blasted in my face..."

"NOW THAT SOUNDS LIKE A PARTY," said Bulk. "I'M IN!"

"Good enough fer me! Ah'll help ya in the kitchen, Pinkie," said Applejack. Coloratura, Flam and Celestia agreed to help cook as well.

"I shall make the decorations!" added Rarity.

"Ooh! May the Great and Powerful Trrrixie help?"

"Certainly!" Rarity agreed. "Juuust... don't blow anything up, alright?"

"And I... am not hanging around for this childish stupidity," Fleur pouted.

"Aww!" Pinkie's eyes watered as her mouth quivered. "Why not?!"

"Do I really need to explain myself?"

"Besides, if there's no booze, then the party's gonna bite no matter what," Lightning grimaced. "I ain't goin', either."

"Ugh, you sticks-in-the-mud," Rarity tutted.

"It's alright," Luna waved her hoof in an attempt to hold everypony's attention. "It's understandable that not everypony is in the mood for fun."

"While it would help calm you down if you attended," Celestia added, "you certainly do not have to if you wish."

"See? It's settled," Fleur smirked. "You commoners have your little hoedown. I, on the other hand, will have some actual, sophisticated fun."

"...Sitting alone in the spa and glaring like you're going to murder anypony who walks into the room?" asked Coloratura.

"Precisely. And with that, I bid you peasants adieu." Fleur stood up from her seat and haughtily walked out of the cafeteria, leaving her dishes right where they sat on the table.

"...Sheesh, what crawled up her ass and died...?" Rainbow muttered.

"Well, the rest of us can have our party," I spoke. "So, when should we start?"

We all talked for a couple hours while eating. It was agreed that the dinner party would be held from 6pm until 9pm. After everything had been planned, Nighttime was almost upon us. The table was cleared, dishes rinsed and placed in the dishwasher, and everypony left for their rooms for the night.

I was no different. After a quick shower, I settled down into my bed, with a book I had borrowed from the Student Store. It was titled "Millenium Prize Problems" and sounded fascinating at the time. I read right through Monokuma's evening announcement, and cast a simple light spell on the tip of my horn as he sent the sun plummeting and the moon rocketing.

I finished the book perhaps an hour and a half later. After having solved all of the puzzles in my mind, I extinguished my spell and drifted off to sleep.

Author's Note

Yay, self-quarantine for six weeks...

Well, let's see how many of these I can make until Animal Crossing comes out.

Mortal Peril, Mortal Ignorance - Daily Life 3

*ding dong, bing bong*

I reflexively buried my face beneath the covers as Monokuma's morning announcement played. The sudden brightness of an instant sunrise was sufficiently muddled, allowing me to wake up a little more comfortably. I braced myself for the chill of leaving my bed, hopped out and headed off to breakfast.

Breakfast was mostly uneventful. The only conversation that really took place was that of Pinkie Pie asking everypony what their favorite foods and desserts were. I offered to help, but she cheerfully waved me off and insisted that she already had plenty. Rarity also smiled and told me that with Trixie's help, decorations would take no time at all.

And so, after putting my dishes away I left the cafeteria, wondering what to do until 6pm. I wandered around the school, finding nothing that particularly interested me. I eventually went outside, hoping for the closest thing I could get to fresh air. A shadow passed over me suddenly, and I saw Lightning Dust flying around aimlessly as I looked up.

Hmm... maybe I could convince those two to attend the party? It'd sure make Pinkie happy.

"Hey! Lightning!" I called out.

"'Sup?" she replied, not even looking my way but waving a hoof in response.

...Er... now what? We're not exactly friends... we don't even know each other all that well...

"Um... wanna... hang out?" I smiled sheepishly. Lightning stopped in her tracks and hovered in place.

"What? Why the fuck you wanna hang out with me?" she finally turned to face me, eyebrows raised. I winced at her harshness.

Think, Twilight, think!

"Well... um... no reason. Just... because?"

Sigh...

There were a few moments of uncomfortable silence until Lightning finally shrugged. "Eh... alright. Not like there's anything better to do here."

~~~

Lightning and I made awkward small talk with each other for a while.

~~~

"Ugh..."

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"The fuck do you think? I wanna get out of here! I wanna go fly around and buzz by other ponies to my heart's content!"

"Oh, right..." I laughed nervously. "But... isn't flying so close to other ponies dangerous? What if you ran into them on accident?"

"Then you just dust yourself off and take off again before the other pony ever knows what hit 'em! Not my fault if they're a fuckin' klutz!"

Well... it's still your fault if they're hurt.

"And besides, if they do get pissed off, then the adrenaline really kicks in! If they're not worth my time, then I'll take off like a shot! But if they look like they pack a punch, then hell yea, fight's on! And nothin' beats winning a good fight! Especially if it's a stallion that can't handle losing to a mare...Then I'll take 'em to the closest bar, get them a few rounds on me, and it's all fuckin' good. No better way to get to know a pony, I think... that was basically how I found my Washouts."

I... that's how you make friends?!

"I see... I heard you guys did all kinds of dangerous stunts!" I tried to segue into a less-violent topic.

"Hell yea! Nothin' gets your heart pumpin' like givin' death the middle wing feather!" Lightning rubbed her chin. "...That Pegasus foal that hangs around Rainbow all the time, getting me caught on that rocket meant for her... at first I was pissed, but then I realized I'd never felt the wind rush through my mane so fuckin' fast before... I was hooked! Now all my stunts involve rockets! Multiple rockets! Even the tame ones!"

...How tame can a stunt be if it involves that many rockets?!

"Agh! Just talkin' about it makes me wanna strap a couple to myself and fly! I bet I could even beat that weeny Rainbow Crash at her Sonic Rain-Poo speeds! Then she'll have to admit I'm better than her!"

My eyebrow raised. "Why do you hate Rainbow so much?" I asked rather pointedly. "I mean, thinking back to that Wonderbolts Academy, you getting kicked out was entirely your fault."

"How can you not?!" Lightning scowled. "Look at her, thinking she's so great. 'Ooh, she pulled off a Sonic Rainboom! She's the only pony alive who can do one!' Pfah! So what?! If it weren't for her, I'd be in the Wonderbolts' A-team right now, not her!"

"...You did almost kill me with that tornado. And my friends," I glared. Lightning flinched, like she'd been hit with a sudden realization.

"Huh? That was you? ...Naaah, you're an Alicorn, that wouldn't have phased you at all."

"I didn't ascend until after that. I used to be a Unicorn."

"Oh. Shit. Well, sorry 'bout that, I guess," Lightning coughed, rolling her eyes.

"Well... nopony was hurt, so don't worry about it," I grumbled.

"Cool. I'd buy you a drink, but there ain't any booze around here... seriously, what kind of fuckin' asshole foalnaps a buncha ponies and doesn't even provide some beer to help pass the time?!

That should really be the least of your worries, right now...

We talked a little more. I learned quite a bit about Lightning Dust, in that she was an insatiable adrenaline junkie. Thinking about the whole conversation, I imagined that perhaps her misguided hate for Rainbow Dash was because she had been kicked out of an institution that would've provided her with all the thrills she could ever ask for. I resolved that if we ever spoke again, I should research topics that involved high speed, violence and alcohol first. As our conversation drew to a close, I mentioned the dinner party and how it'd be highly appreciated if she attended. At first, she groaned and rolled her eyes, but after a little wheedling she finally relented. Satisfied, we went our separate ways.

There was still a good amount of time before the party. Since I had been successful at getting Lightning to attend after all, why not Fleur?

Although, I don't think she'd have very much fun, or be all that pleasant... But, I suppose I would be remiss as the Princess of Friendship if I didn't at least try.

It wasn't hard to find the Ultimate Supermodel. Fleur was in the Spa, lounging in the hot spring pool. A towel was wrapped around her mane, and she idly levitated crudités and petit fours from a silver tray into her mouth while sipping from a large glass of ice water with cucumber and lemon slices and herbs in it. At first her expression soured as she heard me walk inside, but her face softened into demure excitement almost immediately.

"Oh, Princess Twilight Sparkle! How lovely of you to join me," Fleur spoke sweetly, although through clenched teeth. "To what do I owe this... delightful interruption?"

A shiver traveled down my spine as I carefully chose my words. "Even a Princess wishes to get away from the rabble, sometimes."

"Indeed, they can be quite bothersome, no?" Her voice and posture relaxed somewhat. "Ponies like us deserve some nice quiet time to themselves, to be pampered and troubled not by the ills of the world."

"Yes, exactly..." I trailed off as I wracked my brain in an effort to appear hoity-toity, but Fleur seemed not to notice my shortcomings.

"Ah, how wonderful it is to find a pony who knows how I feel! Come! Let us gossip."

~~~

I listened as Fleur began to ramble on about the various ponies she knew and worked with, mostly in very negative and self-important terms. Any time I tried to comment on something, she would simply talk over me...

~~~

"Oh, Princess, whatever shall I do? The longer I languish within this foul prison, the more ponies in the world forget about my beauty!"

"I... honestly wish I knew," I sighed.

"Everything I worked so hard for... and this happens to me?! I mean, seriously! What the hell did I do to deserve this?!"

...I probably shouldn't answer that.

"Ugh, if I stay in here any longer, I'll have to work my way back up the totem pole... and a top model like myself is far too sublime to stoop to that level again! The long hours, the shit pay, the lack of recognition... the lecherous old stallions I had to... escort."

"...Escort?" I asked, although I didn't really want an answer.

"To get to the top, you must do some terrible things..." Fleur sighed, her eyes dark. "...Things no proper lady should ever submit themselves to. But they promised me photoshoots, catwalks, fame and fortune... in truth, if I wanted to reach the top of the nobility... I couldn't refuse."

"Oh..." I had no real reply to this knowledge. Fleur had apparently been through some pretty horrible things... things that would scar any pony deep down. Rarity had told me of a couple of times it had happened to her, but she was easily able to defend herself and rebuff their corrupt advances. But that was Rarity; owner of her own fashion empire, not the one who only modeled the clothes, hired on by third parties. Perhaps it was no wonder she was so... unfriendly.

"But what about you?" Fleur's face molded into a devious smirk. "I wonder... just how many stallions did it take for you to get where you are?"

"Um, none," I grimaced as my ears flattened. Fleur giggled smugly.

"C'mon, I know you didn't get to start up a school about one of the most trivial subjects in Equestria without making a few... connections. What a ridiculous idea..." I felt my face growing hot, which only goaded Fleur on more. "Especially after that Chancellor Neighsay rightfully closed it down, and then it suddenly opened back up... I bet I know what else opened right up for that to happen!"

"You're completely wrong!" I spat, disgusted.

"Heehee... oh, don't be so prude, it happens to all of us!" she laughed as she levitated me a petit four. She then proceeded to call me a whore while winking.

...I take it back. The dinner party would be better off without her starting drama.

By the time I returned to my room, it was almost 5:30pm. I spent some time freshening up a little, then left for the cafeteria a full fifteen minutes early. Even from my doorway, I could smell the enticing aromas of various dishes being finished.

I heard the clattering of dishes and Pinkie's cheerful instructions as I entered the cafeteria. The tables had all been decorated with white tablecloths bordered with purple satin ribbons and flower arrangements surrounding an eternally-burning sparkler, enchanted to never burn anything or catch anypony on fire. The walls were covered in red, yellow and blue streamers, with bunches of balloons here and there. At the main table sat Celestia, making conversation with Trixie, Rarity, Rainbow, Fluttershy and Discord. Coloratura had found a karaoke machine in the warehouse and was busy setting it up in one corner with Bulk's help. Lightning Dust and Nurse Redheart were sitting by themselves a table or two over from the rest, simply watching quietly.

"Hello, Twilight," Celestia smiled as I sat down at the table beside her. "How has your day been?"

"Alright, I guess," I answered as my eyes scanned the room. I wasn't at all surprised that Fleur wasn't present, but somepony else wasn't here, either. "Where's Princess Luna?"

"She said she had a working theory on finding a weakness in the barrier." A hint of a smile crept onto Celestia's lips, but quickly faded. "She'll come, but perhaps not until later on. Either way, I'll be sure to save a plate for her."

Oh? Maybe we'll be able to leave soon! ...No, don't get ahead of yourself, Twilight. You know better than anypony that a working theory often leads nowhere...

Delighted at the news nonetheless, we made small talk until 6pm on the dot, when...

"Alright, everypony! Let's get this dinner party started!" Pinkie shouted happily. The kitchen doors burst open and Pinkie pranced into the cafeteria, balancing a tray full of hayburgers on her head. Applejack followed her, balancing a platter of roasted fruits and vegetables, and Flam was the last to exit the kitchen, holding all the other dishes in the green-apple aura of his magic. When all had been placed on the main table, there was a large pot of stew, fried grains, bread rolls, salads, even a huge punchbowl filled with a sugary, light pink liquid.

"And that's not even counting what's for dessert!" the Ultimate Party Planner beamed. It was no secret that Pinkie's baked goods were legendary all over Equestria. At the sight of all the food, even Lightning and Redheart left their lonely seats and sat down at the table. "Bon appétit!" she grinned, kissing her hoof and flicking it in the air. Flam made it his mission to personally dish out food and drink with all the infamous charm he was known for, firstly to every mare at the table. I admit, I couldn't help but blush as he poured me a glass full of punch with a sly wink. Even Applejack wasn't fully immune to his gentle-stalliony allure, and stallions are usually the very last thing on her mind.

Soon, all our troubles were forgotten as we gorged ourselves. Pinkie and her helpers had given it their all when it came to making the food as perfect as possible. No senses were spared: the dishes arranged and plated into works of art, the delicious sizzles filling the air along with the various scents, the textures and crunchiness, the sweet, salty, sour, savory and bitter flavors - all danced and mingled and swirled amongst each other perfectly. It was culinary heaven... and that was only the first course.

The cafeteria was abuzz with lighthearted conversation as Pinkie and Flam brought out the desserts, and that's when the party really started. Besides a towering Mascarpone Marzipan Meringue cake covered in enchanted fondant effigies of everypony in the school (even a strangely tame and playful Monokuma, whose head was immediately bitten off by Lightning), there were fruit pies, fruit tarts, cookies, cupcakes, donuts and candies. Coloratura walked over and turned on the karaoke machine, dragging Trixie with her to sing a duet. While the former sang with all the grace and beauty one would expect from an Ultimate Pop Idol, Trixie shouted more than she sang, eliciting cheers and laughter.

During all this, I was grabbing myself a slice of cake and some cookies when something caught the corner of my eye. It was there for only a moment, but distinguishable enough that I quickly realized what - or who - it was.

"Luna?" I trotted over towards the doorway and looked in the direction I'd seen the azure blur move. I just barely caught a glimpse of Luna's nebulous tail round the corner around Discord's room further down.

I wonder where she's going?

"Twilight! Come sing with meeee!" I heard Rarity slur. As curious as I was about Luna, and however much I wished to remind her of the dinner party, I shrugged it off and joined Rarity at the karaoke machine.

Maybe she'll be back after freshening up in her room first... or maybe she needs something from her room for her theory? Oh, well... I'm sure it's fine. Celestia's saved her a huge plate of food, anyway.

Before I knew it, 9pm was almost upon us. After Lightning and Bulk's surprisingly-rousing finale, we agreed it was best to get everything put away and spend the rest of the hour before Nighttime relaxing. We all worked together to put the leftovers away in the fridge and clean the room before finally going our separate ways. As I turned to leave the kitchen, I noticed Celestia making herself a tray with a teapot, two cups and two slices of leftover cake.

"Ah, Twilight," she spoke gently. "It has been so very long since I have been able to attend a party like that. It was really quite fun!" I smiled warmly; I knew all too well that the vast majority of "parties" Celestia had ever gone to were stuffy affairs drowned in proper etiquette.

"I'm glad, Princess," I replied. "It's just too bad Luna never made it, I'm sure she would've enjoyed herself as well."

"As am I," Celestia sighed. "But I'm sure it was only because she's trying her hardest to help us escape. Perhaps her theory is bearing fruit?"

"That would be nice." Although I didn't want to get ahead of myself, I couldn't help but feel a dim light of hope glowing slowly brighter within me.

"If you have the time, would you come to my room?" asked Celestia. "I would have discussed the matter with you at the party, but I felt it wasn't the right time nor place... besides, it has been a while since the last time we talked, just the two of us."

My heart leapt into my throat! I always so enjoyed talking with Celestia, whether it was as a student to her mentor or as equals. It wasn't uncommon back in the old days for our conversations to last long into the night.

"Oh, Twilight? Could you help us with the garbage?" Before I could answer, however, I heard Trixie yelling for me from the cafeteria. Peeking my head out, I saw her and Rarity levitating one large trash bag each, with a third one still on the floor.

"Sure, Princess! Just let me help with the trash first, then I'll be right there!"

"Of course," Celestia chuckled as she levitated her tea tray and the overloaded plate of food meant for Luna. "I'll see you in a few minutes, then."

She and I went our separate ways as I trotted back into the cafeteria and levitated the third trash bag in my magic. Rarity, Trixie and I then made our way to the garbage room. Inside the dark room, I found some bins dedicated to different kinds of recycling that were already somewhat filled, and at the far end of the room was the incinerator. One-by-one, we each dropped a bag of trash inside and activated the machine, watching the bag drop inside and the spaces between the grating turn a vibrant orange in response. There was a pipe connected to it that must've channeled the smoke outside, as there wasn't much of an odor.

"And that's that. Thank you for your help, darling," Rarity smiled. Trixie nodded.

"No problem!" I replied. We then left the room; with Rarity and Trixie leaving for their own rooms, while I took the stairs and made my way towards Celestia's room. I just barely saw Lightning enter her room and quickly wished her good night, earning a short response before the door shut. I walked past the comically-large plate of food Celestia had set by Luna's door, about two-thirds of it obscured by a silver cloche on top with the rest sticking out. I saw Rainbow as she flew up from the floor below and into her room; we bid each other goodnight before she disappeared inside.

I smelled something strange as I rounded the corner before passing by Fleur's room. It was slightly sweet and savory, much like the roasted fruits and vegetables from earlier. I was pretty full, however, so the thought of even more food made me slightly nauseous. Perhaps Celestia decided she wanted one more serving before bed? She often did that when I was her student, and it wasn't like anypony could tell her no.

Finally I reached Celestia's room. Politely, I rang the doorbell and waited for her to open the door.

...

Nothing happened. I rang the doorbell again, perhaps she had been in the bathroom.

...

Again, nothing. I tried knocking this time. "Princess? I'm here."

Oh, wait... soundproof doors, duh.

I grabbed the doorknob in my magic and turned it, finding it unlocked. "Princess?" I called out as I otherwise quietly entered the room. Celestia's room was rather regally decorated, with one particularly lavish red velvet chaise lounge, a spare set of her regalia on the desk, and a dawn-colored canopy above her bed, with matching curtains that billowed in the open window's breeze. And the floor-

At first I couldn't comprehend what I was seeing. But the second I finally did, my breath died in my throat.

Something laid on the floor in Celestia's room. A figure, bloody, burned and blackened. Its legs stuck at odd angles into the air as it lay on its back, covered in ash and gore. Its entire barrel was totally mangled, as if a monster had grabbed it in the middle and tore it in half with its bare claws. Charred, ripped intestines spilled out of its belly as blood and bile pooled and coagulated in the carpet underneath it. The singed flesh and fat around the gaping tear extended from the bottom of the figure's throat all the way down to its inner left hindleg, smoking and melted. The face was melted down to the bone in some places, the remaining body parts fused and twisted into such agony it was unrecognizable; the mane had been scorched off. But its wings were mostly intact, white feathers scattering like ashes in the draft of the open door.

I looked more closely at the hindleg, and saw not only the tail, but also the Cutie Mark underneath the blood.

I realized what that sweet, savory scent I had smelled truly was.

I screamed.

Princess Celestia, the Ultimate Diplomat, lay dead before my very eyes.

Author's Note

And now, we get to the part I'm most worried about writing... sorry if it takes a while.

Mortal Peril, Mortal Ignorance - Deadly Life 1

My vision swirled. My body felt cold and leaden. I couldn't stop screaming, even as my breath finally gave out. The sight of my former mentor and the beloved Solar Princess of Equestria clawed its way through my eyes and buried itself in my brain. The world seemed to lose all color except for the vivid tones of gore, and time felt like it had slowed to a crawl.

"Twilight?! What's wrong?! Why-" Nurse Redheart was the first to enter the room, quickly stopping dead in her tracks. "Oh! Oh... oh no..." She covered her muzzle with a hoof, trembling in shock.

"What's all the screaming about? What's going on?!" Discord and Fluttershy were the next to enter a few moments later. As soon as their eyes laid upon Celestia's body, they froze as well.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Fluttershy screamed her lungs out before promptly fainting.

"GAAAAH! Oh gods, no, Celly!" Discord's body immediately lost all of its color. His chalk white form took a few steps closer, but just as he was about to touch Celestia's foreleg to confirm, a chime suddenly blared on the speakers as the monitor in the room flicked to life.

*ding dong bong bing!*

Monokuma appeared, still seated in his office chair, still holding a glass of wine. Though his expression never changed much, he was clearly excited. "A body has been discovered!" he gleefully proclaimed. "All students - the living ones, that is - please gather in the gym for further instructions! If you're marked absent, then there will be punishments across the board!" After that statement, the monitor shut off.

"What?! He wants us to go to the gym at a time like this?!" Redheart glared.

"I'm afraid we have no choice..." Discord sighed as he picked up an unconscious Fluttershy in his arms. "If he's capable of doing... that... to Celestia..."

I heard the doors from the rest of the dormitory open, and everypony talking in hushed whispers as they made their way to the gym. As Rainbow Dash and Coloratura passed by Celestia's room, they peeked inside.

"Oh, gods, oh no..." Coloratura trembled violently, tears threatening to stream down her face.

"Oh... shiiiiiit..." Rainbow gulped.

"GAH, FUCK!" Fleur slammed her room's door open, rubbing her eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Redheart, trotting over to her.

"Aaaaagh fuck, shit, fuck, shit, fuck, shitfuck, fuckin' fuck..." Fleur cursed as she continued to rub her eyes.

"Did something get in your eyes?" Redheart asked again.

"Fffff... no, at least... I don't think so. There was this super fucking bright light suddenly... UGH. If I'm blind now, I'm gonna be soooo fucking pissed the FUCK off..."

Redheart guided Fleur down the stairs as they left for the gym. Rainbow had to pull me away from Celestia's side, and I reluctantly walked after her as Discord carried Fluttershy. She might've tried to say something sympathetic or encouraging, but all I could hear was the ringing of my own ears.

Monokuma... he really did take away our immortality... oh, Princess Celestia... who could have done this to you...?!

At last, we gathered in the gym. I tried my hardest to calm myself while Fluttershy woke up, sobbing into Discord's chest. The hushed whispers quickly grew in volume and terror as one by one, everypony realized who hadn't shown up.

"Um... where's Princess Celestia...?" Trixie gulped.

"SOMEPONY ACTUALLY KILLED SOMEPONY ELSE?!" Bulk shouted. "WHERE'S PRINCESS CELESTIA?!"

"Sister... where's my sister?!" Princess Luna paced frantically around the gym, trying her hardest to hold herself together.

"That bastard... I bet Monokuma killed her!" Lightning Dust snarled angrily. "Where are you, you murdering asshole?!"

*boing!*

"I would never do that! If you can believe anything, you can believe that!" We all turned around, surprised at the little bear's sudden appearance in the middle of the floor. "Unless someone violates a school regulation, I absolutely will not interfere! I can promise you, I won't do anything that goes against the purpose of your school life here... I'm famous at safari parks throughout the world for following the 'Bear-Times-One' rule!" he giggled.

"You expect us to believe that?!" Rainbow roared. "If it wasn't you, then who?!"

"You already know the answer!" Monokuma grinned smugly. "The one who killed her is... one of you!" None of us had a reply for that. I almost broke down into tears just from the suggestion.

No... it can't... one of us... one of us... killed... Princess Celestia...?

"Hmm? What's the matter?" Monokuma tilted his head. "You guys all look like you're about to see a dove get shot up with a Gatling gun! ...Don't you remember what I told you when this all began? One of you decided to kill Princess Celestia so you could graduate!" he laughed menacingly. "Someone's just following the rules, there's nothing wrong with that!"

"You're... you're lying... this can't be true..." Luna dry-heaved once and stared at the ground.

"Of course he's lying!" I finally regained control of my sanity. "There's no way one of us would've killed her!"

"Nope. Sorry... one of you is now a bona fide killer," Monokuma smiled. "Perhaps the one who did it could testify to that little fact...?"

Without thinking, I glanced quickly around at everypony. Each wore the exact same look on their faces: fear, suspicion, panic, confusion.

"I... I... no... c-can't b-b-believe..." Fluttershy sobbed.

"Somepony... actually killed somepony..." Luna spoke with a growl.

"I had hoped it wouldn't come to this..." Redheart sighed heavily. "Some ponies sure are capable of terrifying things."

"Now wait just a fuckin' minute!" Lightning yelled. "How do we know he's telling the truth?!"

"Hold on," Rarity cleared her throat. "What did this hideous stuffed animal say earlier? If one of us really did kill Princess Celestia, that pony gets to graduate from the school and leave... right?"

"Huh?" Monokuma's ears perked up.

"Yea... he did say that..." Fleur leered. At this, Monokuma began to laugh even more maniacally than before.

"Puhuhuhu... puhuhuhuhu... poohohohoho... BWAAAhahahahahaha!"

"Uh... why are you laughing...?" Rainbow asked timidly. Monokuma struggled to get a hold of himself long enough to explain.

"Puhu... it's 'cuz... naive... You're just so naive! You think it's really that easy? You can just kill someone and waltz on outta here? You're super naive! Devilishly naive! HELLISHLY NAIVE!" he laughed again, his red eye glowing. "...No, no, no... the real thing has just begun."

The... real thing...?

"Now, are you ready?! Allow me to explain the second part of the rule regarding graduation! Just like I explained before, you must kill someone if you want to leave. However... even if you do that, there's still one more part to the agreement you have to uphold, remember?" My mind traveled back to the School Regulations section of the e-Handbook.

"...You're... referring to Rule #7 of the School Regulations... right?" I whimpered, remembering the words all too well.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Anyone who kills a fellow student will become "blackened" and graduate, unless they are discovered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"...If you are the blackened that committed the murder, you can't be found out by the others."

"Bingo! It's not enough to just kill someone. You have to actually get away with it!" Monokuma grinned. "Which naturally means you need a system in place to assess whether or not it's been gotten away with! So... a certain amount of time after a murder has taken place, a class trial will begin!"

Of course! Just like... normal society. A trial!

"Yep! It'll begin a few hours after the murder. Everyone will gather together, including the blackened who committed the murder. And they and the spotless students will all engage in one big debate showdown! During the trial, you'll have to present your arguments about who you think the blackened is, and once everything comes to an end, the outcome will be decided by popular vote! If the answer you've arrived at is correct? Only the one who disturbed your peace will be punished. The rest may continue their communal life. However... if you choose poorly? Then the one who got away with murder will survive, and the rest of you will receive your punishment! Which, of course, means your school life will come to an end!"

As Monokuma giggled, my blood turned to ice in my veins. I could only guess what "punishment" meant in this context, but I knew it wasn't good. And if we failed to condemn one pony to their fate, all of us would be punished instead?! My heart began to pound so hard it threatened to break my ribcage.

You... you... monster...

"So... um... what exactly is this 'punishment' you keep talking about...?" Pinkie Pie gulped. "I hope it's just a spanking..."

"Oh! Well, to put it simply..." Monokuma shrugged. "...It's execution!"

Yep... I knew it...

Everypony immediately shouted and screamed their protests.

"WHAT?!" Trixie shrieked.

"Ex... Execution?!" coughed Rarity.

"Um... by 'execution', you don't surely mean..." Flam trailed off weakly. Monokuma's red eye glowed again as a deranged smile spread across his face.

"Execution is... execution. Ex-e-cution! Electric chair, bzzt bzzt! Poison gas, cough cough! Torn apart like a paper plane in a hurricane!" Sweat began dripping down my mane as I imagined the gruesome fates that possibly awaited us.

"Alright... so..." Applejack stammered. "...If'n we get the culprit right, only they die... but if'n we get it wrong... all the rest of us get... e-executed?"

"What a smart little burro you are!" Monokuma mocked. "Look at you, implying you didn't do it without actually saying it! So, it's basically what the outside world calls a 'lay judge' system, or an inquisition-type thing! Which means you'll be deciding who you think the killer is. But judge carefully... because all your lives are on the line! Okay, let me just add the rule I just described to your handbook. Make sure to keep it in mind!" A moment later, I heard multiple soft pings in the air, notifying us all that the rule had been added.

"No... no!" Lightning reared up. "I won't do this! I refuse to fuckin' do this! It was clearly you, you fucking monster!" As she protested, the facsimile unicorn horns on the nearby cameras began to glow an ominous red. I easily sensed that the magic gathering on the horns was a deadly spell, meant to maim and cause as much suffering as possible until the victim eventually perished from blood loss.

"Lightning, settle down! The cameras!" I warned. Rainbow shot over to Lightning and restrained her. She struggled a little, but after looking Rainbow and myself in the eyes, sighed and stood still. To my relief, the horns ceased their glow.

"Smart. Now you see just how serious I am..." Monokuma sneered, his eye glowing the same crimson color as the horns had previously. "Defy me, and you get shot full of holes, exploded, buried alive, disintegrated... et cetera. So if you don't want that to happen to you, you'd best obey those school regulations!"

Everypony gulped. We had no response to this frightening display of power. As much as I hated to admit it, Monokuma had us all completely under his control, under penalty of death.

"Anyway... I have something to give you to help you in your search for the blackened!" From behind his back, Monokuma produced fifteen identical black folders, decorated with a little red and a number 1. "This little file has all the information I've gathered about the death in question. I like to call it... the Monokuma File! ...I mean, naturally you guys aren't experts at this kind of thing, so you can only do so much with a corpse. So instead, I've gathered up everything I know about the circumstances and cause of death."

"Cause of death...?" Redheart questioned. "How would you know without a proper autopsy?"

"What's that? How do I know the cause of death, you ask? Cuz the surveillance cameras picked up the whole thing! I got to see it all go down!" For some reason, this revelation sickened me even more.

"You... you saw my sister's killer...?" Luna cried, tears streaming down a furious face.

"Of course I did! If I didn't, I couldn't possibly pass a fair and accurate judgment during the trial, now could I?" Monokuma stifled his giggling.

"That's... not exactly reassuring..." Flam muttered.

"Now then, please put your full effort behind your investigation! After all, you don't have any choice but to give it your best shot! ...Seriously. You don't have a choice. ...Okay, so we'll meet up for the class trial... in a little while!" And with that, Monokuma set the files down in a neat pile and disappeared quickly through a trap door in the floor before we could say anything else.

And nopony said anything else for quite some time. I couldn't even will myself to form words. We were left stunned, confused, terrified... terrified at the fact that one of us... had actually killed... and that if we didn't find out who had killed Princess Celestia, we would all die. It was a situation that more-or-less forced us to look at each other with suspicion... for myself, the Princess of Friendship, it was the worst situation imaginable.

Finally, Redheart broke the silence. "Alright, now's not the time to panic. We must begin this... investigation."

"She's right," Flam sighed. "If we do nothing, then all of us will meet our beloved Princess's fate. Cooperation is paramount!"

"But... somepony... killed Princess Celestia! One of us!" Coloratura trembled. "If we all go, then who's to say the killer won't mess up the investigation behind our backs?" Immediately I thought of ways to counter her fears, as they were entirely valid. If the killer truly wished to leave and didn't care whether the rest of us lived or died, they would try everything in their power to misdirect us.

"I never took the actual licensing test, but I've seen enough corpses in my line of work to perform a proper autopsy," said Redheart.

"Wait a minute!" Fleur glared. "What if you're the killer? Then you could just make up any kind of supposed death for Celestia!"

"I may not be terribly fond of my fellow ponies, but when there's a job to do, I do it with the utmost respect and dignity, regardless of who they are," Redheart glared back. "...But I do see what you mean. We should have somepony guard the crime scene and the body to ensure against tampering... hm, make that two, actually."

"Ah'll do it," Applejack sighed. "Bulk, how 'bout you help me? Between the two of us, anypony wantin' to mess with the crime scene'll sure think twice."

"OKAY," Bulk shouted with concern. "I DON'T THINK I'D BE TOO GOOD AT INVESTIGATING, ANYWAY. I'M NOT THAT SMART..."

"Aww, now don't say such things about yourself like that," Fluttershy comforted.

"Let's each grab one of these Monokuma Files," said Rarity. Everypony took one from the pile with trepidation, and nopony dared to open it just yet. Meanwhile, Monokuma's Nighttime announcement played on the monitors, letting us know that the sun had so unnaturally set. I sighed, closed my eyes and steeled my nerves, stepping forward and garnering the attention of everypony present.

"Alright... let's go."

Minutes later, we all piled inside Celestia's room. Those who hadn't seen the charred corpse of their beloved ruler... quickly regretted it. Seeing it- her again... it took everything I had to not break down crying.

"GAAAAAAH! SHE REALLY IS DEAD!" Bulk screamed hysterically.

"Oh, fuck... fuckin' hell..." Lightning stammered, terror visible in her eyes.

"The Great and Powerful Trrrixie! ...Is going to be sick..." she moaned as she swayed on her hind legs while covering her mouth, her eyes watering.

"Ugh... so unsightly..." Fleur muttered with the utmost disgust, turning up her nose. Meanwhile, Luna shuffled slowly towards her beloved sister, tears in her eyes that were quickly evaporating from her fury.

"Sister... who could have done this to you..." she sniffled. "...Whomever has done this... once I find out, I WILL EXECUTE YOU MYSELF!" she finished with a Royal Canterlot Voice roar.

"Now, Princess, before we can get to that part," Redheart interjected, "we need to find clues for this trial... Ugh, I can't believe I'm saying this," she shivered uncomfortably.

"Right... she's right," Pinkie gulped. "Um... how're we gonna do that?"

"It does seem like a frightfully daunting task, I agree..." said Rarity. My mind was already scanning over the numerous books I'd read over my lifetime; at least a few of them had been crime novels.

"Well..." I started. "First we should search the crime scene, I think. Then we'll need to collect everypony's alibis for the time of the murder... and we'll need to search the school top to bottom for possible clues."

"Then let's all split up and go look!" yelled Rainbow.

"Wait!" Flam shot his hoof up. "In pairs, at least... that way we protect against any possible tampering."

"Yes, good thinking," I nodded.

"Everypony buddy up!" Pinkie chirped, electing to sidle up next to Rarity. Everypony began to wander into pairs, save for Fleur.

"Ugh, I can't be seen with any of you peasants..." she grumbled. "...I'll just stay here."

"Fine, just don't touch anything," Redheart muttered, already inspecting the body. There was an uncomfortable silence as most of the pony pairs meandered out of the room to search for evidence. As I wondered who I would pair up with, I noticed Luna hadn't moved from where she stood. Her muscles shivered as she stared with forlorn rage at her sister's corpse, eyes crying and boiling at the same time. As much as it hurt me to know that my beloved mentor was no longer with us, I knew the pain that her sister felt was far worse.

"Hey, Luna..." I spoke quietly. But before I could say anything else, Luna erupted with a howl of pure, agonizing sorrow. Her ethereal mane spiked and swirled furiously, darkening until black as night itself.

"YOU... FIEND!" she snarled. "I WILL FIND WHOMEVER HAS DONE THIS!" And before anypony could even react, she threw herself out of the open window and flew away out of sight.

"Hey, wait! Luna!" I called out, but it was no use. She was already gone.

...Guess I'm on my own...

*Investigation Start*

...I didn't know how trustworthy it was, but it'd be a mistake to not look at the file Monokuma had given each of us. I flipped it open, discovering a picture of Princess Celestia's head shot inside, with a hot-pink X over her face and the word "deceased" beneath her... just reading the word made me feel like screaming all over again.

"Victim is Princess Celestia, Ultimate Diplomat," it read. "The victim has suffered 3rd and 4th degree burns over 70% of their body, mostly concentrated in the thoracic, abdominal and facial regions. There is no gradient of lesser burns, meaning that the victim was hit by one single, powerful blast. Time of death estimated to be 9:15pm."

"Even though she's right here... ah still can't believe it..." Applejack sighed, wiping a tear from her cheek.

"WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO..." Bulk shivered. Though it was his job alongside Applejack to guard the body, he was on the floor curled into a ball, slowly rocking back and forth while his teeth chattered.

"...Actually, that's just about exactly my own diagnosis," Redheart sighed. "Nasty way to go... if she had somehow survived this, she'd be begging for death, anyway."

"Oh? So you agree with the Monokuma File?" I asked.

"Yea... so far, it seems legit. Though it'd be nice if it said what exactly caused the wound."

I felt sick at the thought, but it needed to be done. My horn flared to life as my magic gently enveloped Celestia's body, searching for residual traces of whatever had killed her. What I sensed felt like magic, but far, far more powerful than any I had ever felt before. It even eclipsed the combined forces of Celestia's, Luna's, Discord's and my own magic when we tried to fight Monokuma for our freedom when this all started.

"It was magical in nature, that much I can tell you," I said. "But whatever it was, it was extremely strong, stronger than anypony else's magic here."

"Even your own?" Redheart asked emotionlessly.

"Especially my own," I frowned.

"I see..." she put a hoof to her chin. "I wonder... just how much we can trust that bear and his word..."

"I wouldn't put it past him to have lied," Fleur seethed. My horn glowed as I willed some parchment and a quill into existence, quickly scribbling down the evidence. Then I remembered something.

"Hey, Fleur... didn't you say you saw a bright light just after we... found Celestia?"

Fleur snorted, as if offended. "Ugh, yea... fuck, I still have spots in my eyes from that," she hissed. "Wait, why are you asking me things?! Are you accusing me of something I had no part in?!"

"No, not at all," I shook my head. "What were you doing just before that?"

"Oh... drying off in my room, smoking a cigarette, enjoying myself before going to bed for the night. A mare needs her beauty sleep, after all."

"Did you see where the light came from?"

"Not really... I was looking out the window, though not really at anything... and then FUCK I'M BLIND. I'm surprised I managed to stumble out the door after that charming little message from that stupid bear."

"So... you saw the light just before the announcement?" I racked my brain trying to remember exactly when it had played.

"Yea, I guess..."

"Do any of you remember exactly when the announcement was played?" Fleur, Bulk and Applejack shook their heads, but Redheart's eyes lit up in realization.

"Yes, I was actually looking at a clock in the kitchen when I heard it play. It was 9:17pm."

"I see..." I then redirected my attention back towards Fleur. "So, how about this evening? You weren't at the dinner party, so what were you doing then?"

"Ugh, nothing! Lying in the pool in the spa! I made sure to grab enough food so I wouldn't have to leave my nice, quiet sanctuary for even a moment," Fleur grumbled.

"Don't ya do anything other than sit in that pool and eat?" Applejack muttered.

"Yes. I sit in the sauna, as well. Helps prevent wrinkles. Maybe you should try it sometime," she retorted. Applejack simply rolled her eyes.

"Alright... well, I don't think I have anything else to ask," I said.

"Good. Now excuse me while I take my eyes off that foul pile of... of..." Fleur eventually huffed as she made her way towards the open window. Her horn glowed a light pink as she promptly took a cigarette from her pack and prepared to light it.

"Pretty sure you can't do that in somepony else's room," Redheart spoke flatly. "It's not your room, you know? Rules are rules..."

"Ugh!" Fleur huffed again as she put the cigarette away and tensely glared out the window. A fresh breeze blew inside, rustling the curtains and the canopy over the bed.

"What about you guys?" I asked.

"Ah went straight to my room after the cleanin' was done," replied Applejack. "Was just about to hop in the shower when ah got the message to go to the gym."

"I WENT RIGHT TO MY ROOM, TOO. I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF MY BEFORE-BED WORKOUT WHEN THE MONITOR CAME ON."

"And I was in the middle of making myself some tea before the cafeteria closed for the night," said Redheart. "Then I heard you screaming, so I came as quickly as I could."

"I see..." I carefully studied the room for a while longer, finding nothing more of note. "...Well, I think that's everything here," I mumbled. "But... I don't have a partner. Luna just... left... like that."

"Can't really blame her though, of course," Applejack sighed. I shook my head in agreement. "Hey Bulk, if ah leave you here with Redheart and Fleur, you can keep an eye on things fer me, right?"

"WHAT?!" Bulk sat up, eyes shifting around the room quickly. "I GUESS SO..."

"Well, it'll have to do," shrugged Applejack. "Ah've got faith in ya, you'll keep the scene safe, right?"

Bulk squirmed a little before swallowing his nervousness and nodding bravely. "...ALRIGHT. LEAVE IT TO ME."

"Atta boy!" Applejack winked before turning back towards me. "Alright, Twi, let's git this investigation goin'."

We wandered around the rest of the dormitory. On our way, I saw Trixie, Rainbow, Coloratura, Pinkie and Rarity. While I had seen Rainbow go inside her room just before the time of death, Trixie and Rarity had been chatting just outside the former's door, Coloratura was in her room's bathroom, in the middle of heating some mane and tail rollers to sleep in, and Pinkie was amassing a collection of leftover snacks, just about to walk inside her room as the body discovery message played. Indeed, just outside her door was a messy pile of desserts, right where she dropped them.

Nothing we came across seemed suspicious until we went inside the warehouse. There we found the shelves in total disarray, along with Lightning and Flam, who were staring in thought at a pile of random objects. Really, the pile was the only thing remotely organized within the entire warehouse at the moment... the room was a mess, with every possible thing scattered all over the floor and shelves... I could feel one of my eyes begin to twitch at the sight of such disorganized chaos.

"Hmm... I'd say this is definitely a clue," Flam stroked his mustache as he turned his head towards us. "What do you two ladies make of this?

"Whut in tarnation happened?!" Applejack gawked. "It looks like a whole herd of Whirlin' Mungtooths had their own Runnin' of the Leaves in here!"

"Well, it's fuckin' obvious they were lookin' for all this shit here," Lightning pointed to the pile. "But why?" My eyes traveled to the pile of objects gleaming under the warehouse's fluorescent lights. There were silver trays and teapots, stainless steel pots and pans, other metal containers, a large quartz crystal cluster, foreign coins, a disco ball, CDs, some hoof mirrors, a toaster...

"...All of these objects are shiny," I finally stated after mulling it over.

"Shiny, eh?" Flam mumbled. "I suppose I can see the appeal, but... surely this isn't because of some pony's unchecked kleptomania. What does it all mean?"

I had no answer for that, not yet. While we searched the warehouse together, I asked Flam what he had been doing just before the murder, since I had seen Lightning go inside her room only seconds before. He, too, had retired to his room and was preparing for bed as the announcement played. After a while, we determined that there was nothing else overly suspicious, and left.

Surprisingly, we found no other clues until Applejack thought to check outside the school near the barrier, where Princess Luna had been working on a way to escape. As we wandered around the perimeter, we bumped into Fluttershy and Discord, and I asked them what they had been doing just before the murder. Turns out, they were talking to each other just outside their rooms, resulting in their prompt appearances at the newly-discovered scene. We then parted ways, and we continued our search.

At last, towards the top-right quadrant of the sphere if one considered the school's entrance to be the center facing north, we found more evidence. A silver platter lay on the ground beside some grooves in the dirt, very faintly glowing in the night sky. I picked it up in my magic aura, not expecting to feel an uncomfortable warmth.

"Huh?"

"Whut is it, Twi?" asked Applejack.

"This platter is... warm. Really warm," I pondered. "I know the sun just set a bit ago, but even if it was left out here all day, it shouldn't be this warm." I levitated it over to Applejack, who tentatively touched it with an outstretched hoof.

"Ah... yea, that sure is odd," she agreed. "Now whaddya think 'bout these grooves over here?" she motioned. I looked over and studied them intently.

"Well... they look like... drag marks? They dig deeper into the earth the further back they go, so somepony must've been dragged backwards a bit," I reasoned.

"That doesn't make any sense, though," Applejack sighed. "If'n it was Celestia gettin' dragged... well, we found her in her room, not out here."

True... but I'm sure it's gotta be relevant somehow. This silver platter sure is shiny... and bigger than any of the objects in that pile...

But we found no other clues in the area, nor anything else outside. We had just finished searching the rest of the barrier's perimeter when we heard from a monitor close by...

*ding dong, bing bong*

"Now whut does that maniac want...?!" Applejack muttered under her breath as Monokuma appeared on the screen, his wine sloshing as he laid back in his seat.

"Erm... so, ah... I'm getting tired of waiting. What say we just get started, hm?" he smirked. Even though I knew it was coming, I could feel my heart breaking.

It was time.

Time to find out who really killed Princess Celestia.

Time to either correctly condemn somepony to death, or die in the attempt.

Yet even if it was for the greater good, killing one to save the rest... it still felt despicable. Even if it was theoretically justice for our beloved Princess... it still wasn't ours to give. It felt like nothing would ever be right in the world ever again. It felt like a childhood innocence being so cruelly ripped away by cold reality. It felt like losing everything you'd ever known and loved, slowly and methodically as you were forced to watch with unblinking eyes.

It felt like... despair.

"It's time for the long-awaited... Class Trial!" Monokuma cheered. "Now, then... allow me to appoint a proper location for the proceedings. Please go through the red door on the 1st floor of the school! ...See you soon!" A childlike giggle was the last thing that echoed from the speakers as the monitor shut off.

"Ugh, no... ah ain't ready fer this," Applejack shivered.

"Me either," I nodded in sympathy. "But we have to... or else." Applejack and I shared a resigned sigh, and we began to make our way towards those creepy crimson doors...

...Those doors... deep down, I had hoped I'd never have to find out what was behind them. Just remembering them filled me with dread.

Just as we reached the entrance to the school, I heard somepony flying above, coming in for a landing. I looked up just in time to see Princess Luna swooping down, and Applejack and I moved out of the way as she touched down gracefully.

Luna was seething with sorrow. She fiercely held back tears as she glanced back towards us. "Ah, Twilight... I trust you have investigated the grounds most thoroughly? I must find my sister's killer, no matter the cost," she glowered.

"Y-Yea, I think I've found everything there was to find," I gulped. Then I realized... I had never gotten the chance to ask Luna what she had been doing just before the murder. I paused for a moment, hoping she wouldn't get the wrong idea when I finally asked. "Um... Princess Luna, may I ask what you were doing just before the announcement of... Celestia's death... was played?"

Luna bristled at the question, but sadly sighed. "I was at the barrier's edge, working on my theory," she answered. "I knew of the party, of course, and I desperately wished to attend, but... as long as we're all trapped here, we aren't safe... nopony is safe."

"So, you just worked on through it, eh?" Applejack chuckled softly. "Been guilty o' that a couple times myself."

"Indeed... but the longer we remain here... who knows what Monokuma could be planning next? He may grow bored and decide to murder us all anyway... he may even force other ponies to join us, or take our places as we're killed off, one by one, or..." she gasped, "...he could even increase his influence across Equestria and beyond!"

I gulped. The thought of that monstrous little bear taking over the world was unsettling, to say the least.

"So, really, I had no choice but to continue until I found a way through. I only stopped when that message played... with him threatening more murders if everypony did not attend. Truly, he is an abhorrent little creature..." Luna sighed as her head bowed.

"Don't you worry, Princess. We'll find out who killed Celestia, ah Pinkie promise!" Applejack put a hoof on Luna's shoulder as we walked inside the school.

"Yes... and when that abhorrent bear is found out beyond a shadow of a doubt, I will take great pleasure in carrying out his execution," Luna smiled darkly. "...I will make it most excruciating."

I don't know... Monokuma said that he would never kill anypony that didn't break a rule... but I just can't imagine one of us being the killer! Who are we supposed to believe...?!

Finally, we met up with the others just in front of those crimson double doors. Half were silent, half were whispering under their breath, too quietly for me to hear. My closest friends gathered beside me, giving me the courage to open the doors.

Inside was a rather small, rather plain room, save for what appeared to be an elevator at the other end. Once we had all piled inside, a monitor on the wall buzzed to life.

"Puhuhuhu... is everyone here?" Monokuma asked, a frightening smile on his face. "Okay, then... Please board the elevator in front of you, which will transport you to the courtroom... where all your fates will be decided. I'll meet you all down there... I'll be waitiiiiing..." he giggled as the monitor cut to black. Immediately afterwards there was a creaking, grinding noise as the metal grating barring entrance to the elevator slid away, inviting us all inside.

"I don't like this... I really don't like this..." Coloratura whimpered, trying her best not to hyperventilate.

"The Great and Powerful Trrrixie! ...Really doesn't wish to die like this..."

"P-Please, w-whoever did it... p-please just say so now!" Fluttershy cried. "I p-promise we won't tell!"

"We have no choice," Redheart sighed. "I just hope we can all come to the right conclusion... I'd rather not die due to utter stupidity."

"Aye, we'll have to work together like never before," Flam agreed. "To whomever of us that committed the murder... know that I have no hard feelings, but... better you than me, ol' chap."

We have no choice... but to get on this elevator...

"Well, c'mon, let's get this shit over with," Lightning grumbled as she shoved a sobbing Bulk inside the elevator. One by one, the rest of us followed suit, until I was the only one left to board.

I have to discover the truth behind Princess Celestia's death... I have to... condemn one of us to death...

I took a few deep breaths to calm my furious heart.

...But it must be done... if it'll save the rest of us. In Celestia's honor... I swear I'll find out who the real killer is!

I walked inside the elevator, my heart threatening to race ever faster, reaching a previously-thought impossible climax as I took my place in the middle of the group. The grating slid back into place in front of the doors, which finally closed.

The elevator began its descent.

Author's Note

...Honestly, you can probably guess exactly what happened. Besides making these murders up myself, the first case is traditionally somewhat easy.

Mortal Peril, Mortal Ignorance - Deadly Life 2

The elevator sank deep into the earth - past the School's foundation, and past what I had estimated the maximum depth of the underground portion of the barrier to be. I could feel my heart racing faster than ever as it creaked and groaned along its way. Sweat beaded on my forehead and dribbled down my mane in tiny streams, making me feel even more uncomfortable. I had entered the elevator intent on focusing on the clues the investigation had unearthed, but the more time passed by, the more my mind was fogged over with dread.

The others around me were mostly just as anxious, although some tried their best to hide their fear beneath false bravado. Their terrified silence was all too palpable. Fleur shiftily glared at everypony around her, while Princess Luna stared unblinking at the doors. Flam tapped his hoof absentmindedly. Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps quietly sobbed in the corner, holding each other tightly. Coloratura was close to hyperventilating, if not for Applejack standing by and rubbing her back. Pinkie Pie's entire body was vibrating like crazy; if Rarity hadn't sealed her inside an aura of levitation, she might've accidentally caused the elevator to collapse.

"Geez, how deep does this thing go?" Lightning Dust mumbled, levitating in the center of the elevator along with Rainbow Dash.

"That's what she said!" Pinkie chirped out momentarily before vibrating again. Usually that would've elicited a few chuckles, but now was certainly not the time.

"Honestly, Pinkie... with how bad your Pinkie Sense is going off right now, I'm surprised you can even make a joke," said Rainbow.

Finally, the elevator gave out one last creak and came to a jolting stop. The doors slid open, a large room lay just beyond. Nopony moved a muscle until I cautiously stepped forward into the courtroom.

And what a garish courtroom it was! My eyes were assaulted by checkerboard floors lined with red velvet carpets, the deep azure walls festooned with crimson curtains, candelabra sconces and gold banners. Sixteen wooden podiums sat in the center of the room, lined up in a circle so we would all be facing each other. And above and behind it all sat Monokuma atop a decorative throne of plush scarlet cushions and gilded wood.

"Nyohohoho! You've finally arrived!" the bear grinned. "What do you think? Doesn't it look just like a real courtroom?"

"...Not in the slightest, no," Flam mumbled. "And I've been in quite a few of them before."

"Okay, okay," Monokuma continued, "everyone find your assigned seats and sit down! Hurry up, now, hurry up!"

Quietly we made our way to the podiums. Mine happened to be directly across from Monokuma; I gulped as I realized he'd be staring right at me throughout the ordeal. Starting from my right, Lightning begrudgingly took her place, then Fluttershy, then Coloratura, then Flam, then Fleur de Lis, then Pinkie, then Luna, then Applejack directly across from myself, then Discord, then Trixie, then Bulk Biceps, then Rarity, then Nurse Redheart, then Rainbow, and then-

Oh... just why did he have to arrange it like this...?

To my left would've sat Princess Celestia, who surely would have reassured me throughout this terrible game... but instead of her living body, her smiling face, there sat a large, black picture frame decorated with a black and silver ribbon. Celestia's face, in greyscale and a neutral expression, was painted over with a spattered, blood-red X. As the others took notice their faces paled, as if it had finally hit them:

Celestia was dead. She was gone. She was not coming back. She was not going to save us.

And so, the curtain on our first case was drawn open.

A deadly judgement.

A deadly deception.

A deadly betrayal.

A deadly riddle, a deadly defense, a deadly faith... I could come up with as many analogies and metaphors as I could, trying to delay what had to be done, but there was no delaying it any further.

It was time to begin.

*Class Trial! All Rise!*

"Let's begin with a basic explanation of the class trial!" Monokuma exclaimed as he drew our attention. "So, your votes will determine the results. If you can figure out 'whodunnit' then only they will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one... then I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and the one that deceived everyone else will graduate!" I shakily exhaled as he made his rules clear, his red eye gleaming in anticipation.

"And... you're absolutely sure one o' us did it?" Applejack scowled.

"Of course!" Monokuma replied, stifling a giggle with his paws.

"Okay... okay..." Fluttershy gasped, trying her hardest not to cry anymore. "Everypony... p-please close your eyes... and w-whoever d-d-did it, please raise your h-hoof!" She screwed her eyes shut as tightly as they would go as soon as she finished.

"...Seriously?" Lightning muttered behind smacking her forehead with a hoof.

"Are you fucking dumb?" Fleur glared. "Nopony's that stupid... well, with you lot, who really knows?"

"The Great and Powerful Trrrixie... wishes to know why that unbecoming picture of Princess Celestia is there," she trembled as she pointed to my left.

"I'd feel awful if she got left out just because she died!" replied Monokuma. "Friendship penetrates even death's barrier!"

"Like you know what friendship really is!" Rainbow snarled, blinking back tears. Monokuma giggled.

"Okay, that about does it for the preamble... get ready to get staaaarted! First up is the case summary. Now, let the class trial... begin!"

I took a few deep breaths, though they barely helped. Anything I had noticed, anything I had found, I had to be ready to speak up about anything and everything.

...Oh, Goddess... I don't know if I can do this... but... but I have to... or we'll all die here!

"Alright... so... uh, how do we start?" Coloratura asked slowly.

"Well," Nurse Redheart put a hoof to her chin, "it's been a long time since I've had to testify in a court... Why don't we just start with the facts and go from there? Let's go over the crime scene."

"Yes, usually that gets ponies talking," Flam nodded.

"Very well," Luna let out a deep sigh. "The victim... was none other than my dearest sister, Princess Celestia."

"The murder took place in her room," added Discord.

"Right by the window," said Rarity.

"And then some great big battle happened, and at the end of it, Celestia was blown up! Kablooie!" finished Pinkie.

...Wait, no, that's not what happened!

"I'm sorry, but that's wrong!" I cried out, garnering everypony's attention. "We all checked Celestia's room thoroughly, right? I don't think there was any sign of a struggle."

"You're right," assured Redheart. "A struggle would've caused damage to more of Celestia's body... what remained, anyway."

"Not to mention the room would've been fucking destroyed," added Lightning. "She wasn't the Solar Princess for nothing, after all."

"Oh. Oh yea! Whoopsie," Pinkie shrugged.

"'Kay, so that's one step down," said Rarity. "...Now what?"

"Hmm... let's discuss the murder weapon, then?" Flam suggested. "We need to determine what caused our beloved Celestia's death." As everypony stood silent, I wracked my brain for anything that could've been used as a weapon that I'd seen during the investigation. But as I ruled out every bit of evidence, I quickly realized that we had never found a weapon.

"Uh... I don't think we ever came across any weapons," I stated.

"Hm, yea..." Rainbow agreed. "I'm sure I would've seen something."

"But what in Equestria could've caused that kind of damage?!" asked Trixie. "To Princess Celestia, of all ponies!"

"DON'T LOOK AT ME. EVEN I CAN'T PUNCH THAT HARD!" Bulk shouted nervously.

"No, no... if it wasn't a weapon, then it had to have been magic," said Discord. "I've fought Celly a couple times long ago... believe it or not, conventional weapons do practically nothing to her."

"Oh? Care to elaborate on your explanation?" Fleur narrowed her eyes. "...Your explanation of how you did it?!"

"Oh! No..." Fluttershy gasped as Discord's expression fell. "Surely you're... you're not insinuating-"

"Why the hell not?! How do we know he's really your friend? This could all just be some kind of revenge years in the making! He probably snuck in and blew a hole in her with his chaos magic!"

"Hey! Of course he's our friend, you big meanie!" Pinkie angrily frowned.

"No, it's alright, girls," Discord sighed. "I expected I'd be under suspicion... anyway, Fleur, besides the fact that my magic has been severely weakened, I was never anywhere near her room until I heard Twilight scream!"

"Yea, right, like I'm supposed to believe that horseshit?" Fleur slammed her hooves on her podium. "You probably just teleported back to your room so you could pretend you had no idea what happened!"

I'm sorry, but that's wrong!

"Discord can't teleport, Fleur," I spoke up. "And neither can I. It's one of Monokuma's rules."

"That's right!" Monokuma agreed. "We can't just have you ponies popping up into places you don't belong! I might be in the middle of a bubble bath!"

"...But... you're already naked!" exclaimed Pinkie. "We all are!"

"I... uh..." Monokuma started to make a statement, but trailed off after muttering something about "you freakin' ponies" under his breath.

"Well... I do have some clothes on..." Flam mumbled.

"Enough getting off topic, please," Redheart cleared her throat. "Do remember that our lives depend on getting this trial right."

"Fiiiiine, maybe Discord didn't kill Celestia, then..." Fleur rolled her eyes. But then she had a sudden look of realization on her face. Her eyes narrowed and her muzzle pulled into an ominous smirk. "But... there is one other prime suspect."

"Who?" Luna asked- no, demanded. Fleur's eyes slowly met mine, and cold fear washed over me. In that moment, I knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Isn't it odd, Twilight?" she asked, her voice dripping with poisoned honey. "Celestia wanted to have a lovely little chat with you before Nighttime? And then the next time anypony sees the two of you together, you're standing over her freshly-dead body? And that fucking bright light that blinded me... even before you became a princess, I knew you were Celestia's personal protégé, capable of magic even some of the best mages in Equestria cannot cast..."

As everypony's eyes turned towards me, I felt my heart beating furiously.

I... I can't believe it...

"So, perhaps being the Princess of Friendship wasn't enough for you, hmm, Twilight? Perhaps being the Supreme Leader of Equestria was more to your liking?!" Fleur snarled as she grinned evilly.

No... no! I would never! Everypony knows that!

"Ohoho..." Trixie giggled. "And after all that song and dance about the magic of Friendship... how positively juicy!"

"That's bullshit and you know it, Fleur!" Rainbow shouted, crouched on her podium like she was about to launch herself over it and start a fight. "Twilight would never do anything so evil!"

"And Princesses Celestia and Luna were plannin' on abdicatin' the throne and givin' it to her anyway!" Applejack added. "So why in the hay would she do somethin' like that?!"

"Why?" Fleur stared at everypony haughtily, her nose in the air. "That's something you'd have to ask her about." Before anypony could ask, I quickly thought of a way, any way to disprove this crazy theory.

There's nothing TO ask... I loved Princess Celestia! I would never harm her! I- wait... no, I can easily prove my innocence!

"No... you're completely wrong, Fleur." I stomped my hoof lightly and glared. "And completely out of line, too. I loved Princess Celestia like my own mother; everypony who has ever known me can attest to that."

"Oh? Children do kill their own parents sometimes, you know," Fleur raised an eyebrow but retained her conceited expression. "You're going to tell me you didn't kill her?"

"Of course I didn't!" I snapped. "Right after Celestia invited me to her room, Rarity and Trixie asked if I would help them with the last of the trash from our party before I went to meet her!"

"Ah! Of course!" Rarity gasped. "How could I have forgotten?!"

"We both did," Trixie agreed sheepishly.

"And if you don't believe them, then Rainbow and Lightning both saw me make my way towards Celestia's room shortly before I... I found her."

"Yep, I'll vouch for that," Lightning nodded, along with Rainbow. Everypony was silent for a moment as we reflected on these various accounts, and finally, to my relief...

"I'll say, that's a rock-solid alibi if I've ever heard one," Flam stroked his mustache.

"Sister's love for you was absolute, Twilight," Luna spoke solemnly. "And I have seen for myself many times that you returned that love in kind. I do not believe that you had anything to do with Sister's death."

"Yes... a valid point, Fleur, but I believe there's no good reason to suspect Twilight any longer," said Redheart.

"Hmpf!" Fleur simply crossed her forelegs and pouted, her face scrunched into ugly contempt.

"Well, now that that's over with..." said Discord, "now what?"

"This bright light you mentioned, Fleur," Luna spoke after a moment, "you said it blinded you just before the body discovery announcement?"

"Ugh, how many times do I have to fuckin' say it..." Fleur grumbled. "Yes! Yes the fucking light fucking blinded me right before the fucking announcement. What about it?!"

"I believe she's suggesting that perhaps that light had something to do with Celestia's death," Redheart explained.

"Alright, so let's talk about that light, then!" said Rainbow.

"You said you were blinded by it just moments before the body discovery announcement played, right?" asked Discord.

"Yea..." Fleur sighed, clearly agitated.

"And you said you were looking out of your bedroom window when you saw it?" asked Coloratura.

"Oh my goddess, YES. How many times do I have to tell you peasants?! I was sitting in my room, trying to enjoy the only low-class cigarettes there are in this stupid fucking place, and as I was gazing out of my window, I was fucking blinded," Fleur seethed, speaking flatly through clenched teeth. "Now fucking remember that, because I hate having to repeat myself over and over to you simpletons!"

I concur!

"You did seem genuinely in pain when you stumbled in," I agreed.

"Yes... I did a few quick tests on the way to the gym with her. She was definitely not faking it," added Redheart. "Even though nopony else seemed to see the light as well, it does seem that this clue would be our best chance at solving this mystery."

"Ugh, don't tell Trixie we have to rely on her narrative..."

"Why? Because it appears to be the one important detail in this trial? Because you didn't come up with it?" Fleur smirked at the blue Unicorn.

"No, because Trixie - and I'm sure many others here - think you're quite the obstreperous bitch," she replied. At the insult, Fleur's mouth hung open in incredulous rage.

"You... why... how dare you...!"

"And Trixie is willing to bet her last bit that you don't even know what 'obstreperous' means." Now Trixie was the one to smirk.

...It's just another way of saying she's a troublemaker...

"Wait a minute..." Luna spoke up. "If Fleur saw this light as she was looking out of her window, and she was the only one to witness it... where exactly did this light come from?"

"Well... simple, really," said Flam. "The light must have come from outside."

"But I was outside by the barrier when this all happened. I saw no such light," the Princess of the Night explained.

"You didn't?!" Coloratura gasped.

"How the fu- ahem ...I mean... how could you not?" Fleur asked. "My eyes are still watering from it!" As everypony began to deliberate quietly, I put a hoof to my chin in deep thought.

If Fleur's account is correct, then the blinding light had to have come from outside... but Luna was outside at the time of the murder, and she says she didn't see any light... what does this mean...?

...Which way was Fleur facing to see the light? ...The window, yes. Now, if Fleur saw the light but Luna did not, then Luna had to have been facing... the barrier, away from the light! And if Luna says she did not see the light, then where could the source of the light have been? ...Between the two of them!

"I think... Luna, you may not have seen the light because you were facing the barrier at the time," I finally said after a few moments of silence. "So... the light must have been behind you somewhere."

"Hmm... perhaps you are right, Twilight," Luna nodded. "Even so... I am positive that despite my concentration being focused elsewhere, I would've noticed such a light..."

"What were you doin' by the barrier, anyway?" asked Applejack.

"Yea! You missed the entire dinner party!" added Pinkie.

"Ah, apologies..." Luna bowed her head. "While patrolling the school grounds, I detected a very slight anomaly in the barrier. An idea came to me after analyzing it, one that may have allowed our escape."

Everypony except myself gasped at this revelation. "ESCAPE?! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO?!" Bulk shouted.

"We could've left? This whole time?!" Fleur shrieked.

"No, no... I wanted to be sure that my theory worked before alerting anypony. There is no good in making uncertain promises, nor a premature celebration."

"That was what Princess Celestia wanted to talk with me about," I added with a grim tone. "...She'd mentioned it to me at the party but didn't want to discuss it then, probably for the exact same reason if I had to guess."

"But you didn't either, darling," said Rarity.

"Well, I had hope it would work, but I know just as well how disappointing it is to expect one thing and have the exact opposite happen. I thought... maybe talking with Celestia later... I would be able to form a better opinion."

"Welp, the cat's outta the bag now," said Applejack. "Might as well tell us whut this theory o' yours was."

"I..." Luna glanced at Monokuma for a moment, grimacing as he leaned in closer to listen.

"You can tell... I mean, it's no secret to me, anyway. I've been watching everything this whole time," he shrugged. Luna grunted in annoyance.

"Fine... the morning this entire ordeal began, Sister and I of course tried to pierce through the barrier with our magic, despite finding no weak points. Our attacks were repelled, but not after... sticking to the barrier for a moment."

Sticking...? Hmm... now that I think about it, my strongest attack against the barrier did seem to stick for a brief time before bouncing off.

"I pondered on the meaning of it. Then, this afternoon, as I wandered the school, I found myself close to the barrier. I walked along its edge when I sensed it... so very faint, but it was there, I am certain of it... a single weak point. I informed Sister of my discovery, that I would attempt to find a way through... and that I may miss the dinner party if I felt I was close to a breakthrough."

"Did... did you get through?" Fluttershy asked timidly.

"Given that if I had, I would have immediately teleported everypony to safety outside of the barrier... I am afraid not," Luna sighed.

"Oh..." Fluttershy remarked sadly, her eyes meeting the floor.

"Alright, that explains that," Applejack nodded. "So, Luna didn't notice the light because she was busy tryin' to save us all. Now where does that get us here?"

"Uh... nowhere, really..." Rainbow groaned.

"Well that's fuckin' great," Lightning glanced to the side in annoyance.

"Wait just a minute," said Flam. "What about the state of the warehouse? Surely that must be important?"

"Ah! Yes," exclaimed Rarity. "It was left in a terrible mess!"

"And... somepony was playing Sky Pirates in there!" chirped Pinkie. This elicited only confusion from the others, including myself.

...Pirates? What do sky pirates have to do with anything?

"Uh... Pinkie? Whudd'ya mean by 'Sky Pirates'?" asked Applejack.

"You know! Sky pirates! They fly around everywhere in their airships looking for treasure!" she explained.

"Treasure?" asked Redheart.

"Ugh, just why are we letting her speak...?" Fleur muttered angrily, her face hidden by one hoof.

"Yea! They hoard it all and put it into a big pile to roll around in! And there was a pile of treasure in the warehouse!"

A pile of treasure? ...She must mean...

"...The pile of shiny objects?" I interrupted.

"YES! Were you playing 'Sky Pirates' earlier, Twilight! Ooh, you should've invited me! I love that game!" Pinkie affirmed.

"Er, no. That wasn't me." Suddenly, Luna's eyes lit up.

"Oh! I apologize. I am afraid I am to blame for that mess," she admitted.

"Luna? But why would you do something like that?" asked Coloratura.

"I needed a particular reflective surface to further test my theory... I meant to put everything back, of course, but in my haste and excitement I did not... I will happily clean the mess I made once this trial is over."

"Oh. Well... that's fine," shrugged Rainbow. Meanwhile, I remained silent, thinking hard.

Luna needed a specific reflective surface? ...I feel like I saw one of those shortly before the trial began...

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"...You were using that S I L V E R P L A T T E R by the barrier then, right Luna?" I asked.

"Indeed, Twilight," Luna confirmed. "It was the largest flat, reflective object I could find in the warehouse. I hypothesized that if I could find that single weak point in the barrier, I might have been able to pierce through with my magic if I reflected the counterattack back against it."

"WAIT... YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHERE THE WEAK SPOT WAS?" Bulk cocked his head.

"No... it was so faint, I am surprised I found it at all. I only knew it was in that general area."

"Hold up," Applejack spoke up. "Twilight, didn't we find some drag marks right next to that platter?"

"Oh! Yes, pretty deep ones, too," I nodded.

"Ah thought so... just how hard were you hittin' that barrier, and it still didn't break?!"

"I focused as much power as I could muster. I maintained my magic for up to a minute at most, using the mirror to catch and reflect what the barrier repelled. If I could just find the specific little spot the weak point was hiding..."

While everypony listened... realization finally hit me.

It hit me like a sucker punch to the kidneys.

Oh... oh, Celestia... no...!

My eyes widened until my pupils were pinpricks. My heart shattered as my legs threatened to give out beneath me.

No... no! It can't be... it's not fair!

I felt my supper begin to force its way back up my throat. Though I kept it down, my fur felt damp and clammy from sweat. My wings shivered.

"Uh, Twi? You feelin' alright?" Rainbow looked over to me worriedly as I stared at the floor.

No... I don't want to say it... I can't...!

But as I looked up towards Rainbow... towards Rarity, Trixie, Redheart, towards all of my friends... I knew deep down that it had to be said. To save the lives of my friends... my next sentence... would save all of us but one.

...I must. If I don't... we'll ALL die here!

"You look pale," said Luna.

"Did something from the party not sit with you well?" asked Trixie.

"No... it's not that. I... I think I figured out who killed Princess Celestia." As everypony gasped and asked who, I scanned their faces one last time before I took a deep breath, steeling myself for the accusation.

I'm afraid... it was you!

"I... I'm afraid... the one who killed Princess Celestia... your sister... it was you... Princess Luna."

May the Best Pony Survive - Daily Life 1

My slumber was disturbed by strange dreams.

I saw nothing except darkness, not even my own body. I kept hearing faint, disembodied voices, as if from a great distance away. They spoke not in sentences, nor words... only a single syllable at a time, seemingly at random. No matter how hard I tried, I could not make out who the voices belonged to. Even when I tried to piece the few syllables together, they spelled out nothing but gibberish.

The voices haunted me throughout the night. Though I tried to dream of something, anything else, they always led back to the darkness, to the voices, growing ever more frantic but sparse all the same.

What is the meaning of this?

...

No... it's just a dream.

...just a bad dream.

*ding dong, bing bong*

"Goooood morning, everyone! It is now 7am and Nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!"

As grating as Monokuma's voice had been, it was nearly intolerable as his morning announcement graced my ears. The sun's sudden rising was dimmed by my tightly-clenched eyes.

Princesses Celestia and Luna were dead. Dead... nopony had thought it possible, but it was the truth. My mind decided to flash back to the discovery of Celestia's body and the explosion that tore Luna apart as proof. I shook the memories from my head as quickly as I could, but it helped little.

My stomach growled loudly. Two of the most important ponies in my life had perished, but that didn't change my need for food. With a heavy sigh, I left my bed and began making my way towards the cafeteria.

I gently shut my door and locked it, and walked quietly. As I passed the stairs to the upper rooms, I couldn't help but gaze sadly up them towards Celestia's room, then Luna's, both now locked tightly shut. Just before we had all gotten onto the elevator out of the courtroom, Monokuma had so gleefully informed us that since the trial was over, he would... "dispose" of the corpses.

Dispose... like trash. How disrespectful. None of us even had the time to mourn our Royal Sisters properly.

My hoofsteps echoed softly as I entered the cafeteria. As I got some food and sat down, the others began slowly trickling in until we were all present. Everypony looked equally depressed.

"I can't believe this isn't a bad dream..." Coloratura sighed. "We're all still here... and yesterday... really happened..."

"I c-can't take this..." Fluttershy whimpered. "It's t-too cruel..."

"Well... now what should we do?" asked Flam. But before anypony could answer...

*boing!*

"Goooood morning, my lovely little students!" Monokuma suddenly leapt onto the table with a clatter, causing quite a disturbance.

"What do you want, you little bastard?" Lightning Dust growled through her teeth.

"My goodness! Looks like someone's not a morning person! You know, a good dose of morning exercise'll cheer you right up and get you going, am I riiight?" he grinned.

"YEAAAAAH!" Bulk Biceps agreed enthusiastically. "...BUT WE'RE EATING RIGHT NOW. WE CAN'T WORK OUT FOR AT LEAST AN HOUR OR TWO AFTER WE EAT, OR ELSE EVERYPONY'LL HURL EVERYWHERE!"

"I... really don't think our personal health is the reason why he's here," Nurse Redheart shook her head.

"Of course not!" Monokuma shouted. "You think I have that kind of free time on my hands?!"

"Then why are you here?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Ah, I'd like to make an announcement!" he beamed. "Every time you overcome a class trial here at my School of Despair, a whole new world will open up to you!"

"A whole new world...?" Discord asked with skepticism.

"Ooh! Shining, shimmering splendor?" Pinkie Pie chirped.

"It'd really suck if you had to live here forever with nothing new to stimulate you! Besides, I know how you kids get these days with your ADD and ADHD... I gotta keep you motivated!"

"We ain't kids..." Applejack grumbled. Redheart and I sighed in annoyance simultaneously at his choice of mental conditions.

"So go ahead, look around all you want! Enjoy the brave new post-trial world 'til you explode!"

"What- NO, don't even mention 'exploding' again!" Trixie shrieked. But it mattered little, as Monokuma hopped back beneath the table and disappeared during her protest. We were left to ponder what he meant.

"Oh, please tell me he's talking about a way to leave!" Coloratura clapped her hooves together.

"Yea, no, why the hell would he let us leave now? Are you really that stupid?" Fleur snorted. Coloratura gazed sadly at her plate.

"Ah wonder whut he meant by that," Applejack rubbed her chin. "We've all already been 'round the school a couple times."

"Ho! Maybe he means we can go to the second floor of the school," said Flam. "Our access has been barred this whole time, after all, and there can't be much else he could be talking about."

Oh... and there was another tunnel entrance on that floor! Maybe...

"Then let's split up and investigate," Redheart stood up. "We'll meet back here when we're finished, and maybe we'll be able to come up with a new plan."

Rarity ultimately partnered up with me as we left the cafeteria and entered the school. Indeed, to our distant right, the shimmering barrier that had blocked our way to the second floor earlier was now gone.

"Well now, I wonder just what that dreadful bear has done to the next floor," she mumbled as we ascended the spiraling staircase. Once on the 2nd floor, I glanced over to the next set of stairs, finding access to the 3rd floor blocked by the same barrier.

No going up any further... Probably not until- no! If this is what Monokuma meant, then seeing the next floor would be really bad!

I looked around. The hallways were decorated much like the first floor, except an unsettling shade of glowing blue rather than green or fuchsia. There was nothing else around other than doors to the unexplored rooms. Two were close by on the right, leading into empty classrooms, and the closest on the left led to...

...An art studio! The room was filled with wooden tables and stools splattered with rainbow shades of paint. Shelves along the sides of the walls held various supplies: canvas, paper, paints and brushes, chalks, pencils, clay and shaping tools. A modestly-sized electric kiln sat in the corner closest to the far wall, its chimney hooked up to vent the heat and smoke outside, and a full-sized ponnequin with fully-articulate joints sat in the opposite corner beside another shelf full of fabrics and sewing supplies.

"Ooh! Well, it's a far cry from my own studio, but I suppose this will do while we're all stuck here," Rarity smiled, examining the shelves. I walked around the room inspecting everything closely, finding only more art supplies and a can of turpentine for oil painting. The smell was quite strong; I found a switch for a large ventilation fan above the windows along the far wall and turned it on.

Once I had finished looking around (and had managed to drag Rarity away from the sewing corner), we left the room and continued down the hallway. Just past the art studio was a pair of restrooms, and then past that was the last room on the left: a library. Now it was my turn to say "Ooh!".

"And I bet this will be your new favorite room, right Twilight?" Rarity smirked as I inhaled deeply. The scent of the books was like the finest of perfumes to me. Dark wooden shelves stretching up to the ceiling lined the walls entirely except for the thickly-curtained windows and another large ventilation fan above them... excess moisture was a book's natural enemy, after all! But as I examined my new reading materials...

Hm... um... oh...

All of the books were either murder mysteries, or reports on true crimes, or textbooks about pony anatomy and physiology, or how-to guides about creating poisons, crafting weapons and casting destructive spells... just about the only books not entirely devoted to helping us kill each other were a woefully-incomplete set of five Daring Do books, within which the plots had featured creative murders.

Even more annoyingly... I've already read the majority of these in the past for fun... and I don't exactly want to learn about poisons or weapons... or methods of committing murder...

Sighing, I left the library with Rarity and we walked across the hallway to the last remaining room. This room had been brand new in my School of Friendship, and had cost me quite the pretty bit to put together - a media room. Dimmable lights shone down upon long desks and ergonomically-cushioned chairs sitting in perfect rows, with the highest-quality, freshly-reverse-engineered computers bits could buy atop them. The chairs all faced forward towards a blank, perfectly-white wall, where a high-tech projector overhead pointed.

Sometimes, it's pretty nice to be a Princess...

While Rarity looked around, I moved towards a supply closet next to the teacher's desk. I held my breath as I opened the door, and exhaled in a deep sigh when I found it entirely empty. I scanned the closet with my magic just to be sure, but it was, indeed, gone.

"Ugh... this tunnel's gone, too..."

"Twilight, darling, I've been meaning to ask," Rarity peeked inside the closet as well. "You've mentioned something about secret escape tunnels before..."

"Yea?"

"Well... why do you think we could escape using those? Wouldn't they have just led into the mountain behind this school... the mountain that isn't even there anymore?"

"Ah, that is a good point," I conceded as I closed the door. "It's true there were secret passages into the mountain behind my school, but those aren't exactly what I'm looking for."

"Oh? What, then?"

"Well..." I motioned for Rarity to lean in closer so we could whisper. "Given how often Equestria seems to be under threats of various kinds, I cast a number of spells on these entrances. Runes one can simply touch to be teleported a safe distance away or to a specific place, portals to pocket dimensions where useful supplies have been stored... I believe I put at least three of each such spell on each entrance. There's even an enchantment where if somepony other than myself finds them, not only does the spell hide itself, that pony is also instantly charmed into forgetting their existence once they look away."

"Ah... you do have a habit of planning for every possible contingency," Rarity nodded.

"Yes," I sighed. "Unfortunately, seeing how the secret entrances in my office and this room are no longer here, it would seem that Monokuma knows about them, and dispelled them all after sealing up the entrances. I'm guessing he's done the same to the ones on the upper floors as well..."

"And your magic is stronger than anypony else I know... just how powerful is that brute?"

"Too powerful..."

We finished checking around the room in silence. After a few minutes, concluding that we had seen everything there was to see on the 2nd floor, we left the media room and - after checking that the staircase on this side of the building also barred access to the next floor, descended.

But as we reached the 1st floor, I noticed that the door ahead of us was cracked ajar. It led to the Scrollwork Classroom, which was previously locked. Perhaps it was unlocked now?

"Ah! This room was off-limits to us before, wasn't it?" Rarity asked as we stepped inside. The room was furnished with wooden floors, wooden walls covered in wooden bookcases and wooden ceilings. Tall stacks of parchment and vellum sat on wooden desks each supplied with a wastebasket, while numerous dusty spellbooks sat on the bookshelves along with quills and fortified inks. With the sunlight from the window, the entire room appeared parchment-colored.

"Yes... it was!" I quickly grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill in my magic, having been desperate for this moment for the past few days. With haste I scribbled out a plea for help to Spike, telling him as much as I could about our location, that we were in grave danger, and that Discord, and Princesses Celestia and Luna... could not help us. As soon as I wrote the last word I dropped the quill in order to focus my total concentration on my next spell. My horn glowed brightly as I willed the parchment to its recipient; the parchment combusted within a small, green flame a few seconds later, leaving only a scant layer of ash in its place.

"You sent Spike a message?" Rarity asked. "Oh, I do hope he receives it..."

"I hope so, too," I agreed.

"Oh, my widdle Spikey-wikey... I do hope he's okay... or I swear on the goddesses I will tear that terrible bear apart myself, bolt by bolt, consequences be damned!" she growled, her eyes smoldering.

We waited in silence for a few minutes, eagerly awaiting a reply. However... no scroll ever materialized itself in midair. My lips pursed together in concern.

Spike usually responds to my scrolls very promptly... I don't like this...

"Shouldn't we have received a reply by now?"

"Yea..."

...I really don't like this...

"Perhaps he's in the middle of using the little dragon's room?"

"Maybe..."

We waited for about ten minutes more. I even sent another two scrolls, just in case. But there was still no response.

Maybe... maybe he's consulting with Starlight on what to do next... maybe he's contacting Princess Cadance and my brother for help... yea... that's it...

"Well, while we wait for a response... I think we've seen everything there was to see," I sighed. "We should meet with the others, maybe they found something we didn't."

We arrived at the cafeteria, finding a few of the others already present. The rest joined soon after.

"Alright, so... let's all go over what we found upstairs," Redheart started.

"Well... there's a really nice media room upstairs!" Coloratura smiled. "The computers even have microphones and all the software I need for making music!"

"There's also an art studio full of supplies," smirked Fleur. "Perfect for some of you to indulge in hoofpainting."

"HEY! DON'T KNOCK IT UNTIL YOU TRY IT," Bulk responded. "HOOFPAINTING IS GREAT FOR STRESS RELIEF."

"And there's a library, but it's pretty fuckin' lame," muttered Lightning. "Only thing worth checking out are the Daring Do books, and they're all fuckin' old..."

"Ooh!" Rainbow's eyes lit up, but she changed her expression almost immediately. "Uh, I mean... ha! Only eggheads read that kind of lame shit..."

"But Dashie, I thought you loved Daring Do!" Pinkie grinned innocently. Rainbow hissed at Pinkie under her breath to shut the fuck up. Lightning smirked.

"There, um... wasn't anything special about the two classrooms... or the bathrooms," Fluttershy spoke quietly.

"Trust us... we looked real up close at every little crack and cranny," Discord added.

"I see... and none of you found any sort of clues as to why we're here, who the mastermind behind this could be, or what this is all about?" asked Flam. Everypony shook their heads sadly. "...Drat. Any sort of clue would've been nice..."

"Oh! The Great and Powerful Trrrixie! ...found something helpful!" she raised her hoof. "Trixie discovered that the Scrollwork Classroom is now open!"

"Scrollwork?" Redheart asked, sitting up in her chair.

"Yes! And Trixie has already sent out a scroll for help! We shall be rescued any moment now!" she beamed.

"Er... you didn't happen to get a response, did you?" I asked. Trixie's puffed-out chest sank.

"Well... no. I sent a scroll to Starlight... I still have yet to hear back from her..."

"I see..."

That's... really not good.

"Why do you ask?"

"I sent three scrolls to Spike a while ago, and I haven't heard back from him, either," I explained.

"Letting us send scrolls to the outside world would defeat the purpose of Monokuma's game," Redheart sighed, slumping back down in her seat. "He's probably intercepting them somehow."

"True, that would be too easy, now would it...?" agreed Discord.

"So, in other words... we ain't got shit," Lightning stated. As we sat in silence, the air suddenly grew thick and heavy. Was this the mastermind's plan? To give us a brief glimmer of hope, only to snuff it out in front of us?

"Well... I suppose we should just carry on, then," sighed Flam. "Try to peacefully pass the time until somepony does manage to find something..."

"There's not much else we can do... damn!" Applejack nodded before losing her composure and slamming a hoof on the table. "Ah hate bein' this helpless..."

Coloratura moved to put a hoof around Applejack's shoulders. "It's okay, Jackie... we'll think of something."

"J-Jackie?!" Applejack sputtered before wrapping a foreleg around Coloratura's neck and pulling her close. "Ah thought ah told ya not to call me that out loud!" she hissed, embarrassed.

"I-It's just a cute nickname," Coloratura coughed. "...Like you call me 'Rara'?"

"That's entirely different!" she argued.

"'Jackie', eh?" Flam chuckled.

"You don't call me that!" Applejack flailed, her cheeks almost as red as her Cutie Mark. "An' none 'a you can call me that, either!" While hints of a smile were beginning to return to our faces, a most unwelcome voice chimed in.

"Aah, some things truly never change..."

*boing!*

"Is this the blossoming of young love I see?" Monokuma suddenly appeared atop a neighboring table. "I'll admit... seeing how you students of mine are ponies rather than people, I didn't really know what to expect! But now I see that you guys flirt and get embarrassed by trivial matters just like teenagers do! Ooh! I wonder what other similarities you guys have!"

"Now why are you here?" Rainbow grumbled. "And it better not be about love... comin' from you, I think I'd barf..."

"Oh, no reason..." Monokuma grinned. "Juuust seeing how my wonderful students are getting along with each other... becoming friends, establishing strong bonds... upupupupu."

"What's so funny?" Fleur sneered.

"Mmhmmhmm... and now I see that some of you are already so close to each other, like you've already known each other for years!" he giggled, his laughter growing slowly stronger. "It makes me almost hate to give you this little hint..."

...Hint? Wait...

"What exactly are you getting at?" Redheart asked, glaring at our captor.

"Oh, it's not that much of a hint... I just think it's funny that despite how close you all previously were, one of you is secretly taking advantage of that," he smiled.

T-Taking advantage... does he mean...?

"You're... you're not insinuating..." Flam spoke, his eyes widening.

"That's right! None of you realize that a traitor is hiding among you, riiiiight?" Monokuma squeaked with glee.

"A... a t-traitor?!" Fluttershy gasped.

"Oh, come on!" Rainbow yelled angrily. "Do you really think we'd believe something that stupid?!"

"Oh? How can you be so sure?" the bear continued. "I mean... do any of you know exactly how you wound up at this school of mine?"

"Yea! You brought us here!" Trixie scoffed.

"Oh, no... I am but a simple Headmaster, waiting patiently for my students to arrive so the games can begin. One of you... shall we say, enrolled you all and dragged you into coming here?"

No... somepony brought us all here...?

"That... that doesn't make any sense!" Coloratura shivered.

"I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HALF THESE PONIES UNTIL COMING HERE!" Bulk argued.

"Yes... one of you went out and gathered the rest of you, and brought you to my school. Isn't that just a gosh-darn shame? Pretending to be your ally and tricking you guys... it makes sense for someone like that to get killed, right?" Monokuma's grin grew dark and sharp.

"Alright, which one of you half-wit lowlifes did it?!" Fleur glowered as she stared us all down, her horn alight. "Ooh, just wait until I get my hooves on you..."

"You... you utter fuckin' bastard! Or you fuckin' bitch! Fess up and I'll let your parents have something left to bury!" Lightning punched her front hooves together menacingly.

"Now wait just a moment!" argued Rarity.

"He's clearly tryin' to drive a wedge between us all!" Applejack spoke up. But it seemed as if Monokuma's words had already had their intended effect. Everypony was eyeing each other with a newfound sense of apprehension and suspicion. It was all I could do to hide a deep sigh within myself.

...Sometimes, I wish we ponies weren't so easily influenced...

"Upupupupu! My, you're a spirited bunch," Monokuma chuckled. "C'mon! Make the preemptive strike! It's first come, first served, and the winner takes all! If you want to survive, you gotta find that person before they find you..."

"No... no...!" Fluttershy cried.

"This cannot be! The Great and Powerful Trrrixie... simply cannot comprehend it!"

"AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Monokuma howled with laughter as he disappeared underneath the table and out of sight, the damage already done. I, along with everypony else, was frozen in shock.

It... it can't be true! The deceit... the breach of trust...! And... and if there is a traitor among us... they're already responsible for Celestia's and Luna's deaths...!

"Seriously, you guys... think about it," Rainbow crossed her forelegs. "We're all in the same boat here, right? He's obviously lying..."

"Oh?! Sounds exactly like the sort of thing a traitor would say!" Fleur snarled.

"Why would anypony do this?!" Coloratura gasped, holding the sides of her head. "W-What did I do to deserve this?!"

"No... there can't possibly be a traitor! That bear must be lying!" affirmed Rarity.

"But we don't exactly all know each other..." Redheart stated blankly. "Wouldn't that leave some of us more likely to be a traitor than others?"

"Or maybe one of you is some sort of sick freak who gets off on shit like this!" Fleur shrieked, pointing her hoof for a few moments at everypony. "That could be any of you! Hiding it deep down... I-I know a freak when I see one!"

"There's no traitor! There's no traitor nowhere!" Applejack stomped. "Monokuma's just tryin' to get us to kill each other fer no good reason!"

"Yes... what he's saying just doesn't make sense," agreed Flam. "I honestly can't believe, in good faith, that one of us brought us all together just to participate in this house of horrors!"

"Me either!" said Pinkie, pouting. "Because that would mean I would've made all kinds of spooky-themed treats, and then I'd not only know where we were all going and who all would be there, but I'd also know all the tricks and spooks!"

"Eh... Pinkie, I think you took away the wrong notion from the prior sentence..." nudged Discord. "But more on point, suspecting each other of being a traitor will not help our chances to survive."

"Discord is right," I finally spoke, after mulling over my thoughts for a few moments. "If we start distrusting each other now, it'll only lead to bad things happening."

"Something bad already happened! Our Princesses are dead!" Fleur snapped.

"And it's up to us to make sure nopony else joins them!" argued Rainbow. "Traitor or not, nopony else is gonna die!"

"Monokuma wants us all to suspect each other," I said. "We may not all be friends just yet, but we all need to trust each other. As long as we believe in each other, we'll all escape from here alive!"

"Easy for you to say..." Trixie whimpered. "You're the Princess of Friendship..."

"...I AGREE WITH TWILIGHT!" Bulk shouted after a moment. "WE GOTTA STICK TOGETHER, LIKE WE'RE ALL PARTNERS IN A RELAY RACE!"

"Yea... we gotta just ignore that stupid skunk-bear," Rainbow nodded. "We might be stuck here, but we don't have to kill each other to get out!"

"Pff..." Fleur muttered, rolled her eyes. "So fucking stupid... it's your funeral."

Despite our resolve not to let Monokuma's threats of a traitor in our midst get to us, our evening meal was nearly silent. Some of us even elected to take our food to our rooms to eat in solitude. Deep down... I couldn't blame them. I didn't want to believe it was true, I couldn't believe it was true... but why did Monokuma seem entirely honest then?

One of us was a traitor... I couldn't shake that thought from my mind. One of us willingly subjected the rest of us to this deadly game. But who? It couldn't possibly be any of my friends... could it? And it couldn't be any of the others... right? Even the most suspicious and argumentative of us, they would never do such a thing... would they?

Why... why did this traitor have to do it? Did they know it could result in Princess Celestia's and Luna's deaths? Did they want all of us to die? And what about the mastermind of this whole school? Just... why...?

Before I knew it, Nighttime had arrived. A hot shower did little to clear my mind of worries, but it did allow my tired body to relax. After drying off I slipped under the covers, hoping that sleep would push those thoughts out of my mind.

May the Best Pony Survive - Daily Life 2

I actually managed to will myself to sleep in a little this morning, through Monokuma's morning announcement and subsequent mockery of sunrise. Nevertheless, I was up and awake a half hour later, and I made my way towards the cafeteria like normal.

The mood in the cafeteria was different today... more sullen, less friendly. My best friends (plus Discord, of course, and Coloratura) all sat at the main table in a happy group, while the others were sitting in twos or threes, or even by themselves at separate tables. I grimaced at the sight, wondering if what Monokuma had said about a traitor was the root cause of this.

A traitor... was there really a traitor among us? Somepony who brought us all here to participate in this horrible killing game? I, and as far as I knew, nopony else could recall how they arrived here... teleportation seemed like the obvious solution, but there were realistically multiple ways one could have done it... it was foalish to assume it was any one pony among us.

Well... whoever it was, they hadn't struck yet. There was no good reason to begin suspecting anypony. But they could be planning to strike next.

Though I eventually chose to sit with my best friends, I ate in silence as I pondered our ever-worsening situation. They must have realized I was deep in thought, as none of them poked or waved at me to join their conversation. We all finished our meals, put the dishes away and went our separate ways, I returning to my room to continue thinking.

But after an hour or so, despite all my effort, I came to no conclusion. I sighed in frustration, flopping onto my bed.

Ugh...

...

Hm... maybe if I talk to the others, I'll get a better idea of what to do...?

Besides that... I was pretty bored. With a bit of effort, I pushed myself off of the bed and left my room.

I wandered the school halls, looking for somepony, anypony to talk to. As I passed the Infirmary, I heard the soft clank of a bottle tipping over.

"Ah, bugger..." Nurse Redheart's voice quietly grumbled from behind the door. I opened it to see her picking up the bottle and setting it back on a shelf where a row of boxes of small adhesive bandages sat.

"Oh, need any help?" I asked. Redheart turned her head towards me.

"Oh, Princess Twilight," she replied calmly. "No, I just knocked this potion off of the shelf accidentally while getting a bandage."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she smiled slightly as she extended her front left hoof, a tiny vertical line of red just above it. "Just a bit of a hang-hoof, is all."

"Ooh, yea, those can sting a bit." I watched as Redheart uncorked a different bottle and splashed a drop of green liquid on the cut, applied the bandage and returned the bottle to the shelf. "So, uh... are you busy?"

"Not at all," she replied. "Do you wish to talk about something?"

~~~

Redheart and I shared a careful, but ultimately fruitless conversation about the possibility of a traitor among us.

~~~

"You know, I've seen you around in Ponyville ever since I first moved there," I spoke idly after we'd grown bored of the prior subject. "How long have you been a nurse?"

"Long before I moved to Ponyville," she replied. "Let's see... I suppose it's been a good fifteen years since I graduated from nursing school."

"I see..." I frowned in thought. "...It's a bit late to say it now, but I was always a bit curious about what kinds of healing magic you'd learn in nursing school. Princess Celestia..."- my breath hitched - "...did teach me a good deal of it while I was her student, but even she said that if I wanted to learn more, then I should consider it. Do ponies with Cutie Marks not related to medicine apply?"

"Oh, yes, the classes are often huge. Although the farther in you go, the more ponies drop out when they find they can't hack it. It's not so much the material or the tests, of course, but the actual experience."

"Yea, I can see that... it must be hard to deal with so many sick and injured ponies."

Redheart snorted. "That's the easy part."

"Huh?"

"A simple illness, a mere broken bone... things like that have never affected me," she spoke with a bittering tone. "No... I was a lot like you when I was a fresh graduate - optimistic, eager to help, offering a remedy for every need. I was ready to do whatever it took to save every patient assigned to me. I was so sure that I could cure any illness, mend any injury."

I thought quietly for a moment. It was true that Redheart was very reserved, somewhat pessimistic and, on occasion, unnervingly pragmatic.

"But once you realize why ponies get sick, why ponies get injured, why ponies fail to thrive despite everything... you simply find that life just isn't fair."

"Um... what do you mean?" I leaned forward uneasily.

"If you knew just how many of these patients wound up in the hospital because of other ponies... if you saw entire NICUs full of innocent foals, doomed to die before their lives even began..." she sighed. "...Sorry. Hardly an appropriate topic given our current situation."

"Oh... uh..." I wasn't really sure what to say. Sure, I had always considered that ponies sometimes didn't make it out of the hospital alive. But Redheart seemed to have seen a great deal of death and misery in her career. Was this killing game not... quite so bad compared to her normal work?

"Let's set that subject aside. While most of my knowledge of healing magic is alchemy-based, I'd be happy to share what I know with you," Redheart spoke with a slight, sad smile. I nodded, eager to learn ever more about magic, but I couldn't deny that I was a little curious about her past...

After putting all of the notes I had taken from Redheart's impromptu lesson back in my room, I set off again. There was still quite a bit of time to kill until supper, and then Nighttime.

...Boy, is it boring around here. But I guess that's to be expected...

But then I remembered that I had found that interesting book about unsolved puzzles from the MonoMono Machine in the Student Store, and I had a fair amount of MonoBits in my possession (not only were they lying around in random places all over the school, but we had all received a hefty amount from Monokuma himself for surviving our trial). Deciding I'd spend a few and see what I got, I made my way to the store.

Opening the door, I found Flam was already in the process of dumping his entire stock of MonoBits into the machine. A small pile of opened plastic gacha balls were at his side.

"Bah, another 'Man's Nut'... what in Tartarus are these for, anyway?" he muttered before noticing me. "Oh, hello Twilight!"

"Hello, Flam," I smiled. "Trying your luck, I see?"

"Why yes, I was wondering just how many different objects this wondrous machine holds! Although, I seem to be encountering quite a few duplicates despite the posted amount of unique objects inside," he pointed to the pile haphazardly thrown behind him.

"I see... maybe I have better luck?"

"Perhaps... let me try once more," he paused to insert a coin, spin the lever and open the ball. "...Ah! 'Passionate Glasses'! ...Wait, what comes out of my butt, exactly?!"

~~~

Flam and I took turns using the MonoMono Machine. We sampled the foods and drinks and laughed and puzzled at some of the more outlandish prizes. At one point I got a Ladybug Brooch... it took him ten minutes to stop laughing at my horrified face.

~~~

"So, Twilight, I took your advice..." Flam mentioned during a lull in winning anything new, "and I must say, I'm so very glad I did!"

"Oh? You did talk to Applejack?"

...And she didn't immediately kick you?

"Yes! True, she was mighty wary of me when I brought up how I wanted to make things up to her. And considering where we are at the moment, she said not to worry about it right now..."

"...But?" I leaned forward, sensing there was more he wanted to say.

"I... don't know, I just feel so antsy not doing anything," Flam pursed his lips. "I've tried looking through the library for anything useful, and there's nothing in the Scrollwork Room that could lend us a hoof either... then I had the idea that perhaps there might be an item within this machine that could aid us! ...Of course, as you can see, I've spent a small fortune in my search," he gestured to his pile of winnings, now five times the size it was when I had arrived. "So, I... thought at the very least, I could do something for her."

"Huh? Who?"

"Why, Applejack, of course!"

"Wait... you... like her?" I blinked.

"Well, I don't know if I'd say 'like', but..."

Flam... do you know what you're getting yourself into...?!

"I've seen the way she looks at me... as much as I can understand it, it still hurts, you know. I'm certain she thinks that my offer of assistance is simply another ruse, and she doesn't believe me... I want her to know that my offer is entirely genuine this time."

My shocked expression melted into a more thoughtful one. He really was serious... in the meantime, Flam glanced at his pile of random prizes.

"...Oh!" he suddenly gasped.

"What is it?"

"Perhaps a gift is in order! A show of goodwill! Tell me, Twilight... do you think Applejack would appreciate receiving any of these things I've won?"

"Ah, maybe..."

We spent a few silent minutes looking over our assortment of prizes. From packaged foods and drinks to weirdly-shaped clothes and jewelry, to books of various topics to replica weapons (we both decided almost immediately that that was a terrible idea). Thinking about things that I knew Applejack liked, none of these items really fit that description.

Rose in Vitro... no, too romantic... Kokeshi Dynamo? ...Oh, it starts vibrating when you turn it on, I wonder why- NO. ABSOLUTELY NOT...

"Oh! What about these?" Flam held up a nicely-packaged set of Bunny Apples we hadn't eaten since it was a duplicate prize. "Although, she does live on an apple farm with the most delightful apples, so she may find them of inferior quality..."

I smiled. "No, I think she'll like them. She likes any kind of apple! ...Well, not mealy ones, yea, but the ones we had before were pretty good!"

"Alrighty, then! I'll... find a good time to give these to her, I suppose," Flam grinned sheepishly, setting the Bunny Apples aside. "Now, then, back to trying our luck?"

And so we continued to empty the MonoMono Machine of prizes until we both ran out of MonoBits. But all the while, every time I glanced at Flam, he seemed to have a slight blush on his cheeks that would vanish in an instant when he looked at me. I wonder...

...Does he actually like Applejack? Can't say I can see her liking him back, not after all that's happened between them... she's a stubborn one, after all...

Despite all our sampling, I still felt hungry when it came to be time for supper. I first stopped by my room to drop off all the prizes I'd won, then made my way to the cafeteria. The mood seemed a little lighter now that some more time had passed; more ponies were talking to each other quietly. I grabbed a plate, served myself and sat down with my friends to eat. Now that my mind wasn't so weighed down, I joined in my friends' conversation, and soon my worries were compartmentalized. I actually found myself enjoying the moment, as if we were all out at a restaurant together.

*boing!*

Unfortunately, our peaceful meal was soon interrupted. I nearly choked on my hayburger as Monokuma suddenly dropped from the ceiling above and landed on the table.

"Hellllllllo, my dear students!" he grinned widely as his body squirmed and wiggled.

"What the hell do you want now, you creepy-ass psycho bastard?!" Lightning spat out.

"Creepyasspsychobastard, huh? That's a pretty long name! German, maybe?" Monokuma snorted. "Weeeeell, if ya really wanna know... I'm bored now."

"Oh, boo hoo," Trixie muttered sarcastically.

"Really! I thought you ponies were supposed to be an easily-frightened bunch. But here you are, thinking rationally and working together!" His red eye flashed as he brought his paws to his mouth in a giggle. "I'm so proud of you all, my dear students!"

"Y-You are...?" Coloratura shrank back cautiously.

"Yep! So, as a reward, there's something I wanna show you guys!" he leered.

"Oh ew, gods no!" Fleur winced, turning away preemptively.

"No, no, nothing like that..." Monokuma's cheeks flushed as he began to creepily breathe heavily. "No, I have a little video I'd like you all to see."

"Ack! No fuckin' thank you!" Lightning held up her hooves to block her vision. Now Monokuma began to sweat profusely.

"Oh, but don't worry... it's not some pervy 'adult' video or anything... seriously! It's nothing like that! It's a special video for each of you showing what's going on outside the school!" Everypony gasped, including myself.

Outside... back in Equestria...?

"I dunno... I'm pressing 'X' to doubt," Pinkie eyed Monokuma warily as three letters hovered above her head somehow, two of them disappearing as she swatted the floating "X".

"And just whut is on these videos...?" Applejack gulped.

"Why don't you just watch it and find out?" Monokuma grinned. "I left them waiting for you in the Media Room... go on, they really wanted to talk to you..." His sing-song voice echoed as he clambered back underneath the table and disappeared. My fur bristled as I thought about his parting words...

They... really wanted to talk to us...?

"Hmm..." Flam broke the silence. "The way he spoke suggests that these videos might not be worth watching."

"...He's not talkin' 'bout our families, is he?" Applejack asked, her face now sick with worry.

"Oh, now I simply must watch that video!" Rarity gulped.

"I don't know," Redheart interjected, frowning in thought. "Knowing him, he's probably done something horrible to our loved ones, in an attempt to spur us into action... this could even be a new motive of his."

"Motive... t-to kill each other...?" gasped Coloratura. Redheart nodded.

"Well, we're not going to, right?" Rainbow asserted. "And now that he's said this, it's just gonna eat away at us until we go look..."

"That's true," Fluttershy sighed, gazing sadly at the floor. Everypony's faces mirrored hers as I gulped down a lump in my throat.

Spike... was this why you never responded? ...Starlight? Mom... Dad... Shiny... Cadance...?!

I cleared my throat. "As long as we don't let Monokuma influence us any further... I think we should look. Then we can prepare for whatever he's planned next."

A few minutes later, we arrived at the Media Room. Nothing had changed, except for all of the computers being switched on, and a lone cardboard box sitting on the teacher's desk. Peering inside I saw fourteen DVD cases, one named for each of us.

"Ah, here they are... these go in the opening on the computer modems, the horizontal one that's about the same size as the discs. A window should pop up on the screen within a few seconds. Then use the top-left area of your computer's mouse to click the triangle pointing to the right," I instructed as I passed them around with my magic. Everypony took a seat at a computer and followed my directions with varying degrees of difficulty. My magic was unsteady and wavering as I inserted my own disc, and I fought down another lump in my throat as I pressed "play".

At first the screen turned black. Then with a pulse of salt and pepper, a surprisingly-pleasant scene appeared. Within their palatial home, Princess Cadance and my brother Shining Armor sat in Flurry Heart's nursery, smiling warmly as my mother and father played with her. My niece had grown so much... my heart ached, yet lightened upon seeing them all, and I couldn't help but smile myself. It was so good to see them again.

Well... this isn't so bad...

But as if sensing my own jinx, Spike and Starlight suddenly burst into the room, looking worried. They shouted wordlessly to the others, who only stared in silent surprise. Then just as Shiny stood up in alarm... the screen cut to static. I uttered out a curse and stared in horror as the video returned, but this time...

This time, the nursery looked as if a war had been fought inside. Cast in darkness, the furniture was broken and splintered, the blankets and upholstery torn and shredded. The windows and some picture frames had been shattered; broken glass lay strewn about the floor beside a large, dark blotch on the carpet. Even the walls had a couple of large holes punched into them. All around me I began to hear gasps, cries and even a couple of swear words, but my eyes remained glued to my own screen. I couldn't bear to turn away for even a second.

What... what happened... where are they...?!

And then, after I'd had a few moments to study the quiet damage, I jumped in my seat as Monokuma's voice floated out of the speakers.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle... personal protégé of Princess Celestia, Bearer of the Element of Magic, Princess of Friendship..." he sneered. "And her family, her loyal assistant and the protégé of her own, who supported her throughout it all! Aaaaand, her own brother even managed to marry into royalty! Such a lovely family of such high esteem! But it seems like... something's happened to this family's well-being! Oh boy, this is bad... what could have possibly happened to this family's well-being?!" I jumped again when the screen suddenly cut to black again, with only text reading "Look for the answer after graduation!" remaining.

After a few seconds the video ended, the screen returning to an innocuous, blank media player. But the images I had just seen flashed through my mind, seared into place behind my eyelids. A cold sweat trickled down my mane as I gasped for breath. My heart raced and my body trembled.

Mom... Dad... Shiny... Spike...

"You MOTHERFUCKER!" Lightning screamed, snapping me out of my trance.

"I will KILL that fucking bear for touching my sister!" Rarity snarled a moment later. Fleur glared at her monitor like she was trying to make it explode with nothing more than her mind. Coloratura broke down into a sobbing mess. Bulk made some kind of high-pitched squeal of terror that I don't think could be replicated by any creature in this universe. Nearly everypony else was somewhere in between.

"DAMNIT!" Applejack punched the wall beside her.

"I have to get out of here... I gotta make sure they're safe!" Coloratura panicked.

"It's fake," Redheart stated matter-of-factly. Everypony whipped around in their seats to face her.

"Fake?! What are you talking about?!" Trixie shouted in dismay.

"This is clearly Monokuma's next motive," Redheart continued coolly. "I assume your videos all implied that something terrible happened to your loved ones?" She waited a few seconds before speaking again. "Then these videos can't possibly be true. There are far too many victims to go unnoticed, let alone without any resistance."

"I-I get what you're saying," Flam cleared his throat. "The chances of everypony's friends and families being a-attacked in such a grisly manner... he surely means to goad us all back into his killing game with these videos."

"Besides..." Redheart sighed sadly, "even if somehow, the videos are true... knowing that Monokuma's end game is despair, then even if we all escaped there's a good chance they're all already dead. Either way, there's nothing we can do about it while we're all stuck here."

I felt the blood rush out of my face. An ice-cold pit formed in my stomach at the thought. Around me, faces paled and pupils shrank.

D-Dead?! ...No...

"Like hell there isn't!" Lightning hovered into the air. "I'm getting the fuck outta here, and I don't care who gets in my way!"

"Don't tell me you're falling for Monokuma's trap!" Rainbow pointed a hoof at her as she hovered as well. "That's exactly what he wants!"

"We all wanna get outta here! But we are NOT gonna resort to killin' each other to do it!" Applejack stomped.

"Why the fuck not?! If that fuckwad already killed my baby sis, then why the fuck should I give a shit about the rest of you?!" Lightning raged. "My sis deserves vengeance, and that fuckface deserves my hoof rammed so far up his ass he won't shit right for a month!"

"...U-UP HIS ASS...?" Bulk shrank back, horrified at the thought.

"Lightning, please calm down," I took a few steps towards her. "Don't do anything rash! We need to-"

"We ain't gotta do SHIT!" she interrupted, furiously pointing a hoof at me. "I'm getting outta here, and if you don't wanna die first, then stay the FUCK outta my way!" And with that final outburst, Lightning darted out of the media room before anypony could speak.

"Oh no you don't...!" Rainbow was quick to follow after her, leaving a puff of dust in her wake. Those of us left behind sat in our chairs, stunned into an uncomfortable silence. Now that one of us had openly declared their murderous intent, I couldn't help but wonder if the thought was mulling about in anypony else's mind.

We shut off the computers and solemnly made our way back to our rooms, as Nighttime was only minutes away. I could hear Rainbow shouting at Lightning as we entered the dormitory, but the others wanted nothing to do with either of them and went straight to their rooms, lest they wind up being attacked. Before retiring to my own room, I quickly trotted up the stairs to see Rainbow yelling in vain at Lightning's closed door.

"Seriously, don't even think about doing anything! You hear me?!" she scowled as she beat on the door with her hooves.

"Did she go in her room?" I asked.

"Yep, flew right in and slammed the door shut before I could follow," Rainbow sighed grumpily. "...I know the rooms are soundproof, but do you think the door is knock-proof?"

A chill ran down my spine as I remembered how I had knocked on Princess Celestia's door and never got an answer. "I-I don't know... but maybe you should just let her be alone for now. I'd rather she not come suddenly bursting out wanting to fight."

Rainbow grumbled, but ceased her attacks on the door. "Fine... she just... she just better not, ya know? I really don't wanna go back down there again..."

"I know... none of us do," I bent my head down. We stood in silence for a few moments until Rainbow yawned. I yawned too just a second later.

"Well, 'night, Twi," said Rainbow.

"See you in the morning, Rainbow," I replied. We both made our way to our rooms. After a soothing shower, I selected one of the books I'd won from the MonoMono Machine - "Dreams Come True ☆ Spell Book" - crawled into bed and fell quickly asleep from the sheer lack of useful or even use-able spells.

May the Best Pony Survive - Daily Life 3

Another morning, another breakfast. I made my way to the cafeteria as usual. To my surprise, a couple of ponies had beat me to the food. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were talking amongst themselves between bites, while Nurse Redheart was sipping coffee and keeping a careful eye on the entrance, nodding once at me.

A blend of emotions swirled in my gut. After Lightning Dust's furious outburst last night, I wondered if the three were here to keep watch and make sure nothing happened the morning after. I couldn't deny that I felt a little uneasy, as well. Shaking the thought from my mind, I got myself some breakfast and sat down by my best friends.

"I can understand why you'd be up so early, AJ, but Rainbow? You're not sleeping in?" I asked.

"Nah... I couldn't sleep much last night," said Rainbow. "I couldn't quit thinking about how mad Lightning was."

"We'd better keep an eye on her," said Applejack. "Ah know we all saw somethin' terrible in them videos, but she outright threatened our lives."

"Who knows? She could be plotting something right now!"

"True... I really hope not," I sighed. Hoofsteps echoed in the hallway outside the cafeteria, signaling the arrival of others. Like Redheart, I waited to see if Lightning would appear. First came Discord and Fluttershy, then Coloratura, then Bulk Biceps and Flam, then Pinkie Pie and Rarity, and then Fleur, who was often the last to arrive. But today it was a full hour into breakfast until Trixie walked into the cafeteria.

"Hey Trixie, you haven't seen Lightning around, have you?" asked Rainbow.

"The Great and Powerful Trrrixie! ...has not seen her, no," she shrugged. "Not that Trixie really wants to see her, anyway, not after her little fit last night."

"Usually I'm the one who is fashionably late," Fleur narrowed her eyes. "What took you so long?"

"Oh... Trixie just felt the need to sleep in a little," she sighed, staring at the floor. "That wretched video last night gave me nightmares."

"Me too," said Coloratura.

"I KEPT WAKING UP TO THE SOUND OF MY OWN SCREAMS," Bulk added sadly.

"Good thing the rooms are soundproof..." Fleur grumbled, shooting a glare at Bulk.

"Ya think she's still in her room?" Applejack asked as Trixie sauntered away to the kitchen.

"Maybe," said Rarity. "Or perhaps she's lurking about in the school somewhere." Fluttershy whimpered, and Coloratura scooted a little closer to Applejack.

"Well, if she does happen to find a way out or something, I hope she's at least polite enough to tell the rest of us about it," Discord said as he wrapped a clawed paw around Fluttershy. "...Without violence, of course."

With breakfast finished, I returned to my room, though there was little reason to. While the days spent in this sadistic prison were utterly boring, it was still far better than the alternative.

What should I do today...?

...Guess I'll go find somepony to talk to.

I left my room and began wandering. After some time, I eventually found myself admiring the vast gardens behind the school. While picking out some fresh vegetables to snack on, I saw Coloratura sitting beneath the fake Zap Apple tree, staring off into the distance.

She has been hanging around us quite a bit... she and Applejack were friends when they were fillies, right? Maybe I'll go talk to her.

"Hey, Coloratura," I greeted softly as I approached.

"Oh! Princess Twilight!" she jumped in her seat a little, but quickly relaxed.

"How are you doing?" I asked as I sat down next to her on the bench.

"Oh... as well as I can be, I guess," she sighed, gazing into the distance again. "...Ugh, I've missed four concerts, now."

"Huh? Oh, yea..." I quickly remembered that Coloratura, or rather "Countess Coloratura", was a popular, famous singer. But here, she seemed like just another ordinary pony.

What a strange twist of fate... the friend Applejack made so long ago became so famous... became such an entirely different pony than before...

"I hope my fans aren't too worried about me... I'm sure there's all kinds of rumors flying around about my disappearance," Coloratura droned. "I feel like I'm already starting to forget the lyrics to my most popular songs..."

"I can't even imagine," I leaned back, "I mean, sure, I'm a Princess, but to be on your level of fame and popularity..."

"Oh! But you're quite famous and popular, too!" she quipped as she sat up. "Don't ponies ask for your autograph and stuff?"

My mind flashed back to the time when my best friends and I had compiled our Friendship Journals into a published work, with unexpected and, frankly, dubious results. "Well..."

~~~

Coloratura and I had a conversation about fame and popularity, and the downfalls one might not take into account when trying to attain such things. Turns out being a Princess and a pop star aren't so different after all...

~~~

"So, you and Applejack have been keeping in touch since the Helping Hooves Music Festival?" I asked.

"Oh, yes!," she beamed. "I'm so glad, too. I always felt a little guilty about losing touch, but I guess we both just got so busy in our careers... it was about the time my first hit single came out; one second I had her letter in my hoof, and the next I lost it in a pile of fan mail and promotional offers... after that, I just never really had a moment to sit down and have a good, quiet evening to write."

"I see..."

"But now that I have a new manager who thankfully takes my interests into consideration? Funny how I never had the time before..." she side-eyed, clearly remembering her previous manager.

"That's great! Hm... maybe sometime, after we get out of here... would you ever consider visiting? I'm sure AJ would be thrilled, and my friends and I would love to get to know you outside your performances."

"Ah! You think so?" Coloratura's eyes lit up. "I'd love to see her farm someday! Her apples are famous all over Equestria! I always have a basket of them delivered to my green room before a concert! And... well... I've really missed her. It's been so long since I've seen her last... heh. She was a cute little filly, now look at her... gorgeous!"

I smiled at the thought of the two as fillies, playing together. "Well, you're always welcome to stay in my castle. Any friend of AJ's is a friend of mine!"

"Thank you, Twilight," Coloratura smiled. "Although, no offense, but I would hope I could stay with Jackie... maybe we could have a sleepover, just like old times! She always had the most comfortable bed, and her room smelled like oats and apple blossoms..." she closed her eyes in reminiscence, a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Of course not," I nodded.

"Yes... in fact," Coloratura suddenly stood up, "I think I'll ask her right now. As much as I hate it here, I am glad for the chance to talk to her again... to actually see her again. Thank you, Twilight."

"Oh..." I suddenly felt a little awkward at being so abruptly ditched. "No problem, Coloratura."

"Oh, Twilight... you can call me 'Rara'," she giggled before disappearing through a patch of apple trees. I sat and watched her leave, slightly put out by how quickly she left, but the feeling was largely overshadowed by kind empathy.

She must really have missed AJ... well, I'm glad at least a little good came from this terrible situation.

Again I began wandering the school aimlessly. But then I remembered that we now had access to a library, however macabre it might be. If nothing else, maybe I could reread one of the murder mystery novels.

But as I opened the library's door, I found Nurse Redheart sitting at a table with a small stack of Anatomy & Physiology books. She was in the middle of one such book as I walked over to quietly examine the titles.

"Ah, hello again, Twilight," she looked up from the text.

"Oh, uh, hello," I replied. "Sorry, I'm not interrupting your studies, am I?"

"Not at all. In fact, how good is your knowledge of pony anatomy?" she asked. I paused for a moment or two while I quickly ran over what I knew in my head.

"Ah... pretty good, I'd say."

"Great..." She directed me to sit across from her, then handed me the book. "Would you please quiz me on the subject? It would be nice to keep it fresh in my mind... any topic will do."

"Sure thing," I grinned. Finally, somepony who saw the merits of studying in their free time!

~~~

I spent the next hour or so quizzing Redheart on various body part locations; how magic was created and channeled through Unicorn horns, Pegasus wings and Earth Pony hooves; how to recognize ten different common types of poisonings; how to mix a few common potions for medical conditions... I was quite impressed by her knowledge on all things medical, really! ...Not that I'd consider myself a slouch in that regard.

~~~

"So... about earlier..." I began to ask tentatively.

"Let me guess... you want to hear all about some of the worst things I've ever seen?" Redheart raised an eyebrow.

"Er... well..."

I mean... it's kinda sorta related to my question, I guess...

"It's alright," she shrugged. "It's only natural that you're curious. Just let me know if you start feeling nauseous and want me to stop," she smiled slightly, a dangerous gleam in her eye.

"O-Okay..."

"Let's see... there's quite a few stories to tell, where shall I start...?" Redheart put a hoof to her chin. "...Yes. Weirdest, stupidest, and worst. Those are usually what ponies ask me for."

I remained silent, leaning forward in my seat.

"Weirdest would have to be the time a stallion came to the ER with a garden gnome stuck inside his rectum."

My eyes went wide. "...W-What...?"

"Oh, that's not even the half of it. He said he'd accidentally locked himself out of his house, so he tried to climb up into a second-story window and fell right on it. So we get it out, fishing rod and all, fix him up and send him to a room to rest. But then, three hours later, another stallion comes to the ER, with a slightly different garden gnome in his rectum - this one with a butterfly net - and the exact same story about how it got there. After cutting through the bullshit, we found out that these two stallions had been gnoming each other, realized they both needed medical help afterwards, and arranged to go to different hospitals with this flawless story... only for one to get mixed up and wind up at the same one as the other."

I was stunned silent. Part of me wanted to burst out laughing, but the other part couldn't stop imagining the circumstances it'd take for a garden gnome to wind up... there.

"And stupidest... hard to pick just one, as some ponies seem to invent different ways of trying to get themselves killed every day... there was an older stallion with a skin condition. His treatment consisted of having a cream applied all over his body. He was told this cream was highly flammable-"

"I... think I can see where this is going."

Redheart nodded. "Not two minutes after we finished warning him, he snuck outside for a cigarette. Lit up like a Hearth's Warming tree."

This time I let out a stifled giggle. While I did feel bad for the stallion, he was told exactly what would happen...

"And worst..." Redheart closed her eyes, a small sigh escaping her muzzle. "...Mossy Agate."

I quieted down as Redheart paused. "From what her son told me, Mossy had a rough life. Her mother died in her forelegs when she was still a filly. Then a few years later her baby sister was killed in an accident. The local priest walked with her to the church and... took advantage of the situation. She would never say anything more about it than 'it was bad'.

"Her family were poor rock farmers; while she believed that her father and brothers scrounged up the money for her to go to college, her son told me that it had been the local madam that had taken pity on her. So she went to school, and met a stallion. She became pregnant, in a time and region where that was just not done. So she got married, had a few more foals... and then her husband died of cancer, in her forelegs.

"She remarried, this time to a stallion whom she considered a dreamer... but was really a terrible, abusive pony. They moved far away from her family. But she loved him, despite his horrible treatment of her children, and she had another with him. Then one day, he died in a carriage accident. She remarried once more, to a stallion who already had three fillies of his own. Their lives were happy until their last child moved out of the house... then, as her son put it, she quite simply lost her mind.

"She claimed to see ponies in trees watching her through the windows, and paid private investigators to search for listening spells in her walls. Then she started walking. Walking to visit neighbors she hadn't seen nor spoken to in forty years. Walking to all the corners of Equestria out of sheer paranoia. Slept out in the open. At one point a mare from Silver Shoals sent the son a letter, telling him about how she'd randomly appeared at her door one day. Taught her how to make an excellent loaf of bread, but after the mare wheedled enough information out of her to write to the son, she disappeared. Another time, she walked into her own son's house for a conversation; she asked to use the restroom and took her time, when the son decided to check on her he found that she'd left without a word.

"Finally, one day he received a letter from his sister. Mossy's hooves were bleeding from where she'd been chewing the skin. She was brought to my hospital, kept on psychiatric hold throughout her stay. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, and there was little we could do for her... the only time in my career I ever had to mix a Brompton Cocktail. She died within the week, as her son held her in his forelegs."

My heart felt like it stopped beating. An empty, hollow feeling permeated my chest, flooding into my throat and eyes. "That... that's so awful. Poor Mossy," I mumbled.

"Yes... that was the day I learned that life simply isn't fair," Redheart closed her eyes. "For an innocent little filly to experience so much pain, in which none of it at all was her fault... and later her own mind betraying her like that. I've worked with ponies affected by paranoia disorders... even without medication, they do realize, deep down, that their delusions are not real. But then their own mind swallows them up, warps their lucid thoughts into a nightmare. Often to the point they outright refuse treatment, sometimes violently."

I stared at the floor, my mind racing.

...When I become... if I become the ruler of Equestria... I'll definitely dedicate funds and support for mental health treatment. It's the least I could do...

A sudden, bitter chuckle from Redheart knocked me from my thoughts. "This is why I laugh when ponies compare Princess Celestia and Luna to gods... they were paragons of goodness, wouldn't you say?"

"O-Of course..." I choked a little, remembering my mentor.

"Then if the gods were so good, why do mental disorders exist in the first place? Especially when a pony's own mind turns on them from the moment their brain formed in the womb... what good could possibly come from that?"

I frowned. I had known Celestia since I was a young filly - contrary to popular belief, she was no goddess... well, not in the sense that she had created life and everything as we knew it. I had never given theology much thought, I was a mare of science, through and through. But various beliefs and religions did exist in Equestria and among all the different races of the world. And if those gods did exist, then what was their explanation for mental disorders?

A strong argument for theological fatalism, I can see... I had no idea Nurse Redheart was so... philosophical.

"...Sorry, I didn't mean for you to have an existential crisis right here and now," Redheart spoke, noticing how deep in thought I was.

"Oh, no, no," I waved awkwardly with a dumb grin. "I've just never really thought about it before. But now that I have... well, it'll give me something to do while we're here, I guess."

"Oh? Usually, most ponies gasp and get all offended when I bring this sort of thing up." Redheart's head tilted.

"I mean, I can see why, yes... but if learning's involved, then I don't get offended easily. In fact, let me think more about it, and I'd be happy to talk about it with you more," I offered.

"Hmm..." Redheart smiled. "I would enjoy that. Thank you, Twilight." I smiled in return.

Redheart and I talked a while more until it was time for dinner. I returned to my room briefly to drop off some books, and then headed straight for the cafeteria. In the kitchen, Pinkie was cooking alongside Applejack, Coloratura and Flam, the latter two vying for Applejack's attention. The others were sitting at various tables, picking at appetizers of simple salads or vegetable platters, or sipping their drinks.

I sat with my best friends as we ate our meal. Again, I noticed that Lightning hadn't come to join us. I felt a knot grow tighter in my stomach as I wondered what she could possibly be doing. Nopony had seen her all day, but at the same time, nopony seemed to care all that much... she wasn't particularly well-liked, after all. But I was worried all the same.

Talking with my friends eased my worries, though. We spent the evening playing some board games found in the warehouse, holed up in Pinkie's room with snacks and refreshments, gossiping and laughing. I let out a contented sigh - with them, I could truly relax and let down my guard. Before I knew it, Nighttime had arrived, but we stayed and played two hours more until we finally all left for our own rooms. I had myself a nice, hot shower, nestled into bed with one of my library books and read until I fell asleep.

Morning came. Groggily I pulled myself out of bed, my back already turned to the abrupt sunrise as I left for the cafeteria. I quietly grabbed some food and sat down to eat, watching the others slowly trickle in.

Pinkie arrived almost as soon as I sat down, followed by the rest of my best friends. After that, I only paid half-attention to the others' arrivals. As we ate and talked, though, I couldn't help but feel like something was missing...

Lightning Dust hadn't come to breakfast again, although that was mostly expected. She had reacted pretty badly to that video, after all. But that wasn't quite it...

It took me a few minutes, but once I realized what it was, I slapped my hoof on my forehead. It wasn't something that was missing, but somepony.

Trixie was also absent from breakfast.

"Um... has anypony seen Trixie this morning?" I tentatively asked, hoping that somepony had. Everypony went silent in thought.

"Now that you mention it... she isn't here, is she?" Redheart narrowed her eyes.

"Usually I see her on the way here," said Flam, "...but it would seem I had missed her today."

"Who cares about that has-been?" Fleur grumbled, never looking up from her plate. "Maybe she's off keeping that belligerent butchy bitch company. Celestia knows she's probably in desperate need of a good little hussy..."

My heart froze at those words.

"...You do realize that Lightning's been in the middle of a murderous rage the past day or so... right?" Rarity spoke slowly, terror dawning on her face.

"You don't think-!" Coloratura gasped in shock.

"OH... THAT'S BAD..." Bulk shivered.

"Should... should we go look for h-her?" Fluttershy whimpered. "M-Make sure she's a-alright?"

"Absolutely!" Applejack leapt to her feet. "Hopefully nothin' bad's happened..."

"We should search in pairs, just to be safe," Redheart nodded. "It is easy to assume that Lightning might be willing to murder to get out of this place, but that doesn't mean we should rule out other possibilities..."

"Ugh... why did I have to say anything...?" Fleur muttered angrily, letting her fork clatter noisily on her plate. She eventually stood up and partnered with Bulk before leaving, citing that a "massive meathead like him would make a fine meat shield". I wound up partnering with Redheart, taking a final bite of omelet before trotting out of the cafeteria.

I have a really bad feeling about this... oh, I hope I'm wrong...

Applejack, Flam, Coloratura and Pinkie had the dormitories covered, so Redheart and I entered the school. I managed to catch a glimpse of Rainbow's tail as she left to search outside, Rarity running after her. Discord and Fluttershy took the first floor, leaving the second floor to us. We ran as fast as we could up the stairs, each of us taking a side as we threw open the doors to the Library, Media Room, bathrooms and spare classrooms, finding nothing inside.

But as I tried the door to the Art Studio, my heart sank as I realized it was locked. "Trixie? Lightning? Are either of you in here?! ...Redheart, over here!" I called out desperately, "this door's locked!"

"That's not good," she replied coolly as she hurried over. "We'll have to break it down."

"I... uh..." I trotted in place for a few seconds before halfheartedly trying to push the door down.

B-Break?! But that's so... unprincesslike!

Redheart rolled her eyes. "I thought Alicorns had access to Earth Pony strength..." she sighed as she gently pushed me aside. Then with a sudden twirl and a twist, she effortlessly kicked down the door with her hind hooves.

"Er... thanks..." I sheepishly grinned as she offered to let me in first.

But that grin was quickly wiped away.

In the far right corner of the room, I could see Lightning Dust sitting on the ground by the pottery kiln, caught in a tangle of ropes with a glazed, unfocused expression covering her face. But what she was looking at was truly horrifying.

Trixie Lulamoon, the Ultimate Illusionist, was hanging from a rope suspended from the ceiling. Her face was a slightly darker shade of blue than usual, her eyes were bloodshot and bugged out, and her tongue lolled out of her muzzle, swollen and distended. A pair of thin streams of blood dripped from her mouth. But worst of all was the noose biting deeply into her throat, her legs dangling about a meter off the floor. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't tear my eyes away from that sight.

No... not again... no!

Redheart swallowed. "...Shit."

*ding dong bong bing!*

The monitor in the Art Room flashed to life, with Monokuma taking an excited sip from his wine glass before speaking. "A body has been discovered! Everyone, please gather in the Art Room! Now then, after a certain amount of time has passed, the class trial will begin!" I could've sworn he was holding in his laughter as the monitor deactivated.

But I couldn't focus on that. It had happened again. Somepony was dead.

Trixie was dead.

May the Best Pony Survive - Deadly Life 1

The muscles in my face stiffened, and my legs began to wobble. I let myself sit down with a thud in disbelief.

Trixie... we never really saw eye-to-eye, nor were we really friends ourselves, even after you met Starlight... but you didn't deserve to die... not like this...

Quickly the room began to fill with the others, the disturbance in the air currents causing Trixie's lifeless body to twirl slowly. I dry-heaved at the sight and looked away.

"Wh-Whut in tarnation is this?!" Applejack stammered.

"No! Not again, no!" cried Coloratura.

"That's... t-that's not really Trixie, is it?" Pinkie shivered, her mane losing its bounce. "I-It's just a... piñata that l-looks just like her... r-right?"

"Trixie... why Trixie...?" Discord whimpered. But then he caught sight of Lightning Dust in the far corner of the room, and his expression hardened despite the sudden appearance of a gelled, black pompadour on his head. "Liiiiightniiiiing... you've got some explainin' to do!" he threatened in an odd accent.

"What the fuck, Lightning?! Why? Why did you do it?!" yelled Rainbow.

But despite everything, Lightning did not speak. Her eyes remained glazed over and unfocused. If she hadn't been swaying slightly from side to side, I might have considered that she was dead as well.

"Well?! Not going to say anything?!" Fleur snapped. "Just as well... we've caught you red-hoofed! We don't even need to hold a stupid trial!"

*boing!*

"Aw, but I just redecorated the trial room!" Monokuma protested. His sudden appearance made us all jump.

"Will you stop that?!" Rainbow growled.

"Oh, but if you're all ready to give a verdict right now, I suppose I could save it until next time!" he continued.

"Fuckin' duh! How could you not see it?" Fleur glared. "It has to be-"

"Hold it," Nurse Redheart held up her hoof. "Did you forget that if we answer wrong, we'll all die? That includes you, Fleur."

"Wha- you think I'm wrong?! How dare you!" Fleur snarled.

"You do remember how Miss Dust was acting the other night?" asked Flam. "Surely she must be the culprit!"

"Perhaps..." Redheart nodded. "...But seeing how the penalty for a wrong accusation is our own deaths, I'd like to be one hundred percent sure before I accuse anypony." The others grumbled angrily amongst themselves, positive in their convictions, but ultimately they sighed and begrudgingly conceded.

"You're right... I suppose it could be possible that somepony used Lightning's anger to their advantage and framed her," Rarity shrugged.

"Pft. Fat chance," spat Fleur.

"Uh... she also could've just up and killed herself...?" Rainbow's voice cracked a little as she pointed to the noose.

"If Miss Dust wasn't present, then I might have considered the possibility... but given the recent events, I'd say that's rather unlikely," said Flam.

"Eh, you never know. I've seen it happen before!" Monokuma squealed.

"See? We won't know for sure unless we investigate," Redheart said softly. But she was largely ignored as everypony stared at the bear in disbelieving horror.

"...So you're gonna have the trial after all?" asked Monokuma. "Yippee! Oh, how wonderful! My flash of interior decorating inspiration won't go to waste!"

"If it's anything like your design choices I've seen so far, I think I'd rather choose death," Rarity mumbled under her breath.

"Soooo, let's begin already! No whining, just begin already. Okay, I shall pass out the Monokuma File #2! ...This should start to feel familiar," he grinned. "Now then, do your very best to investigate! I'll see you later at the class trial!" And as soon as he finished handing a copy of the file out to everypony, Monokuma scuttled into the hallway and vanished.

"...Do we r-really have to...?" Fluttershy sniffed after nopony spoke for a few moments.

"I'm afraid so, darling," sighed Rarity.

"Everypony feels the same..." I got up and put a hoof on Fluttershy's back. "But we can't do anything else except do it. Not just for our sakes, but for Trixie's, too... we can't just ignore the reason why she was killed."

"...Since when did you care about Trixie?" Rainbow blinked incredulously, earning a jab in the ribs from Applejack.

"Well..."

I mean, yea, you're right, but...

"...Besides the fact that killing anypony is terrible... I'm sure Starlight would like to know why she died when we get out of here," I lowered my head. Rainbow, along with my other best friends, lowered their heads as well.

"Whoever did it, they had their reasons," Redheart closed her eyes. "And Monokuma is ultimately guilty of putting us all in this situation in the first place. But even so... killing another pony like this is simply unforgivable."

"...Y-YEA! W-WE CAN'T LET MONOKUMA GET TO US LIKE THIS!" Bulk nodded in agreement, sniffling back tears.

"Then what say we get started, then?" Flam hardened his gaze. "Who knows how long we have until we must make our case."

He's right... we can do this, if we all work together...

"Let's begin, then," I nodded.

*Investigation Start*

Taking a deep breath, I opened the Monokuma File. It resembled the last one in that Trixie's picture was crossed out with a hot-pink X.

Deceased...

"Victim is Trixie Lulamoon, the Ultimate Illusionist," I began to read. "Time of death is estimated to be around 3:00am. The scene of the crime is the Art Room on the second floor of the School of Despair. The cause of death appears to be a crushed windpipe due to strangulation. There are no traces of foreign substances such as drugs or poisons detected."

I couldn't help but frown. Three AM was the middle of Nighttime, when everypony should have been sound asleep in their rooms. Alibis were most likely going to be useless here. Looking around the room, I saw that Redheart had gotten Trixie down from the noose and had begun examining her body, with Applejack and Bulk standing close by. The others had begun shuffling around the room looking for clues. I began to make my way towards Redheart, but I paused after taking a few steps. Something felt... soft and powdery under my hooves.

Huh? What's this?

At first I didn't see anything out of the ordinary - just some specks of dirt - and figured it was just my imagination. But just before I looked up, I saw what appeared to be a scrap of paper a few feet away. Upon closer inspection, I saw that most of the paper was burned almost to ash, markings of some sort barely legible on the surface. After using my magic to analyze the scrap and specks of dirt, I realized that they had once all been part of the same piece of paper. Furthermore, it seemed that the already-fragile scrap had been torn. This seemed suspicious, so I cast a quick spell on the scrap to keep it in one piece and tucked it away.

Then I finally approached Redheart. "Hey, what do you think about the Monokuma File this time?" I asked.

"Well, it's mostly correct..." she replied. "First of all, the file didn't mention these." Redheart rolled Trixie onto her side and pointed to some scrapes along her back. "Although, these aren't even close to a fatal wound, so perhaps that's why it was left out."

"I see," I nodded. "...Second?"

"Second... I'm not so sure about the method of strangulation," Redheart now pointed to Trixie's heavily-bruised throat. "The noose was pretty tight around her neck, but the damage just isn't consistent enough. It's mostly centered right on the anterior portion of her throat... to me, that doesn't translate to being hanged."

I mulled the information over in my mind, and came to the same conclusion. "If she wasn't hanged, however, then how did she end up like this?"

"Why dont'cha ask Ms. Probably-the-Murderer right over there?" Applejack huffed, pointing at Lightning. She still hadn't moved, spoken, or even blinked all this time.

"Lightning over there is another mystery," said Redheart. "She appears to be entirely catatonic, but I'm unable to diagnose why. Her vitals are stable and she doesn't have any obvious injuries. Then again, I've mostly spent my time performing this autopsy."

I walked over to where Lightning was sitting. Her eyes were still glazed and unfocused, with bits of dried tears caked around the eyelids. Her mouth was hanging half-open, but her breathing was level and even. She was tangled within a large knot of ropes, but loosely enough that she should've been able to get free with little effort. She made no effort to move as I removed the ropes; I'm not even sure she really noticed my presence at all. Once freed, I noticed that she was clutching a few strands of orange and yellow hair... was the last thing she did before ending up like this pulling out some of her own hair?

Since Redheart was still busy with the body, I decided to analyze Lightning on my own. My horn sparked and glowed as pink magic enveloped Lightning... and I gasped loudly as I realized what was wrong with her.

"Oh! She's Compelled!" I yelped.

"'Compelled'?" asked Applejack as Redheart walked over to me.

"She's under the influence of a Compulsion spell! If somepony under Compulsion isn't given any orders, then they just sit there and do absolutely nothing until they are," I explained.

"Ah... that explains it," said Redheart, pointing to her hornless forehead. "I don't usually treat magic-related injuries, you see."

"Can ya snap her out of it?" said Applejack.

"Of course!" I was almost offended by the question.

"Then let's hear whut she has to say fer herself," she replied. With Redheart's nod of approval, I charged my magic, focused, and fired a beam of pink magic at Lightning's head. The energy swirled and thickened around her until it encased her head in a bubble of light, and then after a few seconds, the magic popped and faded away, undoing the spell. Focus returned to Lightning's eyes and she raised her forelegs to her head, groaning.

"Lightning? Are you alright?" Redheart asked calmly and neutrally. However, Lightning didn't answer. Instead she clenched her eyes shut.

"CAN YOU TELL US WHAT HAPPENED?" Bulk asked as quietly as he could manage. Lightning only moaned in pain.

"Dont'chu try to fake sick on us! What did you do?!" Applejack glowered. Lightning slumped onto the floor, pressing her forehead to the cool pottery kiln. Meanwhile, I ran through my head trying to remember everything I had learned about Compulsion spells so long ago.

"Does your head hurt? I can get you a potion for that, if you like," said Redheart. Lightning only barely nodded, flinching as my magic enveloped and analyzed her once more.

"Sorry," I apologized once my spell was done. "I'm afraid it's gonna be a while until she can tell us anything."

"Why not?" asked Applejack.

"While you do retain your memory of what happened while under Compulsion, the spell suppresses your cognitive functions until it's dispelled," I explained, trying my best to keep it simple. "Then once it's dispelled, the rush of memories magically returning to your brain is often overwhelming to the target, depending on how long the spell lasted, or how many times it was cast on the same target. And if the spell is dispelled by somepony other than the original caster, the side effects are exponentially stronger... right now, she's probably got the mother of all migraines." Right as I finished my sentence, Lightning stumbled to her hooves, fumbled around for the door to the kiln, opened it and promptly threw up inside.

Bulk dry-heaved. "UGH! NO, GOTTA LOOK AWAY! I'M A SYMPATHY PUKER!"

"So, we gotta wait until her headache goes away?" Applejack sighed. Redheart reappeared with a small vial of cyan liquid, dragged Lightning away from the kiln and poured the liquid into her mouth.

"And until her brain untangles all of her memories. If she could speak at all right now, you'd just hear word salad."

"Nothing she could say would even begin to make any sense," Redheart explained before Applejack could ask, noticing her questioning gaze.

"Ah see... oh! Ain't magic spells trackable? Can yeh tell who cast the spell on her?"

"Oh yea! Let's see... sorry again, Lightning." I focused my magic and analyzed Lightning once more, frowning as I realized that where there should have been a magical signature, Trixie's or otherwise, there was none. Lightning squeezed her eyes as shut as possible and groaned loudly, but at least she didn't vomit this time. "That's weird... there's no trace of mana. No magical signature at all."

"Odd. Don't all ponies have a magical signature?" asked Redheart.

"Yea... at least, they're supposed to."

"Well, then... that ain't exactly helpful," sighed Applejack. "Sure hope she feels better before the trial starts..."

"Indeed. She could either be the killer, or she could be our star witness," nodded Redheart.

She now focused her attention on Lightning while I continued to look around the room. Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary until I thought to examine the air vent near the ceiling. And I'm glad I did, because I noticed that the grating seemed to have been heavily dented in the center, then pounded flat again. Furthermore, instead of being securely screwed into the wall, the grating seemed to be just barely attached.

...Was the grating always like this?

My horn flared to life, and my magic easily removed the grating from the vent, finding that it was being held in place with multiple pieces of ordinary tape. I was surprised to discover that the vent was roomy enough that I could crawl through. Having a hunch, I flew up into the vent, crawled to the left and to the right, and after removing the outer grating found myself outside. I examined the grating, finding no evidence of denting... but the screws on this one had been clumsily smashed, as if with a hammer. Satisfied, I used my magic to seal the grating back where it was and crawled back through the vent.

"Well, I think I've seen everything in this room," I said to myself. "Where should I look next...?"

"Would you like me to accompany you?" Flam asked, drawing close. "I too have noticed the sorry state the air vent is in, and I have a hunch."

"Ah, sure," I smiled. He returned the gesture, and we left the room.

Our trip was short-lived, however, since our next stop was the Library next door. Flam made a beeline for the air vent near the windows.

"A-ha..." he stroked his mustache. "This grating has also been tampered with." Indeed, the screws holding it to the wall were smashed rather than screwed.

I wonder...

I removed the grating with my magic and flew inside. The air vent was identical to the one in the Art Room, only mirrored. I crawled to the right and to the left, coming up on the outer grating. But just as I was about to remove it, I noticed a small tuft of... fur? ...wedged between the vent and the grating. Using my magic I carefully held the fur in place as I also removed the grating, exposing the fresh air outside. In the sunlight I now saw the bluish color of the fur, dirtied with dust and whatever else sat inside the vents, and the smashed screws of the grating once more. I put the grating back and made my way back through to the library.

"Well? Find anything?" asked Flam.

"The vent grate inside the art room was taped in place, and the other three vent grates have smashed-in screws," I said. "And I found this dirty tuft of fur stuck between the vent and outer grating, too."

"I see... perhaps there are more clues in here than previously believed," he mumbled.

We spent a while longer in the library, Flam searching in general for anything out of the ordinary while I looked for a possible match to my scrap of paper. But none of the books appeared to have any fire damage, nor signs of burning. After searching through my 137th book, I wondered if the scrap of paper was even a scrap of paper at all.

I stopped to consider other possible sources of paper in the school, and why it had been burned to ash. Once it hit me, I smacked my forehead.

"Ow... ack, how could I not think of it?"

"Think of what?" asked Flam.

"This paper piece I found... now I have a hunch!"

A few minutes later, Flam and I arrived at the Scrollwork Room. While nothing appeared out of the ordinary at first glance, I did notice that some of the spellbooks had been left out on a desk rather than being returned to their shelves, as well as the stack of parchment on the same desk being shorter than the stacks on the others. But what really piqued my curiosity was the waste bin closest to the door - while it had been empty the first/last time I had looked, this time there was a small pile of ash at the bottom, along with another scrap of burnt parchment. The markings looked familiar, urging me to carefully levitate it out.

"Did you find something?" asked Flam. I brought out the other scrap I had found and held the two together... they were a perfect match.

"Yes, these match! I found this other one back up in the art room."

"I see! So that could only mean that the scraps and ashes were all once a piece of parchment."

"Not just any parchment..." I grimaced as the gears began turning in my mind, "...a scroll."

"Ah, yes... a single-use magic spell, correct?"

"Not just that, but a single-use magic spell anypony can use. Earth Ponies and Pegasi, too."

"Is that so? I'd always wondered why any Unicorn worth their salt would need such a thing," Flam stroked his mustache. "Seems quite obvious in hindsight."

"I've only ever used them to send messages, myself. The magic properties of parchments work great for that purpose."

"So, we can ascertain that scrolls were used in the crime... but what magic were they enchanted with?"

It only took me a moment to piece it together. "...Compulsion spells. That must be why I couldn't trace the magical signature of the Compulsion spell cast on Lightning!" To be absolutely sure, I quickly looked over the spellbooks left on the desk. Sure enough, one had a piece of parchment stuck inside, marking the page that contained the glyph and fortified inks needed for Compulsion.

"Well... I never would have guessed Miss Dust had a knowledge of scrollwork," mused Flam. I started to agree, but closed my mouth as soon as I had opened it. Something just didn't seem right.

But... if Lightning compelled Trixie to hang herself... then why did she tangle herself up and use a scroll on herself? The logical thing to do would be to leave, to get rid of the evidence and not implicate herself... But if Trixie compelled Lightning... then how did she end up being the victim...?

"...I wonder if Lightning had anything to do with the scrolls at all," I whispered.

Flam and I checked the entire School for clues, finding nothing but a couple of chipped bits of masonry beneath the bashed air vent gratings. I was sufficiently confident that we hadn't missed anything, so we began to return to the Art Room to see if Lightning had recovered yet.

However, we noticed a small crowd outside the Infirmary, so we went to investigate. Redheart had moved Lightning to a cot inside, and she was busy mixing another migraine potion. Meanwhile, Lightning was lying face-down on the cot, still moaning and holding her head, her wings covering her head to block out even more light and sound. Everypony else was watching her like a hawk.

"Excuse me... sorry..." I grunted as I pushed my way through. "Redheart? How is she?"

"The same, I'm afraid," Redheart replied. "Found anything interesting?"

"Well... I'm pretty sure the Compulsion spell she was under came from a scroll."

"...Ah," Redheart exclaimed after a short pause. "Yes, those don't have magical signatures... that makes sense. I've had a few patients in the past that were the victims of those things."

"And, what's more is that there was quite a bit of parchment missing from the scrollwork room. I can only imagine they were all used for the same spell," added Flam. Redheart thought for a few moments.

"...That would explain why Lightning hasn't recovered yet. The more times you're hit, the longer it takes to recover... correct, Twilight?"

"Yea... right..." My heart sank as I had a terrible realization: just how many times was Lightning subjected to Compulsion? Would she even recover in time to tell us what happened before-

*ding dong, bing bong*

...Welp, that answers that...

The monitor in the infirmary buzzed to life, and Monokuma appeared. "The time for unparalleled hedonism... has come to an end!" he monologued. "Come! Now is the time to fight the decisive battle! The hostility of fresh blood! The insanity of a contest of wits! The class trial is finally raising its curtain!"

"...Was any of that really necessary?" Rainbow blinked.

"Soooo... meet up where you know where to meet up! Once you're there, please proceed to the underground by taking the elevator. Puhuhu, I'll see you soon!" And with that, the monitor went dead.

"Shit," Redheart muttered. "We'll have to hope Lightning recovers from the aftereffects before the trial is entirely over."

"Is there anything you can give her that'll help clear her mind?" asked Flam.

"It's what I've been working on in here," Redheart held up a vial of faint lavender liquid. "I'll administer it to her right now... hopefully it'll take effect quickly enough. Who knows how long the aftereffects would've lasted otherwise."

I watched as Redheart gently roused Lightning and gave her the potion, promising she'd feel better soon. Lightning quickly gulped it down. She still needed support as she stood up; Redheart simply hoisted her onto her back and began walking towards the crimson doors along with everypony else. Flam and I followed.

And within moments, we reached those crimson doors. I had hoped I'd never have to step through them again, but fate had not been kind. My hoof trembled as I opened one of the doors, finding everypony else waiting, hesitating to get into the elevator.

"Not again... I'm not mentally prepared for this..." Coloratura whimpered.

"I don't think any of us ever will be, darling," Rarity shivered.

"Damn it... damn it! Why'd this have to happen again?!" Applejack cursed at nopony in particular, kicking the ground.

"At least it'll be over quickly... Murder-Bitch over there can't even defend herself," Fleur sneered as she pointed to a barely-conscious Lightning. "We'll just pick her, watch her die, then leave and go on with our day. It won't even take ten minutes."

"...Do you really not care about anypony other than yourself? How could you say such a heartless thing?!" Flam took a step back, appalled.

"Of course I do! ...I said 'our' day, didn't I?" Fleur glared, smirking.

"Ignore her," Redheart sighed. "While it's going to take much longer than just ten minutes, as long as we present all of our evidence, think logically and work together, we'll make it through this just fine... probably."

"B-But... what about the t-traitor...?" Fluttershy sobbed.

"Traitor, schmaitor," Rainbow waved her hoof dismissively. "Once we find out how and why Lightning did it... well, we'll have nothing to worry about, then."

"Tch, whatever happened to 'innocent until proven guilty'...?" Flam muttered to himself.

"Well, it does look pretty bad for Lightning," I admitted. "But it's up to us to solve this case. All of us. If we get it wrong, we'll all die instead, and the true murderer will go free."

And... moving forward is the only option.

Somehow I moved my legs, stiff from fear and anxiety, and pushed the button. The elevator's doors creaked open before us, and we tentatively walked inside. I felt my breathing grow short, and I soon realized that I felt slightly dizzy.

...Celestia... help me...

A rumbling sound filled the elevator, and the surrounding space began to fall.

May the Best Pony Survive - Deadly Life 2

As we descended, my mind was assaulted with despair, no matter how positively I tried to think. Could this be another accident, at least sparing us the heavy knowledge of a purposeful motive, a reason to kill? ...No, this was no accident - somepony had actually murdered somepony this time. Somepony had become so desperate, so frantic to leave this place that they had accepted and embraced the demons that came with such an act, willing to live with the guilt for the rest of their lives. More than that, they had made peace with condemning the rest of us - the innocent - to an agonizing death.

Such dark, swirling thoughts... I suddenly stopped breathing. My consciousness began to fade from the pressure. I tried to endure that pressure by standing firm, steeling myself for what I had to do. I willed myself to breathe, one gulp of air at a time.

And eventually... the elevator's vibrations gradually weakened before thunking to a stop altogether. The elevator doors opened up to the trial room. This time, the walls were covered in a garish gold-leaf and ebony checkerboard pattern, with solid-gilded pillars to complement them. The floor, carpets, curtains and sconces remained the same. So much red and black and gold, I couldn't help but imagine that the very walls were dripping with blood.

"Aim! Defeat the boring routine!" Monokuma shouted from his throne above the podiums. "...Soooo, how's it look? Mr. Monokuma's redecoration is awesome, isn't it? It's not like I'd allow you to think otherwise, anyway!" he laughed.

"To go through all this trouble, to put us through this hell... what is your true intention?" Nurse Redheart glared.

"Eh, nothing, really," the bear rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Essentially, this killing game is just to kill time anyway."

"Kill time? What do you mean by that?" asked Rarity.

"To break away from my purpose! That alone is my purpose!" he laughed again. "A purpose is only gonna be a weakness! Those who have purpose are always the weakest ones in the bunch! That's why you guys should forget about such cheap-ass purposes like 'trying to survive' and enjoy the class trial from the bottom of your hearts!"

"Why... just... why?!" Coloratura sobbed. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"Forget it... let's just get this fucking waste of time over with," muttered Fleur. Everypony walked despondently to their assigned podiums, myself included while Redheart plopped Lightning down onto a stool behind her podium. Now inside that damned room, now standing behind that damned podium, I was even closer to losing yet another life I had sworn to protect.

It's starting... the class trial is starting...

Trixie Lulamoon, the Ultimate Illusionist... it was true that the two of us weren't exactly friends, but that didn't mean I entirely disliked her. She had an unyielding force of personality that, on some occasions, I envied. But most importantly, I wanted to tell our mutual friend Starlight Glimmer what had become of her. What had become of the pony that had killed her...

And that pony was among us. I didn't want to believe it, I wished I could refuse to believe it. But regardless, we needed to find the answer. It didn't matter if we believed it or not... it was the only way for us to survive.

And so, this life-threatening trial, brimming with our hope and despair... began.

*Class Trial! All Rise!*

"Now, then! Let's begin with a simple explanation of the class trial!" Monokuma began. Whether he thought we had already forgotten his rules and was giving us a reminder, or if he was simply giving us time to get our arguments together, I appreciated the procrastination all the same. "During the class trial you will present your arguments for who the killer is, and vote for 'whodunnit'. If you vote correctly, then only the blackened will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one... then I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and that pony will earn the right to graduate!"

"Oooh... no matter how many times I hear it, it's such a c-cruel rule," Fluttershy whimpered.

"Okay then... so first off, let's talk abou-"

"Ugh, it was Lightning, damnit!" Fleur groaned loudly, interrupting Monokuma. "We all know it! She was caught red-hoofed at the scene of the crime!"

"And, like I said, we need to be one hundred percent sure before we make our decision," said Redheart. "And I, for one, am not convinced that Lightning is the killer."

"The fuck do you mean?! ...Is there some reason you're protecting her?!" Fleur accused, pointing angrily and wildly.

"I am not protecting her, I am simply stating that we all need to be one hundred percent sure so we make the correct decision. Not the 'dreadfully wrong' one."

"But we found her right fucking there, right next to the fucking body! What more proof do we need?!"

"Why don't we start with the autopsy," Flam interjected, sounding somewhat confident. "Perhaps any doubts we have about Ms. Lulamoon's death will be made clear."

Alright... so we're going to talk about the body... I need to listen carefully in case anything weird comes up!

"Let's begin with the cause of death," said Redheart, though her tone suggested that she already knew where the conversation would lead.

"Ugh, do we have to? We found poor Trixie hanging from the ceiling of the Art Room!" Coloratura's face paled.

"Her whole neck was crushed from the noose, the poor dear. Such a terrible way to go!" gasped Rarity.

"Hm... is this what you meant by 'not convinced', nurse? Maybe she tied up Lightning and forced her to watch some autoerotic asphyxiation, and couldn't levitate herself in time?" Fleur sneered, then rolled her eyes. "I swear, if you lot were any simpler, you'd need to be watered everyday..."

...Celestia, no, that's not at all what Redheart meant!

"I'm sorry, but that's wrong!" I objected. "Redheart, your autopsy confirmed that Trixie's throat was crushed far more severely than her entire neck, correct?"

"That's right," she nodded. "The bruising was much more pronounced in that area, and her trachea felt like jelly."

"You know, you're the only one here with that kind of medical knowledge," Fleur glared. "For all we know, you could be lying! Maybe you're the one who did it!"

"Would you like to palpate the patient's trachea for yourself?" Redheart deadpanned.

"Fuckin' ew! No! What kind of sick freak do you think I am?!" Fleur screeched.

"Furthermore, there were other injuries suffered that the Monokuma File left out," Redheart continued, ignoring Fleur. "The patient has several scrapes along her back. Where did these come from, and why were they not mentioned?"

"Uh... maybe she tripped over backwards at some point?" reasoned Rainbow.

"Maybe, but that usually shows up as bruises or small scratches. These scrapes are long and unbroken, down the length of her entire back."

"...Maybe somepony dragged her somewhere?" suggested Applejack.

"Yea, and that somepony would've been Lightning! Can we move on to the voting yet?!" Fleur sighed grumpily.

"Absolutely not! Don't you see that the bodily proof doesn't match up with the evidence?" chided Flam.

"Speaking of, why don't we talk about Lightning?" asked Redheart, motioning over to said pony. Lightning was lying face-down on her podium, still holding her head in her hooves.

"What about her? She's obviously stewing over how fucked she is and how she's gonna die soon," huffed Fleur.

"Perhaps, but we should not ignore the state in which we found her," said Flam.

"It was pretty strange," Rarity mused, a hoof to her chin. "She was caught in a tangle of ropes and was entirely unresponsive, and for the most part, she still is! Surely she would've said something to proclaim her innocence by now."

"I concur!" I chimed in, desperate to explain as it became obvious to me that not everypony knew why Lightning was unresponsive. "I used my magic to figure out what was wrong with her, since Redheart said she didn't know why she was unresponsive. It turns out that Lightning was under the influence of a Compulsion spell! Redheart doesn't usually treat magic-related injuries, so that's why she didn't know."

"Compulsion?" Coloratura shivered.

"Yes... 'tis a spell which makes the target obey every whim of the caster," Flam explained. "Unless the target is given an order, the target will simply remain right where they were standing, completely unresponsive to outside stimulus."

"I... don't like the sound of that..." Rarity gulped. "...Not one bit."

"OH! OH! I KNOW!" yelled Bulk, raising his hoof. "YOU'RE SUGGESTING THAT BECAUSE SHE WASN'T GIVEN AN ORDER, THAT LET TRIXIE TIE HER UP!"

"But why would Trixie have done such a downright sloppy job of tyin' up Lightnin'?" asked Applejack. "It's more likely that she ordered Lightnin' to just... do it herself."

"But then Trixie's the one who wound up killed!" said Discord. "Usually I'm all for a bit of chaos, but that doesn't make any sense!"

"...Perhaps Trixie wasn't the one who cast the Compulsion spell on Lightning?" Redheart asked slowly.

"Oh, please," Fleur huffed. "Trixie's a Unicorn, of course she had to have cast it!"

...Wait... I think I have evidence that proves that it wasn't necessarily Trixie that cast the Compulsion spell...

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"Not quite, Fleur," I objected. "Did anypony else get a good look at the floor of the Art Room? Notice that it felt kind of soft and powdery?"

"...Now that'cha mention it, yea. Like it wasn't quite clean," thought Applejack.

"That's because the floor had ash spread out on it," I explained. "And there's only one place the ash could've come from-"

"Ding dong, ya'll are wrong!" Rainbow suddenly shouted aggressively. I couldn't help but look to her in disbelief. "Twilight, I think you're overthinking things again. It's the Art Room, remember? There could be all kinds of bits and pieces on the floor that were just from arts and crafts!"

Rainbow... you don't believe me? ...Well, then I'll just have to get to the point, lest I lose everypony's trust!

"But Rainbow, there's nothing in the Art Room with the same texture as the ash," I argued. "And in regards to the ashes and the spell cast on Lightning, there's only one explanation!"

"Sure there is!" she fought back. "Dust, glitter, uh... fluff... that's soft and powdery! And ash could have been belched out of the pottery kiln! It's not like there was anything to suggest where else it might've come from!"

Aha! I see your weakness!

"That's not true. I also found a scorched piece of parchment on the floor," I said as I held up the piece I had found in the art room, a hint of triumph in my voice. "See how the edges are ready to fall apart? I analyzed the ash and this parchment piece with my magic and came to the conclusion that it all came from the same one!"

"Besides, we checked the pottery kiln... it was empty and unused. ...Well, at least until our patient had an emesis inside of it," agreed Redheart.

"Oh... well then..." Rainbow glanced away sheepishly. "I guess you're right... sorry 'bout that."

"Don't worry about it," I sighed, waving a hoof. "You're just trying to help."

"But I don't recall ever seeing any parchment within the Art Room," thought Rarity. "Wherever did it come from?"

"Well, there's only one explanation for that, my dear," Flam grinned. "There's loads of it in the Scrollwork Room!"

"Scrollwork Room?" asked Pinkie. "Ooh! Scrolls let anypony use magic! ...Is it my secret? I'll never tell!" she added in a hushed whisper, smirking mysteriously.

"Wait, they do?" Coloratura's eyes widened.

"Yes. A scroll allows anypony, not just Unicorns, use magic," I nodded. "...I could go on for hours about the thaumaturgical workings of how the parchment and enchanted inks work together to-"

"Please don't," Fleur growled, glaring straight at me.

"Sorry..." I grinned, embarrassed.

"...Aaaaand besides that little quirk," Flam spoke up, "a scroll is good for one use, and one use only. Afterwards, it burns itself up into nothing but a pile of ash."

"So... you're all saying Trixie used a scroll with a Compulsion spell on it on Lightning, to tie herself up?" asked Rainbow.

"Well... there's the real mystery," I said. "Unlike usual magic, which has a personal magical signature, scrolls don't have one. Most of us Unicorns would've been able to tell if the Compulsion spell had been cast by Trixie... but after I analyzed Lightning, I couldn't find a magical signature."

"If Trixie used a Compulsion spell on Lightning, we would've been able to sense that," nodded Redheart. "And if Trixie was the one to cast the spell via scroll, then how did she end up dead? The injuries to her throat and back simply don't align with the given cause of death. But if you swap the caster and target, then the whole case doesn't make any sense. Why wouldn't Lightning have just left the scene once she had killed her? She was tied up so loosely that she could've escaped within seconds, and she could have disposed of the evidence."

"Ugh, fine... so Lightning didn't kill her," Fleur grumbled, pinching the bridge of her muzzle with her hoof. "Then if you're soooo smart, who did, hmm?"

"Who, indeed," was Redheart's only reply. The courtroom was silent for a few moments as everypony thought of a possible second suspect. But if anypony had come up with one, nopony was brave enough to speak it, instead warily eyeing everypony else in the room.

"Hm... it would seem we aren't getting anywhere with this train of thought," mused Flam. "Why don't we try something else?"

"Alright... but w-what?" Timidly, Fluttershy finally spoke up, the poor thing.

"Well, how about we talk about the air vents? Those seemed quite suspicious," he suggested.

Right... the state of disrepair we found them in, they must be a clue!

"Why would the air vents be suspicious?" asked Rainbow.

"Didn't you happen to notice the air vent grating in the Art Room? It was clearly bent all out of shape at one point, and then flattened back out again," Flam explained. "Furthermore, it wasn't screwed into the wall, but merely taped to it from the inside!"

"From the inside?" Rarity puzzled. "Well, that could only mean that somepony was in the air vent. Is it really that big inside?"

"Miss Sparkle could definitely fit inside," Flam motioned to me with a wink. "But that's not all the tampering that we found, right, my dear?"

"Ah, yes..." I nodded, blushing slightly. "All of the other air vent gratings were not screwed into place. They looked like they'd been hammered, instead."

"All of them?" asked Redheart. "You mean the one in the Library and the ones outside?"

"Yes, even those," I confirmed.

"I see..." she mumbled, thinking. "That is strange."

"Uh... w-why?" Fluttershy cautiously asked after a few moments had gone by.

Why is the fact that all four air vent gratings being damaged strange...?

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"I think I know why," I said slowly. "The Art Room door was locked from the inside when we first arrived, wasn't it?"

"That's right," agreed Redheart, "I had to kick it down. And I made sure to check which side the lock was on when I left temporarily to get a potion for Lightning - the lock was definitely posterior from the hallway."

"Indeed. Naturally, this can only mean that our culprit used the air vents to gain entry and egress from the Art Room," Flam concluded.

"Well, that rules you out, tubby," Fleur smirked as she pointed at Bulk.

"PHEW..." Bulk sighed in relief, only realizing the burn and the way his own reaction sounded a moment later. "...WAIT, THAT CAME OUT WRONG."

"No, I agree, I think we can rule you out," Redheart sighed. "You're far too large to fit inside the air vents."

"But who could it have been, then?" Fleur asked impatiently.

Yes... that's the question, isn't it...?

"Judging from the evidence of three our of the four sets of grating screws being hammered into the walls, I would suspect that they were in a hurry," reasoned Flam. "They had no other choice for the Art Room grating than to use tape, and they had no time to find a screwdriver in the Warehouse."

"That doesn't tell us much about who could've done it, though," said Rainbow.

"If they were in a hurry, then I think it's safe to rule out any Earth Ponies," Rarity put a hoof to her chin. "If they hadn't the time to find a screwdriver, they wouldn't have had the time to find a ladder for the outer gratings, either."

"Those are pretty high up," Discord nodded. "Perhaps a Unicorn with a spell for Levitation, or a Pegasus-"

"Wait, you said a Levitation spell?" Rainbow interrupted. "But if the killer had a scroll with Levitation on it, then it could've been an Earth Pony, too!"

"True... and there's no chance we'd ever find the ash evidence if that's the case," hummed Redheart. "There must be something we've missed..."

...Wait, there is! I have the evidence right here!

"I concur!" I spoke, my magic sparking as I summoned the dirty tuft of fur in front of me. "I found this bit of fur stuck between the outer wall and the outer grating for the Library."

"Eww, why the fuck are you still holding onto it?!" Fleur stuck out her tongue.

"Stuck between the gratin' and the wall... the culprit must'a gotten it stuck while they were hammerin' the gratin' back into place and didn't notice," Applejack's eyes widened. "What color is it?"

"Er... I'm not sure, it's absolutely filthy," I grimaced as I looked over the caked-on dust and Celestia-knows-what that covered it.

"I gave Lightning some bottled water earlier, I'm sure she won't mind if a sip or two is missing." Redheart pointed to where the bottle sat on the podium to my right. "I don't think I need to tell you what to do with that."

I quietly reached over Lightning's lolling head to grab the bottle and nodded. Carefully I pulled some of the water out in a stream and held it in midair like a bubble. Setting the bottle down, I then levitated the fur into the water bubble. The water turned a sludgy grey as it shook and pulsed, cleaning the fur.

"Ah... I'll need somewhere to put the water when I'm done..."

Monokuma produced a bucket from behind him and chucked it down. I caught it with a tendril of magic and set it upright. Finally, after a few more seconds, I concentrated as I pulled every strand of fur from the water, letting it splash down into the bucket.

All clean-

It was in that moment that I felt my heart stop beating.

...This... this is a mistake, right? This can't be happening... right...?

"Well? What color is it?" Fleur squinted. She couldn't tell from her position, but I knew all too well what color I was seeing.

No... why? Why?!

Nausea overwhelmed me, and I had to lean against my podium to remain standing. A few feet to my left, I could see Rainbow's face pale.

Why...? Why did you... how could you...?!

"It's... blue," Applejack's voice quivered.

"B-Blue?" Fluttershy squeaked.

"Not just any blue..." Rarity covered her mouth with her hooves. Indeed, the fur was not ice-blue like Trixie's coat, nor teal-blue like Lightning's.

It was sky blue.

I glanced over to the left, absolutely hating what I had to say next. But as much as I didn't want to, as much as I wanted to instantly forgive and forget this ever happened... for the sake of everypony else, I had to.

"I'm afraid it was you... Rainbow Dash."

May the Best Pony Survive - Deadly Life 3

"Ah... hahahaha..." Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously. "Great joke, Twilight, except I don't think now's the time."

"I wish I were joking," I spoke quietly as I stared at one of my best friends, tears threatening to blur my vision. The rest of our friends stared at Rainbow in disbelief, while those of us who were not Elements of Harmony glared or frowned. After a few quiet moments, Rainbow's calm facade began to shatter.

"...Wait... you guys... you really think I did it?!" Sweat began to bead on her forehead. "No! No, I didn't kill her!"

"Then why was some of your fur stuck between the Library's outer air vent grating and the wall?" asked Redheart. Her voice was as smooth and level as ever, not betraying her true feelings.

"Uh... I-I noticed one day, that the grating had fallen off!" Rainbow stammered. "So I fixed it!"

"By bashing the screws into the wall? Then why are the other three gratings like that?" Redheart continued.

"Not to mention, if it did happen 'one day', then you would have had plenty of time to find a screwdriver and fix it properly," added Flam.

"I... uh..."

"Pffffahaha!" Fleur cackled. "'Element of Loyalty', huh? That's rich... so you're the one who did it!"

"I am NOT!" Rainbow pointed at Fleur angrily. As she waved her left hoof, my heart dropped even lower into my guts as I realized it was heavily chipped. Before I could mention it, however, Rarity's eyes widened.

"Rainbow, darling... what happened to your hoof?"

"Er, nothing!" Rainbow quickly tried to hide her hoof under her other one, but that hoof was chipped as well, including a small but noticeable crack. She made a small sound as she realized this, and after fumbling over her hooves for a moment she decided on simply hiding them behind her podium.

"Nothin'? They looked worse 'en mine after a day of apple-bucking!" said Applejack.

"Um... I-It's been a long time since I had a hooficure," she gulped. "Look, it can't have been me! I-I have an alibi!"

"Oh?" Redheart mumbled, unconvinced.

"Y-Yea! Twilight, you, me, and the others were all in Pinkie's room playing board games together! You remember, right?!" While our friends began thinking amongst themselves and agreeing with Rainbow, I hesitated.

Rainbow said that we were all playing board games together, so she couldn't have done it... but something about that statement doesn't sound right...

...I know we stayed together past Nighttime, but until when? ...12am, right. At what time did the murder occur? ...3am, yes... So... she doesn't actually have an alibi!

"...Er, no Rainbow, we didn't stay up together that late," I finally said. "We all went to bed at midnight... the murder happened three hours later."

"But... I... uh..." I could see the panic mounting in Rainbow's eyes, and it absolutely killed me inside.

"So, this would mean that you went to the Library afterwards, right?" asked Coloratura.

"Wha-ah, no! Libraries are for eggheads, why would I ever go in one?!" Rainbow pouted, turning up her nose.

...That's not true...

"...There were some Daring Do books in the library," I pursed my lips. "Just a few, but then again they were some of your favorite ones, if I remember right."

"Yea, they are... Daring Do and the Peak of Hope is probably the best one! I finished rereading that one just last ni- ...shit." As soon as she realized she had all but confessed to being in the Library last night, Rainbow slammed her face on her podium.

"R-Rainbow... you didn't..." Fluttershy began to sob.

"D-Dashie..." Pinkie Pie's mane began to deflate.

"...Why? ...Why did ya hav'ta do it...?" Even the normally-stoic Applejack was beginning to tear up. A painful lump formed in my throat as I watched Rainbow cover her head with her forelegs, unmoving.

"...Zzz... zzz... zzz..."

A strange noise, like a log being sawn in half far away, broke the silence.

"...Zzz... zzz... zzz..."

One by one, we each turned our heads and stared at Lightning Dust. She had fallen asleep.

"Well, that's rude," Fleur snorted.

"Um... Lightning?" Fluttershy gently poked Lightning's shoulder. It was just what she needed.

"Zzz-pbhth... huh...?" Lightning groggily opened one eye, blinking before she opened the other. "Buh... man. About fucking time my head stopped spinning..." She slowly stood up, bracing herself on her podium as she shook her head to clear it.

"You're awake!" Coloratura gasped.

"Finally decided to grace us with your charming presence, did you?" Fleur glared.

"Yea, yea, fuck you very much for your concern," Lightning paused to take a swig from the water bottle on her podium, then glanced around at her surroundings before growling loudly in anger. "...Shit, here we go again."

"You were the target of a Compulsion spell," Redheart stated. "Do you remember what happened to you?" Lightning mumbled an affirmative. "Please, tell us."

"Well... the morning after I watched that video, I took a long shower, trying to think of a way to get out of here... I couldn't think of anything, though. So I noticed that it was an hour into breakfast, and I was hungry... Trixie was waiting for me right outside my door, holding up some piece of paper. Before I knew it, she told me to follow her... and I did. I don't know why.

"She told me to stay in her room until she returned. It was the most fuckin' boring day of my life, she didn't come back until Nighttime started. Not sure why I didn't just leave... but when she did come back, she went straight to her bed, set an alarm for later and told me to stay put until she woke up. I was exhausted and fucking starving and I really had to go piss, but no matter how hard I tried to get up and leave, I just couldn't. So the alarm goes off at around 2:30am, Trixie wakes up, reaches under her bed and digs out some rope and a couple more pieces of paper. She then told me to follow her... and I did.

"She led me to the Art Room, for some fucking reason. She set the papers down on a desk in front, and she tied a noose with her magic. And then..."

Lightning began to shiver. I think this was the first time throughout this whole ordeal that I'd actually seen her be scared.

"...That fucking bitch... she told me to put my neck in the noose! A-And I did! I got right up on the stool she set up beneath it and put it on like a fucking sheep! Why the fuck did I do that?!"

"You were under the effects of Compulsion... you had no choice," Flam swallowed hard.

"T-Then what h-happened?" Coloratura sank behind her podium until only the top of her head was visible. Lightning blinked several times, breathing heavily before she continued.

"Well, then that bitch got all uppity. She started gloating about how ingenious her plan was, that she'd be out in no time and able to see somepony named Starlight again... she began planning how they'd run away together to Saddle Arabia and start new lives. She was laughing, thought she was so fuckin' smart...

"...And then, Rainbow suddenly shot out of the air vent and tackled Trixie. She fuckin' surfed the floor on her, and then she turned around and got me down. I... I don't know why, but I remember feeling like I'd just been bucked in the head, and had to sit for a while.

"But then I heard Rainbow start freaking out. I... I think she said she'd... she'd killed her on accident...! Holy shit, you guys, she fuckin' killed Trixie! I tried to get out, thinking I might be next or some shit, but she grabbed me and threw me back on the floor. I got back up, and I had her mane in my hoof, but then I just... stopped. I just stood there. I wanted so badly to bash her head in and escape, but I couldn't!

"She then told me... told me to tie myself up. I remember trying to. I watched as she lifted Trixie up into the noose, and pulled down hard for good measure. I tried to turn my head, to look away from the body, to watch what Rainbow was doing... It felt like my head was stuck in a vise, and it hurt so fuckin' much, the room was spinning... I just sat and watched Trixie spin in place for... I-I don't even fucking know. I could hear sweeping to my left, then pounding something... and then I guess she left."

Lightning grabbed her water bottle and downed the rest of it in one motion, gasping for air as she slammed it down onto her podium. Everypony was stunned into horrified silence by her account, now that they knew the truth. Even I shuddered at the thought of the traumatizing body horror Lightning had been forced to endure.

"Celestia's ivory asscheeks..." Fleur breathed.

"You were hit by another Compulsion spell, almost immediately after Trixie's was broken by her death," Flam stared at the floor.

"No wonder it took you so long to recover," Redheart mused. A quiet sobbing noise caught my attention; I glanced over to Rainbow, crying and falling into despair. Before I or anypony else could say anything, however, Rainbow sucked in a deep breath and slammed her hooves on her podium.

"I-I... I didn't! I DIDN'T KILL HER!" As she screamed in protest, her fur and mane suddenly stood on end, as if being blown upwards by a powerful wind. A brightly-glowing rainbow aura surrounded her as tears finally fell from her eyes.

"I didn't kill her! Don't you believe me?! I-I'm the Element of Loyalty, damnit! Why would I kill her?! You guys don't understand... I-I had to stop her! I had to save Lightning! Please, I can't die, Equestria needs me!"

"Rainbow..." Her name left my lips in a sob. Around the room, I could see our other friends despairing as well.

...But you know you can't escape... you know it's either all of us that die, or just you...

"You guys don't even know for sure if I used a Scroll of Compulsion! There was no evidence to prove I did it!" she wailed. I wished with all my heart that it it wasn't true, but I knew that she had cried a final, desperate lie.

I'm sorry... but this is my proof!

"There is, Rainbow..." I sighed, defeated. "Most of the ashes from that scroll were found in a waste basket in the Scrollwork Room. Nopony would have questioned a used scroll in the trash, except there was half of a fragment of scroll left inside. The other half... you must have dropped it when you were leaving the Art Room."

Rainbow screamed, full of pain and grief, as if being told she'd been kicked out of the Wonderbolts and banned from ever coming back.

"No... stop this... STOP IT, TWILIGHT!" Pinkie shouted, causing all eyes to fall on her. "Rainbow... D-Dashie didn't do it!"

"I beg your fucking pardon?!" Fleur recoiled. "Have so many sweets rotted your brain?! Lightning witnessed the entire thing!"

"I... I can't believe it, either!" Rarity bawled. "I... refuse to believe it!"

"Well you'd better fuckin' believe it, because I watched it happen!" Lightning snarled.

"I can't stand for this! Rainbow cannot be guilty of this crime!" Discord yelled as he wrapped his arms around a blubbering Fluttershy.

"It doesn't matter if you stand for it or not, miss Dash is clearly the guilty party!" Flam argued.

"Ah... Ah can't... ah won't... ah won't just throw Rainbow to the timberwolves like that! Ah'd rather die than condemn her to death!" Applejack growled, hiding her face behind her hat.

"I know it's unimaginably cruel for you to even consider, but we must find Rainbow Dash guilty!" Redheart tried to reason. "If we don't, we will ALL die!"

"Why are we even arguing about this?!" Coloratura wailed. I tried to speak, to reason with my friends, to tell them I felt so horrible for what we had to do, but I only choked and gagged on my own breath. I felt dizzy, terrified, miserable beyond all comprehension! Why did this have to happen?!

"Hold on!" Monokuma, who had been silently watching on his throne behind them, giggled ominously. "My, my, my... you guys really want to start a Scrum Debate this late in the trial?! Weh-hell, then, the School of Despair is proud to present its very own morphenomenal trial grounds!"

*Split Opinion!*

I watched with trepidation as a set of gears appeared before Monokuma, who pulled a key out from somewhere, inserted it into what I assumed was a keyhole and turned it. Suddenly, the bases of our podiums glowed with bright, blue light. I felt the ground shake for a moment, and my sense of balance threatened to fail me as I found myself being raised into the air. All around me, everypony's podiums, even those of the deceased, were levitating into the dead center of the room in a perfect helix, then sliding left or right until we had been divided into two teams.

Rainbow Dash is guilty: Twilight Sparkle, Lightning Dust, Nurse Redheart, Flam, Coloratura, Fleur de Lis, Bulk Biceps

Rainbow Dash is not guilty: Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Discord, Applejack, Rainbow Dash

I gazed with hopeless resignation at each of my best friends, then those alongside me. Knowing there was nothing I could do but force my friends to see logic and reason, I sighed mournfully.

...I can't save everypony... I'm sorry Rainbow... but I must save everypony I can!

*Is Rainbow Dash guilty? Debate Scrum start!*

"Rainbow spent the night playing games with us! We saw her!" Pinkie cried.

Coloratura!

"Not all night! She went to her room at midnight, just like the rest of you!"

"There was no reason for Rainbow to even be present in the Library!" Rarity asserted.

Flam!

"She was reading her favorite Daring Do books!"

"There was no way she could've gone into the Art Room! The door was locked from the inside!" Discord hissed.

Bulk!

"SHE TORE OFF THE AIR VENTS WITH HER BARE HOOVES, THEN SMACKED THE SCREWS BACK IN PLACE WHEN SHE WENT BACK TO FIX THEM!"

"Trixie probably just tripped or somethin' and whacked her head! Rainbow had nothin' to do with it!" Applejack begged.

Lightning!

"I watched her tackle Trixie right in the fuckin' throat and into the wall! Ya think you can survive a hit like that?!"

"Please... I didn't... I didn't...!" Rainbow sniveled, her eyes red and her cheeks puffy.

Twilight!

"Rainbow... it was your fur that was stuck in the grating, and your mane that was in Lightning's hoof."

"W-We need all of the Elements of H-Harmony together! It's u-up to us to save E-Equestria!" Fluttershy screamed as she cried so hard she was nearly hyperventilating.

Redheart!

"Whether she dies or we all die, the Elements of Harmony are doomed to be separated, no matter what happens."

*Full counter! This is our answer!*

"Guys... my friends... I'm sorry," I spoke slowly, holding back tears with everything I had. "I don't want Rainbow to die, just as much as the rest of you... but I don't want all of you to die instead!"

"But Twilight-"

"...No," Rainbow coughed, interrupting Applejack. "T-That's enough, guys. I can't do it... I can't let you guys do this for me."

"Darling," Rarity whispered.

"It's bad enough I killed somepony when I didn't mean to... heh, what kind of Element of Loyalty would I be if I traded my life for yours?" she smiled slightly, her bravado entirely unconvincing. The rainbow aura around her faded away, and her fur and mane returned to normal. "I'm sorry... really, I'm just... oh fuck I'm so scared!" She finally broke down, shoulders heaving as she cried. "I know I fucked up! I don't want to die! Not here!"

"Why didn't you come to us fer help first?! This wouldn't've happened, then!" Applejack yelled, her voice cracking under the strain.

"There... there was no time... when I left the Library, I could hear Trixie monologuing from the halls... I-I tried to open the door but it was locked, a-and it sounded like she was s-starting to wrap it up..." Rainbow explained quickly through sobs.

"But then Trixie would've been the one responsible... no offense, Lightning," Flam glanced over to her.

"Psh... thanks a lot," she muttered coolly, although her expression suggested that she didn't seem to care at the moment.

"Despite everything, up until a moment ago you were perfectly happy to try and deceive us all..." he continued.

"Who wouldn't?" Redheart remarked. "Even I have to admit, even the most altruistic of ponies would have a fleeting notion of saving themselves. Not doing so goes against all our most basest of instincts."

"...You... you wanted to get out. For your parents, right?" I asked gently. "And Scootaloo?" Rainbow nodded ruefully.

"Especially... for my number one fan."

The sadness was cut through by Fleur's sudden, loud yawn. "Enough of this pathetic drivel. Let's just end this now, hm?"

"Please... let's go over this one more time. Perhaps it'll be what we need to overcome our doubts," Rarity almost whispered, her head bowed. I sighed heavily, sniffling away my tears and gathering my thoughts.

Alright, then...

This is how it happened!

"The crime began shortly after we all returned to our rooms after watching Monokuma's motive videos. At some point during Nighttime, Trixie fetched some rope from the Warehouse. She knew that if she used her magic for what she had planned she would be easily traceable, so she also went to the Scrollwork Room and inscribed a couple of Scrolls of Compulsion. She likely only needed one, but she probably also wanted to make sure nothing went wrong.

"The next morning, after most of us had gone to eat breakfast, she waited outside of Lightning Dust's room, hoping to intercept her. Sure enough, almost an hour into breakfast, Lightning opened her door to join us, only for Trixie to immediately cast a Compulsion spell on her using a scroll. She then ordered Lightning to wait in her room for the rest of the day, while she finally arrived at breakfast and acted as if everything was normal.

"That night, at around 2:30am, Trixie grabbed the rope and the rest of the scrolls she had stashed under her bed, and ordered Lightning to follow her to the Art Room. Once there, she wasted no time in tying the rope into a noose. Her goal was to compel Lightning to hang herself, in order to fool us that a suicide had happened, rather than a murder. Once she was finished, she then ordered Lightning to stand on a stool and put the noose around her neck. But instead of kicking away the stool, Trixie must have felt that, since her plan was just about to succeed, she could safely boast about her genius.

"Unbeknownst to her, Rainbow Dash - apparently unable to sleep - was in the Library reading a Daring Do book. She finished it at that time, and prepared to go back to her room. Once she was in the Hallway, however, she heard Trixie loudly boasting about her plans. She tried to get into the Art Room through the door, but found it locked. She then remembered that the air vents in both the Library and the Art Room allowed access to the outside, so she removed the gratings and crawled through. Once inside the Art Room's air vent, she realized that Trixie was about to have Lightning Dust hanged. Heroically she burst into the room, damaging the grating in the process, but successfully tackling Trixie to the ground. They slid along the floor until coming to a stop at the wall. Rainbow then got up and quickly rescued Lightning from the noose.

"However... it turned out that Rainbow had been too successful. She had crushed Trixie's throat in the process, and she choked to death. As Rainbow began to panic, Lightning began to recover from the Compulsion spell. Realizing what had happened, a small fight ensued between the two of them. Lightning had just managed to grab Rainbow by the mane when Rainbow, realizing that the leftover Scrolls of Compulsion were sitting on a desk near her, grabbed one and cast Compulsion on Lightning.

"Subdued once more, Rainbow ordered Lightning to tie herself up with leftover rope from the noose. While she did that, Rainbow grabbed Trixie's body, put her neck through the noose, and pulled down tight to make it seem like she was the one who hanged herself. She then set about cleaning up the evidence; pounding out the dents she had made in the grating and sweeping up as much of the scroll ash as she could... being in such a hurry due to panic, however, she missed a piece of charred parchment. There was no way for her to reattach the Art Room's grating without locking herself in, so Rainbow resorted to using tape to repair it.

"After returning to the Library, she quickly reattached that room's grating by hammering the screws into the wall, since she didn't have a screwdriver and likely was freaking out too hard to even think about finding one. She then threw away the ashes in the Scrollwork Room, as nopony would question seeing them there... except that was where we found the other part of that charred parchment piece. Finally, she went outside and hammered the screws for the remaining grates back into place, not realizing that she had gotten some of her fur stuck between one of the grates and the outside wall. But, feeling that she had successfully covered her tracks, she finally returned to her room for a nice, calming shower.

"And so, with all the evidence gathered, I propose that this is exactly what happened. Isn't it... Rainbow Dash?"

Having tried so hard to keep my voice steady throughout the speech, it finally cracked as I said her name. Again, I felt no sense of justice or righteousness in my heart... only despair. Tears dripped from my eyes as I looked over towards Rainbow, who had finally managed to stop crying. Her entire face was painfully inflamed and red.

"...Y-Yep... I-I think that about c-covers i-it," she forced a grin. Around the room, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Discord, Fluttershy and Applejack began their wailing anew, already mourning one of our best friends. "Monokuma... go ahead..."

"Roger that!" Monokuma smiled cheerfully, entirely unaffected by the mood of the room.

"W-Wait! H-Hold on!" Applejack begged once more.

"No waiting! No holding on!" the bear cackled. "Time for the moment we've all been waiting for! Grab your lever and give it a yank!"

I looked down at my podium; the lever had returned along with the sixteen large buttons. Three of the faces were grayed out now... soon to be four.

"Who will you elect as the blackened this time around?" Monokuma shouted suspensfully. "Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one? What's it gonna be? What's it gonna beeee?!"

Regretfully, I pressed Rainbow's button. Those of everypony else grew dim, while Rainbow's remained alight. The "guilty" beside the lever began to flash, and I dry-heaved as I pulled it down, fresh tears burning my cheeks. The sound of the lever echoed around me.

The monitor behind Monokuma came to life. "Monokuma Vote! Who is found guilty?" appeared, followed by the slot machine. We watched with bated breath as the symbols slowed...

...and landed, three in a row, on Rainbow Dash's face. "Guilty!"

Oh, Rainbow... I'm so sorry...!

*Class Trial End! All Rise!*

"...Uh-oh! This time it looks like... you got it right again!" Monokuma proclaimed with glee. "Yes, it is so... the blackened who killed Trixie Lulamoon was... Rrrrrainbow Dash!"

"Aha! Dashie's name doesn't have five R's in it! She's not gonna die!" Pinkie shouted, pointing and grinning at Monokuma like she'd just found a loophole. Of course, her pin-straight mane and wet, bloodshot eyes made it all too clear that her objection was in vain.

"I mean... except for the hiding evidence and leaving Lightning at the scene of the crime, you could say this was an act of defending another pony... right?" Coloratura whimpered.

"But we know... Monokuma doesn't accept such excuses," Redheart bowed her head.

"Be honest... after learning about Trixie's plan, you saw an opportunity, right?" Monokuma leered accusingly. "You probably thought nopony would find out if you killed her after messing up her plan, right? ...Hey, well would you look at that! I said a pony word! Ah, spending so much time with you lovely students is finally rubbing off on me... But anyway, that's what you thought, right?"

"N-No... I didn't-"

"There's no way a person - or pony - who has no malice... would kill someone - or somepony - like that," Monokuma interrupted, smirking.

"I s-said I-"

"In truth, you were just desperate to kill Trixie... and willing to sacrifice everypony else to survive... right? ...Just be honest, already... at least, in the end."

"NO!" Rainbow screamed, her eyes clenched shut but tears still falling from them.

"If that was the case... she would've just let me die," Lightning remarked quietly, but still loud enough for everypony to hear. Rainbow hiccuped, softening her cries.

"Wha- ...Lightning, why would I do that? I don't hate you."

"I..." Lightning began, but paused. After a moment she shook her head and growled. "...No. I guess you don't."

"I'll admit... the thought did cross my mind while I was waiting for everypony else to get up... but even so, I-I don't think I could live with myself knowing what I'd done..." Rainbow stared at the floor despondently. "Not even... for the little squirt's sake..."

"Rainbow..." Applejack coughed through her teeth. She, myself, all of us... in normal circumstances, any one of us would have gladly given our lives to save her. But when that sacrifice included so many other innocent ponies...

"You could've..." said Lightning, leaving her podium and walking towards Rainbow. "...You absolutely could have let me die, or threw us all under the carriage and escape... but you didn't. Besides saving me... you're kinda saving all of us."

Rainbow sniffled loudly and quieted down, staring at Lightning incredulously. She was not at all known for being sentimental.

"Yea... maybe I was wrong about you... and myself. Thank you... for not letting me get killed." Lightning raised a hoof for a hoof bump. Rainbow stared at her for a few moments before her own hoof met hers.

"N-No problem... I guess... that's just what heroes do." Rainbow grimaced.

"I see, I see..." Monokuma grumbled. "Interesting... and here I thought it'd be more brutal and heartless. Man, how disappointing."

"Please..." Rainbow now stared into Lightning's eyes, full of fear of what was to come. "My friends... Scootaloo... look after them for me, okay?"

"After saving my life? It's the least I could fuckin' do," Lightning nodded.

"Thank you..." Rainbow sighed, a smile spreading on her face. It was very short-lived.

"Boooooooring!" Monokuma yelled. "Noooow then, let's begin! The punishment time brimming with despair!"

"Wha- wait, no!" Applejack cried out.

"This time, for the Ultimate Weather Pony Rainbow Dash... I've prepared a special punishment for you!"

"Please, Monokuma! Don't do this!" Rarity shouted.

"Let's give it everything we got!"

"No! Fer Celestia's sake, take me instead, but not her...!" Applejack begged once more.

"All of you..." Rainbow turned to face us all. "Please... make sure this never happens again!" At that moment I wanted to scream, I wanted to tell Rainbow that I loved her, would miss her so terribly much, that I would make sure no further murders ever took place. I wanted to save her with every fiber of my being.

...But there was nothing I could do.

"It's... PUNISHMENT TIIIIME!"

The large, red button appeared before Monokuma. He grinned with excitement as he pulled out a hammer, hopped and did a somersault in midair, smashing the button as he landed. As he scuttled away afterwards, we watched as the monitor came to life with blood-red graphics.

"Rainbow Dash has been found guilty. Time for the punishment!" My body went numb as I watched the image of Rainbow being dragged away by the mane. A clinking sound made my ears flick; I recognized it as the chain and shackle that would quickly close around Rainbow's neck.

"N-No! You're gonna have to catch me first!" Rainbow shrieked, immediately taking flight. She barely dodged the shackle and sped off into the darkness above.

"Rainbow-" Applejack began to call out.

"Um... if she gets away... does that mean... we'll...?" Coloratura gulped.

"I certainly hope not..." Flam breathed as we turned our attention to the monitor. It had flashed to life, the cameras following Rainbow's attempt at escape through somewhere that looked much like an abandoned factory. She occasionally glanced behind her, finding herself being chased by gradually more winged Monokumas wielding cattle prods. To everypony's horror, the Monokumas easily kept up with her as she dipped, dove and dodged.

Eventually she ducked into another room, swearing as she saw it was packed full of Monokumas. Before she could even bring herself to a stop they attacked her relentlessly with their cattle prods, her body twitching and rippling uncontrollably with each hit. Though her voice was drowned out by the commotion, Rainbow screamed in agony until finally falling unconscious. Once she had gone limp, some of the Monokumas then hefted her up and carried her to another room, and the camera shut off momentarily.

A few moments later, the camera feed returned. Rainbow's eyes slowly cracked open, then shot awake in terror. In the center of a dark, massive room, she was strapped to a board with a seam running horizontally beneath her at chest-height. Her legs were shackled to the corners, and her wings were left sticking out from her sides. However, it was what she was suspended over that made me truly nauseous: a large machine shaped like an upside-down pyramid was directly beneath her, full of thousands of spinning metal teeth. The pyramid sat atop another machine that had seven glass tubes coming out of it. At the ends of the tubes were spigots, and beneath the spigots were glass jars. A spotlight came on in the distance, and Rainbow's face paled as she saw Monokuma standing at a set of controls, waving at her.

*Ultimate Weather Pony Rainbow Dash's Execution: Executed*

*Rainbow Alchemy*

Monokuma's red eye flashed, and he gripped a pair of levers. He paused for a moment as sweat poured down Rainbow's body. And then... he began pushing and pulling the levers back and forth vigorously.

Rainbow's screams brought everypony's attention to her, and they immediately shouted in horror and looked away. My own vision blackened as I watched Rainbow's body being twisted like a towel being wrung out, the crunching and popping of her rib cage echoing in my ears. Monokuma threw the levers faster and faster, and blood began pouring out of Rainbow's mouth. I nearly vomited at the sight, while a few of the others gagged, scrambling for anything resembling a container.

Then Monokuma released the levers, but he was far from finished. Next he threw a different lever, and a pair of sawblades descended from the ceiling. Despite the pain, Rainbow weakly struggled as the sawblades drew closer and closer. I realized with a gasp that at their distance and angle, they would make contact with the base of her wings. Rainbow must've noticed as well, as she squirmed harder and faster as the sawblades came within inches, then plunged down. She screamed again, somehow even louder, and after a few seconds her wings dropped uselessly into the machine beneath her.

At last, Monokuma's paw hovered over a large, red button. Barely conscious, Rainbow gazed over towards him with a look that begged him to end it all. He lingered for a few moments before finally pressing it. The shackles released, and Rainbow dropped like a lead weight into the machine, disappearing in a bloody spray. The camera panned slowly downwards as the machine worked, and at the very bottom after a few seconds of waiting, brightly-glowing liquid of every color of the rainbow streamed through the glass pipes and into the jars. Monokuma then capped and collected the jars before walking over to a market stall, advertising that he was selling Liquid Rainbows.

My legs shook violently, my blood ran cold as ice. The sheer brutality of Rainbow's death rendered me unable to even cry. I kept staring at the screen in shock until it finally switched off.

Fluttershy's screams reverberated throughout the Trial Room. What we saw... that was the true face of despair.

"Fucking..." Lightning stared, speechless and horrified.

"H-Holy overkill, Monokuma, was that really necessary?!" Flam stammered.

"GRAAAAAAAH! PLEASE TELL ME THAT DIDN'T JUST HAPPEN!" Bulk cowered, covering his face.

"Isn't it just awful?" Monokuma reappeared a few feet away from us, looking disappointed. "Someone couldn't cut free from their regrets from the outside world, and so more ponies had to die... You guys are still young! You need to place more value on your lives!" he shouted suddenly. "Geez... and here I thought you guys were gonna pass the torch of hope and harmony to the next generation!"

"H-Hope?! H-How could any of us even think about that after what we just saw?!" Coloratura yelped.

"You're all the embodiment of hope, whether you like it or not," Monokuma shrugged. "...And it's my destiny to knock you down one by one! It's sad, yes it is... but that reality just can't be avoided."

"Don't talk... like you're not responsible..." Applejack growled as tears streamed down her face.

"What do you want from us?!" Fleur snapped, glaring at the bear with dread.

"...God, I'm so sick of people asking me that. Give it a rest, already!" Monokuma snarled, suddenly extending his claws as his red eye glowed. Fleur blinked and immediately shut her muzzle, and his expression changed. "You guys act like you can't believe it, but you're all terrified anyway. If you can't believe it, then you're terrified for no reason! And here I thought that humans were the only animal that could tell lies!"

We had no response to that.

"Good. Now, then... hmm, all this wonderful despair is making me feel like I'm about to sneeze." Monokuma suddenly bloated and inflated until he was twice his usual girth, and we all took a step back. "Ah... ah... aaaaah-gly bitch!"

"I beg your pardon?!" Fleur screeched. But in the second it took me to blink in surprise from his weirdly-profane sneeze, Monokuma had vanished. We were silent in shock for a while, trying to process everything that had happened. It felt like hours had gone by when Fluttershy's soft cries soon graced my ears.

"I... I can't take this anymore... even Rainbow was killed so brutally..." Discord moved to comfort her, but she only cried harder.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I DON'T WANNA DO THIS ANYMORE!" Bulk squealed.

"That's going to be me... isn't it...? I'm gonna die... just like that..." Coloratura began to hyperventilate.

"No..." Applejack argued weakly. "...We gotta... gotta stop this. We can't keep killin' each other!"

"She's right," Flam's magic glowed around his hat as he took it off and levitated it over his chest. "For the sake of our dear friends Rainbow and the Princesses, we must persevere!"

"But... won't Monokuma just give us another motive again?" Rarity whimpered.

"Yes... and I suspect he'll continue to do so no matter what we do," Redheart sighed. "It is up to us to disregard them all."

"But how will we get out of here? How long have we looked and there's still no way?" Fleur whined, a mixture of terror and anger across her face.

"We'll find a way," I spoke up. "...We have to. I... I don't know what'll happen to the Element of Loyalty, but I will not allow the rest of them to end up the same way!" Lightning turned her eyes to the floor. "I will not allow any more of you to die! Not here, and not like that!"

"Ah sure hope yer right, Twi," Applejack sighed. "C'mon... let's get outta here. Too depressin'."

And so, the class trial ended, and we left the room.

...But our happy ending is nowhere in sight. But when it does finally come... what will have happened to us by then...?

"Oh, Dashie... I always thought she'd go out doing a Sonic Rainboom when she was, like, sixty or something..." Pinkie sighed sadly as we rode the elevator back to the school. My friends and I nodded dejectedly, as that would have been a death Rainbow would've been happy with. There was nothing happy about what had happened.

Despite not having eaten since breakfast, I went straight to my room. I turned on the shower, sat down under the water and cried. My sobs soon became screams, and I begged Rainbow to forgive me. Only when I found myself barely able to stay awake did I leave the shower. I dried myself off and crawled into bed, falling asleep on a damp pillow.

Author's Note

Wow, this turned out longer than I thought it did.

Bloody-Pink is Not Your Color - Daily Life 1

"Twi..."

...Eh?

"...ight..."

...Is somepony there?

My dreams took a dark turn. I saw nothing but an eigengrau blackness once again, but I could swear I could hear somepony trying to call out to me.

"...Twi..."

"...ight..."

I'm here... Where are you...? Where are you...?! Hey...!

But no matter what I did, I could not find them.

I tried to move; my legs and wings felt like fragile glass. I tried to use my magic; my head burned and vibrated and unleashed an inner light so blinding that the nothingness became white. I tried to call out to whoever was out there; only silent screams left my throat.

The voice calling out to me, it felt familiar and yet inconversant at the same time. It floated around like a ghost above and below and all around me, never echoing from quite the same place twice. Yet as I heard it and tried in vain to pin it down, I felt a growing sense of dread deep within me, and I didn't know why. I even tried to wake up, tried to open my eyes, but the mystery of the voice pulled my consciousness deeper.

And then, just as soon as I had realized it - it was all over.

*ding dong, bing bong*

"Goooood morning, everyone! It is now 7am and Nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!"

Yet another identical wake up from Monokuma. For a moment I wondered if that damnable bear had set this alarm to run automatically while he slept in, but the instant rising of the sun reminded me that he probably enjoyed watching us suffer... not like we were all suffering already.

Fresh tears stung my eyes as yesterday's events forced their way into my mind. First Princesses Celestia and Luna, and now Rainbow Dash... all three of them were dead... Trixie, too. My heart felt as if it were replaced by an empty pit, and my body felt cold and numb.

What was going to become of the rest of us? How would Equestria survive without its Princesses, without one of its Elements of Harmony? How would anything ever be right or okay again? This wasn't how we were all going to die... was it?

...Damn it, Rainbow... you weren't supposed to kill anypony... you weren't supposed to die...!

I realized that my tears had turned to loud, hysterical sobbing, and I grimaced as I slapped my own cheek, shaking the sting away. Focus, Twilight. I needed to be strong, needed to keep a clear head until the rest of us had escaped to safety. Mourning would simply have to wait until then.

Although I felt like I never wanted to eat again, I got up from bed and dried my face before leaving for the cafeteria. I needed to see the others... the rest of my friends.

I could hear Fluttershy's quiet sobs as I entered the cafeteria. I sniffled as I grabbed a simple glass of water and made my way to the table. Discord had Fluttershy in his coiled lap, gently stroking her head and holding her close. Pinkie Pie's mane was pin-straight as she stared woefully into her usual pile of breakfast pastries, while Rarity rubbed her back while trying in vain to keep her mascara from running. Sitting slightly further away from the group was Applejack, whose bloodshot eyes and dour expression suggested that she hadn't slept at all last night. She silently drained a mug of coffee in one go, adding it to the small collection of four empty mugs beside her.

"Never should've gone to bed..." Pinkie whimpered. "Should've... s-stayed up all night p-playing..."

"Oh, darling... how were we to know what would happen that night...?" Rarity sniffled at a decidedly unladylike volume.

"Don't blame yerself... she wouldn't've wanted that..." Applejack rasped, almost robotically. Before I could say anything, my ears flicked as I heard more ponies approaching. Nurse Redheart soon appeared, stoic as always, followed by a sympathetic Coloratura who immediately sat down beside Applejack.

"Good morning," Redheart greeted before abruptly stopping herself. "...No, there's nothing good about this morning, is there...?"

"N... N-No!" Pinkie wailed, tears spraying out of her eyes like some kind of fountain. Next walked in Bulk Biceps and Flam, sorrow also stained on their faces. Lightning Dust fluttered in as they sat down at the table, sighing deeply as she took a place beside them.

"...Fuck... I don't know what to say to you guys, other than I'm sorry," she finally spoke after a few moments. "I'm sorry this all happened-"

"You should be!" Applejack suddenly shouted angrily, startling Lightning. "This is all yer fault! Rainbow'd be alive right now if it weren't fer you!"

"It's not her fault," Redheart affirmed, meeting Lightning's remorseful gaze. "Trixie was the one who plotted a murder, and, ultimately... Monokuma made her do it."

"What's done has been done, I'm afraid," Flam nodded solemnly. "But we must remember that that wretched ursine is behind all of our misery!"

"I can't... I c-can't take it anymore..." Fluttershy cried. "We haven't found any way out, and help's probably not going to come..."

"Well, perhaps there will be something on the third floor that can aid us!" he replied.

"Oh, right... now that another trial has happened, the barrier should be gone..." Coloratura frowned.

"Sure feels like we're being rewarded for death, doesn't it...?" Redheart sighed in resignation. Before anypony else could speak next, however...

*boing!*

...The aforementioned wretched ursine suddenly dropped down from the ceiling and landed on the table. Despite the surprise, though, nopony really reacted.

"Monokuma... could you please not, today...?" Applejack sighed.

"Oh! I don't need everyone's usual reactions," Monokuma grinned. "It's almost halftime, so the stats should be out soon for everyone to obsess over... and since you guys overcame the class trial, I figured I'd give you all a wonderful prize!"

But other than Pinkie uttering that she didn't want the prize under her breath, nopony broke the silence.

"...I said, I figured I'd give you all a wonderful prize!" Monokuma repeated louder.

"Man, fuck your prize! Can't you see we're not in the mood?!" Lightning growled.

"We know what it is, anyway," Flam added. "Access to the third floor, am I correct?"

"...D'oh," Monokuma's expression fell. "And here I was all ready to wow you with that knowledge. You ponies sure catch on faster than my previous students did."

"We should go," Redheart spoke up, ignoring Monokuma. "While I must admit we may not find anything that can help us, a change of scenery is beneficial to lifting one's mood."

"Even better, we'll get the hell away from this bear faster," nodded Lightning. With that she quickly flew out of the cafeteria, soon followed by Flam, Bulk and Redheart. At this point Fleur finally appeared, looking much like nothing vaguely traumatic had happened at all recently.

"Oh, is breakfast already over? Where are you lot going?" she asked brusquely.

"Third floor," Lightning muttered.

"Ah..." Fleur then sighted Monokuma on the table and scowled. "I suppose I'd rather tag along than spend another moment with... that." Turning up her muzzle, she left as well.

"...C'mon, girls... Discord. Redheart's right," I sighed. Slowly my friends got up from their chairs and made their way after the others. Monokuma watched silently as the cafeteria emptied, his gleeful grin dripping with hidden malice.

The third floor of the School of Despair was decorated much like the others, the only difference being purple and teal lights shining from the lights above, bathing the hall in cool, calming colors. Oddly, it was the closest resemblance to my own school that I had seen yet.

Wait, no... this is my school... Monokuma took it from me... somehow.

Noticing Bulk wandering the halls on his own, I frowned - nopony had bothered to pair up before coming to this floor. Grief and gloom had made everypony disregard their usual caution. It was hard to blame them, though... even with the exciting prospect of exploration before me, I felt far too drained to feel such excitement. I was simply going through the motions.

I took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, then set off. I had started at the staircase closest to the dormitory; the stairs leading further upward to the fourth floor were sealed with a barrier. Directly in front of me was a pair of wooden doors that seemed less formal than the doors of the other classrooms. I opened them to discover what appeared to be a combination of a break room for staff and a recreational room for students. Couches and side tables lined two of the four walls, with the wall on the door side containing a few vending machines. The left wall held a large TV and a media player in the center, with a large set of shelves containing videos and magazines to its right. In the center of the room sat a billiards table, a Foosball table, an air hockey table and a table tennis set, arranged in a neat rectangular formation. Lining the very tops of the walls were shelves displaying a collection of fancy bottles made of colored glass, made to resemble liquor bottles, but a quick glance confirmed that they were all empty. Warm sunlight streamed in from the windows, forming bright rays where they weren't blocked by the blackout curtains.

Despite the niceness of the room, however... I felt my mood remain just as dark. I left with a sigh and turned to my left. The next room to the left was a simple empty classroom, but the door to the right led to a room filled with unease.

I walked inside, finding a Biology Laboratory. Immediately I was hit by an overpowering scent of bleach and chemicals. A few plain, black metal tables sat in the center, with a pair of matching chairs for each one. The wall with the door was lined with whiteboards and various charts of the generic pony body, while most of the other walls were covered in counters, cabinets and shelves. The counters held microscopes, centrifuges and many other esoteric devices that I couldn't really put a name or function to, while the cabinets and shelves held protective gear, empty syringes and dissection tools.

But what really caught my eye was in the far left corner of the room. Taking up a good fifteen feet on either side of the corner were large containers of dark metal that stuck out another six feet or so into the room. There were two rows of four small doors on each wall, small enough that one would have to crawl to have a chance of going inside. A quiet humming buzz emanated from them, and as I put a hoof to one of the doors, I recoiled as I found it was ice cold to the touch.

...Oh. Oh Celestia...!

My eyes widened in horror as I realized I was staring at a morgue. I shouted in alarm while backing away, clumsily tripping over myself in my haste to get away from it as quickly as possible. My heart began to race - as much as I wanted to run away from the sight I couldn't take my eyes off of it. Terrible thoughts flooded my mind... was this where the corpses of the deceased were being stored?

The blasted remnants of Chrysalis and Luna?

The partially-incinerated body of Celestia?

The suffocated cadaver of Trixie?

The crushed drippings of Rainbow Dash?

Their deaths replayed over and over in my head, one after the other and all at once. I squeezed my eyes shut as I covered my ears, grinding my teeth in anguish. I don't know how long I stayed there, lying on the floor, huddled into a ball.

But eventually, I felt a gentle touch on my back. In an instant, I snapped out of my visions and gazed up into Redheart's face.

"Twilight... are you alright?" she asked worriedly. I took a few quick, deep breaths to compose myself before answering.

"Y-Yea... I'll be a-alright..."

Redheart turned her head towards the morgue, staring at it like it had just insulted her. She sighed after a moment and turned back to me. "Yes... most ponies aren't accustomed to looking at one of those, huh? Hopefully its purpose is simply to hold specimens for dissection, but it wouldn't surprise me if that wasn't the case..."

I latched on to the alternate explanation frightfully quickly, nodding and shaking. "Yea... that's it... y-yea." I kept repeating the explanation in my mind, hoping it would stick.

Redheart frowned. "C'mon, let's get out of here. This room is clearly distressing to you."

I was all too happy to leave - I immediately got up and practically sprinted out the door, only stopping to make sure Redheart left as well. A goofy, irrational smile broke out on my face as she came into the hall and shut the door.

"Hm... perhaps I should accompany you for a while? Wouldn't want you to faint on me or something."

"That... would be great," I swallowed. Redheart nodded slightly and began further down the hallway. The next doors to the right were a pair of restrooms, then there was a final door on the left and the right.

Redheart turned to the door on the right first and opened it. Inside was a laboratory similar to the other one, except this one was devoted to Chemistry and Alchemy. The black tables each had a sink and a gas line installed. Over on the far wall was a large fume hood, a couple of eye-rinsing stations and even a small shower in case of a catastrophic accident. The left wall held more counters and cabinets, filled with hot plates, beakers, test tubes, protective gear and other such items. The right wall, however, was most interesting.

Shelves lined the entire right wall, and on those shelves were various containers. As I scanned over the contents, I realized that the shelves were painted in different colors, and that the containers all seemed to be color-coded. Red shelves held various types of vitamins, minerals, creatine and amino acids... nutritive supplements? The orange shelves held medicinal compounds, the yellow shelves held various elements - alkali and alkaline metals, halogens and even noble gases in hermetically-sealed metal canisters. And the green shelves all held alchemical reagents - the multitudes of dried plant matter, resinous substances and other ingredients I was all too familiar with.

But the blue shelves filled me with dread. All of the containers were small bottles of different poisons. Slow-acting, fast-acting, meant to be inhaled, injected, consumed or even simply applied to the body, all labeled very clearly with simple directions.

"Lovely. More of the mastermind's work, I see," Redheart muttered. Next to the blue shelves was a piece of paper tacked to the wall with Monokuma's face on it. Peering at it, I saw that it listed a few rules about the shelves.

"Please keep the containers organized properly... please don't return unused reagents to their container... upon being emptied, reagents will not be restocked until the container is destroyed... well, seems reasonable enough," I added.

"Yes, but the fact there are so many different poisons in plain sight, for anypony to stumble across... we should definitely keep an eye on these shelves. Many of these are undetectable without special tests or equipment and have no symptoms when used, right up until the victim..." Redheart trailed off.

I nodded solemnly. Finding nothing else of note, we left for the final room on the third floor. It turned out to be a Wood Shop, full of bits and boards of high-quality timber, saws, nails and screws, hoof and power tools and lathes. The entire room smelled of sawdust. Given the mostly scientific theme of the floor, it seemed quite out of place.

"What does he expect us to build here?" I wondered out loud, examining a plank of fine Griffonstone mahogany.

"Perhaps this is where Monokuma builds his clones, or his... backups or something," Redheart shrugged.

There was nothing particularly interesting about the wood shop, so after we finished looking around we decided that we would head back to the cafeteria and discuss our findings. I had to admit, my mind and body felt a little bit lighter after exploring the new floor...

...But then I realized that the others had likely found the negative things and would be discussing them... the poisons, the morgue. In an instant, the lightness I felt had vanished. My hooves felt unusually heavy as we walked down the stairs, and I couldn't help but ruminate on those thoughts...

"Twilight, may I have a word?" Redheart suddenly asked.

"Sure." I turned to face Redheart, feeling a little caught off guard as I noticed that her usual hardened expression had softened.

"...I understand that both Rainbow Dash and Princess Celestia were very dear to you," she spoke after a few moments. My eyes grew misty, even as I shook my head to try and shake the tears away.

"...She was one of my best friends. And Princess Celestia... she was so much to me. My teacher, my mentor, she was like a second mother to me, and also... my friend."

Redheart nodded. "...Normally I wouldn't ask this of the bereaved so soon after a death, but given our circumstances, I... feel that you and your friends may not be able to properly mourn the deceased. Make peace with their passing and all that."

"O-Oh..." my voice quivered. Redheart was right, after all... my heart ached for Rainbow, for Celestia and Luna. Yet while we were all still trapped inside Monokuma's barrier, there was little we could do but ignore our grief, no matter how severe, stow away our emotions and carry on. A moment's weakness could mean the difference between survival... and another horrible death.

My thoughts were interrupted by Redheart gently placing a hoof on my shoulder. "It is not my specialty, I'll admit, but I thought it necessary... I will be hosting a group therapy session in the Guidance Counselor's Office after dinner this evening. If you wish, I would be happy to include you. I have already spoken to your friends, and they will attend as well."

"I see..." I smiled gratefully at Redheart. "...Thank you. I'll be sure to come."

A while later, we had all gathered in the cafeteria. To my dismay the others had indeed found the morgue and shelves of poisons, and each were worked up into a tizzy speculating whether the morgue was occupied.

"DOES IT REALLY MATTER? I'M NOT LOOKIN' IN THERE!" Bulk whined.

"It would do us absolutely no good to look," Redheart agreed. "Even if one of us happened to be a mortician, it'd be traumatizing to embalm somepony you once knew."

"Besides that... what about the shelves of poison?" asked Flam. "Even if we simply dump them out into the trash, that won't necessarily keep us safe. Monokuma will happily replace them if somepony spirits away the container and destroys it."

"Then we just gotta make sure nopony touches the containers after we get rid of them," said Lightning. "Glue 'em to the fucking shelves if you gotta!"

"The other bottles are fine, no?" asked Fleur. "I actually recognized quite a few ingredients for my favorite beauty products on the other shelves... aah, to have access to high-quality toiletries again..."

"I... don't see why not," Rarity shrugged. I glanced over to her and my friends - out of the rest of them, she seemed to be holding it together the best. The others, though... Pinkie's mane was still straight, Applejack was staring angrily at the floor, Fluttershy had long since cried herself to sleep in Discord's lap. And myself... I just felt so... tired. No... exhausted.

"You... know how to make toiletries?" Coloratura blinked.

"Well... can't be that hard. It's just mixing shit together, isn't it?" Fleur huffed.

I didn't even speak up about the necessary chemical reactions and formulas Fleur would need to actually make anything worthwhile... right now, the whole world felt fuzzy and distant. I only barely noticed Redheart glancing in my direction for a moment, then turning to the others with a frown.

"How about we have dinner first, before we do anything else. I know you all may not feel like eating much, but it's important to keep up your strength," she suggested.

"Capital idea," nodded Flam. "Afterwards, would anypony care to volunteer to help me dispose of those nasty poisons?"

Coloratura and Lightning quickly agreed. With that settled, some of us trudged into the kitchen to prepare our meal while the others sat quietly in our sorrows. Redheart gave us suggestions on easy foods to make and eat for such an occasion.

Our meal was eaten in near silence. Redheart asked us to take care of her dishes while she got prepared. As soon as the dishwasher was loaded, my friends - Applejack, Discord, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity - and I made our way to the Guidance Counselor's Office.

Inside, Redheart had shoved all of the furniture within against the walls, except for the couch and enough chairs in a circle for the rest of us. The lights had been slightly dimmed, and a white noise machine was softly humming in the corner. Discord, Fluttershy and Applejack took the couch and the rest of us sat down in a chair. Once we were seated, Redheart cleared her throat.

"Hello, everypony. Now, before we begin, I would like to inform you all that truthfully, I am by no means an actual counselor, nor do I have much experience in therapeutic work other than delivering bad news," she explained as she glanced to the side nervously. "But, I have done the proper research and studies, and I believe that I will be able to help you all with the grieving process, should you need it."

We all nodded. Redheart cleared her throat again, quieter this time. "Do any of you need help actualizing your loss? By this, I mean... we all know exactly what happened to your loved ones, correct? Or do any of you have any differing memories of their deaths-"

"No, no... I think we're all on the same page there," Discord shook his head frantically, as did the rest of us.

"Yes... I had hoped so," Redheart let out a small sigh. "Then let us begin with memories of the deceased. What about them brought you joy? What do you miss about them?"

This was an easy question. One by one we each spoke about our favorite memories of Rainbow Dash - her beautiful Sonic Rainbooms, how she would try to show affection for her pet tortoise Tank when nopony was looking, how happy she was to realize her dream of being a Wonderbolt, how stubborn she was to admit she liked reading or going to the spa... even her cravings for cider and how often fate would deny her a taste.

However, as we talked and even laughed, Applejack remained silent, staring off into space.

"Applejack? What are you thinking about?" Redheart asked, once our conversation had hit a lull.

"Ah- nothin'," Applejack's eyes snapped fully open, but she continued to slouch. "Nothin' at all..."

"Darling... you're a terrible liar, you know that," sighed Rarity.

"Ah know... it's just... ah just..."

"Are your feelings towards Rainbow Dash negative?" asked Redheart.

"Wha... no! No, she was one o' mah best friends! How could ah have any negative thoughts?!"

"It's okay to feel negative emotions towards the dead," Redheart continued gently. "Anger, anxiety, guilt, sadness, helplessness... all of these feelings are perfectly normal and valid. Perhaps you're angry that Rainbow has died, perhaps you feel that it was partially your fault, or perhaps you're even anxious because she's left you behind."

Applejack scowled at the floor, refusing to speak.

"Whatever your feelings, we must know them if you want to heal," she finished. The room was silent for a minute as we stared at Applejack. At first she was still, but soon her shoulders began to heave, and her facade finally broke.

"I... ah never... got the chance... to tell her how ah feel."

"Oh?" Rarity cooed as we all leaned in closer.

"Ah'm so mad... why'd she have to get herself killed before ah could tell her! She wasn't supposed to die like that! Why didn't ah tell her sooner..." Applejack began to cry, curling herself up as small as she could into the corner of the couch. "If ah told her... maybe she wouldn't have gone to the library... she'd be with me instead...!"

"Oh, Applejack..." Fluttershy broke away from Discord to embrace her tightly.

"I bet she knows, AJ..." Pinkie sniffled. "Even when you two were arguing, I saw the way she looked at you when your back was turned... always smiling."

"Then... then why didn't she..." Applejack coughed through her tears.

"Applejack, darling... she was almost as stubborn as you," Rarity smiled sadly. Applejack cried harder.

"...A-And now... ah'll never... we'll never..."

"You are mourning not only Rainbow's death, but also the relationship you wished to have with her, and the fact that you'll never have that relationship now," Redheart murmured. "But now that you know this, we can support you as you grieve."

"...Ah... Ah guess so..." Applejack sniffed.

"Oh, if only I had the full extent of my powers back..." Discord lamented.

"You... can you bring back the dead?" I asked warily, ready to discourage the idea if it meant Rainbow would come back as a shambling zombie or something.

"Well... no, not exactly," he sighed. "Never mind... I'm a Chaos god, not a god of Life and Death."

"Well... while we're on the subject, how about the rest of you? Are you angry that Rainbow died? Or perhaps you're angry at her... has she ever disappointed you?"

This question, though easy, wasn't easy to talk about. We were all furious and devastated that she had died, that her death was so violent and gruesome. And as for disappointments... well, she did have a tendency to be a little full of herself, and she sometimes took pranks way too far. And, of course, she was stubborn.

"It is perfectly normal and fine to have these feelings," Redheart nodded after we'd reached a guilty lassitude. "When you realize where these angry emotions stem from, you can prevent yourselves from unjustly deflecting these emotions onto others. Of course, however... focusing these emotions onto that damnable bear is entirely fine."

Everypony nodded in agreement.

"Alright..." Redheart sighed. "We've all talked about our anger, now let's move on to another strong, common emotion..."

And so we talked about our other emotions. We talked about feelings of guilt, and Redheart instructed us in the technique of "reality testing" - going through what we were doing and our thought processes at the time to check whether our guilt was irrational or not. We also discussed another technique - imagining that Rainbow was still with us, sitting in a chair and talking to us like normal. We were even encouraged to sit in "her" chair and speak as if we were her, if it would help. Then we talked about anxiety and helplessness in ourselves that a death could trigger, and the fears of our own mortality. And finally, we were encouraged to cry. There was no shame in crying, no reason to listen to those who might discourage it or feel uncomfortable around it. It was also important to realize why we were crying, and not crying could lead to both mental and physical troubles later on. All in all, I learned a great deal about grieving that evening, and when it was finally over, I left feeling quite a bit better than I had felt this morning.

Nighttime was just about to start as I finally returned to my room. I hopped into the shower and reflected on what Redheart had told us. As I got into bed, I looked over to the empty chair by my desk and imagined Rainbow sitting there.

"...I promise we'll escape this place... and I promise we'll bring Monokuma to justice," I spoke. Rainbow nodded in response, smiling boldly. With a melancholy sigh, I rolled over and fell asleep.

Author's Note

It always seemed a tiny bit unrealistic to me how everyone in Danganronpa isn't constantly super depressed because of all the dying, especially since they're all traumatic, horrible deaths. And, oddly enough, I just so happen to be reading a book about grieving for school right now... so I thought this would make a good extra scene.

Bloody-Pink is Not Your Color - Daily Life 2

I woke up the next morning feeling quite well. Much better, actually. I waited for Monokuma to finish his morning wake-up before hopping out of bed, the sun rising within seconds, and trotted off to the cafeteria for breakfast.

As I entered the dining area and put together a plate of food for myself, however, I paused. Deep in the back of my mind, something just didn't feel quite right... but I couldn't figure out what it was. There was a nagging feeling deep within my gut, and it wasn't just how loudly it was growling from hunger.

Hmm... well, if I can't remember what it was in a place like this, perhaps it wasn't super important...

I sat down and began to eat. Nurse Redheart walked in a few moments later, and soon my best friends arrived as well, talking and laughing as usual. As they sat down beside me with their plates, the rest made their way inside and got food as well.

For some reason I was unusually hungry, practically shoveling food inside my muzzle as my friends continued their conversation. Nearby, I could see Lightning Dust talking to Bulk Biceps about workouts, Flam trying to charm Fleur de Lis as she answered his every question with an insult, while Redheart sipped her tea with the barest hint of a smile on her face. All in all, a rather normal morning-

And then, amongst a peal of laughter from Pinkie Pie, it dawned on me.

...Why is everypony... cheerful?

It wasn't until then that I realized what was bothering me. Four ponies had died gruesome, violent deaths within the past week, three of which I was very close to. I had been witness to half of them, had seen all four of the corpses. Yet whenever I thought about Princesses Celestia and Luna, Trixie or Rainbow Dash, it felt like they'd been dead for years, decades even, and the pain in my heart barely registered. By all logic, I should still be depressed, still feel a fresh pain and anguish in my heart, still feel like I didn't want to eat or could only barely manage to get out of bed... but I didn't. I felt... just fine.

...I shouldn't be just fine. They shouldn't be just fine. We shouldn't be just fine.

I remembered how my friends and I were all on the verge of tears all day yesterday, if we weren't already crying. The others might not have been as affected as we were, but they were sad, too. We all had trouble eating, hadn't bothered to care enough to partner up to explore the third floor... we hadn't even put up much of a fuss when Monokuma had appeared. Nurse Redheart may have held a group therapy session and taught us how to grieve more effectively, but even I knew one didn't just get over four traumatic deaths within a single day.

Something happened to me... to all of us. Something's wrong.

I opened my mouth to speak, but as if on cue...

*boing!*

"Why hello, my dear students-"

"Shut the fuck up," Lightning snapped, interrupting Monokuma as he dropped down from the ceiling onto our table.

"Now why are you here?!" Coloratura paled.

"Can't you please just go eat a plate of laundry soaps and wash it down with some bleach?" Fleur glowered.

"Y-You're all so terrible to me..." Monokuma slumped over, sniffling. "Everyone's so cold and mean! Even after I got presents for you all!"

"...PRESENTS?" Bulk stared nervously.

"Presents?!" Pinkie immediately perked up.

"Hmmm? Oh, have I got your attention?" Monokuma stood up straight, barely containing his grin.

"This is just another fuckin' motive, isn't it?" Lightning grumbled. "Aren't you done torturing us yet?"

"Out with it. What kind of motive do you have for us this time?" Flam asked sternly.

"Puhuhu... you don't have to get so defensive, calm down!" the bear laughed. "I've decided to change things up a bit this time! Up 'til now, I've been using the whoosh of the North Wind to get you all moving, but sometimes you gotta use the Sun to light a fire under someone's butt!"

"You leave Princess Celestia out of this!" I ordered angrily.

"So without further ado, I give you... THIS!"

With much fanfare, Monokuma produced a single piece of paper. It was about the size of a card, split equally into black and white with his red eye in the center.

"...A card?" Rarity questioned after a few beats of silence.

"Ooh! Is it a Get Well Soon card? A Sympathies card? ...A birthday card?" Pinkie asked as she bounced up and down excitedly. Monokuma's red eye flashed.

"I've prepared this graduation present for whichever lucky student makes it out of here alive!" he grinned. "If you just so happen to graduate, I'll also give you a get-out-of-jail-free card!"

"Get-out-of-jail-free card...?" Flam blinked.

"Yep! I mean, I'm a pretty powerful bear, with many friends in highly low places! There's no strings I can't pull, no human or pony I can't charm! ...But don't you dare use this card on something as stupid and boring as burglary or fraud!"

"Then... ah'm probably gonna regret askin', but whut do you suggest...?" winced Applejack.

"What do I suggest? What do I suggest?! Why, I suggest you go out and spread the joy of murder to another pony!" Monokuma proclaimed. "That's right! You'll be able to murder anyone you choose in the outside world and suffer zero consequences whatsoever! Whaddya think? It's like totally wowie wow wow, am I right?!"

The room became so quiet I could've heard a shed Pegasus feather hit the floor.

"...No... no, that's just... insane!" Coloratura backed away.

"You're not serious... you can't be...!" Fluttershy gasped.

"Oh, but I am," replied Monokuma.

"You really think we're that fucked up? ...No, you're the only fucked up fucker here!" Lightning snarled.

"Not only is what you're forcing us to do terrible enough, but to make that a prize in addition to our freedom," Redheart snorted. "Truly reprehensible!"

"No... no matter what you do, no matter what you say or try to offer us, we're not playing along any more!" I glared, my wings flaring out. "We are not going to kill each other!"

"C'mon... stop trying to act tough," Monokuma sighed with a lackadaisical shrug. "The most important thing is to live a pure and moral communal life!" He finished with mocking laughter, still echoing in our ears as he leapt back up into the ceiling and vanished from sight.

"To think he thinks so little of us that he'd offer such a motive..." Flam huffed.

"At least there's nothing to worry about this time... right? Nopony would kill a friend for the chance to kill another... right?" Coloratura asked nervously.

"I DON'T EVEN KNOW ANYPONY I HATE, LET ALONE WANT THEM DEAD," Bulk grimaced.

"Gotta say, this is the least motivatin' motive ah've ever heard," said Applejack, leaning back in her chair confidently and putting her hooves behind her head.

"I hope you're right about that," Redheart glanced over to Applejack, unconvinced.

"It'll be fine... Miss Coloratura and Miss Dust and I already disposed of the poisons in the Chemistry Lab, and we glued down the empty bottles," reassured Flam. "As long as we stay calm and alert, we'll be just fine until either help finally arrives or we manage to save ourselves."

Mentioning the poisons sparked a memory in my brain. I realized in my malaise yesterday, I had completely forgotten to check the Chemistry/Alchemy Lab for my secret entrance and the runes that lay within. The chances of them being there were low, but any possible escape from this horrible place was worth checking out.

But then I looked over to my friends. Despite the next motive being given they seemed calm and content enough, talking amongst themselves amicably. There was no hint of mourning, no hint of sadness in their eyes or faces, and although I would rather have them happy... it just didn't sit right.

I... I'm not sure I should tell them... well, not first, at least. Reminding them that Rainbow died just two days ago when they seem fine now... it feels cruel.

I then looked around the room, wondering if there was anypony I could tell. As soon as my eyes fell on Redheart I made my decision. She was the one who had talked to us about grief last night, maybe she knew why we were all feeling so much better so quickly.

I finished the rest of my breakfast quickly. After putting my dishes away I walked as calmly as I could manage towards Redheart, who thankfully also happened to be sitting by the exit.

"Redheart, could I talk to you?" I asked, barely above a whisper. Redheart nodded in response, asked a nearby Bulk to take care of her dishes and - ensuring that nopony had noticed - quietly followed me.

As we made our way to the Chem Lab I occasionally glanced behind us, making sure that nopony was following. "What is it?" she spoke, keeping her voice low. As quickly but as concisely as I could, I explained how I had felt ever since waking up, feeling that it was not normal, and how the others seemed to have been affected as well.

"...That is strange," she agreed after a few moments of thought. "I'd noticed it myself, too, but wasn't sure how many of us were affected. Nopony gets over a death like that in one day unless they're a serious sociopath, let alone four or five of them..."

"What do you think it means? Should we tell the others?"

Redheart paused again before speaking. "...I'm not sure. Perhaps Monokuma's magic extends to control over our emotions as well, but then why would he do this? Surely leaving us in a depressed state would drive us to his goal of despair faster than taking that depressed state away... perhaps we weren't entertaining enough for him?"

True, that seems more logical... but I don't want to entertain him...

"As for the others... while I usually believe that 'ignorance is bliss' in similar situations, this is not the time for that. I'll think of a way to break the news gently and inform everypony at dinner."

"Alright... thanks," I sighed in relief as I opened the Chem Lab's door. My horn flared to life as a pink glow immediately surrounded the whiteboard at the head of the classroom and lifted it away, revealing naught but a blank wall. "Damn... I don't know what I expected."

"What are you looking for?" asked Redheart, confused.

"Ugh, I don't even know why I keep doing this..." I groaned as I put the whiteboard back. Then I quietly explained the numerous secret tunnel entrances and runes I had cast in my school, and how despite my countermeasures Monokuma must've found them all because they were no longer there.

"I see..." Redheart looked away in thought, a hoof to her chin. "Although... this new information does give me some new theories..."

"Oh? Like what?" I asked, but almost as soon as the words left my mouth Redheart shook her head.

"No, never mind, that's ridiculous. Forget I said anything."

I stared at her incredulously. "...Y-You can't expect me to forget about that!"

Redheart sighed. "I was just thinking how perhaps Monokuma built a relatively-identical facility to yours out in the middle of this forest wherever, instead of teleporting the whole building here and making his modifications. But now that I think about it, why would he even bother with the normal classrooms and such in that case?"

"Oh. That makes sense," I frowned.

"I'll keep muddling it over, at any rate. It could be a clue," Redheart replied as she walked over to the shelves in back, collecting a number of bottles from the red, orange and green shelves and setting them down on one of the tables. "If you don't mind, I did promise Bulk I would mix him an extra-strength protein supplement... I'll do that now while I'm here. Do you need to speak about anything else?"

"Oh, no, I'll leave you to it," I shook my head. Redheart smiled politely before hurrying off to the cabinets for more supplies. As she poured herself some water, I peered over at the blue poison shelves. As Flam had promised, each bottle was empty and firmly attached to the shelves with glue. Sighing in relief, I left Redheart to her potions.

After quickly looking over the rooms on the third floor one more time in case I had missed anything yesterday, I had nothing else to do for the day. Although part of me wanted to see my best friends and spend time with them, I also knew that I wouldn't be able to hold in the fact that realistically, none of us should be feeling so cheerful. I would rather have them blissfully unaware for the moment and let somepony else with more tact remind them later.

I mean, honesty is important... but is it the right course of action in this case...?

Wondering what to do, I wandered. Eventually I found myself outside in front of the school, when a voice from above shouted down at me.

"Yo, Twilight!" Lightning screeched to a stop in midair, pointing at me.

"Oh, hello Lightning-"

"Yea, you're an Alicorn, you have to be fast as all hell!" she grinned devilishly. "Wanna race?!"

"Wha- me, race you?" I blinked. "I, uh... yea, but... I'm pretty sure I'm not as fast as you think I am."

"Ah, c'mon... just get up here and race me! I'm fuckin' bored!" Lightning growled. Sighing, I took flight and joined her somewhat reluctantly.

~~~

I raced Lightning around the edges of the barrier a few times. At first she was annoyed that I wasn't even close to the challenge she had hoped for, but then she gave me some pointers for breathing exercises and wing angles I could try while flying, and she was soon coaching me as I flew around.

~~~

A while later, I was exhausted. Lightning announced that she'd be back with some sports drinks, zipping away and back again in the time it took me to land, drinks in hoof.

"I... wow, that was fast!" I gaped as I caught the drink Lightning tossed me.

"Yea... bet Rainbow was never that fast!" she replied with a grin. But it fell almost instantly as she realized what she had said. "Er..."

I tried to reply that Rainbow had indeed been that fast, perhaps even faster. But my heart throbbed so strongly with grim remembrance that my voice was pushed aside.

"Sorry..." Lightning mumbled quietly.

"No, it's fine..." I shook my head.

"Is it, though? The whole thing started with me... I thought Monokuma had gotten to my sister-"

"Oh, yea!" I suddenly exclaimed as the opportunity to change the subject knocked. "You never mentioned you had a sister."

"Ah, baby sis..." To my surprise, Lightning's expression softened drastically. "Yea, her name's Indigo Zap. Light yellow, dark blue mane, looks just like her big sis!"

"Does she do stunts like you?" Lightning's expression changed drastically again.

"...She... used to, yea," Lightning continued with less pride. "She did more technical flying, though. Lots of tight turns and sudden stops... oh, and she used to fly just above lakes and stuff so the air currents would make huge fuckin', like, tidal waves. And she loved to do those long Earth Pony endurance obstacle courses. You wouldn't even recognize her at the end, all covered in mud, but I'd always recognize that big, dumb grin of hers." A sad smile spread on her face, but nonetheless, the use of the past tense worried me.

"...She's okay, right?" I grinned hopefully. Lightning sighed.

"Not really... a while ago, she was in a bad accident. She can still use her wings, thank Celestia, but the rest of her back half's paralyzed. Draggin' it around behind her wipes her out fast when she's flying, so she's usually in a wheelchair."

"Oh... I'm so sorry to hear that," I paled.

"Yea... me too..." Lightning lowered her eyes and stared at the ground. "Parents' ain't around much, either, so usually I'm the one lookin' after her. She can still do lots on her own so it's not so bad, but still... it really fuckin' sucks, ya know." She sighed and closed her eyes. I joined her in the silence for a few moments, not knowing what to say.

I can see why she wanted to escape... to make sure she was safe.

"Uh, how 'bout we talk about something else, huh?" Lightning looked up, her eyes pleading.

"Yea, of course," I nodded. Perhaps the memory of her sister's accident was still fresh in her mind, and along with everything else that had happened here, I could understand not wanting to dwell on it.

Yea... if something like that happened to Shiny, on top of being trapped here... I wonder if I would be as calm as I can manage now.

I spent a while longer talking to Lightning about other things I had looked up that she might like... Formula P racing, alchemical recipes for potential rocket propellants that I knew of (but warned her not to try on her own, lest she blow us all up)... by the time we parted ways, Lightning was in a better mood again.

There was still time before dinner, so I decided to head to the Library. As I entered, I was mildly surprised to see that Redheart was sitting at a table in back reading another medical textbook.

"Oh? All done with Bulk's supplement?" I asked quietly as I trotted over to her.

"Yes, it was no trouble at all. And I've even mixed antidotes to some of the poisons in that room," she replied, putting the book down. "Of course, hopefully those poison bottles stay empty."

"Wow. I figured antidotes to some of those would be really hard to make."

Redheart nodded. "I... may have had to improvise a high-vibration centrifuge with one or two of them. So, emphasis on 'hopefully, those bottles stay empty'."

"Ah."

~~~

With the subject of Alchemy in mind, Redheart and I talked for a while.

~~~

"Hey, may I ask you something?" I spoke during a pause in the conversation. "I've noticed... you don't seem to have a very high opinion of most ponies..."

"To have a high opinion of the common pony is foalish," Redheart grimaced. "It's just... something you learn on the job."

"Oh? Well, now, I-"

"Have you ever been to Manehattan?" she asked, pausing as I nodded.

"Yes, a couple of times. It's an alright place."

"That's where I began my career. Even though I had heard all about the high violence and crime rates, I still remember how optimistic I felt as I walked through the doors on my first day. I was going to be the nurse that never lost a patient, discovered breakthrough treatment methods, et cetera, et cetera..." she waved her hoof dismissively. "...I was foalish."

"I dunno, those are good goals to aspire to-"

"My first patient that day was a mare beaten so badly by her spouse that she needed a C-Section to save her unborn foal, or else the both of them might die. The police were called and handled the spouse, but despite it all the mare begged for the charges to be dropped and for him to be let go, so that he might see the baby."

"Oh..."

"As it turns out, their home was little more than a trap house, so FPS got involved. I did everything I could think of to help that mare, gave her literature on domestic violence, referred her to specialized counselors and aid groups, talked to her about their entire horrid relationship in the hopes she'd realize it herself. And she did, she really did understand it was bad... but as soon as she was able, she bailed him out and went right back to him, knowing full well that their next 'lover's argument' may be her last."

"I've heard leaving somepony like that... sometimes it's not so easy," I pursed my lips.

"Yep... learned that lesson the hard way. The next time I saw her, a few months later... she was covered with a sheet. But, everypony loses patients... despite her death, I was still optimistic for the future." Redheart's face grew dark.

"You, uh... you don't look optimistic right now."

"The things I saw during my ten years there... countless cases of gratuitous abuse. Stallions, mares and foals alike, beaten, stabbed or blasted within an inch of their lives. Unicorns blowing their own brains out with spells upon being diagnosed with a terminal illness, mere steps from the front doors. A run-down orphanage suffered a massive build up of carbon monoxide, and an entire wing was filled with barely-conscious colts and fillies... many of them didn't make it, and those that did will never lead full lives now. An Earth pony once made his way to the rooftop and threatened to jump while the ponies below egged him on so they could pass by, only to slink away into the shadows when he finally did. A colleague of mine I had known for years was unceremoniously fired in front of everypony, her violation - trying to comfort a family wondering why their son's preliminary examination was taking so long, unaware that an accident had occurred and he had died suddenly... because she had used the words 'I'm sure he's fine'... I even once had to perform an emergency tracheotomy when a patient was coding... I had to keep the airway clear with my own muzzle. I'll... never forget the taste of her blood."

"Celestia..." I breathed, horrified.

"That's only a fraction of what I've seen. And the fact that our generous hospital funds, meant for supplies and testing, the bulk of them would eventually wind up in the hooves of the executives, not our patients... Surrounded by such misery, and so many ponies willing to do horrible things to each other out of greed or selfishness, it's not hard to see that ponies... aren't worth the high opinion. Many of them aren't worth anything at all."

"Oh... b-but I'm sure not all of them were terrible ponies!" I argued.

"Perhaps," Redheart tilted her head. "But they were very few and far between. Most of the ponies I encountered were only concerned with themselves, and some were simply... vile. They'd trample a foal if it meant they'd get one step ahead in life. Thinking about how these ponies could live with themselves, it kept me up many a sleepless night. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized... deep down, at their very core, all ponies are like this."

"Not all ponies!" I recoiled, slightly angered. "My friends would never do such things, and neither would I!"

"Oh?" Redheart replied emotionlessly. "Neither you nor any of your friends ever did something even slightly underhoofed to move up in life?"

"I..." My mind raced as I thought back, way back, about my friends - their goals, their dreams. To my dismay, according to chronological order, I found I only had to think about the month after we'd all first met.

...Well, there was the time they thought I only had the one extra ticket to the Gala, and they all tried their hardest to guilt me into taking them...

And the more I thought about it, the more examples I fretfully remembered: derailing Rarity's dress designs so we'd be pleased but nearly costing her her career, one-upping Rainbow as Mare-Do-Well to teach her a self-satisfying lesson instead of just talking to her, sneaking a bite of Pinkie's prized cake meant for an important contest, the Cutie Mark Crusaders wanting to be tutored by myself because it made them look cool to their class... and the examples didn't stop there.

...Damn... she's right... but that doesn't mean...!

"Alright, sure," I conceded. "But my friends and I all overcame those moments, and we're all better friends for it!" Redheart hummed, unconvinced.

"The six of you are the Elements of Harmony... so that's to be considered. But when it comes to your average, everyday pony? They're selfish, greedy and closed-minded. And coupled with an uncaring, unfair world, your Elements - Kindness, Honesty, Generosity, Loyalty? ...They become weaknesses to be exploited. And they always are."

"But..." I argued weakly as Redheart sighed. She looked at me, her eyes cold and determined.

"I myself have pledged to not add misery to this world. To this day, I have treated every pony in my care to the utmost of my abilities, with all the respect and dignity due. But I will not be exploited." With those words, Redheart abruptly stood up and calmly walked out of the library, leaving me to my thoughts.

She will not be exploited... does she really believe that all ponies are terrible? Does she... not believe in Friendship at all?

I frowned at the implication.

Soon it was time for supper. We prepared our meals, and as we ate Redheart cleared her throat and asked if we had all been in good moods today. Upon hearing that everypony was, she gently but firmly reminded us of our situation, and the fates of the four who were no longer with us. Mixed emotions dawned on everypony's faces, running the gamut from confusion to mild depression.

"Eh, so what? Sucks to suck or get caught murdering somepony," Fleur grumbled.

"Just how cold can somepony be?" Discord asked incredulously. "The Princesses notwithstanding, those were our friends!"

"Not mine," Fleur rolled her eyes.

"But Miss Redheart and Miss Sparkle bring up a good point, why are we so unaffected by recent events now?" said Flam.

"Yea, I really don't want to believe Monokuma might be so powerful he can mess with our emotions," Coloratura whimpered, clutching the sides of her head.

"It may be because otherwise, we'd be too depressed to kill each other," muttered Lightning. "Seems like something he'd do."

"Oh..." Fluttershy moaned, holding her forehead in anguish. "Why... why us...?" Discord put a paw around her shoulders in an effort to comfort her.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy... there won't be any more murders," I spoke. "We'll all work together to make sure of it!"

"Besides, Monokuma's latest motive ain't temptin' anypony," Applejack nodded. "There ain't nothin' teh worry about!" But besides the nods of solidarity amongst us all, Fluttershy lowered her head.

"...Rainbow... poor Rainbow..." she softly cried.

"Aw, cheer up, Fluttershy! Hey, how 'bout I whip something special up for dessert?" Pinkie beamed. Discord suggested an upside-down-inside-out cake, and soon the two were able to bring a smile to her face. The rest of our meal was finished without incident, and the others gradually retired to their rooms for the evening. As I rinsed off my dishes and prepared the dishwasher, I could hear Pinkie shriek in excitement over something.

"EEEEE! That's a great idea, Discord!" I poked my head through the doorway - Applejack, Coloratura and Rarity were talking amongst themselves at the table, and Bulk was trying out Redheart's protein supplement as she watched for possible side effects at a separate table. Pinkie and Discord were just outside the cafeteria entrance, huddled together. "I'd be happy to make snacks and stuff for you!"

"Perfect," he grinned. "I'll lead her to that room around, say, three-ish tomorrow? It'll be a wonderful surprise, I'm sure... we haven't had the chance to have one in a while, just the two of us. But be sure to keep it a secret!"

"Okey dokey, lokey!" Pinkie saluted before bouncing away. Discord stood there a moment and smiled before making his way to his own room. I smiled as well.

Aww... sounds like he's arranging a nice little date with Fluttershy... That'll cheer her up.

The rest of the evening was uneventful. I chatted with my best friends until an hour before Nighttime, taking care to not spoil the surprise for Fluttershy. Then I returned to my room, showered and crawled into bed with more MonoMono Machine books - Secrets of the Omoplata (not about a form of obscure magic like I'd hoped), Cat-Dog Magazine (which was NOT AT ALL about cats or dogs), and, finally, Feelings of Ham.

...It was then that I realized that perhaps none of the books in the MonoMono Machine were worth reading. Desperate to let my dreams scrub what I read from my memory, I rolled over and went to sleep.

Bloody-Pink is Not Your Color - Daily Life 3

Morning came once again. I mentally checked myself, noting that I felt just as distant from the deaths as I did yesterday. Whatever had happened to my emotions, it seemed as if it may have been permanent. I sat in bed for a few minutes trying to piece together the few clues I had to go on - an unknown traitor, emotional manipulation bordering on the impossible, this terrifying and bizarre killing game... but no matter how I looked at it, I could not find an answer.

Ugh... I hate this... I hate this soooo much...

Sighing, I got up from bed and went to the cafeteria. I grimaced as I looked over my breakfast choices; while plentiful, perfectly innocuous and edible, being trapped here had sapped much of the flavor from the food. Finally choosing some oatmeal with a tiny jar's worth of strawberry jam lumped on top, I sat down and ate. Soon the others joined me, and the cafeteria became abuzz with light conversation.

Breakfast ended without incident, and many of the other ponies gradually left to entertain themselves for the day. However, as I sipped my coffee, I saw that Discord and Pinkie were still close by, huddled together as they planned their surprise.

"There's a delightful-looking tea in the third cabinet, the Juniper Green? Use that, it's one of her favorites," he winked.

"Okie doke!" Pinkie nodded. "First, though, I'm gonna take a nice after-breakfast nap, then I'll go pick some fresh fruits and veggies to use from the back!" She patted her belly full of pastries for added emphasis.

"Fine with me. Just remember - three o'clock, Third Floor classroom!" Pinkie nodded again before getting up and bouncing away, presumably to her room. Discord smiled and left as well. I myself couldn't help but grin... while my friends and I weren't surprised that Fluttershy was the first to truly befriend Discord, nopony could have ever known he would come to cherish her as much as he did. And as far as I could tell, the feelings were mutual. It was a small, but bright glimmer of hope in this otherwise dreadful prison.

Wondering how I should spend my day, I wandered the grounds. Eventually I found myself in the Wood Shop, of all places. Flam was busy cutting some pieces of wood into thin gear shapes, apple-green magic enveloping each one to make them as sturdy as metal. At his table sat more wooden bits and pieces, presumably for a machine he was building.

"What'cha doing, Flam?" I asked.

"Ah, Twilight!" he grinned. "Capital, I was just thinking of asking for your assistance."

"Oh?"

"Behold, my latest creation!" he pointed to the assortment of wooden mechanical parts. "...Alright, I'll admit it's hardly a creation in its current form, but soon it shall be a device that creates a hayburger out of any inorganic material you put into it!"

"Really? But that's... that would actually be very useful," I replied, wide-eyed. "Alteration spells can only do the same with organic materials, and Transmutation only works with inorganic materials, after all... it would be a breakthrough in magic theory! But something like that would require all kinds of enchantments - matter reorganization on an atomic level being one of the most difficult."

"Ah, but that is where you come in, my dear!" Flam smiled. "Usually, I have my brother to help me out with the spellwork part, but seeing how I have a true magical genius in my company..."

Oh, Flam... usually flattery will get you nowhere with me, but if you're actually willing and able to explore Archmage-level magic...

~~~

Flam and I had a long, magically-complex conversation about his plans. What he was attempting to accomplish was a feat of magic even Starswirl the Bearded had been incapable of!

...Come to think of it, such magic has been theorized, but impossible up until now... this isn't another hoax of his, right...?

~~~

"Oh, did I tell you?" During a lull in our conversation while cutting more wooden machine parts, Flam wiggled his eyebrows. "I gave miss Applejack that little present the other day."

"And? What was her reaction?" I asked. Flam's grin morphed into a more pensive expression.

"Well, she seemed pleased enough, thanked me when she took it... but that was all. She just... walked away right afterwards."

Sounds like her...

"I see," I hummed in thought. "...To be honest, Flam, she's never really been one for... romance."

"Oh? Playing 'hard to get', is that it?"

"No, not like that..." I put a hoof to my chin as I thought back on Applejack and I's friendship. "...It's more... I don't think I've ever actually seen or heard her express an interest in a stallion. Any stallion, for that matter."

"...None at all?" Flam seemed flabbergasted. "But a mare as lovely as herself, surely she's had many a suitor try their luck!"

"Ah... a couple, maybe? I do remember somepony named Trenderhoof following her around like a lost puppy during that one Ponyville Days festival... boy, was Rarity jealous," I chuckled. "...But AJ was very clearly not interested in him at all."

"I see... what was he like?" Flam leaned in a little closer.

"Uh... mostly he just followed her around and thought everything about farming was sexy. Why?"

"Is that all? Egads, no wonder he got nowhere with her," he recoiled in disappointment. "Well, not that I would've done the same, but now I know what not to do around her. I have far more than that in my repertoire!"

"You... wait, you're not gonna ask her on a date or something, are you? Because-"

"Yes, I can see it now!" Flam stared off into space in determination, his eyes sparkling. "A charming little picnic by the gardens, she'll be sure to like that!"

"Yes, but-"

"Ah, miss Twilight, thank you so much for your assisstance! I should start my preparations immediately!" His machine plans all but forgotten, Flam quickly stood up and trotted out of the Wood Shop, leaving me alone, bewildered, with a partially-assembled contraption sitting in front of me.

...I was trying to say... I'm not sure she's even into stallions... at all... oh, well.

Abruptly abandoned, I set Flam's wooden parts in a corner and left to wander again. At first I had the inkling that I might see if Pinkie needed any help preparing for Discord's surprise, but as I glanced at a nearby clock it read 2:51pm - she would very likely be finished by now.

Shrugging, I continued my stroll. After a while I found myself in the gardens behind the school. Coloratura was sitting under the false Zap Apple tree, enjoying the shade.

"Oh! Twilight!" she called as soon as she saw me, waving her hoof in the air.

"Hi, Rara," I answered, trotting over to her. Sitting beside her on the wraparound bench was a pitcher of ice water with lemon and cucumber slices inside, and she was holding a glass of it in her hooves. "What'cha doing?"

"Just enjoying the view," she waved her foreleg vaguely around. "Care to join me?"

"Sure!" I popped a glass into existence with my magic, poured some water and sat down.

~~~

Coloratura and I talked for a while.

~~~

"...Would you look at her go," Coloratura sighed wistfully, staring out into the gardens. Wondering who she was talking about, I looked as well. In the distance, Applejack appeared to be weeding, throwing them into a big pile.

"Even when it's somepony else's garden, she can't help herself," I chuckled. "Guess she really is the Ultimate Farmer."

"I wonder... if I hadn't gotten my Cutie Mark for singing, I wonder if we would've stayed together... friends all these years...?" she hummed thoughtfully. "You know... not moving away to Manehattan and all."

"When she first heard you were coming to Ponyville for that charity concert, she talked about you like you always were," I replied.

"Aww... did she?" Coloratura smiled. "Oh, Jackie's such a sweetheart!" I nodded in agreement. "...Did I ever tell you, she attended my first ever concert?"

"No, how was it?"

"Well... it wasn't anything special. Just in the Canterlot Theater... maybe a third of the seats were filled? I was so nervous... I kept thinking that maybe my singing wasn't going to be a hit, and I'd get booed off stage. But when I peeked out the curtains, I saw her... Jackie, sitting right in the front row! With her by my side, I wasn't worried anymore. So I got out there and sang... by the time it was over, the theater was maybe 75% filled, and the audience was raving! They loved it!"

"That's wonderful!"

"Yea... I looked down and saw Jackie applauding too, she looked so proud..." Coloratura sighed. "...I gave her tickets for my next concert, this time in the Canterlot Opera House, but she couldn't go, the Zap Apple harvest was due to begin within the week. Then the next time was when the eastern orchard needed to be harvested, and the time after that, she had to deliver a shipment of apples to Cloudsdale... she wrote to me afterwards to apologize and said that she was so busy, she'd let me know the next time she had the time to go. That was around the time I moved to Manehattan permanently, and then shortly after that, I lost her letter..."

"That sounds just like her," I shrugged, shaking my head. "AJ's always had the tendency to get carried away with work. Sometimes my friends and I have to literally drag her away from Sweet Apple Acres just to have lunch together... I'm sure she always wanted to go to your concerts."

"You think so?" Coloratura smiled hopefully. "Hmm... maybe I'll give her a private concert while we're here... I'll sing just for her. I'd... love to hear what she thinks..." I soon noticed that her eyes were half-lidded, and a blush blossomed on her cheeks. "I, uh... I even once wrote a song while thinking about her. Maybe you've heard it before? It's called 'Apple-Scented Summer'... my fans always said it reminded them of their childhoods, or of happier times."

"Ah... well, if you dedicated it to her, I'm sure she'll like it," I encouraged.

"Yea... I think she will, too." Coloratura smiled again, then stared back out into the gardens, watching Applejack heft a large rock out of the dirt and toss it aside. Looking out of the corner of my eye, I could see her blush again, a little more strongly.

...She's really missed her, hasn't she...?

As Applejack finished gardening for the day and went to her room for a quick shower, Coloratura and I parted ways. I returned to my own room for a short while, passing the time until it was time for supper. The scent of food was especially tantalizing this evening as I entered the cafeteria. Pinkie was busy cooking, tossing the contents of multiple frying pans into the air with ludicrous speed and precision while Applejack gathered platters and bowls for serving. Rarity was talking with Coloratura and Flam at the main table, Bulk was asking Nurse Redheart about an extra-extra-strength-squared protein supplement, while Lightning tried to tell Bulk that she was pretty sure that wasn't how math worked. Fleur was sitting by herself as usual, smoothing her hooves with a file and looking generally detached and displeased by everything around her. All in all, a normal dinner setting.

"You sure did pick a lotta crops out there," Applejack noted as Pinkie began carrying out the various dishes.

"I wanted to make sure Discord's secret tea party for Fluttershy was perfect!" Pinkie grinned widely. "Ah, now that it's happened already, I can finally talk about it!"

"Oh, is that where they've been today? How delightful!" Rarity swooned.

"They are a rather cute couple, huh?" agreed Coloratura. "Odd, definitely, but cute!"

"THAT DISCORD IS A LUCKY GUY!" Bulk shouted happily. Off in her corner, Fleur groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Well, hope they didn't spoil their appetites, 'cause this here's a lotta food," said Applejack. Everypony got a plate and began to serve themselves. As I ate I glanced at the clock... it was only a few minutes past six, perhaps the two lovebirds were doing... stuff.

I talked with my friends and eventually finished my plate. I happened to glance at the clock again as I went back for seconds... it was now 6:40pm.

"Hmm... I told them not to overdo it on the snacks, they should've been here by now," mused Pinkie.

"True, they usually ain't ones to miss out on supper," agreed Applejack. As soon as she finished her sentence, while everypony else was focused on their food or their conversation, Pinkie's entire body suddenly began to shiver. Her eyes widened in a combination of confusion and creeping dread.

And as I had learned and reluctantly accepted years ago... Pinkie Sense was always perfectly prophetic.

...I don't like this...

"Uh... I'm gonna go check on them. M-Maybe they fell asleep or something," Pinkie gulped, standing up.

"I'll go with you," I hastily stood up as well. "I overheard you guys talking about where they would be."

"Great! Thanks, Twilight," she smiled, seeming almost entirely unconcerned again. While the others remained behind, Pinkie and I made our way to the lone classroom on the Third Floor of the school.

We walked in silence. I had expected, even hoped to hear Discord and Fluttershy talking as we approached. As our hoofsteps drew closer to the classroom door, Pinkie's body trembled more and more severely, and she soon struggled to even walk.

"Boy, I sure am jittery..." she giggled nervously. "Maybe I didn't eat enough sugar today?" I glanced over to her, knowing that she was hiding her terror. We both hoped that our two friends were just fine, that we'd just be interrupting something between them.

At last we stood in front of the door. Pinkie knocked as gently as she could manage, but her tremors turned the knocks into loud pounding. "Guys? Guys, it's 6:45, you're missing dinner! I made it special just for you two!"

...

There was no answer. Hoping for the best but fearing the worst, I grabbed the doorknob.

"Wait, Twilight! Maybe they're in the middle of something, if you get my drift!" Pinkie frantically hissed.

...But I opened the door.

I opened the door... and was overcome with despair.

...Oh, no... No... Celestia, why?! No!

I stood in the doorway, frozen by what I saw. The desks had all been pushed to the back and front of the room, leaving a clearing for a single table and two chairs set in front of an open window. The table was decorated with a pink and white-plaid cloth, and on top of it sat an assortment of light snacks on silver platters, a tea set and two saucers, one with the teacup sitting on it, the other shattered on the floor in a puddle. At first glance, it would've made for a cute little high tea date...

...except for the fact that Fluttershy's face was frozen in terrible agony: her lips and eyes a deathly blue, her mouth billowing with red-tinged foam, her front hooves discolored and clutching her throat. Discord sat across from her, his torso slumped over the table. His right paw lay outstretched towards Fluttershy, the skin around the claws turning an ugly purple. His wide, glazed eyes stared at her, and his blue lips dripped with bloody foam onto the table.

This wasn't supposed to happen... this wasn't supposed to happen...!

My vision swam and darkened. I felt drool begin to pool in my mouth, and I struggled not to vomit at the sight. Images began to flash in my mind, of my friends, of all the good times we spent together... they mostly focused on two of them.

Pinkie screamed behind me, snapping me back to reality. No matter how harsh or cruel it was, it was a reality I now had to face.

Discord and Fluttershy... Ultimate Chaos and Ultimate Animal Caretaker... both of them were dead.

Author's Note

A rather short chapter.

After this trial, it may be a bit until the next one. I haven't finished thinking up the next murder... I have the "who" and "why" down, but not the "how". And depending on how long it takes me, my classes might start and take up my time, too.

Bloody-Pink is Not Your Color - Deadly Life 1

*ding dong bong bing!*

"A body has been discovered!" A monitor near the door flashed to life, revealing Monokuma sipping his wine glass and teetering in his chair. "Now then, after a certain amount of time has passed, the class trial will begin!"

*ding dong bong bing!*

"A body has been discovered! Now then, after a certain amount of time has passed, the class trial will begin!" One body discovery announcement was bad enough, but still offered some hope. But as the second announcement played immediately after the first, however, that hope was quickly dashed. "Everyone, please gather in the Third Floor Classroom!"

The monitor finally shut off. As I stared in horror at Discord's and Fluttershy's bodies, time seemed to stand still. Pinkie Pie's screams behind me trailed off into frantic wailing. Although it felt like an eternity, it was really maybe only a couple minutes before everypony else arrived. Amongst the others, Applejack and Rarity burst their way in, gasped loudly at the sight and fell wide-eyed to their knees.

"Fuck, really?! Again?!" Lightning Dust shouted, in frustration and dismay.

"Two victims...?!" Flam coughed.

"Oh my Celestia... why?! Why those two?!" Coloratura paled.

"Fluttershy... Discord...!" Rarity breathed, tears already streaming from her face.

"Whut... Whut h-happened...?" Applejack's weak voice fluttered between quick, shallow breaths. "...Why...?"

"Why, indeed," Nurse Redheart glared as she put a hoof to her chin. "The motive this time was unconscionable. Who would want to murder somepony to get out, let alone two of us?"

My heart froze over as the words reached my ears. Somepony had not only murdered one of our friends, but two of them! And the motive this time, as chilling as it was... Why?! Who would do such a horrible thing?!

But before anypony could speak out...

*boing!*

"Geez... it feels like someone died in here or something," Monokuma's voice whined as he appeared from underneath a desk in the corner.

"Don't even fucking start with us!" Lightning snarled, shaking her hoof. "What the fuck is this?!"

"Hmm?" Monokuma peered over at the two bodies for a few moments. "...Why, it appears that one of you has begun the killing again! And a twofer, this time! ...Hmm, seems like it always happens around this point in the game," he mumbled.

"It... does?" Fleur recoiled in disgust.

"WHAT?! WHADDYA MEAN BY THAT?!" shouted Bulk Biceps.

"Oh no... oh, no..." Pinkie whimpered, her mane straightening out again.

"Aaaaanyway, let's go back to our main topic and proceed as usual!" Monokuma laughed as he pulled out the familiar black folders. "Can I offer you a Monokuma File in this trying time?"

We reluctantly accepted the Files.

"Puhuhu... I'll be waiting at the class trial. Do your best to investigate," he grinned, scampering past us into the hall and vanishing from sight.

"A-Again? We must do this again...?" Rarity whined.

"We have no choice," Redheart sighed. "If this means that one of us killed these two... we cannot simply stand by. Murdering one pony is bad enough, but two is so much worse... and with the motive to potentially murder a third in the outside world? Absolutely disgusting! Whoever has done this must be stopped!" I gasped quietly as I realized that Redheart was right; a small spark of anger ignited and burned away the grief in my heart. Stowing it away for later, I knew what I had to do for now.

"Discord... Fluttershy... they did not deserve this!" I glowered.

"First Rainbow... now those two...!" Applejack seethed. "Whoever y'all are, ah will find you and make sure you face justice fer whut you've done!"

"Yes... also, we must figure out who did this, otherwise we'll all be next...!" said Flam.

"In that case, we'd better begin our investigation," Redheart nodded. I nodded as well.

Discord... Fluttershy... I can't believe this happened, neither of you deserved to die... but I'll get to the bottom of this. I promise...!

"Let's end this nightmare... once and for all," I affirmed. "I know there's no way we can believe that one of us did this, but for our friends' sake, we need to find the truth!"

*Investigation Start*

First I opened up the Monokuma File, finding it slightly thicker than usual. Both Discord's and Fluttershy's faces were greyed out and covered in a hot-pink X, stabbing me in the heart as I laid my eyes upon them.

"There are two victims this time: Discord, Ultimate Chaos and Fluttershy, Ultimate Animal Caretaker. Both victims suffered from sudden acute heart failure. There are no other external injuries," I read out loud. "Time of death is estimated to be 3:30pm."

"Sudden acute heart failure...?" Redheart paused as she examined the bodies. "Hmm... yes, I can agree with that."

"Can you tell whut happened?" asked Applejack.

"I believe so... based on the pronounced cyanosis, internal bleeding and foaming at the mouths, I'm quite certain they were both poisoned," she pursed her lips.

"P-Poisoned?! But we got rid of all of them!" Coloratura gasped.

"Yes, and I've been in the Chemistry Lab recently... I haven't noticed any of the empty bottles missing."

"Wait... you were in there?!" Fleur glared. "I bet you did it, then! Hah, how stupid of you to admit it!"

"Oh, please," Redheart rolled her eyes. "Other than to mix a protein supplement, the only bottles I touched were medicinal in nature."

"Do you think the food is poisoned?" asked Lightning. Bulk, who was about to eat a lavender-colored macaron, yelped in surprise and dropped it immediately.

"Probably... could one of you Unicorns check? It'd be much faster than individually testing everything on the table," said Redheart. At her suggestion, my horn flared to life. Pink magic flowed over the table like a gentle waterfall as I cast my spell; within seconds, a plate of cucumber sandwiches, a tray of deviled eggs, the teapot and both teacups began to glow a sickly green. However, I also noticed that unlike the teapot or deviled eggs, only half of the cucumber sandwiches glowed.

...Only half...?

"It would seem that the glowing refreshments are the ones that were tampered with," Flam remarked as the glow subsided.

"Nopony touch them. After I've finished my autopsies, I will take them to the Chemistry Lab and run some tests," said Redheart.

"But-"

"I'll need a Unicorn's assistance... Rarity, would you help me?" Redheart asked, interrupting another outburst of suspicion from Fleur.

"Ah... of course, darling. Though I do hope you don't actually expect me to run tests as well."

Redheart assured her that she would handle all of the tests herself. Meanwhile, I checked around the room in case anything else was out of the ordinary, but other than possibly the position Discord was lying in and his shattered teacup on the floor, I didn't find anything. However, while the others began their search as well, I noticed Pinkie hyperventilating in the corner, tears streaming down her terrified face.

"Pinkie? Hey, are you gonna be okay?" I asked softly as I walked over to her.

"I-It's... I-It's my f-fault..." she whimpered.

"What?"

"It's my f-fault... I p-prepared the snacks and t-t-teapot... I-I... I-I killed t-them...!" With that, Pinkie let out a ghastly, gut-wrenching scream of anguish and fled the room before I could say anything.

Pinkie... w-what do you mean by that...?

A frightful thought entered my head, and I shook it out before it could take root.

No... no, I'm positive Pinkie had nothing to do with it...

"Well, I'm done here. Rarity, if you'll kindly levitate the sandwiches, eggs, teapot and teacups?" asked Redheart. Rarity nodded, and within seconds she had all of them floating in an aura of ice-blue, every piece of the shattered teacup included.

"Ugh, no way in hell do I trust this..." Fleur grumbled. "I'm coming, too."

"As you wish, just please refrain from touching anything," Redheart replied. The three then left for the Chemistry Lab.

"Well, I presume that it will take some time until she gets her results," said Flam, walking towards me. "Shall we?"

"Alright. I think I know where to look next..."

A few minutes later, we arrived at the cafeteria and walked into the kitchen. I frowned a little as I saw a pile of soapy, soaking dishes in the sink, presumably used to cook dinner with. Whatever Pinkie had used to make the tea party refreshments with was likely at the very bottom of the pile, if not already cleaned and put away. Nevertheless, I cast my food tampering detection spell again.

"Ah! There, the cupboard and the refrigerator!" cried Flam. As the entire kitchen was bathed in pink light, something in one of the cupboards and inside the fridge glowed a sickly green. Before the glow faded, I opened the cupboard to find a glowing tin of loose-leaf tea, and Flam opened the fridge and pulled out a jar of mayonnaise. I briefly glanced the name of the tea - Juniper Green Sencha.

"This was the tea I heard Discord ask Pinkie to use for the tea party," I mentioned. "Apparently it was one of Fluttershy's favorites..." I opened the tin and peeked inside - there were dark green shreds of tea leaves amongst crushed, dark blue juniper berries, but there were also some green granules inside that didn't match the color of the leaves, as well as a little bit of yellow granules. To be sure I checked the ingredient list on the tin, and sure enough, only tea leaves and juniper berries were listed. "Hmm... I wonder what these green and yellow granules are."

"Seems to me you've found the tainted tea," Flam remarked. "As for me, it's difficult to see, but I do believe there are white granules inside this mayonnaise."

"Three different kinds of poison?" I asked out loud.

"Seems like overkill, if you ask me. Judging by what I read when the ladies and I disposed of the poisons, only one was necessary to cause death."

You only needed one... then why use three...? Was there more than one killer...? Or did the killer just want to be certain it worked...?

"Perhaps there's a trace of the poisons left on the cutlery Miss Pie used to make the refreshments," added Flam. "Be a dear and open the dishwasher for me? I can move these soaking pans in there so I can look at the dishes on the bottom of the sink."

"Sure," I nodded. I opened the dishwasher, but stopped suddenly. The dishwasher should've been empty as usual, but something was there in the back of the top rack. "Huh? What's this?" I pulled out the rack and discovered an empty beaker.

"A beaker? What is this doing here?" asked Flam. "Doesn't this belong in the Chemistry Lab?"

"It's not something you'd usually drink out of," I agreed. "No scientist in their right mind would, anyway." I cast my detection spell on the beaker, but it didn't glow.

"Seems to have been rinsed out," said Flam. "Can you check the sink?" Nodding, I cast the spell again on the sink, frowning when nothing inside of it glowed. "Hmm... no other traces to be found, I suppose."

"I guess that's everything in here, then," I replied. "Do you think Redheart's made any progress on her tests yet? We can bring the tea tin and mayo so she can test them, too."

"Well, only one way to find out, my dear!"

Flam and I walked quickly into the Chemistry Lab, carrying the tea and mayo in our magic auras. Redheart had set up a number of small machines around the room while Rarity sat awkwardly at a table, having nothing to do at the moment. Fleur was sitting in a far corner, eyeing the two warily at times, but mostly she seemed preoccupied with making sure her mane and makeup were perfect in a small hoof mirror. The teapot, cups and plates of tainted food sat underneath the fume hood, sealed away as if the poison was able to be transmitted through the air.

"Ah, you two," Redheart spoke. "What are those?"

"We found these two tainted items in the kitchen," Flam said as we both lowered them onto a nearby table. "The mayonnaise has white granules mixed into it, and Miss Twilight has found both green and yellow granules inside the tin."

"I see... I will test them immediately," said Redheart, picking up the tea tin and opening it for a sample.

"What have you found out so far?" I asked.

"Well, there are three different substances," said Rarity. "Since we're not sure what they are, exactly, we are calling them Substance A, B and C for now."

"Substance A has been detected in the tea found inside the teapot and teacup," informed Redheart as she now took a sample of the mayo. "Substance B has also been detected in the tea, and also within the whipped yolk of the deviled eggs. Substance C has been detected within the cucumber sandwiches... but curiously, only half of them. The other half are untainted."

"How soon until the results come in for the tea and mayonnaise?" asked Flam.

"Now that I have the machines calibrated? Just a few minutes," replied Redheart, allowing herself a tiny smirk of pride. Flam nodded and sat at the table with Rarity to wait for results, while I walked over to the supply shelves.

"You wouldn't have happened to come up with a theory on which poisons were used, have you? I asked as I studied the empty poison bottles.

"Not at the moment, no," Redheart said as she looked over to me. "However... I did notice that one of the antidotes I had crafted for one type of poison was missing from the shelves."

"Oh? Where?"

"Amongst the orange shelf bottles... It was for a slow-acting poison, if I remember correctly," she replied. I quickly moved to the orange shelves, finding a small group of plain glass bottles bunched together with no markings other than "antidote" written in permanent marker, and then whatever it was an antidote for.

The antidote for a slow-acting poison... so maybe that means...

I looked back at the blue shelves, scanning the labels. A few minutes later I found a bottle in the place designated for "slow-acting" poison... except much of the label had been scratched away. Without thinking I picked it up, finding that the glue that should have held it fast to the shelves was nowhere to be seen.

"Is this the slow-acting poison?" I asked, showing the bottle to Redheart.

"...Can't be sure," she frowned, her face scrunched as she tried to read the label. "Most of the label's missing."

"Er, shouldn't that be glued down? How did you remove it?" asked Rarity.

"Besides that, I cast a pretty powerful spell on it, that glue should not have been removable!" added Flam.

"There wasn't any glue beneath it... somepony must've used another spell to remove it," I reasoned. Flam grumbled under his breath about how his magic was stronger than that.

"Well, there is an easy way to find out... may I?" Redheart asked, holding out her hoof. I handed over the bottle, and Redheart stuffed it into a plastic bag... and quickly smashed it with her hoof.

*boing!*

"One bottle of Slow-Acting Poison, comin' right up!" Monokuma shouted as he suddenly dropped down from the ceiling, a bottle full of green granules in his paw. He quickly set it down in its place on the shelf, then scurried away without another word.

"Well, that answers that," huffed Flam.

"Give it here," Redheart motioned. I levitated the bottle in my magic and floated it straight to her. As the results for the mayo appeared on the small monitor of one of the machines, Redheart quickly jotted it down before taking a sample of poison and putting it into an adjacent machine. "Alright, the results of the tea and mayonnaise is in... hmm."

"And?" Flam leaned over his table impatiently.

"The tea tests positive for both Substances A and B, as I suspected," she answered. "But only Substance C was detected in the mayonnaise."

"I suppose that makes sense," said Rarity.

"Ugh, all this talk about tea and sandwiches and stuff, I'm hungry now..." Fleur grumbled quietly in her corner. Ignoring her as always, Redheart examined the contents of the tea tin, then the poison bottle.

"It appears to me that this slow-acting poison was added to the tea tin," she mumbled. "That would make it either Substance A or B... I'll know for sure once this test is complete." Having a few minutes to wait, Redheart began to put away some extra supplies she'd pulled out, including some beakers.

"...Oh! Redheart, are there any beakers missing from the cupboards?" I blurted out. "I found one in the dishwasher in the kitchen!"

"Hmm..." Redheart took a moment to mentally count the supplies. "...Now that you mention it... there's space in here for two more beakers."

"Two beakers...?" Flam hummed in thought.

Two beakers are missing...? Well, we found one of them... where is the other...?

Redheart's face suddenly changed, as if she'd realized something. Without a word, she ran to the door and exited the classroom.

"Uh... what was that about?" asked Rarity. We sat in silent confusion for a couple minutes before Redheart returned. Carefully in her muzzle, she held a pair of syringes filled with blood.

"Sorry about that, but I just had an idea," she mumbled through gritted teeth as she set the syringes down. "I can't believe I didn't realize... this place must be getting to me..."

"What is it?" I asked. Redheart hurriedly scribbled down the result that had appeared on the machine's monitor, then squirted some of the blood from one syringe onto a small tray and inserted it into the machine, then did the same with the other.

But before she could answer...

*ding dong, bing bong*

Wait... wait a minute, no! Not now...!

"Already?!" cried Rarity. "Truly it hasn't been that long, has it?!"

"What is most important for living things?" Monokuma's voice boomed from the monitor in the room as it suddenly burst to life. "Well, personally, I think time is. I mean, your bank account may go up and down, but time will inevitably run out, right? That's why we gotta cherish time. There is nothing more wasteful than wasting time."

"Oh, just fucking wrap it up already, you fucking-"

"Soooo... time's up!" Monokuma continued through Fleur's rant. "Let's all meet at the red double doors and begin the class trial!"

"Shit," Redheart grunted as the monitor cut off. "I'll need at least five minutes to get these last results."

"But you know what Monokuma will do to you if you don't go!" I gulped.

"I am well aware... but I think these results are the final piece of the puzzle we need," Redheart gulped as well. "Please... try to stall him or something, if you can. Walk slowly or something!"

"I'm not going anywhere," Fleur laughed, sneering at Redheart. "You're up to something, aren't you? I've got my eye on you, fuckin' know-it-all bitch."

"I don't- fine, whatever," Redheart threw her hooves up. "I'll be fine, but you three should get going!"

"But-"

"GO!"

Cut off by Redheart's stern yell, Flam, Rarity and I nearly tripped as we ran for the door.

"So, are we going to risk Monokuma's wrath in order to let Miss Redheart finish her tests?" Flam asked as we entered the hallway.

"If it's' as important to the trial as she thinks it is, I don't believe we have a choice," said Rarity. "It's either risk death now and be saved later, or risk death now and... die."

"As long as we keep moving towards the elevator... he shouldn't mind...?" My voice squeaked. Sharing a nod, we walked as slowly as possible.

"What the fuck took you guys so long?!" Lightning pouted frantically as we finally arrived inside the elevator room. Applejack, Bulk and Coloratura were all sharing nervous looks with each other.

"Redheart needed us to stall for time so she could finish her tests," I explained. Thankfully, we hadn't seen or heard from Monokuma while we'd casually sauntered through the school, but my heart was still racing from the blatant rulebreaking.

"Alright, and what about Pinkie 'n Fleur?" asked Applejack.

"Fleur said she'd stay behind with Redheart... I say, I don't know why she doesn't trust her with the results," said Flam.

"She hasn't a nice thing to say about anypony... she's actually somewhat of a bitch, really," Rarity muttered under her breath.

"Excuse me?!" Fleur slowly growled behind us, making everypony jump.

"Oh, uh, hello darling..." Rarity backtracked, although even being caught red-hoofed, her tone wasn't all that sincere.

"Tsk, whatever..." Fleur glared.

"Hey, if you're here, then is Redheart done with her tests?" I asked.

"Yes, I am!" Redheart called out as she galloped into the room, clutching a small stack of papers. She skidded to a stop in order to catch her breath.

"Capital! So, what are the results?" Flam pried.

"Not now... during the trial... okay?" Redheart wheezed. I groaned inwardly, having to wait a while longer to know, but at the same time I could see her reasoning. Perhaps without the knowledge of the results beforehand, somepony would let something else important slip.

"Where's the pink little spaz?" Fleur snapped, taking out her makeup mirror and fixing her mane.

"Er... not sure. She outright disappeared after screaming and running off," said Flam.

"Hah! Figures, she's the only one missing... did she do it? I bet she did. She totally seems like a closet serial killer."

"Now you cut that out! Pinkie wouldn't kill anypony," Applejack retorted. Silently, I hoped that as distraught as Pinkie had been earlier, she'd at least have the self-preservation sense to arrive before Monokuma decided to punish her.

"Maybe... she ran away?" suggested Coloratura. But before anypony could answer...

*boing!*

"Aw, hell naw! There's no way I'd let her escape, you know!" Monokuma suddenly entered the room, dragging Pinkie behind himself by the tail.

"NOOOOOO! I DON'T WANNA! PLEASE, I DON'T WANNA DIEEEEE!" Pinkie shrieked as she clawed furiously at the floor, her face red and puffy from crying. As Monokuma whipped her around and tossed her into the center of the group, she sobbed and began flailing wildly.

"Hey, now... if you keep acting violent, I might just eat you up," Monokuma threatened, his red eye gleaming as he exposed his claws. Pinkie snapped her muzzle shut with a squeak, but continued to quietly cry. "Alright... now that everyone's all together, it's about time you all got on that elevator! I'll go on ahead and wait for you guys, so hurry on down!" And with that, Monokuma leapt up through the ceiling, knocking a tile out of the way to get through. The tile clattered back into place as he vanished from sight once again.

"Please, no... please, no..." Pinkie whimpered.

"See? Totally a closet serial killer," Fleur snorted.

"Ah can't believe we gotta do this again..." sighed Applejack.

"WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG...?" Bulk added sadly.

"To be frank, I'd rather not get along with somepony willing to kill another... especially not two of them, and a potential three is right out," Redheart grumbled.

"Yes... we need to find the killer. Not only to save the rest of us innocents, but to avenge those poor souls!" Flam nodded. I nodded as well, steeling myself for what lay ahead. Now that I had a moment to breathe and reflect on what had happened, the emotions I had shoved away for later began creeping back in. Again my heart, freshly wounded - ached for the deceased, feeling as if it was being sucked into a black hole under my hooves.

Discord... when we first met, you were one of the greatest threats Equestria had ever known... But against all odds, you became one of our greatest allies... and an even greater friend.

And Fluttershy... you were so kind, so compassionate, so tender... I wish you were never a part of this loathsome game... May you and Discord find each other in the next world... and find happiness together.

I'm so sorry... I couldn't keep either of you safe... but I promise you both, I will find whoever did this! I will save the others... I will not let your deaths be in vain...!

Impatient, the elevator doors opened before us. Blinking away my tears, I adopted a brave facade and boldly walked inside.

"It's time. Coming?" I glanced back.

"C'mon... let's get this over with..." Lightning mumbled, resigned to her fate. One by one the rest followed her inside. The doors shut behind us, and the elevator began its descent.

Bloody-Pink is Not Your Color - Deadly Life 2

The elevator descended deeper and deeper as we all struggled to think of anything positive to say. Somepony among us had so coldheartedly murdered two more of our friends, after all... two of my best friends. And for what? With the motive this time being what it was, why would anypony pick now, of all times, to kill?

Finally, the elevator came to a stop with a loud creak, and the doors opened up into the familiar trial room. This time, Monokuma had decorated it to resemble a dungeon - solid stone walls glowed with an eerie light, and much of the curtains, draperies and candle sconces had been taken away. The bear himself sat on his throne, a paw to his chin in pensive thought.

"My, my... it feels pretty toothless with all these empty seats," he remarked, motioning to Discord, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash's newly-added portraits. All of their greyed-out faces were covered in red paint: while Fluttershy had a red butterfly over her face, Rainbow had two crossed lightning bolts over hers, and the paint on Discord's portrait resembled a living Rorschach inkblot test, constantly moving and morphing.

"And whose fault is that?" Applejack growled under her breath.

"Now, then... let's begin! It's the beginning of the long-awaited class trial!" Monokuma continued, motioning to our podiums. "Please enjoy it to your heart's content!"

And so, as we took our places, the curtain to the third class trial was about to open. Discord, Ultimate Chaos, and Fluttershy, the Ultimate Animal Caretaker... it was she who first got Discord to open up to the idea of friendship, and soon one of our greatest enemies became one of our greatest friends... even if he had an incredibly unconventional way of showing it sometimes. And sweet, timid Fluttershy... when I first met her, she was an anxious, agoraphobic mess of a mare. But over the years my friends and I helped bring her out of her shell, and she gradually became just as assertive, brave and capable as any of us.

...The pony who killed them both is among us. I still don't know if I can believe it... but whether I believe it or not doesn't matter anymore. Unless we figure out the truth, we'll never escape from this hell.

...That's why... I must find it, no matter the cost.

For our sake.

For our friends' sake.

For Discord... and Fluttershy.

*Class Trial! All rise!*

"Let's begin with a simple explanation of the class trial!" Monokuma announced once again, as if we could forget by now. "During the class trial you will present your arguments for who the killer is, and vote for 'whodunnit'. If you vote correctly, then only the blackened will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one... then I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and that pony will earn the right to graduate!"

"Yea, yea, whatever. This one's gonna be over real quick," Fleur waved her hoof.

"Oh? Why do ya say that?" Applejack replied, her eyes narrowed.

"I already know who did it!" she crowed, looking very pleased with herself.

"You do? Who?!" Rarity gasped. A wide smirk spread on Fleur's muzzle.

"Discord, of course."

Everypony gasped, myself included.

Wh-What...?

"And how, exactly, do you know that?" Redheart asked, skeptical.

"Would you like to know how I know that? Let me tell you..." Fleur continued now that she had everypony's attention, her words dripping with a demure sweetness. "It was around noon, the other day... I was entertaining myself by practicing trick shots on the billiards table in the Recreation Room-"

"Wait, you know how to play pool?" Coloratura blinked.

"DON'T FUCKING INTERRUPT ME," Fleur shrieked angrily, shocking Coloratura back into silence. "Where was I? Ahem... as I was lining up my next shot, I happened to glance into the hallway, and I saw Discord passing by to the left. Naturally I thought nothing of it, so I went back to my game. But then I saw him again, not five minutes later, passing back to the right. I thought it odd, but not too out of the ordinary."

My lips pursed. I had to agree that it seemed a bit strange that Discord had done that.

"Then ten minutes later, as I sink the last ball, I just so happen to see Discord again, passing back to the left. By now I had become suspicious, and I peeked into the hallway just in time to see him slinking inside the Chemistry Lab. I muffled my hoofsteps with a quick spell and took a tiny peek inside... and I saw him snatch a bottle from the blue shelves! A full bottle. Now, tell me... does anypony here see a problem with that?"

"Er... Flam, Lightning and I emptied all of those bottles of poison," Coloratura spoke uneasily.

"And we glued the empties to the shelves, and then Flam cast a spell on the glue for good measure," added Lightning.

"Exactly," Fleur nodded once. "Not only were those bottles supposed to be empty, they were also not supposed to be removable. But, it would seem that the charlatan there is doubly such when it comes to magic strength."

"Now, I say, I must disagree with that assessment..." Flam muttered under his breath.

"So Discord earned himself a full bottle of poison. Then he arranged a... quaint little tea party with that Fluttershy mare... and then... he poisoned her food and drink in order to kill her!" Fleur finished assertively.

...Wait... something doesn't feel right about that...

"But Discord also wound up dead at the table," Redheart cut in. "How would you explain that? Surely if he meant to kill Fluttershy so he could escape, he would have kept better track of what refreshments were poisoned."

"How am I to know?" Fleur shrugged. "Maybe he couldn't deal with committing a little murder, and decided to kill himself, too."

"He was kind of a crazy bastard, right?" asked Lightning. "Maybe he grabbed more than one poison to do her in, and he lost track of them?"

"I concur!" I agreed. "Redheart's tests on the refreshments showed that there were three different substances hidden in the food and drink!"

"THREE?! BUT DIDN'T HE ONLY NEED ONE?" gasped Bulk.

"Yes... I read all of the labels when Miss Coloratura, Miss Dust and I were disposing of the poisons," said Flam. "Each one was plenty on its own to cause death."

"Three, huh? Well, I suppose there's no kill like overkill," mused Fleur.

"But it makes no sense," said Redheart. "Why use three when only one is necessary?"

True... that part does seem fishy...

"In order to murder one of us, three different substances were used and hidden within the refreshments," asserted Redheart. "Let's go over which refreshments those were."

"Ah... the teapot, the deviled egg tray and the cucumber sandwich platter," I nodded. "Those all reacted to my Food Tampering Detection Spell."

"Correct," said Redheart, finally pulling out her small stack of test results. "And I identified three different substances concealed within those items... since they are unknown at the moment, I have been referring to them as Substances A, B, and C. First, let's examine the teapot."

The teapot... alright...

"The teapot tested positive for Substances A and B," Redheart continued. "During the investigation, the tin of the tea that was brewed inside the teapot was found."

"The Juniper Green Sencha... Discord told me to use it," Pinkie whimpered. "H-He said it was her favorite..."

"Yes, well... regardless, the tin of tea also tested positive for Substances A and B," said Redheart.

"Juniper Green..." Rarity hummed in thought. "Fluttershy and I have shared many a teacup at the Ponyville Day Spa, and I know they serve that kind of tea... but I cannot recall ever seeing her selecting it to drink."

"SO... NOT HER FAVORITE, THEN?" asked Bulk.

"No... in fact, I believe I remember her selecting a tropical blend more often than not..."

"But... b-but he said... it w-was a lie...?" Pinkie sniffled.

"Ah'm afraid so, sugarcube," sighed Applejack. Pinkie began to cry softly.

"Alright, so the tea was not actually a favorite," said Flam. "Is there anything else about it to talk about?"

"No, I believe we can move on," Redheart shook her head once. "Next I'll bring the deviled eggs to our attention. They tested positive for Substance B, but not Substance A. Furthermore, no evidence linking it to a tainted ingredient within the Kitchen was found."

"That's right... Flam and I found no trace of deviled egg ingredients there," I agreed.

"Uh... that's probably my bad," Pinkie spoke shakily. "I used a bowl and whisk to mix the yolks and other ingredients for the filling... you guys know how if egg dries out it's really hard to clean? So I put it in the sink to soak after I was finished..."

"I see... besides being deceived, you washed away the evidence..." Fleur snickered.

"I-I didn't know...!" Pinkie wailed.

"It's alright," interrupted Redheart. "Seeing how only one substance was detected in the eggs, I don't think the lack of ingredient evidence matters too much. Let's move on to the final items: the cucumber sandwiches."

"Ah, yes," said Flam. "These were a bit of an anomaly, weren't they?"

"Correct. The cucumber sandwiches were the only refreshments to test positive for Substance C, and neither Substance A nor B appeared. Furthermore, only half of the cucumber sandwiches tested positive for Substance C, while the other half did not. During the investigation, a jar of mayonnaise was found in the Kitchen's refrigerator, which also tested positive for Substance C, and only Substance C," Redheart finished.

"Just half of the sandwiches? That seems odd," said Coloratura.

If only half of the sandwiches tested positive for Substance C, and the mayonnaise also tested positive for Substance C, then that means...

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"It's not that odd," I said. "It only means that only half of the sandwiches had mayonnaise in them."

"Just half with mayo?" asked Applejack. "Why not all of 'em?"

"I... I can answer that, too..." Pinkie sighed sadly. "Fluttershy liked mayo on her sandwiches... Discord liked... liked..." Pinkie coughed and choked on her words, as if they were too hard to speak.

"What did he like?" I asked gently. Pinkie gulped powerfully, took a deep breath and lowered her voice to a whisper.

"...Miracle Whip."

Fleur, Rarity, Lightning, and Flam gasped loudly in horror.

"That... monster...!" Fleur spat.

"Eww... how could anypony like that shit?!" Lightning shivered.

...I think Miracle Whip is fine...

"...Ah think it's alright," Applejack shrugged.

"It's got a nice tanginess to it," agreed Coloratura.

See...?! Perfectly acceptable!

"No... no, those are fighting words...!" Rarity glared.

"Calm down, everypony," Redheart sighed. "Now is hardly the time to argue about condiment preferences."

Suddenly, a spark of realization flashed across Bulk's face. "WAIT A MINUTE... DON'T DEVILED EGGS USUALLY HAVE MAYO IN THEM?"

"Ah, I believe so..." Coloratura paused to think for a moment. "Why?"

"THEN HOW COME THERE'S NO SUBSTANCE C IN THE EGGS?"

"...Discord and Fluttershy liked their deviled eggs spicy," Pinkie's shoulders dropped. "There was one time I first made it for them, and they said that it should be spicier, so I made another batch with more mustard and less mayo, but it still wasn't spicy enough for them. So I kept adding more and more mustard and taking out more and more mayo to compensate... eventually when the filling had no mayo and lots of mustard in it, they finally liked it. I-I've made it that way for them ever since."

"Oh... oh, that's fucking nasty," Fleur gagged, sticking out her tongue.

"I dunno, it made sense for Discord to like them that way! And, well, Fluttershy never said she didn't like it... maybe some of his chaos rubbed off on her...?" Pinkie squeaked.

Heh... maybe... For a moment, the thought brought a smile to my face.

"Alright, we've gone over all of the tainted foodstuffs... now what?" asked Flam.

"Now, we get to my final test results," Redheart raised her voice slightly as she held up two sheets of paper. "Just before we were called to the elevator, I took blood samples from the two decedents and ran the same toxicology tests on them. And I believe the results will answer some of our questions."

Everypony, Flam and I especially, leaned onto our podiums in anticipation.

"First, Discord's blood: Substances A and B were present, but not Substance C. And in Fluttershy's blood: all three Substances were present."

"Interesting..." Flam murmured.

"Yes, but of what significance is that?" asked Rarity. "Substances A and B were found within both of them. Substance C was found in the mayonnaise, and mayonnaise was present in half of the sandwiches because Fluttershy preferred it."

"But... there's a difference, right?" said Lightning. "If Discord wanted to kill Fluttershy, then this leads to Substance C being the poison that most likely did it!"

"BUT DISCORD'S DEAD, TOO," said Bulk. "SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?"

I need to think this through... I'm sure if I just use logic, I'll find the answer... If Substances A and B were present in both Discord's and Fluttershy's blood, but only Substance C was found in Fluttershy's blood, then what could Substance C possibly be?

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"...What if one of the substances wasn't a poison, but an A N T I D O T E?" I asked slowly.

"A-An... an a-antidote?" Pinkie choked.

"An antidote?" Fleur groaned. "That's fuckin' stupid, why in Equestria would he do that?"

"No, Twilight brings up a good point," Redheart interrupted. "The other day in the Chem Lab, I took it upon myself to mix together some antidotes to as many of the poisons as I could. When I checked the shelves where I placed them as I was getting the machines ready for my tests... I noticed that one of them was missing."

"...Why would you make antidotes for poisons when they've already been disposed of?" Fleur glared suspiciously.

"In case something exactly like this happened..." Redheart drawled, pinching the bridge of her muzzle. "Although, it would have been greatly preferable if the poisoning victims had realized something was wrong and came to me for treatment."

"Ladies, please..." Flam interjected. "Alright, so perhaps one of these substances was not a poison, but in fact an antidote. Is there a way to tell which substance it was?"

"Unfortunately, not exactly..." Redheart sighed, grimacing. "The machines weren't programmed with the information needed to put names to the substances. However..." she paused as she shuffled through her papers to pull one out, "...I did determine that either Substance A or B is a slow-acting poison."

"And... how did you determine that?" Coloratura spoke carefully.

"Nothing sinister... after I told Twilight about the missing antidote, she took it upon herself to find the empty slow-acting poison bottle. When she found it, I destroyed it to have a new, full bottle appear, and then I tested the substance inside that bottle."

"Yes, and furthermore, when I found the empty slow-acting poison bottle, most of the label had been scratched away," I added.

"Hmm... maybe he noticed I was in the Rec Room when he was acquiring the poison," huffed Fleur. "He might've tried to scratch off the label to hide what he'd taken."

"Wait a minute... somethin' here don't make sense to me," cut in Applejack.

She's right... I think I see it, too...

"Say Discord took the slow-actin' poison, to... kill Fluttershy. Then who took the antidote? And whut about the third substance?"

"The third substance, I have no answer for... but as for the antidote? Perhaps Fluttershy caught on to Discord's scheme, and she grabbed it for herself?" Flam suggested.

"BUT THEN WHY HIDE IT IN THE MAYO?" asked Bulk. "WHY NOT JUST TAKE IT DURING THE TEA PARTY?"

"Fluttershy was always cautious..." Pinkie sniffled, her eyes staring at nothing. "I-If she had heard that Discord was trying to k-kill her at the tea party... she n-never even would've l-left her room today."

"I still can't believe he would've done such a thing..." Rarity sighed. "Discord adored Fluttershy, he would never do anything to hurt her!"

...Oh... OH. Oh, Celestia...

"I'm sorry, but that's wrong!" I shouted, realizing something terrifying. "Rarity... you're absolutely right... Discord would never hurt Fluttershy."

"Er... you do realize Fluttershy's pretty fuckin' dead, right, Twilight?" Lightning winced.

"Yes, but just hear me out," I replied. "AJ, Pinkie, Rarity... we've all been friends with Discord for years, and we've watched him grow closer and closer to Fluttershy ever since."

"They were... basically in love with each other, without ever actually saying they loved each other," Pinkie whimpered.

"So I think... what if Discord took the slow-acting poison... AND the antidote?"

Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity and Coloratura gasped loudly.

"You're... you're saying this was... a kind of suicide?" Flam paled.

"Not quite a suicide," uttered Redheart. "...A suicide designed to actually be a murder."

"Wh... W-What...?" Pinkie breathed.

"If Discord took both the slow-acting poison and the antidote, he could have hidden the poison in the refreshments you were making for them beforehand, while hiding the antidote inside something only Fluttershy would eat," I explained quietly. Pinkie stared in shock for a few moments, then gasped loudly.

"THE TEA!" she screeched. "Discord told me to use the Juniper Green tea!"

"AND THEN HE PUT THE ANTIDOTE IN THE MAYO FOR FLUTTERSHY'S SANDWICHES," Bulk shouted. "HE'D WIND UP DEAD WHILE FLUTTERSHY LIVED!"

Tears formed anew in Pinkie's eyes. "He... h-he used m-me..."

"As an unwitting accomplice..." Redheart sighed, slowly shaking her head.

"Poor little patsy..." Fleur smirked, snickering to herself.

"But wait, that still doesn't make any sense!" Coloratura butted in. "Did he mean to die so Fluttershy could escape? But he poisoned himself, so she couldn't have killed him!"

Pinkie began to cry again. "He... he wanted me to leave it unbrewed when I brought the tea and stuff to them... h-he wanted her to brew it... s-said she could c-control how s-strong it was..."

"Would that have even counted?" Lightning asked, turning to Monokuma.

"Hmm... teeeeechnically, Fluttershy was the one who made the tea drinkable, and therefore kill-able," the bear mused. "Soooo... yea! I'd allow it."

"I see... he truly loved her, didn't he...?" Coloratura began to tear up.

"Oh, Discord... sacrificing the rest of us so that your special somepony may escape and live on..." Flam shook his head. "I mean, I totally understand, but it was still quite rude of him."

"I... I don't know what to say..." Rarity stared at her podium despondently. "I... thought we were all his friends..."

"Guess Fluttershy meant more to him than we did..." Applejack grumbled, closing her eyes in disgust.

Discord... was that really your plan...? You loved Fluttershy so much you'd sacrifice the rest of your friends for her...?

"Alright, so we've figured out two of the three substances," Lightning spoke up. "What about the third?"

"That's right! Despite Discord's scheming, Fluttershy also died, despite being given the antidote," agreed Flam.

"Hmm..." Redheart put her hoof to her chin, deep in thought. "...Pinkie, you served Discord and Fluttershy the refreshments... when did you serve them, exactly?"

"Um... Discord planned the tea p-party to start at 3:00pm s-sharp," Pinkie replied through her sobs. "W-Why?"

"I see... I think I may have that final substance figured out, now that we've been discussing this," Redheart's face hardened.

"Oh? How so?" Fleur sneered as she glanced at herself in her makeup mirror, thoroughly bored with the trial.

"Simple... it has to do with the time of death," replied Redheart.

The time of death...? No, wait... I think I might know what she's getting at... I just need to think about it...

...What time was the time of death estimated to be? ...That's right, 3:30pm. And what time did Discord's and Fluttershy's tea party start? ...Right, yes, 3:00pm. Now, what did Discord use to poison himself and Fluttershy? ...The slow-acting poison!

...But was that too little time for the poison to take effect...?

"I think what Nurse Redheart is getting at is that a half hour is not enough time for a slow-acting poison to take effect," I spoke.

"Exactly," Redheart nodded in agreement. "But if somepony used, say... a fast-acting poison? A half hour is more than enough time to become lethal."

"Oh? And where would somepony find this... 'fast-acting poison' if all of the poison bottles were emptied?" Fleur leered uncomfortably at Redheart.

"The same way Discord acquired the slow-acting poison, of course," Rarity sighed.

"Correct. In fact... I think there's even evidence to prove that a fast-acting poison just might be the other mystery Substance in the refreshments," Redheart smirked.

There is...? ...Is it...

"Notice how Substances A and B were both present in the tea," she continued. "One of the two Substances is green in color, exactly the same as the contents of the slow-acting poison bottle."

"Ah, I see..." Flam nodded.

"And the other substance within the tea? It is yellow in color, and there isn't very much of it mixed into the tea leaves... presumably because it sticks out like a sore hoof," Redheart pointed out. "Yet within the deviled eggs, only Substance B was found. And what is the primary color of a deviled egg?"

Well, that's easy...

"Yellow, right?" I answered.

"Precisely," nodded Redheart.

"Fucking... really? You're gonna waste our time playing Match the Colors?" Fleur groaned. "Somewhere out there, there is a tree, tirelessy producing oxygen so you can breathe... I think you owe it an apology."

"Please let me finish," Redheart muttered as she pinched the bridge of her muzzle again. "I need to ensure we're all on the same page before I make my point."

"I think I understand what you're saying," said Coloratura. "But what is your point?"

"There wasn't much'a the yellow stuff in the tea," said Applejack.

"And m-maybe they didn't even touch the deviled eggs before they died!" added Pinkie.

"But there was plenty of green slow-acting poison in the tea," said Fleur. "Perhaps there wasn't enough of the yellow bits in the tea to make a difference... it's not like there was any sign of a quick death."

...No... there is!

"I'm sorry, but that's wrong!" I pointed out. "When we first discovered the bodies, Discord was sprawled out across the table, staring at and reaching for Fluttershy, and Fluttershy was clutching her throat in alarm."

"So?" Fleur snorted.

"So... that seems to me like evidence of a quick death. A quick, unplanned death," I emphasized.

"Yes... Discord was expecting her to survive the slow-acting poison!" Flam realized. "So seeing that she was suddenly dying right in front of him was sure to be alarming!"

"But... are we sure it was definitely a fast-acting poison?" asked Coloratura. "There was so much more green stuff than yellow in the tea!"

"That's... not how slow-acting poison works..." Redheart sighed.

"Well, did the tea party actually start at 3:00pm?" asked Applejack. "Maybe Discord or Pinkie started it early!"

"It definitely did!" Pinkie whined. "I made sure I was on time!"

"I can't believe I'm saying this... but I can actually vouch for you on that, spaz," said Fleur. "I overheard you and Discord's little conversation about the time of the tea party... hard not to, though, since you were practically fucking shouting."

"Oh... oh yea!" said Pinkie. "And then later in the day, as I was putting the finishing touches on everything, you popped in for a snack of your own. I remember you... you actually complimented my cooking!"

"Oh, but of course... even ponies like you are useful at some things," Fleur replied smugly.

"I guess so, eheh," Pinkie chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. "You did say my macarons were perfect!"

"True. They were quite divine... I do apologize for simply swiping a few off of your platter, but I couldn't help myself!"

"And... and you were impressed by the choice of tea! ...Although, in hindsight, you could have picked some better words to describe the taste..."

"Ah... true," Fleur frowned.

"Er, what words did she choose?" asked Rarity. Pinkie sighed and took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Well... she said it was... 'to die for'."

...

As soon as the words left Pinkie's mouth, Fleur cringed.

...No...

Applejack sucked in a breath through her teeth. "Ooh... yep, not the best expression teh use, in that case..."

"Yes... had I known two of our... housemates were going to bite it, I would not have said that," Fleur glanced away.

...That's not true... you never have anything nice to say... to anypony...

"DISCORD DIDN'T GRAB FAST-ACTING POISON, THOUGH," said Bulk. "THEN WHO DID?!"

"Well, seeing how the only other pony here who was privy to the tea party's finer details was Pinkie..." Fleur trailed off, staring pointedly at the aforementioned pony. Many of the others followed suit, though with varying levels of suspicion.

"...What?! No! N-No, I didn't do i-it!" Pinkie stammered, tearing up again.

"No... it wasn't Pinkie," I spoke. "In fact..."

I'm afraid... it was you!

"...You seem awfully knowledgeable about the tea party yourself... Fleur de Lis."

Bloody-Pink is Not Your Color - Deadly Life 3

"Wh... Wha...?" Pinkie Pie sniffled, forcing herself to cease crying. She stared with wet, disbelieving eyes at Fleur de Lis.

"Oh? What ever do you mean by that?" Fleur pouted, adopting an innocently timid and concerned facial expression. "Surely you're not accusing moi of the deaths... are you?"

"Well... basically, everythin' you've ever said to anypony here has been either condescendin', an outright insult, or both," Applejack pointed out. "But to go as far as sayin' the tea was 'to die for'? Now that's a lil' too on the nose fer my likin'."

"Ha... ahahaha..." Fleur giggled, seemingly unaffected by the fact that she was now under suspicion. "...Bitch, please. That was simply an expression."

"You also know quite a bit about what Discord did in the Chemistry Lab..." Rarity narrowed her eyes.

"Well, it's not my fault he decided to sneak himself some poison while I was in the other room," Now Fleur began narrowing her eyes as well. "Besides, I never said I saw him leave the room with one of the poison bottles in the first place!"

"And you yourself admitted that you overheard Discord and Pinkie discussing the tea to be used for the party," Nurse Redheart added, her face as passive as ever, although her muzzle was turned slightly upwards. "Perhaps you simply put two and two together and came up with your own plan?"

"Ugh! You insolent, ungrateful scabs of ponymity..." Fleur grumbled in disgust. "Here I am, actually deigning to lend you cads a hoof in this trial, and this is how you repay me?! What proof do you have for this baseless accusation?!"

"Ah... uh..." Applejack stammered.

"She's right, I'm afraid," sighed Flam. "Other than a poor choice of words, I don't believe there is any evidence that Fleur had a hoof in these murders."

"Finally... somepony knows better than to question my knowledge," Fleur huffed. Once again she whipped out her makeup mirror and began checking her reflection. But as she brushed a wayward strand of mane back into place, Redheart's eyes twinkled, then widened slightly.

"That mirror..." she mumbled.

"What? What about a mirror?" asked Coloratura.

"It reminds me... of something I saw while I was in the Chemistry Lab earlier," Redheart breathed. Across the room from her, Fleur's expression suddenly changed for the worse.

"Hm? You saw something? A-And you've been hiding it all this time, huh?" Fleur glared. "Now who appears suspicious, huh?!"

"I thought it unrelated to the case at hoof... until now," Redheart shrugged slightly.

"What did you see?" asked Rarity.

"Yes... it was in the early afternoon. I was in the Chem Lab mixing some more antidotes for the empty poison bottles that I could," Redheart explained. "While I was working... I could've sworn I saw something small and bright catch my eye, but when I looked up, I saw nothing of the sort."

Something small and bright...?

"I assumed it'd just been a trick of the light and continued my work... then a few moments later, Fleur entered the room, complaining of a headache," she continued. "She walked over to the orange shelves, then left about a minute later... by the way, how is your headache doing now, Fleur?"

"Fine, just fine..." Fleur growled, angrily rolling her eyes. "And before you insipid little fops start getting any ideas, I was looking for extra-strength pain meds."

"That so? There's plenty of 'em in the Infirmary, ah get 'em all the time from there after ah've been workin' in the gardens," Applejack countered.

"Wh-" For the briefest moment, a look of shock flashed across Fleur's face. "W-Well, you probably hogged them all, because I couldn't find a single one!"

I think I know why Redheart mentioned seeing something small and bright... what could she have possibly seen while in the Chemistry Lab...?

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"I think I get it... Redheart saw the light reflecting off of Fleur's M A K E U P M I R R O R," I pointed out. Fleur inhaled sharply through her teeth, glanced at her mirror and quickly stowed it away.

"Yes... you may have been checking to see if the room was empty before you walked in," nodded Flam. "Then you went in anyway so you wouldn't seem too suspicious!"

"I did no such thing, you sleazy, greasy charlatan!" Fleur snarled.

"BUT WHY WOULD THE ROOM NEED TO BE EMPTY BEFORE SHE WENT IN?" asked Bulk Biceps.

"Ain't that a good fuckin' question..." Lightning Dust sighed.

"Hmm... Twilight? Remember that object you mentioned?" Redheart suddenly asked. "The one that you found in the Kitchen's dishwasher?"

"That object"...? Oh...

"Right, Flam and I found a beaker in the very back of the dishwasher's top shelf," I answered.

"Take a wild guess where it came from," Redheart smirked, glancing over at Fleur's growing discomfort.

"...Ah! The Chemistry Lab!" Rarity exclaimed. "Didn't you say something about a pair of beakers missing from the cabinets?"

"Yes, I did," I agreed.

"And who the bloody fuck do you think stole a beaker?" Fleur snorted. "What the fuck would I want with a beaker?!"

"I wasn't talking about you, per se..." Redheart drawled. "You did say you did not see Discord leave with a poison bottle, after all."

"You still haven't answered my question, you know-it-all bitch!" Fleur spat. "Nopony likes a know-it-all!"

"Perhaps he noticed you in the Recreation Room as he passed by, but he still had something he needed to do," Redheart sighed. "It's quite plausible that he found an alternative container for the slow-acting poison."

If, according to Fleur, Discord did not leave the Chem Lab with a poison bottle, yet he still acquired a slow-acting poison to use later, what could he have left with...?

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"You're saying that Discord poured the poison into a beaker and took that and the antidote with him!" I reasoned.

"Correct," nodded Redheart. "But that beaker was never found. And considering how carefully he planned out his own murder by Fluttershy's unknowing hoof, Discord most likely destroyed it after he was done. Nopony would question one missing beaker... the bloody things are quite fragile, after all."

"I... I never did see him with a beaker..." Pinkie added.

"So now we're back to blaming the freak of nature?" Fleur growled. "Just what are you trying to prove?"

"There were two beakers missing, not just one," Flam stroked his mustache. "Now, if you saw Discord with the slow-acting poison, but he and Fluttershy were both killed with fast-acting poison instead..."

"If Discord used a beaker to sneak the poison outta the Chem Lab, but an additional one's missin'..." Applejack stared darkly at Fleur, bracing herself against the podium as if she was ready to leap over it.

"And since you had such a thorough knowledge of Discord and Fluttershy's tea party, and of what would be served, 'secret ingredients' and all..." Rarity seethed through her teeth, her face pink with rage.

"Now all of you just shut your stupid fucking traps!" Fleur shrieked.

Yes... I think it's coming together... I just need to think about this a little more...

...In order to not raise anypony's suspicion, what did Discord use to smuggle the slow-acting poison out of the Chem Lab? ...A beaker! ...And if Fleur was the one who smuggled out a fast-acting poison, what did she likely use to not raise anypony's suspicion? ...A beaker! ...And if Fleur used her makeup mirror to check the Chem Lab before going in, what was she likely trying to do? ...Return the beaker!

"I see!" I shouted. "You smuggled fast-acting poison out of the Chem Lab in a beaker, just like Discord. You were trying to put your beaker back without anypony finding out!"

"I... what?! No!" Fleur's face was even whiter than usual.

"But I was in the Chem Lab... you were cautious and checked to see if the room was empty with your makeup mirror," said Redheart. "Then you went in after I noticed that I saw the light reflecting off of it, pretending to look for pain medicine and seeing that I was not going to leave anytime soon."

"So after you left, you hid the beaker in the dishwasher, hoping anypony who found it would just mistake it for a drinking glass!" I added.

"You... it was you..." Pinkie gasped, her hooves trembling as she grabbed her podium in anger. "You... you used me... I've been used twice! I-I wouldn't have minded so much if it were Discord, but you... you killed t-them! YOU KILLED THEM BOTH!"

Everypony was now glaring daggers at Fleur. Her face was shivering with fury - her teeth were grinding against each other, and her eye was twitching.

"You... you FUCKING ASSHOLES!" she screamed. "I WANT OUT OF THIS HELLHOLE, AND BY CELESTIA, YOU'RE NOT GONNA STOP ME!"

"Fleur... we all want out," I sighed. "But you murdered two of our friends! Why would you do such a thing?!"

"Why?! WHY?! Oh, you fucking donkey... I wish I'd just dumped that fast-acting poison in everypony's dinner this evening!"

"Ah-ah-aaah," Monokuma chided. "I haven't had to mention it yet, but I always have a rule that any killer may not kill more than two classmates per trial. Otherwise, what's to stop someone from just murdering the lot of you and having no trial at all? I mean, that's no fun!"

Fleur blinked at Monokuma, then sucked in a deep breath and howled with rage. Suddenly, an aura of light pink surrounded Fleur, transforming her image. Her mane became tipped with crimson red, and her face gained multiple layers of stage makeup. She slammed her front hooves on her podium, threatening to break it, then waved them around wildly as she furiously panicked.

"What the fuck did you just fucking say to me, you little bitch?! I'll have you know I'm the most famous supermodel alive! I can have you cancelled anytime I fuckin' want! I want to speak to the fucking manager of this place! You are pathetic compared to me! You'll never be anything close to me! I'm more fucking beautiful than ALL of you! You're all just a bunch of fucking lowlife peasant dumbshit fuckwads that'll never get anywhere in life!"

Fleur... I had no idea... you were such a monster...

"Besides, there was hardly any yellow shit in the tea! If I was going to kill somepony, don't you think I'd have dumped it all in?!" Fleur snarled. While the others either stared in shock or giggled like children at her profanity-laden tirade, I gasped as I realized one final truth.

This is my proof!

"There was only a little of the fast-acting poison in the tea, true. But there was tons of fast-acting poison in the deviled eggs," I replied.

"Wh-What?!" Fleur choked.

"The deviled eggs are yellow. The fast-acting poison was yellow. And Substance B - the fast-acting poison - was the only poison hidden within them," I continued. "Nopony would question the green slow-acting poison in the tea tin unless they checked the ingredient list, but the yellow poison stood out too much and looked suspicious."

"I SEE... BUT YOU COULD HIDE IT IN THE DEVILED EGG YOLK FILLING WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS!" Bulk gasped.

"...My back was turned to the eggs quite a few times," Pinkie glowered at Fleur. "I... could've sworn I heard mixing noises at one point, but when I looked, Fleur was eating macarons... MY macarons!"

Fleur breathed heavily, her face a combination of pure, unfettered rage and of sheer terror in having been found out. "I... I...!"

"Face it, sweetheart... you're not the smartest pony in the room, like you want to believe," Flam shrugged with a smirk.

"You... you shut the hell up, you disgusting... pig barf... shitlord..." she retorted, but her voice had lost all of it's anger. Her aura disappeared with a final flourish and her mane and face returned to normal. There was nothing left for her to argue; all she could do was stare menacingly at her podium.

"Well, everypony? I think we've come to a conclusion," Flam continued on, grinning and ignoring Fleur's meaningless insult. "How about we go over exactly what transpired... one last time, for good measure?"

Yes... that way, nopony will have any doubts about the truth...

This is how it happened!

"It all began with Discord's plan: to maneuver a murder in which Fluttershy would end up killing him without her knowledge, in order to save her from this place and allow her to escape. He loved her so much that... it was apparently worth sacrificing himself and all of his friends to save his loved one.

"First, he went to the Chemistry/Alchemy Lab on the third floor, and headed over to the blue shelves, full of bottles of poison - except they had all been emptied out by Flam, Coloratura and Lightning Dust, and then glued and enchanted by Flam so that nopony could remove them. But this was no problem for the Ultimate Chaos: one snap of his claws undid the spell, and he left the room with the empty bottle for slow-acting poison, presumably to destroy it... After all, no new poison would reappear until the old bottle was destroyed.

"After destroying the bottle, Discord returned to the Chem Lab and grabbed the newly-filled slow-acting poison bottle. He poured its contents into a beaker so he could take it out of the room without an 'empty' bottle of poison suddenly disappearing from the shelves. He also grabbed the bottle of antidote for the slow-acting poison that Nurse Redheart mixed together.

"Once he had his 'secret ingredients', he decided to speak with Pinkie Pie about arranging a surprise tea party date for Fluttershy. They set it up for 3:00pm inside the Third Floor Classroom. While Pinkie began thinking up a menu for a high tea, Discord set his plan in motion. He poured the slow-acting poison into a loose-leaf tea tin inside the Kitchen, and he poured and mixed the antidote for the poison inside a jar of mayonnaise. Then, the morning of the tea party, he instructed Pinkie to use the Juniper Green Sencha - the very tea he had poisoned. She poured the loose tea into a strainer and set it beside the teapot, while also making floral macarons, deviled eggs and cucumber sandwiches. Unbeknownst to Pinkie, of course, Fluttershy's sandwiches contained the antidote-laced mayonnaise, while Discord's sandwiches did not.

"Finally, with the dishes completed, she brought them to the Third Floor Classroom at 3:00pm sharp, where Discord and Fluttershy were waiting. Discord insisted that Fluttershy - completely unaware of the plan - be the one to steep the tea, saying that she could control its strength. So Fluttershy brewed the tea and they drank; while Discord would eventually succumb to the slow-acting poison, Fluttershy would eat her sandwiches and unknowingly cure herself.

"However... despite all of Discord's careful planning, somepony caught on to his plan and concocted their own to take advantage of it. It started when the killer noticed Discord passing by the door to the Recreation Room multiple times, then they followed him to the Chem Lab and saw him pick up the mysteriously-full slow-acting poison bottle. Then later on, they overheard Discord and Pinkie's conversation about a surprise tea party, and from there drew their own conclusions.

"First, they went to the Chem Lab and took an empty bottle of fast-acting poison, then took it away to destroy it. Then they returned and took the now-filled bottle of poison, poured it into a beaker just as Discord had, and left the empty bottle behind. With a 'secret ingredient' of their own, they then walked into the Kitchen as Pinkie was putting together the refreshments. They tried pouring the fast-acting poison into the loose tea when Pinkie's back was turned, but the poison's color was too conspicuous to go unnoticed, so instead they poured it into the yellow yolk filling of the deviled eggs, mixing it in before Pinkie turned around. After complimenting the macarons and the choice of tea, the killer left and let fate take over.

"While Discord had ensured that Fluttershy would not be harmed by the slow-acting poison, neither of them were prepared for the fast-acting poison... instead of Discord dying and Fluttershy escaping, they died together.

"That should cover everything that happened in this case. And the villain behind it all... is none other than YOU, Fleur de Lis!"

Fleur screamed in rage again, but now that she'd known she had well and truly lost, her scream wilted into sobbing shrieks. Unlike the other times... this time I felt justice shoving away the grief in my heart. True, Discord was willing to commit suicide and condemn the rest of us to death, all so that Fluttershy might survive... I suppose anypony in the throes of true love would find such an act acceptable. But Fleur... somepony who had been nasty to us from day one, had so callously murdered both of them and tried to get the rest of us killed. And for what?! The motive this time was unthinkable!

"You... monster!" Rarity spat. "And to think I wanted you to model my clothing!"

"It... it really was you..." Pinkie shuddered. "...W-Why?"

"Wouldn't you like to fucking know?!" Fleur shouted, her shoulders heaving roughly on her slim frame. "I... fuck! FUUUUUCK!"

"...Monokuma, don't you have something to say, now that we've finished?" Redheart asked, all the warmth in her voice turned into ice as she glared at Fleur.

"It is indeed the moment we've all been waiting for!" Monokuma shouted with glee. "Time to vote! Okay? Okay! If you would, please locate your lever and cast your vote!"

I looked down at my podium; the lever had returned along with the sixteen large buttons. Now six of the faces were grayed out, and we were soon to become nine.

"And when the votes are tallied... who will become the blackened?!" Monokuma continued, grinning wildly. "Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one? What's it gonna be? What's it gonna beeee?!"

Honestly... I was furious. I was furious that Fleur had murdered Discord and Fluttershy. But that still didn't mean I wanted her to die. It still took me a moment to press her button, which dimmed as the others remained alight. The "guilty" beside the lever flashed; I let out a deep sigh as I pulled it down, hearing similar noises all around me.

The monitor behind Monokuma came to life. "Monokuma Vote! Who is found guilty?" appeared, followed by the slot machine. We watched with bated breath as the symbols slowed...

...and landed, three in a row, on Fleur's face. "Guilty!"

I may have felt a sense of justice a minute before... but now I felt dread.

Dread... and despair.

*Class Trial End! All Rise!*

"It's basically a formality at this point, but once again you're totally correct!" said Monokuma. "The blackened this time, the one who took advantage of the would-be sacrificial Draconequus' scheme... was Fleur de Lis!"

"NOOOO! CELESTIA DAMN IT, NO!" Fleur bellowed, grabbing at her mane and pulling it.

"Sure ain't a graceful loser, ain't she...?" Lightning grumbled.

"No... I need to get out! I need to make that bastard pay...!" Fleur continued, alternating rapidly between hysterical crying and vengeful screaming.

...Make that bastard pay...? Who...?

"Eh? What bastard?" asked Coloratura. But her question went ignored by Fleur, gnashing her teeth as she continued to utter every profane word under the sun.

...Some of these words... I don't even know what they mean...!

"Well, while we're on the subject... why don't I tell you?" Monokuma piped up, barely hiding a grin behind his paws. "Those embarrassing memories, those secrets she didn't want anyone to know-"

"Oh, fuck off," Fleur finally broke from her raging reverie, glaring tearfully at the black and white bear. "If anypony's gonna tell these peasan- ...ponies why I wanted to get out, it's gonna be me!"

Monokuma shrugged and sat back down.

"Well?! You guys want to know?! Fine!" she barked. "Take out your fuckin' parchment and quills, since this is the last fucking interview you'll ever get from me!"

"Uh..." Applejack tried to speak, but was quickly spoken over.

"It all began in my fillyhood. My parents were enamored with me, their perfect little angel, and they wanted to show me off. So they began entering me into filly beauty pageants. I was trained relentlessly on how to be a proper lady: how to walk, how to act, how to dress and apply makeup appropriately, how to influence others... I was put on a strict diet, and an even stricter exercise regimen... I was forbidden to associate myself with the commoners, I could only interact with the other fillies in the pageants... if their own often horrid parents would allow it.

"Of course, I won most of my pageants... when I didn't win, my parents would yell and blame me for fucking something up. They'd double my training sessions, they withheld even the barest of food from me... so I always tried my bloody damned hardest to win. It wasn't long before I resorted to... interfering with the other contestants. Hiding their accessories, smearing their makeup with my magic... I remember the first time I called the filly in second place a 'fat fucking pig', and she ran away crying... finally, I felt like I was worth something more than just a cheap, gold-plated chalice.

"But despite everything they put me through... when I did win my pageants, or when I was deemed to have made them proud, my parents would shower me with gifts and attention. All the highest-end makeup and beauty products, the newest brand-name fashions, the exquisite, sparkling jewelry... throughout it all, I loved expanding my wardrobe. I was allowed to have spa treatments, I'd be treated to fancy dinners... only the very best would do for the perfect little angel.

"Then... one day... he showed up. I had nearly grown too old for filly beauty pageants, and so was competing in my final one. I won, of course... But as I walked gracefully over to my parents, he was talking to them. They introduced us, and he quickly went on about how he was a powerful, influential pony, how many connections he had... how he could make me rich and famous beyond my wildest dreams.

"I didn't want it, I was so fucking done with the nastiness of filly pageants... but my parents' saw Bits in their eyes. I was practically sold off to... him."

Quickly, my anger towards Fleur was growing... conflicted. Glancing around me, I saw that Coloratura and Rarity were especially transfixed by the Ultimate Supermodel's story.

"It was fucking hell on Equestria. Being escorted everywhere I went by him... he was always watching me, him or his associates. I could never leave his sight even for a moment, lest I face his punishment in private. He forced me into photo shoot after photo shoot, wearing the stupidest, skimpiest, trashiest excuses for clothing he could possibly find. My diet was restricted to even fucking less than my parents had afforded me, and I was to spend hours exercising every Celestia-damned day. At countless high-end restaurants, I was forbidden to eat anything more than the fucking plainest of salads and water while he dined on the finest of foods... many days, I survived on nothing but a single, tiny fuckin' fruit, copious amounts of alcohol and whatever drugs I could get my hooves on...

"And if I stepped even one hoof slightly out of line... t-the things he'd do to me in private..." Abject fear finally took hold of Fleur's face, and tears began pouring down her cheeks. "H-He'd beat me... burn me with cigarettes... f-force me to do t-things to him... to his a-associates... they... t-they could do wh-whatever they wanted to m-me... if I ever tried to defend m-myself or tell anypony, he... h-he threatened that... t-they'd find m-me dead in a gutter somewhere..."

Coloratura was shaking, and Rarity's face was even whiter than usual. I myself could only imagine the horrors Fleur must have experienced.

"Finally, I made my way into modelling for fashion shows... finally, I began to see a portion of the wealth he had promised me years ago. And you know what? I was fucking rich! I could buy out entire fucking seasons of clothing from the top designers. I could set hoof into any department store and be swarmed by makeup artists begging me to let them use me as their canvas. I could afford the fanciest spa treatments, the finest, flashiest jewelry and accessories, plastic surgery, beauty preservation spells! ...But he was always there behind me... always reminding me that one slight misstep, and he'd take it all away. I'd be beaten and abused and left to die in that gutter, nothing again... less than nothing."

Fleur sobbed for a minute or two, getting the fear out of her system. She was normally so aggressive, so angry... she hid that life from everypony for so long, and suffered greatly for it. That was her secret. A weakness like that lived in a heart like hers, and it turned her cold-blooded... into a monster herself.

"Who... who is this pony?!" Rarity demanded. "Such repulsive, unacceptable behavior... oh, I do hope I've never worked with him. I swear to you that if I have, I shall never collaborate with him again!"

"Oh, you have... you know him well," Fleur smirked darkly at Rarity. "Who was I always accompanied by, in the outside world?" It only took a few seconds for Rarity to gasp in horror.

"No... Fancy Pants?!"

Fleur nodded solemnly.

"But he's such-"

"A gentlepony? A kind, thoughtful, philanthropic, chivalrous stallion?" Fleur laughed bitterly. "No... he's a monster that belongs in the deepest, darkest depths of Tartarus. And had it not been for you fucking lowlifes, I would have been able to free myself from that demon!"

"I see..." Redheart sighed in resignation. "So the motive was appealing to one of us after all..."

"And I thought Svengallop was a terrible pony..." Coloratura gulped.

"TREATING A LADY LIKE THAT IS JUST... NOT COOL!" Bulk shouted.

"Yes... but besides removing that miserable monster from my life, I could've been my own manager, and ALL of that wealth would have been mine! His associates? Mine! And I'd be richer than them all! Rich enough to make them fuckin' pay for what they did to me, too! After all... the laws don't apply to the rich and famous!"

And just like that, most of our sympathies for Fleur evaporated like tears in a desert.

"...Really...?!" Flam stuttered after many beats of silence. But before anypony could join in, we were interrupted by a loud peal of raucous laughter from Monokuma.

"Look at her! You see? You're all just like her!" he grinned. "For a secret from the past, for a memory... for that, she killed two living beings in cold blood!"

"...Why?" Pinkie breathed, in a tone somewhere between anger and despair. "Why Discord and Fluttershy? Was it just too easy to get away with? Why couldn't you kill somepony else...?"

"OUCH, PINKIE... JUST... OUCH," Bulk commented.

"Oh, sure, the opportunity presented itself," Fleur shrugged. "But I hated them, too, so it was really a rather cathartic bonus."

"What?! Why?!" Rarity shrieked.

"Don't you remember when you made Fluttershy model your clothing a few years ago? She became even more popular than me!" Fleur glared. "And do you know the utter fucking hell I went through during that thankfully brief period of time?! I was getting used like a hunk of Freiberger cheese every night!"

...What a... vivid euphemism...

"That bitch... thought she was more beautiful than me, did she?! Well I'm glad she had so many mental problems and left when she did! My life had never been so close to that damned gutter before..." she shivered, despite reassuming a haughty expression. "And Discord? Honestly... fuckin' freak, I can't believe you idiots were friends with him! He literally tried to destroy reality and Equestria with it! Such a... disgusting creature-"

"NOW THAT'S ENOUGH," Applejack slammed her hooves on her podium. "Everypony's capable of changin', even a Draconequus Chaos god like Discord! Ah'm terribly sorry 'bout how life 'n everypony in it treated you, but it's still no excuse for bein' such a Celestia-damned twat!"

"Bite me and shut the fuck up, Apple-hick," Fleur spat.

"Ladies, please...!" Monokuma leered, gesturing towards Fleur. "She couldn't cut free of her regrets from the outside world. She doesn't know what change is. Do you see 'change' in there? Cuz I sure don't!"

"You..." Pinkie moaned quietly, head in her hooves, her pin-straight mane obscuring her eyes staring a thousand miles away. "They're dead... you killed them... they're dead now... you killed them..."

Such pointless deaths... A pony so filled with abuse, subjugation, hatred, prejudice, and rage, until it transformed her into a sadistic monster... and none of us had any clue. Because of her actions, two more of my best friends were now dead... they were never coming back.

It was all so pointless. The emotions storming in my heart were making me nauseous - grief, sorrow, pity, anger, fear - churning together into a foamy mess until... I felt only despair in its wake.

"...Why... why did you HAVE TO KILL THEM?!" Pinkie screamed.

"I already told you! She couldn't cut free of her regrets from the outside world!" Monokuma sat up. "...Is what I want to say, but unfortunately, I can't do that right now! Because the time for punishing is fast approaching!"

"Good," Lightning muttered, turning away in disgust. "For once, one of us here actually deserves it."

"Wait, but... does she really deserve to die?!" Coloratura paled. "This is really more in the realms of 'pleading insanity' or something... isn't it?"

"'The blackened that disturbs the peace will be punished'... That's what I promised you, right?" Monokuma tilted his head.

"Regardless of whether you still believe Fleur can change her ways or not... it doesn't matter anymore, now," Redheart stared stoically at the floor, her forelegs crossed.

"Now then, I've prepared a very special punishment for Fleur de Lis, the Ultimate Supermodel!" the bear announced gleefully.

"Uh... wait a minute, I-" Fleur tried to stall, fear creeping over her face as she realized her death was near.

"Let's give it everything we've got!"

"...Oh, fuck, whatever... I don't even care anymore." She sighed and closed her eyes, despondently resigned to her fate.

"It's... PUNISHMENT TIIIIME!"

"Fleur de Lis has been found guilty. Time for the punishment!" Fleur barely reacted as the chain and shackle flew out from behind her, clapping around her throat and dragging her away. The monitor briefly went black as we turned our attention towards it, startling slightly as it turned back on.

Fleur stood on a brightly-lit stage, before a massive crowd of Monokumas with both photographic and video cameras. Lights flashed everywhere, making her cringe and squint. The shackle was still around her throat, but the chain had been replaced with a rope of some sort, which coiled behind her before revealing that it was attached dead-center to what looked like a ten-foot tall, solid steel wall covered in sharp spikes, divided neatly down the center. As Fleur's eyes adjusted to the lights, she gasped slightly as she noticed another stage maybe 500 feet away - on this stage was a simple, wooden table with a golden key resting in the middle, with a giant sign reading "FREEDOM" pointing towards it. The two stages were connected by a single, perfectly-straight catwalk, but it was incredibly narrow, not even a hoof's width across. Fleur glanced down at the shackle around her neck, finding a keyhole near the top that would release the shackle and save her life.

*Ultimate Supermodel Fleur de Lis' Execution: Executed*

*Killer Catwalk*

At first, Fleur snorted with a smirk. She closed her eyes as she tried to activate her magic, only to suddenly scream in pain. She looked up at her horn and shrank back as she realized it had been fitted with an anti-magic ring. But then she stared at the catwalk with steely determination, and putting one hoof perfectly in front of the other, began to walk across it.

The Monokumas booed and jeered as Fleur passed above them. While many of them kept illuminating the darkness with their blinding camera flashes, others produced tomatoes, eggs and other produce from nowhere in particular and began throwing them at Fleur as hard as they could. Fleur flinched and growled as the rotten fruits and vegetables struck her body, painting her fur and mane with stinky slime, but she kept her focus and continued on. In addition to this, the rope behind her uncoiled as she walked until it grew taut... and then stretched, revealing that it was actually a bungee cord. The tension steadily grew, forcing Fleur to work harder as she walked, straining with every step as she focused on not losing her footing. She seemed to put the thought of death being her failure out of her mind, and kept her eyes on the key growing tantalizingly closer.

The tension in the bungee cord grew even stronger. Some of the Monokumas now resorted to pulling out various kitchen knives, milk bottles of varying fullness and even small kitchen appliances - and throwing them at Fleur along with the rotten food. She winced as a knife or two grazed her legs, cursed as a whisk landed and got tangled in her mane, and wiped her face as half of a juiced grapefruit smacked her right in the eyes, but she kept on walking. But it was slow going... soon she was struggling, fighting with every fiber of her being to put one hoof in front of the other due to the tautness of the cord.

Finally... the goal was near. Only a few more steps until Fleur reached the key and could free herself. Body dripping with sweat and rotten vegetation, her eyes teared as she stretched out a foreleg and inched towards the key...

...But just before she could grab it, a Monokuma landed a glancing hit with a full milk bottle on one of her hind hooves. It jerked just enough that Fleur lost her footing, and the bungee cord sent her screaming backwards. Tears flew from her eyes as she sailed into the spiked wall all those hundreds of feet behind her; just before the back of her skull made contact with one of the spikes, the two halves of the wall suddenly slammed together like a giant bear trap. Blood began pouring out from the bottom halves of the walls only moments later, and the Monokumas greedily snapped their pictures to their hearts' content.

The deafening thud of the walls echoed in the darkness, pulsed in my bones, reverberated in my ears. I swallowed hard as I felt my stomach threatening to bubble up and out of my throat. As horrible as she had been to everypony, and even though she had murdered two of my best friends... I couldn't help but feel sorry for Fleur.

A tortured soul... died a torturous death.

"Laugh at death, and your soul will forever be at peace," Monokuma smiled, reappearing behind us - stunned into silence by what we had witnessed.

"I... I can't laugh at that..." Coloratura shivered, covering her mouth with both hooves as she gagged.

"Must you really create such an elaborate execution each time?" Flam stared at the floor, taking deep breaths.

"Puhuhu... do you like them?" asked Monokuma. "But you know, this punishment, this despair... it's not just for you. All this punishment, all this despair is my gift to ponykind itself!"

What... not just for us...? A gift to ponykind...? What does he mean by that...?

"I... wouldn't go that far..." Rarity gulped.

"That has to be an exaggeration... mere hyperbole..." Redheart pursed her lips.

"I am not exaggerating!" Monokuma replied. "These punishments are meant to transform all hope and harmony into despair!"

"Uh... whut do you mean by that...?" Applejack winced.

"Mean? Meeeeean?" Monokuma tilted his head, answering in a mocking tone. "Mean mean mean mean mean mean- oop, I almost forgot!" Suddenly, he reached behind his throne and held up what appeared to be an impossible object: an empty beaker with an empty bottle marked "antidote" inside it, with a scroll that somehow passed through both glass objects without being cut into pieces, almost like it was carefully glued into place that way. Yet something told me that no glue was necessary for this object to be held together.

"What is that?" asked Flam.

"Isn't it obvious?" Monokuma giggled. "A suicide note. Discord's suicide note."

"Discord... his suicide note?!" Applejack repeated in shock.

"Yep! He addressed it to be read to whoever was left living after the trial! ...But, you know... haven't you ever been curious about the whole 'suicide note' thing? Who came up with the idea of leaving a note when you kill yourself in the first place? And isn't it just so unfortunate? Killing yourself is just so final, ya know?" Monokuma turned away from us, acting glum. "You can never hear the rest of their story. The truth is lost in darkness... gives me the willies!"

"Quit stalling and hoof it over, would ya?!" Lightning shouted. "We all know you don't give two shits about how we die."

"Okay, okay, geez... talk about a buzzkill! Alright, here ya go," Monokuma turned back around, tossing the object into the air. Quickly my magic shot out and wrapped around the precious projectile, preventing it from shattering on the floor.

"What does it say? What does it say?!" Pinkie yelled frantically as I disassembled the impossible object in my magic. I cleared my throat and began to slowly read out loud.

"Dear friends... hopefully, Fluttershy...

"There is something I must tell you... I hate to do it like this, but you need to know.

"By now you've probably figured out that a slow-acting poison was hidden inside the Juniper Green tea, and that an antidote to the poison was hidden within the mayo of the cucumber sandwiches. You've also probably figured out that Fluttershy likes mayo in her sandwiches, and that despite drinking the tea as well, she is still alive. You're thinking that since she brewed the tea and served it to me... that makes her my murderer. This... is not entirely the truth.

"It was I who poisoned the tea... and it was I who added an antidote to the mayo. We didn't have to drink the tea... I even made sure I cracked a little joke about how the tea could potentially be poisoned, thereby transferring the blame to Fluttershy. But, if you're reading this... then I'm dead, and my love is hopefully free from that cursed castle.

"Hmm... me, dead. How chaotic! And how terrifying... I may have been born in entropy, but entropy is not the same as sheer nothingness. I wonder if I'll have my powers back once I'm dead... maybe I'll be able to liven up the place!

"But... watching everypony fight with such despair, trying so desperately to stay alive, and with no help or signs of escape in sight... I just wanted her to be safe. Everypony knows Fluttershy is the Element of Kindness; she doesn't have a violent bone in her body. She would never be able to kill somepony and escape on her own... so I did it for her.

"Fluttershy, if you're reading this, I'm so terribly sorry for putting you through this. I truly hope that one day, you'll be able to understand why I did what I did. And if everypony else is reading this... well, the same goes for you, too. I also understand that you all hate me for this... all of this is because of my one weakness. If this can save Fluttershy... if I can save you, my love... then sacrificing my own life could have no greater meaning. Though I deeply regret that you'll be alone in the world when you are free...

"Whatever you think of me... Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight... please know that you are all my most treasured friends, and that I am deeply, truly sorry for what I had to do. I've never had ponies like you in my life...

"Forgive me... Discord..."

Oh, Discord...

Tears blurred my vision. My magic grip on the scroll faltered, and it floated softly to the ground. I heard Pinkie begin to cry again, followed shortly by Rarity and Applejack. Redheart sighed quietly and closed her eyes, while Flam levitated his hat to his chest and bowed his head. Coloratura, Lightning and Bulk shifted around uncomfortably, doing none of these things themselves, but they remained respectfully silent.

"Well... this is awkward," Monokuma chuckled. "...I'll just leave you guys to it. Door's over there, ya know."

We hardly even noticed when he left us. The day's events ran through our thoughts until they had flooded and battered and scarred our minds. We were forced to realize, once again, that our values were so terrifyingly different from one another. As much as we pledged that no further murders would happen... they kept on happening.

Another murder... two murders, actually... and another execution... everypony's lives are taken so lightly here... am I going mad...? Is this what it feels like to go insane...?

Fleur murdered two of my best friends, so I can't really pity her... but maybe, maybe if I'd tried a little harder to talk to her... maybe if I'd tried to be friends with her... maybe this could have been avoided. But then Monokuma surely would have released another motive to stir the pot once more. And he would never stop until another death had occurred.

Despair was his goal. The destruction of our friendships, our hope, our harmony... that was his goal.

"T-This can't happen anymore. Not a-again," Applejack weakly asserted. It was a while before anypony responded.

"...Y-YEA. N-NOT AGAIN." Bulk's voice trembled as he spoke. Everypony else offered their quiet, half-hearted agreements in addition.

"Let's get out of this place," Redheart mumbled as she walked slowly towards the elevator doors. Everypony followed suit, not speaking another word.

Author's Note

Welp, time to plan the next murder! Still don't really have the "how" worked out...

But I do have Chapter 5 ready to go... hoo, is THAT one gonna be a ride!

The Triangle Waltz: Hope, Harmony, Despair - Daily Life 1

"...Twilight..."

"...-ear me...?"

Again I dreamed of a dark, empty place. This time, however, somepony was definitely trying to talk to me.

Hello...? Who's there...?

I shouted, reaching out with my hoof. But I saw nor felt nothing.

"...Twilight..."

The voice was unlike anypony's I had ever heard before. It seemed to be both male and female, high-pitched and deep and rumbling. Hearing it sparked a sublime tranquility in my heart, but also the deepest pits of devilish despair.

Where are you...?! I can't find you...!

"...out..."

"...trapped..."

"...need to..."

"...help..."

Help...? Help with what...?! Where are you...?!

But after those words, I heard the voice no more.

*ding dong, bing bong*

"Goooood morning, everyone! It is now 7am and Nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!"

My pillow was still damp from the night before.

I willed myself to sit up in bed, but couldn't do much more than stare at my hooves.

Discord... Fluttershy... two more of my best friends had died, had been brutally murdered. Along with Rainbow Dash, and the Princesses... Sure, Trixie and Fleur had died and been murdered, too, but it really felt like I was being targeted somehow, even though nopony had tried to kill me... yet.

Why... why do my friends keep dying...? Why them...?!

A fresh pang of grief kicked me in the throat, and I cried in response. My voice was raspy from all the crying I had done the night before, before unconscious sleep finally soothed me. Before that dream... what even were these dreams I kept having? Was it the ghosts of my friends trying to tell me to cheer up and save everypony else? Or maybe they were trapped somewhere, and I was the only one who could save them? ...Goddess, they weren't all trapped in Tartarus, were they...?! No... no, they were all good ponies...

I just couldn't understand why. Why were we here? Why did we have to kill each other to leave? Why did Monokuma even have to exist? Where were we? How could this happen?! Why us?! Why... me?

I reached over to a box of tissues lying on my bed and stifled my cries long enough to blow my nose.

Ugh... at least I can breathe now... hmm, I'm hungry, I should- ...wait, what was I doing...?

I froze, and my mind began racing. Discord and Fluttershy died yesterday... right?

Just like that, I had nearly forgotten what I was crying about. My grief had all but disappeared... why? Why was this happening, too?! Was Monokuma really so heartless as to deprive us of our ability to grieve?!

...Us... The others...

Dragging myself out of bed, I quickly dried my face and nose and practically ran out of my room. I had to know if the others had experienced the disappearance of our emotions as well.

I slowed down as I approached the Cafeteria. Nurse Redheart was already there, stoically sipping her coffee. Her eyes were trained on Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity, as if pondering the most appropriate thing to say to them.

Sitting at their own table, my three remaining best friends looked like they hadn't gotten any sleep at all. Applejack had her face nestled in her forelegs, her eyes red and puffy. Pinkie's mane was still pin-straight as she stared despondently into her bowl of multicolored cereal and milk. Rarity hadn't even bothered putting makeup on, a rare but disturbing sight when it happened; the snow-white fur on her face did little to hide the redness beneath.

I gathered together a meal for myself and sat down with them. Their mouths offered slight grins as they noticed me.

"Hey... how are you girls doing...?" I asked quietly.

"Terrible, thanks fer askin'," Applejack chuckled hollowly.

"I just don't understand," Rarity slowly shook her head. "It's bad enough our friends are dead... but why must Monokuma interfere with our ability to remember them?"

"...They're dead..." Pinkie sighed quietly.

"I don't know... and I really don't like it," I admitted.

"It just goes to show how callous a creature he is," Redheart shrugged, sipping her coffee. "Creatures with that kind of power love to lord it over their prisoners."

"...They're dead..." Pinkie sighed again, still as a statue. At this point the others began to arrive, grabbing their breakfasts and sitting down nearby.

"So, uh... anypony else feel kinda okay about three more of us dying yesterday right now?" Lightning Dust coughed uncomfortably.

"I DO, AND IT AIN'T RIGHT," Bulk Biceps shivered. "I WENT TO BED FEELING WORSE THAN I EVER HAVE, BUT WHEN I WOKE UP IT WAS LIKE IT HAPPENED FOREVER AGO."

"Good, I'm glad it's not just me," Coloratura sighed.

"...They're dead..." Pinkie droned on to herself.

"What're we gonna do 'bout it? What can we do 'bout it?" asked Applejack.

"Not much, I would say..." said Flam. "All we can do is try our damned hardest to survive. We cannot afford to let that dreadful ursine's motives get to us!"

"Yea... no more killing!" affirmed Coloratura. "...For real, this time! ...I hope."

"Just the fact that so many of us are dead, now..." Redheart shook her head. "...Terrible."

A flash of realization sparked in Flam's eyes. "...Ah! This, of course, means the 4th floor of the school should be available to us now."

"Oh, right..." Applejack chewed her bottom lip. "More deaths 'n all..."

"Well... guess it'll give us something to do instead of just mope around," Lightning shrugged.

"Let's go after breakfast, then!" said Coloratura, to everypony's agreement... well, almost everypony.

"...They're dead..." Pinkie uttered again.

"Yes, darling... come now, eat your cereal before it gets too soggy," Rarity sighed, rubbing Pinkie's back and pushing the cereal closer in an attempt to get her to eat something.

"Ah know it's hard, Pinkie... we're all feelin' it, too," nodded Applejack. "But we just gotta keep our chins up and work together!" I smiled and nodded in agreement, but I could hear the regretful emptiness hidden in Applejack's words.

And I can search for yet another secret tunnel entrance... with runes that would let us free from this miserable place... but it's probably not even there, I'm sure...

We began our exploration as soon as we'd finished our breakfast. We had to find out what had opened up, what was now available to us.

"HEY, PRINCESS TWILIGHT?" Bulk waved as I approached the right-side staircase to the 4th Floor.

"Oh, hi Bulk... just Twilight is fine," I smiled as I rubbed my ears.

"GOTCHA. YOU WANNA LOOK AROUND WITH ME? EVERYPONY ELSE ALREADY WENT UP."

"I... don't see why not," I replied, my horn flashing momentarily as I cast a minor noise-cancelling spell on my ears.

"COOL. LET'S GO!" Bulk urged me on as he happily trotted up the stairs. His voice, while still loud, was dampened to an almost-acceptable inside volume by my spell.

Ah... much better.

...However, as I made my way up the final staircase steps, I heard Bulk screaming even louder than before. Instantly worried, I leapt up the last few steps and raced through the hallway to the first door on the left.

"EEEYEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Bulk?! What's wrong-"

Skidding to a stop in the doorway, I immediately realized why he'd screamed. Before me was a very large Weight Room, easily taking up a whole fourth of the 4th floor. To my right was a rack full of dumbbells, then the right wall behind the rack was covered in floor-to-ceiling length mirrors. Exercise mats were laid out in front of the mirrors all the way to the far wall, which was made up of entirely of windows. Treadmills, stairsteppers and stationary cycles lined the far wall, all the way to the left wall. This wall was solid with no windows and was lined with benches to rest on, up until a space to my immediate left about six feet by eight. This area had tile flooring rather than carpet, and it held a washing machine, drying machine, a folding ironing board, some shelves stacked with towels and a hamper. The rest of the room was filled with weight machines of all different kinds - for exercising your legs, torso, wings, core muscles, neck, whatever a pony could possibly flex.

"TWILIGHT, DO YOU SEE THIS?! THIS IS AWESOME!" Bulk shouted with glee. Exploration all but forgotten in his mind, Bulk raced over to a bench press, loaded it with as many weighted plates as the bar would allow, laid down and began to lift feverishly. "YEAAAAAH! I HAVEN'T HAD A PROPER WORKOUT IN AGES!"

"Oh... yea, that's great, Bulk!" I recoiled. Sure, I was happy for him - he'd found what was probably the best room in the school for himself and was thrilled with all of the weight training equipment, but he showed absolutely no signs of stopping anytime soon. This was only the first room on the floor...

"I'M- URGH! ...GONNA JUST HAVE- UUUGH! ...A QUICK WORKOUT. YOU- AGH! ...GO ON AHEAD. RAAAGH!"

"Uh... okay."

I shrugged and left the room, intent on continuing my search. Now that I wasn't in a hurry thanks to Bulk, I spared a moment to look around. The staircase leading to the 5th Floor behind me was blocked by the familiar barrier. The walls on this floor were a bright gold color, with dark wooden siding coming up to about my height, and the doors were painted Kelly green. The floors, however, were made up of bronze scaffolding surrounding squares of steel mesh. Faintly-glowing blue light pulsed through the mesh - not enough to cast a glow on anything, but still enough to be noticeable.

Maybe this time, I'll find something... please, let me find something...

In the middle of the hallway were three doors: two on the left that were restrooms, and one on the right. I peeked inside the mare's restroom, not really expecting to find anything... but was surprised to see the interior. Most of the restrooms inside the school had at least four stalls and matching sinks and blow dryers... but this one only had two of each.

This seems... small...

I began thinking of reasons why this restroom would be smaller than the rest... maybe the water heater for the school was behind the far wall? All of the toilets and sinks had pipes sticking out of the tops and running along the walls until disappearing inside. Although such utilities were usually on the first floor or in a basement... I walked over and knocked on the wall, finding it as solid as any other. As far as I could tell, nothing strange was behind it.

...Well... maybe it is just a water heater or something...

To be sure, I went back into the hallway and peeked through the stallion's restroom door: other than the addition of urinals, the room seemed exactly the same. Satisfied, I shut the door and turned my attention to the double doors behind me. As far as I could tell, this was the only room on this side of the floor. And if my secret tunnel and runes remained, they would be inside this room.

Is this all one room...? I wonder what's inside...

There was a sign above the doors that read that access to this room was forbidden after 10pm, and would not be open again until 7am. Filing that away for later, I tentatively opened the doors, gasping as I laid eyes upon the interior.

It was a room unlike any I had ever seen. The walls were completely lined with computers, monitors and panels covered with flashing lights, buttons and levers. The room itself was quite dim and dark, illuminated only by seven huge, floating, glowing hunks of crystal, one of each color of the rainbow. The crystals were arranged in a neat row in the center of the room. Rarity and Redheart were examining the stones as well, the former's eyes absolutely glittering.

As I gazed at the crystals, however... an odd sensation tingled my brain. Something about this sight felt... almost familiar. Looking at the various buttons and levers on the panels, I almost felt like I knew what they were for, yet they were totally foreign and new to me. I was positive I had never seen anything like this room before...

...Is this déjà vu...? I feel like I've seen these before, but... where...?

"Oh, my! Such divine beauties!" Rarity exclaimed. "Why in Equestria are these crystals here, of all places?"

"They look like power crystals," Redheart remarked, "...but I've never seen such large ones before."

"Power crystals?" I asked, thinking. "...Maybe this is the source of Monokuma's power!"

"That, or perhaps they power the school," replied Redheart. "If they were the source of Monokuma's power, I doubt he'd let us wander in here, regardless of the time of day."

But before we could discuss the crystals any further...

*boing!*

"Oh, what's this? You think you've discovered my secret?!" Monokuma appeared from behind one of the crystals somehow. "Nyohoho! You think these are the source of my power? Hmm? Do ya?!"

"Well... are they?" Rarity asked after a pause.

"Hey, if there were such a thing as the Nobel Truth Prize, I'd take first, second, AND fourth place! ...Actually, that's probably not true!" the bear giggled.

"Are they or not?" Redheart spoke sternly, raising her voice slightly.

"Oh, you guys... you're so eager to split things in half, aren't you? But it's no use. It's just no use... If you try to split something that can't be split, you'll end up feeling like you're the one being split!"

I groaned inwardly, slapping my forehead with my hoof and dragging it down my face. "...Would you answer the question, please?" But Monokuma simply laughed and disappeared into the shadows.

"Hmm... yet another little riddle of his, I see," Redheart sighed.

"Well, I suppose you're right," Rarity conceded. "If this was indeed the source of Monokuma's power, I'm sure he would have done something dreadful to us just now."

"Still, however... there's something weird about this room," I mumbled. "...I feel like I've been here before."

"Oh?" Redheart turned to me.

"But... this is the first time I've come in here. This is the first time any of us have been in here... right?" Rarity hummed with concern, while Redheart studied me intensely with her eyes.

"...I suspect this room may be important, then... one way or another," Redheart blinked. "We'll just have to figure out why."

I examined the room for a while longer, scanning the crystals with my magic in the hopes of gleaning some information from them, poking and prodding some of the buttons and levers in the hopes that I'd stumble upon something, but absolutely nothing happened. The crystals simply floated like immutable monoliths. Where my tunnel and runes would have been was covered by a huge panel, and try as I might, there was no way to dislodge it with my magic or otherwise. With a heavy sigh, I left and continued down the hallway.

There were only two doors left on the left. The first one opened into a Physics Laboratory, full of strange machines and devices lining the counters along the walls. There were black desks and chairs in the center of the room much like the Biology Lab and the Chemistry/Alchemy Lab downstairs, and the back corners of the room were lined with tall, heavy bookcases. I glanced around, mildly interested - I wasn't exactly a slouch when it came to physics, but I had always enjoyed Alchemy and Chemistry so much more. After looking around I left and opened the final door on the 4th Floor; it led to yet another ordinary classroom.

As I prepared to return to the cafeteria to discuss our findings, I couldn't help but wonder about that Crystal Room... it was the first time I had ever seen it, so why did I feel like I'd seen it before?

We ended up waiting quite a while for everypony to return to the cafeteria, as Bulk had thoroughly enjoyed the use of every single weight machine in the Weight Room before arriving. We had even just finished making our supper as he strode in, still a bit damp with sweat.

"WHOO! YEAAAAAH! I FEEL GREAT!" he cheered.

"Shit, we've been waiting forever for you!" Lightning yelled. "Hurry up and sit the fuck down!"

We talked about what we had seen over our meal. Of course, the favored topic of everypony was the Crystal Room. We each had our theories as to what the crystals powered, and the others found it as strange as I had when I told them about my feelings of déjà vu in that room.

"That room has to be a clue!" Applejack stomped her hoof. "Especially if you kinda remember it for some reason, Twi!"

"I know, but... I've never seen that room or those machines or crystals before, I'm sure of it!" I argued.

"Hey, maybe we can use the power crystals to escape!" suggested Lightning. "Can't one of you three with horns siphon the power and blow a fuckin' hole in this place?!"

"Theoretically, those should provide more than enough raw magical power..." Flam sighed, tapping his horn. "But I tried exactly that earlier... they won't respond to my magic."

"Nor my own... I tried just moving them around, but they stayed right where they were," added Rarity.

"They didn't respond to me, either," I added as well.

"Damn..." Lightning grumbled. Everypony was silent for a few moments, disappointed.

"...Well, at least we have access to a washer and dryer now," Flam spoke up. "I can finally wash my vests! They were starting to get a bit on the funky side."

"That's one positive, I guess," shrugged Coloratura.

"AND WE HAVEN'T SEEN MONOKUMA AT ALL TODAY," Bulk smiled. "MAYBE HE FINALLY GOT BORED WITH MESSING WITH US ALL THE TIME."

"Shh! You're gonna jinx it!" Lightning hissed, jabbing Bulk in the ribs with an elbow. But sure enough...

*boing!*

"...What was that?" Monokuma dropped down from the ceiling and onto a table, his face a faint shade of red as he leered at us. While most of us were somewhat used to his sudden appearances at this point and only slightly jumped, Pinkie - who had been entirely silent this entire time - let out a tiny shriek of terror.

"Fuck," Lightning grumbled.

"No, please. Continue," he continued, holding up one paw and extending his claws. But he quickly retracted them and began breathing uncomfortably heavily. "...Did you say I've got the nicest butt on the block? The curviest hips in town? Is that what you said?!"

"...NO?" Bulk answered, confused.

"I think I'd rather lavish those awards on our dear Miss Applejack instead..." Flam muttered under his breath, although still loud enough that Applejack and Coloratura both shot him a dirty look.

"Then what did you say? Cuz I know you weren't talking about me becoming bored with my dear, sweet remaining students..." Monokuma smirked, extending his paw's claws again. "You seriously don't wanna piss me off. You have any idea how much bacteria lives on a single bear claw?"

"I think I have a pretty good idea," Redheart deadpanned.

"Aaaaanyways, I think it's time for another motive, yea?" Monokuma rapidly sheathed his claws and adopted a gleeful grin once again. It was truly frightening how he could switch to such emotional extremes so quickly.

"Please, no..." Lightning growled, eyeing the bear warily.

"Oh, yes! It's quite a simple motive, really, but it's truly a gem! Now then, I shall present it!" Monokuma paused for a moment to clear his throat. "If any of you lot manage to graduate, then the next student to do so can spread the joys of graduation to one other student!"

I opened my mouth to protest almost automatically, but closed it as I realized what he had said. If one of us managed to kill another...

"So... you're saying if one of us murders another and gets away with it, they can choose somepony to take with them to the outside world?" Redheart tilted her head, analyzing the bear with her stern eyes.

"Precisely! Now then, I'll just let you guys get to killin'! Buh-byeee!" Monokuma grinned before abruptly scuttling away, leaving us all to our thoughts.

"That's... almost a nice motive, ah guess...?" Applejack scratched her head.

"But only saving one of us won't do at all," said Rarity.

"Not to mention that means one of us gets killed first," Flam huffed. "Regardless, a motive is a motive."

"Well, we're not gonna kill anypony... right?" asked Coloratura. "We're past that now, right? We gotta work together! Now that we've found that Crystal Room, maybe we're one step closer to getting out!"

"I would hope so," sighed Redheart, before turning her gaze towards me. "Twilight... please try your best to think about that room. Whether you figure out how the whole thing works, or how to work the controls..."

"Yea... you were always the smartest cookie of us all," Applejack smiled kindly. "If anypony here can figure that thing out, it's gotta be you!"

Eesh... no pressure or anything, girls...

"I'll try my best," I gulped. "But just because I had déjà vu about that room... that doesn't actually mean I'll figure anything out."

I spent the remainder of the evening with Applejack and Rarity, trying our hardest to cheer up Pinkie. Remembering Nurse Redheart's grief counseling session, we talked and reminisced about our friends, laughing at good memories and crying alongside her. It thankfully seemed to have an effect: as Nighttime drew near, Pinkie had actually managed to crack a small smile.

But as I retired to my room for the night, I couldn't help but think about today's discoveries. As I stood underneath the shower's warm deluge, I ruminated over our missing grief and that Crystal Room.

Was our missing grief merely because our minds were overloaded with shock? ...No, shock wore off after a short time, and I still felt disturbingly fine when it came to thinking about the earlier deaths. Did those power crystals have something to do with it? Were they holding our emotions within? Or were they simply the power source for the school, or for Monokuma himself? And none of these things provided a potential answer for the dreams I'd been having... maybe I should ask Redheart for her advice, although I'm not sure how much a nurse would know about dream interpretation.

If only Zecora were here... she'd know what my dreams meant in an instant...

These thoughts haunted me as I left the shower and dried myself. I shook my head in an effort to clear my mind before getting into bed, but I fell into a restless slumber all the same.

Author's Note

4th murder figured out! Muahahaha...

The Triangle Waltz: Hope, Harmony, Despair - Daily Life 2

I woke up a good half hour before Nighttime's end this morning, and spent it lying awake, pondering the meaning of the Power Crystal Room. Though it felt so familiar, no matter how hard I thought about it, I just couldn't bring the answers to the tip of my tongue. If I tried to imagine working the computer panels on the walls, they would melt and swirl away into uselessness; if I tried to think about the crystals themselves, my mind would go blank in the attempt. Before long, Monokuma's morning announcement played and the sun rose in an instant. Giving up for now, I got out of bed with a groan and headed for the cafeteria.

As I entered, my best friends seemed to be in slightly better shape than yesterday... slightly. Rarity had her usual makeup back on, the whites of her eyes the only clue that she had been recently crying. Pinkie Pie's mane was trying to curl itself back up, but so far had only managed the ends. But Applejack, however... she continued to stare morosely into her coffee cup. Her eyes and cheeks were bright, stinging red, and she seemed a little gaunt, like she hadn't eaten recently.

I frowned as I gathered together a meal for myself and sat down with them. While Rarity, Pinkie and I talked, I kept a careful eye on Applejack. At no point did she even attempt to grab herself some breakfast... she barely even sipped her coffee. The others wandered in eventually, got their meals together and sat down as well; during the commotion, Applejack let out a sigh and shoved her half-full coffee cup aside.

"Ah'll be in the gardens, if anypony needs me," she muttered in a raspy whisper as she got up and left. Out of everypony present, nopony seemed to notice other than myself.

AJ... are you alright...?

"...Applejack? Hmm, where did she go?" Rarity turned her head from Coloratura as if to include her in a conversation, but found her missing.

"She just left a minute ago," I answered. "She said she'll be in the gardens." At this revelation, Rarity frowned and let out a deep sigh.

"The poor dear... she's going to hurt herself at this rate," she mumbled. "She's spent all of her spare time rooting around in those gardens doing manual labor... I suppose it's her way of coping."

"But she's barely eaten a thing since Rainbow died," Pinkie added. "She won't even try my apple pies, or spiced apple cookies, or honey-apple cake, or anything!"

"That's not good," I gasped inwardly. "I hope she's at least eating some of the food in the gardens while she's out there."

"Maybe... but she works almost non-stop. And if you try to drag her away for even a water break, she flat-out refuses," said Coloratura. "I've been keeping an eye on her... I just don't want her to collapse from exhaustion or something."

"I see... I take it she hasn't seen Redheart about this, huh?" I asked, to which my friends shook their heads. "Well... I'll talk to her about it. Maybe hearing from an actual nurse that she needs to take it easy will get her to slow down."

"I do hope so," Rarity sighed. "She knows she can talk to us... I simply wish she would."

Facing a long, dull day of futile wondering, I began to wander the halls aimlessly.

...Oh, I said I'd talk to Redheart... I should find her.

I ended up finding her in the Library, going over yet another stack of medically-related books.

"Ah, hello Twilight," Redheart smiled slightly as she looked up from one of her books. "Care to join me in my studies again?"

"Sure," I began before catching myself. "Although, I wanted to talk to you about a couple of things, too."

"Oh? What is it?"

Sitting down across from her, I began with our concerns about Applejack. Redheart listened carefully as I spoke, nodding on occasion. After I had finished, she closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh.

"She's dealing with complicated grief right now... I'm surprised more of us here aren't, to be honest," she grimaced. "I can try talking to her, maybe I can even arrange a private therapy session for her... but if what you and your friends say is true, she may not want to take that step for a while. Therapy won't work if the patient doesn't want to work on it... not to mention, I'm no actual therapist myself."

"Can you at least ask her to not work so hard? We're afraid she'll overdo it and hurt herself, and she won't listen to my friends. Maybe she'll listen if it's coming from an actual nurse?"

"That, I can do. And If she does continue, I can mix some supplements, or at the very least treat her when she does eventually overdo it. I've also been told that Bulk is a skilled masseuse, perhaps I can advise her to see him for a massage... oftentimes they work wonders on Earth ponies."

"That's great! Thank you," I exhaled in relief.

"Of course," Redheart nodded once. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Actually..." I cleared my throat, and in the simplest manner I could think of, I explained the dreams I'd been having lately. While Redheart's face had shown an expression of compassionate understanding before, it now tightened and scrunched into deep thought.

"...I'm afraid you were right, I don't know much about dream interpretations, if anything," she finally said after a period of silence. "But... it does seem strange. You say you only have these dreams after a trial has been held, correct?"

"Yea... and after each trial, I can make out what they're saying a little better. Can't make out everything yet, though." Redheart hummed in thought, then remained silent for a while longer.

"...It could just be a way your own grief is manifesting," she suggested. "I'm afraid I can't think of anything else that would make more sense right now."

"Oh..." I looked down at the floor in disappointment. Seeing this, however, Redheart got up from her chair.

"Maybe there's a book in here that will help us get to the bottom of this," she said. "Would you like to search with me?"

Books? That was all the motivation I needed.

~~~

Nurse Redheart and I meticulously searched every book in the Library for anything about dreams. Unfortunately, we didn't find anything...

~~~

"Hey, can I ask you about something else?" I spoke after our search had proven fruitless, and we'd sat back down to rest.

"Sure."

I swallowed, pursing my lips. "...Are there any ponies you do like? I mean... you don't find completely horrible?" Redheart's eyes glanced into my own without betraying a hint of emotion.

"Well, my parents, I suppose. They raised me just fine, I think, never treated me harshly, did the best they could... although if we were all strangers, I don't think I'd particularly want to spend time with them."

"...That's all?" I asked after she made no effort to mention anypony else. I felt a little sad knowing that fact now.

"That's all," she affirmed.

"And... you're fine with that?"

Redheart sighed. "Twilight... I know how completely foreign the concept must be to you, but I am perfectly fine being alone."

"It's not that foreign to me... I used to think that way, too." Part of me wasn't surprised to see Redheart blink in disbelief when I'd spoken. "Before I moved to Ponyville, I thought friendship was pointless and unnecessary. I shunned the ponies that wanted to get to know me in Canterlot and spent all my time locked in my dorm studying. Even when I did move here, at first I just wanted to find a way to stop Nightmare Moon from coming back; if it meant bringing along the five ponies that wouldn't leave me alone for some reason, then fine, whatever.

"But you know what? They grew on me, and I realized that each of them had something special... something that I lacked. And over time, they brought out the best in me. I gained those things I lacked, the warmth and inner joy and peace that loyalty, kindness, honesty, generosity and sharing laughter with them brings to my heart... I gained friends. True friends."

Redheart sat as still as a statue, her eyes half-lidded. "...Mm."

"...Mm? That's all you have to say? Just 'mm'?!"

"Well, you six turned out to be the Elements of Harmony... I can see friendship being important to you and the others. Me, though? I'm not a part of that."

"You don't have to be!" I argued. "Anypony can make friends, and anypony can be a friend!"

Redheart suddenly burst into a dry cackle. "Like my fellow classmates in nursing school? Oh, I tried becoming friends with them. But if any of them saw an opportunity to make themselves look better to the instructors or job prospects, they'd happily trample each other to get ahead. The cheating, the bargaining, the snitching, the backstabbing was rampant! It only took two days' worth of missed notes because of a cold for me to see that those ponies were not friend material."

"Okay... maybe those ponies, sure," I shrugged uncomfortably. "But there's always coworkers."

"The last time I asked a coworker for a favor, not only did they fail to do it, but they turned it around and framed me for it not being done," Redheart shook her head, a sneer appearing on her muzzle. "It was a damn good thing I documented everything, or else that would've been my job right there."

"...Alright, how about ponies with the same hobbies as yours? Or-"

"Look, Twilight..." Redheart groaned. "I appreciate what you're trying to do. But it's unnecessary. I've seen so much ugliness in so many ponies that the utter idea of friendship repulses me."

"But-"

"If there's anything other ponies have taught me, it's that everypony is in it for themselves. And you know what? So am I. I would much rather be alone than have my so-called 'friends' use me for their own gain and stab me in the back when they're done."

I paused for a few moments, finding a well-hidden lie in her words. "...But you're not like those other ponies. You help others, rather than hurt them. You don't stab them in the back when your business is finished with them."

"Well... I'd be fired if I did that," Redheart muttered sarcastically, glancing away.

"No, I mean... even here. You're doing your best to help us survive, when you could be doing nothing at all, or worse - trying to murder one of us."

"I've already told you... I will never inflict that kind of behavior on another pony myself," said Redheart. "I refuse to stoop to that level... it's disgusting."

"And besides that, you held a counseling session for my friends and I... nopony asked you to, right? And you made Bulk that supplement, remember?"

"Just because I said I refuse to stab anypony in the back doesn't mean I'm also adverse to doing things for others."

"Sure," I agreed, "but the kindness you've shown the ponies here in doing those things... they will remember that. And they'll want to help you out in return, too. Not everypony out there is a terrible pony... I hope that one day you can see that, and you won't be so afraid to open up again."

Redheart was silent for a few moments, contemplating my words. For a moment her face twitched, like I had unintentionally struck a nerve. But she relaxed, and her face softened as she gazed back at me.

"...I'll think about it."

I left the Library to wander again, but my mind soon traveled back to Applejack's well-being. Walking outside to the gardens behind the school, I found Coloratura keeping vigil on the bench beneath the fake Zap Apple tree while Applejack tirelessly picked weeds.

"How's it going?" I asked, sitting down beside Coloratura.

"It's... going..." Coloratura sighed. "Just keeping an eye on Jackie over there."

"Ah... she hasn't slowed down a bit, hasn't she?"

"Nope. There were a couple times when her legs were buckling and it looked like she might finally tire out, but then she'd just grab the closest fruit or vegetable and scarf it down, and then went right back to work," she sighed again.

Applejack...

"...Care to join me?" Coloratura asked, patting the empty space beside her on the bench.

"Don't mind if I do."

~~~

Coloratura and I watched Applejack work in the gardens for a while.

~~~

"...You know, I wonder why fate had us meet again like this," Coloratura droned suddenly as we sat in silence.

"You and... AJ?" I asked.

"Yea... I mean, I always wanted to reconnect with her and all, but... why like this?"

"Ah."

"It's just... cruel. A bunch of her friends are gone- your friends, I mean..."

Yea... please don't remind me...

"I... I just wish I could go give her a hug, and tell her that everything will be okay... even though I know it isn't," Coloratura sighed, wrapping her forelegs around herself while staring at the ground.

"Why don't you, then? You sound like something's stopping you."

"Well... when we were both little, we were always all huggy and cuddly with each other. Now, though... I don't get the impression that she's like that anymore."

"Oh, no, she does! Well, maybe she's not as cuddly and stuff as, say, Pinkie, but she likes hugs," I assured.

"Ah, good..." Coloratura smiled, blushing. "...I really missed that about her. I'd forgotten her touch after all these years apart, but seeing her again... well, I remember it again. At first when we lost touch with each other, it bothered me so much not to see her and share a hug. Guess I just got used to it..."

I was about to reply, but something in my mind froze my lips in place. Something about that sentence seemed more... intimate than I'd been assuming from her.

"Oh, but now... maybe that's why she's in my life again! Maybe I can make her feel better!"

"Um... hold on," I held up a hoof. "Do you have a crush on AJ?"

"Wha- NO!" Coloratura shrieked, her elated expression shattering as she glanced fearfully in Applejack's direction. Being as far away from us as she was, however, the pony in question made no reaction. "No, no, I don't have a crush on Jackie! I just want to cheer her up and stuff!" she hissed.

"Oh, okay... I mean, it's alright if you do, I won't judge," I grinned. "Besides, recent evidence has led me to believe that she may be into mares."

Now Coloratura's expression changed from embarrassed terror into surprise. "...You think so...?" she asked quietly, the smallest hint of a smile spreading on her muzzle. "Well... ehehe... is that so...?"

"Although, given our situation, now probably isn't a great time to ask her on a date," I added. "First of all, we need to escape this place, and... she'll probably need some time to herself after all this."

"Right, yea..." Coloratura quickly agreed, nodding vigorously. "Oh... but, do you think she would be open to the thought? I mean, before the concert in Ponyville we hadn't even spoken to each other for years, and even when were were fillies, she didn't really like big cities or the thought of being famous... What if I'm just not her type?!" she gasped.

"Well... you won't know unless you try, right?" I shrugged. "You're right, she could always only see you as a friend and leave it at that, but even then it's only awkward if you let it be... that's what Princess Cadance says, anyway. But hey, as soon as she heard you were the main act in the concert, AJ had nothing but nice things to say about you."

"Oh? I see... I see..." Coloratura trailed off as her eyes wandered back to Applejack, tearing out a particularly large weed with a loud, pained groan. In an instant we were reminded of the fact that she was working herself into exhaustion, and our faces fell.

"AJ, are you alright?!" I shouted, fluttering into the air.

"Please, won't you take a break yet?!" Coloratura begged as she stood up from the bench.

"Ah'm fine!" Applejack shouted back, somewhat arrogantly. We both sat back down with a sigh, knowing from experience that there was no use in forcing her to stop.

"...I wish I could do something to help her..." Coloratura mumbled sadly, staring at the ground.

Me too, Rara... me too...

Coloratura and I nearly had to drag Applejack to the cafeteria to join us for supper. Once inside, she stormed off to put together a meal for herself, grumbling all the while about how she was just fine. We watched her carefully until Rarity and Pinkie met with us to see if anything had changed. While we talked and commiserated with each other, Flam walked over to us as well.

"Ah, and how are you lovely ladies this evening?" he smiled.

"Fine! Just... worried about Applejack," Pinkie scrunched her muzzle. Flam's smile fell.

"Yes... she's been looking rather rough lately, hasn't she?" he nodded.

Eventually, everypony else gathered in the cafeteria for supper, as usual. We ate, having our usual light conversations... but over in a corner, Applejack sat alone, picking at her food and barely touching her drink. Though Coloratura, Pinkie, Rarity and myself tried to encourage her to come sit and chat with us, she continued staring at her plate like we didn't even exist. Towards the end of our meal, she shoved the plate forward and laid her head down in her forelegs.

While I took my dishes to the dishwasher, Flam, with concern on his face, stood up and quietly approached Applejack. "I say, AJ, dear... what's got you so down this evening?" he asked.

Applejack didn't respond, other than lifting her head slightly. Though her face was wet with tears, her eyes were narrowed in annoyance.

"You should really eat something, you know?" Flam continued, glancing at her neglected plate. "Wouldn't want you to become ill, or get hungry later in the evening when the Kitchen's off-limits."

"Ah'm fine..." Applejack muttered. "Please... ah just... don't wanna talk right now."

"Are you sure? We're... I'm just worried about you, that's all."

"Worried 'bout me?" Applejack chuckled darkly, wringing fresh tears from her eyes before staring stoically off into space. "Ah don't need yer worry... ah'm fine."

"C'mon... isn't there anything I can do to cheer you up?" Flam gently sat down beside Applejack and slid a cautious hoof around her shoulders. But though he tried to console her, Applejack simply just wasn't having any of it.

"No, damn it, no!" she snarled, breath hitching, grabbing Flam's hoof and throwing it off her shoulder forcefully. "What part of 'ah don't wanna talk right now' do you not git?! Don't you start thinkin' ah'm some kind of damsel in distress or somethin'... ah'm just fine!"

Flam recoiled as if struck. "I do not think you're a damsel in distress! ...Well, a damsel, sure... and you do seem awfully distressed at the moment-"

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" Applejack roared, startling everypony left in the room. Then without another word, she quickly got up from her table and ran out of the cafeteria, presumably to her room if the muffled slam of a door in the distance was any indication.

"...What did you do?!" Coloratura glared at Flam.

"Nothing!" Flam threw up his hooves. "I was just trying to console her!" Coloratura continued eyeing Flam for a few more moments before shaking her head and leaving the room. Feeling sorry for him, I walked over to Flam.

"She's just taking everything really hard... don't be mad," I said.

"Never have I met a more stubborn mare..." Flam sighed, slumping in his seat.

"That's Applejack for ya," I chuckled halfheartedly before sighing myself. "...I just wish she wouldn't bottle up her feelings like this, though. It's not doing her any good."

"Indeed... Still, I seem to have upset her further... I'll have to do the gentlestallion-y thing and apologize later," he conceded.

The rest of the evening was spent with Pinkie and Rarity, trying to put together a plan to bring Applejack out of her funk. The way she was carrying on was clearly unhealthy, and none of us wanted another friend to become ill, or worse. In the end, Rarity resolved to put together some heavy-duty gardening gear for her so she wouldn't become bruised or scratched by all the work, I decided to use my Alchemy knowledge to brew a combination of nervine and restorative potions, and Pinkie decided she would pick as many of the crops as she could and whip them up into a feast so enticing Applejack would have no choice but to eat something. Pinkie's task could be held off until tomorrow, so she dashed repeatedly between the Art Room and Alchemy Lab to assist us.

It took us until about an hour after Nighttime began, but we finished our work. We walked down the hallways together back to the Dormitory, chatting hopefully about tomorrow. After saying our goodnights and returning to our rooms, I carefully set the potion down on my desk, took a shower, climbed into bed and went to sleep.

The Triangle Waltz: Hope, Harmony, Despair - Deadly Life 1

It was a few moments before I could bring myself to look at the others. Everypony had looks of utter shock and despair on their faces, save for Pinkie Pie who had wobbled out of sight into the hallway. Even so, I could hear her wailing just outside.

"Why...? Why Applejack...?" Rarity whimpered, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Poor dear..." Flam's lips quivered as he took off his hat and held it over his chest.

Why...? Why her...? Why her...?! She was just starting to heal...!

"So much blood," Nurse Redheart sighed sadly before hardening her gaze. "I may not know which of you has done this, but murdering her like this... I demand justice! This has gone too far!"

"You... one of you... did this...!" Coloratura seethed through wide, watery eyes. "Which one of you killed her?! Why, damn it, why?!"

Why... why...

I asked myself over and over again. Why? Why did this keep happening?!

*boing!*

"Geez, I didn't know your power level would increase by that much just by getting mad!" Monokuma suddenly appeared, leaning to one side inquisitively as he grinned at Coloratura.

"What are you doing here?!" Lightning Dust growled.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here to hand out my little murder flyer," he replied. "That's right! It's the next Monokuma File! ...And don't get so mad, Miss Coloratura, or you're gonna ruin that lewd little face of yours!"

Biting her lower lip, Coloratura exhaled a loud noise that sounded like the beginning of a profane word, but remained silent as Monokuma passed out the files.

"Now, then! With that, I-"

"WHO COULD HAVE KILLED HER?! SHE WAS EVEN STRONGER THAN ME!" Bulk Biceps bawled and trembled, interrupting Monokuma.

"She didn't have to die... oh, curse this horrid game of yours!" snarled Rarity.

"Hey, before you get all pissy-potty at me, you better figure out who did it first!" Monokuma shrugged, smirking. "Cuz, I mean... your lives are all on the line... right?"

"...He's right..." Redheart grunted, a few tears even brought to her eyes. "You... bastard..."

"Puhuhu... puhuhuhuhu!" Monokuma's laughter could be heard as he dashed out of the Weight Room and down the hall until he was out of sight and earshot.

"I... HAAATE YOUUUUU!" Pinkie screamed as loudly as she could before breaking down into more loud sobs.

"Fuck... fuck!" Lightning stomped her hoof. "I swear to fuck, I am never gonna get over this..."

"WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?!" Bulk cried out.

"The same as we always do," Redheart lowered her head in resignation. "We have to investigate. We have to find out who murdered Applejack... or else."

"Yes... uh, it would seem that there will only be one pony to watch over the body now," Flam grimaced, glancing at Bulk.

"UH... CAN I DO THE WATCHING FROM OVER THERE, PLEASE?" Bulk whined, pointing to the benches at the opposite side of the room. "ALL THIS BLOOD IS MAKING ME QUEASY..." Redheart nodded, and Bulk quickly trotted over to a bench and sat down, grabbing a nearby wastebasket just in case.

"I... I-I will remain with her, as well," Rarity sniffled.

"Alright... let's get started, then," I swallowed hard, squeezing my eyes shut to force the rest of the tears out and away.

We have to do this... we have to find AJ's killer...! For those of us still alive, and to honor her memory... It isn't a matter of hoping we can do it...

"...We must do it."

*Investigation Start!*

First thing's first - I opened the Monokuma File, choking on my grief as I saw Applejack's grayed-out, X-covered face. Blinking away my tears again, I read aloud.

"Victim is Applejack, Ultimate Farmer," I swallowed down a pang of nausea before continuing. "Cause of death is exsanguination. There are also minor lacerations and contusions located on the back and legs. Time of death is estimated to be 11:30pm."

Meanwhile, Redheart examined Applejack's body. "Hm... ooh. Oh, that's nasty."

"What is?!" Coloratura gasped. Redheart then stuck her hoof partially into the tear in Applejack's chest, making Coloratura's face pale in disgust.

"She was stabbed. Deep, too, it went right through her heart diagonally under the sternum and into her aorta," she remarked. "Whatever weapon did this was pretty damn big."

"Oh, Celestia..." Rarity shivered. Next, Redheart gripped Applejack's shoulders firmly.

"Yes... rigor mortis has set in pretty good, she's stiff as a statue." With a grunt, she lifted the body - it was horrifically disconcerting to watch as Applejack's limbs refused to obey the laws of gravity as she went - and flipped it over, gently setting it down. She then grabbed a clean, wet towel she had laid out on the nearby dumbbell rack and wiped away much of the clotted, dried blood stuck to her back. "Alright, now... a bit of livor mortis, I see... But the bruise on the shoulder is still visible."

I glanced at Applejack's back... just like the Monokuma File said, there was a pretty big bruise on the back of her right shoulder along with some long but shallow cuts, though it was difficult to tell apart from the dark, blotchy patches of reddish-black that outlined where her body had touched the mat. More bruises and cuts dotted her legs, though none were as big.

Being placed in a weird angle on a stone-like corpse, Applejack's signature hat tipped off of her head and wobbled in the pool of blood like a paper boat. I frowned as I watched, but soon my eyes caught a glimpse of something white inside of the brown leather interior. Not wanting to touch the hat and accidentally squeeze blood into it like a sponge with the pressure, I instead willed magic into my horn.

"Hm? What is this?" Redheart asked as I carefully picked up the white object in my magic. It was a piece of paper folded neatly into a square; I quickly unfolded it to reveal a short note.

"Meet me in the Weight Room at 11pm, my dear," I read.

"Ah, so that's why she was here," Redheart nodded. "I wonder who she was meeting with... they are likely the culprit."

"Who, indeed..." I gulped. There were obvious conclusions I could draw, but I knew from past experience that it was always wise to reserve judgement until more facts had come to light. Having documented the injuries on Applejack's backside, Redheart hefted her right-side up once more. She gingerly picked up her hat and placed it back on her head.

"...Hm?" she paused.

"What is it?" I asked. Redheart took the hat off Applejack's head and brushed the fur beneath her bangs.

"There's something on her forehead," she replied, lifting her hoof to examine it. "...It's transparent, whatever it is... but it feels waxy."

"Waxy?" I repeated, pondering the meaning. Nothing came to mind, however.

"Yes... just in that spot, too," she continued, quickly patting the corpse down. "Curious."

Feeling confident that I had searched over Applejack's body enough, I then turned my attention to the rest of the room. What caught my eye first was that it appeared there had been a bit of a struggle here: the mirror panel closest to the body was cracked right in the center, and if I looked at the indentations on the floor, some of the nearby weight machines had been shifted out of position... far away enough that normal usage wouldn't have been the reason.

Then I studied the bloody hoofprints on the floor. They led to the Laundry Area of the weight room, right where the now-empty shelves of towels were located, and back again. If I remembered basic pony physiology right, most ponies had about the same hoof size regardless of height or gender - glancing quickly at everypony's hooves, I deducted that that factoid was accurate.

Finally, I noticed that while there were a number of blood-soaked towels sitting in the pool of cold blood surrounding Applejack, it didn't quite match the number of towels the shelves could hold. Also, a trail of blood droplets was intertwined with the hoofprints, leading in a drippy mess into the washing machine. I took a deep breath, then glanced inside.

Inside the washing machine was a horror show of towels and coagulated blood... but something odd caught my attention. Something striped. My horn glowed as I reached inside with my magic, feeling instantly nauseated as I felt a squish in the aura, and slowly pulled out a blood-drenched article of clothing.

"Oh, come on now!" Flam shouted angrily. "What did they have to use one of my vests for?!"

"This is your vest?" I asked apologetically, wincing. A rather stupid question, as Flam was the only pony among us that regularly wore clothing.

"Oh, dear..." Rarity swooned, her face somehow even whiter than usual. "I'm afraid there's no cleaning... that."

"Please tell me it was just the one..." Flam begged. "I was in the middle of doing laundry before Nighttime last night and figured I'd put them in the dryer later this morning!"

I held my breath as I grabbed the entire blood-soaked bundle in my magic and lifted it up, then peered inside. "Uh... maybe you can save these ones..." Flam shrieked in response.

"Great. Just great! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get blood out of a linen-silk blend?!" he shouted.

"Oh, of course! ...I mean, I've only ever gotten a pinprick's worth of blood on it before, however," said Rarity. Happily releasing my hold on the bundle of bloody laundry, I intently studied the room before concluding that I had examined everything there was to examine.

"Well, I think that's everything here," I murmured.

"It would seem we should be on the lookout for a large murder weapon and a recently-used notepad, correct?" asked Flam.

"The murder weapon could be anywhere," Redheart hummed in thought. "But the notepad where the note came from... I have a hunch we'll find it inside somepony's room... the pony who most likely is the killer."

"So... we have to go inside everypony's rooms...?" Coloratura gulped, shuddering.

"Ah! But..." Rarity stuttered, her face contorting uncomfortably. "I have... private things... in my room..."

"Would you rather we go through your personal belongings, or else find no evidence and die an unspeakable death?" Redheart deadpanned. Coloratura and Rarity squirmed and groaned, but ultimately agreed that living was definitely preferable.

"Alright... let's go search," Lightning grumbled.

"We had better group up into pairs," Flam suggested. "We'll search each pony's room thoroughly, together. Twilight, dear, would you accompany me? We can begin with my own room, in case you're feeling wary."

"Ah, sure," I nodded.

"So, I guess that's us, then?" Lightning motioned towards Coloratura. She nodded and began walking over towards Lightning, but grunted as she walked on her front left leg.

"Ow... damn it, Bulk," she cursed under her breath. "Hey, is it alright if we stop by the Infirmary first? I need some pain medicine if I'm going to search all over the school."

"Sure thing," Lightning shrugged. "I gotta piss first, anyway."

With the others in tow, I left the weight room and headed for the staircase. Pinkie, her curly mane pin-straight once again, was huddled in the corner across from the stairs, facing the wall as her body heaved with strained sobs.

"Hey, Pinkie... you gonna be alright?" I asked quietly, placing a hoof gently on her shoulder. She struggled to reply.

"...Y-Yea... I-I'm just... gonna s-stay here..." she sniffled. I nodded silently as I let go and left... this situation of ours was slowly becoming just too much for my friends to bear.

Once we had descended to the school's first floor, Coloratura slipped inside the Infirmary while Lightning headed for the mare's restroom by the Gym, leaving Flam and I to continue on towards the Dormitory. We walked in silence until we were just in front of the door to his room.

"Ah, just a moment," said Flam as he began digging in his vest's pocket for his room key.

*boing!*

"There's no need for that right now!" Monokuma suddenly exited from inside Flam's room. Upon seeing the two of us, his face flushed red and he grinned jeeringly. "Oh, my... You're going into Flam's room together? Is this really the time...?"

"Er... ahem..." Flam coughed, bewildered.

"We are simply investigating... nothing more, nothing less," I glared.

"Ah, so you'll be going room raiding, I see... well! Usually I don't do this, but I think for the sake of fairness, I'll unlock everybody's rooms! ...Well, everyone that's still alive, that is! Va-Va-Valuse!" A chorus of quiet clicks echoed in the halls before I could say anything. "You don't even have to beg while licking my black eye!"

"Uh... why would we do that...?" I asked carefully, disturbed by the very notion of such an action.

"Don't knock it 'til you try it! It's sweet cuz it's made out of black bean paste!"

"...I don't even know how to respond to that," Flam turned to me and muttered quietly after we stared at Monokuma for a few moments.

"Please leave," I sighed. Monokuma thankfully did as I asked, but not before slumping over in rejection as he toddled off. After we were certain that he wasn't peering sneakily around the corner or anything, we went inside the room.

"Eheheheh... ahem, excuse the mess."

Flam's room was surprisingly messy, or at least everything that wasn't the bed or floor was. Bits of random machine parts, devices in various degrees of finished assembly, hoof-drawn schematics and tools littered the desk, bookcase and table, while a spare vest and hat laid in a crumpled heap on a chair.

"I... wasn't expecting this at all," I commented, feeling one of my eyelids beginning to twitch from the disorganization.

"Yes... Flim is the tidy one out of the two of us, I'm afraid," Flam glanced away sheepishly.

Regardless, we searched the room together, every little nook and cranny that could conceivably hide a murder weapon. We moved the furniture aside with our magic to search beneath the bed and behind the desk and bookcase, but ultimately found nothing that would match the wound to Applejack's chest. Also, while searching the desk I found a notepad, but it was brand new and had been entirely unused.

"I think that covers that," Flam huffed. "Whose room shall we search next?"

"Well... my room is closest. I guess we should look there," I shrugged. I knew I had nothing to hide, except perhaps some of the lewder loot from the MonoMono Machine.

After searching my room thoroughly, Flam and I moved on to Rarity's room, then Bulk's, then Redheart's. We passed Lightning and Coloratura as we climbed the stairs to the second floor of dorms, who both had yet to find anything. They went down the stairs to check our rooms, while we searched Lightning's, Pinkie's and Coloratura's rooms. Just like them, we found no clues or traces of a murder weapon, although I had to admit I was a little envious of Coloratura's lip balm collection atop her vanity.

But just as we were about to think about our next move, I heard Lightning and Coloratura scream from downstairs. We hurried down and found them inside Flam's room; Coloratura's face was pale, while Lightning had a look of pure fury.

"What is it?!" I shouted.

"Why don't you ask that asshole right there?!" Lightning pointed to Flam, snarling.

"What did I do?!" Flam recoiled.

"Just what the fuck is this?!" Lightning pointed behind Flam's desk, which had been moved slightly away from the wall. We both moved to examine it more closely, and we gasped loudly in unison: lying behind the desk in a puddle of blood was a very large knife with dried blood on the blade.

Flam's face paled, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. "I-I... w-where did this come from?!"

"Oh, playing dumb, are we?" Lightning shouted. "Pretty piss-poor attempt at hiding the murder weapon, buddy! We might as well not even have the fuckin' trial anymore; you're fuckin' done!"

"No... no! I'm not the murderer!" Flam panicked. "I'm clearly being framed here!"

"We checked behind the desk when we searched the room, that wasn't there before!" I agreed, although feeling worried.

Just where did this knife come from?! It definitely wasn't here when we searched the room!

"He's a Unicorn, Twilight! He probably cast a spell on it to hide it from sight before and it wore off!" Lightning argued.

"I did no such thing!" Flam cried.

"Hold on... let's see for ourselves." I held up my hoof as my horn flared to life, and I examined the murder weapon with my magic. "Hmm... no mana signature... at all. There definitely wasn't any magic used on this knife, not even a scroll."

"Bah, who cares?!" Lightning scoffed, glaring maliciously at Flam. "He's obviously the fucking killer!"

"I am not! I am innocent!" shouted Flam. "I've been framed!"

"What's going on in here?!" I suddenly heard Redheart's voice behind me. Turning around, I saw that she and Rarity had come to investigate the rooms as well.

"I'll tell you what's going on! Flam's a murdering shitbag!" Lightning growled, pointing at him again.

"Look... behind the desk..." Coloratura whimpered. Rarity and Redheart did as she asked.

"Oh! ...You!" Rarity shrieked angrily, now also glaring at Flam. "How could you?!"

"But we searched this room before you two did, and there was nothing behind the desk!" I protested.

"And I'm telling you that he tricked you somehow!" Lightning retorted, grinding her front hooves together. Meanwhile, Redheart was silent, save for quiet, contemplative humming.

"I would never-"

"You fucking bastard..." Lightning interrupted Flam, her hooves recoiling in preparation to attack. "Too bad for you there's nothing in the rules saying I can't beat your fucking ass right now!"

"Hold that thought," Redheart stood up, speaking clearly and loudly enough that Lightning froze. "Something's... off here."

"What?" I asked, peering behind the desk once more.

"The blood on the blade is dried, but the puddle beneath the knife is wet," Redheart pointed out. "If this weapon was used last night, then the puddle should be dryer than this."

Hmm... I see where she's going with this... this blood is fresh... too fresh...

"See? I couldn't possibly be the killer!" Flam protested.

"Yea?! Maybe you had the knife in a bag or something, and it popped!" Lightning scowled.

"Let's save the wild accusations for later, alright?" Redheart spoke sternly. "I can only imagine we have a short while longer before we'll have to report to the trial room. We can't afford to waste any time."

"I don't know... this is pretty damning evidence," said Rarity. "I'm not sure there's much more to figure out."

"There's no fuckin' point. I'll be waiting by the elevator," Lightning spat before flying off. Coloratura glanced nervously at us, as if wondering whether to keep searching or not, but in the end she left the room as well.

"Sheesh... for somepony who was framed for murder herself, you'd think she'd be willing to listen to reason," Flam sighed. I nodded in sympathy.

"...Hey, if you and Rarity are here, did you leave Bulk and Pinkie with Applejack?" I asked Redheart.

"Yes... I had to literally drag Pinkie into the room, and then she and Bulk started holding each other and crying," she replied with a frown.

"...That can't be good for her mind," Flam grimaced.

"It's not good for anypony's mind," she answered back. "We'll all have to deal with the psychological consequences of this ordeal later. Should we survive this, I will get us all appointments with the finest therapists Equestria has to offer."

And then, before anything more could be said...

*ding dong, bing bong*

"Shit. I knew it," Redheart hissed as a nearby monitor buzzed to life.

"It appears... that it's time for the class trial," Monokuma sighed before pausing. "...To tell ya the truth, I'm tired! Extremely tired! I feel like spending the rest of my life hibernating already! Man... I know it's bad, but I'm so sleepy. I just wanna ditch."

"Oh, if only he were serious," Rarity sighed.

"Phew... Though I don't really feel like it... I'll show you my serious side when you come to the class trial... Even though it's impossible since it's so annoying... You can count on me to take this seriously." With that said, Monokuma then downed a full wine glass in one gulp before the camera feed shut off.

"Hmm... perhaps it'd be too much to ask for him to be drunk enough to fall asleep mid-trial and cancel the whole thing," mumbled Flam.

"No, we'd better go," Redheart sighed. "If he's drunk, he might just execute the lot of us for any minor infraction."

"I cannot believe we must do this again..." Rarity whined despondently as she and Redheart left the room. I looked over to Flam; his shaking limbs held him fast to the floor, and his mustache did little to muffle his chattering teeth.

"Me... they think it was me..." he breathed heavily before his wide, accusing eyes shot over to me. "Twilight... what if I cannot convince them of my innocence? I know I've done some detestable things before in my life, but never anything like this!"

"I..."

I wanted to comfort Flam, but I knew I also had to remain impartial and reserve my judgement. It felt like an hour had passed before I could make myself speak.

"...We'll come to the right conclusion. I'm sure of it."

"...R-Right," he coughed. "Come, we'd best not be late."

Even so, Flam tripped a little as we exited his room. I stopped to make sure he was alright, when I noticed a strange smell in the air.

"Hey... do you smell that?" I asked. It was faint, but thick and acrid, like burning chemicals.

"I do... is there somepony in the Garbage Room?" replied Flam. Puzzled, we walked over to said room and opened the door. As we peeked inside, we found Coloratura staring into the warm incinerator, frowning.

"Coloratura?" I asked, causing her to jump in surprise.

"Celestia's sake, you guys scared me," she sighed in relief.

"What are you doing?" said Flam.

"I had the idea that the killer might've hidden evidence in the trash," she replied, closing the incinerator's hatch. "So I came in here to look around, but I was too late... there's nothing left in there but ashes."

"Ah... that's too bad," Flam lowered his head. I moved over to the incinerator and opened the hatch myself, nearly burning my hoof from the heat - the inside was full of gray ash and some unrecognizable shriveled bits. Grimacing in disappointment, I closed the hatch.

"Uh... h-hey, I don't think you did it," Coloratura reassured. "...I mean, I-I'm not sure, yea, but... I don't think so."

"Thanks, my dear," Flam smiled sadly.

"C'mon, we'd better go," I reminded.

"So, we're all here now," Redheart nodded as we entered the elevator room. Lightning was pacing anxiously in front of the elevator doors, Bulk was sitting squarely in the center of the room and staring at the floor, and Rarity was trying her best to comfort a nearly-catatonic Pinkie, huddled in the fetal position with her mane and tail so straight they could be mistaken for blades.

"Yea, took you long enough, taking a final walk of shame down the halls?" Lightning growled.

"He's not guilty, Lightning! ...Not yet, anyway," said Rarity.

"We cannot pass judgement until we are all absolutely certain of the killer's guilt," Redheart reminded. "I don't need to remind you of what'll happen if we're wrong."

"Fine, fine, whatever... Flam's still sus as fuck, though," muttered Lightning.

Flam sighed dejectedly as the elevator doors slowly opened, inviting us inside. One by one we stepped inside, until I was the only one left.

It was time once again. Time to unravel the truth behind a friend's death, and condemn yet another friend to die. It was a miserable cycle that we just couldn't seem to break. My vision darkened as I stared straight ahead, my heart threatening to leap into my throat and suffocate me.

...Calm down... I need to calm down...

I took several deep breaths, and once my nerves had settled, I stepped inside the elevator. The doors closed, and it descended with a violent creak.

Applejack... I will find out who did this to you.

The Triangle Waltz: Hope, Harmony, Despair - Deadly Life 2

I shivered as I waited for the elevator to finish its descent, my body ice-cold and numb. The image of Applejack's glassy, empty eyes haunted the back of my mind, staring at me every time I blinked. I just wanted to flop on the floor and scream my heart out, and cry until unconsciousness took me... but I couldn't. I couldn't afford to lose focus now. As much as I just wanted to give up, I had to see this through and save everypony I could.

Finally, the elevator landed with a clunk, and the doors opened into the Trial Room. This time, Monokuma had decorated it in hideous colors and patterns like a twisted funhouse - bright reds, pinks, oranges, greens, blues and purples seared my eyes, arranged in polka dots, argyles, checkerboards, hearts and stripes. Beside me, I heard Rarity screech in horror.

"I understand your desire to applaud this wonderfully vulgar trial ground," Monokuma smirked, "but it's so exhausting to discuss useless things, so let's just get on with it already!"

We took our places at our podiums. It was beginning yet again... I had hoped this would never happen again, but here we were for the fourth time.

Applejack, the Ultimate Farmer... the most honest, hardworking and strongest pony I'd ever known, both physically and mentally... one of us had killed her. And killing somepony, even if it's the only way to survive... was no excuse. Even now, I felt as if Applejack's ghost was standing boldly behind me, still covered in blood, glaring unseen at her murderer.

I will not let this go excused... I will not forgive this...!

The pony who betrayed Applejack, betrayed us all.

...I will never... ever... forgive them...!

My heart racing, I took a few deep breaths as I gripped my podium. Thus, this life-threatening trial, billowing with hope and despair, began in earnest.

*Class Trial! All rise!*

"Let's begin with a simple explanation of the class trial!" Monokuma began, as was tradition at this point. "During the class trial you will present your arguments for who the killer is, and vote for 'whodunnit'. If you vote correctly, then only the blackened will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one... then I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and that pony - and this time only, a pony of their choosing - will earn the right to graduate!"

"Well... not to needlessly drag this out any fuckin' longer than it has to..." Lightning Dust grumbled as she glared pointedly at Flam.

"And for somepony who was framed for murder herself, you sure have a one-track mind!" Flam recoiled.

"Settle down, you two," Nurse Redheart chided. "Let's go over the incident before we jump to conclusions. You do realize we're all as good as dead if we get it wrong, right?"

"But all the evidence points to Flam!" Coloratura insisted. "It has to be him!"

"I know it appears that way, but we have to talk it over!" I tried to argue. "Something about this seems wrong."

"I'm... not convinced," said Rarity. "At the moment, I'm more inclined to believe it was Flam." I glanced quickly at Bulk Biceps and then to Pinkie Pie, and a deep pit of sorrow and pity rotted inside my heart. Pinkie's fur seemed as if it had lost all its vibrancy, almost as if I was staring at yet another corpse. Her head was bowed so low I couldn't see her face, only the top of her head. Her mane was so impossibly straight and sharp I probably could've cut a tomato clean in half with it.

"...DON'T LOOK AT ME. I HAVE NO IDEA," Bulk shrugged. Pinkie remained silent.

"Oh, come on!" Lightning growled.

"Hold on!" Monokuma suddenly shouted. "What?! A disagreement already?! You mean, you're split down the middle again?! Then the School of Despair is proud to present its very own morphenomenal trial grounds!"

*Split Opinion!*

I braced myself as a set of gears appeared before Monokuma. He pulled a key out from somewhere, inserted it into what I assumed was a keyhole and turned it. Moments later, the bases of our podiums glowed with bright, blue light. I felt the ground shake for a moment, and I struggled to remain standing as I found myself being raised into the air. All around me, everypony's podiums, even those of the deceased, were levitating into the dead center of the room in a perfect helix, then sliding left or right until we had been divided into two teams.

Flam is guilty: Lightning Dust, Coloratura, Rarity, Pinkie Pie

Flam is not guilty: Twilight Sparkle, Nurse Redheart, Flam, Bulk Biceps

"...HEY, BUT I SAID I DIDN'T PICK A SIDE!" Bulk protested as his podium hovered beside Redheart's.

"Eh, neither did the pink one, but I've gotta keep it fair," Monokuma shrugged. "Aaand... go!"

*Is Flam guilty? Debate Scrum Start!*

"I know a fuckin' murderer when I see one! It has to be you!" Lightning hissed.

Flam!

"Do you realize how childish you're being? You yourself were accused of murdering somepony; I bet you were glad when you were exonerated!"

"There are multiple bits of evidence that lead to the killer being you!" argued Coloratura.

Twilight!

"And there are multiple bits of evidence that prove he wasn't responsible for AJ's death!"

"But darling... we must be objective here. If we don't find the true culprit, then we'll all perish!" said Rarity.

Redheart!

"Then let's be objective, and examine all of the evidence thoroughly. We'll find the culprit if we all work together."

Pinkie remained silent.

Bulk!

"...SERIOUSLY. I HAVE NO STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT THIS ONE WAY OR THE OTHER."

*Full counter! This is our answer!*

"Look, I know how you're all feeling. You're all struggling to make sense of this horrible situation and just want to survive another day," I spoke softly. "Ponies are killing each other, there's talk of a traitor among us... You may be feeling angry, and that's fine! You may be feeling absolutely terrified, and that's fine! But we need to trust each other and talk this out so we can be one hundred percent sure of what happened and why. Because if we don't... well... you know."

"...You're right," Coloratura conceded. "Get this wrong, and we're all dead... we need to be sure about the killer, without a doubt in our minds."

"Indeed... to survive this long, only to have it crashing down all around us if we cannot work together..." sighed Rarity. "We simply must hold on to our senses just a little longer."

"Oh, for Celestia's sake, FINE, we'll talk about it," Lightning pouted, still glaring at Flam. "...But I still think it was you."

"Good. Now, let's discuss the scene of the crime," Redheart spoke after a short, quiet sigh.

"UGH... DO WE HAVE TO?" Bulk whimpered. "IT WAS SO... GROSS..."

"Well, big guy and I went to the Weight Room right after breakfast," said Lightning. "We found the body as soon as we stepped inside and screamed."

"NOPONY EXPECTS A DEAD BODY IN A POOL OF BLOOD, YOU KNOW?" added Bulk.

"And judging by all the evidence we found, the killer has to be YOU, ya fuckin' smarmy asshole!" Lightning finished, pointing at Flam once again.

"I say, I must protest! I protest everything about this!" Flam recoiled again.

"Lightning, we must be objective about this," Redheart sighed. "I will not vote for anypony until I have been thoroughly convinced of their guilt, and so far, I am decidedly not convinced of Flam's."

"Yea?! You saw the body, and the huge fuckin' knife in Flam's room! Doesn't take a genius to put two and two together!" Lightning argued.

"And it also doesn't take a genius to see that there was far more evidence than that to base an accusation off of," replied Redheart. "Why don't we go over the facts of the crime scene?"

"Well, there was a... large amount of blood everywhere," Rarity inhaled, her face a little queasy.

"The mirror was cracked," added Coloratura, "and I think some of the nearby weight machines were knocked out of place."

"Yes, there were definitely signs of a struggle!" said Flam.

"And who would have struggled while you were trying to kill her ass dead?!" spat Lightning.

"You do realize that I haven't the frame for physical combat?" Flam argued. "I'm a Unicorn - if I wished to inflict harm on somepony, I could do that without touching them!"

"I concur!" I broke in. "If Flam was the one attacking AJ, well... it'd be a fairly quick fight, with Flam on the losing side. One kick from her would easily knock him out."

"Well... I wouldn't say I'm that frail..." Flam glanced away, grumbling.

"We Unicorns generally default to using our magic to attack or defend ourselves," nodded Rarity. "Flam could have simply snapped her neck during their tussle, without bothering to use any sort of weapon."

"But Flam could have levitated the knife in his magic!" continued Lightning.

"No, I checked for mana traces, remember? None at all appeared on that knife," I reminded. "That can only mean that no form of magic was ever used on it."

"It was quite the fight," remarked Redheart. "Quite a bit of damage was inflicted on the mirror and machines, enough to knock some of them out of position."

"Yes... I could lift one of them, sure, but it'd take a good deal of effort," said Flam. "And I hardly think I'd have the time to focus if Miss Applejack were coming at me."

"So, that seems sorted out... but what about the note hidden in her hat?" Coloratura piped up. "I don't know if you've noticed, but you do call all of the mares here 'dear'..."

"So? I always endeavor to be polite, especially to such lovely ladies as yourselves," said Flam.

"Oh, yes! It read 'Meet me in the Weight Room at 11pm, my dear'," Rarity gasped. "And according to the Monokuma File, she wound up dead not a half-hour later! What do you have to say about that?"

"I never went to the Weight Room then!" Flam explained. "I was there earlier in the evening to use the Laundry Area and wash my vests! But I miscalculated how long it'd take for the washing machine to run, so I left when it was close to Nighttime, intending to put them in the dryer in the morning!"

"That doesn't explain anything! There is a note, that was written by your hoof, found on the fucking body!" Lightning shouted, enunciating.

"I'm sorry, but that's wrong!" I interrupted. "When Flam and I searched his room, the only notepad I found in there wasn't used at all. In fact, it looked like it was brand-new!"

"I would never bother with such a juvenile tactic as notes, anyway," Flam lifted his head. "When you fancy a mare, you let her know and offer a date in the flesh!"

"Eww... the flesh, huh...?" Coloratura grimaced.

"...You know what I mean," Flam sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Either way, a notepad that has never been used cannot be linked to the note in any way," said Redheart. "There is no way of matching how the two ends of the paper tore, or producing a rubbing of the text on the next page... I'm afraid that this particular piece of evidence leads to a dead end."

"Ugh, fine! What about his vest being all fucking bloody?!" Lightning groaned. "If that ain't proof of being close enough to stab somepony to fuckin' death, then I dunno what is."

"THAT WAS A LOTTA BLOOD..." Bulk wheezed.

"Along with all of the towels found at the scene, it suggests that whoever killed Applejack quickly regretted their decision," hummed Redheart.

"You mean... they didn't intend to kill poor AJ?" Rarity half-gasped, half-sobbed.

"Maybe... or maybe they simply didn't want such a messy crime scene," Redheart continued. "But at some point, they realized their endeavors were futile and left."

"Your vest was covered in blood," shivered Coloratura. "You... did you try to stop the bleeding? With your own vest?"

"I..." Flam hesitated, mulling over his response. "...Well, this vest cost me a minor fortune. If I were ever in a situation such as this, I think I would have used the towels first."

"But you did, after using every single fucking towel on the rack!" pointed Lightning.

"No, I-"

"And then, you hid your gross-ass bloody vest and as many of the towels you could in the washing machine!" she continued.

"Why in Equestria would I have done that?!" Flam shrieked. "All the rest of my vests were buried beneath that bloody lump!"

"I'd have to say he's right about that," said Rarity. "If he was trying to hide an expensive bloody vest in the washing machine he last used, then surely he would have taken the rest of them out first? So they weren't ruined and disgusting?"

Hm... yes, that makes sense...

Flam let out a deep sigh of relief. "Thank you, dear."

"Ohhhh no, that doesn't mean you're off the hook!" Lightning snarled. "There's still the most damning bit of evidence of 'em all... the fucking knife we found in your room!"

"Ugh... all covered in poor Jackie's blood..." Coloratura grimaced.

Yes, the knife... it wasn't there behind Flam's desk when we searched the room...

"It's clearly the murder weapon," Rarity pursed her lips.

"AND HAVING IT MUST MEAN THAT FLAM'S THE KILLER!" shouted Bulk.

"It's not mine! I don't know how it got in my room, but I am most certainly not the killer!" Flam paled.

"I must agree... Flam and I checked behind his desk thoroughly when we searched his room," I added. "That knife simply wasn't there before."

"But then how do you explain it being there later?!" said Coloratura.

"If what you and Lightning say is true, but also if what Flam and Twilight said is true, then the knife must have been hidden behind the desk later," Redheart hummed. "To that end, I can only come up with two possible theories: either Flam moved it from one hiding place to another, or-"

"Then that's what he must've done!" Lightning interrupted.

"W-Why?! Why would I have done that?!" Flam shouted, thoroughly exasperated at this point. "If I had hidden a knife successfully somewhere in my room before, why in Equestria would I move it somewhere more obvious later?!"

"You tell me, bucko," Lightning replied coolly, crossing her forelegs.

"...Or, somepony else put it there," Redheart growled, glaring at Lightning. "Which I am more inclined to believe."

"Eh? Why is that?" asked Rarity.

"Did any of you notice the large puddle of blood beneath the knife?" Redheart drawled. "It was wet. Almost like it was fresh."

"And?" Lightning huffed.

"The blood on the blade of the knife was dried," Redheart continued. "See what's wrong with that picture?"

If the blood underneath the knife was wet, but the blood on the blade of the knife was dry, then it could only mean...

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"Somepony put fresh blood underneath the knife and then set it on top," I said. "Is that what you're getting at?"

"Precisely," Redheart nodded.

"Oh... alright, so then Flam or whoever must've scooped up some blood from the crime scene to put it under the knife," Coloratura gulped, her voice sounding unsure.

"Eeugh... the mere thought of doing such a thing...!" Flam groaned.

"Flam and I searched his room from top to bottom; I'm sure we would've found a cup of blood," I reasoned.

"Indeed... if I had it and it were in danger of being discovered, I could just pour it down the shower drain... but then it wouldn't be there underneath the knife later," said Flam. "Not to mention I'm sure miss Twilight would've noticed my absence and found me doing so." I nodded in agreement.

"Hmm... Lightning, Coloratura... when exactly did you find the knife?" Redheart asked. "Where were you two searching?"

Lightning grunted as she thought back. "Well... after a general sweep of Flam's room, I thought I'd check out the bathroom... a couple minutes later I heard Coloratura yell like she'd found something, so I looked and there it was."

"Yea... I was looking behind and under all of the furniture... and I found it," Coloratura trembled.

"I see... so you two weren't together the entire time..." Redheart pondered.

"...Hey, just what is that supposed to mean?!" Lightning gripped her podium angrily. "I ain't the one who fuckin' killed somepony!"

"Yea, me either!" Coloratura wailed.

"No, no, I didn't mean to implicate either of you," Redheart shook her head. "I am merely entertaining another possibility of how the fresh blood got there."

"How it got there... well, perhaps the culprit returned to the scene of the crime to collect it," suggested Rarity. She then turned to Pinkie, who had been silent this entire time. "Pinkie, darling... did you happen to see anypony enter the Weight Room after Redheart and I left?"

We all turned to face Pinkie, who remained silently sobbing for a good minute or two.

"...N-No..." she finally croaked out.

"I DIDN'T SEE ANYPONY EITHER. WE WERE FACING THE CRIME SCENE THE ENTIRE TIME," added Bulk. Redheart nodded solemnly.

"So then... if Flam did not have a container of blood stashed away, nor did he return to the crime scene to collect some, then I think this and the rest should be enough evidence to exonerate him from this crime," she affirmed. Everypony seemed to nod in agreement except for Pinkie - who was clearly too depressed to participate - and Lightning, who just sat in her seat and fumed.

"...Fuck, fine..." Lightning finally conceded. Flam let out a deep sigh of relief. "Sorry... I guess I just... saw what I wanted to see. You're still a smarmy fuckin' douchebag, though."

"That, I can live with," Flam grinned.

"Great... except now we have no idea who the killer could be," Coloratura sighed. "We all checked each other's rooms, right? Nopony found any blood in a cup? Or a bag, or anything?"

"No, not that I can recall," said Rarity. Suddenly, Redheart's eyes opened wide in realization.

"Now that I think about it... I'm beginning to wonder whether the fresh blood even did belong to Applejack," she mused.

"Huh? Whaddya mean?" asked Lightning.

"Yes, why didn't I think of it before? There's more than one place one could find fresh blood," she narrowed her eyes.

...More than one place where you can find fresh blood...? Where...?

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"...The I N F I R M A R Y!" I shouted. "There's blood packs in the minifridge!"

...But... does that mean...?

Lightning squinted her eyes as if realizing something herself. "...Hey, Coloratura... didn't you have to get pain pills from the Infirmary before we started searching the rooms...?"

"I... yes..." Coloratura gulped, her eyes widening. "You saw what Bulk did to me this morning! And I heard you laughing while he was massaging my foreleg, so you know exactly why!"

"How are you feeling now?" Redheart asked as impartially as she could. "Could you move your left foreleg for us?" Shrugging slightly, Coloratura did as she was asked, wincing as she fully extended her foreleg.

"Ow..." she muttered.

"The pain is getting worse?" asked Rarity.

"BUT I DID THE CORRECT TECHNIQUE FOR GETTING RID OF PINCHING SENSATIONS!" Bulk's voice wavered. "ARE YOU OKAY? PLEASE DON'T TELL MY BOSS, I DON'T WANNA GET MY LICENSE TAKEN AWAY AGAIN!"

"...A-Again?" Rarity blinked.

"Or... maybe she wasn't limping because she slept funny..." Lightning pressed her lips and ears flat. "I know post-fight soreness when I see it."

A fight? ...No... then that means...!

"OH... IF IT WAS THAT, THEN I SHOULD'VE MOVED THE MUSCLES COUNTER-CLOCKWISE INSTEAD!" Bulk continued nonchalantly, not grasping the gravity of the situation.

I'm afraid... it was you!

Ignoring Bulk, I turned to face the soon to be accused and spoke as calmly as I could. "...Were you in a fight recently, Coloratura?"

Author's Note

Turns out I may have made this one too easy...

The Triangle Waltz: Hope, Harmony, Despair - Deadly Life 3

"Ah... no...?" Coloratura's voice shook. "Why would you say that?"

"If Bulk's massage could not help your pain, then medicine could," said Nurse Redheart. "And while you got yourself pain medicine for your foreleg, you also could have grabbed a blood pack from the minifridge. The question is... why?"

"Well... I didn't," she replied nervously. "What would I need a blood pack for?"

"To pour the blood on the floor underneath the knife," Lightning Dust snorted. "But then where did the knife come from?"

"UM... THE KITCHEN?" Bulk Biceps suggested.

"Fucking duh, obviously," Lightning rolled her eyes. "I mean, how did the knife appear behind Flam's desk? I wasn't in the bathroom looking around long enough for anypony to get it from the kitchen... I know I said a couple minutes earlier, but it was really maybe thirty seconds between going in and Coloratura screaming."

"Are you sure it was really only thirty seconds...?" Redheart glared darkly. "A couple minutes and thirty seconds are two completely different lengths of time in this case."

"Yea... just, you know, an expression," Lightning coughed nervously, as if being scolded. "Now that I think about it, it was definitely way less than a minute. I only remember getting to search the toilet before the scream."

Redheart continued to glare for a few moments, then sighed. "...Very well. Thirty seconds is not much time to accomplish so many tasks. The knife had to have been hidden relatively close by."

"Uh... Twilight's room is closest to Flam's, I think..." said Coloratura.

"Couldn't have been me," I answered immediately. "I was upstairs with Flam the entire time before you screamed, and there was nothing found in my room."

"Hmm... Rarity's, maybe?" shrugged Lightning.

"Goodness, no!" Rarity shrieked.

"No, we checked her room, too... nothing like that knife was in there," asserted Flam.

"Uh... Redheart's?"

"Now you're reaching past a time limit of thirty seconds," Redheart sighed at Lightning. "My room is all the way at the other end of the corridor from Flam's. Not to mention that if the culprit is indeed Coloratura, everypony in the vicinity would have heard her running back and forth from those rooms in order to retrieve and plant the knife within the time you searched the bathroom."

"Nopony joined us up on the second floor, either," said Flam. "Twilight and I surely would have noticed that."

"WELL... WHERE COULD IT HAVE BEEN?" Bulk whined.

If Coloratura retrieved the knife and planted it within thirty seconds, where could the knife have been hidden...?

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"The knife must have been hidden in the G A R B A G E R O O M!" I spoke.

"Eh?!" Coloratura whimpered, her eyes wide.

"The Garbage Room is only a few meters away from Flam's room," I explained. "We searched everypony's rooms, but nopony ever went in there!"

"Yes... it would've been simple enough to sneak out of Flam's room and grab the knife if it was that close at hoof!" exclaimed Rarity. "Couple that with emptying the blood from the blood pack onto the floor before setting the knife down, and that wouldn't take much time at all!"

"I-I never had a blood pack on me!" Coloratura gulped. "Don't you remember, Lightning? We searched my room and found nothing!"

"...Shit, that's true," Lightning huffed.

"That's nothing... you simply hid it after planting the knife," said Redheart. "Everypony was focused on that knife in the puddle of blood."

"I did not! Where would I have hidden it?!" argued Coloratura.

"It matters little... not much searching was done after that discovery," said Flam.

"Oh, yea... I was so convinced Flam had done it, I just went straight for the elevator to get this over with," said Lightning.

"And then Coloratura left too, just a few moments later," said Redheart. "Did she join you in the elevator room?"

"Huh? No," Lightning straightened up. "I didn't know she came after me."

"That's because she did not," Flam suddenly spoke with conviction. "After the announcement to make our way to the trial grounds played, Miss Twilight and I found her in the Garbage Room!"

"Y-Yea? I told you two, I was looking for evidence!" Coloratura protested. "I thought that maybe you or the culprit might have hidden something in there!"

...Something was hidden in there, however... I think I can figure out what it was if I just think about it...

...What piece of evidence related to a blood pack is missing? ...The empty blood pack, of course... What did Flam and I smell just before we found Coloratura in the Garbage Room? ...Burning chemicals! ...If we smelled that, then where would one expect to find such a thing? ...In the incinerator!

"...You weren't looking for evidence, you were disposing of it!" I shouted. "Just before Flam and I went inside the Garbage Room, we smelled burning chemicals... burning plastic!"

"Y-You did?!" Coloratura gasped, her breath quickening as her face froze with panic.

"Yes... the room was quite warm because the incinerator had just been used, wasn't it?" added Flam.

"The handle was really hot when I opened the hatch... really should've used my magic," I said. "And inside, on top of all the ashes were shriveled black bits."

"Sounds like burnt plastic to me," nodded Lightning. "Sometimes my Washouts would throw wrappers and stuff into the flames of rockets and burning rocket fuel... looks just like that."

"And come to think of it," Redheart broke in, "...we never did find the notepad where the note Applejack had in her possession came from. Perhaps you burned that as well!"

"So it was you..." Rarity spoke lowly and dangerously as she glared at Coloratura.

"I... n-no!" Coloratura shrieked, trembling. "W-Why would I kill Jackie?! We were friends!"

"That's true, the two of you were rather close..." Rarity put her hoof to her chin in thought. "In fact, I would even say you seemed to have a bit of a girl crush on her."

"Wh-?!"

"Oh, don't be coy. I saw the way you looked at her," continued Rarity. From where I stood, I could tell that she wanted to smile, but given the circumstances she forced herself not to.

"Is that so?" Flam straightened up. "Well, who wouldn't, really? She was a fine, lovely mare-"

"You didn't like her for her, though!" Coloratura snapped suddenly, her terrified demeanor suddenly switching to a glare of pure rage. "I saw you 'flirting' with her... you were eyeing her like a piece of sweet apple!"

"How dare you?!" Flam snorted. "My intentions were never anything but pure!"

"Oh, please... everypony knows you're a charlatan," Coloratura seethed. "You've been leering at her ever since we got here. I bet you've been planning on weaseling your way into her life so you could take advantage of her, and the wealth of her apple orchards, regardless of whether or not you both got out alive!"

"...My dear, you do know my brother and I own a casino resort? I make far more than she does," Flam recoiled uncomfortably. "But that's not the point. It's true that I wounded her in the past... more than once," he sighed, casting his gaze at the floor in shame. "In being trapped with her here, the constant threat of death looming over our heads, I felt it was only right to apologize while I could, and prove I had become a better pony since we last met. And in getting to know her better... well, I became enchanted by her."

"Tch... what is it about her and her ability to attract the big city-types...?" Rarity grumbled under her breath.

"For the first time in my life, my words failed me. I became the typical stuttering buffoon around her, too entranced by her inner - and outer - beauty to form coherent sentences. I tried various times to make my intentions known to her... but she always gently pushed them aside with that soft, melodious giggle of hers. Finally, she told me that she just wasn't interested, that she would rather remain friends... and you know what? That was plenty enough for me. Just knowing that she had forgiven me and was willing to include me in her life... that was enough," he sighed wistfully.

"Oh, would you just shut the fuck up?!" Coloratura roared in disgust. Everypony jumped at her sudden harsh language. "Do you have any idea how much of a simp you sound like?! I think I'm gonna be sick!"

"WHOA," Bulk gasped. "HEY, THAT SOUNDED LIKE A HEALTHY REJECTION TO ME!"

"You killed her because you were jealous!" Coloratura continued. "You killed her because she was never into stallions in the first place!"

"...Eh?" Rarity blinked.

"Yes, that's right... she was into mares, and guess what?! She liked me! And yes, I liked her, too!" she fumed.

Wait... she did...? Did Applejack...?

"...Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that's how relationships work," Redheart drawled. "So far, all the evidence points to you being the killer... so why would you kill Applejack if you both liked each other? Given that the motive this time around was the ability to take another pony with you to freedom while the rest of us were executed, then why murder the one you likely would have wanted to save?"

"I..." Coloratura's breath hitched in her throat. Steaming tears began to form in her furious eyes. "I... I-I... didn't mean to..."

"Didn't mean to?" I pressed.

"I-I wanted to escape with her... I wanted to save her and have her fall for me... so we would be together forever..." Coloratura sniffled. "But... I didn't know if she liked me the way I liked her..."

"...So you wrote the note in Flam's dialect," Redheart's eyes widened slightly. "You knew that she and Flam were friendly with each other, so you figured she would be more receptive to a note from him asking her to meet somewhere."

"She was surprised to see me in there..." Coloratura nodded, sobbing more and more. "We talked for a little while, about stupid things... I was so nervous telling her how I felt, I couldn't just come out and say it all smooth, like... him," she pointed at Flam. "But I finally did, and she... s-she..."

"...I'm guessing she said 'no'..." Rarity frowned.

"S-She said she was flattered... but she wasn't interested in any relationship right now," Coloratura answered darkly.

...Oh... I see...

"WELL... WHO WOULD BE? THIS IS A TERRIBLE PLACE FOR ROMANCE," said Bulk.

"She wasn't interested in any relationship... any relationship... ANY relationship..." she repeated, grasping her ears as if haunted by the echo of Applejack's words. Redheart thought quietly for a moment, her hoof to her chin.

"...You took that to mean she was already in a relationship with Flam," she finally answered.

"When Applejack most likely meant that now wasn't a good time to begin a romantic relationship with anypony," I added.

"Always pragmatic, she was," Rarity sighed sadly.

"I-I can see that now... but at the moment, I was convinced that I'd lost her to Flam," Coloratura whimpered. "I got so angry, so jealous... all I could ask her was why? What does he have that I don't have?! S-She tried to talk me down, tried to reason with me, tell me that no, she wasn't interested in him either, b-but all I could think of was them, the two of them, together..."

"Talk about counting your chickens before they've hatched..." Lightning grunted.

"A-And then... I lost it. I pulled out the knife and threatened to go to Flam's room, ring the doorbell and kill him as soon as he answered it..." she continued. "I-If he was out of the picture... I would have her... all to myself..."

"OH YEA... WHERE DID THAT KNIFE COME FROM?" asked Bulk.

"You couldn't have gotten it on the way to the Weight Room, the Cafeteria was closed to us by that late at night," added Redheart.

"I... I've had it... for a while..." Coloratura admitted. "I took it from the Kitchen the first evening we all spent in this place... I was so terrified of being murdered, I wanted to defend myself if somepony attacked me. I-It's been hidden under my mattress all this time..."

"But you took it with you to your meeting with Applejack... why?!" Rarity growled.

"I... I-In case I saw anypony else in the halls on my way..." Coloratura trembled. "I-I didn't mean to kill Jackie! Once I brought it out, she tried to wrestle it out of my hoof."

"I see... that's why the Weight Room was such a mess," hummed Flam.

"S-She... she hurt me... threw me against one of the machines... I-I was so angry, at her, at him, I...!" Before she could finish her sentence, Coloratura slammed her face between her forelegs on the podium. "Oh, Celestia, what have I done?!" she screamed through a sob.

It... It was unintentional... a murder spurred on by the heat of the moment...

"And then what?" Redheart asked emotionlessly.

"I-I... tried to help her... I took out the knife... so much blood... I grabbed towels... applied pressure..." she cried.

Oh, no... you're not supposed to remove the object from a stab wound...!

"B-But s-she died anyway... and I-I was gonna be n-next!" Coloratura sobbed so hard she began to dry-heave. "I... began to put the towels away in the washing machine, but saw Flam's vests at the bottom... they were still wet. I used one to wipe Jackie's blood off of me after putting the towels inside... and then I grabbed the knife and ran back to the dorms... I threw the knife into the Garbage Room before I went to my room... I saw the notepad I had used and threw that in the Garbage Room as well, I couldn't stand to look at it... I spent hours in the shower, scrubbing the blood off myself over and over..."

We stood in silence for a while as Coloratura cried. Flam opened his mouth as if to speak but closed it again, electing to stare somberly at the floor instead.

"...So, it was you," Redheart finally spoke. "You murdered the one you cared about the most, and pinned the blame on the pony you hated most." Flam grimaced.

"I-" Coloratura started, but her breath cut short. It was suddenly as if something inside her had finally shattered - her pupils shrank into pinpoints, and one of her ears twitched and flattened to the side. "...No... no, it couldn't have been me...!"

"Wha- are you fucking serious?!" Lightning stammered.

"No... it wasn't me... it couldn't have been me!" Coloratura giggled madly. "No, no, no... it wasn't me at all!" Suddenly, an aura of dark turquoise surrounded her - in an instant the flashiest of clothes materialized onto her body, and her face became covered with gratuitous, glittery stage makeup. She twitched and laughed as she reasoned with herself, finally sinking deep into despair.

"No... it couldn't have been me! Why would I kill the pony I loved? I am the Countess, all ponies love me! I can have any pony I want! I will have any pony I want! It wasn't me who killed Jackie! Why would I kill somepony who loved me? Somepony else must have killed her!"

Coloratura... she's gone completely insane...

"No... I'm not the guilty one... you have no proof it was me! You have no proof that I was with Jackie in that Weight Room!" Coloratura shrieked with glee, tears mixing with the makeup on her face and running down her cheeks in muddy, black rivers. But as she clutched and groped at her face, smearing the makeup into even darker streaks, I gasped as I remembered the final piece of evidence that would seal her fate.

This is my proof!

"...There is proof, Coloratura... you left it on Applejack's forehead," I grimaced.

"Huh?! What?!" Coloratura froze.

"There was something waxy on her forehead... something that came from your lip balm collection. You must have kissed her on the forehead when you realized she was gone," I spoke quietly.

"I... I..."

"It's the only explanation. We searched Flam's room, and I don't remember finding any lip balm inside it," I continued. "Rarity had some lipstick in hers, but the waxy substance on AJ's forehead was transparent, not colored."

"True... I don't use lip balm," Flam nodded.

"...Oh... I see..." Coloratura sighed sadly. "...I did it... didn't I...?"

"I'm afraid so," said Rarity. Coloratura's aura faded, and with it disappeared the clothes and makeup, leaving the fur on her face wet and matted with tears.

"I... I did it..." she breathed despondently.

"I believe it's time to go over the whole case," Flam softly suggested. "Could we go over this one more time, from the beginning? Just in case somepony still thinks I did it..." I nodded solemnly as he glanced over to Lightning, who rolled her eyes in response.

Yes... as horrible as it is... we must be absolutely certain of the truth.

This is how it happened!

"The crime began a little before 11:00pm last night. Applejack's doorbell rang, and she found a note on the floor by her door asking her to meet somepony in the Weight Room at 11pm. Tucking the note away in her hat, she made her way there.

"Given the way the note was written, it was likely she expected to meet with Flam. When she arrived, however, a different pony was waiting for her. The two talked for a while, and they slowly built up their courage. Finally, they revealed their secret feelings to Applejack. AJ seemed pleasantly surprised, although taken aback, and told that pony that while she appreciated the sentiment, she wasn't interested in any relationship at the moment.

"However, that amorous pony misunderstood her explanation. They thought that Applejack really didn't like them at all, and that she was instead interested in Flam. They became jealous, and began grilling AJ about him. Hearing about all the times Flam had flirted with her only made them blind with jealous rage, regardless of AJ telling them she wasn't interested in him either.

"Then, the pony pulled out a knife, threatening to wake Flam up and kill him as soon as he answered his door, all so they could have AJ to themselves. Applejack tried to wrestle the knife away from them, making a mess of the Weight Room in the process. Then, in the heat of the moment, that pony stabbed Applejack with the knife.

"As soon as they realized what they had done, the culprit panicked. They pulled the knife out, which caused Applejack to bleed violently. They did what they could to stop the bleeding, using the nearby towels and applying pressure, but it was all in vain... Applejack bled out and died right there. Now that they had committed murder, the culprit did what they could to save themselves. They wiped the blood from their body using one of Flam's vests, still wet from being partially-washed. Then they put the towels and the now-bloodied vest in the washing machine and took the knife with them, later hiding it and the notepad they had used for the note in the Garbage Room.

"The next morning, as we all met for breakfast, the culprit reasoned away their sore left foreleg by saying they had slept on it funny, when in reality it was wounded from the fight last night. Then later on, after we had discovered AJ's body and were on our way to search everypony's rooms, the culprit made a quick stop at the Infirmary - not only to get pain medicine for their left foreleg, but also to grab a pack of blood from the minifridge. They waited until they and their partner were searching Flam's room, which just happens to be the closest to the Garbage room. While Lightning was searching the bathroom, the culprit snuck out, reclaimed the knife from the Garbage room, squirted out the blood from the pack onto the floor behind Flam's desk, then planted the knife there. They screamed, attracting everypony's attention and leading them to find the murder weapon, hidden oh-so-conspicuously behind Flam's desk and framing him for the murder.

"Finally, all there was left to do was to destroy the remaining evidence. The culprit slipped out of Flam's room and back into the Garbage Room, where they stuffed the notepad and empty blood pack into the incinerator. Though we found the culprit claiming to search the incinerator, the job was done and the evidence was destroyed. However, they probably didn't expect Monokuma to announce the end of the investigation quite so soon, leading to Flam and I noticing the scent of burning plastic.

"That should cover everything that happened in this case... Turns out that the murderer wasn't Flam after all... isn't that right, Coloratura?"

"...What have I done...?" Coloratura mumbled, covering her face with her hooves. My heart crumbled as I watched her slump into a puddle on the floor and cry... here was somepony who had loved another, but had built it up in her mind so much, the shadow of it had stricken her blind. And in her blind rage, she killed the pony she loved... if this wasn't what despair truly was, then I had no idea what could possibly be worse.

"Hmm... This result isn't all that exciting..." Monokuma finally spoke, slumping in his throne. But as the familiar lever and buttons appeared on our podiums, he snapped out of his disappointment and grinned. "Now then, please pull the lever in front of you and cast your vote!"

I gulped down my revulsion as I saw Applejack's greyed-out face, causing me to glance at the portrait that stood in her place at her podium - stamped with a bright pink image of an apple core over her face. Sighing sadly as we were ordered to condemn yet another one of us to their death, I pushed Coloratura's button and pulled the flashing lever. Around the room, I could hear the others wordlessly casting their own votes.

"Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?!" Monokuma shouted. The monitor behind him buzzed to life. "Monokuma Vote! Who is found guilty?" appeared, followed by the slot machine. We watched with bated breath as the symbols slowed...

...and landed, three in a row, on Coloratura's face. "Guilty!"

*Class Trial End! All Rise!*

"Judging by the results... You guys were correct once again!" Monokuma laughed loudly. "Getting four in a row without any mistakes is a splendid achievement! That's right, the one who killed her paramour Applejack in the Weight Room is none other than Coloratura! ...Yay, I said all that without bitin' my tongue!"

Hardly interested in Monokuma's achievement, we all stared sadly at Coloratura as she silently picked herself off of the ground, electing to kneel on her hind legs instead. Already I felt my body begin to grow cold and numb in anticipation for what was to come.

"I gotta tell you bastards, this has actually been quite interesting! Usually the 'secret coming to light' murder happens before the 'sacrifice' murder! Ohohoho... what a tweest!" smirked Monokuma, stifling his laughter.

"Uh... what do you mean by that?" Rarity asked tentatively.

"Who cares..." Coloratura rasped, wiping the last of the tears from her eyes. "...I killed Applejack... I deserve to die..."

"Now, there's no need to say that!" Flam paled. Everypony looked at him in surprise.

"Really?! But she just tried to frame you for murder!" yelled Lightning. "You should be agreeing with her!"

"And what good would come from that?! Just what kind of charlatan pony do you think I am?!" he retorted sharply. Lightning jumped and took a step back as Flam sighed. "Now that the truth has been exposed, I can't say that I can fully blame her. She clearly wasn't in her right mind."

"A pony in the throes of love is capable of doing horrible things for the one they love, but a pony in the throes of unrequited lust is capable of much, much worse," said Redheart. "...I've seen it too many times in my life."

"THIS JUST GOES TO SHOW THAT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN FRIENDS IS SUPER IMPORTANT!" said Bulk. "...AND MAYBE SOME THERAPY, TOO."

"...Oh, Jackie..." sniffled Coloratura. "...I'm so sorry... I'm such a horrible friend... a horrible pony..."

"Darling... the fact that you're feeling remorseful is proof that you're not a horrible pony," Rarity comforted as she moved to embrace her. "I can think of quite a few times I let my feelings for a stallion overcome my senses."

You're not kidding...

"But once you've realized it, you can work on it and-"

"I can't work on it!" Coloratura exclaimed, cutting off Rarity. "It was an accident, I didn't mean to do it... but I killed Jackie... and now I'm gonna die, too! Even worse... I deserve it..." Her body began to tremble violently as she wrapped her forelegs around herself; as much as she claimed she deserved what was coming to her, she was terrified of her impending doom.

"No, darling, you don't!" Rarity argued, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Indeed..." Flam walked over to Coloratura and placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder.

"Flam... I'm so sorry... for what I did to you," Coloratura sniffled as she gazed upwards at him. "You... really are a gentlestallion..."

"Don't even think of it any longer," Flam smiled kindly.

"...If I had managed to escape... I would have chosen you..." she continued, pausing to inhale loudly through her clogged muzzle. "I... felt so guilty after framing you... for-"

"Shhh..." Flam breathed, nodding in understanding. At the sight of their interaction, Rarity began sobbing loudly herself while Lightning and Bulk remained silent and still, unsure of what they could do or say to offer a little comfort. I wasn't quite sure, myself.

"...Well, look at it this way: you can apologize to Applejack yourself in a little bit," Pinkie suddenly growled. Coloratura began crying even harder.

Pinkie...!

"Was that supposed to make her feel better?!" Rarity yelled, shocked.

"SHE DID KILL ONE OF US... BUT SHE'S SORRY NOW," Bulk weighed on his front hooves before shrugging. "THIS WHOLE EXPERIENCE IS SERIOUSLY MESSING WITH MY VALUES AND EMOTIONS."

"Then I guess it's about that time!" interjected Monokuma. "I have prepared a special punishment for the Ultimate Pop Idol, Coloratura... is what I'd usually say, but the truth is, I've actually had this one stored away for a while. The hapless dunce it was originally meant for wound up getting killed by her would-be victim, so I couldn't use it then... But I can now! After all, I'm an eco-friendly bear who's all for recycling!"

"But..." Rarity argued weakly.

"...Oh, Celestia..." Coloratura began to hyperventilate. "Please... I'm sorry... I don't want to die...!"

"Let's give it everything we've got!"

But no matter how much she or any of us could have begged... deep down, we knew we were powerless to stop it.

"It's... PUNISHMENT TIIIIME!"

"Coloratura has been found guilty. Time for the punishment!"

My ears flicked as I heard the tinkling of the chain and shackle, which quickly appeared and clapped itself around Coloratura's throat. She screamed as it yanked her away into the darkness. The monitor above briefly went black as we turned our attention towards it, this time barely reacting as it turned back on.

Multiple spotlights in a rainbow of colors illuminated a single microphone stand and a stage upon which Coloratura stood, the audience populated with multiple Monokumas. But this was no ordinary stage... the floors were covered in hundreds of deadly sharp spikes, surrounding Coloratura as she stood in the center of them. There was a metal beam she was standing on, which suggested that it was the hinge that allowed the two spiked halves of the floor to swing upwards. In front of her a short distance away sat another Monokuma on a plush chair, level with the stage. He held a clipboard in one hand and pointed to his right with the other - beside the stage was a meter of some sort that slightly resembled a thermometer. The vast majority of the levels marked on the meter read "death" while the very top read "freedom". As Coloratura took notice of the meter her eyes widened; I could see the realization on her face that there was still a chance to survive. But then the lights dimmed, and my heart began to pound against my ribcage.

*Ultimate Pop Idol Coloratura's Execution: Executed*

*Sayaka Maizono's Coloratura's Final Performance*

A song began to blare from speakers mounted all over the stage as the lights grew again in intensity. It was one I recognized, as did Coloratura. She cringed and rubbed her ears... the music must've been too loud for her so close to the speakers. But, swallowing her fear, she cleared her throat and began to sing.

Time for the spectacle, time for the show... the lights are bright and the colors glow...

For a few moments, the music soothed my nerves, made me forget all about the punishment and our predicament. Coloratura was hitting every note perfectly, and the meter beside the stage began to quickly fill with light. Even she felt more relaxed as she sang, and began to sway and dance to the music.

But at the first chorus, a spray of small gray and white objects erupted into the air like fireworks. Coloratura's eyes widened as they clinked and rattled as they hit the stage floor; I realized in horror that it wasn't confetti, but bits and shards of bones. Still, her voice didn't waver, and she continued to sing.

Give me more... razzle dazzle...

Offstage, a pair of fog machines activated, spewing a green-tinged fog over the stage floor. It billowed and rose towards Coloratura, who couldn't help but inhale it. Her face scrunched in disgust and terror, and any moment she had to breathe was spent coughing. But she still managed to hit every note with perfect pitch and tone, and the meter continued to rise.

Razzle dazzle... glitz and glam...

The song was nearly over. Coloratura locked her eyes on the meter, which was only a few inches from the top. Just a little more and it would be full... she would be free! I looked over to the judge Monokuma sitting across from her, sensing something terrible was about to happen. He was whispering with another Monokuma in the audience beside him, who was gesticulating wildly.

Suddenly, the judge Monokuma held up a paw... and to everypony's horror, the meter rapidly emptied as Coloratura sang her final note. Her eyes shot wide open as she stared in shock...

...And the two halves of the spiked floor clapped upwards together like a bear trap. Coloratura disappeared from sight in a cloudy mist of blood, which began dripping out from the sides of the jaws only seconds later. As quickly as it had happened, it was finished.

Coloratura, the Ultimate Pop Idol... was dead.

We stared in silence at the monitor long after it had shut itself off. Familiar emotions flooded my body... grief, horror, shock... despair.

There were only seven of us left now. Only two of my greatest friends were still alive. How much longer was this going to last? How much deeper into despair could Monokuma throw us?! We were so overcome by our emotions that we didn't even notice Monokuma reappear from the darkness and stare at us for a good while.

"...So, how much longer are you guys gonna stand around like that?" Monokuma tilted his head.

"...I give up..." Pinkie spoke so quietly I could only barely hear her. "I can't take this anymore..."

"Please... that's enough..." moaned Rarity. "That's... enough..."

"No," Redheart stated resolutely. "We cannot break just yet. We must escape this place and put a stop to this."

"She's right," Flam nodded once. "If we lose hope now, Applejack and everypony that has died along the way will have died in vain. We must press onward!"

"Why...? What for...?" Pinkie asked with a whisper. "We're all going to die here..."

Pinkie... Rarity...

"...No, they're right," I affirmed, trying to keep my voice from shaking. "If we give up now, we'll never escape this place. We'll never see our loved ones again. And Monokuma will be free to do whatever he wants... what if he subjects another sixteen ponies to this torment, or more? What if he decides to do something even worse?!"

"Yea... we can't let that happen!" Lightning shouted, punching her two front hooves together. "We gotta see this through to the end, and that means we gotta find a way out and make that asshole bear pay for what he's done!"

"...Hey, I'm still here, ya know..." Monokuma sighed, slumping over dejectedly.

"NO MORE KILLING EACH OTHER. NO MORE NOT-TRUSTING EACH OTHER," nodded Bulk. "WE GOTTA FIND THIS MASTERMIND AND TRAITOR AND STOP THEM!"

"Traitor? What about the traitor?" Monokuma suddenly smiled. "...Ya know, you've done well in surviving this long, so how 'bout I give you a little hint?"

"A hint?" I asked, not entirely sure I wanted it. If it came out of Monokuma's mouth, it could only mean something horrifying. And sure enough, Monokuma began chuckling.

"Upupupu... oh, yes. Now listen up, because I'm not repeating myself! That dastardly traitor, the one who's responsible for all of you being here... is still alive."

Everypony gasped, myself included; my chest stung from the speed of my inhalation.

...Still alive...? The traitor is one of us...?!

"Still alive?" Redheart repeated, blinking.

"Yep. Can you guess who it is?" Monokuma smirked, giggling to himself. "Ooh, I can't wait for you guys to figure it out, it's gonna be so good! Upupupupu! ...Anyway, the class trial is over, so it's okay for you guys to leave now... but don't forget! The killing game is still going strong!" And with those parting words and another peal of cruel laughter, Monokuma vanished.

"...ALRIGHT, WHICH ONE OF YOU IS THE TRAITOR?!" Bulk shrieked, trembling with newfound fear.

"So much for trusting each other..." Lightning rolled her eyes.

"It doesn't matter," said Redheart. "The traitor has not made a move this entire time."

"True, but they might now, with so few of us left!" Rarity wailed.

"We need to put our trust in each other and work together," said Flam. "It's the only way we'll all live to see our homes and loved ones again! ...It's become abundantly clear to me that murdering each other simply isn't going to work."

"Yea... I'm all for no more murders," said Lightning. "Now let's get out of here... before that fucking bear decides to motivate us again."

Hastily agreeing, the others made their way for the elevator, with Rarity levitating a despondent Pinkie in her magic aura. I started for the elevator myself, but stopped as I noticed that Flam hadn't moved. He stood right where he was, biting his lip as he stared at the floor.

"Flam? Are you okay?" I asked.

"...Am I really a bad pony?" Flam asked painfully. "To think that so many ponies here have such a negative impression of me, to the point of framing me for murder... just how many ponies have I hurt?"

I didn't know how to respond to that. I could only gaze sympathetically at him.

"...I suppose I'll just have to work harder, to prove that I have changed. I... guess I still have much to atone for."

I forced my tired body to put a hoof on his shoulder. "I know you've changed... I can see it," I spoke with a tiny smile. "It'll just take some time for the others to see it, too."

Flam smiled in return. "...Thank you, dear. I'm... quite glad you and I have become friends."

My smile widened; my heart had felt like a clump of ice, but Flam's words ignited a tiny spark within it. Together we walked towards the elevator and joined the others. The doors closed behind us, and our ascent slowly began.

Author's Note

diggy, you were like 85% right! This was meant to be a murder that you'd only know the context behind if you had done Flam's or Coloratura's FTEs... which I've been writing. But I guess that despite all my tries at the usual misdirection of the investigation, I still made it a bit too obvious.

Well, that leaves only one more murderous chapter! And I promise you all that it will be a grand one. Thank you all so much for reading along!

Together Forever, In Life and In Death - Daily Life 1

"...Twilight..."

"...Twilight, can you hear...?"

Yes, I can hear you...! Where are you...?!

The voice in my dark dream was much more distinct this time, and now I could tell that it definitely belonged to a mare... but I still had no clue as to who the voice belonged to. I tried to think logically and lucidly within my dream, desperately grasping at the voice's owner, but anytime I thought I was getting close it would slip through my hooves and vanish like mist.

"...Listen, Twilight..."

"...danger... We are..."

"...get you..."

What...?! What are you trying to say...?!

As if responding to my thoughts, the voice became more frantic, but also more intermittent and frayed.

"...just a little longer..."

"...be safe..."

"...the jewels..."

Jewels...? What about jewels...?!

But the voice soon became incoherent and too quiet to make anything else out. I called out to it over and over again, screaming, begging for it to come back and try to communicate with me again. Something about it felt so important to me, so vital to my continued survival...

*ding dong, bing bong*

"Goooood morning, everyone! It is now 7am and Nighttime is officially over! Time to rise and shine! Get ready to greet another beee-yutiful day!"

...It's far from a beautiful day...

I didn't wake up feeling depressed, nor did I feel much like mourning. I didn't actually feel much at all.

It was the morning after yet another trial. Yet another one of my friends had been murdered, and yet another one of us had been gruesomely executed for it. If I concentrated, I could actually feel the toll it was all taking on my psyche. I could feel the scars it was all leaving on my brain.

Applejack... Fluttershy... Discord... Rainbow...

All of them were dead, as were the ones who had murdered them. Yet during our time in this horrifying prison, even they had become my friends... so the betrayal hurt even worse when they were driven to kill, only to be found out and killed themselves...

Numb.

My body felt entirely numb. I shivered underneath my blankets before throwing them off. They were damp with sweat and tears; though I knew why, I mentally felt nothing for it, even as my body retched and spasmed from a subconscious psychosomatic response. It knew I was supposed to be grieving. It knew I was supposed to be mourning.

Damn you, Monokuma... you won't even allow me the right to grieve my friends...!

Frustrated, I got out of bed and headed for the cafeteria. Maybe some food would settle me down.

Nurse Redheart and Flam were the only ones inside the Cafeteria when I arrived. After putting together some breakfast for myself, I pulled up a chair and joined them.

"Good morning," I mumbled, trying to be polite. Redheart simply nodded.

"Morning, my dear," replied Flam. "I'd ask if you slept well, but I can imagine you slept just as well as I did."

"Yea..." I sighed, staring into my extra-strong coffee.

"Ah, another trial has happened..." Redheart blinked and sat up a little. "Did you have another one of those dreams?"

"Dreams?" Flam asked.

"Oh... yes, I did!" I gasped slightly.

"What was it this time?"

"Well... the voice was much clearer, I could definitely tell it was a mare's... still can't really understand what it's trying to tell me," I frowned. "...But it did say something about jewels."

"Jewels?" Redheart repeated. "You're sure about that?"

"Yea..." I mumbled as I started eating. She briefly explained the dreams I had been having to Flam, and together they began thinking of the possibilities. They were silent as I ate.

"...Well, the only thing I can possibly come up with are those power crystals in that one room," Flam finally said.

"Me too. They most certainly must be important," Redheart insisted.

"We've already tried manipulating them and the machinery in that room, though. Nothing affected them at all," I reminded them.

"Indeed... perhaps there is something on the final floor that will explain how to work the machines," said Flam.

"Ah, yes... the last floor is open to us now," Redheart sighed, then chuckled darkly. "There goes our last real motivation for murdering each other."

"I don't suppose there's anything worthwhile on the roof, is there?" Flam asked. I shook my head in response.

"Pretty sure there's no basement, either," Redheart added. The sound of distant hoofsteps made my ears flick.

"Well, we'll search the 5th floor after everypony's finished here," Flam nodded as the others walked in. First came Lightning Dust and Bulk Biceps, looking rough but energetic enough. Then came Rarity, whose eyes were red, puffy and mascara-less, and her entire body seemed pale, not just her face. But then Pinkie Pie entered... hopping along as cheerful and frilly-maned as ever.

"Gooooood morning everypony!" she beamed as she collected herself a massive breakfast of fruits and pastries. Rarity, in the meantime, sat down beside me with only a pair of espresso shots in tiny teacups.

"Uh... what's with Pinkie?" I asked quietly, all too wary of her extremely sudden mood change.

Rarity shrugged. "All she would say is that she had some sort of... epiphany. She wouldn't elaborate." I pursed my lips and looked on with concern as we turned to see Pinkie balancing and spinning plates on her hooves.

I don't know if I like this... but at least she's feeling better than yesterday, I suppose...

Our breakfast finished, we set off together for the final floor of the school. Climbing or flying up the stairs was mildly exhausting.

Finally, we arrived on the 5th floor. Indeed, there were no more staircases blocked off by barriers, so it had to be the last. Peering down the long hallway, painted with azure blotches and swirls, I saw three sets of doors on the left, but only one on the right.

Wait... only one room on the right...? But... the final set of secret runes of mine, there should be another room...!

So we began with the first door on the left. It opened into a large office - desks and chairs lined the walls, filing cabinets and shelves full of documents formed an island in the center. Each chair held a stack of parchment and some quills with ink bottles, and most of them had a computer in front of it. But something made my fur bristle as I scanned the room - it was completely empty as expected, but a light blue vase with a single white rose sat in every office space.

"An office?" Flam stroked his mustache. "A rather large one, too. This must be where all of the administrators and their secretaries do their work."

I wracked my brain for memories of how my School of Friendship was supposed to look at this point. "It looks like it... but..."

"We... didn't really need such a space before," Rarity frowned. "If I remember correctly, Twilight handled the vast majority of the paperwork, and usually did so in her castle."

"Yea... that's right," I agreed, the memory finally coming back to me. Meanwhile, Redheart walked over to one of the vases and carefully sniffed the flower it held.

"...Freshly cut. It's the real thing," she commented. "...That just makes even less sense."

"How so?" asked Lightning.

"We've been here for what... two weeks now?" Redheart turned to me to confirm; after a quick and unnerving mental count I nodded.

Oh, Celestia... it's really only been two weeks...? Nine of us have died within two weeks...?

"If these have been here since we arrived, they'd be all wilted and dried out," Redheart explained.

"Yes... I suppose Monokuma could be taking care of them, but that really doesn't seem like something he'd do," agreed Flam.

"Well, is there anything in here that might help us get out?" asked Lightning. Spurred on by her suggestion, we spent an hour or so attempting to activate the computers and pouring over the documents in the filing cabinets and shelves. Unfortunately, every computer was password protected, and neither my magic and computer knowledge nor Pinkie's attempts at hacking could get past them. The documents weren't much different - every word that wasn't "a", "or", "the" or something else totally meaningless without context was thoroughly blacked out with thick, opaque lines.

"What a waste of time," Flam lamented.

"I'm so bored..." sighed Pinkie.

"Whatever might be here, we simply cannot access it," said Redheart. "It would be best if we returned to our exploration."

And so we left. The next doors in front of us were the second set on the left and the only set on the right, both a pair of double doors. However, the ones on the left were made of glass and allowed us a glimpse of a large, bright room, while the ones on the right were made of thick metal plates and strangely labeled as the Teacher's Lounge.

"WHICH ONE SHOULD WE LOOK AT FIRST?" asked Bulk.

"I don't know about you, but the doors on the right just fuckin' scream 'evil mastermind's lair' to me," Lightning growled. I examined the metal doors, finding myself drawn to them... like the Power Crystal room directly below it, I felt that sense of déjà vu again.

"...I feel like I've seen these before, too," I finally uttered.

"Like the room with the crystals on the fourth floor?" asked Rarity. "It is just below this room, I believe." I took a deep breath and tried to open the doors, but they were locked tight. Even Bulk would have no luck getting these to budge.

*boing!*

"Oh-ho! What are you doing, miss?!" Monokuma suddenly appeared behind us, shouting so we all jumped from the shock.

"FUCKING... ugh..." Lightning groaned.

"EEEEEEEEE!" Pinkie shrieked, although the grin on her face led me to believe that she was enjoying the jumpscare.

"Breaking into a locked room is incredibly prohibited, don'tcha know?" Monokuma's entire face was glowing red, not just his eye, and the claws on his right paw were extended as he shook his fist at us.

"It... is...?!" Rarity shivered, terrified of the implication.

"Well, we haven't actually-"

"You're trying to tell me you didn't actually bust in yet, right?" Monokuma interrupted me. "But... I can see that, ya dolt! Don't waste my time telling me crap I can see for myself!"

"EEP!" Bulk recoiled at the shouting and promptly hid himself behind Flam. In response, Monokuma seemed to settle down... his face stopped glowing red, anyway.

"It looked like you might break in any second, so I just thought I'd give you a friendly reminder... or are you gonna try and tell me that this is your Teacher's Lounge?" he grinned smugly, directly at me.

"I... uh..."

I mean... if I answer him truthfully... I maaaaay get myself killed...

"That's what I thought. Now get outta here! Yea! YEA! Shoo! Shoo!" After spending a moment or two flailing at us to make his point, Monokuma then zipped down the hall and disappeared from sight down the right staircase.

"...Well, that about settles it. This room is definitely important somehow," Redheart grumbled. "This and the Power Crystal Room beneath it, whatever is in there must be being powered by those. It's the only explanation!"

"Miss Twilight... can you think of what might be beyond these doors?" Flam suggested as he pulled out his e-Handbook. But just like before, I ran through my memories and could confirm that I had never seen these doors before in my life. After thoroughly mulling it over, I was forced to sigh and sadly shake my head.

"I see... guess we'll just have to figure it out ourselves," sighed Redheart.

"Perhaps there's a way to sneak inside," Flam mumbled quietly, almost mischievously, putting the e-Handbook away. "I've just double-checked the rules... it doesn't actually say anything about getting into locked rooms."

"Maybe... but we're probably being watched especially carefully at the moment... we should leave for now," I suggested.

"Yes... better safe than sorry, at least where that crazy bear is concerned," agreed Rarity. While the others turned their attention to the doors behind them, I found my gaze lingering on the metal doors a while longer. The sense of seeing these doors before, but unable to place when or where was frustrating, to say the least.

Oh... if only I could remember...!

Turning my eyes from the metal doors, I caught a glimpse of Lightning eyeing me warily. "Uh... something wrong?" I mumbled.

"Seems fuckin' fishy to me," Lightning sneered. "You feeling like you miiight remember seeing that room downstairs, or you miiight remember these doors from somewhere..." The others slowly turned back to look at me... suddenly I felt very nervous.

...Oh, no... you guys don't think I'm the traitor... do you...?!

"I don't think I like your tone," Rarity huffed and glared as she quickly stood beside me. "This was Twilight's School of Friendship, once upon a time."

"Yea! Monokuma probably just messed with these rooms and now she doesn't know what's inside anymore!" Pinkie agreed, bouncing to my other side.

"Thanks, girls," I sighed before regaining my composure. "Lightning, I assure you, I am not the traitor... what reason could I possibly have for putting my friends, myself and other innocent ponies in this sick game?!"

"I dunno," Lightning shrugged, never losing her sneer. "Haven't figured that out yet."

"Throwing the blame on somepony other than yourself... you seem awwwfully suspicious right now!" Pinkie pointed.

"I'm not the traitor," Lightning argued, her expression falling.

"Denying it, eh? Suuuper suspicious!" Pinkie continued, then whipping around and pointing at Rarity. "And you! Defending Twilight because she's not the traitor... AAALSO suuuper suspicious!"

"Pinkie... now you're just being ridiculous," Rarity sighed.

"This whole conversation is ridiculous," grumbled Flam. "We'll never get anywhere arguing like this."

"Agreed. Let's set that aside for now," said Redheart, already pushing open the glass doors. The rest of us shrugged and followed her in silence.

The room beyond the glass doors easily took up most of of the space on the 5th floor - it was an indoor pool area, complete with a hot tub set into the corner of the pool. The far walls were entirely made up of huge panes of glass, letting in plenty of sunshine. White plastic lounge chairs and side tables dotted the flagstone tiles surrounding the pool, and over to the left were two individual bathrooms and an open shower area lined with white tiles. The pool itself was huge, the turquoise-tinted water as still and reflective as a mirror. Darker tiles at the bottom designated lanes for swimming, and a diving board reached over the center of the pool from the opposite side. The scent of diluted chlorine was oddly comforting.

"Ooh! Pool party!" Pinkie chirped.

"YEAAAAA! I LOVE A GOOD SWIM AFTER A WORKOUT!" Bulk cheered.

"Oh, that hot tub looks heavenly right about now," sighed Rarity.

"We have one more room to explore," chided Redheart. "After that, you'll be free to swim all you want."

Amidst a low din of complaints, we left the Indoor Pool and made our way to the final door on the left. Being entirely plain and unadorned, I assumed the room beyond it would be just another classroom.

But as we entered the room, sheer confusion took over our minds. It was a rather ordinary room, with simple white walls and beige carpeting. A dimmer switch by the door controlled the brightness of the lights. But the most striking detail was the furniture: sixteen plain, wooden beds, perfectly made up with white blankets and pillows, entirely untouched... and nothing else. The heads of the beds were arranged against the walls so the center of the room was empty.

"Well... this is unsettling..." Flam murmured.

"What the hell is this room for?" asked Lightning.

"It reminds me of a patient room in the hospital," said Redheart. "...But we would never cram sixteen patients into a room together unless there was some sort of crisis going on."

"MAYBE IT'S SOME KIND OF MASSAGE PARLOR?" Bulk suggested.

"Ah... maybe for a large group of friends, perhaps?" Rarity tried to reason. "I've never heard of such a thing before, though." While the others tried to explain this room's existence, that familiar feeling of déjà vu returned to me.

Wait... I've seen this room before, too...? Where...? Why...?!

"Twilight?" Redheart asked, noticing the look on my face.

"...I feel like I've seen this room before, too," I frowned, struggling to put the pieces together. "Why, though...?"

"Hmm..." Flam hummed. "That would lead me to believe that this room, the Power Crystal Room and those metal doors are related somehow."

"How, though?" Lightning asked, casting a suspicious glare upon me once again. "...What kind of weird shit are you into, Twilight?"

"N-Nothing!" I stammered. "I can't even begin to think of why I feel this room is familiar to me! I definitely didn't have a room like this in my school!"

"Ooh! Sleepover room?!" suggested Pinkie.

"No, that doesn't sound right, either," Rarity shook her head. "It lacks far too many homey touches for that sort of thing."

"Yet another mystery, huh...?" Redheart sighed. "...Well, this is the final room on the final floor, so it appears that this may be our final clue."

"Agreed," Flam nodded. "Now it's up to us to put the pieces together... and hopefully, it'll lead to us being able to finally escape."

"...Can we go swimming now?" Pinkie asked after a few moments of silence.

"I suppose so," Redheart replied. "I'm going to try and think this over for a while... I'll be needing some tea."

In the end, Redheart, Flam, Rarity and I made the long trip back to the Cafeteria together. After putting together some tea and light snacks, we sat at a table and began to discuss everything we had discovered thus far.

But hours passed without coming to any sensible conclusion. Tea and snacks soon gave way to supper, and the others rejoined us to eat. Taking a break from our ruminations, we mostly ate in silence, with only the occasional sentence or two of small talk spoken among us.

As I ate, however, I kept catching Lightning staring at me, glaring with suspicion. I didn't take it personally... everypony's nerves were long since shot by now. The constant stressors of death and grief, horror and terror, suspicion and mistrust was clearly taking its toll on our minds.

In fact, it was only logical for me to be suspected... this was once my School of Friendship, I was the only Alicorn left alive, and I felt déjà vu whenever I thought about the Power Crystal Room, those metal doors guarding the self-proclaimed "Teacher's Lounge", or that strange room with the sixteen beds. But there was simply no way I ever would have dreamed up something so macabre, so deplorable as subjecting us all to a killing game.

...What about the others, though? Flam? Lightning? They were former villains of ours, with Lightning never really having been redeemed for her actions. Redheart? Bulk? ...But something on a scope like this seemed far out of everypony's realm of possibility. And my trust in Pinkie and Rarity was ironclad - they would never do something like this, either separately or together.

So... by that logic, it could only be me... and yet, that was entirely wrong!

I'm not the traitor... I can't be the traitor...!

I closed my eyes and focused hard. I tried to envision the Power Crystal Room, the doors to the Teacher's Lounge, and that strange room. There had to be an answer among them! Nopony else could, but I could remember seeing all of those before. But where?! Why?!

...I just don't remember... I don't remember... I don't remember...!

I growled in frustration. Damn this place, damn you, Monokuma! Why were we even here?! Why did we have to suffer?!

...

...And then I gasped loudly as I remembered something - none of us had known how we all even arrived here in the first place! Not just when we had woken up outside of the school, but the school itself had been moved... why? How?!

...I don't remember that, either... I... I can't remember...

...That was it.

That was it! And the implication of it all hit me like I was being blasted into a mountain.

Oh, Celestia... I can't remember... we can't remember... our memories are gone...!

"Twilight? Are you alright?" Redheart asked. Hearing her voice broke my concentration and startled me into a coughing fit. "What was that gasp for?"

"Wrong pipe?" Pinkie bounced over behind me and began lightly hitting my back.

"...Our memories are missing!" I blurted out, much to everypony's alarm.

"What?!" Flam stammered.

"The fuck you mean our memories are missing?" Lightning narrowed her eyes.

"We've been looking at this the wrong way," I rasped, gulping down some water to calm my throat. "None of us remember how we first got here, right? And I don't know how my school was moved here or modified the way it was!"

"Hmm... true," Redheart thought for a moment.

"We've all been assuming that we were brought here immediately after falling asleep or fainting somehow," I continued. "But... what if we've actually been here for much longer than we thought?"

"Oh... oh my...!" Rarity shivered.

"And what makes you think that's the case?" Lightning growled.

"That room with the power crystals... those metal doors, that weird room with beds... I feel like I remember them, but I've never seen them before!"

"...So you think you can't remember them because your memories have been tampered with?" asked Redheart, her face fraught with concern.

"Once is a fluke. Twice is a coincidence. But three instances of déjà vu? That has to be on purpose!" Sweat began to bead on my forehead and drip down my muzzle as the others began contemplating this new implication.

"...Well, memory manipulation is rather high-level magic, but it can also be accomplished with expertly-crafted potions," Redheart blinked, her usual stoic expression threatening to break. "And the illegality of doing so without consent would hardly bother the traitor or mastermind."

"But to move Miss Twilight's school all the way out here, or to build a convincing copy... and all of those elaborate, gratuitous, graphic executions," mumbled Flam, "...it would require far more bits than even my brother and I own!"

"...No... no... I passed out in bed after a night of drinking, and I wound up here the next fucking morning," Lightning held her head in her hooves, shaking it furiously. "We haven't been here for longer than that...!"

"JUST HOW LONG HAVE WE BEEN STUCK HERE?!" Bulk panicked.

"Oh... I knew that," Pinkie suddenly said very calmly. Bewildered, we all immediately turned our heads towards her.

"You... fucking what?" Lightning snarled.

"How did you know? How long have you known?!" asked Rarity.

"I dunno, really..." Pinkie shrugged. "It's just the way my Pinkie Sense has been acting lately... I can't really explain it myself, but there it is."

Redheart sat back in her seat with a thump. "...You just... felt that was the case?"

"Yea... it is what it is. We are here, we are trapped, our memories are kaput. Nothing more, nothing less," said Pinkie. She seemed to barely even notice everypony staring at her, either with a mix of horrified confusion or sheer rage.

...Is this that epiphany Rarity was talking about...?

"So you didn't actually fuckin' know..." Lightning growled. "I had my doubts about Twilight, but now you're the one who sounds fishy as fuck."

As soon as she was accused, Pinkie's calm demeanor broke. "...WAH! I'm not the traitor! There's no waaaaay!" she cried, flailing.

"Oh... I don't know how much more of this I can bear..." Rarity sighed sadly. Almost as quickly as her mood had changed from calm to frantic, Pinkie stopped her flailing.

"Ooh! Wanna come to the pool with me? It made me feel lots better to have a nice swim!" she asked.

"Ah... sure, I did say soaking in that hot tub sounded positively divine," replied Rarity.

"Great! Anypony else?!" Pinkie glanced around the table. Bulk and Flam agreed, as did I... the realization of our memories being taken away had drained my will to think about it any longer tonight.

"No thank you... I must admit, I never even considered the possibility of memory manipulation. Now I have more theories to consider," waved Redheart. Her tireless commitment to solving this deadly mystery was truly impressive. Lightning, however, simply glared at us all without a word... honestly, her suspicious expression told us exactly what she was thinking.

We put our dishes away, then briefly returned to our rooms for towels before heading for the Indoor Pool. Bulk and Pinkie splashed and swam around, while Flam, Rarity and I elected for light conversation while relaxing in the hot tub. The other two would join us on occasion, then leave for a time to play before joining us again.

Before we knew it, it was almost Nighttime. Feeling exhausted after the day's events, Bulk, Flam and I quickly showered off the chlorinated water and took our leave. The Indoor Pool had no time restrictions, so Pinkie and Rarity decided to stay a while longer, enjoying each other's company. My entire body felt warm and fuzzy as I returned to my room... maybe tonight, I would finally have a good night's rest.

Together Forever, In Life and in Death - Daily Life 2

Indeed, I woke up rather refreshed. But the feeling quickly faded as the memories of my discovery last evening crept back into my mind. Now that I was sure we were all missing some crucial memories, especially myself, I couldn't help but feel even more frustrated. It was a step forward in the right direction, to be sure, but ultimately I was no closer to the answers that counted.

Why were we brought here? Who brought us here? And who betrayed us all to help the mastermind enact their plans? Alas, there was no thinking on an empty stomach. I got out of bed and headed for the Cafeteria.

Most of us were already there when I arrived. While Bulk Biceps, Flam, Nurse Redheart and Rarity sat at a table together, I noticed that Lightning Dust was sitting off by herself, eyeing everypony warily. I sighed inwardly... her suspicions and the utmost desire to survive seemed to be affecting her the most. I grabbed my food and sat down between Rarity and Redheart, and was about to begin eating when I noticed that Pinkie Pie wasn't with us.

"Hey, where's Pinkie?" I asked. Bulk, Flam and Redheart simply shrugged.

"She wanted to stay in the Pool long after Nighttime began," said Rarity. "I wouldn't be surprised if she was swimming up until the wee hours of the morning after I left. She must be positively exhausted and sleeping it off."

"Makes sense," I nodded. It had been the happiest I'd seen Pinkie in what seemed like ages... if she was sleeping safe and sound in her room, then that was fine by me.

"Feh... or maybe somepony killed her and hid her body somewhere..." Lightning muttered under her breath, but it was still loud enough for us to hear.

"Honestly, Miss Dust... it does us no good to be so suspicious of each other," Flam chided. "We've all been proven entirely innocent of any and all wrongdoing, or have done all we could to help find the truth in the trials. Why would one of us start betraying the others now?"

"PROBABLY BECAUSE MONOKUMA SAID THE TRAITOR'S STILL ALIVE," Bulk shivered. "THAT MEANS IT'S ONE OF US, RIGHT?"

"I imagine that's what he wants us to think," Redheart replied. "I have a feeling there never even was a traitor to begin with."

"Maybe..." I hummed, thinking again about the rooms I felt I had seen before. "...But I don't think he's ever lied to us, so far."

"He lied about there being a rule about going into locked rooms," said Flam.

"Yes... but I think that's because that room is especially important," said Rarity. "He really didn't want us anywhere near it."

"It's most likely the room where he's staying," said Redheart. "Maybe it has a cure for memory manipulation inside, or maybe it's where he stores all of his execution devices."

"Speaking of which, I don't suppose you can mix together a fix for those missing memories of ours, eh?" Flam asked hopefully. Redheart sighed sadly as she shook her head.

"I would need to know what we were missing first. Otherwise, the curative potion will only scramble our brains even more."

"Same goes for neurological thaumaturgy," I added.

"Drat..." Flam huffed.

"Well, it can't be helped, I suppose," Rarity sighed, standing up to take her dishes to the Kitchen. "Nothing to do but escape, or figure out how to get inside that room."

"Easier said than done, I'm sure," Flam frowned, levitating his own dishes by his side as he followed.

After putting my own dishes away, I decided to roam around for something to do. My wandering eventually brought me to the gardens behind the school, where I saw Flam sitting beneath the false Zap Apple tree, staring solemnly out into the fields.

"Flam...?" I tilted my head, somewhat surprised to see him here.

"Ah, Miss Twilight," he replied, nodding.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked, sitting down beside him. Flam sighed wistfully.

"Just... thinking, is all."

"Oh."

~~~

Flam and I sat in comfortable silence for a while, simply staring at the pristine fields before us, the wind rustling through the plants.

~~~

"...Ah, what a shame," Flam finally spoke after a long time, bowing his head.

"Hm?"

"I was... quite looking forward to becoming better friends with Miss Applejack."

"Oh... yea..." I stared at the ground, pressing my lips together.

"...I suppose I should be thankful I even had the opportunity in the first place... although that opportunity only knocked in an awful place like this. Funny how life works sometimes, eh...?"

Unsure of what to say, I merely nodded.

"So many horrors we've encountered here... ponies pushed to the brink... I have to wonder, is it too late for me?"

"Too late for what?" I asked, looking up.

"Perhaps I was brought here to be punished for my actions in the past... true, Flim might not be here, but most of our business ventures never would've gotten off the ground without my help. And just when we had finally made our wildest dreams come true, reaching our goals of wealth and prestige, and were ready to give back to all those we had conned along the way to get there... this happens.

"And then I met her again... and I never wanted anything more than to truly, deeply apologize for all I had done. I was hoping to leave this place with everypony, life seeming suddenly brighter after having turned a new leaf.

"...But now she's gone, and there's so few of us left. Was it... not enough? Did I not see the error of our ways in time?"

Flam stared back out into the fields again, a tear threatening to fall from his eye. We were silent as I reflected on his words, searching for the right thing to say.

"...It's not too late. It's never too late!" I finally spoke. "I mean, Applejack forgave you for all your shenanigans in the past, right? She was always good at reading other ponies... I think she saw that you really wanted to change and make things right, so she gave you the chance to become friends with her."

Flam sighed, slowly closing his eyes. "...You think so?"

"I know it," I nodded. "Everypony is capable of changing themselves for the better. Sometimes it just takes a certain pony to spark that change inside you. AJ definitely saw it within you... otherwise I don't think she'd ever have given you the time of day. And I definitely see it, too... we all do, I think."

"Ugh... thinking about how I used to act makes me feel so disgusted with myself now," Flam shook his head before lifting it high, looking resolute. "...Then it's settled. From this day forward, I am a changed stallion! As soon as we all get out of here, the World-Famous Flim Flam Brothers shall devote themselves to bettering pony society! I'll see to it that Miss Applejack's legacy is never forgotten, and I'll... I'll make her proud to be my friend."

I smiled, holding back tears of my own as I imagined Applejack sitting with us, smiling along.

"...I think you already have."

"And you, Miss Twilight... I have you to thank as well," Flam added, gazing kindly into my eyes. "Were it not for your encouragement, I'm not sure it ever would have happened. So, from the bottom of my heart... thank you. If there is ever anything I can do to assist you with anything at all, you can count on me!"

Studying his face, I saw nothing but sincerity and determination within him. Once upon a time, Flam was a cad of a stallion, ready, eager and willing to sell anything at all to ponies who neither needed it or knew better, with usually disastrous results. But now here he was, a thoughtful, intelligent and penitent pony who had changed for the better... somepony I could now proudly call a friend.

...I think I can count this former villain properly reformed! :heart:

After talking a while about some future projects Flam was already planning, we parted ways. Again I wandered the school grounds for a way to spend time. Eventually I made my way to the empty and quiet Indoor Pool, finding Nurse Redheart lying in the sunlight on a lounge chair and reading a book.

"Oh? I thought you'd be reading in the Library," I said as I approached, my hoofsteps echoing quietly on the flagstone tiles.

"Usually, yes... but when the pool is empty, I rather enjoy the ambiance it provides," Redheart replied, setting a bookmark in its place before putting her book down. Now that I could see the front of the cover, I saw that the book was about dream interpretation... or at least a murder mystery novel in which dream interpretation had played a key part; Monokuma surely wouldn't have left anything much more useful than that around. "Recognize this book?" Redheart asked as she saw my eyes studying the cover.

"Ah, yes... it's been a few years since I've read it, but it was pretty good," I nodded.

"Sadly, it was the only book in the Library with anything worthwhile about dream interpretation," Redheart chuckled halfheartedly. "...Celestia, do I seem desperate for answers or what?" she muttered under her breath.

"What do you mean?"

"Now that I've read this, I'd like to ask you more about the dreams you've been having, if you don't mind," Redheart said as she pulled out a pen and a notepad.

"Oh... alright, sure."

~~~

Redheart picked my brain about the dreams I had been having after every Class Trial. Her subsequent interpretations ran the gamut from typical repressed fillyhood trauma to lewd fantasies about cactus pears and everything in between...

In short, I think this might've been just a waste of time...

~~~

"...You know, I've been thinking..." Redheart suddenly said during a lull in our conversation.

"Oh?"

"Why exactly are you trying so hard to befriend me?" she asked, narrowing her eyes with suspicion. "I mean... is there something I have or know that you want? You could just ask for it."

"What? No," I shook my head. "I just want to be friends."

"I told you... plenty of times by now... I don't do friendship," she replied with an air of annoyance. "It always comes with a catch... one that benefits the other far more than it does me."

"Well... there isn't one," I said simply. "I just think you're an interesting pony and want to be friends with you. Not trying to wheedle anything out of you. That's all."

Redheart stared at me for a few moments, her eyes boring deep into my own as if examining my very soul. "...I suppose you have a point, there... you are a Princess, after all, there isn't much you could benefit from by befriending me," she mumbled.

Does she really not believe me...? Does she really think I have an ulterior motive...?

"There isn't anything you have that I want, really!" I insisted. "Don't even think of me as a Princess, if that helps, just think of me as any other pony. And I, a pony, simply wish to be friends with you, another pony." Redheart stared in disbelief for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"I... simply cannot believe it. All friendships are based on wanting to gain something from somepony else," she puzzledly pursed her lips. "There has to be something you want from me."

"Redheart... I don't want anything like that from you," I sighed. "I know lots of ponies in the past have treated you poorly or taken advantage of your kindness, and I'm sorry that happened. But some ponies are good and kind, and want to give rather than take... you just gotta give them a chance!" Redheart simply snorted in response, so I continued. "I know you've seen the ugliest a pony can be... you've seen that more times than I can even imagine. But I can promise you, not just as an Element of Harmony, not just as the Princess of Friendship, but as your friend... that I will never, ever, take advantage of your generosity, or your abilities! I mean... such actions are anathema to an Element or a Princess! ...And especially to myself, as a simple, humble pony."

For a while, Redheart considered my words. And then...

"...I still don't do friendship," she repeated gruffly. Sighing, I slumped in defeat, almost missing her eyes darting away. "...But..."

"But...?"

"I suppose I can... make you an acquaintance of mine," she finally conceded. "I hope that will do... it's going to take me some time to get used to this 'friendship' business..."

I grinned madly from ear to ear. "That'll do just fine!" Redheart gave me a small smile and nodded.

Finally... I see now that all this time, Redheart has been pushing away the notion of friendship out of self-defense... I don't know how deeply she's been burned before... but now that we're friends, I'll do all I can to soothe those wounds and bring her out of her shell...!

Oops... I mean... acquaintances... maybe close acquaintances, someday...? :heart:

It was soon time for supper. I made my way to the Cafeteria as always, and most of the others were already there. However, while Pinkie was present for the meal, another pony was absent from the group.

"Huh... where's Rarity?" I asked, eliciting only shrugs and worried glances from most of the others.

"I saw her a little while ago," Pinkie chirped. "She said she focused suuuper hard on sewing and designing earlier until she got a headache and then she said that she was gonna go lie down for a while. I said I'll take her some food later, so no need to worry!"

"Oh... well, alright then," I nodded. I couldn't help but feel a little concerned, but stress headaches were somewhat normal for Rarity to experience when she was in the middle of her work. A few hours of rest and she'd be back to her old self. I put together a plate of food and sat down to eat, and we all ate in relative silence for some time.

But all the while, Lightning - sitting at another table - kept eyeing us with equal amounts of suspicion. Though I tried not to let it affect me, I could clearly see it affecting the others as I glanced around. Then, finally, Flam let out a loud, exasperated sigh and stood up.

"Miss Dust... do you have something you'd like to share with us?" he drawled.

"Just watchin' you guys carefully," Lightning grunted. "One'a you's a fuckin' traitor, and I'm gonna find out who it is."

"There probably never was a traitor to begin with," Redheart closed her eyes in annoyance. "For all we know, Monokuma only said that to make a murder more likely to happen."

"He made a point in bringing it up after the trial, too," I added with a shiver. "Saying that the traitor is 'still alive'... I'd even go as far as saying that was meant to be our next motive." Lightning blinked a few times, then groaned.

"Maybe... ugh! Fuck! Fuck this place," she complained. "I'm never gonna trust anypony again if I ever get outta here!"

"Yes, we're all going to need years of therapy if we manage to escape," Redheart sighed.

"IF WE EVER ESCAPE... WE STILL HAVEN'T FOUND A WAY OUT OF HERE," Bulk frowned.

"Oh, we will. We all will," said Pinkie, casually sipping from a teacup. It was quite unusual to see Pinkie drinking tea, but to be fair, with all of the cream, sugar and rainbow sprinkles she had added, it was more like a grey-colored sludge than tea.

"I wish I could share your optimism," Flam grimaced. "The more time passes, the less hope I have of making it out of this alive."

"Aww, don't you worry Flammy-Flam, you'll be fine!" Pinkie reassured. "We'll all be just fine... just you wait and see!"

"The fuck are you talkin' about?! How the fuck can you be so calm?!" Lightning shouted in disbelief. Pinkie sipped her tea, then cleared her throat and paused for a moment.

"...Today, a young mare drinking tea realized that all matter is just energy condensed to a slow vibration. Up is down, and nothing is real," she exhaled slowly. Needless to say... everypony stared at her, dumbstruck, for a while. The only movement between us was Bulk quickly sitting on his butt with a thud, looking like he was seriously contemplating the mysteries of the universe.

"...What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" yelled Lightning.

"It comes from a certain discipline of Eastern philosophy," I began to explain.

"Do you mean to say that all this isn't real somehow...?" Flam asked, an eyebrow raised suspiciously.

"Oh, no, it's real alright," Pinkie quickly shook her head.

"Then what do you mean?"

Pinkie blinked at Flam a couple times before shrugging. "Just thinking about the immortality of the crab."

"I... what?" he asked again, even more confused.

"...Have I been missin' out all this time?" Lightning muttered. "Are there drugs somewhere in here...?"

"NO... SHE FOUND ENLIGHTENMENT!" Bulk suddenly gasped. "WOOOOOW... WHAT'S IT LIKE, PINKIE?"

"It's alright," she replied. "Feels kinda tingly, and everything looks a little bit brighter."

"OH, TEACH ME YOUR WAYS, PINK SENSEI, AND I SHALL BE YOUR DISCIPLE!" Bulk cried as he genuflected before Pinkie, who only giggled and rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, embarrassed. Meanwhile, the other four of us traded looks at each other.

"...Welp, I think they've officially lost their fuckin' minds," Lightning sighed.

"Sometimes, I envy ponies like that..." Redheart muttered, lowering her head. "Must be nice leading a simple life."

The rest of the evening was uneventful. After dropping off some dinner in front of Rarity's door and slipping a note underneath it, Pinkie and I joined the others in the Indoor Pool room. It seemed to be the perfect place for everypony to relax and swim or soak their stresses away. Even Redheart joined us; although generally lying on a lounge chair, she would occasionally stick her hind hooves into the hot tub.

Soon enough, Nighttime came. While Pinkie remained behind again to swim some more, I and the others headed back to our rooms for the night. I frowned as I saw that Rarity's dinner remained untouched outside her room... but I kept a calm mind and figured that perhaps she had simply fallen asleep for the night.

Yea... nopony among us is the traitor... no need to panic...

I showered away the chlorinated water soaking my fur and washed myself, then I hopped into bed and quickly fell asleep.

Together Forever, In Life and in Death - Daily Life 3

The day began like any other in this wretched place. I got up, stretched out my limbs and headed for the Cafeteria. Closing and locking the door behind me, I saw that the tray of food meant for Rarity last night had been removed... maybe she had eaten it during the night?

I made my way to the cafeteria and put together a plate of food for myself. I sat down beside Rarity, who was chatting with the others... but again, I noticed that Pinkie Pie wasn't joining us for breakfast.

"How are you feeling, Rarity?" I asked.

"Wha- oh, yes, much better, darling," she blinked, gently touching her forehead. "I'm so terribly sorry I missed you all at dinner last night... my head was absolutely killing me."

"EESH... DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT," Bulk Biceps cringed.

"Right... oh, and thank you so much for bringing me dinner!" Rarity continued. "I'm afraid I slept soundly throughout the night, however, so I never ate it... but thank you for thinking of me, all the same."

"No problem... have you seen Pinkie, by chance?" I asked.

"I'm afraid not, but there was a second note slipped under my door from her... apparently she spent the night swimming again and would probably be sleeping in," she shook her head.

"Again? Man, girl sure likes getting wet..." Lightning Dust smirked.

"Does she, now...?" Flam stroked his mustache in thought, barely hiding a grin.

"I can imagine that 'tea' of hers kept her up all night," Nurse Redheart remarked, sticking out her tongue. "What she did to her cup last night was quite simply a crime against tea."

There was nothing to do but wander around for somepony to talk to. Eventually I found myself in the Weight Room, of all places. There, Lightning Dust was busy hefting a few dumbbells and taking them over to a weight bench.

"Yo, Twilight, perfect timing!" she yelled as she noticed me entering the room. "C'mere and spot me, would ya?"

"Uh... alright, I guess," I answered nervously, never having spotted anypony before or even really knowing what that meant. "...Doesn't Bulk usually work out with you?"

"Yea, but he's swimming today," Lightning pointed upwards. "And I wanna lift shit. So spot me, okay?"

"What do I do...?" I asked as Lightning laid down on the weight bench and prepared to grab a 75-pound dumbbell from the holding rack above her head.

"Eh? You just make sure I don't drop the thing on my fuckin' head," she replied with a sarcastic glare.

"Oh... okay, then."

~~~

Thankfully, levitating the dumbbells in my magic was a piece of cake. I spotted Lightning as she did bench presses, then moved on to overhead presses, incline and decline presses, and quite a few others. She asked if I wanted to try any of them... I could barely manage to bench 20 pounds...

~~~

During a rest period in her workout, Lightning seemed to be thinking about something, as she frowned and grunted out a hum.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"Well... maybe," Lightning shrugged. "I just hope while I'm out of the picture, my parents are takin' care of little sis alright."

"Why wouldn't they? ...Although I guess you did say they weren't around much. What do they do?"

"They're deadbeats," she pouted matter-of-factly. "If they're not at some fuckin' rando's house partying and doing Celestia-knows-what, they're out and about trying to scam all the flight insurance companies. Pretending to fly into windows, getting themselves clipped by other Pegasi or flying vehicles... shit like that. It's fuckin' embarrassing," she rolled her eyes as she shook her head. "Nopony ever wanted to hang out with us... they'd see that our parents were the ones who tried to sue theirs for some stupid shit, and they'd yell at us, threaten to kick our asses... But sis and I had each other's backs. If somepony ever tried, then they got the beatdown of a fuckin' lifetime!"

"Oh... I see..."

Hmm... maybe it's no wonder Lightning turned out the way she did, attitude-wise...

"Yea... if it weren't for me and Zaps being so damn good at flying and getting into extreme sports, we'd still be living in a shitty little fog house. You'd be surprised how much it can pay out! But, of course, they demanded their cut of the action, and being our parents, we didn't have all that much of a choice... We hid as much as we could from them, getting ourselves food, whatever sports shit we needed, and saving up for a place of our own. Hoo, boy... were they fuckin' piiiiissed the day we finally had enough to move out!"

I could only frown in reply... my parents were the polar opposite of Lightning's, as far as I could tell - they sacrificed much to give myself and my brother Shiny the incredible opportunities we both had in life. Thinking about it reminded me that maybe I hadn't exactly thanked them for everything they had done...

"They tried all their usual bullshit, suing us for whatever, claiming we'd trashed the place and demanding we pay 'em back... nuh-uh, little sis and I made damn sure there was nothing they could stick us with. Gave them a PO Box address and never told 'em the real one... that's all the contact we wanted."

"You went that far?" I recoiled in surprise.

"Yea... ponies like that are just too fuckin' awful to be around, even if they're blood," Lightning growled. I wasn't entirely sure how to react; my parents... my entire extended family, really, they were all decent ponies. It was hard to imagine what I would do if any of them had been... less than decent.

"...If you don't want them to know where you live, then how could they be caring for your sister while you're here?" I asked. Lightning's fur bristled, and the feathers on her wings ruffled.

"It's... hard to say. After her accident, they cleaned up their act somewhat... or at least they don't try shit with us anymore. I did tell them that if anything ever happened to me, they were to take good care of her... or else. She's good with my Washouts - one word from her, and they'll turn my parents' attempts at insurance fraud into a payout... if you catch my drift."

I sure do...

"At any rate, Zaps can take pretty good care of herself, if she just takes her time. She shouldn't need to put herself around 'em too much."

"That's good..." I nodded, feeling uneasy.

Well, it's good that Lightning and her sister cared about each other enough to work together to remove themselves from that situation... sounds like for a while, they were the only friend the other had...

Lightning finished her workout and decided to join Bulk in the Indoor Pool upstairs. I accompanied her to the door; I didn't really feel like swimming at the moment, so I left the two alone. But as I closed the door and turned away, I saw Pinkie leaving the Strange Room at the left end of the hall.

"Pinkie? Hey, you're awake!" I yelled to get her attention, but Pinkie simply ignored me as she trotted down the stairs. I quickly followed after her, curious to see what she'd been up to lately. She made her way to the 4th floor, walking towards the Power Crystal Room when she stopped in her tracks. She slowly turned her head towards the double doors, almost robotically, and stared at them for a few moments, her ears flicking on occasion.

"...Pinkie?" I asked again, much more tentatively. But Pinkie stared quietly at the doors for a moment longer before her body began to tremble.

"Eeeheehee... gotta pee!" she rhymed to herself in a sing-song voice, suddenly darting into the mare's restroom before I could say anything else. I stood outside in the halls for a minute, wondering whether I should join her or not; I heard the toilet flush before long, but Pinkie didn't come out, nor did I hear the sink begin running.

Hmm... well, I guess she really had to go...

I debated in my mind about how long I should wait for Pinkie to finish. Thinking of the endless stream of sugary goods she regularly consumed, I could be waiting for a while...

...

...Geez, it's been a good fifteen minutes now...

I began to grow worried about Pinkie's well being, and was about to go inside myself when I heard the toilet flush again, as well as a muffled sigh of relief.

...Was that a courtesy flush...? Hmm...

Ultimately, I decided to wait until suppertime to talk to her. It seemed as though she was rather... busy at the moment.

I spent the rest of the afternoon by myself, either trying to piece together the mystery of this school or distracting my mind from the futility of it all by spending some of my small fortune of Monocoins on the MonoMono Machine. A couple hours of that later, it was finally time for supper. I made my way to the Cafeteria with the others, gathered together a plate of food and sat down. Rarity, Redheart, Lightning and Bulk gradually joined me, but Flam hesitated for a moment.

"...Is Miss Pie still sleeping?" he asked slightly incredulously. "She knows it's time to eat, right?"

"Oh, no, I saw Pinkie earlier... " I mentioned. "She was leaving that weird room on the 5th floor when I saw her, then went to the 4th floor and stared at the Power Crystal Room for a while, maybe like she was thinking about something. I tried to ask her what it was about but I don't think she heard me."

"Hmm... really sounds like that mare has gone coo-coo crazy, ya know?" Lightning grimaced. "First that whole spiel about vibrations or some shit, and now this..."

"She does these things sometimes," Rarity waved. "Usually when she's set her mind towards something... Perhaps she's at the indoor pool again, Twilight, it seems to be her favorite place these days... Why don't we go fetch her?"

"Ah, alright." I stood up and excused myself before trotting out of the cafeteria, Rarity already a few steps ahead of me.

"Be careful, you two," Lightning yelled after us. "Maybe she's plotting something!"

"Oh, dear, Pinkie would never do something like that," Rarity sighed to me as we walked quickly, shaking her head. "I trust her completely. We're friends, after all!"

"Yea... there's no way she's the traitor, huh?" I agreed, even daring to smirk a little from imagining Pinkie being so uncharacteristically nefarious, complete with a cape and a traditional black goatee of an evil twin.

"If anything, perhaps her Pinkie Sense has alerted her to some unknown clue as to our dreadful situation, and she's hard at work figuring out how to exploit it to escape!" she continued, her eyes shining with hope.

"Maybe... she sure had a lot of time to think this afternoon."

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"Ah... I lost track of her when she was in the mare's restroom for a while..." I gave Rarity a look that said I shouldn't need to say anything more.

"...Oh. I see..." she grimaced. "...Well, can't say I'm the least bit surprised her diet is catching up to her."

We spoke no more until we had reached the 5th Floor. When we finally made our way to the Indoor Pool room, however, we saw that the water was completely still, the hot tub serenely bubbling away. There were no pink blurs underwater, no shrieks of joy echoing off of the ceiling, and the doors to the bathroom nooks to the left were open, revealing no occupants.

Pinkie was not there.

"Hmm... I was sure we'd find her here, she's grown quite fond of this room," Rarity pursed her lips together.

Yea, I thought so, too... she's not still in the restroom, is she...? I hope she's alright...

...

...No, I can't panic now... think, Twilight, I'm sure she's around somewhere...

"Maybe she's in one of the other rooms?" I suggested, pointing down the hall. "I did find her coming out of that Strange Room over there."

"Perhaps... let's go look, shall we?" she replied, already on her way down the hall. I began to follow after her, but my eyes caught sight of the mysterious metal doors across from the Indoor Pool - once I had seen them, I felt as if I couldn't look away. It was as if the doors and my eyes were magnets.

This room again... what is it about this room...?!

Helpless against its pull, I studied the smooth metal of the doors and the Teacher's Lounge sign, feeling for certain that these doors held all the answers we had been searching for behind them. After a few moments, my eyes were particularly drawn to the door's handles - they were elegantly carved with heavenly scenes of stars, comets and auroras, dancing around a sun on the left handle and a moon on the right. Peering closer at the door's elaborate handles, I saw what looked like two inch-long oval divots in the place where one would expect to find keyholes; they resembled settings for cabochon jewelry.

Strange... why didn't I notice this before...?

I quickly glanced down the hallway in case Rarity had stopped when she had seen I wasn't following her; the door to the Strange Room was open, but I couldn't see nor hear her despite the dead silence all around us. Feeling as though this was an important discovery, I took a deep breath so I could yell loud enough for her to hear me from inside that room.

"...Hey, Rarity, did you see-"

Suddenly, I felt overwhelming pain engulfing the back of my head. My last conscious memory was the sensation of being shoved forcefully, face-first into the doors.

Darkness.

My eyes opened, but I saw nothing but sheer darkness. The back of my head hurt worse than anything I had ever experienced before, despite every fight I had ever had with the many maniacal, Friendship-hating tyrants I had ever faced. I tried to move my hoof so I could rub the area, but quickly found I couldn't move at all.

What... I can't move...?

...Oh, no... Oh Celestia... am I dead...? Is this what being dead feels like...?!

Oddly enough, I became acutely aware of the blood rushing through my veins and my racing heart beating furiously inside my chest. My heartbeat rang in my ears. Together they reassured me that I was still alive.

...No... no, I'm not dead... not yet, anyway...

I took a few breaths to calm down, and slowly my senses returned to me.

The first thing I noticed was the smell... as soon as I returned to breathing through my nose, I gagged as my entire body retched and heaved. It was overpoweringly moist and metallic, combined with something so horrible and filthy it didn't even seem possible anything matching it could exist.

Next my bodily sensations came back into focus... besides the throbbing pain in the back of my head and a duller pain all over my face, I felt as if I was sitting on something wet and tough. My wrists, ankles and throat felt strangely cold, and my wings were stuck together by something prickly and wiry.

My eyes slowly grew accustomed to the darkness, but I could only make out the slightest of forms. I focused my magic into my horn to cast a ball of light, but only a few errant sparks shot out. I crossed my eyes to look at the brief sparks, confused and deeply worried why I couldn't cast one of the simplest of spells.

My magic... it won't work...?!

I tried again and again to create a simple orb of light, but only sparks would shoot out of my horn. Groaning in resignation, I then focused on creating sparks so I could see where I was, but they were still too dim to make anything out.

I couldn't move. I couldn't see. I was trapped. Something smelled horrible.

...

...Was this it? Was this how I was going to die?

...

What about the others?! Are they looking for me? Who's trying to kill me?! Who's going to kill me...?

...

I'm not sure how long I waited in that darkness. But finally, I heard hoofsteps approaching from the left. I hoped and prayed to Celestia it was the others coming to my rescue.

Something creaked. I felt a rush of fresh air, and a presence entered the area. The something creaked again.

"H-Hello? I-Is somepony t-there?" I whimpered quietly, not sure whether I wanted to bring attention to myself or not. My worst fears were only further confirmed when the presence stayed silent, eventually letting loose with a voiceless, tittering laugh.

The hoofsteps drew closer, the floor to my right slightly vibrating. My body trembled and froze, refusing and screaming at me to move. I squinted and darted my eyes around, trying to get even a glimpse of who the presence belonged to. I heard something rustling, and then the strike of a match... the presence had their back to me, so the light of the flame did not reach me.

But it was enough to see how grotesque the presence was. It appeared to have multiple limbs, with spikes running down its back. The light grew a little stronger, as if a candle had been lit. My eyes looked away to survey the area...

...I was met with pure, unadulterated horror. I was inside a small wooden room, the size of a foal's bedroom... blood and other bodily fluids were smeared and splattered and sprayed all over the walls and floor. Knives, ropes, chains, axes, a noose and other implements of torture were strewn all over the floor, hung up on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. There were bloody chunks of what appeared to be meat and bones and viscera swept to the sides of the room, decaying and decomposing. And just a few feet ahead of me was something truly scarring - a flayed figure pierced and hanging from a meat hook, their skull smashed in, blood and grease and fat dripping down the flesh-less body, their hooves and one of their hind legs missing.

As I took in this horrific sight, the figure began to slowly walk towards me. I shivered as I realized I was chained in place. The figure was soon directly in front of me, wearing what appeared to be a large flap of decaying skin as a mask. I thrashed against my bonds, and I furiously fought against the urge to pee.

It was no use. Slowly, methodically, the figure pulled out a large cleaver from behind its back.

No... no... please don't kill me... please don't kill me...!

My heartbeat thundered in my ears as the cleaver was raised high above my head.

Please... no... I'm begging you... no...!

The figure hesitated, as if calculating where would be the most painful place to sink the cleaver into my body.

Nononononononononononononononono...!

Entirely overwhelmed with despair, pure and simple, my vision went black. The noise of my heartbeat in my ears drowned out all other sounds, before it finally, abruptly... stopped.

...

*ding dong bong bing!*

Together Forever, In Life and in Death - Deadly Life 1

"...got her..."

"...bring her... need to find..."

"...ammonium carbonate... N H four, C oh three... water..."

"...Twilight... can you hear me...?"

"...Twilight...?!"

I smelled something incredibly harsh and acrid, immediately waking me up. In an instant I felt my head throbbing with pain and my eyes stinging from the light above. I groaned loudly and squeezed my eyes shut; Nurse Redheart sighed in relief as she set aside a bowl of smelling salts and began taking my blood pressure.

"Ow... my head..."

"Yes, you've got quite the concussion, I'm afraid," Redheart frowned as she reached for a bottle. "Here, drink this... it won't take the pain away completely, but it will get you up and running."

I fumbled around for the bottle and eagerly gulped it down, trying not to recoil at the taste. Once I had finished it I dared to open my eyes - I was lying on one of the tables in the Chemistry/Alchemy Lab, on which a sheet had been hastily laid out. Flam was standing by my side, holding one of my hooves and gently stroking it in concern.

"Up and running... shouldn't I be resting if I have a concussion?" I asked, thinking as hard as my headache would allow me to.

"Usually, yes... but I'm afraid we've got a serious problem," Flam gulped. I opened my mouth to ask what it was-

The memories flooded back. The darkness, the smell, the grotesque figure, the flayed body...

"...The body!" I screamed, quickly sitting up, then lying back down as my head swam.

"Yes... somepony's been murdered..." Flam said, slowly and grimly.

"Rarity... where's Rarity?!" I panicked. "Pinkie?! The others?! Who-"

"We're... not quite sure," Redheart grimaced as she mixed together some more potions.

"Not... quite sure...?!" I parroted.

"We haven't found either of them, as of late," said Flam. "Miss Dust is guarding the crime scene while Bulk continues to search the school for them... one look at the room where we found you, and he absolutely refused to be anywhere near it."

Oh Celestia... that can only mean... one of them is...!

"Wait, you found me? Where did you find me?! When?!" I demanded.

"Twilight, calm down... there will be time to explain all that," Redheart chided as she set more medicine down beside me.

"But... if somepony's dead, and everypony knows about it... doesn't that mean-"

"Monokuma gave us the courtesy of letting you wake up before he'd announce the investigation's beginning," grumbled Flam. "You've been out for at least an hour, and missing for about twelve."

...Twelve... Twelve hours...? I've... we've been missing for twelve hours...?!

My head felt light and I nearly fainted again, if not for Redheart shoving the smelling salts back beneath my muzzle. She then began administering a small parade of medicinal potions and pills to me, each one tasting awful but gradually making me feel better. Soon my headache dulled to an acceptable level, my dizziness and nausea disappeared, and I was assured that my near-future need to seriously concentrate would not affect my healing concussion.

And just when I had taken the last of the pills...

*boing!*

"Aw, but I just redecorated the Trial Room!" Monokuma protested. I hiccuped at his sudden appearance, making my very brain pulse in pain. "Oh, but if you're ready to give a verdict now, I suppose I could save it for next time!"

"What?! No! We don't even know for sure who has died yet!" Flam argued. "What are you even talking about?!"

"...So you're gonna have the trial after all?" asked Monokuma. "Yippee! Oh, how wonderful! My flash of interior decorating inspiration won't go to waste!"

"Just give us the bloody Files and be done with it, alright?!" snapped Flam.

"Soooo, let's begin already! No whining, just begin already. Okay, I shall pass out the Monokuma File #5! ...This should start to feel familiar," Monokuma grinned as he handed out a total of six files. "Now then, do your very best to investigate! I'll see you later at the class trial!" And with that, he quickly excused himself from the room and vanished.

"Alright, now we can begin our investigation proper," Flam huffed.

"...Is it just me, or has he said those exact words before...?" Redheart's brow furrowed.

Now that you mention it... that did sound oddly familiar... But that's not important right now! One of my remaining best friends is missing... the other is... is...!

Tears began to well up in my eyes as the weight of reality dawned on me. But I shook them from my eyes and took a few deep breaths.

No... I can't give up now... I can't give in to despair...! I have to find out who has died, who is still alive... and who killed one of my last best friends...! I have to do it... for their sake, and for the sake of everypony else...! I may have just almost died, myself... I can't let the others feel that kind of despair...!

"I must... push through..."

*Investigation Start*

I opened the Monokuma File carefully, in case I would be met with the horrifying visage of that flayed body again. Thankfully, the image was of a generic pony silhouette, painted over with a hot-pink question mark.

"The victim was discovered in a secret room behind the Mare's and Stallion's Restrooms on the 4th floor," I read. "The victim's skin and flesh was flayed from the body and the skull was caved in by a blunt object, thus rendering the body unidentifiable. The hooves and the left hind leg are also missing."

The restrooms on the 4th floor... is that why they were so small...?

"That's all, huh? I was hoping for more information..." Redheart sighed.

"Yes... would have been a great boon to know which of the other two ladies were still living," Flam agreed.

"You said I've been missing for twelve hours?" I asked. "What happened during that time?"

"Ah, yes. You and Miss Rarity never returned from your search for Miss Pie," explained Flam. "We gave the two of you an hour before deciding we needed to join in the search. Lightning was convinced that somepony was going to wind up dead from this, so for brevity's sake, we resolved to split up individually in order to search the school as quickly as possible."

"Normally this would be a terrible idea, giving a murderer free reign to act," added Redheart. "So we agreed we would meet up by the Gym on the first floor every hour, on the hour. That way, we could keep at least a little track of each other."

"We searched the whole night straight for you two," Flam frowned. "Then finally, about an hour ago, I was searching the Physics Lab on the 4th floor... I discovered that one of the books on the bookshelf near the back of the room had absolutely nothing to do with physics. I pulled on it in order to look it over, but it pivoted outwards... and next thing I knew, the entire bookshelf slid to the left, revealing... well, a truly wretched sight."

"I happened to be searching the 3rd floor, figuring out my own set of problems," said Redheart. "Flam came and got me as soon as he could... we found you chained to the wall in a secret room behind the bookshelf, and the... victim. I checked your vitals and found you were still alive, but unconscious... I told Flam to grab a blanket and supplies from the Infirmary and bring it to the Chem Lab, as it was imperative that you be treated for your injuries immediately."

"It was really quite impressive watching her work," Flam smirked. "I've never seen a mare move so fast in my life, tending wounds, taking notes, mixing medicines, synthesizing smelling salts... it was a blur!"

"Yes, well..." Redheart blushed and smiled slightly, rubbing the back of her neck.

They didn't mention that creepy figure I barely saw in there... it must've left before it... could kill me... Why...? Maybe it heard Flam in the other room and it scared it off...?

"I see... alright..." I breathed, taking everything in as much as I could. "You said you had your own problems, Redheart... what did you mean by that?"

"It was a discovery made rather quickly into our search for you," she grimaced, her eyes betraying her usual stoicism. "On the 3rd floor, in the Biology Lab... the morgue had been opened."

"Wh-What?!" I shouted, shivering violently.

"Nine of the vaults were open... the bodies inside them were gone. Only some blood remained," Redheart swallowed. "I can only presume that some of them are in that secret room... or at least parts of them. There were far too many bits of flesh and bone in that room to have come from the flayed body... I even saw two skulls."

"And unfortunately, since there was a Body Discovery Announcement just before Miss Redheart and I freed you from the chains... the flayed body can only be either Miss Rarity or Miss Pie," Flam mumbled queasily. I was struck speechless by this revelation... I couldn't even think of anything to say.

The morgue... the bodies were removed...?!

"...Well, we'd better make sure Bulk and Lightning get these," Redheart broke the silence as she held up three of the Monokuma Files. "Twilight, do you think you can walk now?"

"Ah, I think so." Shoving many horrific images out of my mind, I gingerly rolled myself off of the table and stood up without much difficulty.

"Let's get this to Miss Dust first... with any luck, we'll run into Bulk on the way," said Flam.

Redheart and Flam walked slowly by my sides, ensuring that they could lend me a hoof if I became unsteady. We made our way to the 4th floor, but as we passed by the Mare's and Stallion's Restrooms I froze.

"...Did you guys hear that...?" I asked after listening for a few moments. A low groan was coming from behind one of the doors.

"...I think it's coming from the Stallion's Restroom!" Flam shouted as he frantically tried the doorknob. But try as he might, the door refused to open.

"Is it locked? Here, let me see that..." Redheart sighed as she gently nudged Flam out of the way, then bucked down the door with a powerful kick.

"Goodness!" exclaimed Flam. I began to say that I'd seen Redheart do that before, but the noise that left my muzzle was a cross between a gasp and a yelp. Inside the Stallion's Restroom was Rarity, hanging her head over the sink. Her fur was a little dusty and messy, but other than that she seemed to be fine.

Rarity! ...So... that must mean...!

"Are you alright?" Redheart's usually quiet, level voice was shattered as she raced inside. Immediately, Rarity flinched and stuck her head under a stream of warm water from the sink's faucet.

"Ow... please, not so loud..." she whimpered as Redheart began to take her vital signs. "I-Is... Twilight okay...?"

"I'm right here," I sighed. While I was deeply relieved to see that Rarity was still alive, my heart was wrenching in agony... if Rarity was alive, that could only mean that Pinkie Pie - the Ultimate Party Planner - ...was dead.

Not just dead... horrifically murdered.

"We've been searching everywhere for you!" Flam gasped. "What happened?!"

"Owowow... um..." Rarity paused as she tried to think. "...I was searching that Strange Room on the 5th floor... Twilight said she had seen Pinkie in there earlier, so we thought... but..."

"But...?" I goaded worryingly.

"...Somepony attacked me from behind... I lost consciousness almost instantly... I only just woke up a few minutes ago... where am I? What happened...?"

"Somepony attacked me, too..." I gulped, my entire body trembling as I remembered my experience. "I woke up in a... a..."

C'mon... I need to say it... I need to be able to say it...

"...A torture dungeon."

Rarity's expression changed drastically. "...A torture dungeon?!" she howled, her headache all but forgotten.

"I... can't describe it any other way... there was a creepy figure inside, and a flayed body- oh, Rarity! Pinkie's dead!" My heart pounded in my chest, and I was close to hyperventilating as I rushed to her and hugged her tightly, sobbing into her chest.

"Wh... What...?!" Rarity breathed in disbelief as her forelegs wrapped around me, tears threatening to leap from her eyes.

"She's dead! She's been murdered!" I bawled uncontrollably. I nuzzled into her fur in a desperate attempt to soothe myself, feeling its softness and fluffiness against my cheeks, the wrinkles the folds of her skin formed and the surprisingly-taut muscles beneath her flesh.

Flesh... no, don't think about it, Twilight... not until you get there...

"Oh... oh, no... Pinkie...!" Her hold on me tightened, and we cried loudly together. I didn't even care that her entire head was damp with tepid water, I pressed it against my own as hard as I could.

Oh, Rarity...

Six of my best friends entered this school alongside me. Now only one of them was left. Only one of them was still alive. Overwhelming torrents of anger, guilt and fear washed over my trembling body... the harbingers of an unfathomably deep despair. I wanted nothing more than to give up in that moment... I felt in my very core that I would rather die than feel this way for the rest of my life...

"Girls, pull yourselves together!" Redheart grunted loudly as Flam reached out with a gentle hoof on my shoulder. "I know how devastated you must feel, but if we don't get this investigation done..."

"I'm afraid she's right..." Flam sighed sympathetically. "We'll all simply have to mourn later. Right now, our very lives are at stake!"

"I... y-you're right..." Rarity sniffled, letting go of me. "Pinkie would want us to get to the bottom of this... she didn't deserve to die!"

"R-Right... we need to keep going," I coughed, sniffling away my tears. Redheart then gave Rarity one of the three Monokuma Files, and we made our exit.

"Oh, my! I was in the little colt's room?! How indecent!" Rarity paled as she saw the door on the floor behind us. Remembering that it had been locked, I checked the locks to see if it had been stuck. It wasn't so much as the door was locked, however, but that the lock was completely frozen in place by a clear, hard substance.

"...Wonder what that stuff is...?" I muttered to myself. I made a mental note of it and caught up to the others. It only took a few moments to make our way to the Physics Lab next door. It was mostly the same as the last time I had seen it, except that the large bookshelf at the far left corner had been moved to the left, revealing the secret room. Lightning had moved a large machine of some sort between the bookshelf and the opposing wall so it couldn't slide back into place, and so she could keep an eye on the secret room's interior. As soon as we entered, a wave of relief washed over her face.

"Oh, good, you're still alive... oh, you found Rarity, huh...?" her face fell. "...Guess that means now we know who that used to be, then," she gestured to the still-hanging body inside.

"I'm afraid so," Flam sighed as he gave her one of the spare Monokuma Files. He then turned to me. "Miss Twilight... before we go inside the secret room, I feel I must warn you-"

"I saw what was in there," my voice wavered as my legs began to shake. "Not a very good look, but... enough..."

"You don't have to go in there," Lightning surprisingly suggested. "It's pretty fuckin' horrible... I can't say I blame Bulk for refusin' to keep watch."

"...No... I have to." I trembled, but I took a deep breath and summoned all of my courage. "I need to if I want to be any help in the trial."

"Well... suit yourself, then," Lightning shrugged. Ignoring my instincts, I commanded my legs to move towards the secret room, one step at a time.

"If you feel like you can't handle it any longer, like a panic attack or something is coming on, just let me know," said Redheart. I nodded as I reached the edge of the bookshelf and slowly peeked around the corner.

Now that it was exposed to plenty of light, I could see the full, gory extent of my temporary prison. The dried blood and bodily fluids smeared all over every surface, the chunks of meat and bone strewn about, the vast array of weapons and painful implements left around... it appeared as if one was never more than two feet from a knife, hammer or hatchet. And of course, front and center was the flayed pony - presumably poor Pinkie Pie.

As if repelled by the sight, my eyes darted to the left where I had been chained to the wall, seeing the empty shackles still there, as well as a strip of leather with runes on it. Without thinking I channeled magic into my horn to levitate the leather strip towards me, not realizing the significance of the action until it was in front of my face.

"...Oh! My magic came back!" I exclaimed.

"When we found you in here, not only were you unconscious and chained to the wall, you also had that leather strip tied to your horn," explained Flam. "It has anti-magic runes carved into it... presumably so you couldn't use magic to escape."

"I see... that makes sense," I sighed in relief. Being unable to use magic had been utterly terrifying, but it was thankfully only temporary. I examined the leather strip as it floated, turning it over in my magic, and yelping in surprise as I realized there was still fur on it... moldy, dim blue fur.

"What's wrong?!" yelled Redheart.

"This leather has blue fur on it...!" I shivered violently, letting the strip drop to the floor. Redheart's shoulders mostly relaxed, but remained tense.

"I see... then it is as I feared. The deceased... our former companions... they were being stored in that morgue."

"What?! Just what is in this-" Rarity shouted as she quickly turned the corner around the bookshelf and saw the crime scene for the first time. She didn't even finish her sentence - one look at the flayed corpse hanging from the meat hook and she instantly fainted, flopping on the floor like a rag doll.

"Oh, dear... good thing I brought the smelling salts..." Redheart sighed as she took out a small bottle. Rarity had landed in an awkward position on the floor, her neck bent upwards at a grotesque angle. As Redheart bent down to pass the bottle in front of Rarity's nose, my eyes traveled unconsciously to Rarity's throat - it seemed as though she was missing a long, very thin strip of fur across it.

Before I could properly focus on it, however, Rarity's nose twitched and she immediately sprang to her hooves. "Ack! Dear Celestia, was that really necessary?!"

"Yes," Redheart deadpanned. Sniffling and rubbing her nose, Rarity then returned her gaze to the flayed corpse.

"...So... this is Pinkie..." she moaned. "...Heavens, what did they do to her...?!"

I swallowed hard as I forced myself to examine the body. The flayed corpse was less wet than the last time I had seen it, but now I could see just how desecrated it was. The frontal bone of the skull had been caved in by a large blunt object, revealing a sickly yellow interior pasted with brain matter. The eyes and ears were missing, as well as the hooves and the left hind leg. A gaping hole was ripped into the throat with what appeared to be teeth marks around it; a few of the latissimus dorsi muscles had been partially peeled from the back and obviously chewed on. A large meat hook pierced through the chest cavity from behind, suspending the corpse in midair.

Despite not having eaten in twelve hours, my stomach imploded on itself. I bent over as I gagged and wheezed, tasting bitter bile in my mouth. I could hear Rarity and Flam just behind me doing the same, while Redheart's stomach remained ironclad.

"In all my years, I have never seen a corpse in such a state..." she breathed instead.

"...Who could have done this...?" Flam droned quietly. "I... a-are those teethmarks?! Did the killer try to eat her?!"

I didn't want to consider that possibility. My brain flat-out refused to consider that possibility.

We ponies... we are opportunistic carnivores, technically... but this...! Unthinkable...!

Redheart bravely moved forward to examine the corpse, poking and prodding as respectfully as she could. In the meantime, Flam, Rarity and I managed to tear our eyes away from the grisly sight and began to search the room proper for evidence. It was foul, disgusting work, carefully turning over bits of spare flesh and bone in order to search thoroughly, but our diligence was soon rewarded.

"Oh? What's this?" Flam asked as he motioned to a small panel of wood in the far left corner, so expertly hidden it nearly blended in perfectly with the wooden walls. His horn glowed as lime-green magic engulfed the panel, and it swung outward with a creak to reveal a dark tunnel.

"A secret passage?" Rarity asked as she and I hurried over to investigate. The passage was short, but well-kept - and lying on the floor to one side was a small tube container of something. My own horn glowed as I extended a tendril of pink magic to grab the tube and bring it closer.

"...It's superglue," I read.

"Wonder what that's doing in here... shall we see where this passage leads?" asked Flam. Before either of us could give more of an answer than uncomfortable babbling, he crawled inside.

"Ah, be careful!" Rarity gulped.

"...Hm? That was quite short..." I heard another creaking noise and peeked into the secret passage - the total length of the tunnel was only maybe three feet at the very most. Flam had opened up another panel on the other side, and he was standing next to...

"...A toilet?" I asked. "...Wait, that means..."

"Isn't this the Mare's Restroom right next door?" Flam asked. He walked to the left, presumably out of the bathroom stall. A few moments later and he reappeared behind us back in the secret room. "It most certainly was! So there was another entrance to this room, I see."

My body shivered as I recalled my brush with death. "...That thing... it must've entered through that secret passage..."

"What... thing... do you mean...?" Rarity winced.

I swallowed hard, almost choking on my own spit out of fear. "I was missing for twelve hours, apparently... during that time, I woke up in here, but it was pitch black and I couldn't use my magic... at some point I heard a creaking noise to my left and some... thing appeared."

"The killer, I presume," said Redheart.

"I... I-I'm not sure... I could only barely see it, but it didn't resemble a pony at all... it had way too many limbs, and spikes down it's back..."

"Eesh... this just keeps getting more and more fucked up," Lightning commented from outside the secret room.

"Ah... maybe it was... just your imagination...?" Rarity whimpered, terror in her eyes.

"I don't know... but the last thing I remember before waking up in the Chem Lab is that thing standing above me and holding up a knife... I-I... I thought I was gonna..." Tears began to form in my eyes again as I relived those moments.

"...No offense, but I wonder why it didn't kill you," Redheart glanced away. "You were completely helpless when we found you."

That was true... I had never been more sure that those were to be my last moments alive, yet here I was. Had I been saved at the last possible moment?

"Well... perhaps the culprit heard me enter the adjacent Physics Lab and decided to leave rather than risk being caught?" Flam suggested. "It would have been easy enough with this secret passage."

"That was pretty fuckin' lucky, then," said Lightning. "Too bad there's no lottery tickets to buy in here."

I took a few moments to regain my composure, then began searching the room again with the others. Having a hunch, Flam used his magic to try to pull at more sections of the walls, and soon discovered a panel in the near left corner. Pulling it aside, we found an identical secret passage that presumably led to the Stallion's Restroom. It appeared to be less-used than the other, still having a good amount of dust settled on the floor. Flam once again crawled inside to check where it ended, and once again found himself in the stall of the restroom. He walked to the right, and a few moments later he reappeared behind us.

"...You're telling me I was that close to this horrid room?!" Rarity screeched.

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, huh?" Redheart chuckled darkly. "This could have easily been a triple homicide."

"Ugh..." Rarity wrapped her forelegs around herself and shivered.

"Well... I'd say we've searched every bit of this room we could," said Flam.

"And I've finished my autopsy," nodded Redheart. "This corpse is missing almost all of its blood."

"Yea... don't think you have to look too hard to find it all," Lightning replied as she wildly gesticulated at the entire room.

"Maybe... as far as the cause of death goes, however... I'm not sure," Redheart frowned. "There's no signs of rigor mortis, and I can't tell which of these injuries was the killing blow without flesh or blood to examine."

"I see..." I grimaced at the thought. "We'll just have to search every other room in the school for evidence, then."

"That's fine with me... I don't think I can stomach being in here any longer," whined Rarity.

"We also still need to get this to Bulk," Redheart held up the remaining Monokuma File. "Hmm... seeing how you two were attacked last time you went searching together... Rarity, would you come with me to find Bulk?"

"Of course, darling," Rarity nodded.

"Then I guess it's you and me, Miss Twilight," said Flam.

"Will you be alright by yourself again, Lightning?" asked Redheart.

"Yep, I'm good," Lightning nodded once. "I probably don't have to say it at this point, but please be fuckin' careful, alright guys?"

"Alright," I agreed. "...Let's go, then."

Flam and I carefully searched every room in the school. When we went inside the Biology Lab, I was horrified to confirm what Redheart had seen: nine of the sixteen morgue vaults had been opened, with nothing but a puddle of old blood left behind. Other than that, however, we found nothing that seemed out of the ordinary.

We entered the Indoor Pool room, thinking that if Pinkie had been murdered in her new favorite place, there might be a clue left behind. I carefully studied the flagstone tiles on the floor, cast a spell on the pool water to detect blood, and searched the storage area for pool chemicals and the bathrooms thoroughly, but found nothing.

"...Hey, Twilight..." Flam suddenly spoke. I turned my head to look at him, finding him in the shower area staring at the upper reaches of the walls.

"What is it?" I asked, hurrying over to him.

"Do you see that?" he pointed with his hoof: up on the highest reaches of the white tiles were a multitude of tiny rust-colored droplets, some connected in a spray pattern.

"...It looks like it could be blood," I answered after a few moments. "Looks old, though. And why is it up there?"

"It might be Miss Pie's... perhaps this was the original crime scene. Whomever killed her surely tried to rinse it all off with water from the shower, but maybe they couldn't quite reach the very top?"

"Maybe, or they didn't even notice there was blood that high up-"

*ding dong, bing bong*

"Drat..." Flam hissed as the monitors buzzed to life, Monokuma appearing in his chair with a full wine glass as always.

"The time for unparalleled hedonism... has come to an end!" he monologued. "Come! Now is the time to fight the decisive battle! The hostility of fresh blood! The insanity of a contest of wits! The class trial is finally raising its curtain!"

"...You know, I think we've heard this before some time ago," Flam tilted his head.

"Soooo... meet up where you know where to meet up! Once you're there, please proceed to the underground by taking the elevator. Puhuhu, I'll see you soon!"

"Yea, I'm pretty sure he's repeating himself now," I furrowed my brow in thought. "Why, though...?"

"Does he not have any more taunts programmed into his AI?" Flam asked as he moved to the door and held it open for me. "Seems strange to cheap out there, considering how advanced he is."

"TWILIGHT! I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE ALRIGHT!" Bulk shouted as soon as Flam and I entered the elevator room, flailing his hooves so much he almost dropped his Monokuma File. "NURSE REDHEART AND RARITY TOLD ME WHAT HAPPENED... HOW ARE YOU FEELING?!"

"Surprisingly... not as bad as I thought I'd be," I mumbled through my teeth as I rubbed my ears gently.

"Well, we're all here... now we gotta find out which one of us is the sick fuck who did that to Pinkie," growled Lightning. "She might've gotten on my nerves sometimes, but she definitely didn't deserve to go out like that!"

"I-I still can't believe it..." Rarity shuddered, holding herself. "Nopony was as pure and sweet as Pinkie... who among us could do such a thing...?!"

"Not just that, but the killer also broke into the morgue vaults and desecrated all those corpses... they may have hidden it away for this long, but somepony among us has a very dark, very disturbed mind," glared Redheart.

"...I can't believe it's really one of us..." Flam sighed, disheartened. "We're all comrades in this horrible place... you're all great ponies at heart..."

Flam's right... throughout all of our hardships here, every murder, every trial... we've all worked together, trusted each other... and survived. But now... one of us has not only murdered, but brutalized Pinkie Pie...

"...We'll just have to talk it over in the trial," I swallowed. "I don't like the thought of finding out which of us did this any more than you guys... but we have to."

Everypony sighed and stared solemnly at the floor, unable to look each other in the eyes. They were all shocked that one of us could do such a terrible deed... I was no different. Emotions churned in my wounded brain, filling it with doubt, suspicion and anger. My body felt frigid with grief and sorrow. Something besides my empty stomach felt like it was eating me from the inside, leaving nothing but a cold, hollow void in its place.

"Twilight?" Redheart's voice broke me out of my trance. "If you need any more medicine or feel any pain during the trial... let me know, okay? I have it all right here." Her mouth formed the faintest of smiles before turning away towards the opening elevator doors.

...There's still so much good in each of these ponies... I must remember that...

The smile on my face faded in an instant, however, as the others began boarding the elevator. My hooves felt like lead weights, and I wanted to ignore the elevator until its doors closed and it sank away. The weight of our situation was just becoming too much to bear...

...I have to do this. For Pinkie... for everypony who has died so far... and for those of us who are still innocent...

...But it's so hard... oh Celestia, it's just so, so hard...

I followed the others inside the elevator, the doors closing behind me. I tried my best to push the thoughts of the body, the murder and the coming trial out of my mind as we began to descend.

I wanted to pretend we were all good ponies for a little while longer.

Together Forever, In Life and in Death - Deadly Life 2

I don't want to do this.

I don't want to condemn another pony to death. Even if they murdered and brutalized Pinkie Pie...

Is this real? I feel like I'm watching a horror movie that just never ends.

I'm not even sure if I know what hope means anymore.

What is hope...? A burden...?

But as soon as the thought graced my mind, I gasped and shook my head until it was empty. I can't think about things like that anymore. The only thing I need to think about now is survival... our survival.

The elevator finally ground to a halt, and we stepped into the trial grounds. I barely noticed the industrial makeover Monokuma had given the room, with its unadorned grey concrete walls contrasting against the scarlet curtains, azure panels and gold trim. As we took our places without a word, Monokuma sat cheerfully on his throne.

"Ahhh, a battle like this takes me back..." Monokuma sighed wistfully. "After all, hope and despair are natural enemies. Yes... this is a truly magnificent theme! Puhuhu... only esteemed works of fiction have themes as magnificent as this!"

"If only this were fiction, indeed..." Flam lamented, hanging his head.

"Let's just start," Nurse Redheart sighed. "We have much to discuss."

"This feels impossible, though," Lightning Dust groaned. "So much fucked up shit happened this time..."

"Yea... but we have to," I gulped. "...Or else."

"Now, let's get started," Monokuma goaded. "Mix equal parts life and death, add a dash of lies and truth, bake it in fires of conflict... and when it's golden brown and bubbling, you have yourself a truly decadent class trial!"

"At least he doesn't seem to be repeating himself any longer," Flam mumbled under his breath. I would have agreed, had I not been suffering under a sea of despair.

Once more, we faced a class trial. Was the pony who died really Pinkie Pie, the Ultimate Party Planner? If not, then where was she? And if so, then... which one of us killed her? And why did they desecrate her body?

As much as it pained me, I was determined to find out. I needed to know the answer.

It was up to us to figure it all out... it was up to me.

*Class Trial! All Rise!*

"Let's begin with a simple explanation of the class trial!" Monokuma began once more. "During the class trial you will present your arguments for who the killer is, and vote for 'whodunnit'. If you vote correctly, then only the blackened will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong one... then I'll punish everyone besides the blackened, and that pony will earn the right to graduate!"

"Ugh... wherever do we even begin with this one?" Rarity swooned.

"Yea, this is a wild one here," Lightning exhaled deeply, closing her eyes.

"We're not even sure if the victim really is Pinkie Pie," Redheart frowned, holding up her hoof before anypony could argue. "I know what you're all thinking... if we found Rarity, then Pinkie must be dead... but since we cannot actually identify the victim, it would be foolish to assume."

"You think... the body is one of those from the morgue?" Flam gulped.

"It's a possibility," replied Redheart. "Why don't we start with that? Let's see whether the body is freshly dead or not."

"Alright, well... the bodies in the morgue were everypony that was with us here, right?" asked Lightning.

"First would have been Princesses Celestia and Luna," Rarity counted on her hoof. "I... really don't think the body could be either of them."

"Celestia was burned to shit and back, and Luna was blown the fuck up," said Lightning. "So the body can't be either of them."

"THEN THERE WAS TRIXIE," Bulk Biceps chimed in. "I THINK HER BODY WASN'T IN THAT BAD OF CONDITION, IT MIGHT BE HER!"

"Possibly," nodded Redheart. "We can count Rainbow Dash out... you don't need to be a medical professional to know you can't hang a liquefied corpse on a meat hook."

"The body couldn't possibly be Discord's... he wasn't even a pony!" said Flam. "And Miss Fleur was crushed to death... Miss Fluttershy's body was intact, however."

"Might've been Applejack," Lightning tapped her chin in thought. "Coloratura was squished, so it can't be her."

"Alright, so out of everypony, that leaves Trixie, Fluttershy, or Applejack as possible bodies," hummed Redheart. "Now, I think if we compare the injuries those ponies died from with the victim's, we'll at least be one step closer."

"Well... Miss Applejack was stabbed straight through the heart," Flam shivered as he remembered the sight of her corpse in a pool of blood.

"I'm sorry, but that's wrong!" I shouted. "If I remember correctly, wasn't Applejack stabbed at a diagonal angle beneath the ribcage?"

"Right," Redheart nodded. "Although the area where the meat hook pierced the body was in the same area as Applejack's stab wound, I checked the victim's heart - there was no sign of injury there."

"MAN... HOW DO YOU DO THINGS LIKE THAT AS A JOB?" Bulk grimaced, his face a little green.

"You get used to it," Redheart shrugged. "So, we can rule out the body as being Applejack's. That leaves Fluttershy and Trixie."

"Poor Fluttershy was poisoned," sighed Rarity. "Hmm... I can't help but think that would leave some evidence behind."

"Indeed. The poison would surely have damaged her stomach, esophagus, lungs and blood vessels to the point of necrosis," agreed Redheart. "My autopsy of the body uncovered no damage to any of those organs, or the circulatory system."

"So that just leaves Trixie... she was hanged, right?" asked Lightning. "No, wait... Rainbow throat-punched her to death, that's right."

"Correct... now this one's a little tricky, as Trixie died from blunt force trauma to the throat, and the throat of the victim has been ripped out," Redheart frowned. "...A proper coroner would be able to tell."

"WAIT... YOU CAN'T TELL?!" Bulk shouted in surprise.

"I'm afraid not," Redheart cursed under her breath. "And without the victim's skin, there's no way to tell if there were bruises and scratches on the victim's back to compare to Trixie's wounds."

So... the body could possibly be Trixie's...? But then where's Pinkie...?

"Well, so we have a potential identity of the body," said Flam. "But that doesn't change the fact that Miss Pie is still nowhere to be found."

"It does seem odd that she'd be allowed to miss the trial if she were still alive," Rarity pressed her lips together in concern. Instinctively, we all glanced towards Monokuma for an answer.

"Eh... just makes things all the more interesting!" he shrugged. "Wait... don't tell me you think I'm gonna spoil the surprise for you guys?!"

"The... surprise...?" Flam's voice quivered.

"Oop! I've said too much already," Monokuma clapped his paws over his mouth, giggling to himself.

"Hmm... so either the victim is Pinkie, or the victim... isn't actually a victim at all," Redheart mused.

"Ugh! No more fuckin' mind games," Lightning groaned, holding her head in her hooves as she shook it.

I agree... we could spend hours debating on whether the corpse belongs to Pinkie or Trixie...

"...Why don't we set that aside and try something else?" I suggested. "If we look at the other bits of evidence we found, maybe we can figure it out that way."

"Capital idea," Flam coughed. "What should we talk about next, then?"

"Well... Rarity and I could go over what happened to us," I turned to Rarity hopefully.

"Ah, yes... I think I could do that," Rarity nodded, although cringing hard. The memories of being knocked out and locked in a bathroom next to the secret room were undoubtedly ones she'd have preferred to bury as deeply as she could. "W-Well... Twilight and I went to search for Pinkie around 6pm, when we were all gathered in the Cafeteria for dinner. I thought she might've been swimming in the Indoor Pool area again, as she seemed to have grown very fond of that place."

"But she wasn't there," I frowned. "I remembered that I had seen Pinkie coming out of that Strange Room earlier that afternoon, so I suggested that we search in there."

"I went inside to look, but... when I turned around, I saw that Twilight hadn't followed me in," Rarity pursed her lips.

"Oh? Why not?" asked Flam.

"Uh..." I hesitated, remembering what had distracted me. "...This is gonna sound really dumb of me, but... I couldn't stop looking at the Teacher's Lounge doors," I hung my head.

"The weird metal doors? You thought Pinkie might've found a way in?" Lightning tilted her head.

"Not really... it was like I just couldn't stop looking at them for some reason. They were way more elaborate than the last time I had noticed them, I know that."

"More elaborate? How?" said Flam.

"Well... the handles were really nicely carved, with stars and comets... and the sun on one handle and the moon on the other. And there seemed to be some empty divots where a keyhole should've been." I groaned quietly to myself and squeezed my eyes shut, the concentration it took to remember every detail was starting to hurt my head.

"Interesting..." Redheart hummed.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK IT MEANS?" asked Bulk. Redheart remained silent for a few moments before shrugging.

"Nothing I can think of at the moment makes any sense to me," she shook her head. "Let's just continue with Rarity and Twilight's accounts. So after you stared at the doors...?"

"I yelled for Rarity to come look at the doors, but..." My head throbbed as if I were experiencing my ordeal all over again. "...I remember feeling like somepony bucked me in the back of the head. My face got smashed into the doors... I don't remember anything else after that until I... woke up."

"Oh, darling..." Rarity breathed, her hooves covering her muzzle. "I should never have left you alone! I ran back into the hallway after I'd realized you weren't with me, but you were nowhere to be found!"

"What happened after that?" asked Redheart. "Did you think to come back to us so we could help you search for Twilight?"

"Yes... but..." Rarity shivered, wrapping her forelegs around herself. "...On my way back to the Cafeteria, I just suddenly lost consciousness... I'm not sure why."

"Lost consciousness?" I asked.

"Must've been whoever knocked Twilight out," reasoned Lightning. "Do you remember anything about it?"

"Only that I felt a cloth being pressed to my face from behind," Rarity gulped. "After that, I'm afraid I don't remember anything else until I woke up. It must've been chloroform or something..."

"Couldn't have been chloroform," Redheart cut in. "Contrary to popular belief, you need to inhale it for at least five minutes before syncope occurs."

"Oh..." Rarity blinked. "...Well, something in that cloth must've made me faint."

"Right, the cloth by itself wouldn't do it, especially not instantly," nodded Flam.

"But now that explains how the two of you went missing," said Redheart. "After an hour had elapsed, we all decided to search for you two. We were all separate from each other, but we made sure to meet every hour in front of the Gym to touch base and make sure nopony else went missing in the process. Finally, after twelve hours, Flam found Twilight in a secret room behind the bookshelf in the Physics Lab. He came and got me, we rescued her, and it took about another hour for her to wake up."

"You did say that you woke up once before Miss Redheart and I found you, correct?" Flam asked. I gulped as the memories of impending doom came creeping back. "I-I'm sorry to bring it up, my dear, but it may shed some light on the case."

"R-Right..." I shivered, steadying my breath. "I woke up in that secret room at some point. It was completely dark, and I was chained up to the point of total immobilization... and there was a leather strip with anti-magic runes on it tied to my horn, so I couldn't use magic to free myself or even see." Flam's fur bristled as I mentioned the leather strip, absentmindedly producing a spark from his own horn as if making sure he could still cast magic. "I... I-I don't know how long I was awake... but then I heard something creaking to my left, a-and it laughed silently to itself when I asked who was there. It walked to the right and lit a candle, and... a-and..."

"Breathe, Twilight," Redheart gently reminded - I hadn't noticed that cold sweat was dripping down my trembling body as I recalled those events. "You can do this."

I swallowed hard before continuing. "...I saw the room... and the body... and the thing that laughed," I whimpered. "I-It was horrible... it had too many arms to be a pony, and there were spikes down its back... i-it had covered its face with a big p-piece of rotten flesh... it held up a huge k-knife and... a-and..."

"AND...?!" Bulk peeked out from behind his podium, teeth chattering and knees knocking. The others looked on with grim, anxious interest.

"I... I don't know... I-I was so s-scared, I f-fainted again... the next time I woke up, I was in the Chemistry Lab. Flam and Nurse Redheart were there with me," I exhaled as I gripped my podium, feeling dizzy and lightheaded.

"Sweet-fuckin' Celestia..." Lightning shuddered uncomfortably.

"D-Darling..." Rarity swooned as if she were going to faint again.

"...I THINK I JUST PEED A LITTLE..." Bulk squeaked.

"Bro. Eww," Lightning grumbled, glaring at him.

"You were so close to death..." sniffled Rarity. "I'm so glad that horrible creature didn't follow through..."

"Though it begs another question... why didn't it finish Twilight off?" Redheart asked as sensitively as she could. "We saw the chains and shackles and the anti-magic strip... she was entirely helpless until she was rescued."

That's right... why was I spared...? Was it because...?

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"Well, that secret room is right next to the Physics Lab," I replied. "It only takes moving the correct book on the bookshelf to reveal it. Maybe that thing heard somepony enter one of those rooms and decided to play it safe and leave before they could be caught."

"Perhaps," nodded Redheart. "There are only so many places to search inside and outside the school... we did each search the rooms multiple times."

"Now wait just a fuckin' minute!" Lightning suddenly shouted, pointing her hoof at me. "There's no fuckin' way that thing could've snuck out of that room without anypony knowing it!"

"Huh? How so?!" I recoiled in disbelief.

"You're telling us that there's only one way in and out of that murderhobo room: the bookshelf in the Physics Lab! If somepony had managed to open the secret door, then there's no way in Tartarus they wouldn't have seen each other!"

"Of course there is!" I retorted. "Besides being right next to the Physics Lab, the secret room is also right behind the Mare's and Stallion's Restrooms!"

"Oh, right, and you're saying that thing could've escaped through the fucking toilet plumbing or some shit? How stupid do you think I am?!"

Aha! I see your weakness!

"Not quite," I thumped my hoof on my podium. "There were secret passages in the secret room leading to both the Mare's and the Stallion's Restrooms! That gives that... thing... three possible means of escape!"

"...There were?" Lightning was now the one to recoil in surprise. "Where the fuck was I when you found this?"

"Keeping watch in the Physics Lab, I believe," murmured Flam. "You only poked your head inside on occasion, if memory serves."

"Oh," Lightning shrugged. "My bad. Forget I said anything."

"Well, no actually, it's a good thing you brought it up," said Flam. "After the investigation began, Miss Redheart, Miss Twilight and myself were on our way to look over the secret room when we happened to find Miss Rarity in the Stallion's Restroom."

"Oh, right!" Rarity gasped. "I remember waking up on the floor with a terrible headache... I was so desperate for relief that I ran warm water in the sink to soak my head. Just as the water had finally reached an acceptable temperature, Nurse Redheart bucked down the door and we were all reunited."

"Yes, although... as joyous as it was to finally locate Miss Rarity, there is a problem now that I think about it," he stroked his mustache.

"A problem?" I echoed.

"I definitely checked the Stallion's room a few times before while the two of you were still missing... Miss Rarity wasn't there any of those times," he frowned.

"I wasn't...?" Rarity parroted, surprised.

"No... even when I checked again right before finding the bookshelf in the Physics Lab and discovering dear Twilight. Furthermore, the door wasn't locked until the time we found you inside," he continued. "Whomever is behind all this must have moved Miss Rarity into the Stallion's Restroom whilst still unconscious during that time."

"Ugh! Why couldn't they have hidden me in the Mare's Restroom?!" Rarity whined.

"I concur!" I yelled. "I don't know if you noticed, Flam, but the door to the Stallion's Restroom wasn't exactly locked."

"It wasn't?" he asked.

"No... it was like the locking mechanism was frozen in place by something. Something transparent and hard."

"Transparent and hard..." Redheart hummed in thought. "...Didn't you find something like that in one of the secret passages?"

I did...? What did I find that's both transparent and hard...?

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"Right... the superglue!" my eyes widened. "There was a tube of superglue in the secret passage connecting to the Mare's Restroom!"

"That certainly explains that mystery," agreed Flam. "So whomever abducted Miss Rarity must have hidden her elsewhere, perhaps in one of those secret passages... and right after Miss Redheart and I rescued Miss Twilight, they must have moved her into the Stallion's Restroom and superglued the lock shut!"

"Well, whoever it was, I wish they had been a little more courteous in where they hid me," Rarity huffed, blowing a dust bunny off of her shoulder. "I'm positively filthy now!"

"True... you look kinda grimy, not gonna lie," Lightning smirked.

Wait... she's right, Rarity's fur is covered in dust! ...In that case, I may be able to figure out exactly where she was hidden...

...If Rarity did not appear in the Stallion's Restroom until after I was found, where could she have been hidden? ...In the secret passages, right. And one of those passages in particular was dusty... which one was it? ...The one leading to the Stallion's Restroom!

"You had to have been hidden in the passage to the Stallion's Restroom," I spoke. "The one leading to the Mare's Restroom was spotless, but the other one was full of dust... it had only been used maybe once or so."

"Those passages were just big enough to fit a single pony inside... except Bulk, however," Redheart pointed out. "Much too muscular."

"YEAAAH!" Bulk grinned, flexing his pecs one after the other as if making them dance.

"Uuugh... why couldn't I have been in the other one?" whined Rarity.

"Whomever did this had to have dragged you through the passage so they could hide you in the restroom," Flam explained. "Then they superglued the door shut so we couldn't stumble upon you without difficulty, and so you couldn't escape if you woke up!"

"And when the culprit wasn't trying to murder Twilight in the secret room, they must have been hiding in the passage to the Mare's Restroom while we were all searching the school," added Redheart.

"But why, though?! Don't tell me whoever did this... they were trying to pin poor Pinkie's death on me...!" Beginning to sob, Rarity grabbed at her mane and pulled downwards in anguish - hard enough that a rather large clump of her hair came straight out of her scalp. Noticing this, Rarity gasped loudly.

"AAAAAUGH! MY MANE!" she wailed.

"Goodness, dear, are you alright?!" Flam recoiled in alarm.

"Hair loss can occur after an exceedingly stressful event..." Redheart grimaced. "Usually it's gradual and not instant, though..."

"Well, if the past couple weeks don't count as 'exceedingly stressful', then I don't fuckin' know what does," grunted Lightning.

"Anyway... that's that for what happened to Rarity and I while we were missing, I guess," I frowned. "...I don't think we're any closer to figuring out the culprit, however."

"THERE'S GOTTA BE SOMETHING ELSE WE CAN TRY," said Bulk.

"I dunno... we looked this place over for twelve fuckin' hours and that was all we found," Lightning scowled.

"...Wait just a moment!" Flam shouted. "There is! Miss Twilight and I found something else!"

"Ah! That's right!" I remembered. "We went to the Indoor Pool room just before the investigation was ended... it was very faint, but there was a little bit of blood splattered on the highest parts of the tiled walls in the shower area!"

"There was?" Rarity jumped, eyes widened in surprise.

"Hmm... for blood to splatter that high up, that would have to have come from an arterial spray," said Redheart. "Are you sure it was blood?"

"Yes... it was quite old and oxidized, however," Flam pursed his lips. "Whenever it happened, it wasn't anytime recently."

"I see. Then I would estimate that the splatter is at least a day old," Redheart replied.

"Is that so? But... that doesn't make any sense," Lightning growled.

"If the murder took place in the shower area, the killer could wash away any evidence with ease," Redheart continued. "Either the murderer couldn't reach the very top of the tile walls, or they didn't even notice the splatter had reached that high."

"I s-see... so the killer made their move while Pinkie was showering off after swimming..." Rarity moaned despondently. "T-To take advantage of something that allowed her to forget these horrors for a little while..."

"But... a while ago, apparently," said Lightning, suddenly pounding one of her hooves into her podium. "AGH. This makes even less sense!"

"How so?" asked Flam.

"If the old blood means that the murder took place over a day ago, then who and when the fuck did they do it?! You, uh..." Lightning paused for a few moments as she mulled something over in her head. "...Yea, math checks out. Didn't you say you saw Pinkie yesterday, Twilight?"

"Yes, I did... why?" I asked carefully, not exactly sure I liked where this was going.

"Well..." Lightning eyed me warily. "...You weren't lying about that, were ya...?"

"Wha- no! I would never!" I flailed my hooves in alarm. "Pinkie was one of my best friends!"

"SHE'S THE PRINCESS OF FRIENDSHIP, DUSTY," Bulk shouted. "TWILIGHT WOULDN'T KILL ANYPONY."

"Are... are we sure about that...?" Lightning's voice shook. "I mean... this place, this fuckin' place... it keeps driving us into killing each other... ponies that were otherwise decent." In a rare moment of genuine concern, Lightning stared sadly at the floor. We were silent for a while as her words rolled over in our minds.

"I see what you're saying, Miss Dust," said Flam. "This killing game is destroying our sanity, one murder at a time. Who can we really trust? But Miss Twilight has been our saving grace in these trials this whole time, and she... is my friend. Our friend. I'm putting my trust in her... I trust her."

"Her injuries were genuine," added Redheart. "I find it extremely unlikely that if by chance she is the killer, she would go to such lengths to prove her innocence. I trust her as well."

"Thanks, you guys..." I sighed happily, glancing around the room. Bulk and Lightning hesitated a moment before smiling thinly and nodding in agreement, but Rarity... Rarity remained silent, her face still and unreadable.

Rarity...?

"So, we are agreeing that Pinkie was definitely alive yesterday?" Redheart questioned. "Then the true question is... how is this possible?"

"I mean, if that is the case, then we've arrived at a paradox," stated Flam. "Pinkie would have been dead and alive at the same time!"

"SCHRODINGER'S PINKIE!" Bulk yelled, his face wracked with confusion. I wracked my own mind for clues, anything I might have missed, but it wasn't long before my head began to hurt from the exertion.

"...The answer has to be among you three," Redheart mumbled, gazing pointedly at Rarity and myself. "Pinkie is dead, and you two disappeared for twelve hours. Although the death seems to have occurred at an impossible time, I'm certain that the answer lies within one of you!"

"You... think so...?" Rarity finally spoke with a whimper.

It wasn't me... I was nearly killed myself...! But it couldn't have been Rarity... could it...?

Frantically I poured over my memories, retracing my steps over the past few days, ignoring the pounding of my head the best I could manage. Exploring the 5th floor together, sharing supper, going to the pool-

...Pinkie and Rarity had been the last ones to leave that evening. And then after that... I only ever actually saw one of them at a time, either Pinkie or Rarity. Feeling my confidence wavering, I stared with wide eyes at Rarity, hoping to see something, anything at all that would instantly exonerate her.

"B-But... it c-couldn't have been me..." Rarity stuttered, gently stroking her own mane as tears fell from her eyes. I watched as they dripped down her cheeks and onto her neck and throat... while they should have continued their downwards travels, they seemed to vanish when they reached a certain point on her neck.

Her neck...

I suddenly remembered what I had seen when she fainted: that long, thin line of missing fur that stretched all the way across her throat. My mind then whipped back to a vision of the body in the secret room... the flayed corpse, hanging on the meat hook, its throat torn out-

My eyes widened until they were painful. My jaw dropped to the floor. My mind writhed and swirled and screamed as it realized the truth. It was so dark, so twisted, so unbelievably, unimaginably wrong on so many levels, it couldn't possibly be the truth... but it was. It had to be. It was the only possible explanation!

...How...

Tears began to fill my twitching eyes, but I couldn't decide whether they were of sorrow or of rage, or of something different entirely. My emotions battled against each other to the point I could almost feel my own brain being split into fragments. Anger, disgust, shock, fear, grief - they all wanted to force themselves out of my eyes, my nose, my ears, my throat. I audibly gagged as I struggled to piece them together into something coherent, something I could understand.

"Twilight? Are you alright?" Redheart asked, no doubt worried about my condition. But I barely heard her over the maelstrom of my own dying conviction. What I had to say next... I almost wanted to just cast a spell and explode my own head rather than say it.

"You look like shit..." Lightning grimaced.

"You also look like you've realized something quite terrible," Flam gulped, biting his lip and remaining silent afterwards. Bit by bit, syllable by syllable, I summoned all the inner strength I had left and spoke.

I'm afraid... it actually... was you...!

"...H-How... why... Pinkie... w-why...?!" I could barely keep my hoof from trembling out of control as I pointed it directly at Rarity. She recoiled slightly, shivering with fear.

"W-What...?" she asked in confusion.

"...UH... THAT'S RARITY, TWILIGHT," Bulk tilted his head.

"Yea... Pinkie's the dead one, remember?" added Lightning.

"No..." I insisted, my hooves slamming down on the podium as the shuddering began to weaken my knees. "You d-don't understand, you g-guys... t-that's not Rarity..."

"...What?" Rarity recoiled further, raising an eyebrow.

"Not Rarity? Are you saying that she's some sort of doppelganger?" asked Flam.

"I... I think she is..." Redheart breathed, her eyes widening exactly like mine as she gasped.

"That's not R-Rarity..." I clenched my teeth together until my muzzle burned with a sharp pain, as I commanded myself not to faint from trembling exertion. "...T-That's... That's Pinkie Pie...!"

Together Forever, In Life and in Death - Deadly Life 3

"What?!"

"WHAT?!"

"I beg your pardon?!"

"Excuse me...?!"

The others all recoiled as I made my statement. My body dripped with sweat and felt frigid as it evaporated. I felt lightheaded and empty inside, my very bones vibrating in a cold tone that rang in my ears. Bile rose from my gut and threatened to spill out from my mouth.

"...You're not Rarity," I forced myself to continue, pointing at the accused again. I could barely control my own voice. "I don't know how you did it... but you're not Rarity!"

"Miss Twilight... what are you saying...?!" Flam swallowed hard. But before I could answer, Rarity broke her silence with a quiet, eerie giggle.

"Teeheehee... so, you've figured it out, have you...?" She suddenly spoke in Pinkie's voice, but in a harsh tone that flattened my ears in terror. I had only ever heard her use this tone of voice once.

"Uh... that was Pinkie's voice," Lightning gulped, edging away from her podium.

"Well! Aren't you so smart, Twi-Twi? I guess I don't need this any more, in that case..." With a flourish and a sickening rip, Rarity grabbed herself by the ear... and the skin of her entire head came sailing off a second later. Underneath was Pinkie's head, face smeared with dried blood, her mane as straight and sharply angled as a blade. Her eyes were as wild and deranged as the ear-to-ear grin she wore on her face.

"WH-WHAT?!" Bulk Biceps screamed in shock.

"I don't believe it..." Nurse Redheart breathed. "Y-You..."

"Tsk... aww, look what you made me do! Welp, might as well take it all off!" Grabbing a ripped flap of her disguise with her teeth, Pinkie giggled as she tore the rest of what was once Rarity's hide off of her body, revealing another costume that shook me to my core. On a baggy dress sewed together from scraps of multicolored flesh hung two mismatched pairs each of forelegs and wings, with an extra wing for good measure - all dull, decaying, but horrifyingly familiar shades of yellow, white, powder blue, leathery-black, grey and orange. The horns of Princesses Celestia and Luna, Trixie, Discord and Fleur were arranged down her spine like spikes. Looking closer, some of the flesh on her dress bore the Cutie Marks of all of these victims, up to and including a copy of Rainbow Dash's that had been scribbled with crayons on blue construction paper and stapled haphazardly to the ensemble.

"You liiiiike it?" Pinkie sneered jovially, posing seductively as everypony gagged, realizing which parts of the costume used to belong to which victim. "Isn't it great? I like keeping my friends close to my heart... don'tcha know?" Still having a small piece of Rarity's flesh in her muzzle, she sucked it into her mouth and chewed as if it were a piece of bubble gum... and swallowed it.

"What the fuck... what the fuck..." Lightning Dust choked.

"Miss Pie... why...?" Flam wheezed, trying his best not to vomit.

"Ohohoho, silly Flammy Flam! The mare you once knew as Pinkie Pie is NO MORE!" Pinkie shouted with glee. "I took her place. I... am Pinkamena! And I... am the Ultimate Cannibal!"

"What?!" Monokuma's sudden shout was somehow even louder than our own shrieks of dismay. "Another serial killer?! How do I keep picking students who turn out to be secret serial killers?!"

"I... beg your pardon...?!" Flam stammered.

"The fuck do you mean 'another' serial killer?!" yelled an alarmed Lightning.

"It always happens!" Monokuma whined. "First time, it was that nerdy book chick that stank like rotten salmon! Then it was those two Yakuza kids! And then it was an orphan girl who murdered people like it was her job! Unbelievable... I'm on a serious roll here!" he exclaimed, absolutely thrilled with himself until suddenly adopting a thoughtful posture. "...Well, I guess technically, practically that whole second class of mine were all secret serial killers..."

I only blinked in confusion and disbelief. I had absolutely no response to that.

"That just means you have excellent taste," Pinkie hissed with a snakelike grin. "Mmm... taste. That little bit of Rarity was quite tasty... Aw, I wish I'd brought some snacks with me to this place."

"Is... I-Is that why there's fuckin' bite marks on the corpse?!" Lightning's mouth hung open. "You... fucking ate it?!"

"Just parts of it," Pinkie answered matter-of-factly. "A whole pony is quite the feast, after all. It took me quite a while to work through the others."

"THE... OTHERS...?!" Bulk's face was deathly pale, and he had to hold on to his podium as his body swayed back and forth. He looked like he was going to faint from shock any second.

"Yes, oh yes! I had ALL of my friends for dinner! You don't know... how long I've been dying to try a piece of Alicorn rump roast! AAAHAHAHAHA!" she cackled hysterically.

"This... I... I can't even..." Flam desperately searched for words.

"...Could you please perhaps return to your proper podium, Pinkamena...?" Redheart edged away as much as she could. While Pinkie skipped happily around to her podium, Bulk shrieked as she passed by and began to collapse. He most likely would have fainted if Redheart hadn't brought the bottle of smelling salts along.

I couldn't help but stare as I watched my last best friend traipse around in the desecrated hides of the others. I felt like my soul had left my body and was watching from elsewhere, unable to stand to be in the same room as her. How... how could Pinkie have done this? Any of this?!

"So it was you..." swallowed Redheart. "You were the one who killed Rarity... why? Just to... eat her?!"

"Just to eat her...? Just to eat her?!" Pinkie hissed through a toothy grin. "Oh, no. Noooonononono. Rare-Rare wanted to know my secret, and I couldn't just let her spoil herself with all that yucky, bitter adrenaline in her system!"

"Wanted to know your secret...?" Lightning repeated. "You're not saying she knew you were this fucked up?!"

"El oh el. I'll never tell!" she sneered.

No... I bet that's not the secret she's referring to... what could it be...?

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"No, I don't think that's what Rarity wanted to know," I spoke, struggling to keep my voice even. "I think Rarity was asking Pinkie about her sudden e p i p h a n y she had three days ago."

"Epiphany?" asked Flam.

"But whatever it was... it was apparently worth killing for to keep it quiet," replied Redheart.

"Oh yes! Yesyesyesyesyes... it's a secret! Suuuper top secret!" Pinkie giggled and bounced crazily in place. "I can't tell you! I can't tell anypony! EEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!"

"What the fuck? What the fuck could this secret possibly be?!" yelled Lightning.

"I doubt she's going to tell us," sighed Flam.

"But now I see..." I spoke again, swallowing down my revulsion. "That line of missing fur I saw on her throat... you slit her throat, didn't you?!"

"There was fur missing on her throat?" Redheart asked in surprise.

"Yea... at first I thought I was just seeing things, but I saw it again just a little bit ago, when Pinkie was crying just before she took off the head of her disguise. Where that line was, and the torn-out throat on the corpse... they're in the same place! It has to have been the killing blow!"

"I see... yes... that makes perfect sense!" Redheart nodded after thinking it over, her eyes wide. "Then she let the blood drain through the shower area drains while she cleaned up the aftermath, that would definitely explain why the corpse was bloodless. And if the murder took place at least a day ago... well, that would explain why the disguise's mane came out in such a large clump."

"Aww, yea, must've rushed that part when I was tanning the hide," Pinkie rubbed the top of her head with her hoof, sticking out her tongue. "Whoopsies! Usually my work is flawless, just like hers was! After all, what good is disguising yourself as another pony if your disguise just falls apart?"

"...Hey, wait a minute! You know what?" Lightning stood up suddenly. "The other day, I saw Rarity carrying her plates to the Kitchen instead of levitating them like always, like Unicorns usually do. I didn't think much of it, but... you couldn't do that, because you're not a fucking Unicorn! You just broke Rarity's horn off her skull and glued it on!"

"...Shucks, you saw that, did you?" Pinkie growled sarcastically. "Guess a big bully like you is smarter than you look, eh Dusty?"

"You shut the fuck up, you fuckin' psychopath," Lightning retorted. "You don't get to call me that-"

"YOU WANNA DIE SCREAMING, DUSTY?!" Pinkie, her face contorted into a sadistic grin, suddenly charged and screamed angrily. She loomed menacingly over her podium at Lightning, who shrank back immediately.

"Hmm... if you alone had the knowledge of the secret passages between the Mare's and Stallion's Restrooms and that secret room, then you could have simply gone through the Mare's Restroom to superglue the door to the Stallion's Restroom shut, then go back through the other passage and pretend to be trapped inside!" Flam reasoned.

"That's right... that must be the true reason why Rarity's fur was covered in dust!" Redheart agreed. "Why risk coming out of the Stallion's Restroom when somepony might be around, when you could come out of the Mare's Restroom without drawing suspicion?"

"The Mare's Restroom passage was spotless, but the Stallion's Restroom passage had clearly been used only once!" I chimed in.

Wait... if this is true... then the pony who knocked me out on the 5th floor... it could only be...!

"...And you! You're the one who bucked me in the head and knocked me unconscious!" I yelled as I pointed at Pinkie, feeling more angry now.

"Oh? Oh, Twi-Twi, how could I possibly have done that?" Pinkie smirked. "I went into the Strange Room, remember? Oh, wait... Rarity went into the Strange Room, didn't she? But you let her go on your own, remember? And then she got knocked out herself! Ooh... what a baaad friend you've been, Twi-Twi! Mmm... I like naughty ponies."

No... it was definitely you... I can prove it...!

...As Rarity, Pinkie went to search where? ...The Strange Room, right. Now, where could she have gone where I wasn't looking? ...Oh! The staircase! And where does that staircase lead? ...Yes, to the 4th floor! And how could she have gotten behind me? ...By coming up the other staircase!

"No, Pinkie," I replied sternly. "While I was preoccupied by the metal doors, you took the opportunity to run down the stairs by the Strange Room to the 4th floor. Then you came back up the other staircase so you could get behind me! That's how you bucked me in the back of my head!"

Pinkie recoiled slightly, blinking a few times before regaining her insane composure. "I. Am. Not. Pinkie. I. Am. Pinkamena! And nuh-uh! It was totally nooot me! It was... a ghost! A spoooooky ghost!"

"AAAAH! NOW THERE'S GHOSTS INVOLVED?!" Bulk shivered.

"If you were pretending to be Rarity at the time, then it could only have been you!" I curled my lip. "After knocking me out, you took me to the secret room and chained me up, then you tried to kill me!"

"Noooooo- okay, yes," Pinkie admitted, her face changing from deadly anger to carefree cheer in an instant. Her constant mood swings made her split personality all the more frightening. "I just wanted to save you, Twi-Twi."

...Save me...?!

"All this terror, all this anguish. All this despair... so delicious. And the fear... so exhilarating," she breathed heavily. "I wanted to save you from all that and have you for dinner... and I almost had the chance! The chance to say 'Hippity-hoppity, your skin is now my property!' But, all those pesky other friends of ours... they kept interrupting our lovely dinner!" she shrieked.

"Pinkie... why... why would you want to kill me? Why did you kill Rarity?! We're your friends!" I shouted, tears filling my eyes. "You saw... what happened to the rest of us!"

"Because there's only one way out of this hellhole, baby!" Pinkie howled with laughter. "Only one way for us to see all our dead friends again! There, are ya happy now?! There's my epiphany for ya!"

What... you think we all have to die...?! I don't understand...!

"You want us all to fuckin' die?!" Lightning shouted angrily. "The fuck is the matter with you?!"

"Of course! I only want what's best for you guys!" Pinkie retorted.

"BUT I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Bulk protested.

"We're not going to die," Redheart asserted. "We are getting to the bottom of this!"

"The only thing you're getting to the bottom of is a grave," Pinkie sneered through her teeth. My legs simultaneously felt like jelly and stone as a misty crimson aura surrounded her, giving her eyes a sinister glow. Her teeth sharpened into fangs, her hooves - real and additional - morphed into spikes, and her mouth dripped with drool, blood, and sheer malice. "I'm telling you, you gotta die to leave this place! It's the only way! The others are free... don't you want to escape, too? I'm doing this for your own good, you know... C'mon, let's forget about this and have dinner together. You look... delicious."

Pinkie... Pinkamena... was this really your epiphany...? Or has this killing game simply driven you insane...?

"I'm not that cruel... Rarity's only been dead a little while, it's not like I've been disguising myself as her for longer than that," she smiled. But as soon as this lie graced my ears, I remembered a certain detail that I had noticed the past couple of days with a grimace.

...But you have been...! This is my proof!

"...She's been dead for three days, Pinkie," I frowned, ignoring my returning nausea the best I could. "After the first night we had access to the 5th floor, you disguised yourself as Rarity to make it appear as if she were still alive."

"Oh? You figured that out, too?!" Pinkie slapped her hooves to her cheeks in surprise, seemingly unaffected by their pointiness.

"Yes... I didn't think much of it at the time, since Rarity often got stress headaches when she worked too hard, and... you seemed so happy..." I pressed my lips together as I fought back fresh tears. "But after that night, we never saw both of you at the same time."

"Oh, dear... she's right," gaped Flam. "It was always either one or the other!"

"D'aww... yea, that's true. Without a handy-dandy Mirror Pool, even I can't be everywhere at once," Pinkie pouted, gazing up sadly at Monokuma. "Especially since that mean ol' bear made teleporting illegal!"

"Gotta be able to keep an eye on you sneaky students of mine!" Monokuma replied.

"I'm sorry, Pinkie... but you're wrong. Dying won't save us from this place... and I still can't believe..." My mind was nearly overrun by despair as I choked on a sob. I almost couldn't even think anymore.

"I can't believe it, either... I can't believe we've had this fucking psycho in our group all this time!" Lightning roared.

"It... may not entirely be her fault," said Redheart. "She may have simply fallen victim to this killing game herself."

"BY HAVING A PSYCHOTIC BREAK?!" asked Bulk.

"I'm... afraid so," Redheart sighed.

No... just a little longer... I need to see this through... just a little longer...!

"Please... may we finish this? I really don't wish to continue thinking about this any longer than I must," Flam shivered.

"I... yes... alright..." I gulped, taking a few deep breaths to compose myself before the closing argument.

This is how it happened!

"This crime... it happened three days ago. Pinkie and Rarity remained in the Indoor Pool room long after the rest of us returned to our rooms for Nighttime. When she finally wanted to leave, Rarity first went to the shower area to wash off the pool water. That was when Pinkie struck... she snuck up behind her, and slit her throat in one swift motion. She let the blood drain away from her body while she set about cleaning the splatter the murder had caused, but either didn't notice the droplets on the very top of the tile walls or couldn't reach them.

"When she was done, Pinkie took Rarity's body to the secret room behind the Mare's and Stallion's Restrooms on the 4th floor, beside the Physics Lab. She spent the night carefully flaying Rarity's hide from her body, cutting off her hooves and crushing her skull to get her horn in the process. When she was done, she then fashioned Rarity's hide, hooves and horn into a convincing disguise, then hung the body from the meat hook.

"For the next couple of days, Pinkie would sometimes pose as Rarity to avoid any suspicion as to something having happened. She played the part nearly perfectly, even getting the tone and inflections of Rarity's voice down pat... except for the fact that since she wasn't a Unicorn, Pinkie was therefore unable to use magic like Rarity.

"Then yesterday, when 'Rarity' was at supper but Pinkie was not, 'Rarity' suggested to me that we check the 5th floor. While I was... preoccupied, Pinkie took the opportunity to race down the far staircase by the Strange Room, down the 4th floor hallway and back up the other staircase in order to get behind me. Then... she knocked me out.

"I woke up in the secret room, not knowing where I was. There I saw what we would later learn was Rarity's body, as well as a grotesque figure we would later learn to be Pinkie... as Pinkamena. She held up a knife with the intent to kill me... but even though I fainted from terror, she didn't kill me. She might've heard somepony coming into the Physics Lab, and decided to retreat rather than risk being discovered.

"This is where the Mare's and Stallion's Restrooms come into play. Both had secret passages hidden inside that allowed Pinkie to leave the secret room without going through the Physics Lab. After I was rescued but before Bulk Biceps - and later Lightning Dust - could be located from their search to keep watch, Pinkie - back in her Rarity disguise - left the secret passage in the Mare's Restroom and went into the hall to superglue the door to the Stallion's Restroom shut. Then she went back through the secret passage in the Mare's Restroom and entered the less-used passage into the Stallion's Restroom, where she then pretended to be Rarity, having been knocked out and considered missing as well.

"...Well...? That's what happened, isn't it, Pinkie...?" I felt a darkness like a tiny black hole form inside my heart, sucking down every emotion, every sensation I had. My body was completely numb as I stared at my last best friend... the one who had murdered my other last best friend.

"Hehehe... hehehehehe... Hahahaha... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Pinkie laughed and laughed, long and maniacally. For a few moments I feared she was going to well and truly snap, leaping over her podium and butchering the rest of us in the blink of an eye. But as she laughed the crimson aura faded away, melting her dress of horrors away with it. Her eyes ceased to glow, the bouncy curls returned to her mane and her features returned to normal. "HAHAHAHA... ah... yea, okay, I'm done," she sighed.

"Wha- that's it?!" Lightning jumped. "Just like that?!"

"Well? Can we get to the voting now, Monokuma?" Pinkie asked in her usual cheery tone.

"Puhuhu... well said. Let's get this started, then," Monokuma agreed, extremely amused. "The heart-racing excitement as the blackened and the spotless face off! It's voting time!"

My eyes barely registered the buttons and lever appearing on my podium. The flashing lights and colors meant nothing to me. In my unfocused state I moved my hoof over to the pinkest button and, after lingering for a moment, pressed down. Robotically I then moved my hoof to the lever and pulled. I didn't really hear the others as they cast their votes... nor did I really care. This wasn't going to end well either way.

"Puhuhuhu... It seems the voting has finished," grinned Monokuma. "Now then, let's see the result! Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?!" The monitor behind him buzzed to life. "Monokuma Vote! Who is found guilty?" appeared, followed by the slot machine. We watched with bated breath as the symbols slowed...

...and landed, three in a row, on Pinkie's face. "Guilty!"

*Class Trial End! All Rise!*

"Well... if the culprit's just gonna admit to everything like she's proud of it, then I guess even morons can't screw this up," Monokuma muttered under his breath before continuing joyously. "The blackened who killed Rarity is Pinkie Pie! You all got it right!"

"Pinkie... please," I begged tearfully. "Just tell me... why? Why did you do this?"

"Oh, Twilight," Pinkie sighed sympathetically. "I'm surprised you still haven't figured that part out!"

"What...?"

"The way out of here... the only way to escape... is death!" she whispered loudly.

"D... Death...?!" I mouthed. Surely Pinkie's spirit hadn't been so totally broken that she had completely given up on survival...!

"I... don't understand..." Redheart blinked.

"No, I don't expect you to," Pinkie shrugged. "I don't really understand myself, either. But death is definitely the only way out of this place. I tried to tell Rarity that, but she didn't understand, either."

"You... you told Miss Rarity your intentions...?" Flam stammered.

"Oh, no, she thought I was just losing my sanity... heh, I lost that ages ago. But I was determined to save her, so instead of just stabbing her right then and there like I would've if she did understand, I waited until she leeeeeast expected it... I made sure it didn't hurt, of course. It was instant."

For a second I felt a little relieved. But then I remembered that nonetheless, Pinkie murdered Rarity. "But why though, Pinkie? Why did you kill Rarity?!"

"I already told you! The only way out of this killing game is death!" Pinkie wailed, concern finally breaking through her features. "I... I figured it out, Twilight. We have to die to get out of here! But... I couldn't bear to hurt my friends, even if it meant they could escape... so I... let her out..."

"Her...?" Lightning bristled.

"There's another part of me... a part of me that was excited to learn she was trapped in a killing game," she admitted, her mane slowly straightening back out as she stared at the ground. "A part of me that relished the thought of killing or being killed... a part of me that wanted to kill and maim and stab and strangle and smother and bludgeon and- ...a part of me that I've been hiding for a very long time. I couldn't stand her, I wished so many times on birthday candles and shooting stars that she'd go away forever... I h-hate her..." she sniffled, wiping her eyes.

"P... Pinkie..." I breathed. All this time, all these years, I had no idea she had been dealing with this demon. Was she just too good at hiding it? Or had I missed the signs all this time...?

"...But now? I'm so glad she was here. I let her take control... she was more than willing to do what I couldn't. With her help, I saved Rarity from this terrible place... I wanted to save you, Twilight, and the rest of you guys! And then... well, I wanted to escape, too, but she wanted to stick around and see what else Monokuma had in mind..."

The only way out is death... Pinkie... what are you saying...?

"You're delusional..." Flam swallowed anxiously. "Dying here won't save us! Dying here simply means we've succumbed to the killing game!"

"Seriously. Means we're going straight to Tartarus, not back to Equestria!" Lightning snarled. "How the fuck did you even come up with an epiphany like that?!"

"I'm afraid there's no reasoning with somepony suffering from dissociative identity disorder that easily," Redheart grimaced. "And I'm also afraid something like that is way out of my scope of practice."

"Heh, yea... I thought you guys might say things like that..." Pinkie smiled weakly. "Well... I had hoped I could be the heroine and save you all this time... but looks like I'm gonna die now."

"You sure are, bucko!" Monokuma laughed heartily. "Cuz it's punishment time!"

At his words, the void in my heart grew exponentially until I felt like I could be the center of a black hole. My entire body began to shake violently, and ice cold sweat ran down the back of my neck. My words tripped and stumbled over themselves as I tried to beg for Pinkie's life.

"Isn't it bad enough that you broke this poor mare's mind?!" Redheart yelled.

"She may have committed some atrocious acts... but that doesn't mean she deserves what you're going to do to her!" Flam gasped.

"Please... no! She's my last best friend! The last Element of Harmony!" I forced my words to focus and scream. "You can't kill her... you can't...!"

For a few moments, Monokuma was silent. Then, quietly at first, he began to laugh.

"What's so fuckin' funny?!" Lightning glowered.

"Oh, just thinkin' about life... and how irreplaceable it is. Know what I mean?" he smirked.

"How would you know...?!" I hissed through my tears.

"When a life ends, those closest to it mourn. But if you could somehow recycle that life... then those closest to it wouldn't need to mourn anymore, right?" he reasoned. "If we could recycle life, the world would be filled with hope. That's my point."

"That's completely wrong!" Redheart snapped. "You don't know anything about tasks of mourning, attachment, loss or experiencing grief!"

"You don't even know... what kind of fucking hell... you're making us go through!" Lightning sobbed angrily through her teeth.

"Aaaaanyway, I've prepared a very special punishment for Pinkie Pie, the Ultimate Party Planner! Let's give it everything we've got!"

"No... please no...!" I begged desperately. "Please... I'll do anything... please don't...!"

"Goodbye, my friends, but just for now," Pinkie smiled serenely. "See ya on the other side!"

"No... you can't... please... no! Pinkie! PINKIE!"

"It's... PUNISHMENT TIIIIME!"

"Pinkie Pie has been found guilty. Time for the punishment!" The familiar chain and shackle flew out from the side, clapping itself around Pinkie's throat. However, rather than shrieking in terror, Pinkie squealed with glee as if she were on a roller coaster. I could only watch with blurry vision as she was pulled away from me, screaming her name as I held out my hoof in vain. She disappeared into the darkness, and the monitor briefly went black as we had no choice but to turn our attention towards it, startling slightly as it turned back on.

The picture on the monitor came back dimly, showcasing a dark room. Moments later the room was flooded with light, revealing a rather innocuous party setting. A long table was covered with a white cloth and decorated with a red, yellow and blue garland, with matching balloons tied to the legs and each chair. Multiple table settings were laid out, each with a party hat set on the plate. The only thing missing from the table, really, was the refreshments.

But then the camera panned over to the right, and my heart dropped. Pinkie was strapped spread-eagle to a slab of metal, angled at a perfect 45 degrees. Electrodes had been glued to her scalp, chest and wrists. Next to her was a small table and tray lined with various surgical tools, along with a bare, white ponnequin in the corner. Her eyes whipped back and forth as she scanned the room, more confused and curious than terrified.

The camera panned back to the left, and there stood Monokuma, dressed in a thick leather apron. His red eye gleamed as he moved over to Pinkie; she gulped as she watched him pick up a scalpel.

And then... the horror truly began.

*Ultimate Party Planner Pinkie Pie's Execution: Executed*

*Refreshments to Die For!*

Monokuma swiftly plunged the scalpel into her flank and drew a perfect circle around her Cutie Mark. Pinkie squeezed her eyes shut and cried in pain as he severed the fascia and ripped off the flesh, then he did the same to her other flank. I watched helplessly as Monokuma treated Pinkie's body like a canvas, and he was a foal with too many crayons. He stabbed, slashed, yanked and tore at her, ignoring her screams and begging and pleading. Eventually she fainted from the pain, only for Monokuma to quickly flip a switch on a large battery nearby. Electricity traveled through the wires of the electrodes and into her body, forcing her back awake, only to scream in agony again. It went on and on for a while, the cutting and the slicing, interspersed with electric shocks.

Finally, Monokuma seemed to be getting bored. He grabbed a syringe full of liquid and injected it directly into Pinkie's chest. Then he stabbed deep into the top of her abdominal cavity and slid his arm straight down, opening her up like a bag of popcorn. He then abandoned the scalpel and plunged his arms inside, Pinkie's screams slowly giving way to desperate gurgles as he began to disembowel her with his claws. Blood splashed on the floor and dribbled out of her mouth as her intestines gave way to her stomach, her kidneys, her pancreas, her bladder, her gallbladder, even her spleen, each organ casually thrown aside and left to bounce and roll away. Soon Pinkie was reduced to an empty shell, save for her collapsing lungs and her heart. As she struggled to breathe and stay conscious, having lost too much blood to make any more noise, Monokuma, drenched in crimson, slowly gripped Pinkie's heart, looked her right in the eyes with a smirk... and tore it out.

A final loud, wet bubbling noise escaped from Pinkie's mouth, and her body twitched once, twitched twice, then laid still. Laughing raucously to himself, Monokuma then picked up a pair of surgical scissors before the monitor went black once more, turning back on a few seconds later. The party room was empty again, except blood was splattered and smeared everywhere. A tray of cupcakes decorated with pink discs now sat on the table, two in particular decorated with the remains of Pinkie's Cutie Marks. Behind the table sat the ponnequin, now with Pinkie's own hide wrapped around its form, complete with large, foggy, blurry glass eyes.

I was shocked and disgusted beyond all reasoning. My mind betrayed me and unconsciously wondered what the cupcakes were actually made of. The resulting phantom taste in my mouth soured my empty stomach, and I quickly conjured up a bucket just before bitter bile rocketed up and out of my throat.

Though her mind - her split personality - had fully betrayed her... she did not deserve this. She did not deserve to die like this!

And now... Pinkie Pie, the last of the Elements of Harmony, my last best friend... was dead.

My heart felt crushed. All the loss and guilt and helplessness... sinking in my chest. All I could do was sit down. My brain refused to register anything else - nothing Monokuma said, nor the arguments of my remaining friends.

I just sat there. Numb. Dead to the world.

They're gone... they're all gone... dead...

Nothing mattered anymore. The world felt dimmer, duller... dead. I had nothing left. I didn't even have the energy to cry anymore. I felt so empty that the wind could've blown straight through me.

Why...? Why did this have to happen...?

I barely noticed as Flam's lime-green aura surrounded me, gently lifting me up and carrying me into the elevator back to the school. I barely noticed as the elevator began its lengthy ascent, shuddering and creaking as it went. I barely noticed as the aura surrounded me once more, floating me out of the elevator and into the main hallway.

Am I not a good Princess...? Am I not a good friend...? Is this... my fault...? Is it my fault they're all dead...?

"Twilight..." Redheart's soft words and gentle touch on my shoulder finally shook me from my malaise. "...Now that this is over, I can properly treat your injuries. If you don't mind, I would like for you to share my room so I can monitor you over the next couple days. I can assure you that you will be completely safe."

"I... okay..." I moaned apathetically. I didn't care whether she had really meant that or if it was an obvious trap. I just didn't care anymore.

"You may have my bed for the duration," Redheart nodded. "Flam, would you please watch over Twilight while I fetch the appropriate medicines from the Infirmary and Chemistry Lab?"

"Of course, Miss Redheart," Flam replied. Redheart quickly ran down the hall to the Infirmary as I leaned against Flam for support. Tears lazily dripped from my eyes as I tried so desperately to shut my own brain off. I didn't want to feel anything right now. She returned a few minutes later with a clear plastic box full of various medicines, and together they whisked me off to her room.

"Thank you, Flam," Redheart smiled slightly. Flam nodded and took his leave, gently closing the door behind him. Nurse Redheart remained close by as I showered and dried myself off, then helped me into her bed. She got out a small assortment of pills and potions along with a glass of water, and explained which each medicine did as I took them one at a time. I felt deeply drowsy a few minutes later as she instructed me on concussions and their treatment, and softly laid down to sleep.

Author's Note

I'm probably not gonna start on the final chapter until I'm done with school for the year... Gotta make sure I do good on my finals.

But now everything will finally come together, and the truth will finally be revealed! I've been enjoying reading everyone's mastermind predictions... so much, I think I'll give you all one hint:

Queen Chrysalis and the Changelings in general are 100% NOT involved.

To Sleep, to Die, Perchance to Despair - 1

The next couple days were spent in a drowsy, dreamless haze. Nurse Redheart worked tirelessly to ensure my swift and total recovery. Whenever I was awake, she had a small lineup of pills and potions for me to take, as well as a light and easy-to-eat meal. We would then spend a short time talking about my recovery and how I was feeling, often ending as I drifted back to sleep. Once I even had the luck to catch Flam peeking in to chat, and I had managed to remain awake for a little longer that time.

For those couple of days, I was blissfully unaware of the world around me. My mind finally felt free from the grief and torment of this place... the helplessness as I watched my friends succumb to the killing game one by one. Those that had passed visited me in my dreams, reassuring me that I had done my best and that they were free and no longer in any pain. Despite everything I had seen, everything I had witnessed, my mind was all too happy to accept it all as truth.

It needed it. I needed it.

"...Twilight? Can you hear me?"

At first I felt puzzled, wondering who was speaking to me in my empty dreams. But in a instant I remembered... and called out.

What...? ...Yes! Yes, I can hear you...!

"I haven't much time... please, listen closely... you are in danger."

Danger...?! There hasn't been another-

"We are safe... we are in good health... we are coming to get you..."

We...? Who...?

"Take our jewels... bring them... metal doors..."

What...? Jewels...? Wait, the Teacher's Lounge...?

"Hurry... time is up... be safe..."

Wait...! Come back...! Whose jewels are you talking about...?!

But as I yelled, the voice vanished into the ether. Something deep inside me felt certain that that was the last time the voice would ever speak to me.

My eyes shot wide open as I sharply inhaled awkwardly. Glancing over to Nurse Redheart, I saw her dozing off in her chair a few feet away... it couldn't have been her. The dream was already beginning to fade from memory, but I was positive I recognized the voice that spoke to me.

Jewels... bring them to the Teacher's Lounge... what jewels...?

I pondered the meaning of the voice's words. Did it mean the Elements of Harmony? But those were returned to the Tree of Harmony years ago, and... my heart ached as I remembered my friends. Maybe those Power Crystals in that one room? But we had tried to move them already - nothing affected them at all. If there was a way to move them, then I had no idea what it might be.

Think, Twilight, think... this might finally be our chance to escape...!

I closed my eyes to picture the metal doors more clearly. It was fuzzy, but I could see the fine carvings and filigree work on the doors... the heavenly scenes of auroras, comets and stars... the handles with the sun and moon engravings, the strange oval divots-

My eyes grew wide as I remembered something.

Of course.

...Of course! Why didn't I see it sooner?! I slapped my hoof to my forehead, grunting in pain as I had done it a little harder than I intended to. It was enough noise to jolt Redheart from her nap.

"Huh... Twilight? You're up..." she sputtered in her drowsy state. "Are you alright?"

"Redheart!" I shouted. "I know how to get into the Teacher's Lounge!" As soon as I finished speaking Redheart quickly shook herself awake and stared back with wide eyes.

"You do? How?!"

"I need something from my room first," I said as I slowly got out of bed, testing my balance. A couple days of bedrest seemed to have done the trick, as I managed to stand up with no difficulty.

"I see you've recovered nicely," Redheart remarked, standing up from her chair as well. "Would you like me to fetch the others and meet you there?" I froze just before I could turn the doorknob.

"Wait..." I hesitated, feeling a shiver down my spine. Now that we had a small chance of escaping this place, or at the very least finding out what was inside, my mind was racing with caution - I wouldn't put it past Monokuma to try and stop me from reaching my room or the Teacher's Lounge, especially since I'd basically announced it to him through the room's surveillance camera. "...Actually, could you stay with me? If my hunch is correct, Monokuma might try to stop me... I think he'd be less likely to if I wasn't alone. If we happen to pass by anypony on the way there, then we can tell them to gather the rest."

"Ah, good point," Redheart nodded. "Very well. Lead the way."

I could feel my heart thumping with anticipation as I ran down the hallway to my room, Redheart close behind me. I quickly unlocked the door and flew inside, sighing happily as I laid my eyes upon the crown jewels of Princesses Celestia and Luna, lying on the desk right where I'd left them. I snatched them up in my magic and shot out of the door, not even bothering to close it.

Together, we made our way to the 5th floor as fast as we could. Bulk Biceps, Lightning Dust and Flam were enjoying a light meal in the Cafeteria, their heads turning as they watched us race past. I could hear them ask what was happening behind me, and then I heard their wings and hooves give chase. A few minutes later we had arrived in front of the Teacher's Lounge doors, stopping to catch our breath.

"Miss Twilight... what's gotten into you...?!" Flam wheezed.

"She says she knows how to get inside...!" exhaled Redheart.

"YOU DO?!" Bulk exclaimed, only slightly out of breath. "YOU MEAN... WE CAN FINALLY ESCAPE?!"

"We're on the 5th floor, though," Lightning frowned. "How the fuck could we escape from here?"

"I don't know..." I paused as I took a moment to study the crown jewels I held in my magic. "But my dream said the jewels have something to do with these doors."

"I say... aren't those the crown jewels of our dearly-departed Princesses?" asked Flam. Before anypony could answer I levitated them over to the oval divots beneath the handles, assuming that Celestia's amethyst would go into the sun-decorated divot and Luna's moonstone would go into the moon-decorated one. While Luna's fit perfectly, Celestia's diamond-shaped stone morphed until it became an oval and slipped perfectly into the other divot. Suddenly the engravings began to glow with a soft, calming blue light, and I could hear gears clinking and clicking into place within the thick metal. After a few moments there was a final, loud click and the light faded away.

"So... the Princesses crown jewels opened the doors..." Redheart hummed, her eyes narrowing. "...I'm not sure I like where this is going."

"Why not?" asked Lightning.

"Well... if their jewels were the key to opening this door, this 'Teacher's Lounge'... it leads me to believe that Monokuma's talk of a traitor may have had merit after all," she frowned.

"But they're fuckin' dead!" replied Lightning. "They were the first ones to go! And Monokuma said that the actual traitor is still alive just the other day."

"I know that," Redheart pursed her lips. "Still... don't you find this odd?"

"I must agree," said Flam. "Something about this feels... off."

"WELL? ARE WE GOING IN?" asked Bulk. I tentatively gripped the handles and pulled down and towards me. With an ominous creak they opened wide, revealing nothing but darkness inside. An orb of lime-green light sparked from Flam's horn and flew inside in an attempt to illuminate the room, but the light vanished as soon as it passed the threshold, almost as if the darkness had consumed it.

"I knew teachers were fuckin' evil," Lightning muttered under her breath.

"Everypony, stay close," I gulped, taking a shaky step inside. Together, carefully, we entered the darkness.

What awaited me on the other side of the doors was nothing I could have ever expected. I gasped as I realized I was back in my own crystal castle home.

"What the...?" I mouthed as I carefully examined my bed, my desk, my window, my lamp, my bookshelves - every last object was in its proper place. This was definitely my room. I whipped around quickly to tell the others, but gasped again as soon as I laid eyes on them. Bulk, Flam, Lightning and Redheart were all suddenly transparent and rippling, as if they were nothing but a mirage. They were each moving around erratically in a panicked search, their mouths moving in perfect silence.

What is this...? What happened to them...?!

I tried to reach out to Flam, but though my hoof felt warm as it passed through his body, there was no reaction from him. I watched in alarm as Redheart walked straight through a wall and vanished.

Is this just another one of Monokuma's traps...? Just how powerful is he...?! What did he do now...?!

Something caught my eye. A yellowed parchment laid on my desk, its crimson seal cracked apart. Wondering what was written within, I sat down and opened the parchment.

Dearest Twilight,

I pray that you are doing well and keeping calm... now that your coronation has been officially slated to take place a year from now, I can only imagine how many checklists you've prepared for yourself to ensure the day goes smoothly.

Since you are to take over Sister and I's responsibilities, it is only proper that we help you prepare. We are in the process of developing a spell that will allow you control over our Sun and Moon.

However, there is also the matter of my other responsibility. I have an idea-

The writing abruptly stopped, as if the author had been distracted and wandered away, never to return.

My coronation...? This message must be from Princess Celestia, then...

Frowning, I allowed the parchment to roll back in on itself and stood up from the desk. When I turned around, however, I gasped again as I saw a completely different scene from before. Now I found myself inside my Headmare's Office in the School of Friendship. It was set up exactly how I remembered it, not the empty, messy shell Monokuma had left it.

What... why am I here now...?

I walked over to my desk, disbelieving that everything was really back in its place. But everything was. I turned around to examine the rest of the room, finding it all intact... but some of the files on the shelves and on a side table were glowing an ethereal blue. Stopping in my tracks once as Bulk cheerfully sauntered past from the right wall to the left, I began to hoof through the glowing files. Most of the details were blacked out with thick bars covering the text, but the bits that remained...

Potential Subject 3 - Nurse Redheart

Has seen many horrors throughout her career. Cold to other ponies.

Potential Subject 5 - Trixie Lulamoon

Semi-popular traveling illusionist. Has caused a few minor catastrophes. Hypothesis: still refers to herself in the third pony, is capable of feats of magic otherwise impossible.

Potential Subject 8 - Flam

Notorious con artist. Likely has many enemies. Hypothesis: selfish, self-serving, full of garish displays of wealth.

Potential Subject 12 - Fleur de Lis

Supermodel. According to her last therapist, has severe trauma related to her past.

Potential Subject 26 - Lightning Dust

Head of the stunt group The Washouts. Very hostile, most likely won't respond.

Potential Subject 37 - Bulk Biceps

Masseuse and seller of artisanal roasted nuts. Hypothesis: simple, carefree, lots of lifting heavy objects.

Potential Subject 59 - Coloratura

Nationally-famous singer/songwriter. Likely very busy with other obligations. Hypothesis: childhood memories, memories of simpler times.

My guts tied themselves into knots as I read through the files. Why did these files about my friends exist? What exactly were they about? Why did only some of them have a hypothesis? And somehow, for some reason, I was convinced that I had once been in possession of each of these files before; reading the information felt so... natural. Clinical. Real. And the more I thought about the files... the more a creeping dread filled my mind.

I... don't think I like this...

Setting the last file down, I suddenly felt like I was being violently shoved to the left. My vision blurred as my Headmare's Office disappeared into a swirl of color, and then a bright flash of light forced my eyes shut for a moment. When I opened them again, I discovered I was in yet another unexpected place: a room full of complex machinery, from wall to wall to ceiling. It was a maze of spinning gears, pumping pistons, flashing lights and bright screens full of unintelligible information, and there was a moist heat in the air from all the activity, cooled by other machines and ample ventilation. All of it appeared to be powered by one large, shining crystal, hovering inside a glass capsule attached to yet another machine.

Deeply intrigued, I stared wide-eyed at the various contraptions. If I concentrated hard enough, maybe I could figure out what the machines were for...

"Have we confirmed our final participant?" I heard my own voice speak out from behind me. Jumping in surprise, I spun around and tried to determine where it had come from. However, other than Lightning suddenly flying a loop through the machines and my own head before disappearing into the walls, I saw nopony.

"Yes," a different disembodied voice echoed. It was definitely the soft voice of a mare, but I couldn't quite put a name to it. "As soon as they arrive, we shall begin our experiment."

"Ooh, I can't wait to begin!" my own voice preened. "It's going to be so fascinating to see what goes on and comparing it all-"

"Do be mindful of the privacy of the subjects," the other voice cut in warily. "You will see many things they desperately wish to keep from everypony else, both possible and impossible. Hopes and dreams. Secrets and taboos. Trauma so deep and dark it'll destroy your soul if you linger too long. Illusions that make no logical sense, and yet make perfect sense. Happiness. Joy. Sorrow. Grief. Rage. Terror. Violence and self-sacrifice. Pain and agony. Darkness. Hopelessness. Despair... and death."

Hearing those words shook me to my core. My blood froze in my veins as the voice lingered almost tantalizingly on the last words.

"I understand," my voice replied with less excitement. "Although... if that's the case, then why are my friends coming along?"

"The six of you have proven quite apt at solving any problem you come across," the other voice replied. "I believe there will be times when you will require their assistance, and I trust that they are all capable of keeping necessary secrets. Therefore, it is only logical that they experience the experiment as well."

"Oh... alright," my voice spoke with slight apprehension.

"Do not fear... Sister and I will accompany you during the first experiment," the other voice reassured, smooth as silk. "We will ensure that your first journey is a safe one."

Journey...?

I listened nervously, the creeping dread growing ever stronger. My heart beat deeply and powerfully in my chest to the point that my ribs hurt.

Where was all this information coming from? What did it all mean? So far it sounded like some kind of conspiracy... one that, if that truly was my own voice that I heard... I was involved in. Was this related to our situation? Was I just now finding out why this was all happening?

Was this all about... the killing game?

No. No, this couldn't be it... There's no way... there's no way...

I closed my eyes as I shook the thought from my mind. When I opened them again, I gasped in horror. I was now inside the Strange Room on the 5th floor of Monokuma's School of Despair. I was standing in the center of the room, surrounded by the sixteen beds. But the beds were not empty.

Each bed had an occupant: one of the others that had been trapped inside this nightmare with me. Each of my best friends, the Elements of Harmony... Princesses Celestia and Luna... Discord... and Bulk and Coloratura and Flam and Fleur and Lightning and Redheart and Trixie. Their decaying corpses laid on top of the covers, the remains of their heads resting on the pillows stained with moist gore. Even my own corpse laid on the bed behind me - my breath died in my throat as I looked into my own sunken, shriveled eyes.

My legs gave out. I tumbled to the ground as the room seemed to spin around me, the beds and corpses like a macabre pinwheel. My stomach burned with acid while the rest of my body froze solid. I could feel tears clawing their way out from behind my eyeballs.

All around me, the familiar videos cameras appeared, zooming in closer and closer until they were only inches away. The blank lenses seemed to revel in my torment as the darkest of thoughts raced through my mind. No matter how hard I tried to reason with myself, no matter the proof I tried to reassure myself with... only one singular thought remained, shouting so loudly that I heard nothing else.

Am I... the traitor...?

My vision grew dark. I struggled to keep a lump of acid down my throat. I laid there shivering, weeping... despairing.

The traitor... is me...

Why? Why was I being shown this? Why now?!

The traitor... is me...

My eyes twitched. I felt my lips curl upwards into an involuntary grin until my cheeks burned with pain.

The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me... The traitor is me...

My mind was breaking, shattering before my eyes... How could I live with myself after this...?

This... was all my fault.

...

Puhuhu...

Upupupupu...

Soon...

Soon they will all fall to despair...

Those wretched, filthy ponies...

After she is gone... after they watch her finally fall...

...There will be no hope left. And I...

...will rule all...

...both Nightmare and reality.

To Sleep, to Die, Perchance to Despair - 2

I'm not sure how much time had passed until I felt a familiar presence growing near. My tears had evaporated into a thin layer of salt on my face, and my face and body ached from being curled into a ball for so long.

"There you are..." Flam sighed in relief. "At least we're all together again."

"We... are...?" I sleepily asked. As I raised my head I saw Flam and the others, entirely back to normal. They were solid and tangible again.

"Somehow we were all separated once we entered those doors," said Nurse Redheart. "I found myself back in the Ponyville General Hospital, of all places... but of course, it would appear it was all an illusion."

"Yea... I wound up back in my room," added Lightning Dust, "...then I was suddenly back on my Washout's secret stunt development grounds. It seemed so real... and now here we fuckin' are again."

I blinked in confusion. The others had had a completely different experience from me? What did they see? So far it sounded like they'd returned to their old lives, however briefly.

"Well... I'm quite certain that over there is a new feature," Flam pointed. I followed his hoof into the darkness... in the distance, illuminated by harsh light was a ring of seventeen stone podiums, one being much larger and more ornate than the rest.

"A trial ground...?" I asked slowly. "What is that doing here?"

*boing!*

"The real question is... what the heck are you doing in my private area?!" Monokuma suddenly shouted from directly behind me. Everypony jumped in shock, whereas I nearly vomited my heart out of my throat. He smirked as he flashed his claws. "Ah, but you've finally arrived... congratulations! You guys are the first ones to ever beat this game! ...Is what I would've said, but then I'd just be repeating myself," he shrugged, rubbing the back of his head.

"Beat the game...?" Redheart asked warily.

"After stopping by your old stomping grounds, you've finally come back to this place," he grinned. "Now let's see if you bastards got what it takes to graduate from my school!"

"WAIT, DID YOU SAY GRADUATE?!" Bulk Biceps shrieked with joy. "DOES THAT MEAN WE CAN FINALLY LEAVE?!"

"Of course!" Monokuma's red eye gleamed. "...If that's what you guys decide."

"Decide? Why would we decide any differently?" Flam grumbled indignantly.

"Something's not right..." winced Redheart. "There's no way he's going to make it that easy."

"If you would all take a look at the touch screens built into your seats...!" Monokuma gestured to the podiums. Full of suspicion and disdain we made our way to the podiums, finding the aforementioned screen embedded into the stone plinths. There were two panels to choose from: Graduate... and Repeat.

Repeat...? What could that possibly mean...?!

"Well, this seems like an easy choice," Flam remarked.

"Compared to the other trials, the rules are much simpler this time," explained Monokuma. "There are two options: Graduate and Repeat, right? You just have to choose one of them, and press it. All of you will cast your vote, and whichever one has the majority will be considered your final decision! And if you don't press either of them, then it will be treated as an absence and will not be counted... which means that everyone who has died up 'til now will have their votes treated as absences!"

"Well, shit... I'm ready to vote right now," growled Lightning, already poised to press the Graduate panel on her screen.

"No, no, no!" Monokuma stamped his foot. "You can't do that yet!"

"And why the fuck not?!" she retorted.

"I mean... your resolve hasn't firmed yet, right? Your will to be swept away by society's harsh current," he continued with a smirk. "Besides... you'll need my final say as your teacher if you wanna graduate."

"Aw, come ON!" Lightning snarled. "We might as well not even press the fucking button, then..."

"After the vote, I'm going to judge every single one of you to see if it's okay for you to graduate or not," Monokuma grinned. "But you don't have to worry... there's no way I won't acknowledge your graduations."

"Right..." Flam bristled.

"Anyway, even if you don't want to do it, you guys still need to do it to solve the mystery," he smirked once more. "Afterward, you cast your majority votes, and from there... well, we'll just have to wait and see!"

I stared at Monokuma in fearful disbelief. Here we were, just inches away from freedom! And yet... now that he had acknowledged that we could graduate and escape, something felt so very wrong. If despair was Monokuma's entire game, then hitting "Graduate" may just as well condemn us all to a gruesome execution instead. Was he trying to trick us? Or was it alright to feel a genuine hope for escape? It was so hard to take anypony for their word anymore...

"Why do we even have to do this?! This is fuckin' stupid!" Lightning roared. "Of-fucking-course we're all gonna pick 'Graduate', why the fuck are you even asking?!"

"Hold on," Redheart threw out her hoof. "It might be a trick."

"I agree... this whole graduation situation doesn't sit well with me, either," nodded Flam. "We should hold off on pressing anything until we've considered our options."

"BUT I WANNA LEAAAAAAVE!" Bulk whined.

"Let us out, Celestia-damnit," snarled Lightning, pointing squarely at Monokuma. "This is the stupidest fucking shit I've ever heard, and I've had enough!"

"Puhuhu... you're actually arguing with me?" Monokuma giggled. "I'm basically a god. I created everything here! Just how promising can you guys be? Ah... I guess this is just the nature of life."

So, this is it... we may be finally allowed to leave this place, but he wants us to seriously consider whether we want to or not... But why...? What does he have planned for us now...?!

We were all backed into a corner, now. Monokuma had made that very clear. It was finally time to make our final choice in the killing game... would it be the right choice? Or... the dreadfully wrong one...?

What do we even have to discuss...? What do we even have to help us decide...?!

"Now, then! Let's begin the Graduation Exam!" Monokuma roared gleefully, plonking down on the throne behind the grand seventeenth podium.

*Class Trial! All Rise!*

To my surprise, Monokuma did not recite his usual speech about the rules of the trial. Instead, he simply sat there on his stone throne, whipped out a glass of red wine, relaxed his cheek on one paw... and listened. Eerie silence deafened my ears for many moments, nopony daring to speak... but finally, one did.

"...Well, we're not going to accomplish anything like this," Redheart chided.

"What is there to even talk about?!" Flam sputtered incredulously. "There wasn't a murder to investigate, only what happened to us after we all entered the Teacher's Lounge!"

"Well, maybe that's what we should talk about, then," said Redheart.

"UH... WELL, I JUST WOKE UP IN MY OWN BED, THEN I WORKED MY SHIFT AT THE DAY SPA," Bulk began counting on his hoof. "THEN I WENT TO THE MARKET TO BUY CINNAMON NUT STUFF, THEN I SPENT A WHILE MAKING CINNAMON NUTS AND BOXING THEM UP FOR LATER-"

"That's not important at all!" Lightning groaned.

"What did you experience then, Miss Dust?" asked Flam.

"Er... well, I woke up all hungover as fuck in my room... then when I left to get something to eat, I was in my boy Blasting Cap's garage. We spent a while fuckin' around with all his pyrotechnics bullshit... then I went out and found myself in our secret training and development grounds. I practiced some stunts with the others, then practiced with some rockets, they exploded, we all got drunk and-" Lightning then noticed that everypony was glaring at her, entirely uninterested. "...Alright, fine, so I ain't got nothin'... shit," she huffed.

"I'm afraid I haven't any leads myself," Flam admitted. "I found myself back in my brother and I's fabulous resort. I went through all the usual motions... shaking hooves, greeting VIPs, doing quality controls, making progress charts, racing over to deliver a check to the nearby shelter, arguing with Flim over who next to donate to the following day..."

"Donate? Well, it'd be nice if you could donate to the Ponyville General Hospital once we've escaped," Redheart chimed in. "I found myself in the main entrance lobby... it was one of the busiest days I'd ever seen in there! I had to triage pony after pony, all afflicted with bright blue skin contusions and various other ailments... looked like somepony had way too much fun with Poison Joke-infused water balloons."

"AGH, I HATE POISON JOKE," Bulk cringed. "LAST TIME I TOUCHED IT, I LOST ALL MY MUSCLES FOR A WEEK."

"It would seem that neither of us have experienced anything of note, then..." Flam sighed before glancing my way. One by one the others began staring at me, waiting for me to talk about my own experience. I groaned inwardly, wishing my experience had been as plain and carefree as theirs.

"Well... my experience wasn't like you guys," I shivered unconsciously. "I wasn't exactly back to living my normal life."

"Oh? What did you see?" asked Redheart.

"First... I found myself back in my room, in my home," I continued slowly with a nervous gulp. "I found a letter from Princess Celestia on my desk... it was about my future coronation-"

"Wait... your coronation?!" Lightning interrupted. "Don't tell me you're gonna be the fuckin' ruler of Equestria?!"

"More than that... our Princesses were planning on abdicating?!" added Flam.

"Yea... they first sprung the idea on me maybe a year ago... I turned them down, of course, I didn't feel ready at all... I still don't," I admitted. "So we all agreed to give me some time to think it over and prepare... I didn't feel all that confident in myself until the last Summer Sun Festival, and after our victory of the War of the Bell, they thought I was ready."

"WHY, THOUGH?! PRINCESS CELESTIA'S BEEN LEADING US JUST FINE FOR OVER A THOUSAND YEARS!" said Bulk. "AND WHAT ABOUT PRINCESS LUNA?! IF CELESTIA WANTED TO ABDICATE AFTER RULING FOR THAT LONG, LUNA COULD DO IT NEXT!"

"I... you know? I was never quite sure of that myself," I pursed my lips. "Sure, Princess Luna wasn't quite as... genial as Celestia, but I never doubted her ability to rule. Maybe she just didn't want to... they did want to spend time together as sisters, not monarchs."

"I suppose that makes sense," Flam rubbed his chin. "Although surely, Celestia could simply take on a smaller role in the castle while Luna leads... er, not that I don't think you'll be an exceptional leader yourself, Miss Twilight."

"Don't worry... I had the same thought as you when they first broke the news to me," I sighed. "But thanks... I hope I will be."

"I think so, too," Redheart briefly smiled, "but we're getting off-topic. What else was in the letter?"

"Right... well, all it said was something about her 'other responsibility'. She had an idea, but... the text was cut off after that."

"Other responsibility...?" hummed Redheart. "...Ah, she must mean raising the Sun."

"I don't think that's what she meant," I frowned. "She mentioned creating a spell that would allow me to raise both the Sun and the Moon earlier in the letter."

"Ah."

"Was that all you saw?" asked Lightning.

"After that, I was suddenly inside my Headmare's Office in my School of Friendship. All of my papers and stuff were back," I continued. "But... there were a bunch of glowing files for some reason, and... uh..." It now fully dawned on me how creepy and suspicious this next revelation was going to sound, and I cringed heavily in anticipation.

"And...?" asked Flam.

"Um... they were about you guys," I grimaced.

"Us? Why us?" Lightning asked brusquely.

"And Trixie, Fleur and Coloratura, too. They seemed to describe your personalities and mannerisms... some of them also had hypotheses, although I couldn't really understand why they were hypotheses."

"Hypotheses would lead me to think... we were involved in some sort of experiment," Redheart bristled. "What were they?"

I relayed the details and hypotheses I had seen to the others - Bulk nodded and smiled as he heard his own, while Flam frowned and stared solemnly at the ground at his.

"Well, I guess Trixie's fits," mumbled Lightning. "They didn't think I'd show up for it, though?"

"Who knows? Maybe you had more sense than the rest of us did," Redheart spoke ominously, her eyes dark. "Perhaps this 'experiment' was... less than ethical."

"Do you think we were all misled?" asked Flam. "We and everypony else mentioned in the files was present at the beginning of this horrid ordeal."

"It seems likely," she replied. "Combined with the fact that none of us remember how we got here in the first place, it would lead me to believe that we were all either misled, or outright taken against our will."

"...But I don't remember how I got here," I spoke quietly. "And my name wasn't mentioned in the files-"

"If the files were in your office, then this does kinda sound like the experiment was your idea..." Lightning narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"I..." I gasped slightly. "...I do feel like I've seen those files before... but I never would have sanctioned an experiment like this! I never would have put living, breathing ponies in a situation where they could possibly die! Especially... especially not my friends..." Tears welled up in my eyes as I remember each and every single pony who had died in this wretched place... the torturous agony and anguish inflicted on each of them before their lives were so callously snuffed out.

But as I glanced around the room, I could see doubt in everypony's eyes, and my blood froze in my veins. Lightning was glaring daggers at me, while Redheart's gaze was cool but calm. Bulk's lower lip was quivering. Only Flam seemed to be fighting back against the unsettling silence.

"Now, now, folks..." he coughed, "...Let's not jump to conclusions... we've all been deceived more than once before, right? It wouldn't be fair to label Miss Twilight as the... possible traitor among us so soon... right?" My eyes widened with dread. My heart pounded in my chest so loudly I could hear it in my ears.

No, I'm not the traitor! I... I don't think I am...

Redheart studied my face for a few moments before sighing. "...No, you're right. There must be another explanation."

"Are you sure?" Lightning winced.

"I'm... willing to give Twilight the benefit of the doubt for now. Despite a few... admittedly suspicious happenings, she's been nothing but helpful to us this entire time," she opened her eyes and stared directly into mine. "What else did you see?"

I shivered and gulped before speaking. "After that, I was suddenly inside a room full of machinery. Not like the room with the Power Crystals, though... this place was different. And I... I heard my own voice speaking with somepony else."

"Who?" Lightning glared.

"I'm not sure... but it sounded like we were talking about the experiment. My voice... I sounded excited about it, but the other voice told me about all the things I might see, and that the honoring the privacy of the subjects was important."

"And what did that voice tell you you might see?" asked Redheart.

"Hopes, dreams... secrets... bad things they shouldn't be doing... trauma..." I droned. "Various emotions... mostly negative. Pain, darkness, hopelessness, despair... and death." The last word in particular sent a jolt of pure terror down my spine.

"WELL, THAT DOESN'T SOUND SUSPICIOUS AT ALL!" Bulk shrank away.

"But that's not all," I quickly added, hoping that the next bit of information would exonerate me, at least a little. "Apparently, I knew my friends were going to be involved in the experiment. I asked why, and the other voice said it was because they would be able to help me with something in the future. And then... it said that it and its Sister would join us for the first experiment... to ensure nothing went wrong."

"I see..." Flam stared at the floor. "That would explain the presence of the other Elements of Harmony... perhaps Discord, too."

"It would also appear to shift the blame away from Twilight," added Redheart. "This other voice... whoever's behind it may have been the one who influenced the experiment into becoming this killing game."

"Hold on... it said it and its sister would come with?" Lightning stood up straight. "Who's its sister?" I blinked rapidly in disbelief as I thought back to the voice's words.

Sister... who always referred to their sibling as Sister rather than their given name...?

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna always called each other 'Sister' rather than their own names..." I trembled. There was a palpable silence as the others mulled the thought around in their minds.

"...I hardly think our own Princesses would be responsible for such a terrible experiment," Redheart's voice quivered. "But the mastermind of this experiment's true nature... they've said 'sister' too many times to ignore..."

"Why wouldn't they be responsible?!" growled Lightning. "They're the fuckin' Princesses, they can do whatever the fuck they want! Sure, they're all nice on the outside, but royalty and rich ponies always have dark shit to hide!"

"Miss Fleur definitely comes to mind," Flam sighed under his breath.

"BUT WAIT A MINUTE," yelled Bulk. "PRINCESSES CELESTIA AND LUNA WERE THE FIRST ONES TO DIE! DOESN'T THAT SEEM WEIRD TO YOU GUYS?"

"...You're right," I breathed. "If their intent really was to create a killing game out of the experiment... why would they even put themselves in the position where they could become victims too? It doesn't make sense!"

"They certainly seemed surprised to hear their immortality was stolen from them," Flam nodded.

"That part could have been an act," reasoned Redheart. "And yet... the way in which Princess Celestia died makes me think that she couldn't possibly have been behind the killing game."

The way in which Princess Celestia died...?

...Oh! Right!

"I concur!" I exclaimed after a moment. "Princess Luna never meant to kill her own sister, it was a freak accident! She was trying to find a way for all of us to escape!"

"It also could have been an act," Redheart suggested.

"How?! You saw Celestia's body!" Lightning yelled. "And we all saw Luna fuckin' explode! I might not know much about magic, but I'm pretty damn sure there are easier ways to fake your own death!"

"Definitely, but such dramatic deaths would also be hard to deny having happened," said Flam. "It was all simply too... real."

"Indeed..." Redheart hummed before stomping a hoof in frustration. "...Ugh! We're so close, I can feel it... The answers must lie within one of our three Princesses. I'm sure of it!"

Monokuma yawned loudly, drawing our attention towards him. "...Ya know, you guys could just bypass all this silly arguing and simply press the Graduate button, right?"

What...? You're... letting us go...?

"Yea... why aren't we just doing that?!" Lightning added grumpily.

"Well, you did tell us there was a mystery to be solved first," Flam pointed out. "I assumed it would have something to do with your allowing us to graduate, or to find out the truth behind our entire ghastly stay here."

"Precisely!" Monokuma grinned excitedly before quickly slumping back down. "The truth is... I'm really just kinda bored of the whole thing now... I always lose my gumption on the last act."

"You're... bored?" Redheart shrank away suspiciously.

"Yea... so just go ahead and press Graduate, will ya?" the bear gestured. "I'll happily vouch for all of you, so there's nothing to worry about. I'll even tell you guys everything after you've done it!"

"Finally," Lightning sighed, raising her hoof.

"Wait! Don't touch anything!" Redheart suddenly shouted.

"Oh, what now?!" the Pegasus glared, setting her hoof back down.

"This is all too sudden!" said Flam. "He's thoroughly enjoyed watching us murder each other while struggling to escape, so why on Celestia's green Equestria is he letting us go so easily?"

"YEA... SOMETHING'S WEIRD, HERE," agreed Bulk. Redheart and I both nodded... something was definitely wrong.

Why is he making it so easy to leave...? After all of the torment he's put us through... it's just too suspicious...!

Monokuma stood up from his throne to speak, but suddenly paused. "...Hold that thought. It would seem our guest is juuust about to arrive!"

G-Guest...? Do I even want to know...?

"STOP THIS! I DEMAND YOU STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY!" a voice suddenly commanded, booming all around us. It thundered and echoed inside my head, rattling my bones inside my body. A cold chill rippled down my spine as I realized that not only did this voice belong to somepony I knew... it was somepony I had watched die with my own eyes.

What...?! How...?!

We all frantically looked around for the origin of the voice, but Monokuma simply sat back down on his throne with a smug smirk. And then, in an instant... she appeared. In a flash of dark blue light, a tall, shapely mare with both wings and a horn materialized in the center of the podiums. The light gradually faded away, losing its brightness but gaining opacity. A long, rippling mane and tail resembling the night sky glittered gently in an invisible breeze. Silver light glowed like a beacon of hope from her scowling eyes and the tip of her horn.

Against all odds... despite the fact that she should've been a pile of lifeless limbs... Princess Luna had reappeared, standing before Monokuma in all her furious glory.

"What the fuck?!" Lightning shrank back.

"P-Princess Luna...?!" Flam stuttered.

"AAAAAGH! SHE'S COME BACK AS A ZOMBIE!" Bulk panicked. "DON'T LET HER BITE YOU!"

"...I am most certainly not undead," Luna drawled. "I am alive in every sense of the word."

"What are you doing here...?" Redheart breathed.

"To help you all realize the truth, of course," she replied. "I am afraid we have all been deceived... myself, most of all."

"No, really?!" Lightning shouted sarcastically.

"Deceived? How so?!" stammered Flam.

"It is a long story... But I am afraid that time is of the essence," Luna continued sadly. "I am afraid that Equestria- ...no, the entire world is in grave danger."

"The entire world...? What happened...?" I trembled, my heart nearly stopping from dread.

"It has to do with this killing game...," said Luna, glaring vengefully at our ursine captor. "Monokuma is behind everything... the danger to Equestria and the world... and this entire dream."

"D-Dream...?!" Redheart recoiled violently.

"This... this was all a dream?!" Flam gasped.

"Explain. Now," Lightning shivered with anger.

"First of all... everypony is alive," Luna nodded, sighing with relief. "My dearest Sister, the other participants in the experiment... everypony is unharmed."

My friends... they're alive...?!

"Alive... how?!" I shouted desperately.

"As I felt my body being torn apart during my execution, fiber by individual fiber, I felt my consciousness slipping away..." Luna breathed, shaking as she recounted that horrifying memory. "...But once it had all faded away and turned to black, I... I woke up."

"What...?" blinked Redheart.

"Whaddya mean 'woke up'?" demanded Lightning.

"Well... simply that," Luna shrugged. "I woke up in a simple bed, with a tangle of wires and electrodes attached to my body. Sister was the... first to wake up, of course... According to her and some School of Friendship researchers, we had been unrousable for nearly three entire days."

"I... what...?" My voice was weak. My brain was nearly cooking itself as countless neuron pathways devoted to grief and mourning were suddenly severed away, while another part of me desperately grasped at the fraying strands to keep them attached. My heart screamed in agony... could I really hold on to that hope? Was this just an illusion? Another one of Monokuma's cruel tricks?!

It can't be true... I watched them...! I watched them all die...!

"We tried desperately to stop the Dream Machine, tried everything we could think of to disconnect the rest of you from this dreadful nightmare, or contact you, or even rejoin you so we could reassure you all that we were still alive... but we were ultimately powerless. And, one by one, your friends and companions woke up over the next two weeks, until I was finally able to reenter the dream."

"My goddesses..." Redheart whispered in shock. "Then that means... poor Pinkie... she was right. She was right all along...!"

"H-Hold on," Flam shook his head. "Dream Machine? What is that?"

Luna took a deep breath. "In short, the Dream Machine is an unprecedented feat of magical engineering. It allows up to sixteen ponies to share the same dream with each other, as if within a separate universe where their every whim can become reality... Thankfully, while the machine is linked directly with your minds, to your senses and your bodily functions, death in reality is not possible - if a pony dies in their dream, they tend to wake up screaming, after all," she smirked slightly in amusement, almost imperceptibly. "This is almost certainly the experiment Princess Twilight has been referring to... we've been able to listen in from the machine's monitors all this time, and this machine is most definitely experimental itself. This experiment was meant to get Twilight accustomed to another responsibility that comes with being the sole Ruler of Equestria. My other responsibility..."

The other responsibility...!

"You mean... dreamwalking?" I asked.

"Indeed," Luna nodded. "Your friends were included so that in the event you came across a dream containing a Friendship problem, you would all have the ability, tools and knowledge to solve them. Princess Celestia and I were your chaperones; it was our duty to teach you about the dream world and how to interact with other ponies. The rest of you... you were all selected to participate for the general content of your dreams. It was imperative that Twilight experience a healthy variety of dreams in order to offer effective counsel to the dreamer, and guide them through whatever troubles there might be."

"I see... so that was the meaning of the hypotheses!" Redheart's eyes widened. "They must have been Twilight's predictions of what kind of dreams we had!"

"That does make sense," Flam replied, glancing sadly in my direction. I could only imagine it was because of what I had predicted he often dreamed about... that was at least one hypothesis I had been wrong about.

"Hey... I must've formulated these hypotheses before I got to know you better," I frowned. "I'd definitely change it, now." Flam gave me the smallest of smiles in response.

"You didn't think I'd agree to this experiment, though," Lightning pointed out.

"We were aware of your... relationship with one of Twilight's friends in particular," Luna pressed her lips thin. "Concessions were made in some cases, in order to convince some of you to participate... a handsome sum of Bits donated to charity for Coloratura, and the ability to boast about how you had much 'cooler' dreams than Rainbow Dash, in your case."

"Oh..." Lightning rubbed the back of her head as she glanced sheepishly away.

"Wait," I interrupted, noticing that somepony had been left out. "What about Discord? Why was he involved?"

"When we were just about to begin the experiment, he appeared," said Luna. "He commented that he'd never been to the dream realm, so he materialized himself into a bed, stuck a tangled ball of electrodes to himself and then... simply asked to join us. We all consented to it, and so he came along, and that was that."

"Seems like something he'd do," I nodded in acceptance.

"Wait just a minute..." Redheart gasped lightly. "Princess Luna, you're supposed to safeguard our dreams, right?" Luna simply nodded. "Then what about Fleur de Lis?" she asked, a glare forming on her face. "It seems to me that you should have been fully aware of the trauma and anguish she faced daily."

"I was," Luna replied calmly.

"Then why didn't you help her?!" she demanded angrily, showcasing far more emotions towards any other pony than I'd ever seen before. "Her past was bad enough, but you must've known about Fancy Pants' treatment of her for years!"

Luna sighed long and deep before replying. "...I've tried. Believe me, I've tried... but she always shut herself away and refused to discuss her dreams with me. I cannot act if she doesn't want my assistance... otherwise if I acted without consent in the waking world, the citizens would surely think I'm overstepping my authority. Even now, alive and free from this dream, she refuses to leave her recovery room and aid us in our struggle. She's... fearful of what will happen to her once she leaves the safety of the School of Friendship."

While Redheart, still fuming, seemed more or less placated from her explanation, something about those last couple sentences made my fur stand on end.

"...Struggle?" Flam seemed to have picked up on it, too.

"What do you mean... the safety of my School of Friendship?" I asked cautiously. At once Luna's composure shook, threatening to shatter completely.

"...Quite simply put," she hesitated, "...everypony has witnessed your experiences here. Everypony in Equestria."

"They've... what?!" Flam paled.

"You see the legion of surveillance cameras Monokuma has set up?" Luna gestured with her head. "He has somehow been overriding the dreams of everypony with everything that has been happening here. Everypony has seen everything: your every day spent in this place, every murder, every investigation and trial... every execution."

"Oh... oh, man..." Lightning gaped.

"Seeing each of us fall... my accidental murder of my own sister, the Elements of Harmony succumbing to the killing game one by one... needless to say, the entire country is in a state of hysteria. Ponies everywhere are panicking at the swift and sudden loss of their rulers and the Elements. They are growing fearful of each other, even their own loved ones, paranoid that they will be betrayed and murdered. Anarchy is rampant, with angry mobs clashing and arguing with each other constantly. Mass chaos has taken root everywhere, not like the lighthearted chaos of Discord, but violent and hateful. There have been numerous reports of assault, battery, even attempted murder all over the country. Myself, Princess Celestia, your friends and the others have all been trying our best to mitigate the damage, trying to prove that we are all safe and alive and it's all in their minds... but no matter what we say, what we do, none will listen. It is as if they are all trapped within an unending waking nightmare. And I am afraid that they... are all quickly falling into a despair so deep they may never recover."

A pit of darkness formed in my stomach. My mind fizzed with guilt and pain as I imagined everypony in Equestria being exposed to the horrors we'd endured, everypony slowly losing their sanity along with us. Watching helplessly as their benevolent monarchs were so easily killed. Watching as the Elements of Harmony tore themselves apart. Watching as their favorite famous figures tried in vain to save themselves. Who wouldn't fall into despair after they watched so many powerful ponies - sworn to protect them - kill each other in desperation?

Suddenly a terrifying thought blossomed in my mind. "...Spike!" I stammered. "Starlight... are they okay?!"

"They are safe," Luna reassured. "And they are aware of the situation... they've been with us the entire time, supervising the experiment. Canterlot Castle and many of our other fortresses have been overrun, but The School of Friendship is heavily fortified and has proven to be an impenetrable bastion. I must say... you truly outdid yourself with all your protective spells and runes," she grinned. For a brief moment I felt relieved, but another horrible thought barged its way to the forefront.

"...Shiny! Princess Cadance! My parents! ...Flurry Heart... What about them?!"

"Your brother managed to rescue your parents when the riots became unmanageable in Canterlot," Luna answered. "But last we have heard, he, Princess Cadance, your niece and your parents were forced to flee the Crystal Empire and take refuge in a safehouse within the Crystal Mountains... she fought well, but her powers over love were no match for the hysterical throngs."

No... no...!

"Oh, dear..." Flam gulped. "The entire Crystal Empire has already fallen...?"

"Hmm... based on what I know about the Princesses' magic, I would imagine that if everypony's rioting, there simply isn't any love left within them," Redheart frowned thoughtfully.

"Now hold on!" Monokuma finally spoke, slamming down his half-empty wine glass. "What happened to you bastards being all suspicious of me just a second ago?! Why are you trusting a zombie's words over mine?!"

"Again, I am most certainly not undead..." Luna grumbled.

"Don't misunderstand my willingness to listen for belief," chided Redheart. "Given the things we've all experienced here, the Princess Luna in front of us could almost certainly be an illusion."

"Absolutely," Flam nodded. "I cannot possibly believe that the citizens of Equestria have all gone mad in less than a month's time!"

"Yea... yea, I'm gonna need some proof first," Lightning scowled. "And it better be pretty fuckin' good proof, too!"

Luna opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. After a few moments she closed it into a grimace. "I would show you the state of Equestria, your friends safe and alive, the Dream Machine and your own bodies still connected to it... but in truth, this is Monokuma's dream. He can manipulate my visions into his own, as far from the truth as he desires."

"You... you can't show us proof...?" my lips quivered, my hope shattering into pieces before my eyes.

"No," she sighed mournfully. "...I cannot."

"Exactly!" Monokuma sneered. "About time you were put in your place!"

"So this Princess Luna is just another illusion...?" Flam sighed sadly. "Along with everything she's said?"

"Yep! It was all a lie!" the bear laughed. "Now... don't you guys want to get away from me as fast as you can? You know what to doooo if you wanna...!"

My body felt both totally numb and full of pins and needles at the same time. I was utterly crushed to see that hope stolen away from me yet again. Princess Luna wasn't real... she was dead, she was never coming back... and neither were my friends. I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, I wanted to tear everything I laid eyes on apart with my bare hooves. I wanted to bite and tear at my own forelegs until they bled, I wanted to bang my head against the stone podium until I couldn't form a single thought anymore.

But I wanted nothing more than to escape this place... this place worse than Tartarus itself. This villain worse than everypony I had ever faced. This villain... who had won.

"WHY ARE YOU SO MEEEEEAN?!" whined Bulk.

"I am so. Fucking. Tired. Of this bullshit!" Lightning howled. "C'mon, can we press the fucking Graduate button now?!"

"I... see no reason to dally any longer," Flam groaned. "I fear I will snap if I hear one more cruel sentence uttered from that ursine's foul mouth." With bated breath, everypony looked over to Redheart, the staunchest proporter of patience and caution all this time.

But even she had grown weary. "...Very well. Some mysteries, after all, are best left unsolved," she sighed, hanging her head.

"Then it's settled," I gulped nervously. "...Let's leave this place. Let's graduate."

"NO!" Luna shrieked as loudly as she could. But just as my hoof hovered over the panel, a terrifying memory suddenly forced itself to the front of my mind.

Soon they will all fall to despair...

Those wretched, filthy ponies...

After she is gone... after they watch her finally fall...

...There will be no hope left...

After she is gone... who was it talking about...? Was it... talking about me...?!

I blinked multiple times, my heart racing in my chest. It echoed and reverberated within my mind, over and over, growing louder each time. Suddenly I wasn't sure whether I wanted to press the panel after all.

Soon they will all fall to despair... does... d-does that mean...?

Quickly glancing around at the others, they were staring wide-eyed at Luna, stiff as a statue, each locked in their own personal limbo... unable to decide whether to Graduate or not.

"Eh? Why not?" Lightning's eyebrow raised, her voice shaking.

"If we Graduate, then we can escape this place and that dreadful bear once and for all!" argued Redheart.

"Wait," I spoke quickly, my voice creaking and unsteady. "...T-There's one more thing that I experienced before we all met up here again."

"Well spit it out, Miss Twilight!" Flam quivered, the panic mounting on his face. "What was it?!"

I took a breath, which did little to aid my composure. "The last thing I heard before I saw you all again... I thought I was just hallucinating it at first, but... now I'm not sure. It was a low, howling, empty voice... it said 'soon they will all fall to despair'... and 'after she is gone, after they finally watch her fall... there will be no hope left'."

Everypony, Luna included, shivered violently, their fur standing on end. Bulk's teeth began chattering.

"'After she is gone'..." echoed Redheart. "Who does it mean?"

"It is a most chilling prophecy, indeed," Luna swallowed. I whimpered as I imagined the various implications, unsure of who was being spoken about myself.

...But I need to try to figure it out...! Until I know for certain, I can't touch that panel...!

...Who is watching us? ...The citizens of Equestria, right... Which one of us still definitely alive is the most influential pony to the citizens? ...M-Me, I think... And what will happen if... I die? ...The citizens will lose all hope and succumb to despair...!

"...It's me..." I barely croaked. "...It has to be me..."

"You...?!" Lightning gasped.

"I'm the Princess of Friendship... the Element of Magic... due to be crowned as the next Ruler of Equestria... if I die... the Elements of Harmony will be totally gone! Countless friendships... the very concept of Friendship will be destroyed! And Equestria-"

"Will fall into complete and utter anarchy and chaos," Luna finished solemnly. "The ponies still seem to believe that Sister and I are still dead, despite appearing to them in the flesh when attempting to quell the worst of their violent acts."

"He wants us to Graduate," I pointed squarely at Monokuma. "He's giving us one last bit of hope... to finally leave this terrible place. But if we choose to graduate, there will be no ceremony, no promised freedom... only our own executions! My execution!"

"You mean... if we pick Graduate... we'll all die anyway...?!" Lightning trembled, her voice a high-pitched squeak.

"B-But... what will h-happen if we select Repeat?" gulped Flam.

"Then the dream will simply start aaaaall over again," Monokuma broke in gleefully. "But this time, you can try to save your friends! ...Of course, the key word here is 'try'. You'll all be subjected to my Killing Game over and over and over and over and over again, until each and every last one of you has died!"

"No..." Luna breathed, glowing, silver tears dripping from her shining eyes. "It cannot end like this... I will not let it end like this! I am the Princess of the Night! You are MY creation!" she screamed.

Wh... her creation...?!

"C-Creation...?!" Flam echoed.

"A royal secret, I am afraid..." Luna barely whispered as she bowed her head, closing her eyes in shame. "But it would seem that I have no choice but to force the reveal of Monokuma's true identity to the world."

"True... identity...?" Lightning repeated.

"Oh, no no no..." Monokuma smirked at the disheartened Princess. "There's no way this can end before I've even transformed."

"YOU MEAN... THIS ISN'T EVEN HIS FINAL FORM?!" Bulk shrieked.

"Then... what manner of creature is he...?" Redheart swallowed.

"The mastermind can only be one creature," Luna's face darkened. "Somepony... something that has the power to override dreams. Something I thought was long since destroyed, and banished from the realm of dreams."

Something that has the power to override dreams...?

...

...!

It hit me so hard I slammed my hooves into the sides of my head as I gasped and screamed in realization. Fear as cold as ice sloshed through my veins and burned my chest.

No... no... we destroyed you... she destroyed you...!

But it made perfect sense. It could manipulate and override dreams... it was born to do just that. It was always meant to do just that.

It could only do that.

You... All along... it was actually you...!

"So... that's your true identity," I swallowed hard, equal parts terror and anger burning through my heart. "Somehow, some way, you've survived all this time... You, Tantabus, you are the true mastermind!"

Author's Note

And so, the true mastermind has finally been revealed! Mitril was the one who guessed the setting correctly first, while Manr was the first to name the mastermind! Good job, guys.

I wish I knew why the text sometimes likes to freak out and only have a few really spread-out words for a line... it's quite annoying and looks funny.

To Sleep, to Die, Perchance to Despair - Finale

Everypony was silent as creeping dread filled their bodies.

"Uh... Tantabus?" Flam was the first to speak.

"The fuck is a Tantabus?" asked Lightning Dust.

"I... remember the name," Nurse Redheart swallowed. "Several years ago, there was an incident where everypony in Ponyville suddenly found themselves within a shared dream... including myself. During the next few days the hospital saw an increase of patients seeking treatment for insomnia and night terrors, with a small increase of reports of sleep paralysis. The only thing these patients had in common was something they had seen in the shared dream."

"And... that was...?" goaded Flam.

"It called itself Tantabus... A creature of pure nightmare, towering over the entirety of the population. Some say it was pony-shaped, but made from magic so black it was like staring into the abyss. Others say it was a massive blob of raw flesh, bloody tentacles and glowing green eyes. Still others say they saw their deepest, darkest fears come to life right in front of them. But what they could all agree on, was that it was the single most horrific thing they had ever seen. They feared going back to sleep, for whenever their consciousness slipped, they would see it again... watching them."

Bulk Biceps shuddered behind his podium, teeth chattering so loudly it was a wonder they didn't shatter. "I... I-I REMEMBER T-THAT...! I-I COULDN'T SLEEP F-FOR WEEKS!"

"But... that cannot be!" Princess Luna argued. "I forgave myself for my past sins... I drew the creature back into myself!"

"Upupupu..."

We all turned to Monokuma, who was giggling ominously.

"That's what you think, huh? You thought that I'd disappear, just like that?" he smirked. "After letting me taste the dreams of every pony in that town, you thought I would just come along quietly and let myself wither away and die?! Upupupu... puhuhuhu... puhuhuhuhuHAHAHAHAHA!"

"It survived somehow...?" I breathed, the creature's laughter chilling my blood.

"Well, now that you all know my secret... I guess there's no point in keeping this form any longer!"

Suddenly, Monokuma violently exploded. But where there should have been fire and shrapnel, there was a dark blue magic; so dark it was almost black. It rapidly ballooned, expanded and reshaped itself into mind-boggling proportions... until it was almost a perfect silhouette of Princess Luna, except so massive and so tall I couldn't even make out its head high above.

"Oh, no, dear Luna... I couldn't let you spoil my fun so soon!"

"WHAT?!" Bulk shouted especially loudly. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU FROM DOWN HERE!" We nodded amongst ourselves, echoing the sentiment.

"I don't care about you, you simpleton! I'm not talking to you!"

"I CAN BARELY HEAR YOU MYSELF," Luna roared in Royal Canterlot Voice. "YOU'RE FAR TOO BIG TO HOLD A PROPER CONVERSATION WITH!"

"Oh, for the love of... fiiiiine, hang on..."

Surprisingly, the Tantabus began to shrink just as quickly as it had grown. In no time at all, it had rearranged itself into a form that resembled Monokuma: it was now about ten times as tall as the bear had been, and the black half of its body was replaced with smoking, dark blue-black energy that trailed off into the air like haze. It also streamed lazily out of the black eye on the white half, while the red eye glowed fiercely. Its razor-sharp teeth and claws were bared, glinting in the light like stars.

"Haaah... Better?" it asked with an uncharacteristic politeness.

"Much," Luna nodded.

"Alright..." the Tanta-kuma took a moment to clear its throat, while I pondered whether a mass of negative spiritual magic energy even had a throat to begin with. "...Oh, no, dear Luna... I couldn't let you spoil my fun so soon!"

"How did you escape?" asked Luna. "I watched you... you came to me willingly!"

"Only because I had managed to implant a fraction of my energy into the dreams of those other ponies," the Tantakuma grinned wickedly. "Oh, yes... safely tucked away inside their minds, I hid in the shadows of their subconscious and recuperated, biding my time, waiting for the night I would finally be strong enough to taste their dreams once more. Sadly, most of the ponies I had infected were unimpressive. They were weak and lived safe, tedious, boring lives... they were of little worth to me. But not you, dear Twilight," it suddenly turned to me, "...I could not have hoped for a more promising host."

H-Host...?! All this time... the Tantabus was hiding in my dreams...?!

"Wh... W-What...?!" I stammered.

"You heard me," it replied harshly. "Didn't you notice? Those sleepless nights after the incident... you laid awake for hours."

I shivered as I thought back to those nights. Yes, they had been sleepless, and yes, I had felt a presence. But I had figured that it was because I then had a solid week's worth of official and legal paperwork to sort through in response to the incident and was dreading it. And the presence... well, after encountering a creature made of literal nightmares in a dream being shared with everypony in Ponyville, who wouldn't feel the aftereffects of so many ponies being so intangibly close?

"Yes... such a powerful Alicorn, I could easily feed off your latent mana undetected. All of the terrible things you've seen in your short life, all of the negativity you channeled into your dreams in response... ahhh, such conviction! Your emotions are so strong, so powerful, soooo delicious! And...! The day Luna and her hapless sister revealed to us that you were to become the sole ruler of Equestria... oh, I nearly showed myself just to be able to laugh with joy! For if Luna was to give up her crown and duties, then of course, they would all fall to you..."

Me... Luna's duties would fall on me...

"...You knew I was going to become the Caretaker of Dreams," I quivered. "You knew I had to learn how to dreamwalk...!"

"Oh, yes! I was so delighted to learn about Luna's plans to create a magical device that could produce a shared dream among a select few of you... We made a few subtle influences, here and there, all to secretly assure my ease in slipping into everypony's subconscious and overriding whatever pathetic dream you had planned in the first place... and it worked. You all wholly and utterly forgot why you came to the realm of dreams," it grinned sadistically. "Instead of Twilight and her friends working through the dreams of the others, with their dear Princesses and that Discord creature instructing them on the finer points of dreamwalking... you arrived at my school. Then... I broke you. I taught you all the true meaning of despair, so that you would become teachers of a sort, to the weak, insipid masses yourselves. And when your dear Princess Luna predictably tried to contact the realm of dreams for help, she unwittingly set me free into the waking world, where I could reunite with my other fragments and begin my grand plan. Now, with the power of the Dream Machine and your kindly-provided sustenance, I have grown strong enough to infect the dreams of every pony in Equestria and beyond!"

"So... that's how you did this..." Luna breathed in horror. "That's how you've brought Equestria to its knees."

"This... none of this was supposed to happen?!" Lightning screeched.

"Of course not," Luna replied softly. "Sister and I intended for the dream to be one of blissful peace, beauty, and serenity, providing the perfect setting to explore the subconscious of our subjects."

"Hah! Boooooring!" Tantakuma mocked. "No, now all everypony knows is an eternal waking nightmare! Much more fun, in my opinion."

Yet another wave of frozen dread immobilized me. I could only gape vacantly as my mind tangled with the implications... all this time, the Tantabus had been nestled within my subconscious, regrowing its strength while watching my every move, learning exactly how my mind worked and how I would react to various stimuli... through what I could only assume was a sort of osmosis like an eldritch parasite. Then when I had learned I was to become the next ruler of Equestria... it did everything in its power to guide me into making the choices that led to the Dream Machine's creation. And then... once we'd begun the first experiment together... we had fallen directly into its trap, without even realizing anything was wrong.

But... if the mastermind had been the Tantabus all along... why this form?

"Why did you take the form of Monokuma?" I asked. "Where did he even come from?"

"Ahh... why this form?" the Tantakuma asked with a sneer. "A pony as well-traveled as yourself has seen many things... many different ways for a nightmare to take form. This particular form I've adopted comes from that 'other Equestria' you've visited a few times... once we learned just how terrifying, how illogical, how indelibly evil this metallic creature was... well, it just seemed perfect for what I had planned."

The other Equestria... the human world...?!

Frantically, I searched my memory for the things I had seen in that parallel universe. It took me a good few moments until I glimpsed an image of stark black and white in the other Fluttershy's manga and media collection, taking up an entire wall of her room in her apartment. It was during an extended trip where I documented human forms of entertainment, and collected spare electronics to take back with me to Equestria. Grimacing in concentration, I focused on the image in my mind's eye as hard as I could, forcing it out of obscurity.

...Was that it...?

The image... there was no mistaking it. It was Monokuma, the self-proclaimed mascot of the Danganronpa series. He had been a truly abhorrent creature, tormenting trapped high school students with his killing games and spreading despair throughout the entire world. Multitudes of his clones gleefully sent those students to their deaths, endeavored tirelessly to break the minds and spirits of the survivors, and heartlessly slaughtered countless innocent men and women, even brainwashing their own children to join them in their killing spree.

Oh, yes... I spent a sleepless night poring over the details of the series on the humans' Internet, long after that Fluttershy had gone to bed. I gradually committed to memory every doomed character, every detail of the murders and trials, the timelines and the chain of events that ushered in the Tragedy. When I had finally read all there was to read, I couldn't help but feel anxious and wary of a similar catastrophe happening in my own world. Here in Equestria, every pony was basically an Ultimate... and what if one of them was just like her?

The world and everypony in it was brought to its knees. All because of a single person. All because she was bored.

Well... could've been worse... it could've decided to take Junko's form...

I shuddered at the thought. Thankfully, being a completely fictional character, there was no Junko in the human world, nor was there an analogue of her in my own world.

"You see now, right?"

"Yes... he was from a multimedia series in the human world," I answered. "...Why not Junko, if you were choosing the most evil villain I had learned about?"

"Simple: it'd be a bit too on the nose," Tantakuma shrugged. "She was a human, so you probably would've figured it out way faster, and that wouldn't be any fun, now would it?"

"Uh... mind explaining for the rest of us who aren't special enough to go to Human Equestria?" Lightning grumbled.

"A video game villain... probably one of the worst I've ever heard about," I pursed my lips. "He basically destroyed all of civilization and drove millions to insanity."

"Ah, so like most of our own worst villains," Flam stroked his mustache. "Such as Chrysalis, or Tirek... or Trixie." During our contemplation, Luna suddenly tilted her head to one side and nodded briefly.

"...Trixie says that she heard that, and that she resents that statement," she spoke casually.

"WAIT... SHE DID?!" Bulk reared back in shock.

"Yes... she's alive, after all. They all are," Luna repeated.

"Oh? And we should take your word for it?" smirked Tantakuma.

"I speak only the truth... unlike you," the Lunar Princess glared.

"You're only here because I allowed you to be here. I want you to witness your own creation... both of them, really... destroy everything you hold so dear."

"Allowed to be here...?" Flam asked.

"Hold it," Redheart warned. "We still aren't sure whether this Princess Luna is truly real and alive, or if this is yet another cruel illusion and a fabricated story."

"Yea... all of Equestria has lost its' fuckin' mind and are trying to kill each other? Yea, right! No fuckin' way!" Lightning scoffed, although the wavering of her voice hinted that she was only partially convinced. But my mind raced as I struggled to swallow the lump of dread in my throat.

No matter how I looked at it... every explanation was terrible to behold. If Princess Luna was telling the truth about Tantakuma's plan to infect the dreams of every pony in Equestria with an endless waking nightmare... just what state was the country in now? How bad was it that she, Princess Celestia, Discord, my friends and everypony else that had died was powerless to stop it?

But if Luna was just an illusion, some kind of hope-fueled fever dream... were the ponies still suffering from unshakable despair, with nopony able or alive to fight against it? Everypony had been forced to dream, to watch as we slowly succumbed to helplessness and despair... losing all hope that their leaders, heroes and idols were the paragons of power and perfection they had believed us to be... losing themselves to unfathomable despair.

...Did I dare hope that they were all still alive? What if, at the end of all this, after fighting horn and hoof to escape and survive after being told my friends were waiting for me... they weren't?

Nothing tore at my heart like the last memories I had of them. Finding Princess Celestia's partially-roasted corpse in her room. Watching Princess Luna being torn apart in the grip of a black hole. Watching my best friends die or be murdered, one by two by one. If I held on to Luna's words, the hope that they were still alive... and they weren't...! I... I-I...

...

...No. I can't think like that... I won't think like that!

They're alive... Luna said so... Pinkie said so, and I trust her! I trust them...! And Friendship... is nothing without trust!

I needed to make sense of this dream, our own waking nightmare. The answer had to be hidden within! There had to be a way to determine which path to take!

There has to be a discrepancy somewhere... if I think about it, something about what Luna said and what we've experienced here doesn't quite match...

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"Wait a minute," I spoke suddenly, startling everypony. "Princess Luna said that the Dream Machine was only meant to link up to sixteen ponies within the shared dream!"

"Yea? What of it?" asked Lightning.

"Don't you remember? At the very beginning of all this, Monokuma specifically said that he selected seventeen of us!" I whinnied. "If there could only be sixteen ponies involved, then how did Queen Chrysalis appear?!"

"Oh... you're right!" Redheart's eyes widened after a moment of thought. "She was here at the very beginning of our ordeal!"

"Yes... honestly, Sister and I never really knew what to make of that," said Luna. "And we were never really given the opportunity to find out why she was here."

"She did die pretty fuckin' quickly," mumbled Lightning.

"I DON'T THINK SHE WAS EVEN IN THE STORY FOR MORE THAN A MINUTE," added Bulk.

"True. But nevertheless, she was still present for a while," said Flam. "She was even given her own Ultimate title and lodgings! ...Although it was just a spare broom closet."

"But it's simply not possible," Luna shook her head. "Queen Chrysalis is still trapped in stone with her comrades Tirek and Cozy Glow in the Canterlot Castle Sculpture Garden... well, what's left of it, anyway. Sister and I both saw the statue on our last trip to try and quell the violence."

"So she couldn't possibly have been trapped with us! She couldn't possibly have been real!" I gasped.

"Oh, she was real enough for you guys, alright," Tantakuma shrugged. " But I always knew she wouldn't take her new situation very well... though I didn't expect her to just die in one hit!"

"But that brings up another question," Flam interjected. "Queen Chrysalis was immensely powerful... and she even drained all of our power to add to her own! Her attack had more than enough oomph in it to destroy an entire city!"

"The Princesses and Discord together couldn't put a dent in him, and neither could the fuckin' Magic of Friendship!" said Lightning. "I dunno about being hit with a rainbow beam of light, but the Princesses and Discord together should've fucking annihilated him!"

"But it didn't," Tantakuma sneered. "Perhaps it was all just a way in which I could prove my power, my superiority over the lot of you. After all, what better way to convince you all I could wipe you out without a second thought than to effortlessly shrug off your pitiful attacks and destroy one of your most feared enemies?"

"Just... a way you could prove your power?" I echoed.

"From the moment you arrived, you were all convinced that this was reality, no?" Tantakuma asked flippantly. "Once I stood up to your oh-so-fearless leader, once I planted that seed of doubt in your minds, your fears that I was truly more powerful than her, than all of you pathetic Alicorns, and even the magic of Friendship... became reality."

It... became reality...?!

"And now that that fear has become so deeply rooted in your hearts and minds, there's literally nothing you can do to stop me from my goal! You can't kill me... you can't even put a scratch on me! In fact, I could snap my claws and snap you all out of existence right now!"

"...But you won't. You like watching us suffer," Redheart glowered.

"WHOA! DON'T GIVE HIM ANY IDEAS!" warned a worried Bulk.

"I see... your hubris is showing," Luna teased coolly.

"Oh?" Tantakuma tilted his head, his red eye glowing like a star.

"You've just admitted it. If my ponies have come to believe that you are all-powerful, they can also choose to believe that you are powerless."

Choose... to believe...?

"We... can...?" Flam stared in disbelief.

"The mind within a dream works both ways," she continued with a smirk. "And anypony can learn to influence their own dreams. I know that, and so do you." Tantakuma didn't respond, he only stood there menacingly. Suddenly, Redheart's face was slapped with an incredulous expression.

"...Don't tell me we could have avoided this whole mess by just lucid dreaming...?"

"Lucid dreaming?" Flam repeated.

"OH! I KNOW HOW TO DO THAT!" Bulk smiled. "IT'S SO MUCH FUN! I CAN PRETEND I'M A PRETTY ALICORN PRINCESS IN MY DREAMS AND LIFT ANYTHING I WANT!"

"No... 'fraid not," Lightning growled as she crossed her forelegs. Our faces fell as we stared at her. "I've dreamed of kicking Monokuma's stupid fuckin' ass every night since I got here... but it sure hasn't happened for real, now has it?"

"Well... have you actually tried?" asked Flam.

"Fuck no! I ain't suicidal!" Lightning barked.

"But there's your problem, right there," Luna pointed with her hoof. "You don't truly believe you can do it. You don't truly believe you can defeat the Tantabus... and as long as you believe that... you never will."

"And they never will!" Tantakuma roared with a monstrous grin. "My will is absolute here!

As long as we don't believe we can defeat him... we never will...

The pieces... every morbid, macabre piece was finally falling into place. The Tantabus had been planning its return and domination of Equestria, success hinging on the Dream Machine and its participants... namely myself and Princess Luna. It was therefore likely that the reason none of us could remember how we'd arrived was to erase any possible clues as to the nature of our prison. The shared dreams of the Elements of Harmony, three Alicorn Princesses, a Draconequus and the others had provided more than enough dream magic for it to grow strong, and then... using its deception and brimming with newfound power, Luna tried to call for help in the dreams of the citizens... and had unwittingly set it free into reality. It then enacted the second part of its plan... forcing the citizens to dream of us as we suffered endless torment and anguish.

Everypony had seen the same dream, the same things happening, so it was easy to assume that it was, in fact, reality. And that reality was their favorite celebrities stooping to murder... the gruesome deaths of their immortal Princesses... the Elements of Harmony killing and getting killed... right in front of their eyes. I was struggling, not even really sure if I'd held on to my sanity all this time... I could easily see the citizens faring even worse. It was absolutely possible the majority of them had been driven insane, and if I died now... there would be no end to the waking nightmare. All hope would die in the hearts of the remaining ponies, and despair would destroy Equestria... possibly even the entire world.

It all made sense. Perfect, chilling, impossible sense. In a frightening manner of thinking... Junko Enoshima really did exist.

...But now, Luna was telling us it could all be reversed. We could fight back! But... how? Was it really so simple as believing we could?

Can I really believe her...? Oh, what would my friends do...?

I closed my eyes, trying to imagine their voices... I was already beginning to forget what they sounded like...

...

...She's right...

...Wha...?

...Luna's right, darling...

...You guys got this...! You're the key to ending the waking nightmare...!

...Once you've kicked that mean ol' Tantabus's butt, you guys can wake up and join us...! Just like I said you would...!

...So c'mon... all ya gotta do is beat 'im at its own rotten game...! Ah know you can do it, Twi...

I gasped quietly to myself as I heard the voices of my friends so clearly... almost like they were standing right beside me. I gasped again as I suddenly felt five spots on my back grow warm and press inwards slightly... as if they were comforting me... reassuring me. In an instant... I believed her wholeheartedly.

I can believe her... I will believe her! But... the others...

Looking around the room, they all seemed less than convinced... Lightning glared at Tantakuma with tears in her eyes, wishing with all her might she could tear it apart with her bare hooves. Bulk was shivering fiercely behind his podium, teeth chattering and dripping with sweat as his eyes darted around the room. Redheart's face was stuck between dubious annoyance and reluctant hope. Flam nervously chewed on his lip, the only sign of wavering defiance on his otherwise stoic face. And before us all, Tantakuma laughed and jeered, tainted smoke billowing from its dark half in an endless smog, his eye smoldering like a sparking ember.

"You can't defeat me! I'm basically a god! I hold the power of life and death over all of you! What makes you think you can stop me?! All of you ponies will bow to my will! Not just you simple-minded ponies... but all creatures everywhere! Today, Equestria... tomorrow, the world!"

I need to prove... once and for all... that the Tantabus is not all-powerful! I need to prove that it has its limits...!

"I am immortal! I am invincible! I am all-powerful! I am all-knowing!" Tantakuma roared at the top of its ambiguous lungs, and howled with laughter as I realized a final lie - the weakness that would prove Luna right.

This is it! My final proof!

"This is a dream! And we can definitely influence it ourselves!" I cried. "My escape runes are missing!" In an instant, Tantakuma's raucous laughter ceased.

"...W-Wha?"

"Escape runes?!" Flam spouted.

"Don't you fucking tell me now we could've escaped...!" Lightning snarled.

"No, we couldn't have... in my school, along with all the other defensive enchantments I set up to protect the school, I also set up special runes in the entrances to the school's escape tunnels bored into the mountain behind it. Touching one would have instantly teleported us all far away to safety. They were enchanted so that only I could see them, and also in a way that if somepony other than myself saw them, they'd forget it was there as soon as they took their eyes off it!" I stomped my hoof down. "If this was truly my School of Friendship, those runes would have been present in my own office - the very first room I could search, and this whole horrible mess could have been avoided! But it wasn't... none of them were there."

"I see... in reading your mind to create this place, Monokuma was susceptible to your protective enchantments and therefore couldn't copy the locations of the runes!" Redheart gasped.

"I believed from the very moment I cast them in the first place, that nopony would ever break the enchantments," I affirmed. "And... it looks like I was right all along. Long before the Tantabus stole us away to its dream, before any of us entered this castle... it couldn't recreate the runes; neither when I first created them, nor even when they had crossed my mind while we've been trapped here!"

"D'oooh..." Tantakuma hissed under its breath. "...I didn't go back far enough..."

"So it's true, then?" Flam breathed. "...We really are in a dream?"

"Yes... and you all have the power to fight back against the Tantabus!" Luna exclaimed. "All you must do is believe in yourselves!"

"We... have to fight that...?!" Lightning gasped in surprise.

"Oh, don't even start with that lame drivel about believing in yourself," Tantakuma snarled. "I've proven time and again that my power here is infinite! So what if I didn't put in some silly hidden runes? It's not like you could've used them to escape anyway!"

"It's not just believing in ourselves..." I spoke, hope slowly but surely filling my heart, "...it's believing in each other, too. And I believe in each of you! I may have barely known you all before this started, but I count you all among my dearest friends. You've all shown me that Friendship is the most important tool you can have in a survival situation... without it, we all would have died long ago."

"AWW... I B-BELIEVE IN YOU GUYS, TOO...!" sniffled Bulk, moved by my short speech.

"As do I," Flam nodded. Redheart nodded as well but remained silent.

"Yea, but... apparently we would've been totally fine afterwards," Lightning tilted her head.

"True... after your Princess Luna released me into reality, most of you became pretty useless to me," shrugged Tantakuma. "But watching the lot of you kill each other and lose your sanity was soooo much fun! And it saved me much of the effort in creating my own horrors to power my waking nightmare... I can't believe how much all those nobodies care about ponies they've never met! It's hysterically pathetic! Puhuhuhu!"

My fur bristled. "...Most of us?"

"Look... I've already won. Just hit Graduate already and you can leave," Tantakuma motioned to our podiums, its expression growing bored. "No more killing, no more investigating, no strings attached."

"No!" Luna shouted. "If you leave the shared dream now, the Tantabus will have no reason to remain here, and will disperse into the minds of every single pony in Equestria! We will never track it down, let alone defeat it!"

"Not to mention it'll probably kill Twilight anyway, especially if doing so will permanently ruin the psyches of every citizen in Equestria," Redheart muttered.

"...Alright, yes. But the five of you will escape alive and well, entirely free from my influence. It's better than uselessly throwing yourselves at me only to die in the process!" it replied with a grunt. "Even if it's just a dream, getting killed is still pretty painful... life-changingly so."

"But that's... that's just... unconscionable..." stammered Flam, staring at the floor.

"I'm no masochist," Lightning frowned, "But if we're the only ones who can fight that thing? We gotta fuckin' do something!"

"What, though?" asked Redheart. "Even if we all believe in each other... believe that we can fight back and win..."

"WE CAN'T JUST LEAVE AND LET IT DO ALL THOSE THINGS!" Bulk argued.

"I know it sounds daunting... scary, even," I closed my eyes. "I've always felt the same way whenever my best friends and I faced a threat to Equestria... but we all believed in each other, and we've always prevailed. And I know we can prevail, too! I believe in each and every one of you... I've seen echoes of the Elements of Harmony within you all... but even without them, you're all more than capable of fighting back. We can defeat the Tantabus if we all believe and work together! And no matter what happens... you're all my dearest friends, and I'll always believe in you!"

With confidence I hadn't felt since I had arrived here, I looked around at my friends with a smile. Gradually, with growing confidence of their own they smiled in return, and we all turned our bold gazes to Tantakuma. In the blink of an eye, a new third button appeared on my podium's monitor, shoving the Graduate and Repeat choices offscreen. I could hear it ping onto the monitors of the others, reading "Fuck your choices" on Lightning's and simply stating "NO" on Bulk's. But Flam's, Redheart's and my own all read the same word...

..."Fight".

"So, what'll it be? Graduate, or Repeat?" Tantakuma growled dangerously. "What's it gonna be? ...What's it gonna beeee?"

For the first time, I stared into Tantakuma's eyes without fear... and I smirked.

"...None of the above."

All five of us pressed the button at the same time. Mere moments later, silvery-blue light engulfed each of us. I opened my mouth in surprise as I felt raw magic rush into my entire body, but quickly shoved the thought from my mind and focused on the belief I held in the others... my friends. The light and intensity of magic increased exponentially, flooding our bodies until, in a massive, sparkling explosion, it all dissipated into a shimmering mist. For the first time in weeks, I felt as though my magic power had fully returned, and I could once again bend the very fabric of reality to my whim.

And as I looked to the others, I was both shocked and thrilled to discover that each of them had also transformed. Bulk and Lightning had sprouted Unicorn horns (Bulk's being comically tiny, much like his wings), Flam had grown Pegasus wings, and Redheart had manifested both. Everypony had turned themselves into an Alicorn. With bold grins we all channeled our magic, aiming the silvery tendrils straight at Tantakuma's limbs. One each wrapped around its arms and legs, while the last dragged him into the air by his throat.

"What?! What is this?! No... no! Put me down! I demand you let me go this instant!" the Tantakuma roared. But as he continued to rise slowly into the air, Lightning casually flew over and into his face, and replied with a smirk.

"No... it's YOUR PUNISHMENT TIME!"

As she screamed into Tantakuma's face, Lightning's horn crackled with magic. She beat her wings and flew circles around the giant bear, punching and kicking it to her heart's content. Tantakuma grunted in pain with every blow, but try as he might he was unable to do anything about it.

Meanwhile, Bulk, Flam, Redheart and myself focused our magic into the tendrils that held Tantakuma prisoner, ensuring it had no chance to escape. It thrashed and pulled at the bonds, roaring in anger and demanding to be set free. All at once, we then imagined each of the gruesome executions it had subjected our friends to, feeling a sense of vengeance, vindication and poetic justice. Tantakuma shrieked as a beam of light manifested from above and scorched its body, dark blue mist seeping out like the blood of our friends. Then the tendrils holding its legs spun around, twisting its torso... I heard the sound of metal buckling and shearing, and what sounded like the quiet hiss of popping gas bubbles. Then two sets of giant metal walls covered in razor-sharp spikes flew in from the darkness and slammed into its body repeatedly, alternating between the two pairs, mashing Tantakuma between them until it was as stretchy and supple as a brick of gelatin.

And then, finally... just as it had managed to regain its shape, howling with anger and fury... Lightning banked around in the air from a distance. And with an electrified version of her own Sonic Rainboom, aimed herself right at Tantakuma's throat... and ripped off its head with a single punch. Mist billowed into the air like a geyser as the head motionlessly fell, exploding into a deluge of black energy once it hit the ground. The body slumped over and melted into the same black substance - we all beat our wings a few times to move backwards and away from the lake of Tantabus remains, not wanting to touch even a drop of it.

There was silence for a minute as we stared daringly at the black liquid, just in case we saw even a twitch of motion. But nothing happened.

...Nothing happened. The Tantabus had finally been beaten at its own game.

"Well... would'ya look at that!" Flam chuckled. "We did it!"

"Hoo-yea! We kicked its fuckin' ass!" Lightning shouted, flexing her body. "We wrecked its shit!"

"I KNEW WE COULD DO IT!" Bulk smiled, tears of relief forming in his eyes.

"Yes... and all because we believe in each other," Redheart sighed, a warm smile finally gracing her lips.

"I knew you guys could do it," I beamed. Before anything more could be said, however, suddenly a gigantic cage fell from the ceiling and slammed down on top of the lake of Tantabus remains.

"Yes... it is just as I said," Princess Luna nodded serenely. "However, the Tantabus has not yet been entirely defeated."

"Wha?! But-"

"Now that its hold on the five of you has been broken, we are able to finally wake you up," Luna interrupted Lightning. "Once awake, Twilight, I will need you and your friends to meet me in the Power Crystal Room one floor below the Dream Machine. With my influence over the realm of dreams, and your combined Elements of Harmony, you and your friends can charge the power crystals with pure Friendship and end the waking nightmare for everypony in Equestria."

"Ah, good... I was wondering how we were going to leave this place without dying or being allowed out," sighed Redheart.

"Take a moment to gather your bearings, but please come as quickly as possible: we must act while the Tantabus is fully weakened," Luna turned her head to the lake of black under a cage. "I will see you soon... it is good to have you all safely back."

"OH, PLEASE... GET ME THE HECK OUTTA HERE!" Bulk whined.

"Indeed... I don't think I'll be sleeping for a while after this dreadful experience," nodded Flam.

"I myself am probably gonna be up for weeks straight trying to figure out how this all happened," I frowned. "In a roundabout way... I guess you could say I was kind of the 'traitor' all along."

"Hey... none of this was your fault," Lightning shrugged. "It was all that fuckin' Tantabus's doing, and we beat the everloving shit out of it for the effort."

"None of us blame you, Twilight... it's water under the bridge now," Redheart smiled as she tilted her head. "But now we should prepare ourselves for what has happened in Equestria during our absence... I fear I'm going to be very busy for a long time."

"Thanks, guys," I smiled, reassured. "And you're right... it sounds like we've got a lot of work to do." I motioned with my hooves for everypony to come together in a group hug, just as I would with my best friends. While Bulk and Flam came willingly, Redheart and Lightning exchanged grimacing glances with one another before shrugging and forming the outermost layer of hugs. It may not have been a group hug from my best friends, but it felt just as warm and loving and comforting.

And then, all of a sudden, my consciousness faded away into nothing.

...

...And then it returned.

I opened my eyes slowly, savoring the feeling. A tranquil blue ceiling came into view, quickly obscured by many familiar faces. Lost memories flooded into my mind. Finally, I felt a sense of safety, of true clarity.

"Twilight! You're finally awake!" Spike wailed as he landed squarely on my chest, squeezing it for all he was worth. Tears came to my eyes as I wrapped my forelegs around him.

"We were all so worried!" Starlight exclaimed as she rushed in to wrap her forelegs around my shoulders. I laid there with a dumb, happy grin as I also began feeling the hooves of Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie snaking around wherever they could grasp to join in the embrace. Behind them, Princess Celestia and Discord stood proudly among a few other ponies in white lab coats, smiling at the reunion.

"Ya see?! I told you it would be okay!" Pinkie chirped happily.

"You guys..." I sniffled, tears filling my eyes... Tears of relief, happiness, restored hope... tears of newfound harmony. I could only repeat those two words over and over, too overcome with emotions to say anything else. My mind raced with thoughts of how happy I was to see them all alive and unharmed, and that I would never take that for granted ever again. I resolved then and there that I would never again leave anything left unsaid, nor anything left undone between us. Life was far too precious for that.

After much too short of a reunion, my friends pulled away from me. "Can ya get up? Princess Luna needs us to help scrub every trace of that Tantabus from the realm of dreams," said Applejack. "An' she said the sooner, the better."

"We can give you a hoof if you need it, it took us all a little bit until we could properly walk around again," added Rainbow.

"Thanks... but it's just a simple matter of teleporting one story down," I smiled. "I think I can handle that." Despite my bravado I sat up in my bed with great difficulty, my body tired, sore and stiff from lying down for so long. The electrodes fell from my head as I shook it and cracked my neck.

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't rest... not quite yet. Charging up my magic, I teleported my friends and I to the Power Crystal room directly below, where Princess Luna was waiting. However, a couple of weeks straight of slumber had weakened my legs; having assumed I could at the very least stand, I immediately crumpled to the floor upon materializing.

"Twilight!" Rarity shrieked dramatically.

"I'm fine..." I held up a hoof. "My legs are just weak after all this time... I don't think I need to stand for what comes next."

"It is good to see you awake," Luna nodded. "Now come, let us put an end to this, once and for all!"

I nodded, my friends surrounding me. Each of us, the six of us, focused deeply on the thoughts of our friendship. All of our shared memories; the good, the bad, the painful, the triumphant... the times we fell apart, only to mend together stronger than before. As we concentrated, our bodies began to glow the color of our Elements. We looked back on our happy memories with tender fondness, our hearts swelling with a familiar power, pure and sublime.

But suddenly, the doors to the Power Crystal Room behind us burst open. I whirled around and locked eyes with many of the others - Redheart, Flam, Lightning, Bulk... and Princess Celestia, Trixie, Discord, and Coloratura. Celestia was holding my friends upright in her magic aura; they, too, had been too weak to walk as soon as they awoke.

"Wait! The Great and Powerful Trrrixie! ...Would like to help!"

"I understand that we may not be all that powerful compared to the seven of you," said Flam, "but if it's all the same to you, we were all part of this nightmare. It is only fitting that we also take place in its banishment."

"It would do us all wonders for the inevitable PTSD and mental trauma we will surely suffer," Redheart added. As the rest nodded in agreement, my eyes stung with strangely comfortable tears.

"Of course... my friends," I smiled serenely. The eight of them moved close and closed their eyes in concentration, although only half of them had an idea of what to do. Tendrils of pink magic slithered from my horn and linked with Redheart, Lightning, Bulk and Coloratura, while Princess Celestia, Flam, Trixie and Discord intertwined their magic with ours.

Our light was radiant. The air around us was balmy and gentle. The power within my friends and I lifted us into the air, casting shadows on everything around us. All ponies present gazed up at us in awe of the beauty and perfection of our friendship.

Finally, our emotions reached their apex. I opened my eyes, the whitest of light pouring out of them. Focusing my gaze on the power crystals, I gently aimed the accumulated power of my friends and let it rush through the air like a heavenly river. Six bright, gleaming beams of pure Friendship shot from our hearts and into one power crystal each, filling it with an Element of Harmony. Luna's horn and eyes glowed silver as she released her magic into the center crystal. As we released our might together, channeling everything we had into the intangible force, the power crystals glowed with rainbow colors. The light then coalesced into pure white, and soon everypony was blinded by it.

Nearly a minute later, the rainbow had been exhausted and the light faded away. I blinked a few times to recover from the spell, and glanced hopefully over to Princess Luna. In time, the silver in her eyes faded away, and her stoic muzzle slowly formed a smile.

"...It is done. There is no trace of the Tantabus' influence within the realm of dreams any longer. Friendship and Harmony has been restored... The citizens are free."

It would be a few days until I saw the true extent of the effects of the waking nightmare, and proof that the Tantabus' influence was truly gone.

But now... I could finally rest easy.

The Nightmare was over.

Author's Note

And so, the tale of murder and mystery comes to a close.

Thank you all so much for reading and leaving comments! They really kept me motivated during much of the year when I had absolutely nothing to do, and pushed me to get my schoolwork done faster so I could get back to writing. And since a couple more great Danganronpa stories have come to life while I've been at it, I feel like I've accomplished my goal; I can end the story with satisfaction and pride.

I meant to get this out much sooner... but then I got hit with a big, fat brick wall of schoolwork. .-. Ugh, Christ...

There will be one more chapter - an epilogue. And... a surprise!

Epilogue - Hope for Harmony

The damage the Tantabus had wrought on Equestria was unprecedented.

Buildings were razed, but they could be rebuilt. Utilities were destroyed, but they could be repaired. The supply chain of food, medicines and other necessary resources was scattered to the winds, but it could be reorganized.

But the real damage had been done to the ponies themselves. Once free from the grasp of the Waking Nightmare, they could hardly believe what they had done. Relationships were forever tarnished. Trust was forever shattered. Friendship was an uncertainty. Ponies everywhere were riddled with guilt and stared in fear of one another, the knowledge of what they had done to each other scarred into their minds. Many sank deep into denial, their own minds unsure of how to proceed with their previous life. Thousands were stricken with agonizing mental anguish over their actions, and far more than that dealt with severe depression and anxiety. More than an expected amount of unfortunate ponies just plain snapped - their mental state was already vulnerable beforehand, but the Waking Nightmare had driven them fully insane. Some were rendered mute or even catatonic. Cases of agoraphobia, aichmophobia, aphenphosmphobia, equinophobia, enochlophobia, hypnophobia, scoptophobia... well, lots of phobias involving sleep or their fellow ponies skyrocketed.

Princess Luna was right: the Tantabus had finally been utterly destroyed. Yet the psychological damage it had inflicted on the citizens was so thorough, so relentless, it was as though it had accomplished what it had set out to do after all. It had left a deep scar throughout Equestria... one that Twilight feared would never heal.

But together, with all of her friends both old and new, she knew what they could do to help. She never gave up on the citizens of Equestria... she believed in them all.

First she asked for Princess Celestia's and Princess Luna's permission to open the Royal Treasury, and spent countless Bits on ensuring that the citizens' essential needs were met. They all agreed that this was important - if basic needs were not met, then how could a pony ever be expected to concentrate on healing from mental trauma? Then she resolved that everypony would benefit from therapy... but how? Not only were there literally hundreds of thousands of citizens, but the therapists themselves were suffering!

So she asked Nurse Redheart for help, and as just as she said in the Killing Dream, she was true to her word. Summoning the best counselors and therapists she knew, she stood by as Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Princess Twilight spent hours with them as they all worked through their issues - expedited by the fact that they were all experts in their field and knowledgeable about how their minds worked - but it was still a difficult process. Meanwhile, she also accompanied the Princesses into the realm of dreams, reaching out to as many ponies as they could. Together they offered their compassion and mercy, encouraging each pony they encountered to simply talk to one another, and offer each other their trust, support and understanding. Their work was tireless - when they weren't speaking to the populace in their dreams, they were holding multiple group therapy sessions every day for anypony who wanted to attend, only stopping long enough to eat and rest. And finally, when the experts had recovered enough from their own suffering that they could effectively help others, they joined the Princesses in the dream realm as well, spreading their help and support exponentially.

Of course, not everypony heals at the same rate. It would take many years for the majority of citizens to finally come to terms with what happened. And when the day finally came for Princess Twilight to be coronated as the Sole Ruler of Equestria, her first act was to nearly empty the Royal Treasury in order to fund plentiful mental health care and research. In time, entire schools specifically for counselors and therapists popped up around the country, populated with teachers who never ceased to search for new ways to help their patients, and students who also came to believe in each other and wanted to help other ponies. And as these students graduated, therapy quickly became widespread and freely accessible to everypony - mental health workers were considered as vital employees to the country and received an ample salary.

Applejack was quite busy. Having realized that some things are better said while one could still say them, she confessed her feelings to Rainbow Dash. At first she thought she was joking, but after a significant glare she knew she was serious. Blushing, Rainbow admitted that she felt the same.

Together, they returned to Sweet Apple Acres and began to repair and replant Applejack's ruined orchards. To her delighted surprise, Flam offered to help... just as he had promised. With his help, the trees were quickly replanted, their tools and equipment repaired or replaced, and her ever-ramshackle barn was rebuilt and enchanted to never fall apart again. When the last task was finished and Sweet Apple Acres was open for business once again, Flam then offered Applejack a business deal; he would exclusively sell her family's cider and other apple products at his and his brother's casino resort, and pay her and her family handsomely in return. She was initially taken aback when she saw just how much he was actually offering, but once she realized he was serious, she gently shook her head with a smile and insisted she would only accept a fair deal.

And what about Coloratura? When she first woke up after Applejack, she cried and apologized over and over, begging for her forgiveness. Sure, Applejack was mad about being murdered, but after a while she conceded that the circumstances had clouded her judgment, and she - tentatively - forgave her. But she emphasized that she had no romantic feelings for her, and now that she knew that Rainbow was alive and well, she would not wait any longer to tell her how she felt.

And without despair driving her to insanity, Coloratura was perfectly fine with that. In fact, not only did they ultimately remain friends, she was both one of Applejack's bridesmares at their eventual wedding, and the live entertainment. And for as long as she performed for her throngs of adoring fans, there were always two backstage passes ready and waiting for them.

Everypony had seen Fleur de Lis' darkest secrets. There was a clamor for something to be done about her parents, filly beauty pageants and Fancy Pants - enough for him and a few of his associates to slink away into hiding. There were also the inevitable arguments that leapt to his defense and lobbied that something should be done about her instead. In the end, the Princesses sanctioned an investigation into her handler and his treatment of her, and when sufficient evidence was found, flushed him out of hiding. A trial was held... and it was a perfectly ordinary trial. He was eventually found guilty and sent to prison for fifteen years with the possibility of parole. His assets were seized, and the contract between himself and Fleur was deemed invalid.

Now that she was free to do whatever she wanted, Fleur spent some time in the spotlight, enjoying the surge in popularity that came with her newfound infamy. But within months the act faded away, and one day she suddenly vanished from the public eye and never returned. Some ponies say they'd seen her in Silver Shoals, without her designer makeup or accessories on, her mane and tail cut short into an easily-manageable style, and her svelte figure healthily filled out. She seemed happy and carefree, like she was perfectly content with herself and her life... she had finally found peace.

Although she was oddly touched by how much Trixie cared for her (she did try to commit murder, after all), Starlight had no intention of running away with her to Saddle Arabia. Her place, as far as she was concerned, was at the School of Friendship, doing her part as the Head Researcher to keep the Dream Machine running while therapy for the masses was needed, and then to resume her duties as the Headmare of the school. But she was still willing to let her remain the school's Guidance Counselor - and that was enough for Trixie. They remained best friends; Trixie even played matchmaker and eventually got Starlight and Sunburst to admit that they had feelings for each other. After much discussion they agreed it would be alright as long as they kept it quiet and private, and never let their relationship get in the way of doing their job.

Lightning Dust returned to her little sister Indigo Zap, finding her safe and relatively mentally sound. After ensuring that she was okay she resumed her stunt work with The Washouts, now focusing a little more on safety and accountability.

Bulk Biceps also returned to his life of work as a masseuse at the Ponyville Day Spa and selling his homemade artisanal roasted nuts. However, he and Lightning remained close friends - they joined the same gym and were each other's workout buddy, Bulk attended Lightning's stunt shows and cheered her on, and Lightning went to him for massages after her shows. Then they'd go out to the bars and paint the town red together... Bulk always remained sober enough to keep Lightning out of too much trouble.

And so, Princess Twilight became the Sole Ruler of Equestria. She invited all of the ponies she had become friends with to her coronation, especially those she had fought and struggled so hard with against the Killing Dream. She made sure to visit the abdicated Princesses Celestia and Luna in Silver Shoals at least once a season, while she also ensured to meet with both her newest and her closest friends no less than once per month. She made sure she set aside the time to officiate the weddings of Applejack and Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich, and Fluttershy and Discord, as well as the ceremonies the others would come to have - both joyful and somber. She attended every fashion show that Rarity headed and always made a fuss about accepting her frequent gifts of stunning regal dress. She was there when Rainbow Dash was finally promoted to Captain of the Wonderbolts after Spitfire's retirement, and watched proudly as she spent the rest of the day celebrating with Sonic Rainboom after Sonic Rainboom. She couldn't possibly attend every party Pinkie Pie threw, but she made sure to always attend the birthdays of her friends and their loved ones; at the birth of Pinkie's son Li'l Cheese, Pinkie made her his godmother. And whenever Fluttershy popped into reality from the Chaos dimension she shared with Discord, she would always stop whatever she was doing and share some tea and conversation.

For Twilight, it was everything she could ever dream of... everything had turned out just fine, and she and her friends lived happily ever after.

However... Although she would never admit it out loud, Twilight had gained both a new appreciation for her closest friends, and a barely-contained fear of losing them to death once more. When things had finally settled down, she began her own secret research on how to help them ascend into immortal Alicorns, just like she had. She was disheartened when she learned that it required a life-changing self-actualization of their own individual Element before she would have the ambient magic necessary and therefore the ability to transform them, but that didn't stop her from gently encouraging them to always be loyal, honest, kind and generous... and to always bring joy into the hearts of ponies everywhere so they would laugh.

But it was also okay if they never did, and they eventually grew old and passed on... such was the way of nature and life.

...

...Besides, there was always Necromancy.

~ The End ~

Author's Note

And now, for the surprise!

Coming very soon... is a sequel! Though not really a true sequel, in the sense that the events of this story won't carry over to the next one.

*unfinished Rainbow Factory fic wailing in the distance*

I actually had a lot of fun writing this... so I'd like to continue. This time, with hopefully many more readers from the beginning, I can write FTEs for more than three characters. :P

Again... thank you all for reading, and for all the comments!

Prologue: School of Despair 1

Ow... my head...

I wanted to keep my eyes shut forever, or at least until this headache went away. Why did it hurt so much? Although, by the time that thought had graced my mind the pain had begun to subside.

Once the throbbing had reached a minimum I slowly opened my eyes. Everything seemed normal enough; freshly-cut grass lay beneath me, the sun above was warming my body, and I could hear indistinct voices in the distance.

...Maybe... I just fell asleep?

But as the haze of everything came into focus... I had to wonder if I was still sleeping.

~Earlier~

The sun was barely peeking over the horizon as my alarm clock blared, but it still reflected enough light to brighten up the crystal room exponentially... one of the few downsides to living in a magical crystal palace, I suppose. I groggily groaned at being so rudely awoken, but shrugged it off as my magic deactivated the alarm. Today was going to be busy, as always.

I showered, I had some breakfast that Spike prepared for me, and I even had enough time to rearrange my collection of coffee table-worthy books before I left. I wasn't going too far, since my passion project, the School of Friendship, was just next door. I grabbed the key to the front doors in my magic, and as I unlocked them to open the School for the day, I felt that today was going to be especially wonderful.

However, as soon as I crossed the threshold, I felt really woozy... and really sleepy...

~Present~

"Twilight? Twilight..."

I heard Rarity's voice much more distinctly than anything else. Turning to my right, I found her sitting beside me.

"Oh, good, darling, you're awake," she exhaled. "Everypony else has been wandering around for about twenty minutes now."

"Everypony else...?"

I blinked a couple times to focus, then blinked some more. The School of Friendship sat close by, except... it looked very different. Gone were the waterfalls and pools that surrounded it, as well as the hillside behind. It sat squarely on the ground, surrounded now by finely-manicured lawns and a pair of paved walkways leading towards the front doors, lined with ornamental trees on both sides and down the middle. In the distance, the entire place was surrounded by dense, dark forest. Even more strangely, there were large, blocky monitors with speakers festooned around the property at varying intervals, as well as numerous video cameras set up as if to record every possible movement one could make here. The cameras were decorated with spikes that resembled Unicorn horns just above the lens... an odd design choice, if I had to guess.

Various ponies were scattered in a few groups. Some were at the front doors, banging on them in an attempt to go inside. Others were flying up above, and a couple more were about... five-hundred feet away? One group was closer than the other, so I picked myself up from the ground and walked towards my School's front doors.

"Oh! Are you sure you should be up already?" Rarity yelled as she hurried after me. "You were unconscious, after all!"

"I'm fine," I waved my hoof, paying full attention to the ponies at the doors. Applejack was busy trying to yank them open, while Pinkie Pie was readying her party cannon and Fluttershy was taking a few cautious steps back. And... hey, what are Bulk Biceps and Fleur de Lis doing here? They're not students...

"Ah, Twilight," Fleur was the first to notice me. "Good, now perhaps you can explain the meaning of this?"

"Meaning of what?" I asked as Applejack stepped aside from the doors. My horn and the locks lit up with magic as I tried to unlock the doors, but even though I felt the pins move, the locks just outright refused to open. "Huh... that's odd, I can't open my own doors."

"WHY AM I HERE?!" Bulk shouted, which was his typical voice. It didn't suit his current body language of being curled up into a trembling, very muscular ball. "I GRADUATED FROM SCHOOL YEARS AGO, IS THIS SOME KIND OF NIGHTMARE?! ...OH NO! I FORGOT TO DO MY BOOK REPORT, TEACH! I'M SORRY!"

"Shh... it's okay," Fluttershy moved to soothe Bulk, gently stroking his head. "You can do it later."

BLAM

Bulk and Fluttershy screamed in unison as Pinkie's party cannon exploded its contents at my school's doors, the cake, streamers and confetti having no effect other than making a mess.

"It's weird, Twilight!" Pinkie said as she hurriedly scooped the mess off the doors and back into the cannon. "Applejack and Fluttershy and I each walked into the school to get our classrooms ready for the day, but then we suddenly felt sleepy, and then we woke up in the lawn! Except there shouldn't be a lawn there, that's where the pools and water features were!"

"I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M HERE. I WAS STILL IN BED SLEEPING!" Bulk added.

"So was I," Fleur agreed as she rubbed her right ear with her hoof. "Not to be rude, but I should be in Manehatten this very moment getting ready for a photoshoot! I don't have time to waste with grubby little children here!"

...They're not grubby... sure, a couple of them might rough house a bit, but they're not grubby...

"And why in Tartarus are there cameras everywhere?! What kind of secret voyeuristic crap are you running here?!

"Ah, yes, of course," I stuttered as politely as possible while completely ignoring her last outburst, feeling that it would be easily resolved with my next sentence. "Well... I mean, nothing's stopping you from just leaving now, is there?"

"Are you blind?" Fleur snorted, waving her hoof in the air. "Haven't you noticed? None of us can leave!"

"Eh?"

"She's right," Applejack piped up as she walked toward me. "Some of us tried to look around once we realized the School's surroundings had changed, but there's a barrier of some sort keepin' us all in the general area."

"It's bouncy!" Pinkie chirped, skipping over as well.

"There is?" I looked upwards and all around. Sure enough, barely visible in the distance and sunlight, an iridescent glow surrounded the School in a perfect sphere, in what I estimated to be five hundred feet in radius. Behind me, I could see other ponies at the edge of the barrier, probably trying to break through.

I should have a look at it. Besides, if anypony has the best chance to break through, it's probably me.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" Fleur whined indignantly as I flew off towards the other group, with Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie behind me. I looked back at Fluttershy, who was still comforting Bulk the best she could. Hopefully Fleur doesn't direct her rage towards them.

As we approached the edge of the barrier I found more familiar faces, some more unexpected than others. Rainbow Dash was trying her hardest to break through, hurling herself at the barrier as fast as her wings could carry her, only to bounce right off and ricochet in some random direction. To my utter shock, Lightning Dust, Rainbow's self-proclaimed "rival for life" was doing the exact same thing. Below them, Trixie, Nurse Redheart and Flam of the FlimFlam Brothers sat and watched.

"GAH! ...It's no use," Rainbow came to an abrupt stop in midair and panted. "This thing just won't pop!"

"WHY. WON'T. YOU. FUCKING. BREAK?!" Lightning screamed angrily, punching the barrier. She then glared daggers down at the others. "Hey, you assholes could help, ya know!"

Trixie lazily levitated a bucket of popcorn away from Flam and stuffed a hoofful into her mouth. "Mm... nah, the Great and Powerful Trrrixie! ...Is perfectly entertained just sitting right here."

"Besides... barrier magic isn't exactly my specialty," Flam replied as he levitated the popcorn back over to him. "I'm more of a... shock and awe kind of pony!"

"And I'm just here to make sure you two idiots don't hurt yourselves too much," Redheart grumbled.

Rainbow was about to take another shot at the barrier when we made eye contact. "Oh! Twilight! 'Bout time you woke up! You were really out of it for a while."

"This is your stupid school, isn't it?" Lightning sneered. "Is this barrier your fault, too?"

"Course it's not her doing!" Rainbow snarled at Lightning, before I could even react. "Twilight wouldn't trap us all in here for no reason!"

"Feh... I bet this is some bullshit attempt to 'reform' me, isn't it?" Lightning continued. "Well you can fuckin' forget it!"

"...Aaactually, reformation isn't so bad," Trixie shrugged. "...You, however, need reformation in more ways than one..."

"What was that, you blue bitch?!" Lightning bellowed as she flew within inches of Trixie's face. Trixie glared right back, while Flam simply commandeered the popcorn bucket for himself. Meanwhile, Rainbow flew down and hovered next to me.

"Ugh... she's not really here for reformation, I take it?" she asked.

"I don't even know why she's here," I muttered, shaking my head. "Or why even half these ponies are here. But I guess this barrier has something to do with it."

"Oh, yea! Some of the other Unicorns here have tried to dissolve it with their magic but it didn't work. And I sure as heck can't force my way through, though the bounciness is kinda fun."

"I see..." Focusing my mind on finding out the origin and strength of this barrier, I poured my magic into my horn. Pink light flared out of the tip in the shape of a cone and illuminated a small part of the iridescence. Thoughts entered my mind as magic morphed into synapses within my brain; the source of the magic was unfamiliar, matching nothing I had ever encountered in my studies. The strength of the magic was also at an intensity almost insurpassable - utterly overwhelming to most Unicorns, and possibly even a challenge for my own mentor to handle with her own.

But I am not "most Unicorns". I'm not the Element of Magic for nothing, after all.

"Hey, quit fuckin' around! I ain't got all day!" Lightning shouted, momentarily breaking my concentration before Trixie crammed a wad of popcorn into her mouth with her own lavender magic. Even with her mouth full she continued to growl muffled obscenities as I scanned the barrier for weak points. But whoever had cast this barrier spell had ensured the weak points were well hidden, even to a pony like me. Maybe it didn't even have any. I would just have to brute-force it, then.

My eyes narrowed as I focused my magic into a tiny point, intending to pierce the barrier with my next move. Calling upon my vast mana stores, exponentially improved by my Alicorn physiology, I aimed right in front of me and fired a searing, laser-like blast. It struck the barrier with explosive force, and yet no sooner than my magic had made contact, the spot where it connected glowed for an instant before firing my own blast back into the sky at an upwards angle, dissipating into nothing after traveling about fifty feet.

Everypony gasped, myself included. Lightning Dust kind of made a choking noise.

...W-Wha? My magic didn't break it? How?!

In disbelief I fired three more quick shots, then took a moment to charge a fourth before firing it. All had the exact same effect, although the fourth one survived slightly longer than the rest before fizzling out. For the first time since waking up here, I was... slightly concerned.

"I said quit fuckin' around! I'll thrash your entire stupid school into the ground if you don't let me go!" Lightning threatened after spitting out the popcorn. She began to fly towards me with one hoof cocked back for what would probably be a really painful punch but Rainbow quickly blocked her path, catching her punch harmlessly with her own hooves.

"Don't you fucking dare," Rainbow glowered, speaking slowly. Lightning only scowled and let out a low growl in return.

"I... I don't know what to tell you," I sighed. "I can't break it, either."

"Th... That's impossible!" Rarity breathed. Pinkie Pie hurled herself at the barrier, bouncing forcefully but harmlessly off as if it were a bouncy castle instead of a shimmer of strange magic.

"I know! Usually I'm immune to the plot and can transcend space and time, but even I can't do anything about this!" she giggled. Oftentimes, this would usually send me into an existential crisis for the rest of the day as I tried to comprehend the magic of Pinkie Sense, but this time I let it go. There were clearly more important mysteries to solve at the moment.

Or, maybe I simply needed more power to break the barrier.

Rainbow did mention there were other Unicorns, anyway... who else is here?

"Maybe there's another way to get through," I suggested. "I haven't looked behind the school yet."

"Maybe so," Applejack nodded.

"You guys go on, then," Rainbow waved. "I'll keep trying... hmm, maybe if I can get enough speed for a Sonic Rainboom-"

"That... will probably not end well," Nurse Redheart warned.

"Heh, that'd be a great ending for me," Lightning snickered. Rainbow glared at her in response.

"Even at her worst, the Great and Powerful Trrrixie did not wish death upon her foes..." Trixie muttered. "...Maybe just a little bit of maiming, but still..." she added in a barely-audible whisper.

"Quite so, quite so," Flam simply nodded in agreement.

...Riiight. I hope I can find a way out of this for everypony here, if only to prevent a fight from breaking out.

With Rarity and Applejack beside me, I followed the barrier to the left until I reached the grounds behind my school. More forest lay beyond the barrier, while the hills that were once behind the building were replaced with three large gardens divided into even plots of land. Closest to me, taking up the third on the right side of the school were rows of countless types of vegetables, then the middle third was made up of grains, and the furthest third from me was full of different fruits.

"Wow! Lookit all this food!" Applejack gasped. "Whoever put these here at least made sure we've got a good variety."

Indeed, along with more conventional types of produce, there were many different kinds of rare crops mixed in: amaranths, agastaches, beans the size of snakes in both length and width, ruby-petaled buckwheats, pink dandelions and crimson clovers, delicate flax blossoms, lush heads of speckled lettuces, endless bunches of sweet and bitter herbs, purple sweet potatoes, purple peas, carrots and corn ears and tomatoes in rainbows of colors, white blackberries, black raspberries, cherries, oranges, pears, plums, figs, and...!

"Well, would'ya lookit that! They even got a Zap Apple tree here!" Applejack pointed to a tree bearing rainbow-colored, apple-shaped fruit in the distance. "...Wait a minute, why is there a Zap Apple tree here? Mah family's the only ones who can grow 'em."

"That is strange," I mused. We cut through a walkway between the back doors of the School and the gardens on our way to investigate the Zap Apple tree more closely, ignoring the eerily blank monitors and slowly-following cameras as best we could. As we grew near, we found that the tree was in the center of the fruit garden, surrounded by a wraparound bench.

But the pony who was standing on the other side of that bench was another surprising face to see here. Coloratura was reaching up towards one of the fruits and tugging on it.

"Wha... Rara? Is that you?" Applejack jogged slightly ahead of us, probably the most surprised to find her old camp friend, now a wildly-famous pop singer here.

"Oh, Applejack!" Coloratura released her grip on the apple as she hopped off the bench to give her old friend a quick hug. There wasn't a hint of her usual pop star persona in her voice or mannerisms, seeming as confused and worried as everyone else had generally been. "Well, seeing you here, at least now I know I'll be alright, wherever I am."

"It's good to see you again, sugarcube," Applejack grinned for a moment. "But what in the hay are you doin' here?"

"I have no idea," Coloratura frowned. "Last I remember, I was headed back to my place in Las Pegasus after my show, but I fell asleep in the carriage... then I woke up here."

"Just like the rest of us..." I thought out loud. My mind was already swimming with possibilities of why this was happening. Why were all of us here? What happened to my school?

"The rest of us?" asked Coloratura.

"Yes, darling, the others are all at the front of the building," said Rarity.

"Oh! Well... this isn't like some kind of mass-foalnapping, is it? Good thing I got foalnapping insurance just a little bit ago..."

"You can get that?" asked Applejack. While I focused on the dilemma at hoof, Coloratura then began to explain to her old friend the certain precautions that only the most famous of ponies would ever have to deal with.

First my friends, some of the townsponies, some famous ponies and a couple of troublemakers... why? Do we all have something in common?

"Ah, it's an imitation."

"Huh?" Rarity was standing on the bench, examining the Zap Apple tree more closely.

"Made of enchanted resins, dyes and cloth... Still, whoever made this was exceptionally talented," she continued. Well... that was one mystery solved.

Applejack and Coloratura caught up as we walked around the barrier back to the front of the school. Neither Rarity nor I found any sign of a weakness in the barrier, nor did we find any possible way to escape it. I could sense that the magic extended beneath the school and the surrounding grounds as well; it was a perfect, impenetrable sphere.

But just as I began to lose hope that this would be resolved quickly, I noticed that the other ponies had gathered around a very welcome sight in the middle of the walkways to the front doors... well, two, actually.

"Ah, there they are!" As Nurse Redheart pointed in my direction, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna turned to see us. Just seeing my mentor's warm smile made me feel so much better about the situation; I couldn't help but flap my wings and hurry over to her side.

"Celestia!" I cried out as I embraced her tightly.

"Twilight..." Looking up at her face, though she smiled gently at me, I could see the worry plaguing her mind just as much as it did mine. "I'm so glad you're alright."

"And now maybe we can finally leave this ugly little eyesore," Fleur snorted indignantly. "Such wasted time, here... I need a good, stiff drink or three now to calm my nerves..."

"Do you think you and Luna can break the barrier?" I asked hopefully. "Or maybe the three of us together? I haven't had any luck myself, nor have I been able to find any other ways out."

"We've just tried, I'm afraid," Luna spoke. "Neither my sister nor I are able to break the barrier, either."

"Wha..."

My eyes went wide as I choked down a gasp of utter shock. Princesses Celestia and Luna were two of the most powerful beings I had ever known! If... If they couldn't break the barrier, either...

...What kind of creature... who would have magic this powerful?!

"Discord, this little stunt of yours has worn exceptionally thin!" Luna suddenly shouted at the sky. "We demand that you cease this tomfoolery at once!" Her order was met with only hushed whispers from the crowd.

What? Discord? But... he's our friend! We've been friends for years! Surely he wouldn't-

"I, too, wish to cease this tomfoolery," a voice suddenly boomed from a nearby bench. Everypony's attention turned to the bench, soon finding a Draconequus-shaped figure sitting on it, arms crossed and perfectly blended into the scenery. However, the sulking Discord then stood up, his camouflage of wooden bench slats and grass remaining stationary on his body, breaking the illusion. Then, in a chaotic fashion as he was often wont to do, he vigorously shook his body as if the camouflage was wet paint, the colored droplets then turning into confetti as they fell.

"You!" Trixie growled. "Are you the reason we are all trapped here together?!"

"I knew you couldn't be trusted," Lightning readied herself for a fight. "Let us out or I'll kick your fuckin' ass!"

"Lightning, no-"

"Lightning, yes," Rainbow cut off Nurse Redheart with a smug grin, placing her hoof over her muzzle. "I'd love to see how this'd turn out."

"Hmm... tempting," Discord mumbled as he contemplatively stroked his beard. "But, even if you did last more than an instant against me... I can't," he shrugged.

"What?! Why?" Luna coughed.

"This is not my magic," Discord demonstrated by snapping his claws, to no effect. "Furthermore, whatever magic is holding us here is keeping me just as put as you all are. I can't even step one foot into another universe at the moment... and honestly, I have an appointment to keep with a certain stick-in-the-mud on a starship this very moment, so whoever is doing this, stop it!" He grumbled and complained gradually louder, his frustration growing. Not being able to teleport freely wherever or whenever he wanted was clearly gnawing at his sanity, or lack thereof.

Meanwhile, my own worries were growing at a dizzying pace. This magic was very clearly the work of an extremely powerful creature. My own magic, the Princesses, even Discord was powerless against it. I couldn't even get inside my own Friendship School in the case that the barest hint of how to get out of this situation lay within somewhere. And why were we all here? Why was my school moved to the middle of a forest? Why are there so many non-students here? I felt like I was in the middle of solving a jigsaw puzzle, only to realize that half of the pieces had been replaced with pieces from at least four different puzzles! What was the solution?

Think, Twilight, think...

ding dong bing bong

I was freed from an endless loop of my own thoughts by the sound of a school bell. At first I wondered if it was just a stress-induced hallucination, but the others turned their heads in the direction of the sound as well.

"Oh? Whatever could that be?" Flam was the first to ask out loud what everypony was surely thinking. Before anypony else could speak, a strange voice echoed out from every speaker in the area, though the attached monitors remained blank.

"...Hello? Testing... testing... mic check, one, two... Alright, seems like everything's working! Phew."

It was a voice unlike anything I had ever heard in my life. It was... robotic, unnaturally cheerful and nonchalant. I didn't realize it at the time, but something about that voice... my blood ran cold as I processed what it was saying, and my breath hitched in my throat.

"Now, I'm sure you're all extremely confused about your current situation... waking up in a strange place with no way out, freaky, huh? But do not fear, just follow my instructions and I'm positive you'll feel a little less lost!"

The voice continued on, way too pleasantly for my liking. Its inflections, its unseen mannerisms... its very existence just felt so... wrong. Like a venomous bite from a manticore, as you feel the poison traveling up your spine and paralyzing your nerves, or like feeling your muscles flash-freeze into burning ice after a glare from a cockatrice, or like a miscast spell turning you to ash from the inside out.

So wrong. So... hopeless.

"Everyone, please make your way to the school entrance! Once you're all here, I'll be more than happy to get this little party underway! Toodle-loo!"

And just like that, the voice stopped. It was a few moments before I realized I needed to breathe, and I clumsily gasped in my next breath.

"Uh... what was that?" Coloratura asked nervously.

"Probably what's trapped us here, if I had to guess," Rainbow reasoned.

"Oh... what's going on? What's gonna happen to us...?" Fluttershy shivered, trying her best to hold back her fearful sobs.

"I DON'T LIKE THE SOUND OF THIS," Bulk yelled/said, visibly shaking and chattering his teeth. In unison, he and Fluttershy suddenly grabbed and held on to each other for support.

"Neither do I, sugarcube, neither do I," Applejack gulped.

"But they mentioned a party! We should go check it out! Nothing bad ever happens at a party!" Pinkie yelled.

"Fuck the party, I just wanna know whose ass I gotta kick to get outta here," Lightning slammed her front hooves together. Fleur nodded her head in displeased agreement.

"I don't see any other options, then," Celestia spoke boldly. "Let us go and meet this villain. Sister and I will ensure that no harm comes to any of you, my little ponies." Luna nodded in agreement.

"Hey! What about me?" Discord coughed.

"I'm... still mulling that over," replied Luna. Though he grumbled in response, I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. As we walked with trepidation towards the front doors of the school, I only needed to glimpse my companions beside me to calm myself. I mean, even in the face of danger, I knew that deep down, my friends and I could handle anything.

...

...If only I knew then just how wrong I was.

Author's Note

Aaand since there's a serious lack of Danganronpa pony stories here, I've decided to write one myself!

However, I will say right now, this is going to come out pretty slowly. This is by far the most challenging thing I've ever written, and of course I don't want it to suck.

Who will survive? Who will murder? Who will die a horrible, gruesome death? Who is the traitor? Who is the mastermind? Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen!

And if you've got any ideas for Free Time or something, feel free to leave a comment.

Mortal Peril, Mortal Ignorance - Deadly Life 3

"WHAT?!"

As everypony's shouts and gasps of surprise and horror made their rounds around the room, Princess Luna remained silent. Her expression darkened dangerously - I could feel her anger threatening to suffocate me.

"Twilight Sparkle... do not make such distasteful jokes," she growled. "You know this better than anypony present: I would NEVER harm my sister! Never again!"

"I... I am afraid I am not joking," I gulped. "I know you would never harm Princess Celestia intentionally."

"BUT... YOU JUST SAID..." Bulk Biceps tried to argue, but trailed off.

"Are you saying... it was an accident?" asked Flam.

"Exactly..." I sighed. As much as I knew how important my words now were, it pained me to let them escape my mouth.

"No... I refuse to believe this!" Luna shouted, her eyes wild with rage. "How exactly do you purport that I killed my dear sister?!"

"Well..." Nurse Redheart spoke quietly, unsure if she should risk angering the Lunar Princess any further. "You did say that you had been charging your magic with the help of the silver platter... the resulting magical blast would definitely be enough to cause the damage we saw."

"Not to mention your attack nearly fried my beautiful, limpid eyeballs!" Fleur snorted.

"But I wasn't even facing the school! We have already been over this!" she argued.

Hmm... there should be a way to explain this... I just need to think...

...

...Oh! That must be it!

"The R I C O C H E T..."

"What?" Luna blinked.

"The barrier... all of our attacks against it... they bounce right off!" I explained. "One of your magic blasts must have bounced off of the barrier in just the right way that it went right into Celestia's room!"

"But to think that one of Luna's magic blasts made its way into Celestia's room as perfectly as thread through a needle's eye..." Rarity breathed.

"Dang... that's a million-to-one shot if I've ever seen one," Rainbow Dash commented.

"Pretty sweet shot, except that it killed somepony... that fuckin' sucks," Lightning Dust muttered.

"But- But even so, everypony's attacks against the barrier lost their power and dissipated after striking it!" Luna reasoned. Though she remained unconvinced, her pupils were visibly shrinking in growing horror. "Why would my own be any different?!"

"Well, your Highness... you are a hell of a lot stronger than the vast majority of us ponies," said Trixie.

"Ah remember seein' Twilight try teh break the barrier," Applejack spoke up. "When she charged her magic for a bit, that attack stuck around longer than the other ones did."

"Yes... now, logic says that if that's the case, then the stronger the attack, the longer it'd take for the energy to dissipate," said Flam.

"And if you were using the silver platter to amplify your own attacks... I daresay even that residual energy would be enough to burn a hole through me!" Discord grabbed at the center of his body and pulled it apart to prove his point, twisting backwards until his head emerged through the gap that was his chest a few seconds ago. After repeating the move a few more times until his body was twisted like a loaf of braided bread, the lumps and twists melted away to reform his body proper.

"No... NO!" Luna snarled. Her mane and tail suddenly bristled and glowed with an eerie blue light. Her body blackened with anger and despair as the accusation wormed its way into her heart, no matter how she tried to explain it away. Cries of anguish and shrieks of rage erupted from her muzzle as her teeth grew into fangs. As myself and the others recoiled in terror of what she had become, her eyes became viperous slits full of cold fury as she screamed and spat out any sentence she thought could help her.

"You... you traitor! YOU DID THIS!" she roared in the Royal Canterlot Voice. "I AM INNOCENT! I DID NOT KILL MY SISTER! YOU DARE ACCUSE ME?! WHY WOULD YOU ACCUSE ME?! I'LL HAVE YOU BANISHED TO THE MOON FOR THE MERE SUGGESTION!"

I... I know, Luna... I don't want to believe it, either, but... it's the only explanation...

"An insult against my power is an insult against my sister's! SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BLOCK THE ATTACK!" Even as Luna thrashed and wailed, I gasped as I realized one final truth, blinking away my tears.

...I'm sorry, Luna... This is my proof!

"Normally, she would... but she was caught completely off guard."

"I... wh-what?" Now Luna's voice shook as cruel realization washed over her features.

"I fully believe that if she had known it was coming, Celestia would have blocked your attack, or at the very least moved out of the way," I continued. "We both know that."

"If she had the window open, then maybe she was watching you blast that barrier!," said Pinkie Pie. "And then POW! Right in the kisser! She never expected one of your blasts to come rocketing right into her face!"

"Whether she was watching you or not, however... it happened too fast for her to react," Redheart bowed her head. "She was dead in an instant." There was silence as the blackness of Luna's coat gradually faded away, and her mane and tail lost their glow. Her eyes were wide as dinner plates, and her pupils were nearly nonexistent. She sat with a heavy thud as she faced the floor, and tears began to drip from her cheeks.

"I..." She could barely speak, instead trying her hardest not to break down sobbing. "...I... can't... believe..."

"Just to be absolutely sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt," Fleur suddenly spoke up, leering towards the Lunar Princess, "can we go over this... scandalous story one more time?"

Her lips curled upwards into a sadistic smirk. Although I just wanted this to all be over, although I felt horrible having to force Luna to relive her mistake... I saw Monokuma nodding out of the corner of my eye, leaning closer.

"Alright... this is how it happened!" I cleared my throat.

"Well... Ever since we all woke up here, we've all been trapped inside a magical barrier set up by Monokuma. According to him, the barrier is supposed to be completely impenetrable. But, that wouldn't stop us from trying to escape, of course.

"Today, Luna spent the afternoon trying to pierce through Monokuma's barrier, but to no effect... until she found what she suspected to be a weak point. However, it was barely detectable, and she had trouble pinpointing its exact location. Nevertheless, she informed her sister, Princess Celestia, of her discovery and told her that she would try her best to break through, even foregoing the dinner party if she felt she was getting close.

"After some study, she figured that once she had found it, she might have been able to break through with a reflected magic blast. Indeed, during the dinner party, I happened to see her pass by the entrance to the cafeteria and disappear around the corner. She did not notice us - nor did I go after her, and she then entered the warehouse.

"Once inside, she tore the place apart looking for the largest, most reflective surface she could find, which turned out to be a silver platter. Leaving the other shiny objects in a pile to put back later, she then returned to her post outside beside the barrier.

"The dinner party ended at 9pm. While some of us lingered in the cafeteria and dormitory areas, most of us returned to our rooms. Before I left the cafeteria, Celestia asked if we could talk in her room. I agreed, but did not go immediately, as Rarity and Trixie asked me to help with the last of the garbage from the party. As it would only take me a minute or two, Celestia said she'd be waiting for me in her room. That... that was the last time anypony saw her alive.

"While I was with Rarity and Trixie, unbeknownst to us all, Luna was using the silver platter to bounce her attacks back towards the barrier as she repeatedly struck it with her magic. She focused and maintained the beam for up to a minute at a time, drawing upon all of her might and the magic growing exponentially between the barrier and the platter, the sheer force of the attack pushing her back even as she braced herself...

"Finally, she ended her attack, and the beam was cut off. The resulting energy reflected off of the barrier, unsuccessful in striking the weak point. But while Luna focused on her next attack... unbeknownst to her, to all of us... that ricochet fired at the perfect angle, directly through Celestia's open window in her room, where she just so happened to be standing. It was so swift, so sudden, that she never had a chance to react or protect herself, and the resulting blast... k-killed her. And then I opened the door to her room shortly afterwards, only to discover her partially-incinerated body.

"We never would have known what happened if it wasn't for Fleur staring out her own window next door at the exact same time, who was temporarily blinded by the intense light such an attack would have created. Worst of all... Luna, Celestia's dear little sister... had no idea what had even just occurred.

"And so, with all the evidence gathered... I propose that this is exactly what happened. The killer... can only be you, Princess Luna!" I finished, grasping the podium with my hooves so hard it creaked under my power. I felt no sense of justice nor righteousness within me, however... only cold, hard logic and remorse. Tears came to my eyes once more as I took a few ragged breaths... even from across the room, I could see Luna doing the same.

"No... Sister..." she whimpered. "...My dearest S-Sister... I-I'm so s-sorry... I-I failed y-you..."

"Welp, I'm convinced," Fleur straightened her posture. "I see no need to continue this affair." Despite her frightfully-gratified demeanor, the rest of us were speechless. This was no cold-blooded murder - this was a freak accident. Would Monokuma not count this as such?

"Puhuhuhu..." the two-toned bear giggled, breaking the silence. "Looks like you've reached your verdict! Then are we ready to cast our votes? You all have a lever in front of you... use it to make your selection!"

I glanced down at my podium - a hatch opened up in the center, and upon a rising platform a lever marked only as "guilty" appeared beside sixteen large buttons with individual faces on each one. Celestia's was grayed out and left dim, while the other fifteen were illuminated...

I hated what I had to do next... what I was forced to do. Pressing Luna's button meant condemning her to death, for an accident she did not mean to cause, for a life she had no intention of taking. But if I refused to press it... the rest of us would die. Luna would be able to go free... but then what? And what of the others, they were entirely innocent!

"Oh! Just to remind you all... make triple sure you vote for someone! You wouldn't want to be punished for something so minor... right?" Monokuma leered cheerfully.

Damn it all...!

I closed my eyes, forcing my tears to recede. I... I had to do it. For the sake of the others.

Luna... forgive me.

I pressed Luna's button. It remained illuminated while everypony else's dimmed. The "guilty" beneath the lever lit up and began flashing garishly. Feeling sick to my stomach, I pulled it down. All around me, I heard levers being slowly pulled one after another.

"Okay! Then let's get excited!" Monokuma stood up in his seat, far too inappropriately-thrilled for the situation. "Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one? What's it gonna be? What's it gonna beeee?!"

Behind and above Monokuma, a gigantic monitor came to life. An image of the bear proclaiming "Monokuma Vote! Who is found guilty?" was the first image to appear. It then changed into a slot machine, with everypony's faces as the symbols. We watched with bated breath as the symbols slowed...

...and landed, three in a row, on Princess Luna's face. "Guilty!" flashed beneath the images, suddenly surrounded by showering gold coins and flowers like a lurid celebration. Above us, in the center of the room, between all of the podiums, a yellow party ball popped open and rained down confetti upon us.

"Ooh! I feel horrible, but he sure does know how to celebrate!" Pinkie stared up at the party ball, smiling, yet her eyes showed she was clearly feeling dead inside.

*Class Trial End! All Rise!*

The image clapped shut with another image of the two halves of Monokuma's face before fading away into blackness. The bear himself hopped off of his seat and grinned madly.

"Uh-oh! Looks like you got it right on the money!" he laughed. "The blackened in this case, the one who killed Princess Celestia... was none other than her own sister, Princess Luna!"

"But... I did not mean to...!" Luna sobbed.

"Indeed, this was not murder!" Flam protested.

"It was genuinely an accident! Ponyslaughter at the very worst, but not murder!" Redheart added. A tiny part of me felt relieved that I wasn't alone in my feelings, but something told me that Monokuma wasn't going to agree.

"You can't... you can't punish her for that!" Coloratura wailed. "It's not fair!"

"Ohhhh yes I can!" Monokuma howled. "It doesn't matter if it's an accident, self-defense or intentional, a murder is still a murder! If you kill someone, that's murder!"

"No! That's entirely wrong! We have laws-!" Luna shrieked.

"Screw the laws, I'm Monokuma!" His expression fell suddenly. "...Buuuut, as far as motives to kill are concerned, a total freak accident is by far the most boring. I mean, it's not even a real motive! No extra secrets to reveal, no positives to lord over the perpetrator with, and mocking their truly-shocked expressions is soooo lame... I almost don't even want to go through with the punishment."

Oh...?

Though I dared hope he truly would let Luna live, it took only a few seconds for me to realize Monokuma was smiling behind that frozen grin of his. I could feel the air thickening with despair as he quietly giggled, and that giggle soon grew into raucous laughter.

"But what kind of bear would I be if I went back on my word?! It seems there's no point in basking in the afterglow, so let's hurry up and begin the punishment!"

"No!" Fluttershy cried.

"You can't!" Discord shouted, his paw stretched out in front of him.

"Now, then... I've prepared a very special punishment for Princess Luna, the Ultimate Strategist!"

"Don't do this, Monokuma! It ain't right!" Applejack sobbed, grasping at her hat.

"Let's give it everything we've got! It's-"

"At least let me say my goodbyes!" Luna bawled.

"...D'oh, alright, fine, but make it snappy," Monokuma sighed, muttering. "Geez, I hate this part... it's so boring." Luna sighed deeply and heavily as she stepped down from her podium, hanging her head in despair. I and the others ran quickly to her side, everypony trying their best to remain strong but not really succeeding.

"I am... so truly sorry, my little ponies..." Luna heaved, her voice quivering despite trying her best to remain calm. "I've... failed you all... again... I can only hope that through this punishment, I may atone for my sins... my failures..."

"No... Luna... why?" Discord whimpered as he and Luna shared one final hug. "Why don't you fight against him...?"

"And then what, my friend?" Luna spoke quietly as she took turns embracing each of those closest to her one last time. "My immortality is gone, and resistance is futile... my fate has been decided, whether I fight against Monokuma or not. I will die either way. And even if I were to survive at the expense of my friends, what would the rest of Equestria think? That their Lunar Princess so coldly threw away the lives of the others for her own survival? And what about my poor sister? Has Nightmare Moon finally made good on her promise to rule alone, perhaps? No... no matter what I could say to try to remedy the situation... the nation would be split apart. The few Nightmare conspiracists that still exist would see to that." She sighed dejectedly.

"But... it wasn't your fault..." Fluttershy stuttered.

"It was an accident!" Rainbow whined, scowling through wet eyes. "We all know that...!"

"My beloved sister is dead by my own hooves... just like I vowed over a thousand years ago. Even then, I was not myself, I never wanted this... the fault is my own, even if by accident. I should have been more careful..." Luna began to cry harder as she held Pinkie, whose own eyes were crying waterfalls.

"You're too hard on yourself, darling..." Rarity sniffed, her mascara a runny mess on her cheeks. After her, I was the last to receive her embrace.

"...You always were..." My voice shook as Luna and I shared our final hug. "...Celestia often said so in her letters. She wanted nothing more than to prove to you that she forgave you completely for the past, and that she loved you so dearly..."

"Twilight..." Luna released me, her horn glowing a gentle silver. Suddenly, a small, diamond-shaped amethyst materialized into existence between us. At the same time, Luna's ebon crown glowed the same color. The small, oval-shaped blue moonstone that sat in the crown's center, usually obscured by her horn and mane, removed itself from its socket and joined the amethyst in midair.

"In the event she was ever destroyed, Sister wished for you to have this crown jewel to remember her by," Luna explained gently as she levitated the gems towards me. "I wish for you to have mine as well."

"Luna..." I took them up in my own magic. I had no words to describe to her how touched, nor how sorry I was. "...Th-Thank you..."

"It's up to you now, Princess Twilight..." said Luna. "You must keep everypony together. Ensure that you all survive against this madness, and ensure there are no more killings, whether intentional or by accident... I have the utmost faith in you."

"I... but-" I tried to speak, but Luna held up a hoof.

"My sister and I were always meant to rule together... and we were meant to abdicate our throne together... that is the way of the Sun and the Moon. But now..." she gently tapped her right hoof on each of my shoulders, "...now is the reign of peace, of serenity... of Twilight."

Fresh tears stung my eyes. Though it had only been in the beginning stages of its planning, this wasn't how my coronation was supposed to go...

"Hm... being immortal, I never really considered the afterlife... I wonder... will Sister be waiting for me?" Luna sighed once more, then hardened her gaze and turned towards Monokuma. "I am finished... it is time."

"Done? Good, I was starting to fall asleep..." Monokuma replied. "Now, without any further ado..."

"Goodbye, my little ponies." Luna bowed her head a final time. The crown jewels dropped gently into my hoof, and I grasped them tightly.

"It's... PUNISHMENT TIIIIIME!"

As Monokuma sat back down on his throne, a large, red button suddenly appeared before him. He pulled out a small toy hammer and grinned madly as he smashed the button with it. A trap door suddenly opened beneath him, and he quickly plummeted out of view as the large monitor above came back to life.

A blood-red cartoon graphic of Princess Luna appeared in the center of the screen. Monokuma's image soon came walking towards her from the left, and as he passed by he grabbed Luna by the mane and dragged her, kicking and screaming, offscreen towards the right. All the while, the top of the screen read "Game Over" and the bottom read "Princess Luna has been found guilty. Time for the punishment!" while morbidly-upbeat music played.

My ears flicked as I heard a clanging noise. I turned just in time to see a manacle attached to a long metal chain clap around Luna's throat. The chain tensed, and she was rapidly dragged through another trap door, screaming in terrified shock. The monitor went black for a moment, then reactivated to show what looked like the inside of a missile silo. A small group of Monokumas (oh gods, there's more than one of him?!) were at various terminals - hitting buttons, pulling levers, checking and double-checking charts and graphs. A tall, thin missile sat in the background, the chain from earlier retracting into its center. Moments later, Luna came flying into view and slammed into the missile's body, dazed and unable to fight the chains that suddenly appeared from behind the missile and wrapped around her, firmly trapping her.

High above, a circular patch of ceiling slowly split open, revealing a perfect blue sky. It creaked to a stop once fully opened; each and every Monokuma then held up their paws in a "thumbs up" gesture, and as the bottom of the missile began to steam, a glowing, red 10 suddenly appeared on the screen's bottom right corner.

*Ultimate Strategist Princess Luna's Execution: Executed*

*Spaghettification*

We watched in silent horror as the 10 counted down, the missile fuming and roaring to life with jetfire. Luna strained against her bonds to no avail, face stained with fear.

9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

As soon as the countdown hit zero, the missile blasted off from the silo. A camera panned back as Luna was launched from a peak in the middle of a mountain range within an endless forest, disappearing into the sky within seconds. Somehow, the camera followed her as she zoomed through the stratosphere and into outer space - past the moon, past the Sun, past other stars, planets, asteroids and comets - until the missile was aimed directly at the center of a small black hole.

Luna silently screamed in the endless void as she thrashed wildly, desperate to alter the missile's trajectory, but it was all in vain. The missile flew closer and closer towards the black hole, with time and space itself warping around her as it went. Her body flattened and contorted into impossible shapes, blood streaming from her eyes, nose, mouth and ears and seemingly evaporating in the intense gravity. By the time she had nearly entered the black hole, her body was so stretched out and deformed that she was staring at the back of her own head.

And then... just as the missile touched the black hole... in a stroke of sheer impossibility, the missile exploded. Shards of Luna's regalia, bones, blood, fur, hooves and horn peppered the nothingness for a mere fraction of a second before zipping inside, never to be seen again. The camera panned out, allowing us a full view of the silent void for a few seconds before the monitor finally deactivated.

Just like that... Princess Luna was gratuitously, violently, irrevocably dead.

"YAHOOOOOOOO! EXTREEEEEEEEEEEEME!" Monokuma shouted gleefully as he popped out of another trap door and back into the room. "Phew... the adrenaline is rushing through me!"

I felt like I was going to throw up. I stared at the floor, bracing myself, watching the tears drip down beneath me as I took several deep breaths. I almost couldn't even process what I had just seen.

"Lu... Luna..." Discord whimpered, his jaw stretching and dropping until it literally hit the floor.

"Are... Are you fucking serious right now...?!" Lightning gasped, furious tears streaming down her face. Fluttershy fainted, dropping silently to the floor. Bulk followed shortly after. Pinkie stood like a weeping statue as her mane deflated and became pin-straight.

"W-Why...? Why... why... why..." was all Coloratura could squeak out as she curled into a ball on the floor.

"Ugh... was all that... really necessary...?" Even the haughty Fleur was taken aback.

"Of course," Monokuma replied matter-of-factly. "Didn't you learn when you were in elementary school? If you badmouth someone, the teacher writes it in a note and makes whoever you badmouthed read it to you in front of the class. When that happens, only then do you think about how it feels to be badmouthed... the same applies to murder!"

"No it doesn't!" Trixie shrieked. "That wasn't even close to the same thing!"

"If it weren't fer you, none of this would'a ever happened!" Applejack glared tearfully at Monokuma.

"Well, it can't be helped," Monokuma shrugged nonchalantly. "Rules are rules and this is the killing rule, after all!"

"Rules my ass... you should go to Tartarus for a million years for what you've done!" Rainbow screamed with rage.

"This... this is far too cruel..." Rarity whimpered, her hooves stained with ruined mascara. "I can't bear to see anything like that again..."

"It won't..." I forced myself to swallow and stood up straight. "...I'll make sure of it. Nopony else is going to die like that!"

"Oh? Don't tell me..." Monokuma smirked. "...you all swear to cut all ties with the outside world and accept living here forever?! But that's only if every single one of you can get onboard with that..." He giggled at the thought, and gradually began laughing harder and harder.

"You... you fucking evil little... why are you doing all this evil shit to us?!" Lightning snarled. Monokuma quickly ceased his laughter and stared smugly at us.

"Evil?! You make it sound like I'm some dark, awful, secret society type of guy! ...Or in this case, a dark, awful, secret society type of BEAR!"

"Answer us, damn you!" Fleur demanded.

"It seems like you're trying to use common sense to make sense of something that doesn't make sense! That's like trying to put a mile on a scale! I just don't think it's possible," Monokuma grinned.

"He's not going to tell us..." Redheart muttered.

"You fucking piece of shit..." Lightning growled, "...I'm gonna find you or whoever's behind this, and I'm gonna beat the living fuck outta you for this!"

"Puhuhu... you must really hate me to get so angry, huh?" mocked Monokuma. "Buuut if you do that, you're barking waaay up the wrong tree." At this warning, Rainbow put a hoof on Lightning's shoulder, shaking her head in concern. Lightning glanced over to her in silent response before glaring at Monokuma again. "What happened, happened because more than one of you decided you wanted to get out, right? No matter how much time passes, you can't cut free of your regrets from the outside world. You're to blame!"

"N-No! You trapped us all here, y-you monster!" Coloratura sobbed.

"Hmm... you're trapped, are you?" Monokuma smirked. "Well, if you want out so badly, you know what to doooo...!" His insane laughter rang in our ears as another trap door opened beneath him, and just like that, he was gone.

We were left to wallow in a nightmare turned reality. Nopony was able to move for a while, too scared to even think of it. Nopony even tried to speak in that time. Our faces were stone... our voices were dead.

But finally, after what felt like an eternity...

"I see... so that's how it is..." Redheart sighed, her face hardened.

"Huh?" We all looked towards her.

"He simply wishes for us to see the true face of despair... that is the point of this killing game," she explained. "To cause us all to turn against each other, killing each other and then being killed in an endless loop until nopony is left to stand trial, forever haunted by what they've seen... what they've done."

"That ain't gonna happen. Not again," Applejack stomped a hoof. "We can't let that happen!"

"You're right," I nodded. "We all need to do our best so that this never happens again!"

"Can you be so certain, though?" asked Flam. "Our best chance at escape was just killed before our very eyes!"

...He's right... but we can't give up hope just yet! ...I can't give up!

"Where there's a will, there's a way," I replied. "We'll find a way... I'm sure of it!"

"Yea! We'll get outta here... soon..." Rainbow nodded, putting on a brave face. Everypony nodded, feeling a little better, but not much.

"Then we should do all we can to prepare," said Redheart. "Let's return to our rooms and get some rest. Tomorrow, we'll come up with a new plan."

"Fine with me... this is already cutting into my beauty rest," Fleur yawned loudly.

I picked up Bulk in my magic while Discord carried Fluttershy. We quietly piled back into the elevator and began our ascent.

As the doors opened back up, we trudged into the school and into the dormitory, exhausted both physically and mentally. Everypony walked straight into their rooms, myself following suit after laying Bulk gently down in his own bed. I left the key to his room beside him and made sure his door was locked as I exited.

I let out a deep sigh and flopped face first into my bed, too drained to even shower first. The two crown jewels clinked melodiously as they fell from my grasp. I lifted my head just enough to see them safely levitated to the desk beside my bed before succumbing to a fitful sleep.

The Triangle Waltz: Hope, Harmony, Despair - Daily Life 3

Morning came at last. I quickly got out of bed and grabbed my potion, excited to get to the Cafeteria.

Applejack, Nurse Redheart and Pinkie Pie were already inside when I arrived. Redheart sat across from Applejack, asking her in the nicest manner possible to refrain from working so hard in the gardens, and that she was always available to talk to if she needed. Just like I'd suspected, Applejack simply smiled and nodded until Redheart got up and left to get herself breakfast. Her facade quickly dropped and she began her morning ritual of staring sadly at her coffee once more.

Then Rarity entered the room, levitating her freshly-sewn gardening gear by her side. She explained to Applejack that if she was so insistent on gardening then she should at least wear protective clothing, and gently floated the clothing onto her to make sure everything fit perfectly. Then I explained the potion I had brewed that would help keep her stamina up and relax her mood. While she had happily accepted Rarity's gift, it took a little convincing before she accepted the potion. Sighing, she uncorked it and drank it in one long gulp. There was an almost immediate change in the dullness of her eyes, which made me smile in relief. Pinkie then said she had a special surprise for everypony this evening, although the surprise was mostly for Applejack.

"Heh... you gonna make sure nopony's poisoned yer ingredients this time?" Applejack chuckled darkly.

"...That's not funny," Pinkie frowned, her half-curled mane threatening to straighten out again.

"No, it wasn't... sorry," Applejack sighed. "Thanks, girls... ah know yer all just tryin' to help. It might not seem like it sometimes, but ah appreciate everythin' yer doin'. Ah look forward to yer surprise later, Pinkie," she said as she strained to form a smile.

"Good!" Pinkie burst into a wide grin. The others arrived while we all put together our plates; for the first time in what felt like a long while, I enjoyed eating breakfast together, with all my friends.

...Well... all my friends that are still alive, that is...

Pinkie insisted that she could handle the food prep and cooking herself, so I had nothing to do for the day. I wandered the school for a while, eventually finding Flam in the Scrollwork Room.

"Ah, Twilight! How are you today?" he asked, jovially as ever.

"I'm alright... what are you up to?" I replied.

"Well, I have the basic inner workings for my hayburger device all finished... now it is time to apply the necessary enchantments!"

"Oh, right," I said, remembering the wooden mechanical parts in the Wood Shop he had been creating the other day. "You're using scrolls to do it, though?"

"No, no... you know that if you enchant an object with too many spells, you'll burn out the magic within a couple uses, correct?"

"Ah, of course..." I lightly smacked my forehead. "Yes, the more spells you wish to bestow on the object, exponentially more mana is required to charge it. Too many, and the object will lose its charge after only one or two uses, and then you'd have to recharge it again."

"And that is why I am here," Flam nodded as he pulled a few books from the shelves in his magic. "I thought that perhaps some of these scrollwork and rune books would give me a few ideas on how to consolidate multiple spells into one."

"I see! Can I help?" I asked, many ideas already floating around in my head.

"Of course, dear! The more the merrier!"

~~~

Flam and I worked together as we studied scroll enchantments and runes. After some trial and error, I think we've stumbled upon a new breakthrough in enchanting magic!

~~~

"Ah... Twilight, may I ask you something?" Flam spoke up while we tested our theories on some parchment origami.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well, forgive me if it's a little too personal... does Miss Applejack even like stallions?"

"Eh?" I blinked. That was not a question I was expecting. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you know how I thought it'd be a good idea to ask her out on a picnic lunch date? So I floated the idea to her the other day..."

"And... I'm guessing she said no?"

"She said... that even if we had no prior history, I'm just not her type."

"I see... well, that doesn't necessarily mean-"

"Me! Flam, of the World-Famous FlimFlam Brothers! Now, I don't like to boast, but I like to think that I'm rather quite charming! Suave! Above-average in the looks department! The mares are always looking my way, and even a few stallions, too!"

Don't like to boast, huh...?

"Right... well, I did say that I don't think I've ever seen AJ show interest in any stallion before... Maybe you're on to something," I shrugged - having recently learned that Applejack had apparently had feelings for Rainbow Dash that she never got to tell her, I wasn't entirely sure whether I wanted to tell Flam that his flirting was most likely pointless.

"Come now, Twilight. You know Applejack better than anypony here. What do you think?"

But Flam seemed intent on finding out the truth. Honesty seemed like the only answer he would accept. After getting him to promise that he would never tell Applejack that I told him, I let him know about her hidden feelings. As I finished, Flam's confident expression melted into one of disappointment.

"I see... so she doesn't like stallions, it seems..." he sighed. "...Drat."

"That would be my guess, yea."

"And on top of that, she already had a suitor in mind... what a shame." Flam pulled his hat from his head and held it over his chest. "Poor dear... and here I was, acting and thinking like a little colt with his first crush."

"Hey, you didn't know," I comforted. "I didn't even know myself until a short time ago."

"True... well, though I have been called by many names before, 'nice guy' shan't be one of them," Flam huffed as he put his hat back on. "I know when to back off... just as well, it's always nice having options open to you," he grinned.

"Right..."

"Besides, simply being on her good side is well enough for me. I do still intend to keep my promise of assisting her in replanting that orchard. Perhaps we can still be friends in the future?"

"Yea, I think that's definitely doable!" I agreed.

I'm surprised... I had no idea Flam was really such a decent pony at heart... Did the magic of Friendship do this...?

After spending time with Flam, I wondered how Applejack was doing now that she had gardening gear and my potion keeping her healthy, so I walked to the gardens. When I arrived, I was honestly surprised there was anything left for her to do - most of the plants had been picked bare by Pinkie earlier, no doubt currently preparing her surprise feast for us all. Again, Coloratura was keeping an eye on her from the bench, seeming less worried about her today.

"Hi, Rara. How's AJ been today?" I asked, sitting down beside her.

"Oh, Twilight! The clothes Rarity made and that potion you gave her, Jackie almost looks back to her old self again," Coloratura smiled.

"That's good," I nodded.

"Still, though... I hope she doesn't think this means she's invincible now," she added warily. "If she works herself harder than ever, then even gardening clothes and a potion might not keep her safe."

"I brewed that potion to be as strong as I could possibly make it," I reassured, "and Rarity's work is always impeccable, I don't think even Bulk could pull apart the stitching on her gear."

"Oh... well, if you guys say so," she shrugged.

~~~

Coloratura and I kept an eye on Applejack, making sure she wasn't overworking herself. Just like I'd said, though, thanks to my potion and Rarity's gardening gear, Applejack seemed to be making quick progress in the garden without any signs of fatigue.

~~~

After spending some time in silence, I glanced over to Coloratura. She was staring at Applejack with a... hungry look in her eyes.

"Uh... what'cha thinking about, Rara?" I asked, not sure if I really wanted to know the answer. Coloratura blinked and gasped as if startled out of a daydream.

"O-Oh, nothing! I, uh..."

"Still got your crush, huh?" I smirked teasingly.

"I... well... yes," she grumbled, her cheeks bright pink.

"Hehehe... hey, if it works out, I think you two would be cute together."

"You think so?" Coloratura smiled dreamily. "I think so, too. I can already see it now..."

"Huh?"

"Once we're out of this horrible place... I'll take a break from touring and my Las Pegasus residency for a while. I'll come to Ponyville and visit her at Sweet Apple Acres, and we'll hang out, just the two of us. We'll do all the things together we always talked about when we were fillies!"

"Aww, that sounds nice!"

"Then once I know for sure she likes me back, I'll ask if she wants to be marefriends... I... I could handle putting my career on the backburner for a while, I've made enough money. We'll travel the world, see all kinds of beautiful places, eat the finest apple cuisine... and I'll plan the greatest proposal Equestria has ever seen!"

"...Proposal? Wait-"

"It'll have apples, of course. The box will be a rosewood carved apple, although I'll let her pick the ring. And then we'll hide from the paparazzi together as we arrange the wedding, cuddling and canoodling the whole time... we'll have it in Sweet Apple Acres, I'm sure, I can't think of a more perfect venue! I'll have the finest dress hoofmade by Ponatella Ventasso herself, and I'm sure Rarity will create something equally stunning for Jackie! We'll have one of those big, fancy geode cakes made with real diamonds, and I'll of course invite all my best musician friends and collaborators to perform and DJ, and-"

"Er, Rara... don't you think you're jumping the gun a little?" I coughed nervously. "You don't even know if she likes you that way yet."

"Ah, yes, of course," Coloratura giggled. "I've just always been kind of a hopeless romantic, I guess. I've been thinking about my wedding since I was little! Lots of fillies do!"

"I see..." I hummed, trying to think if I had ever imagined my own wedding. Nothing particularly came to mind, however, since I had been obsessed with magic and studying to become even better at it since I was a filly myself.

"But when I look at Jackie... I dunno, it feels like it's just so... possible! It feels like it was meant to be! Being separated for so many years and now reuniting and growing close again under threat of a murder game? I know in my heart that Jackie would never kill anypony, and neither would I; If it isn't our destiny to escape from here, find that we've come to love each other and have a happy life together, I don't know what is!"

Noting the slightly-crazed look in Coloratura's eyes, I cleared my throat. "Um... studies have shown that romantic relationships that form because of a traumatic event don't tend to last very long after the event has ended..."

"Bah, studies, schmudies," Coloratura waved a hoof. "Our love will be the purest, most strongest there ever was!"

...Oooookaaaaay...

"I see. Well... I'm sure you two will be happy..." I giggled nervously, at a loss of what to say.

She sure has her mind made up... I wonder if I should warn AJ or let her handle it...

The time for Pinkie's feast drew near. Applejack was actually rather receptive to joining us for dinner; I could hear her stomach growling as we approached the Cafeteria. The most wonderful aromas filled the air and only grew stronger the closer we got to the Kitchen.

As we sat down, the thought of the dinner party at the beginning of this ordeal intruded on my mind. The memories of Princess Celestia's last moments clutched at my throat and shortened my breath. But this was different, I thought to myself. This was simply a large banquet designed by Pinkie to get Applejack to finally eat a decent meal. Shaking my head until the memories were cast aside, I got back up from my seat and trotted into the kitchen to see if Pinkie needed any last-minute help.

"Nope, I'm done! But I could use some help getting all of these out!" Pinkie chirped as she set the last of the pots into the sink to soak. Scattered all over the kitchen were large platters of fruits and vegetables, decorated with herbs, spices, berries and flowers, and one huge soup tureen the size and shape of a giant pumpkin... in fact, the tureen was carved out of an actual giant pumpkin. "And I taste-tested everything, and I'm not dead yet! So no worries about any pesky poisons!"

Inwardly sighing in relief, I nodded. "Great! So, which ones should we bring out first?"

"Pssshaw..." Pinkie scoffed, "...all of them!" I simply shrugged indifferently and levitated every platter in my magic, floating them gently out of the room. In the meantime, the others had gathered for supper as well.

"I was wondering where all the crops in the garden went!" Coloratura gasped as soon as she saw me.

"Well, now! What's the occasion?" Flam asked, pleasantly surprised to see so much food.

"Uh... the crops in the gardens were all nice and ripe, so Pinkie thought it'd be a waste not to use them," I white-lied, setting the platters down on the table. I purposefully set one covered in spiced apples poached in vegetable broth right in front of Applejack, hiding a smirk as I watched her deeply inhale the steam and grin.

"Don't worry - I Pinkie Promise that there is absolutely no poison in this food! I taste-tested everything myself... everything," Pinkie emphasized.

"I see... a capital idea!" he smiled, accepting the story.

"Sounds good to me," Lightning Dust agreed, rubbing her hooves together. "Been a while since I had a meal like this!"

"YEAAAAAH! A BIG MEAL LIKE THIS IS PERFECT AFTER A GOOD WORKOUT," nodded Bulk Biceps.

"Smells positively divine!" added Rarity. "Pinkie, darling, you've truly outdone yourself this time!"

"Aw, shucks, it was nothing," Pinkie giggled, rubbing the back of her head as her mane finally fully regained its curly bounciness. Everypony then dug in, soon losing themselves in the various complex flavors and aromas. I watched intently as Applejack put together a plate with a little of everything, still stubbornly trying to deny she was hungry yet not wanting to be rude, and silently cheered when she finally took a bite, paused, then feverishly began stuffing her face.

In the end, Applejack probably ate at least half of the food herself. Fire-roasted corn, roasted root vegetables in olive oil, various salads, roasted and grilled and poached fruits, the spiced, poached apples pierced with rosemary and cloves, shish-kabobs loaded with grilled vegetables and quick-pickled carrots and cucumbers, all marinated, herbed and spiced to perfection. The pumpkin tureen held a rich vegetable soup including all of the leftover bits and pieces Pinkie hadn't used in the main dishes, and was easily my favorite part of the meal.

Finally, after a light dessert of honeycrisp apple sorbet, Applejack let out a deep sigh of contentment. "Thanks, Pinkie... Ah didn't realize how hungry ah really was. That fine meal was just whut ah needed."

"Anything for a friend!" Pinkie beamed.

"We were just so worried about your health, darling, so we each came up with a plan to get you feeling better," said Rarity.

"You were running yourself ragged... we don't want you to overwork yourself and get sick or hurt," I explained further. Applejack frowned, then sighed sadly.

"Ah see... oh, you girls are right. Ah've just been tryin' to cope with all this killin' and dyin'... ah didn't see that it was makin' y'all worry so bad." She looked up at us, her eyes misty.

"It's alright," I reassured. "We're all just trying our best to survive in here. But we can't escape unless we all work together and keep our minds clear."

"We'll get out of here, AJ... we have to, for everypony's sake," Rarity nodded.

"Pinkie Promise!" added Pinkie.

"Yea... we will," Applejack smiled. "Thanks to you girls, ah think my appetite's finally returnin' to me. And, well, there ain't no more weeds in the gardens... maybe ah'll take it easy tomorrow."

That statement alone was cause enough for celebration. We spent the rest of the evening together just like old times, talking and laughing over leftovers and a board game. When Nighttime finally arrived and we said our goodnights, I finally felt a sense of inner peace I had been sorely lacking lately. Hoping for a full day of hanging out together, I had my evening shower, tucked myself into bed and quickly fell asleep.

Morning arrived. Yawning, I stretched out my limbs and hopped out of bed, making my way to the Cafeteria as usual. Redheart, Pinkie and Bulk were already there and eating, so I fixed myself a plate and sat down. Soon afterwards came Rarity, Flam, Lightning and Coloratura.

"Coloratura, are you alright?" Redheart suddenly asked.

"Huh?"

"You're limping a little," she explained further.

"Oh! No, I'm fine... I think I just slept on my leg funny," Coloratura shrugged, stretching out her left foreleg.

"WANT ME TO MASSAGE IT FOR YOU? I'M A MASSEUSE AT A DAY SPA, SO I KNOW HOW," Bulk offered. A few seats down, I could hear Lightning quietly snickering to herself.

"Ah, that'd be great! Thank you," she smiled. After gathering a plate for herself, Coloratura sat down beside Bulk, who rubbed her foreleg while slurping down a protein shake. The wincing faces she made... didn't really make me feel all that confident about Bulk's massage abilities.

"Hey, where's AJ?" Pinkie asked. "I thought she said she'd finally regained her appetite!" I gasped inwardly, realizing that she was right: Applejack hadn't come to breakfast. Even at her lowest, she had always made the effort to at least have a sip of coffee.

"She ate enough food for a week last night, I wouldn't be surprised if the poor dear is in the middle of a food coma right now," said Rarity. "I'm sure she'll come for her cup of coffee any minute, though." Pinkie shivered, probably at the choice of words used, but quickly shrugged and nodded in agreement. I smiled and continued to eat my breakfast.

But as we ate, I stared at the entrance, hoping Applejack would finally join us. Time passed, and my mood slowly grew more and more despondent. Soon enough, we had finished eating and put our dishes away, and Applejack still hadn't arrived.

"AHH... TIME FOR A GOOD, LONG WORKOUT!" Bulk cheered. "ANYPONY WANNA COME SPOT ME?"

"You're on, big guy!" Lightning grinned. "...You don't really need spotting, though. You can probably lift the entire fuckin' building by yourself." Chuckling amongst themselves, Bulk and Lightning left for the Weight Room.

"Ow... I thought he knew what he was doing," Coloratura whined, rubbing her left foreleg. "...I think I'll go soak in the Spa for a while." She left, limping a bit more than she had been before. Redheart and Flam left as well, leaving myself, Pinkie and Rarity.

"...She must've reeeeeally passed right out after last night!" Pinkie commented after a few moments. "She still hasn't come for her coffee!"

"Yes, I suppose so..." Rarity pursed her lips, a worried look on her face. "...I'm not so sure I like this, girls."

"What do you mean?" I asked as normally as I could, though after reading Rarity's expression I could feel my heart begin to race. I feared that if I spoke again, I'd start stuttering.

"Well... these past few days she's always had her coffee before going into the gardens all day long, and yesterday we gave her things to help her do just that. Is she feeling alright? Perhaps she's finally gone and overworked herself."

"Ohhh... maybe she's so tired and sore, she can't even get out of bed!" Pinkie gasped. "We should get to her room and wake her up!"

My heart calmed down a bit. Applejack had been working unusually hard lately... maybe she really was simply too tired to get up. She did say she might just take it easy today... "Yea, let's put some breakfast together for her and bring it to her room," I suggested.

"But if she's suuuper tired, what if she can't unlock the door for us?" asked Pinkie.

"Yes... I doubt Monokuma would be so kind as to unlock her door for what he'd surely find a 'trivial' matter-"

Screams suddenly echoed from the distance. My heart dropped into my stomach.

"...Uh... what was that...?" Pinkie gulped.

And then the chime I had come to dread rang out. My blood ran ice cold as the music traveled through my ears and settled into my brain.

*ding dong bong bing!*

"A body has been discovered!" The monitors in the Cafeteria flashed to life, revealing Monokuma downing his wine glass in one gulp and leering drunkenly into the camera. "Now then, after a certain amount of time has passed, the class trial will begin! Everyone, please gather in the Weight Room!"

The monitors hadn't even shut themselves off before we scrambled for the Weight Room. Every second felt like an eternity as my hooves pounded on the floors. Beside me, I could see tears already forming in Rarity's eyes and Pinkie's mane already beginning to unravel. I wished, I prayed, I begged within my heart for the announcement to have been made by accident. I hoped to Celestia the victim wasn't who I thought it might be.

Finally we arrived just outside the weight room. The door was open, and I could see Bulk and Lightning staring in transfixed horror to the right. Lightning was pale, and Bulk was trying his hardest not to vomit.

"Oh man... this is bad... this is so fuckin' bad..." Lightning breathed.

Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself for the reveal. I stepped inside the Weight Room and turned to my right... and I deeply regretted it.

Applejack was lying on her back in a massive pool of blood on the mats below the mirrors on the right side of the room. More dried, coagulated blood ran in gnarled streams from a rip in her chest. There had been an attempt to clean the scene, as a few towels had been left behind to soak in the blood. Bloody hoofprints led back and forth from the laundry area behind me; I quickly lifted my hooves to ensure I hadn't stepped in any, gagging all the same.

I had to stumble away to a bench and sit down, the smell of so much blood was overpowering. I heard Redheart, Flam and Coloratura arrive, and their subsequent screams and cries of shock and disgust.

But I couldn't move, I couldn't go to them. I could only stare at the body... the body of yet another of my best friends.

No matter how badly I wished it were a lie, there was no turning away from the truth.

Applejack, the Ultimate Farmer... was dead.

Author's Note

...sorry Ficta. :P