Ponganronpa: Harmonious Killings

by PandaisQd

Rating: mature
Tags: Danganronpa, Gore, Violence, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Death, Alternate Universe, Other, Applejack, Drama, Original Character, Trixie, Mystery, Horror
Length: 31330

Trixie Lulamoon wakes up in an unknown place and learns shes in a killing game

Hey yall, this is so I don't lose motivation on TPOTS, read in a comic that switching between two stories can help with that. But yeah, MLP danganronpa and Trixie is the protagonist.
Feel free to predict in the comments~
Use spoiler tags if talking about spoilers.

Published 2022-05-16 00:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-03-09 04:32:17 UTC

Welcome to Hopes Peak: Academy of Harmony Prologue Part 1

Author's Note

Spoilers for contestants ((ages included))
Minors: Petunia, Splash: Don't be creepy.

Trixie (she/her) - 23
Applejack (she/her) - 24
Twilight (she/her) - 24
Petunia (she/her) - 12
Dusty (she/her) - 19
Splash (he/him) - 16
Derpy (she/her) - 28
Mr. Rich (he/him) - 42
Discord (he/him) - 2000+
Spike (he/him) - 24
Octavia (she/her) - 22
Vinyl (she/they) - 23
Gilda (she/her) - 24
Corriander (he/him) - 39
Zecora (she/her) - 32
Cross ((Red Heart FtM HC)) (he/him) - 26
Sidirourgous SID roaR jUS - 27
Sunny (he/him) - 30
Quibble (he/they) - 25
Snap (he/him) - 41
Thorax (they/them) - 27

Welcome to Hopes Peak: Academy of Harmony Prologue Part 1

Trixie Lulamoon was walking over a grand bridge. A bit too fancy for her tastes, she wishes she could have just brought her wagon. That was besides the point.

“Starlight could’ve told me this would be such a long trek... I wouldve prepared more..”
Trixie panted as she wanted to collapse, but she was so close!

“Trixie does not faint... For she... Is the Ultimate Illusionist!”
It was then that Trixie collapsed.

When Trixie got some awareness, she was in what looked to be an empty classroom, she found herself slumped over her desk, but still felt mostly asleep. She needed to be around 20 percent more awake. When all of the sudden she felt a sharp jab to her shins.

“Hey you. Wake up.”

“Five more minutes Starlight...”

“Ah’ don’t know who Starbright is, but what ah’ do know is you need to wake up!”
Trixie felt an even more powerful jab at her shins.

“Alright, I’m up - I’m up - who are you?”

“The names Applejack, and im the Ultimate Orchardist, pleasure’s all mine, whatever yer name is!”

“Trixie is the Ultimate Illusionist and doesn’t appreciate a kick to the shins!”

“Ok, that’s Trixie, but I asked for yer own name, Sugarcube.”

Trixie let out a groan and rubbed her side as she finally got a look at the mare. A built tall orange earth pony with a stetson hat and blonde, almost hay like, hair. Tied up in a long bun with a red mane tie.

“My name is Trixie Lulamoon, I am Trixie, The Ultimate Illusionist, pleasures all mine except for my shins.”

“My apologies, Trixie, but you were cold out and I was sent to find others so we can try and make a lick of whats going on.”

“Aren’t we at Hopes Peak: Harmony Academy?”

“Thats just it, we dont seem to be at a campus, more of a resort kind of place, the only classroom I’ve seen is this one...”

“Trixie does not find that to be a good omen..”

“Well, I should bring you to the receptionist area, its where she wants us to meet.”

“She?”

“You’ll see, Come on now, Trixie, I’ll take you there.”

Applejack led Trixie out of the classroom and into a hallway, they headed down it where she saw two unicorns, a pegasus, an earth pony, but the most eye catching was a lavendar colored alicorn, long ultramarine mane with purple and pink stripes, the tail matched it exactly. She noticed Applejack and invited her over.

“I see you found someone Applejack.”

“Trixie’s name is Trixie Lulamoon and I’m the Ultimate Illusionist!”

Twilight muttered under her breath, but everyone heard.

“Another pony who can’t even speak proper...”
Applejack and Trixie gave her the side eye but none the less let her finish her “introduction.”

“The name is Twilight Sparkle, and apparently, I’m the Ultimate Princess.”
Trixie rolled her eyes, could anypony be so full of herself?

“I’m going to look for others, you stay here and introduce yourselves to the others I found.”

Applejack and Trixie looked around and saw one of the ponies in more detail. The earth pony was a pale blue, a dark blue mane, and appeared to be just a filly. She noticed the two and ran up to them.

“Hiiiiiii~ The name’s Petunia Paleo, and I’m the Ultimate Paleontologist!”

“Thats one of those fancy schmancy ponies who study remains of olden creatures, right?”

“Welll, I would’nt call myself fancy... Or even schamncy, you have that right, Applejack.”

“Nice to meet you Petunia, it seems you know us already so Trixie is going to go introduce herself and Applejack to the others.”
“Okey, dokey, bye then~!”

Applejack and Trixie approached the two talking unicorns. One had a light blue mane with wine red tips and a green mane band along with a pale purple coat, the other had deep purple eyes, way done up deep blue hair and a similar wine red coat. On closer approaching, the pale one seemed slightly more annoyed and had a horn that had different shades, pale purple, blue, green, and red. It was a unique horn indeed. The other unicorn had makeup, strawberry colored spots and makeup on.

The redder one noticed the two first and nodded at Multi Colored horn to introduce themselves first. They sighed and responded in a deeper voice, that sounded like they didnt want to be here.

“The name is Dusty Mosaic, and I’m the Ultimate Mosaicist, I make mosaics and I don’t think I should be here because I know what I do and I do it well, but my marefriend said this was an oppurtunity so....”
The other unicorn interrupted

“First off - no I’m not her marefriend, secondly, the name is Splash Refresh, and I’m the Ultimate Smoothie Maker!”

“Ah think Ive heard of you, at least by passing. I have vague memories of sending my orchard’s apples to a famous smoothie maker, but I thought they were from Cloudsdale.”

“Oh, I am, my father is a unicorn, my mother is a pegasus and at a Cloudsdale event my father had that spell and it somehow got transfered to me.”
Dusty retorted, clearly just wanting to get away from this conversation.

“Was the event eachother?”

“First of all, that’s gross, but secondly, it was just a sports event my mom was in.”

“Well, this was something, but Im going to go explore.”

Splash eagerly chased down Dusty.
“Wait~ I’ll come too~!”

Dusty just sighed.

They lastly turned to the pegasus. A grey pegasus with a pale yellow, she seemed to be distracted by... Something and nothing. The silence got awkward so Trixie struck up the conversation

“Hello - Tri- er my name is Trixie Lulamoon and I’m the Ultimate Illusionist, this is Applejack the Ultimate Orchardist.”

“Howdy~”

She turned and stared blankly, one of her eyes sort of went the other way.

“Hi... My name is Derpy Hooves... And I’m the Ultimate Mailmare.”

“So you deliver the mail to all of Cloudsdale?”
Trixie questioned the now calmer mare.

“Along with Ponyville, and... That's it.”
The pony gave a cheerful smile before walking off.

“Well, what's next?”

“We could check the indoor garden?”

“Trixie doesn’t know what that is, but Trixie usually doesn’t.”

Welcome to Hopes Peak: Acdemy of Harmony (Prologue Part 2)

Trixie and Applejack walked into this indoor garden type of room only to see a suave-looking beige pony with greased black hair, and...

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF LUNA IS THAT THING"
Way to be subtle Applejack...

"Ahhhh~ More ponies, perfect, Id teleport to you but it seems magic doesn't work here, and our wings have been downgraded..."

Trixie put her hoof to her face, how could she have forgotten her HORN. But it seems, the multi animaled creature was right... Her horn didn't even give a spark of magic. The business pony cut in.

"My apologies for the interruption, but I feel an introduction is in order. My name is Filthy Rich and I'm the Ultimate Business pony, but I'm anything but Filthy... So please just call me Rich, but since I've worked with the Apples for moons that was mostly for you."

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Rich, as you know I'm the ultimate Orchardist and Trixie here is the Ultimate Illusionist."

"Oh blah blah blah, emotions. Eyuuuchk, gag."

This guy is almost as insufferable as that damn Alicorn...

"You ponies listen and you listen well, my name is Discord and I'm the Ultimate Chaos."

"Hold on a cotton pickin' minute... Yer talent is just being... Chaotic?"

"I'd show you an example but unfortunatly it seems whoever brought us here didn't want us to escape, via magic or wings."
This worried Trixie, immensely.

"Wait - you mean that we were all going to attend this academy for Ultimates and then suddenly we wake up in this hotel in the middle of Luna knows where?"

"It seems to be the case... Kind of brings me some despair..."

"Anyways, thanks y'all for the introductions and what have you but were going to go explore some more."

The two wandered over a bit more which seemed to be a row of doors, on the left side, one on the right, each having their faces on them. In total, there was 10 on each side. Mares on the right, stallions on the left. Aside for Applejack and... some sort of dragon, who seem to share a room? They continued a bit and turned left. The right was blocked off but it was some kind of staircase? And near it was also a blocked-off elevator.

"Hey, Applejack, I wonder why that's blocked off."
"Beats me, she responded."

They entered the next room in the hall to the left. It seemed to be a laundry room, one glance at who was in there caused the farmpony to blush and look down. Trixie glanced, all that was in there was a purple and green quadruped dragon, pretty built and even taller than Applejack.

"HOwDY"

Applejack blushed and blurted it out, causing Trixie to snicker.

"The names Trixie Lulamoon, Ultimate Illusionist and this is"

"I know who this is, Applejack I'm so glad to see you're OK, don't fool this poor unicorn like that."

"Alright alright, fine, Trixie this is Spike, he's the Ultimate Ambassador and he's also my spouse."

"Ah nice to meet you Spi -"
hold up.
"WAIT YOU TWO ARE MARRIED?!"
"Long story, but I'm just glad yer okay."

They went in for a hug and nuzzled each other's necks.
"Er Trixie - I've already met most everycreature... you can continue ahead."

Trixie snorted and left the two alone. She went into the door across the hall on the right which appeared to be a dining hall of sorts. She saw a tail enter the kitchen and an annoyed grey earth pony with purple eyes and a black long straight mane and a less annoyed white unicorn with a blue spiky mane sitting at a table.

Trixie decided to introduce herself, and after such the unicorn pulled up their sunglasses revealing red eyes, and flashed a smile.

"The name's Vinyl "DJ PON3" Scratch, I'm the Ultimate DJ, but please just call me Vinyl."

"Octavia Melody. Ultimate Cellist."

"Cmon, lighten up, that griffon is probably just in a bad mood."

"Griffon?"
Octavia sighed and nodded at the kitchen door.

"They just came here and yelled at me for being in the way, when I wasn't, she walked into me!"

"Octavia, calm down..."

"You two know each other?"

"Well, only since we got here but, yeah."

"While it was nice meeting you, I better go introduce myself to that griffon, grumpy or not."

"Good luck..." The grey earth pony sighed and gave a faint smile. The white unicorn just nodded and tried to comfort her.

Trixie entered the kitchen only to hear a gruff argument ensuing. Inside she saw the aforementioned griffon starting to get angry at a hefty gold-colored unicorn with a small purple mane and unkempt purple shaved beard look. Both may as well had smoke coming out of their ears.

"I was here first..."

"Don't care, tubby, this is my kitchen now."

"And besides what about that blue unicorn behind you."

They both looked at me, neither really happy. Nonetheless, the unicorn introduced himself.

"My name is Corriander Cumin, and I'm the Ultimate Cook- OOF"

The Griffon rammed into him and he stumbled back a bit.

"The names Gilda Gruff and I'm the Ultimate Baker and say this is MY kitchen so both of you buzz off!" Both of us were quickly shoved out of the kitchen and dining area.

"Well, do you have a talent, Miss?"

"Oh right, Trixie's - er my talent is the Ultimate Illusionist, at least it was a pleasure to meet you, Sir."

"Please, call me Corriander, I was just being polite... I haven't met everypony yet, want to see if we can find some more?"

"Works for me."

They headed to the next room on the right side of the hallway, Trixie could still hear then in the laundry room and shuddered. When they entered they saw a healthcare office with one white earth pony with a pale pink mane and one... Zebra? The pink maned one took notice.

"Greetings, my name is Red- oops, sorry recently transitioned and keep deadnaming myself."

Finally, somepony that gets Trixie's pain!

"My name is Cross Heart, and I'm the Ultimate Nurse!"

"Lucia- er Trixie gets your pain"
Trixie winked which relaxed the pink maned pony a bit, then the zebra chimed in.

"My name is Zecora Sahara, I'm the Ultimate Herbalist, the one and only. It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Lulamoon, and Mr. Cumin"

Zecora gave a polite bow and left. Trixie and Corriander were a little stunned... neither of them had given Zecora their last names.

"Pleasure to meet you, Cross, the names Corriander, the Ultimate Cook."

"If I'm keeping count right... Then I need to meet five more male creatures..."

They headed across the hall and on the left and encountered a gym, where the five remaining creatures were. An orange earth pony with a headset, a brown earth pony with a purple mane, a lighter brown earth pony with a silver mane, A pale pink unicorn that was missing its horn., and a colorful bug-looking thing. Trixie and Corriander approached the unicorn first and Corriander piped up first.

"Are you alright sir?"
The unicorn blushed and nodded with a quiet response with an accent from Horcee. of
"Yeah... Don't worry, I've had it for a while... I was in a war... as the Ultimate Blacksmith... I made... the weapons... and without my sword... or cloak... I feel so vulnerable..."

It's clear whoever wanted us here was confident enough to bring a war veteran blacksmith here... and somehow got their weapon as well...

Corriander piped up and gave the unicorn a reassuring shoulder pat.

"Don't worry friend, we'll get through this together."

They headed over to the two chatting earth ponies. The purple-maned one took notice first and introduced himself.

"Good day, mate and lassie, the name is Snap Allgood and I'm the Ultimate Survivalist."

Trixie and Corriander introduced themselves and then the other earth pony, who was lighter brown chimed in.

"The name's Quibble Sky... I go by he/they and I'm the Ultimate Daring-Do Fan..."

"Daring Do?" Corriander cocked his head and Snap responded.

"Popular adventure book series, my kit, Scootaloo, loves them."

The other earth pony, with a headset, and now clearly a styled blue mane walked over and with a louder than needed voice, kind of like one from 60s radio, chimed in as well.

"Aha, yes! The one by A. K. Yearling! Y'nknow I recently interviewed her - or tried - but got the door slammed on me, how rude!"

No no, I can see why she did.

"Anyways, the name is Sunny Delight, and I'm the Ultimate Radio Host!"

Quibble and Trixie winced.

"If you don't mind," Quibble started "You're really loud and could you please quiet down a little...?

"Nope, I was born with this voice and have to suffer too, Ahahah!"

Something tells me that Sunny isn't happy with his voice.

"Oh... well, me and Trixie should introduce ourselves to Bugs over there..."

"Have fun~!" Sunny bellowed, perhaps a bit too loudly.

Corriander pulled me over to this colorful bug-looking pony. A lime green colored, purple-eyed, horned, bugged winged... It was strangely beautiful.

"Ohh, hi... I heard your names and talents from Twilight."

Eyuchk.

"The name is Thorax... I go by the pronouns of they/them and... I don't remember my Ultimate... or signing up for any kind of program..."

"That's quite strange"

Corriander replied, but before I could respond

Bing Bong Bong Bing.

"A school bell?" Corriander questioned.

For everycreature that isn't present in the gym, please report there immediately.

A little confused one by one everypony filed in. Spike chimed in first

"Wonder what could be so important?"

Trixie smirked, she could respond to this at least.

"What were you and Applejack busy doing laundry?"

Both Applejack and Spike blushed deeply and Discord let out a hearty laugh. Suddenly two known figures stood on the stage, except they looked different.

Even Twilight was confused...
"Luna... Cadence.... what are you two doing here?

Luna, now black as coal, except for her eyes, cutie mark, and mane which glowed white just nodded at an even different Cadence, who was now all white except for her eyes, cutie mark, and mane which all glowed black. Cadence piped up first

"My name is MonoDence and this is MonoLuna we would like to welcome you all to Equestria's very first Killing Game!"

Monoluna unenthusiastically blew a party horn releasing some confetti.

But nobody noticed that everyone was silent except for Twilight who was now pale, along with everyone else.

"A what?"

PROLOGUE END

Chapter One: Dreaded Discovery DaL

After Twilight could only stutter out an answer Monodence continued.

"Why are none of you cheering, this is a blessed time of love and despair~, i thought youd understand twily, aren't I your BBFSFF~ Fuhuhuhu~"

"You're not Cadence. I don't know who you two are or what you did with the princesses but we'll stop you!"

"Stop us? But the fun has indeed been doubled." Monoluna said, with even less enthusiasim than ever.

"Most killing games take foreverrrr to start, and that's no fun, nosiree!" Monodence chimed, giving a sad pouty face.

Monoluna then chimed in
"So for your first motive, if nobody is dead in 48 hours, half of you will all be killed."

Monodence squeed with foalish excitement, happy of this.

"Happy killings~"

"This cannot be right, this is giving us all such fright!" Zecora said nervously.

"They're obviously bluffing." Discord stated "That for sure isnt Cadence or Luna but as a former villain even I know thats a bluff."

Applejack nodded as Spike, ironically being bigger, was more afraid and nestled into Applejack's neck.

"Ah agree with Discord, aint no way they'd bring us here just to kill half of us."

Some ponies nodded their heads but others shook their heads. Gilda being notably louder.

"If I learned anything as a griffon its don't fucking trust anybody. I'm going to my roo-"

Monoluna, who reappeared butted in first.

"Before any of you go, take these Monopads, they are the keys to your room and contain the rules, which I'll go over now."

"Rule 1: No harm will come to our property or the Monos. Property may be damaged for murder.

Rule 2: Three innocent ponies discovering a body will trigger the body announcement.

Rule 3: Night time hours are 10:45PM-9:00AM, you must be in someones dorm or the garden at that time, all other rooms are closed off, unless youre comitting a murder.

Rule 4: You get one monopad, dont lose it or break it.

Rule 5: More rules will be added at Monodence and Monoluna's pleasure.

I looked up from the rules. Trixie refuses to beleive any pony would ever go through with this.

"Speaking of," Monoluna stated "Its night time, please report to your dorms."

No goodnights were said, everyone headed to their own dorms, aside from Applejack and Spike who both went to her dorm.

I got into bed and slowly fell asleep.

I'll wake up and this will be a dream... I'll wake up in my wagon with Starlight...

BING BONG BONG BING
Good Morning~ Monodence here saying it's 9am! 10 hours and 15 minutes in and noponies dead... That makes me sad. Sniffles

Trixie woke up... So it wasn't a dream. Trixie let out a yawn and sniffed the air. She smelt a sweet oatmeal and some daffodils... Her stomach growled. Trixie hadnt eaten all of yesterday.

Trixie was surprised to see almost everyone in the dininghall and Gilda and Corriander both... Working together?

"Mornin, Trixie, how'd you sleep aside from the whole y'nknow..." Applejack said and quickly faded out of words.

"I slept alright, mornin Vinyl, Spike, Rich."

"Wassup."

"Morning."

"Good morning, Trixie."
Applejack gave Spike a peck on the cheek causing Twilight to roll her eyes.

"That's so uncivil, some of us just want to eat."
"Some of us are coping, princess." Spike said bluntly, "For all we know youre behind all this so shut up and sit the fuck down."

Twilight sputtered before grabbing her meal and storming out.

"What a letdown." Octavia rolled her eyes.

Petunia shrugged and cocked her head after swallowing her food.
"I thought princesses were supposed to be regal and nice but shes been nothing but a grump."

"Lovebirds, DJ, Wiz, Moneybags, your sandwhiches and oatmeal are done. Come get em.

Corriander chuckled.
"Come on Gilda a little more positivity than that~"

"Im working with you in a kitchen, thats what you get."
Corriander sighed.

I ate my food with the ones at my table and we all seemed to get a little closer.

"Attention, Attention, everypony!" Sunny was piping up. And Splash quickly responded.

"So this morning Sunny and I were talking and we figured that we need to all work together. We need to gather info and try and build bonds so we dont get tempted to murder!"
Dusty rolled her eyes but shared the sentiment.

"I'm far from a social person, but my marefriends out there and I know shed want me to help you all out... So let's get out of here alive."

"Agreed." Snap commented.

"Im not social either but murdering is something I- Id rather not do..." Sidrourgous stated with a quiver.

"Ugh, if it means I dont die and get to bake I'll agree to it." Gilda huffed.
Everyone nodded in agreement.

It's after breakfast... I guess I have some free time.

* Trixie decides to meet up with Octavia*

"Oh... You wanna talk? Sure thing Trixie, what about?"

"Well... Trixie isnt much of a music pony... So what got you into it, must be hard being an earth pony."

"I guess you could say it's hard... My parents wanted me to be a musician... But they were both wanting me to be into what Vinyl does. I'm far from into techno, but music did intrigue me... So one day, I saw this flyer for an old music store... I saw the cello and tested it out... It felt like... I was meant to do it, did your illusionist talent come the same way?"

"Ive always been interested in magic but i wanted to put on a show, Ive always felt like I had, something more, even if theyve seen it before."

Talking with Octavia was nice. I didnt expect to have that in common with her.

Lunch came and went. Nobody really talked other than sticking together and being motivated.

* You decide to third wheel on Applejack and Spike *

"Oh you wanna hang out with us Trixie -well ah"
Spike nudged Applejack a bit hard.

"That's fine, right Sugarcube?"

"Yeah, I guess loverboy..."

"So how did you two happen?"

"Thats what everyone asks." Applejack rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"As cheesy as it sounds, she saved my life and then I kind of saved hers."

"Yeah after being a clumsy doofus and messing up my chores."

"I help better now, don't I?" They both laughed and chuckled, I couldn't help but chuckle too. They shared a kiss.

Learning more about them was great. Despite being two different species they were clearly made for each other.

Bing Bong Bong Bing
Monoluna unenthusiastically blew another party horn.
"Happy one day without no deaths, but can you really trust the fact that nobody will kill by tomorrow night?"

Thorax approached me.
"Hey, you seem like you've been getting along with everybody... I'm scared, mind if I sleep in your dorm tonight?"
"Sure thing, Thorax."

Trixie let Thorax have the bed, she's slept in worse places than on the carpet. But before they fell asleep they chatted.

"So what are you exactly...?
"All that I know is that I'm a changeling and that my mother... Wasn't a good pony... I don't remember much at all."

I spend a bit consoling Thorax and we just talked emotion. It was nice...

Eventually, we both fell asleep.

Bing Bong Bong Bing
Monodence chimed in.
"Good morning~ 34 hours and 15 minutes in... Clocks ticking...."
In the background Monoluna immitated a clock.

At breakfast, everyone was weary till Petunia chimed in with an idea.

"Hey what if we have a picnic party in the indoor garden for lunch? Splash, Gilda, and Corriander could make the food...-"

"I don't do parties, count me out."

"Same here, I'd much rather be studying where we are and finding out ways to escape. Not like any of you have been helpful anyway." Twilight nodded, agreeing with the griffon.
Both of them huffed and left for their dorms.

"Hey what if we have a picnic party in the indoor garden for lunch? Splash and Corriander could make the food and drinks, Vinyl and Octavia can play some music and maybe Trixie could perform a show!"

Everycreature seemed down for this idea, especially Splash who was excited to make some smoothies.

"Can't wait to see some of your tricks, Trixie~"

Petunia chimed in a sing-song voice, galloping off to the indoor garden. Ponies were prepping and eventually everything was ready.

We ate food while Vinyl and Octavia were able to drop some beautifully done classical and dubstep mixed. The food snd smoothies were great and then it was time for my show.

Eventually when Trixie took the stage and did her intro the garden went completely dark and she fainted as she hears many other thuds hit the ground.

What feels like hours later we all wake up.

Rich grumbles as he steadies himself up

"What happened..."

Quibble shakes his head as do Thorax and Octavia.

"No clue."

"WHAT THE TARTARUS?!"

Applejack gasped;

"That sounded like Gilda!"

Cross and Snap both recognized where the sound came from.

"Sounds like it came from the laundry room."
"Yup"
Snap agreed with Cross' statement.

Trixie doesn't beleive it... Nopony would... Use this to kill right?

Nopony wanted to see what we found in the laundry room.

BODY DISCOVERY WARNING. GORE/BLOOD. AVOID LINK IF NOT WANT.
https://www.deviantart.com/pandaisqued/art/Ponganronpa-Body-Discovery-1-916253265

Gilda, Trixie, and Cross, with everyone else close behind enter the laundry room to see the mangled corpse of the Petunia Paleo. The lone filly in this killing game was brutally murdered and tossed into an active washing machine.

Bing Bong Bong Bing

The body of Petunia Paleo has been discovered! Everyone report to the laundry room for the start of the investigation~

Chapter One: Dreaded Discovery; DeL

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 2: Traitor's Traits Dal 1/2

Bing Bong Bong Bing
Monodence here telling you all it's now morning~ Wakey wakey that child murder wasn't fakey~

That's right... Both their corpses ring still in my head... Petunia who was just a filly... Murdered by a paranoid Octavia... But why did she go that far? Even if it's still horrid wasn't the scalping enough?

I heard a knock at my door, I open it to find Vinyl.

"Hey... I'm sorry about... What she did."
Trixie noticed Vinyl had her glasses over her face, clearly trying to hide emotions.

"You don't need to apologize, Vinyl, it's clear that Octavia wasn't right in the headspace."

Now I was thinking of Octavia's execution, using her own talent to kill her... Monodence and Monoluna were despicable...

"Hey, why don't we get breakfast and you can talk to Trixie"
I normally wouldn't be the one for emotional confrontation, my friend Starlight Glimmer The Ultimate Counselor would probably be a much better fit... But Vinyl really seems like she needs it.

"That... Sounds nice, thank you, Trixie."
*I decided to hang out with Vinyl*
At breakfast, we said good morning to everyone there, Twilight, Gilda, and Discord seemed to all be playing their own games.

"So... You don't remember Octavia... But she claimed you two were a couple outside the game?

"Yeah... It makes me think some of us are missing certain memories somepony, or somecreature, doesn't want us to have..."

"That's what I got before... The execution"

"Trixie feels that if you're right, about the whole memory loss thing, then we may have been here for an unspecified amount of time..."

"So... We may have been here for... Moons... Years?"

"Trixie feels like that's a likely possibility, unfortunately."
We continued talking throughout breakfast, it probably wasn't the most cheerful topic but gathering info and having that talk about Octavia... Seemed to, at the very least, calm Vinyl down.

Shortly after breakfast when I was just in my room, looking at the rules, I heard that dreaded noise.

Bing Bong Bong Bing

"Hey everyone, Monoluna here, report to the gym as soon as very close to now, or receive punishment."

As I exited into the hallway I could hear muttering...

"What do you think they want this time, Dusty?"

"I don't know, Splash, but it can't be good."

"I say I say, Sunny, I hope we get to talk business more, you seem to have some knowledge... Hopefully whatever this is isn't too bad."

"Me too, Rich, now let's go!"
Corriander trotted up to me.

"Hey, Trixie, what do you think it's going to be, the announcement I mean?"
Applejack and Spike followed closely behind whispering to themselves, but they aren't as sneaky as you'd like to think.

"I hope the motive doesn't have to do with close ones... Or memories being erased, Spike, what if I forget you..."

"Hey, hey, hey... I'll make sure we never forget each other."
Corriander and I couldn't help but let out a snort causing both of them to blush. Eventually, everyone arrived at the gym, seeing Monoluna, and no Monodence on the stage.

"Wh-where's Monodence?" Sid asked, much to the dismay of many others, glaring at him.

"Monodence is tired from that execution... Today, you're dealing with me. Woohoo, the fun has been doubled, yet again."
We watch as she lowers a whiteboard from seemingly nothing.

"Welcome to your motive... Loved Ones!"
Loud whispers arose from the crowd, this was something nobody wanted to hear.

"How could they get my familia... They aren't even from Equestria!"

"Crikey..."

"I say, they better not hurt my daughter! My wife is pretty expendable and kind of a bi-"

"Oh fuck no, you leave your fucking hooves off my crowd in Griffonstone!"

"But... The other changelings..."
One by one, some loved ones scrolled across the screen, they were all tied up and blindfolded in a live video. First, I saw Starlight who was tied up.

"Starlight!" I cried.

"Applebloom!" Applejack sobbed.

"Shining Armor!" Twilight shouted.

Some older mare, looking similar to Petunia, scrolled by... She was sobbing as she was looking at a screen...

"That's just cruel, showing a mother her child's death!"
I couldn't help but outburst.
Monoluna just smirked. Not a playful one, a shit-eating smirk.

"Crem Brule!" Dusty gasped.

"Mom!" Splash bellowed.

"Oh no... Doc!" Derpy stammered.

"Diamond!" Rich stamped his front hooves.

"Fluttershy...?" Discord said, nearly unable to speak.

"Oh no... Garble..." Spike rolled his eyes.

Nobody showed up for Octavia.

"That's Neon..." Vinyl winced.

"Gretta..." Gilda sputtered.

"Saffron!" Corriander shouted.

"Ma! How will she care for her ailing Pa!?" Zecora cried.

"Nurse Neightingale!" Cross shouted.

"That's just my sword... I know I'd rather have it but my mom's alive... Right?" Sid blinked.

"Clear Skies!" Quibble roared

"Scootaloo?!" Snap gasped.

"Pharynx!" Thorax yelped.
Luna with that smirk simply said.

"If you don't have someone dead in 48 hours, we'll randomize which one of them... Gets ripped in half."
We went dead silent.

"You were bluffing last time, what's to say you aren't bluffing this time?"
I couldn't point out who said this, it was said by a lot of creatures.

"See for yourself."
I think we found Octavia's loved one...

TW: BLOOD, GORE, BODY DISCOVERY. AVOID LINK IF NOT WANT!

https://www.deviantart.com/pandaisqued/art/Ponganromnpa-Motive-Chapter-2-Event-916538039

"WHAT THE TARTARUS?!" Gilda shouted.

"That could happen to our loved ones?!" Dusty shouted.

"Sorry, Trixie... That's my daughter... I don't know if I'm going to take that chance."
Corriander looked downtrodden and left the room

One by one they all left the room until only two remained. Rich and Twilight.
Twilight chuckled as she walked up to me.

"Normally I'd be worried that my brother was there, but I know what I have as the Ultimate Princess... And that's luck and power. No way would they kill Shining, the Ultimate Royal Guard."
She let her tail whip my face as she walked out. Now on the whiteboard, the projector projected all 19 in different squares.

"Starlight..."

Rich walked up to me and helped me brush some tail strands off my cloak.

"Well, I don't know what's wrong with her, I can promise you that as much as I love my daughter, I won't kill... If Diamond ever heard what I did, even just to save her..." He paused to take a deep breath. "I think she would think of me as some no good Tirek worshipping sinner."

"Thanks... Rich, do you want to chat?"

"Why sure I would love to, get to know each other some more."

Bing Bong Bong Bing

"WHAT THE FUCK IS IT NOW?!" Gilda shouted from the distance.

Oh... Also, the new floor is unlocked. That staircase should be able to be passed now, congrats on surviving your first case. The fun shall be doubled... Fuhuuhuhuhuh~ Monoluna chortled and chastised us over the PA system.

"Well, I say, I say we can talk while we explore that new area!

"That sounds nice... Rich, let's make sure nopony murders... Hopefully, Twilight can be taught a lesson."

Chapter 2: Traitor's Traits: Daily Life 2/2

* I headed up the stairs with Rich to check out the second floor *

"I say, that's odd... Why would the second floor of a hotel be this... ingrown with plants?" Rich commented.
I was behind him, so once I got up the stairs, I noticed that he was right. The window to the left of us was shattered, but no use trying to go through it, it had been boarded up and covered in vines.

"Trixie agrees that is rather... strange."
The layout seemed to be similar to the downstairs, a square floor, with at the tip of the right hallway was a blocked-off set of stairs. We looked to our first room on the right to see a library. Quibble Pants was in there.

"Hey, Quibble," I say as we enter the room, "What're you up to?"

"I was looking for any Daring Do books, but these seem to be all old history and anatomy books..."

"I say, that's a rather odd combo..."

"I've only looked at the non-fiction section..."
Trixie and Rich just stared at each other.

"Yeah, yeah. I get that look all the time. But I've met Daring Do."

"You've met a fictional character?"

"I thought Trixie was the Ultimate Illusionist." Rich joked which got a small giggle from me.
Quibble stormed out throwing and accidentally leaving an anatomy book open on one page.

Vital Organ Locations; Zebras vs Ponies
Rich and I turned pale.

"Why would Quibble be looking at this?!"

"I say, I'm not sure, but we should ask if we can dispose of this book."
Monoluna appeared behind us.

"You can check out a book by scanning it, but who scans it will be public knowledge, all from this machine right here, the library itself... also has a scanner that can record people coming in."

"I say if it's public knowledge... and we leave it here, it may be easier to catch a culprit..." Rich said, clearly hinting at Quibble.

"Trixie agrees, thanks for the help, I guess."

"..." Monoluna remained silent then replied with a downright terrifying smirk followed by a laugh.

"I get no pleasure from seeing you all die, I'd much rather have each of you sink into despair, one by one as you crumple away into piles of nothing."
Rich and I both shuddered as we left the book alone and left the library and went across the hall to find... a swimming pool with Applejack and Dusty swimming in the pool with Spike and Splash lounging.
We walk up to Spike and Splash who were lounging on some lounge chairs.

"Y'all ain't going to join your marefriends? Rich nudged.
Splash and Spike both chuckled,

"I didn't know Dusty before... this game, and Dusty mentioned having a marefriend back home."

"I could, but they're doing some racing laps right now, and I'd much rather admire the view... AJ looks great with her mane down."

"Adorable, so this room is just a swimming pool?"

"Yeah, there's a storage closet where you can see pool cleaning supplies and some balls to throw around in the pool, and a net, which I assume is for volleyball." Spike nodded over at a door.

"Thank you, sirs." Rich nodded at them.
As we left the pool Applejack had just barely beaten Dusty and gave us a wave, I smiled back at her. It was a little spooky how the vines kind of entangled the walls of the hallway. The oddest thing was that all the plants were just like Monoluna, cold coal black with thorns of white glow.

I noticed Zecora at the next door, which appeared to be shut, it seemed to be blocked off by vines on the wall, unlike other doors.

"Greetings Rich and Trixie Lulamoon, the rest of the doors still seem to be blocked, but hopefully they will be unlocked soon."

"The last floor wasn't blocked off by these black vines, I say, I wonder where they came from?"

"Trixie wonders the same..."

"We have plenty of time before m- the motive does strike, we should have time later to check them all alike."

"Mhm." Rich nodded "Are you sure all of the other doors are blocked by the vines?
Zecora shook her head.

"There's one empty room in the back, but there's nothing in there, it's also painted all white, which is the opposite of black."

"Well, we should be heading down for dinner soon, time really passed by didn't it?"
We turned to the voice and Splash and Dusty were following close behind AJ, Splash holding Applejack's maneties as she was passed out on Spike's back.

"Applejack's a great swimmer, but she can tire herself easily because she uses up a lot of stamina quickly." Dusty said, putting her own maneties back in.

Spike nodded at Rich and Applejack, "I'm going to settle in bed with her, I can survive a night without food."
We nodded at Spike and the five of us headed to the cafeteria and informed Gilda and Corriander.

"So, up on that new floor was just a pool, a library, and an empty room?"

Dusty nodded and Zecora responded.

"Library could hold some information for heart, also Gilda, this was a delicious pumpkin tart."

Gilda nodded at her from behind and just said a simple "Thanks."
Eventually, we all headed back to our rooms, and... That was it for the night...
I enjoyed exploring with Rich, he's a very kind stallion, and clearly a great parent and philanthropist.

Bing Bong Bong Bing

I heard it as I settled into bed.

Monodence here, sorry I was busy opening up the second floor and that takes a lot of energy so yawn I needed the day off. See you tomorrow~ Happy murder~
The Great and Powerful Trixie.... slowly fell asleep.

CRASH
I sort of woke up to that noise... but who knows what the Monos do at night...
So, The Tired and Tired Trixie... went back to sleep

Bing Bong Bong Bing
I woke up to that dreaded alarm.
Good morning~ Monodence here, have a fantaaabulous day~!

I got out of my room and was greeted with a lovely smell of scones and eggs and cheese.
* I decided to sit next to Dusty today *

"Mornin' Trixie."

"yawn Morning Dusty..."

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Trixie is curious about your talent, what is a "Moasaicist" "

Dusty grinned and nodded her head.

"Well, you see, it's totally badass!"

"Ok... but what is it."

"Pfft, let me finish, basically I get to smash a bunch of colored glass with a hammer and make art with said glass, it would hurt your hooves so badly, but luckily I got my horn... which doesn't work currently."

"About your horn, how did it get to be so colorful?"

"No clue, doctors were mystified, and it was born with me, It's unique though so I'm not complaining."

Snap sat down with us and we all finished our food.

"Hey, I didn't explore much of that library yesterday, wanna come explore it with me?" Snap asked.

"Trixie is up for that."

"I got nothing better to do."
We take care of our dishes and head upstairs only to notice the pool door open and water on the floor that leads to that far, pure white, empty room.
"Uh oh... ya don't think?" Snap asked, hesitantly.

"I swear to Celestia, if somebody killed again..."

No... Not after seeing what happened to Octavia... somepony couldn't have... It hadn't even been a full day... Trixie refuses to believe somecreature killed!
Once again...
Trixie was wrong.

((WARNING: BODY DISCOVERY; BLOOD))

https://www.deviantart.com/pandaisqued/art/Ponganronpa-Body-discovery-Chapter-2-916571558

There... we saw the body. Zecora Sahara, the Ultimate Herbalist, was dead.
Bing Bong Bong Bing
"YayyyyY," Monodence started, "A body has been discovered, please report to The White Room and you may begin investigating."
Dusty sighed.

"Aw shit, here we go again."

Author's Note

Please don't hate me :c

Chapter 2: Traitors Traits: DeL

Everycreature quickly came into the white room and saw the horrific sight before us.

"No bell, since you're all there, but I've uploaded the Monofile, make sure you check it out, it'll help.

"Wow..." Twilight chuckled, "Someone actually killed again."
Discord rolled his eyes and Gilda just stomped her claw out of anger.

"Y'know, Princess, I'm all for chaos," Discord started, "But rather than being an uptight bitch this time, how about you help, since you've shown that's not what you do... it'll be so chaotic."
Twilight seethed and started to "look around."

I nodded at Cross as he started the autopsy and I noticed as I opened my Monofile Spike was looking behind me.

"I haven't lost mine, but I think this'll go quicker If I don't run back to my room."
I nodded and started to look at the file.

"The victim is Zecora Sahara. The time of death is 1:18 AM and the cause of death is unknown."

"Hey Spike, were you up last night?"

"Yeah... AJ kinda just... stayed on my back all night, and I got no sleep."

"Did you hear a crash at all, and do you remember what time?"

"I did, I thought it was just my nerves though... It happened at 1:25 am."

"I heard it too around then, couldn't sleep." Gilda nodded at us.
Monofile #2 added to bullets
The Crash added to bullets
The Crash time (1:25 am) added to bullets

Sidrourgous looked at the ground and noticed something.

"G-g-guys there seems to be wiped water here..."

Everycreature looked down in front of Sid's hooves, he was right.
Wiped water added to bullets

Cross nodded as he finished the autopsy.

"We'll have to check the pool once we're done here, I found something interesting..."
Cross nodded us over and he explained some things.

"It looks like this area of the back of her neck, which is very sensitive for zebras rather than ponies, was hit with a huge amount of force and she slid down the wall, though... I wonder why the blood stops just down to her back?"
I thought to myself and added a couple of bullets just for myself
Anatomy book added to bullets
Quibble's location yesterday added to bullets

"So why wouldn't the blood stop there...? Derpy questioned.

Thorax nodded at Derpy, agreeing with her. "If that area is sensitive for zebras, wouldn't the blood continue?"

Cross nodded at them. "We'll have to investigate that."
Cross also pointed to Zecora's arm bangle and there was a piece of paper shoved in there and Splash carefully nudged it out with his horn and then he tried to read it."

"A bit of it is smudged and it's ripped ... but this end reads... "Did it for her."
Smudge added to bullets
Ripped note added to bullets

"I say, the killer must've ripped the note..." Rich nodded as he listened to what Splash said.

"Hey... what's that shiny thing in her hoof?" Gilda asked.
I walked up to Gilda and she pointed with her claw.

"It's part of her earring." Dusty nodded, from the other side of the body.
Gilda and I were confused and we walked over to the left side as Dusty pointed to her other earring.

"See, it's chipped, I don't know how it got to her right front hoof when this is her left earring and her right earring is fine."
Dusty's Account added to bullets
Earring snap added to bullets
Earring placement added to bullets
Sunny spoke up with something nobody thought of yet.

"Why is she smiling?"
This got everycreature's attention and Quibble responded first.

"That is odd... both Octavia's relative and Petunia's face were looks of horror and pain and Zecora is smiling..."
Zecora smiling added to bullets

"That seems to be everything here." Snap nods and we all head to the pool...
The floor is splattered with water all over the place which leads to the closet we all go in there and we see a bit of clutter, a ball cage is unlocked and open along with the pool cleaner net on the floor and not hung up.
Wet floor added to bullets
Open ball cage added to bullets
Pool cleaner net added to bullets
But the most important thing had people staring at someone in particular. Right in there was a water-stained hat that could only belong to Applejack. But I know she's being framed, but I won't say anything bout that yet.

"Applejack-" Sunny started.

"Ah- ah didn't do this!"
Twilight rolled her eyes before Derpy cut in.

"Remember what happened last time Princess, maybe pay it forward because thanks to us... You aren't dead."
Everyone was shocked at this sudden brashness from Derpy, including Derpy herself. Twilight remained silent as Discord, Sunny, and Dusty chuckled.

"While Applejack's hat being here is suspicious," I started, shooting Spike a wink. "We need to go over everything, this is life or death here."

"Trixie's right, I say." Rich nodded followed by other murmurs of possible agreement.
Dusty, Spike, Splash, and Applejack's pool hangout -witnessed by Trixie and Rich yesterday added to bullets
Applejack's hat added to bullets

"Why don't we see if anyone went to the library," I said.

We all rushed in... only to see that the machine we needed to use to see had been broken and there seemed to be a circular shatter pattern.

"That's... certainly peculiar..." Twilight said quietly.

"Another thing is," Rich pointed to me whispering "The books gone."
Missing anatomy book added to bullets

"Do you think Quibble..." I whispered back.

"I say, I'm not sure..."
Bing Bong Bong Bing
"Hahahah, one of you murdered and now it's time for the trial!" Monodence giggled like a filly.

"Monoluna here, close your eyes, I'll be doing your trial this time, PEASANTS!"
We all close our eyes and with a flash of light, we're in the tribal room.

Once again... somebody has died. I'm going to find out who really did it and prove my friend Applejack innocent. We're going to figure out who did this... here we go...
"You know how a class trial goes... so get to it."
Class Trial; START: All Rise!
Vinyl started this time, questioning one thing.

"So, where do we start this time, we don't know the cause of death."

"That's true," Corriander started "So maybe we can just start with the details of the body itself and see if it points to Applejack or not."

NON STOP DEBATE -

"So," Vinyl started, "The body's state."

"Zecora had slid down the wall" Thorax nodded.

"I say, she was smiling, which is weird," Rich replied

"Well there was water on the floor, and Applejack went swimming yesterday... that could be why the floor is wet." Splash stated.

"THAT'S ALL AN ILLUSION!"

"Splash, while that's true, that was hours beforehand, and after the swimming session yesterday she was exhausted and went to bed with Spike,

"Can we confirm that?" Derpy questioned.

"Yup," I replied "Splash himself, Applejack, Spike, and Dusty were all there as well."

"Can confirm..." Applejack said silently.

"Yup, and I brought her back to our room where she slept on me all night..." Spike replied.
Splash and Dusty both nodded their heads.

"Sorry caller, but that's the incorrect answer!" Sunny replied
I looked at Sunny.
- REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN -

"I believe you were all there but you expect me to believe Spike stayed up all night?"

"We can't confirm if he can but they're married, it would make sense if he did."

"What if Applejack woke up when Spike was asleep to go out to the restroom or something, and noticed Zecora and took an advantage."

"How dare you accuse my wife of murder!" Spike huffed his way into the rebuttal.

"Then why was Applejack's hat there?"
I've got it!

"Yesterday after the swim meet, Applejack was exhausted, everyone who was at the pool can confirm this... It's possible after all that adrenaline and everyone being exhausted that she simply forgot it there?"

"Yea, I forgot it there, but I was asleep and it's not like I can do anything."

"Not to mention I have a hair of her mane and a bit of her fur stuck in my scales."
He pointed at one of his scales and the pony to the right of him, Sidrourgous, confirmed this fact.

"So does that confirm Applejack as innocent?" Gilda questioned.

"Of course not," Sunny stated, "If that's the case what if Spike fell asleep and she went back to get it, they both skipped dinner after all. Nobody else had a motive to be there!"
"IT'S JUST BUSINESS!"
I turned to Rich.

"That's not exactly true, yesterday we saw someone with a book on the Anatomy of Ponies VS Zebras, isn't that right Trixie?"

I was able to catch on to the slight lie he told, if we want to save Applejack I may have to use it.
- False? Accuse -

"YOU'RE THE OTHER ACT!"
I looked at Quibble.

"Hey Quibble, that's right you were looking at an anatomy book of ponies and zebras, describing differences and weak points... what if he was already planning a murder?"
Quibble stuttered a bit.

"Seems like an admission of guilt to me..." Discord said nonchalantly.

"I was in the library yesterday... But I left the book there, you two saw that!"

"That's true, but we should also talk about the broken door machine, while we're on the topic of the library." Corriander nodded.
Non Stop Debate

"We should also talk about the broken door machine."

"That machine, what did it do again?" Thorax asked.

"As far as I gathered, it basically showed a log of people that came inta' the library."

"That damage on the monitor, It left a peculiar circle pattern..." Twilight mumbled.

"Well, maybe the killer took a ball from the pool storage?" Derpy cocked her head and questioned.
"HOCUS FOCUS!"

"I agree with Derpy," I stated.

"You do...?" Derpy said, her eyes glistening a bit.

"Mhm, it's possible they could've damaged the monitor like that." I nodded.

"Would a pool ball be powerful enough though?" Cross questioned.

"It could be..." Gilda whispered.

"Doubt it..." Twilight muttered.

"My kid's a bit of an athlete, they've broken a lot with just balls," Snap replied.

"Yeah but kids break everything." Corriander commented, "Almost all of us are adults and the youngest here is Splash who's 16."

"It makes sense to me though." Spike nodded at Snap, myself, and Derpy.
"Oh. It looks like we have a split opinion..." Monoluna said and then let out an insane cocksure grin.

"LET THE FUN BE MORE THAN DOUBLED THEN!"

A ball could break the machine!
Trixie
Applejack
Spike
Gilda
Dusty
Snap
Rich
Derpy
Vinyl

A ball couldn't break the machine!
Cross
Splash
Corriander
Quibble
Thorax
Sunny
Twilight
Discord
Sid

"I'll start!" Cross said.

"Look, I'm not denying a ball may have been involved in the case but is a pool ball really hard enough to shatter a monitor?"

"I've got this!"

"It really depends on the pony's strength, if they were able to find a way to launch it hard enough, they could easily pull it off!"

"Sunny!"

"I hate to bring up closed wounds but Applejack's pretty strong."

"Applejack!"

"For Celestia's sake, we've already gone over the fact I was with Spike all night!"

"Splash!"

"If Spike stayed up all night is it possible he had a claw in this?"

"Spike!"

"I get what you're trying and I respect trying to get all info, Splash, but we've also confirmed that I was with her all night, and don't change the subject either!"
-REBOUND-

"Right, I'll get it back on track," Corriander nodded "So, aren't pool balls usually soft?"

"Gilda!"

"Some pool balls can be soft, but there was a volleyball net in the closet, this confirms there are balls hard enough to do that!"

"Quibble!"

"How can we confirm that a ball was taken from the closet?"

"Dusty!"

"Dumbass, the closet was clearly messed with, and the ball crate was open!

"Thorax!"

"Even if they messed in the closet what if it was just a distraction?"

"Snap!"

"Now, mate, if they just wanted to leave a distraction why would the floor be all wet?!"

"Twilight!"

"I'm not just a priss, I have knowledge, and even if a volleyball was used, it would hardly do damage!"

"Rich!"

"Again, it depends on the pony, if it was someone strong enough they could've used every round ball aside from the softer ones!"

"Sid!"

"Even if someone was strong enough are we sure it was a ball?"

"Derpy!"

"Well uh... nothing else is that round of a shape..."

"Discord!"

"Eh, I don't really care, either way, this is for chaos~."

"Vinyl!"

"I can't really respond to that, but essentially, what Derpy said!" "It's the only possible thing!"

"EVERYONE, HERE IS OUR ANSWER!"

"So..." Thorax started "If it was a ball, what kind?"

"I think it would have to be a volleyball due to the shape of the cracks and the machine's state."

"So if we can't figure out who entered the library... why don't we focus on that note?" Quibble stated.
-NON STOP DEBATE-

"So... what did the letter say again, or at least what we have of it?" Quibble reiterated.

"It said, "Did it for her," Splash stated.

"Do we know who or what has/happened to the letter?" I questioned.

"Is it possible the note is completely gone?" Spike asked.

"THAT'S ALL AN ILLUSION!"

"Sorry, Spike, I don't think it's that, because the note was ripped, and if the person was going to fully discard the note, why not go back for the other piece?"

"I think I know why you'd ask that though... you took the note from Zecora, didn't you Spike?" I said.

Applejack was going to argue but Spike sweat a bit.

"Yeah... but I promise I didn't kill her... here's what happened."

"You see, last night, at 1:25 am when I heard the crash I went upstairs to see what the noise was, I'm an Ambassador and part of my role is to protect. I was hoping that I could catch them in the library, but they were gone. I looked around in the pool and didn't see much, I even dived in the pool to see if someone had drowned. That's why there's water everywhere. Then I went to the white room and saw the body... So I swiped half of the note, in case the killer tampered with it during the investigation. and hid it in the Anatomy book which was by the machine and checked it out. But if I said I took it, you'd all be suspicious, but to prove I'm not, here's the book."

Spike reached down and grabbed the book and then opened it. He pulled out the note. and read it aloud.

"I know you're sorry but I'm here to convince you not to bring me to my doom, please meet me here in the White Room, then there's the smudged bit... and it says "Did it for her."

"Are you saying... that Zecora knew the killer was coming for her?!" I gasped causing murmurs to rumble throughout the courtroom.

"THAT LIE ISN'T CHAOTIC, IT'S JUST A LIE!"

"Discord?"
-REBUTTAL SHOWDOWN-

"Sorry, Trixie, but I refuse to believe that the note came from Zecora herself, it was clearly Spike here faking it and he must've commited the murder!"

"We know that just isn't true, Discord, he left at the crash, confirmed to be 1:25. That's after the murder."

"What if he lied, he could've easily pulled it all off, especially if it were to protect her, which seems to be Applejack's sister."

"Spike did seem indifferent to his "motive" but he also wouldn't kill when he has a wife, you're not letting us finish that info we still have!"

"Spike's also definitely bulky, he could've kicked the ball!"
"THAT'S ALL AN ILLUSION!"

"Did he not kick it?"

"Well, I think you're right about the bucking or kicking of the ball into the machine, but Spike's claws would pop the ball."

"SWEET CELESTIA, HOW COULD WE FORGET?!" Gilda shouted and slammed her claw on the desk. Everycreature looked at her as she looked at me and asked.

"Who were the first three to discover the body?"

"Snap, Dusty, and myse-"
Everyone realized something.

"It wasn't listed in the monofile," Gilda said.

"Since I was the first one to discover the body... who were the other two?" Spike questioned.

"I think we need to focus on something else and come back to that, how did she die?" Sunny replied.

How did Zecora die...
I've got it!

"The volleyball."
Some creatures looked at Trixie like she was crazy.

"A ball could break a machine but a zebra?" Thorax questioned.

"Yeah... Even ah say that's pushin' it Sugar."

"Hold on, I don't think it's how he died but it was certainly involved," Spike replied, getting where I was going.

"If we look at the weak spots for zebras that it lists, two of them mention one can stun and one can kill. What if they stunned her first by bucking the ball into her chest and then..."
How did Zecora finally die?
I've got it!

"What if they simply just used their brute strength?" I replied. If they're strong enough to buck a volleyball that hard into a machine, they could certainly buck one hard enough to knock someone out at the least, and then..."
Everyone was in shock, someone had grabbed Zecora hard by the neck and slammed her head hard into a wall.

"So what now..."

"Well, we still have that last part of the note that's smudged..." Splash pointed out.

"Doubt we're going to get much from it though..." Derpy replied

"So are we out of evidence?"
I thought about everything...

"I've got it"

"Wouldn't the ball be bloody if it was used to stun her, she must've coughed up some blood, no?" I questioned.

"Right..." Dusty said.

"So, wouldn't the ball have had some blood on it?" Rich replied.

"It should, but they must've washed it off in the pool, and grabbed it out with the pool net, which is why the closet was a bit cluttered."

"That doesn't lead to anyone though..." Thorax said, starting to get a little worried.

"Ya know I can decipher that smudged part for you if you want," Monoluna stated.

"Really?" Sunny questioned.

"How chaotic~?" Discord grinned.

"Once again, I get no pleasure from seeing you all die, I'd much rather have each of you sink into despair, one by one as you crumple away into piles of nothing." She replied, that evil sideways smile returning.

"That phrase you're missing plus the whole note is "I know you're sorry but I'm here to convince you not to bring me to my doom, please meet me here in the White Room, strong one with a hat if you murder they'll wonder if you did it for her."

I gasped.

"It's you?" Twilight said with a fake pouty face.

"No, Princess, but since it isn't Applejack and Quibble isn't strong... that leaves one creature..."

ACCUSE -

"It has to be you..."

"Snap Allgood."

"Crikey, Trixie, this isn't the time for jokes," Snap replied.

"This isn't a joke, Snap."

Snap sweat a bit and then said "But I discovered the body with you and Dusty!"

"Spike saw the body first, and then after all three of us showed up it went off because Spike had seen it."

"But wouldn't this person have gotten blood on them, I'm clean, Crikey..."

"Snap...?" Corriander questioned.

"Crikey... I didn't do it."

"Snap..." I started.

"I SAID AH' DIDN'T KILL THAT DAMN ZEBRA." Snap slammed his hooves on his stand.
Snap was normally so calm spoken, so this shocked everycreature.

"THAT'S A FLAT-OUT PORKY!"

He's starting to break down, I need to show him the truth!

Argument Amamnent - START!

The normally calm, rugged, sloppy-dressed Snap's outfit was now a bit cleaner, he held an ax in his mouth and his hair was going crazy. As he bounced around.

"YOU'RE A FRUITLOOP, YA CELESTIA DAMNED ILLUSIONIST SHEILA!"

"I didn't do this!"

"I'm not lying, you need to admit it or you cause the death of 17 creatures."

"I NEVER EVEN WENT TO THE LIBRARY AND I WAS THERE FOR THE ANNOUNCEMENT!"

"Please!"

"We can't confirm if you did or not, the machine was broken, and Spike was first to see it, you match the description out of the three of us."

"YER EARBASHING ME WITH LIES, HOW DO YOU KNOW THE NOTE IS ABOUT ME?!"

"I didn't kill that damn zebra!"

"You're the only fit, Snap, Applejack is confirmed innocent and Quibble isn't strong enough."

"STOP!"

"Scootaloo goes by They/Them.. This note doesn't relate to me!"

"YER LYIN!"

"Zecora couldnt have known- you never told her! They have a marish face- but she did use they'll in the letter as well."

"QUIET, QUIET QUIET!"

"What about my clothes, If I killed, I would be covered in blood, Why aren't I blood-soaked, lassie?!"

FINAL BLOW!
W O Y J A F O A S F U C H R K E E D T

WASHED OFF YOUR JACKET!

"Crikey..."

Snap just slunked in his stand.

"Y'know... I wasn't there much for my child in their childhood due to my Ultimate status and job... If Scootaloo had been cut in half in front of me... I wouldn't have been able to handle it."

"So you killed someone else's daughter?" Derpy butted in.
Snap just looked down, and mumbled "You don't know what it's like..."

"You do know I have a daughter - and another kid of my own right?"
Snap's eyes widened.

"That was my husband up there... I don't know how they... got him... I just don't know what went wrong..."
Derpy muttered and just slunk down into her stand.

"I think I have a good grip on this case," Spike started, "Mind if I do the recap?"

"Go ahead," I said
PROTAG SWITCH - - - > SPIKE

"LET'S CONNECT THE TRUTHS OF THIS CASE!"
- Trial Recap -
"The actions of this case probably started in the Blackened's head as soon as the motive was revealed. Not long after that, Rich and Trixie saw Quibble exploring in the library, from what I've gathered they teased him a bit for saying Daring Do was real and they threw the Anatomy book on the ground. Rich and Trixie, thinking they could use that against him if he killed. This was because the book was open to a page on the anatomy of ponies vs zebras and how their anatomy and sensitive spots for, say, a weapon are different. Little did they know, someone had been lurking behind them using their talent to assist them. They took a mental note of what was in the book and left it there. Somehow though, Zecora caught onto our Blackened's plan. Not sure if she saw him or just had a gut feeling but she knew. So eventually night came and Zecora was asked by the killer to follow her, and this was allowed as they were trying to commit a murder. Beforehoof, they had gotten a volleyball and placed it in the White Room. Zecora most likely tried to talk The Blackened down, which was in reality most likely a distraction to slide the note into her bangles. The Blackened wasn't talked out of it and they lined up their shot and bucked the volleyball right at our Zebra friend's weak spot. This wasn't surprising to Zecora, so she just smirked as it hit and stunned her. The blackened, was probably offput by this but it was too late to stop now. They grabbed Zecora by the neck bangles and slammed her head hard into the wall, right against the most sensitive spot, most likely killing her immediately. Whether by the volleyball or the being slammed into the wall, her earring snap-

"Oh my Celestia her earring snap," I started "It was right there in front of us..."

Anyways, afterward The Blackened needed to show that they never went to the library, they needed to destroy that machine, but currently, The Blackened was covered in Zecora's blood, in fact, so was the volleyball, so they went to the pool and washed both the balls and their clothes. Unfortunately for them, they lost track of the ball and had to get the pool cleaning net out to fish it out. They let some of the bloody water drip onto Applejack's hat and the pool cleaning net half-hazzardly into the closet. Then, The Blackened went into the library, set up the ball, and bucked the volleyball hard and it broke the machine with a loud CRASH. Some creatures noticed this, Trixie and myself being among them. But I was worried so I did something about it, unfortunately for me, when I was in the library, they were quickly putting the ball away in the closet, and then quickly scampered to their room before I got to the pool and was searching around, they were probably so nervous that I'd find them. Luckily for them, their clothes were clean and dry, but unfortunately, I also discovered Zecora's body, and in case they wanted to botch the investigation, I, with my wet claw, tore that note and hid it in the anatomy book, followed by checking it out. Then, I went back to Applejack's room and put her back on top of me. Come morning, hoping to look innocent, after breakfast Snap asked to explore the upstairs with both Dusty and Trixie. All three of them walked in on the body at the same time so we thought them to be innocent at first, but they aren't innocent... They're the mastermind of this murder plan...

https://www.deviantart.com/pandaisqued/art/Ponganronpa-Chapter-2-Culprit-Reveal-916662611

https://www.deviantart.com/pandaisqued/art/Ponganronpa-Culprit-Reveal-Chapter-2-P2-916662838

"Please vote before we continue," Monoluna said.
We watched as the board game spinner spun yet again and it landed on Snap. Party horns were blown
- TRIAL END; ALL RISE-

-PROTAG SWITCH - - - > Trixie-

That's better...

"Congrats, the one to kill Zecora Sahara the Ultimate Herbalist, was indeed Snap Allgood-Shutter."
Applejack was the first to speak up.

"Why'd you choose to frame me?"
Snap took a deep breath, I think he finally realized... it's over.

"I can assure ya, sheila, that that wasn't my intention."
Another deep breath.

"But then I saw you had left your hat at the pool, and I simply took advantage of it... and you. Which was wrong of me and I apologize."

"Ah can't say I accept your apology but I guess I can respect the fact you did apologize."
Snap chuckled and looked down.

"My kit would hate me if they saw what I have done..."

"They did see it, they all did."
Everyone turned up at Monoluna.
Snap turned from his dirt brown color to a very pale brown.

"P-pardon?"
Sid replied "My sword was w-watching? Sure, ok." The whiteboard got rid of the spinner and down came the projector, Monoluna hit a button to show Scootaloo alone.

"Say what you want kid," Monoluna stated before hitting another button.

"Dad... how could you?"

"Someone would've been cut in half... What if it was you?!" Snap said, panicking.

"I know... but you still killed that innocent zebra..."

"I know, Scoots, and..."

"Ten seconds."

"Just know that..."
Their kid, "Scootaloo," replied with "W-what?" With tears in their eyes.

"I love you Scootaloo."

"Alright, it's punishment time~!"

"Dad...? DAD?!"
The same purple and black screen popped up showing a pixel cartoon, yet again, saying GAME OVER. Those words kept flashing while under them it read what it read for Octavia...
SNAP ALLGOOD HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY; TIME FOR HIS OWN UNIQUELY DESIGNED PUNISHMENT!

Vinyl looked terrified behind her glasses, her red eyes showing that she was reliving a very painful memory.
--- Execution Warning ---
All of the sudden, a hole under the floor opened up under Snap, causing him to fall, we all didn't want to but we looked at the projector... Where his kid was being forced to watch. Unfortunately for his kid, he can't hear all their cries and shouts of I love you too. But we can... It was heart-wrenching... We looked at the screen where Snap finally landed in a desert-looking place.

https://www.deviantart.com/pandaisqued/art/Ponganronpa-Chapter-2-Execution-Nature-s-Neglect-916662977

Monoluna said the next thing into her hoof and it seemed to project louder for Snap.

"Climb up one of the trees."
Snap was able to climb a pink tree. It was then I noticed... The sand matched Scootaloo's coat, the trees matched their mane, and arguably the night-looking sky matched their eyes. Scootaloo banged on the glass in front of them as Monoluna said her next instruction.

"Hold tight."
Monoluna tapped her horn and a bunch of landmines fell gently onto the sand below causing Scootaloo to cry and bang on the window louder.

"Tree Jump."
Out of what might not have been his own instinct, Snap jumped from tree to tree, all the while Monoluna dropped more and more mines that all missed him. Snap leaped large bounds and did many survival tricks to avoid mines. We then saw a silhouette of Scootaloo on the next tree who was still in the box, Scootaloo realized this and kept banging. But Snap, at this point, was exhausted. He was just happy to see his kid, so he hugged the fake Scootaloo and stroked their mane. It releases three quiet beeps, then ten fast quiet beeps, and then... It pushed him off and went with him towards the ground and exploded, causing real Scootaloo to cry out loud strained gibberish as their father fell and hit a bunch of the mines on the sand below. When the smoke from the explosion faded all that was left was a large scorched outline of where he was... and his purple blood and guts everywhere else. The last thing we saw was Monoluna giving Scootaloo her father's somehow intact but scorched hat while laughing very creepily.

Nobody had anything to say. Not Discord, Not Gilda, not even the Ultimate Princess herself had anything to say. We all just looked at that traumatized kid of his... They just watched their dad jump over and dodge explosives from tree to tree only to get blown up by something that looks like themselves. They continued crying and banging on the window until Monoluna took them away. We all headed upstairs and the nighttime announcement played as soon as we did. We all just said quiet goodnight and went to bed.

That was probably even worse than Octavia's execution... Though for all we know that relative of her's saw her execution and her killing of that filly too.

But after this... No creatures going to kill... I'll make sure of it.

Author's Note

Ding dong the zebras dead uwu

Also, help, I can't draw faces.

lmao rip in pieces snappy

Chapter 2: Intermission

Cheerilee, the Ultimate Teacher, looked at the crystal map nervously. She was surrounded by Rainbow Dash, the Ultimate Flyer, and her husband BigMacintosh, the Ultimate Agriculturalist.

"So, you're saying that Fluttershy, Starlight, Applejack, Twilight, Spike, Trixie, Thorax, and many other ponies/creatures we know have gone... missing with no trace, and no summon from the map?" Cheerilee questioned.

"Eeyup."

"Also missing are Shining Armor, Gilda, Derpy, Diamond Tiara, Quibble, Cross, Zecora, Octavia, Vinyl, Discord, Applebloom, Scootaloo, and their father Snap, Nurse Neightingale, Clear Sky, along with Filthy Rich." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

BigMac nodded nervously and continued the list.

"Eeyup, also missing is Saffron Masala, Sunny Delight, Sidirourgous Smith, Corriander Cumin, Splash Refresh, Dusty Mosaic, Brulee Crems, Gretta the Griffon, and Doctor "Time Turner" Whooves..."

Cadence, the Ultimate Foalsitter, came in behind them, carrying some information scrolls with her horn.

"I found every current missing pony report around Equestria, we're going to have to save them."
Cadence opened up the scrolls and began reading the rest of the names.

"Petunia Paleo, Pearl Paleo, Gleam Refresh, Garble, Fiddly Faddle, Neon Lights, Pharynx, and..."

"As of last night, neither I nor Celestia could locate Princess Luna."
Cheerilee, BigMac, and Rainbow froze until the shock settled in and Rainbow flew into the air and angrily asked

"So a member of the royal guard, two of the crusaders, half of the elements, Discord, AND now TWO princesses are all missing?!"

Cadence solemnly nodded.
Cheerilee was tapping the table after each name was read and her face went pale after the last tap.

"That's... 41 missing creatures."

"Eenope, eenope, eenope!" BigMac said

"Did I do the math wrong?" Cheerliee questioned

"Eenope, I'm just wondering how someone could've pulled this off, right from under our noses."

"Well whoever it is, we'll find them and kick their fucking asses!"

"Rainbow, please, language. Sweetie Belle, the Ultimate Carpenter, is in the other room!"

"Please, Cadence, she's 16. She's definitely heard a swear word by now, and you may be the Ultimate Foalsitter, but nobody here is a foal."

"I also believe there are more pressing matters at hoof here." Sweetie walked in and behind her tread, a pony nobody but Sweetie Belle knew.

"This is someone I bumped into outside, they knew who Gilda, Gretta, and Derpy were."

"Please, Sweetie," The griffon started "Applebloom, yourself, and Scootaloo really helped me."
She looked behind Sweetie at all the other ponies in the room.

"Oh right, where are my manners, I'm Gilda's sister, Gabby Gruff and I'm the Ultimate Mail Courier!"

"Great, the more the merrier!" Cadence nodded.

"This situation is anything but merry, we need to find out who's behind all this!"
A burst of laughter, not a joyful one, but a sinister one filled the room. All of the sudden, all five corpses from the game shone onto the crystal map causing everyone to gasp in horror. They didn't get to see any executions, they didn't know about those but they saw Petunia in the washing machine, Octavia with a wagon part piercing her heart, Fiddly cut in half, Zecora with a bloodstain oozing down from the back of her head, and Snap's burnt outline. Rainbow Dash zipped around the room.

"Where are you, how could you do this to them, show yourselves!"
That laughter filled the room again.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash, I'm far away from you all, you'll never find me there, I was just showing you where some of the missing ones you were looking for are!"
Cheerilee and Sweetie shook in fear as she looked at Snap's outline.

"That was Scootaloo's father!" Sweetie shouted.

"Well, he's the one who murdered Zecora, so I punished him. You're welcome." A maniacal laugh filled the halls and slowly faded, but before it did it piped up with one last thing.
Nobody believed in that lie of the fact that Snap murdered Zecora.

"Well, you found five of them, so that makes only 36 missing creatures."
They all just stared in horror as the voice had left the image there.

"We're going to find out who did this and I'll make sure of it."
Sweetie nodded as the others did too.

"We've got a crusade to run."

Chapter 3: The Journey of A Hero; DaL 1/2

Author's Note

Note; I do not ship Gilda and Corriander, Gilda's still just new to the whole friend-making

Chapter 3: The Journey of A Hero; DaL 1/2

Once again, I wake up in this nightmare that was this horrid killing game. It's hard to believe two ponies, or any creature for that matter, succumbed to the motives... First was Octavia, whose motive was fear of someone dying thanks to Twilight's fake letter who also feared someone dying... Octavia had wanted to kill Vinyl so they could die together but accidentally had grabbed Petunia, even if she mistook the mane, wouldn't the size or weight be obvious...? Then the next motive was our loved ones in danger where Monoluna made an example of Octavia's loved one by having her sawed in half and threatening that would happen to one of our loved ones. Wanting to protect his child, Scootaloo, from dying, Snap took Zecora into his own hooves and killed her... This game is responsible for five deaths...

"Trixie is tired of all this blood, it does not go with her glitter and tricks..." I murmured this under my breath and stretched as I put on my hat and cloak. I heard a knock at the door but before I could answer it, the bell played.
Bing Bong Bong Bing

"Hey, Trixie, it's Applejack."

"I'm here too." Spike chuckled and I saw them nuzzle into each other as I opened the door.

"So, what do you need?"

"We just wanted to see if you wanted breakfast?"
I knew I'd just be third-wheeling, Trixie always seemed to be doing that.

"I'm good, I'm gonna stretch a bit, I'll see if I can catch you both at the end."
They nodded and just walked to the cafeteria together.

"Hope I can talk to Applejack more and become closer, but right now she's pretty close with Spike and I shouldn't mess with that."
I said this to myself but maybe a bit too loudly because behind me I heard

"I think that's noble of you, Trixie."
I jumped and looked behind me to see Thorax.

"If you're doing morning stretches, mind if I join you?"
I smiled, it would be nice not to do them alone... even if that was just a fib to let the lovebirds just hang out.

*** I decided to do some morning stretches with Thorax ***

"So, what exactly is a changeling?"

"We can shapeshift using magic, but I can't exactly do that here, and along with the pegasi and Twilight, my wings aren't as strong as normal"

"Do you think you could be the Ultimate Shapeshifter or Ultimate Changeling?"
Thorax shook his head.

"I'm still unsure of what my Ultimate is, but I know it's not either of those."
We talked about our pasts, or... what we remembered of them, while we did some stretches. I went over my transition from stallion to mare, though mentally I always was a mare. Thorax said the former leader of the changelings was evil until a pony and a dragon helped him defeat her. I wonder if it was Spike and Applejack? I think Thorax and I grew a little closer.

Thorax and I walked into the kitchen, he went to go sit with Dusty and Splash. I go up to the window to get my breakfast and see a group of different tables to sit at. Corriander and Gilda sat together as I think of this and I decide to sit with them.

*** I decided to eat breakfast with Gilda and Corriander ***

"Hey, Trixie." Gilda nodded as Corriander waved me over.

"How are you this morning, Trixie, relatively speaking?"

"Trixie is alright... relatively speaking."

"Yeah... I feel bad for that kid, don't know what I'd do if my daughter have to watch me..."

"Trixie wonders if they're showing them everything?"

"You think they saw Fiddly's death?" Corriander inquired.

"Possibly, but I doubt they're in the same room, probably all in small but comfy prison cells," Gilda grumbled.

"You two seem to have gotten closer over the time we've been here."
Gilda blushed and grumbled a bit.

"Well, yeah we've been stuck in the kitchen together, it's only natural we'd start to get along or hate each other's guts."
Corriander let out a long chuckle.

"So Gilda," I questioned, "How'd you get into baking, from what I've heard Griffonstone isn't the most... resourceful when it comes to agriculture.

"Well yeah, but I got a good deal from a bakery that I forget the needs of, I give them a quarter of my pastries in exchange for ingredients and make around a quarter of what they sell... Hope Griffonstone is doing ok."

"I'm sure it's fine, Gilda, no way they take away this many creatures and also destroys all their home towns"
Bing Bong Bong Bing
We all looked up from our souffles that they'd made as Monodence started an announcement.

"Smiles and Kills, it's Monodence here~!"
We all groaned.

"Don't be sad, sad's no fun, killing is fun~!"
Monodence let out a maniacal laugh as we all silently just chewed our food.

"Anyways, I went ahead and opened those doors blocked by the vines!"

"So we can get in those rooms now?" Dusty questioned.

"Correct, Happy killing~" Monodence sang.

"I don't know if I can go in that hallway..." Spike shuddered.

"It's alright Spike, I'll protect you this time around."
Spike blushed as Applejack darted out followed by Spike floating after her. It almost felt like a cartoon...

Wait what's a cartoon

"While they go find a broom closet, why don't we all search together. That way we'll all know we all saw something together." Splash suggested.
Sunny nodded in agreement and threw his hooves around Splash.

"I'll join only so I don't get wrongly accused again." Twilight groaned.
We all rolled our eyes.

"Yes let's, unlike a radio mystery show we won't split up, Hahaha!" Sunny blurted out making a dramatic gesture with his front left hoof. We all walked out and to be fair, we all shuddered as we entered that hallway.

"Fuck I remember that creepy smile she had." Gilda winced.

"Snap had the right reason but the wrong means," Corriander replied.

"No, he didn't," Derpy said bluntly.
We all remember Derpy's outburst last trial. We can only imagine how she feels as a parent. Derpy then continued her argument.

"Y'know, he made Zecora's mother the same way he would have felt if Scootaloo died. He doesn't get my pity."
Derpy grumbled, stopped slowly flapping her wings, and ran off, slowly to be followed by Thorax and Corriander.

"So much for sticking together, some people can't just take what we have and live with it, going two different directions just like her eyes," Twilight remarked.
I was about to respond, that was just insensitive when all of the sudden

SLAP
We heard the sound of someone slapping a Princess, we all had winced but looked up to see, someone unexpected. I thought it would've been someone like Discord, Gilda, Dusty, or maybe even Splash. But when I looked up, I saw a seething Vinyl.

"Look, Princess first you send a letter to Octavia and make her murder, and next you insult everybody. I don't know why Celestia or whoever made you a Princess. Or, how you even got the Ultimate title, but they need to rethink their fucking life choices!"
Vinyl slapped her again and stormed off. I decided to run after her. I look around for her and find her where Petunia was killed. Nobody had been in there since the murder of Petunia and somehow the machine was completely cleaned out, you'd never have thought a murder would have taken place there. She was sobbing by the machine, trying to hide her tears with her glasses.

"Are you alright, Vinyl?"

"Go away, Prin-!"

"Oh it's you, I thought you all would've made Princess apologize."

"Good luck with that, Trixie's an illusionist but even that's something I couldn't conjure."
We both laughed a little and just talked until Vinyl settled down a little.

"Hey how about we explore the new rooms together, Trixie?"

"Trixie thinks that's a wonderful idea."
We headed up the stairs and skipped over the first two rooms, there wasn't one to the right, instead, there was a bigger one to the left. Vinyl stood in horror. It was the stage Vinyl had sung upon.

"You going to be alright?" I whispered to them.
Vinyl pulled her glasses back over their eyes and nodded. We walked down the aisle and we saw everyone exploring the stage, aside from Applejack, Spike, Derpy, Corriander, and Thorax.

"Oh, you found her!" Splash waved us over. Sunny was loving the idea of this stage. and zooming all around it doing poses. While the others were exploring backstage.

"Seems normal to me..." Cross noted.

"Yeah, it's just instruments props, and wooden planks. Typical school theatre kinda shtick." Discord stated, nonchalantly.
Discord and Gilda were flying, very slowly.

"Celestia, this flying curse is fucking annoying."

"You're telling me, Gilda, I can't even use chaos magic... Who could be powerful enough to kidnap this many ponies and creatures?"
We all scoot into the next room, this time it was another small room and it wasn't a very pretty sight to our minds. It was an artillery closet, full of swords, guns, knives. toxic-smoke bombs and many more lethal weapons.

"We all agree to stay out of this room right?" Rich questioned.

"Yes, that does seem it would be in our best interest..." Splash nodded.

"What if every night we had two creatures guard the door, to make sure of it?" Thorax commented.
Applejack and Spike came in from the other room.

"Welcome back, lovefucks," Discord stated "So how does that whole thing work, with the different species and the whole dragons living thousands of years thing, wouldn't that make Spike, what is he, your age, twenty-four?"
They both chimed in with a twinge of anger, like clockwork.

"Yes, were both twenty-four."
It seems that they've had this conversation before, but it's understandable.

"Either way, that room is just a room with a projector, and some snacks, seems like a movie room."

"Nice, we can watch a cheesy horror movie like The Leponcon or The Foalsitter." Dusty smirked.

"Not horror movies, please." Splash quickly replied.
Bing BoNg bOnG binG.

"Hey, so... like I'm tipsy," Monodence started, slurring her words holding a bottle of Austallion produced beer with her magic, as if to bring insult to injuries to Scootaloo, or us...

"So like, report to the dining area for the motive~"
That sank in like a ton of bricks.

Chapter 3: The Journey of A Hero: DaL 2/2

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 3: The Journey of a Hero DeL

Author's Note

TWS: mentions of Suicide
Reminder!
Trixie (she/her)
Applejack (she/her)
Twilight (she/her)
Dusty (she/her)
Splash (he/him)
Derpy (she/her)
Mr. Rich (he/him)
Discord (he/him)
Vinyl (she/they)
Gilda (she/her)
Corriander (he/him)
Cross ((Red Heart FtM HC)) (he/him)
Sidirourgous SID roaR jUS
Sunny (he/him)
Quibble (he/they)
Thorax (they/them)

Chapter 3: The Journey of a Hero DeL

BING BONG BONG BING!
Monodence was letting out an onslaught of maniacal giggles.

"A body has been discovered, please report to the Auditorium/Play Stage!"
Applejack had run up to the hanging head as her tears fell.

"Whichever one of yew did this... I'll find out, and y'all better pray to Celestia I don't murder you myself."

Protag Switch - - - > Applejack

I looked up at my once lover and best friend who had been directed. Cross came up behind me and placed his hoof on my shoulder sympathetically. He started the autopsy and I looked around for more clues, but before I did, our devices binged and we all opened up the Monofile. But before anything Twilight let out an audible gasp.

"The Victim is Spike Apple-Sparkle." The screen read...

"Now... are you related to Spike?" I asked.

Twilight shook her head, "For once, I have no idea, and that scares me..."
I looked further down the Monofile...

"The cause of death is dismemberment, The time of death was around 4:00 AM, The body was discovered at 4:05 AM by ??? and ???, along with Applejack at 7:00 AM."

"Two innocent creatures saw the body... and didn't get anybody?"
Monofile #3 added to bullets.
Timing added to bullets.
The next most obvious part of this whole ordeal... Where was his torso?

Missing Torso added to bullets.
Dismembered Body added to bullets.

Trixie motioned me over.

"This won't sound good on me, but I've used those in my shows before... Well kind of, that specific type of metal is used for a specific illusion box, I'm surprised even the monos were able to get their hooves on. I only got mine because of a friend and a commission..."
Trixie's Account added to bullets.
Illusionist Box added to bullets.

Cross motioned us over.

"So obviously, your husband was dismembered, Applejack."

"Thanks." I rolled my eyes.

"But what's interesting is that these metal pieces of the illusionist box are soft, they would have been able to pierce if thrown, But they could've been hammered in after dissection, so we know these couldn't have been used before the murder."
Soft Metal? added to bullets.
Autopsy added to bullets.
Cross continued. "Another thing is that there were signs of a struggle, Spike fought back, but in the end, the most unique thing is that all the cuts seem to have been done diagonally and fast... Not sure with what."
Signs of a struggle added to bullets.
Fast diagonal cuts added to bullets.

"D'ya think that was the true cause of death?"

"No, I think we'd need to find the torso to find that out."
Right... of course... his- ... missing torso. My-...

"Applejack?"
I could still hear his voice.

"APPLEJACK!" Cross shouted, shaking me a little.
Not his voice...

"Wha...?"

"The blood that's pooling from the body parts... they would've had to have hung very quickly to accumulate that much blood to run off the stage, and that seems to be everything here."

"Dusty and Sunny think we should go to the artillery closet," Rich said motioning Cross, Trixie, and myself over.
But when we opened the door what we saw... was shocking...

It was Discord and Gilda, both knocked out cold on the floor. All of the weapons had been thrown around Cross quickly checked the pulses of Gilda and Discord.

"Their pulses are slow but they're both still and alive, they'll make it." Cross nodded
Gilda and Discord knocked out added to bullets.
Slow pulses added to bullets.
Weapons astray added to bullets.

We noticed all the weapons had been astray but when taken accounted for, thanks to Princess Prissy, none were bloodied, damaged, or even missing.

"Do you think the weapons were washed in the pool, like the last trial?" Sunny questioned.

"I doubt it," Twilight started. "They'd have shown signs of wetness or even some cloth from being dried. These are the same quality."

Unused Weapons out added to bullets.
Suddenly we heard a scream coming from the pool.

"That's Splash!" Dusty shouted and we all followed her running speed to the pool.
A horrified shaking splash pointed in the pool. We all looked in to see Spike's torso sunken at the bottom of the pool with the purple blood puddle forming above it. Without hesitation, Dusty dived in to fish it out. Combing back with it, Dusty threw it up out of the pool and shuddered in disgust. Cross quickly came in after this, followed slowly by Gilda and Discord. Sidirourgous was shuddering and whimpering and being comforted by Derpy. Cross quickly checked all around the body and gasped as she set it as if he were laying on his back. We all saw what she did, a large yet very thin slice that started there and sliced up and through Spike.

"The cut looks like it went into his neck, this slice is the cause of death... but this slice had to have been done in defense."
Time stopped for me.

"You mean-"
Spike initiated the attack added to bullets.
I slumped to the floor.

"But, that doesn't make this right Applejack." Splash stated.

"Trixie agrees, the pony could've just stopped with the one slice if it's the cause of death, why do all this if you had no intention to murder."

"Yeah... it's just too...chaotic." Discord stated.
Everyone at least shared that same sentiment, mostly shocked at Discord's fast recovery.

"It seems as if Gilda had the worst of it."

"Wait, nothing's too chaotic for Discord."
Suddenly Monodence was behind us.

"Oh yeah, the first two will be turned back, and the other two after trial."
We all thought blankly... Spike was dead, so he never turned back...

"My true love died before his real death and your STUPID game is the killer." I stamped my hoof.

"Trixie also felt back to normal which is why she rushed to get everycreature she could find!" Trixie said, ina frantic state.

"I don't know what you're all talking about, this is how I've always been." Discord cocked his head.
Monodence had already disappeared.

"So... what next?" Sunny questioned.
I thought about it.

"Spike hoarded himself in our room, there may be something there?"

"Well, then, le-let's see," Sidirourgous said quietly.
We all went to Spike's room which was now unlocked. My room was simple, a bigger bed for the both of us, some pictures of us, some orcharding supplies based on me, and some ambassador medals Spike has. The note with a slice through it.

Wait just a cotton picking minute.

"That's a notebook... ah don't recognize?"

"May I have a look?" Discord asked.
I cautiously handed him the notebook.

"Applejack, this dates back to his first day in Ponyville, I don't think this is a notebook, but perhaps his diary? However, all of the things before the killing game started were run over with a very thick marker."

"Spike hid stuff from me?" Applejack questioned.

"Not hid, most of the stuff in the notebook is about keeping you safe until the day he died..."

"Do you mean?"
Rich put his hoof on my shoulder.

"I say, he fought against the opposite disease internally for you."

"The slice marks look similar to the ones on the body...?" Cross questioned

"How odd..." Corriander replied.
Spike's Diary added to bullets.
Dates on notebook added to bullets.
Similar cuts added to bullets.

"Ah here's from last night!" Discord exclaimed as we huddled around him as he held the book down to show us the letter."

"Pathetic dragon, if you want your sad excuse for a hidden picture back, distract the weapon guards and see if you can get me the right weapon, a ############## to kill, I no longer want to live. But maybe I can get some use out of a street urchin filthian such as yourself. Time's ticking, Spike, if you don't comply, Applejack will be my victim. Simply and ungratefully yours~ - #h##l#######h"

Some bits were smudged off, almost blood-like splotches even.
Letter added to bullets.
Unknown letter writer added to bullets.
Spike knocked out Gilda and Discord? added to bullets.
Smudges added to bullets.
Missing picture added to bullets.
BING BONG BONG BING
"Your time is up everycreature! The trial will commence soon!"
I gulped... was it that time already? Once again we were led to the door and with a flash of light... we were blinded and then there.

I looked across the trial room... One of these creatures killed my husband... Even if it was self-defense... We know someone wanted him to get angry... I decided to think over my truths one last time

Monofile #3

Timing

Missing Torso - Found in POOL

Dismembered Body

Trixie's Account

Soft Metal?

Illusionist's Box

Autopsy

Signs of a struggle

Fast diagonal cuts

Gilda and Discord knocked out - By Spike?

Slow Pulses

Weapons astray

Spike instigated the attack

Spike's Diary

Similar cuts through notes

Letter - Unknown Author

Smudges - bloodlike?
Trial - START

"Id begin with an explanation but I'm pretty sure you're all in the gist... so have at it!" Monodence giggled.

"Alright before anything-" I started and pointed at the photo of Gilda

"Is Gilda dead?"

"No," Monodence said flatly. "If she recovers in time, I'll teleport her here."

"Alright - now, Discord. Do you remember anything?" I questioned

"I wish I did, Applejack, whoever knocked Gilda and myself out was swift."

"Then... where do we start?" Derpy asked.

"I think I know..." Cross stated
- NON-STOP DEBATE -

"Where do we start?"

"I think I know..." Cross started "The torso in the pool... why was it put there?"

"Maybe to... hide the body?" Sid questioned

"If so, that's a terrible hiding spot, of course, we'd check everywhere." Dusty rolled her eyes.

"Maybe they wanted us to find that first and have that count as the BDA?" Splash asked.

"We still would've found his... other parts anyways..." Vinyl said

"Maybe he died in the pool, what a turn of events!" Sunny exclaimed.
---> Signs of a struggle

"THAT'S A FIELD OF LIES!"

"Ah just don't think that's possible, Sunny. From how all the chaos was near the weapons closet and based on the signs of a struggle in the auditorium... I don't think that's true."

"That's right, the brave ambassador had a struggle for love in his attempted murder."

"I say, easy there Sunny." Rich started "Don't go provoking those stronger than you."

"So... what now?" Quibble questioned.

"Why don't we talk about the weapons?" Vinyl suggested
- NON-STOP DEBATE -

"About the weapons... they were all astray." Vinyl commented

"Yet none of them were used..." Trixie continued.

"Do we know if the killer hid or destroyed the weapon they may have used?" Thorax asked.
"THAT'S THE SEED OF TRUTH!"

-----> Weapons Astray

"I know for a fact they were all there!" Twilight stamped her hoof.

"Correct, but Thorax never said that the killer did, they asked if the killer did - to which we knew."

"Thanks for clarifying Applejack."

"Now where do we go, Ms. Farmpony." Twilight gestured her hooves out,

"I think our best course of action is to go over who got persona switched, followed by what the murder weapon is."

"Fair enough..."

"I say we know Spike, Ms. Lulamoon, Discord, and the mystery selectee got switched," Rich commented.

"That's right..." Corriander nodded "But where does that lead us-?"

"We need to know who the last switchee is." Thorax nodded

"How are we gonna figure it out?" Vinyl asked.

"Alright... if it was you... raise your hoof!" Derpy exclaimed.
Nobody raised a hoof or a claw.

"May I ask how that would work, Mrs. Hooves? If they don't admit to it it's likely they're the- OH!" Discord gasped.

"Clever thinking - this means that the last switchee is our killer!" I nodded.

"Could it be Gilda...?" Sid questioned.

"No, I was with her the entire time, she was her grumpy self until we got ambushed." Discord stated.

"Alright so let's discuss weapons..." Cross nodded.
- NON-STOP DEBATE -

"Weapons..."

"I mean- there was that soft metal box stuff that's used for illusionist boxes..." Vinyl said.

"Yeah, but..." Corriander scratched his chin.

"What is it?" Splash asked

"What about all the cuts in his torso and the dismemberment itself - I doubt the boxes illusionists used are THAT sharp...?"

"Well he's pinned to the fuckin wall with em, that's pretty sharp."

"Agh - are we split alre-" I started then covered my mouth

"Celestia damn i-"

"Did I hear SPLIT~"
With a smaller flash of light, our platforms moved across from each other yet again.
Soft Metal is NOT the weapon
Applejack
Trixie
Corriander
Discord
Twilight
Dusty
Sid
Cross
Soft Metal IS the weapon
Sunny
Rich
Splash
Vinyl
Thorax
Quibble
Derpy

"I say, I'll start!" Rich announced.

"If the soft metal was sharp enough to pierce him, couldn't it have been what killed him?"

"Trixie!"

"Piercing and cutting are two different actions!"

"Splash!"

"A knife or a fork for example can cut and pierce!"

"Corriander!"

"True, but this isn't cutlery, it's meant to make boxes!"

"Vinyl!"

"If that stuff can be made into boxes, why not a weapon?"

"Discord!"

"If that were the case Mx/Ms. Scratch, cardboard could be a weapon if made sharp enough, we have to explore all possibilities- so for now you're wrong."

"Thorax!"

"The fact that we know something else may have been used over something we KNOW has been is less important than such!"

"Pris- Twilight!"

"Yeah, but I know more than any of us at this point that jumping to conclusions on kNoW could lead us to the wrong creature!"

"Quibble!"

"How do you know this won't lead us astray?"

"Dusty!"

"We don't, also stay on topic!"
- REBOUND -

"Sid!"

"With what we know... it's likely that there's a more likely weapon..."

"Myself!" Sunny said.

"My dear, in show business and in trials we take risks! It's life!"

"Ah've got it!"

"Or death, anyways back to the TOPIC - Ah think Ah know how these aren't the weapons..."
- BREAK-

"If we take a look at my husband's mutilated corpse, we can see that there's two-three "soft metal" per limb and head... Wile these caused damage they were used for one reason... to PIN him."

"They crucified him?!" Quibble said, looking sick to his stomach.

"It appears so." Cross nodded, in agreement.

"Ah believe they made the soft metal into darts and pinned him. Then with... our mystery murder weapon... cut off his torso arms attached and pushed them in deeper to make the soft metal appear like the weapon!" I exclaimed

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Trixie joked, probably at the wrong time.

"Ah suppose, moving on... the cuts in his torso... they're all fast and diagonal, matching the ones that cut up the note we won't be able to use... the soft metal, if pinning Spike, couldn't have been used!"

"So... we know it's the mystery persona changed... and the weapon is capable of diagonal cuts..." Vinyl said.

"I think... we need to go over if Spike's claws could've torn up the notes... because a weapon couldn't do something to something that small." Cross nodded.

"Ah agree with that, I doubt the note means much now... moving on... how about the untorn letter?"

NON-STOP DEBATE -

"Pathetic dragon, if you want your sad excuse for a hidden picture back, distract the weapon guards and see if you can get me the right weapon, a ###a## to kill, I no longer want to live. But maybe I can get some use out of a street urchin filthian such as yourself. Time's ticking, Spike, if you don't comply, Applejack will be my victim. Simply and ungratefully yours~ - #h##l#######h" I reiterated...

"So we know Spike's love for you conquered that and that they were racist and didn't want to live..." Thorax stated.

"What a specimen!" Sunny shouted.

"Is it possible that our mystery persona wrote that note?" Quibble questioned.

-----> Torn Notes (Similar Cuts)

"THAT'S THE SEED OF TRUTH!"

"So... it's clear they used a nickname because none of the uncovered parts match to any of us..." I said.

"He wanted a picture back, so he rammed suddenly into Gilda and Discord, knocking them both out..." Dusty stated.

"When he couldn't find the weapon after tearing the room apart he must've encountered said killer who already had a weapon... from where?" Corriander cocked his head.

"I can reveal that~" Monodence chuckled.

"As you may or may not know... You can ASK me to provide weapons you do not see in here if it's to kill. If ya didn't know it wasn't addressed to you... it was on those notes of Spike's belonging to your mystery, Spike, Trixie, and Discord."

"So the motive came with a motive... Who could've asked for a -" Applejack's voice trembled as she was in utter shock.

"Ah know who did this!"
ACCUSE
Please... tell me if I'm wrong... but a positive person with memories and a lust for life... Sid... was it you?

"W-w-what, me!?" Sid stuttered.

A mysterious voice spoke up.

"Yeah, it was you, Blacksmith, and I can prove it."
We all turned to see Gilda, who just teleported in.

"I didn't do this, Gilda!"

"Bullshit! Discord doesn't remember but I do, YOU went into the auditorium, not long after Spike crashed into us!"

"B-b-b-but-" Sid fell silent and then... changed.

"I didn't go through a war and now this to be accused of murder. THIS SCAR, right here, is PROOF I wouldn't risk my life!"

"Notice how I called you Blacksmith, Blackened? The note fits your ultimate."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU HYBRID BAKER-!" Sid roared.
Gilda was in shock and I took over, Sid was losing it... it's time to end this case!
- ARGUMENT AMAMNENT - START!"
Sid was now bearing his cloak, sword, and his mane seemed off...

"I'M A FUCKIN VETERAN, THIS IS DISRESPECT... I SHOULD JUST KILL MYSELF AND MAKE YOU ALL LOSE!"

"Yer not acting like yourself, Sid, that's proof enough!"

"FUCK OFF, COW PONY!"

"THIS IS ME. THIS IS ME, AND I DIDN'T KILL ANYONE BESIDES THEM LOUSY HYBRIDS IN THE WAR!"

"This ain't you. Ah won't forgive ya - but nobody else could've pulled this out!"

"QUIT IT!"

"GILDA'S LYING ABOUT SEEING ME! WE DON'T EVEN KNOW THE OTHER TWO TO DISCOVER THE BODY!"

"Technically as the door was open to both rooms, Gilda and Discord are witnesses, and we know that you were there now!"

"FUCKIN... dirt eater..."

"HOW DO WE JUST KNOW IT WAS ME?!"
drc aotra osk lyku dukaon faa yaoen!
You asked for your katana and cloak!
----> Torn Notes!

"Based on what ya'v told us in the past... You had a katana and a cloak... I assume this cloak was made of that soft metal and opposite you were willing to sacrifice both to get what you want... death."

As if in a pop both Discord and Sid were back to normal

"Luna damn it... I'm the killer ain't I...?" Sid said.

"I was witness to the whole thing - but you seem to have the urge to kill Sid - so I'll let you-"

"Thank ya..."

THIS IS THE SEED OF TRUTH: FULLY BLOSSOMED!
This murder may have truly started as soon as the killer was personality swapped. But going from a stoic veteran who was unproud of what they did in the war... to a sadistic suicidal racist war veteran... For whatever reason, they decided to target Spike who was also under the swap. Anyone who isn't a pony was a likely candidate... including Thorax, Spike, Discord, and Gilda. Which is why when writing the notes to everyone... They made sure to deliver it to those creatures, whoever took the task would wind up dead. Spike had snuck into their rooms and taken the notes from their rooms come night. Trixie and Thorax's must've been tough to get as they were asleep but he managed. Discord and Gilda were on guard and Discord's door due to his swap was left unlocked because he's more trusting now. Gilda's door was most likely picked by either our killer or Spike after they were on guard, we'll never know. With the other notes in his room, Spike tore them with a fast diagonal motion with his claws, which seemed to favor our killer at first because they would come to match Spike's wounds. Now, despite being swapped.... Spike's inner love for myself fought against it and he was going to kill the killer who had threatened me in the lure note. Before this, our killer casually headed to the Auditorium, not noticing that Gilda noticed them go in. Their biggest mistake was most likely being too cocky and not checking if they were dead. Luckily for them, Gilda took the worse of it and was incapacitated for a bit of trial and they probably thought they were safe as Discord had no recollection of what happened. But - back to the murder... Our killer was waiting for Spike in the auditorium, most likely now with the Monodence given cloak and sword, the cloak of which was made of their own creation out of Soft Metal, according to Trixie, it now makes up illusionist boxes which they hoped to throw us off with. Spike most likely lunged at the killer, full of rage. Their sword and Spike's scales likely collided until eventually, Spike flew up to a position, right where the killer wanted them... Swiftly, they launched their darts into Spike's wings, and then legs. Then after Spike was bleeding out and incapacitated... They threw some into his head. Afterward, our blackened took their sword, and with swift diagonal cuts, dismembered Spike, then they headed to the pool to discard the torso, arms attached, therefore... whatever reason. Then they came back and pushed the darts further in to make it look like that was the cause of death, this most likely got their hooves bloody so they washed their hooves in the water and gave the katana back to Monodence. Their biggest mistake was even signing that letter as Blacksmith because some of it was visible through the ink... Opposite disease or not yer still the one who brutally murdered my husband and you'll get zero sympathy from me... isn't that right... Sidirourgous Smith; the Ultimate Blacksmith!"
CR C3 P1
CR C3 P2
- TRIAL OVER - ALL RISE -

"I say...." Rich muttered under his breath.

"This is just unfortunate, a game show spinner caused so much... so much... DESPAIR!" Sunny bellowed.

"That's it... I was so scared..." Sid whimpered. As if I gave a shit.

"Ah told you, Ah've got no sympathy for you."

"For what it is... I remember his last words were I love her... also for what it is... I'm sorr-"

"Your sorries don't mean shit for Sombra."

"Figured... let's just get on with it Monodence-"

"AH- ah -ah~ first: The Vote!"
The wheel came down yet again and spun... It landed on Sid.

"Correct correct CORRECTT~!" Monodence squeed. "The blackened/killer of this case is none other than Sidirourgous Smith: The Ultimate Blacksmith... and since you all know why - and they're ready - let's speed this killer train a moving!"

"Hold on-" Thorax quivered.
I rolled my eyes. For once... I'm glad an execution is taking place.

"I have a very special and uniquely designed punishment for Sidirourgous Smith, the Ultimate Blacksmith!"

"Sorry everyone... especially to you Applejack..." Those were Sid's final words. I didn't listen to it much... but it was heard.

We watched over the stadium, the area they did the last two executions in, again as Sidirourgous was grabbed by his limbs by chains and yanked into it. It looked almost like a factory this time... A large conveyor belt was shown and eventually, we saw Sid who was chained to it, the fear in his eyes... it's almost as haunting as seeing your husband's dismembered CORPSE. Anyways -
Execution 3: Cover Image

Ominous music and banging began as the conveyor slowly moved and we all noticed a larger than life hammer swinging down. And a bit beyond it... a large metal block slamming down. Sid slowly but surely reached in front of the hammer which slammed down in front of him, causing sparks to scorch him. Sid then was slowly moved under the hammer. of which it slammed down harder and it took off his front hooves and we heard a blood curdling scream. Most looked away, I did not.
Some watched as a blood trail now followed Sid on the conveyor. As Sid approached the block, he winced thinking it would crush his head, nope... it moved him almost past it until the block slammed down, taking off his legs. Sid, somehow still alive, had been dismembered like he did to Spike... Until we suddenly noticed a bright orange liquid dropping all of the sudden... It took me a second but even I gasped. That liquid was molten... Once under it, two claws held his mouth open, we could only hear a slight scream of agony before his throat was gone... Eventually he bled out, the molten liquid continuing to melt his head.

"Praise be to Celestia...." Discofd whispered, signing a cross with his claw.

"That was the most brutal yet...." Trixie stuttered.

"I don't wanna be in this room anymore, and I never did!" Quibble cried out... I dont know why but I started to laugh.

"Wh-what the fuck are you laughing at, that was horrid!" Vinyl shouted.

"Simply put, Karmas a bitch, and I enjoyed the show."

"Applejack, this isn't like you-" Derpy stuttered.

"Yer damn right, I don't have a husband, a brutal execution for his brutal murder. Seems fair to me!" I kept laughing like a maniac, a sane one mind you, as the bright flash happened and teleported us out. As we did - I noticed everyone staring, in horror, even Twilight.
"Typical Cowp-"

"Oh don't act like you've aint done worse, Prissy. YOU got Petunia killed, I got a KILLER killed. Big difference."

"Applejack this isn't going to help any-" Trixie started.

"Ah certainly don't need pity. I'm going to bed."
PROTAG SWITCH - - - > TRIXIE LULAMOON
I only hope I can help Applejack get closure and mourn... but for now... everyone including myself just.. headed to bed...

Chapter 3: Intermission

"Are you sure this is everyone, Sweetie?" Rainbow groaned.

"Yeah... Look I know You, Me, Cheerilee, BigMac, Gabby, and Cadence isn't a lot - but there are so many people missing, we can't risk the lives of plain civilians, whether we know if they're ultimates or not... Also, Swallowtail said no and barred his doors."

"Then..why would you invite Gabby."

"First off - while I don't want nor expect any of us to die, BigMac isn't enough muscle. I got Gabby for the muscle, and her talent helps because it means she can carry more items." if needed

"Eyyup." BigMac nodded, knowing while he is strong, he can't do everything.

"So, where exactly are we going?" Cheerilee cocked her head.

"Based on everything we've discovered so far... They can be in only one place... and it's not going to be a short journey..."

"I know Equestria's big and all but... it can't be that far... why didn't we take the train?" Gabby asked
Cadence and Sweetie looked at each other and sighed before Cadence finally let out.

"Based on the location of the spell, which we were able to track from that call, they could be in one place only..."

"SPILL IT ALREADY!" Rainbow shouted, clearly impatient much to the glares and chagrin of everyone else.
"Well... You of all people won't enjoy this... because... we're heading to Klugetown.

"Wait- wHAT?!" Rainbow dash shouted.

"Yes, the town you were almost sold in, Cadence was turned to obsidian, and you nearly died, get over the shock and grow a pair Ms. Bravery." Sweetie rolled her eyes and huffed ahead.

"What crawled up her mane?" Rainbow questioned.

"All of her friends are gone Rainbow... She has a right to be angry."

"There are Elements missing, a ward, two princesses, and DISCORD. Sorry for not being worried about The Ultimate Potionist and The Ultimate Daredevil, Scootaloo looks up to me, but I can't get all pissy and puffy, we need to stay on track."

"Have some empathy, Dash, we all have ones missing and are all processing it differently..."

"Which is why you need a better leader, so you all stop FUCKING arguing." The mystery voice seemed to shout through their ears before revealing themselves on a nearby cliff...

"Oh, NOW WHAT?!" Rainbow groaned.

Chapter 4: Starving Artists DaL 1/3

I woke up to another day in this hell hole... That's six creatures... dead due to this stupid killing game.

Octavia butchered Petunia, an innocent filly with a talent for Paleontology, thinking she was Vinyl, who from her memories, was her marefriend, all worried by notes sent by Prissy and the motive and played her final swan song on her cello.

Zecora, a skilled Herbalist was slammed against a wall by a survivalist and a father. Trying to protect his kid... Snap then died hugging a bomb that was shaped like his kid...

Spike, a young 24-year-old Ambassador to all pony and dragon kind, along with being a husband, was killed in self-defense due to the Opposite Disease spread by the Monos... Sidirourgous also fell for this and went from a kind-hearted Blacksmith veteran... to a racist bitter veteran with a thirst for death to himself... What would I know anyways, I'm just an Illusionist. All I know is lies, and I'm starting to think everything here is nothing but such. So we wake up another day, it's not gonna chang-

knock knock

"Trixie is asking whos at the door."

"It's... Derpy... Vinyl asked me to get everyone who wasn't up yet for breakfast..."

"Give me a minute to get dressed."

"We don't normally wear cloth-"

"You don't, I do, that aside, thanks for getting me, Trixie feels... we need to remain positive."

"I agree... but... it seems Applejack, Twilight, and Thorax had other plans..."

'Thorax, But why?" I paused for a moment... Despite all that happened here... they didn't seem part of who'd be a shut-in.

"Well, they didn't answ-"

I burst through the door, nearly knocking Derpy back, and ran towards Thorax's room. There was no motive... But with all that's happened, It wouldn't be a surprise. We had no motive, but if Thorax didn't even respond he could be dead. I got to his room and knocked loudly on the door, only for it to slowly push open to reveal
A horrible horrible sight...
TW: Blood https://www.deviantart.com/pandaisqued/art/Ponganronpa-Chapter-4-943059898
https://www.deviantart.com/pandaisqued/art/Ponganronpa-Chapter-4-Pt2-943060044

"THORAX?!" I shouted worriedly before they opened their eyes and yawned.

"Morning, Trixie... I got stuck and bonked my head which I tried to tell Derpy.. but she flew off quicker than I could utter."
I went over to Thorax and kind of... plonked them out of the hole.
Trixie facepalmed as Thorax exited. Derpy must've not heard them...

"Thanks... I'll see you at breakfast."

"Wait - heavens to Celestia, you're bleeding!

"Shi- alright... fine, let's go then."

I walked Thorax over to the Infirmary/Nurse's Office having them hold a rag from his in-dorm-bathroom and Cross walked in.

"Thorax need something?"

"Yeah, he hit his head getting up and it's bleeding, you need some help?"

"No, I ate already and I should be good, smart having them hold a clean rag to it... Go on and eat breakfast, I'll make sure Thorax gets some food."

I wonder who I should join at Breakfast...
I took my time and arrived late... aside from The Priss, The Chaos, and The Widow... and at that point, it was just Gilda and Corriander eating together.

"Oh hey, Trix, your meals keeping warm in the heater. Go ahead and grab it." Gilda pointed with her head.

"Come come, join us in eating our Tasty Treats~!"
Gilda snorted.

"Tasty Treats?"

"It's the name of my daughter Saffron's and I's restaurant... she's-"

"I'm sorry... I didn't know."

"Bah! Nah! No need to feel so down, it is cutesy, it's what she called my dishes when she was very little, we both laugh at it... We need to keep smiling, I know you meant no harm"

The quiet noises of the kitchen eventually draw out their talking as I grab the food from the heater using an oven mitt, typically I'd use a horn mitt, but weak magic and flying means, at most, you could barely lift something, almost like our magic was reduced to that of a filly. Luckily, it wasn't too hot and I was able to get my quiche to the table and sit down. Enjoying the eggy and cheesy mixture they'd baked up.
-- I decide to hang out with Gilda and Corriander --

"Good morning, Trixie, you certainly were out cold... I'm not too sure about the other three."

"Honestly, coming from my small, not sassy side... I get why Applejack's not coming. She legit lost her former mate, and presumably, they were best friends before... But Prissy and Mr. Draco Malfoy Dracula Draconaconaquai have no excuse, they're just being bitchy or chaotic as per the fucking usual."

"They must have their reasons... but I won't say I disagree about Twilight and Discord..."

"So... what got you two into baking and cooking"

"Well, back in Griffinstone, I was always the town's go-to baker, as I'm one of the few that actually knows how to work a fucking oven, and one day some... tourists, either it was a while ago or I don't remember... came in and brought this thing called sugar, and they'd get 3 percent of our weekly sales, and in return, they sent us a month's worth of sugar... I laughed at first - but they were dead set on the deal, and to their loyalwords, the sugar came monthly after the 4th week's payment... It sounds weird that we don't have sugar but... Griffonstone ain't exactly known for nice comraderies and friendship... and even though' I'm not a pony... at that point... being the Ultimate Baker... felt like destiny, y'nknow?"

"Even as a savory cook, I can't imagine never having had sugar before... I just got my start because my mother loved to cook, and eventually, I just took over her old place and turned the upstairs into living quarters of sorts since we lost Saffron's mother... my sister, her mother, she doesn't know... Saffron was so young at the time... Barely even one..."

"That's awful Corriander... What happened if I may ask...?" Gilda asked in an oddly delicate voice for her.

"She and her husband were murdered... This whole situation feels like that all over again... Killed by the uncaught serial killer known as "Prey.""

"Prey?" Gilda cocked her head.

"Prey... as in the Prey" I gawked.
Prey is a notorious unknown masked serial killer. Not even their race is known. They marked all of their victims with the Letter P viciously carved into them around 27-29 years ago... Shortly before I was born. In their time of two years, they managed 101 victims and left no evidence behind other than The P's they left behind, and on victim 101. the blood spelled out R E Y on the wall beside the victim... Ponies were in fear while Celestia, as per usual, didn't do much other than give warnings and head everyone to stay inside. They were never caught and to this day, apart from all the world destroyers, are one of Equestria's Most Wanted.

"Yes... It's not something I typically talk about, but I trust you two."

"You... trust... me?" Gilda gawks.

"Of course, trust is the number one thing in the kitchen!"
We all sort of got to smile at the kinship of cooking, I feel like I got to know Gilda and Corriander a little better.
BING BONG BONG BING

"It's Monoluna here... and it's not a motive yet... but I am going to announce that the basement has been opened, the hidden staircase in the white room has been unhidden... Head there if you wish, or not... I don't care as long as you all eventually suffer one... by... one..."
Corriander shuddered.

"I don't know who's worse... The blatant psychopathic Monodence or the sociopathic Monoluna..." I groaned.

"They both suck donkey ass." Gilda rolled her eyes.

"Not to be blunt or anything-" The three talking ponies turned around at the voice to see Dusty and Splash.

"Dusty and I wanna go check the basement... we were going to ask you and Applejack Trixie but when we asked her..." Splash started.

"I get she's pissed but she had no right to say that to Splash," Dusty grumbled.

"What did she say?" Corriander cocked his head.
Splash rubbed his front hoof and futzed with his mane. He was about to speak before Dusty said what she'd said. The room went silent. Coriander's, Gilda's, and my mouth dropped. Before we could say anything Gilda slammed down on the table, nearly breaking it before we could give chase we heard a banging on a door and screaming. We all chased after to see Applejack standing in front of Gilda, practically emotionless as Gilda seethed, before Applejack could even talk, Gilda had picked her up and slammed her against a wall.

"How DARE, you even call Splash that. He is not an-"

"Kill me," Applejack said, emotionless.
Gildas grip slightly loosened as Gilda was taken aback.

"I'm honest, ain't I?" Applejack asked a question that got no answer.

"Well, I said the truth."

"He's not an inbred mistake and a waste of oxygen..." Dusty seethed loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.

"His parents didn't plan it, and currently we're all gonna die so we're all wasting oxygen. I said what I said, kill me and reunite me if ya please, you'll die too but quite frankly I don-"
Gilda just dropped Applejack before slamming her fist into the wall, right where she had her, damaging it as she walked away, Splash and Dusty following suit. Coriander and I just stood there glaring at her.

"Now what in Tirek are you two gaw-"

You could hear the crows swarm and caw as if this were an old cartoon somehow as the slap that knocked the Orchardist back and actually caught her off guard echoed across the halls. I stood there above her seething, my horn glowing as the other unicorn with me gasped audibly, their eyes growing shocked as I did this. I was shocked as well, I didn't think I was capable of that anymore as I slammed my front left hoof down and snorted. I stepped forward and kicked Applejack hard enough to hopefully knock some sense into her, but not hard enough to really... damage her.

It was all kind of a blur, to be honest, I hope I didn't damage my relationship with the unicorn next to me. I took a deep breath and backed away... She always said that was a good tactic to remain calm. But it would be of no help for anycreature for me to have an outburst again, I may even wind up with a target on my back. I don't think I could do that and leave her in this game alone... I couldn't. She's really opened up because of me... I couldn't do that to Gilda. On my watch, nocreature would hurt her...

Being what I do isn't just that, it's also being a leader... As I am Coriander Cumin, The Ultimate Cook, to me Gilda is my Sous-Chef and therefore I won't have her messed with. I have no qualms about hitting Applejack... And I'm going to go find my best friend in this stupid game...

Chapter 4: Starving Artists DaL 2/3

I watched as Coriander stormed off in the same direction as Dusty, Splash, and Gilda. I would've never thought he of all people had that in him. He's one of the calmest of all of us. Applejack just sat there and mumbled to herself before standing up, glaring at me, and then going back into her room. I managed to bump into Discord on my way there and he offered to search the basement with me. I was hesitant considering he considered himself The Lord of Chaos, and the fact his ultimate was literally chaos... But; everyone seems to have paired off, and Coriander was way ahead of me. Applejack was currently not in the mood... clearly...

So, I reluctantly explored the basement with Discord.
Free Time Event; Discord
We walked across the red-carpeted hallway, went upstairs, and walked towards... Where Zecora had been murdered. And to the hallway to the right... Where Spike was killed. We entered The White Room where we went down one flight of stairs where we reached a platform with a padlocked door.

"Hmm, that must be to the first floor, it makes sense, but why is it locked off?"

"It's blocked off for secrets, stupid." Monoluna.
I was startled and nearly tripped down the stairs but Discord caught me, he chuckled loudly once I was safe.

"Ohohohohho, Now Now, Miss Lulamoon~ Let's not have a body before the motive~ Hyuhu!"
I blushed and grumbled at his teasing. Before he went silent and I went silent before seeing Monoluna's creepy smile, something out of a slasher movie. Even Discord's face was pale. Her glowing white eyes had grey crackling lines like bloodshot earthquakes. Her teeth, also glowing white cracked up in an unanatomical grin.

"But Discord... It's a perfect murder plan, you two are alone, you have an alibi, and nobodies nearby... Even if they heard her neck CRACK at the bottom of the stairs, who cares, for Trixie, it's the blues and Bad News Bears."
"It's what?" I questioned.

"My murdering days are past me, I assure you that much. Fluttershy taught me I could use my chaos to help; even if I'm still one of chaos and it's only been 4 years... She helped reform me... I don't remember much, but I remember her."

"Wow, that's surprisingly... Wholesome and unchaotic of you."

"Are you all illusions, Trixie?" Discord said rather bluntly.

"Huh?" I questioned.

"Well since I'm the Ultimate Chaos that means Im all chaotic; and by definition; You're all illusions and lies, isn't that right?"

"That's not what I mean-"

"Of course not, but remember I'm the Ultimate Chaos."
Discord walked down the stairs and I quickly trotted after him, we turned the corner to see Cross and Sunny in a cold storage.

"Why wouldn't be in the kitchen?" Discord asked as we walked in.

"It appears this isn't for food~" Sunny says looking at the labels.

"What's it fo-? I began to ask.

"Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals," Cross stated.

"So what it stores like; bleach?" I ask.

"That among other things, I assume medications that go far into our "competition" somehow, other cleaning supplies. Basic chemicals and... Poisons."

"POISON?!" Sunny shouted, terrified.

"Unfortunately so, cyanide, gasoline, kerosene, lamp oil, motor oil, lighter fluid, furniture polish, and paint thinner to name a handful." Cross nodded.

"There's also an empty rack of shelves and some empty buckets in the corner, along with a sink. Most likely for cleaning." Discord pointed out.

"Like I'd ever clean this place for those scumbags." Cross rolled his eyes.

"Other than that there's not much more... But I'll stay here and examine these chemicals, Sunny can you stay with me just in case?"

"Sure, I'd love to learn more to try and prevent more harm!"
With that, Discord and I walked off toward the next room, a bit down the hall which seemed to be a room full of board games and a few tables. Some of the board games included Forbidden Seas, Lexicon, Stable Unicorns, and... Dragon's Pit...

"Starlight loved this game..." I said to myself.

"Did she now?" A voice peaked from behind me, startling me. I turned to see Twilight and Quibble, Twilight's sniding voice being the one to startle me.

"Did your captured unicorn friend really like that dumb game, bah, most dragons are good for nothings anyways. Perhaps they have research purposes but that's it."

"Spike was a good crea-"

"Motive or not- he still tried to kill someone. It only confirmed my theories; most if not ALL dragons are brutes."

"I have no say in this matter, she's been following me around." Quibble groaned

"Look, at least you like a decent book series. You're the most tolerable, if not a bit ditzy."

"Wait- You like Daring Do? You Ms. Prissy Princess on a High Horse-"

"Yes," Twilight uttered, no emotion found in her response.

"Wh-" "Before you ask what I like about it; strong female lead, puzzle solving, and ancient treasures. No, I'm not going to talk about it and now I regret saying anything so I'm gonna go-" Twilight said, sneaking out before Quibble ran after her.

"Wait we have to discuss our fan theories-!"
Discord and I let out a chuckle before resuming.

"Doesn't seem to be much else here, there has to be hundreds of games here, no point in going over each one individually." Discord nodded.
We both walked out and across the hall, inside it was 6 portraits and statues of the victims and killers. Inside were Gilda, Coriander, and Splash at the end of this long room We slowly walked by Petunia's statue but noticed a plaque on it with a poem;
The statue itself showed off her talent, her in what appeared to be some sort of protective headwear and with a shovel underneath her arm. It was a full-body statue.

21 Ponies entered the killing game
Among them, a young paleontologist with a story to her name.
So bright, chipper, and sweet... Who would've known that with her own party idea; her drugged and bloody end she would meet? With her slain: 20 remain

It was in poor taste certainly but... It's nice to see their memories being remembered in a way.

"Strange though... These statues aren't stone...?" Discord pondered.

"They look it though...?" I said confused before touching the statue... It felt like...

"Cement?" I questioned.

"Precisely... Similar to stone in terms of rock-like materials but different in execution... Hmm, let's move on shall we?"
We looked at Octavia's statue. It stood up, regal and poise, her holding her cello as she would... The very thing that was our final piece of evidence against her.

20 remained; There was a story with one to be blamed

This Cellist murdered a prodigy and knew it in her heart

Executed for her sins, her heart stabbed by a wooden cart.

With her former wife watching from a screen, she'd wish it'd been her shed scalped clean.
19 remain.

"This one seems... More..." I pondered for the right word.

"Morbid." Discord shuddered.
We couldn't help but look at Zecora's statue as well. Her peacefulness and calmness are emphasized by her balancing on a bamboo pole. Probably was hard to make.

There would come a story; of a poet and an Herbalist

Traitor to our glory; our master can attest

A zebra like no other, only missed by her mother.

18 remain.

"Wait... TRAITOR?!" I gawked.

"I presume that'll come up later... But for right now she's dead and that doesn't matter." Discord stated.
We moved on to Snap's statue... Him in an adventurous stance; looking ready for adventure. I figured the poem would be brutal but...

There would come a story; of one who committed sin

The father committed bloody murder in front of his kin

Thought his child would hug him, but they brought him to his doom.

Then some beeps later; he went kaboom.
"Holy fuck-" I hear Discord mutter under his breath.
We saw Spike's statue, his wings sprawled out with his medal worn across his neck.

There would come a story; of one who brought together
Raised by dragons; until he met a pony. The pony raised him like a brother till he met his lover; Brought the races together until his mind was washed and limbs were severed.

We finally got to Sidirourgous' statue. It showed him fighting in the war before he lost his other eye. It was oddly detailed too.

There would come a story; of a wounded soldier

Forever blinded in the war.

Mind-washed by motive; killed another warrior

Mind melted by magma.

"These... Are awful," Coriander said as we'd finally caught up to the trio just standing at the end of the hallway. All I could do was stand up and give Coriander a hug, I'm not normally one for hugs, I'm usually on a stage wowing people with whosits and whatsits Illusions as The Great and Powerful Trixie's Equestrian Apology Tour.
It's a working title
He returned the hug as a friend would before thanking us and going back to presumably his room but before he left the large hall.
BING BONG BONG BING

"Get to the Gym, everycreature, it's time to announce your motive!"

"Oh, that's just great!" Gilda grumbled.

"Let's just get this shit over with..." Dusty sighed as we all got to the gym as we trotted in it seems we were the last to arrive and as we did Monoluna's robotic wide smile slowly shut to her normal resting bitch face expression.

"Now that everypony's here I'm going to announce the motive... And that is half of you will not get food or water; unless it's to use the restroom; until one of you kills in cold blood!"
We all kind of froze.

"What if one of us dies of starvation?" Applejack bluntly stated. I took a good look at her; one thing was clear and it was that she hadn't eaten since Spike died. That's 2 days without food.

"Now thanks to little Ms. Widow here; I'm going to allow you all one last meal before I announce who can eat. You have... Let's say two hours. Go."
Almost every single one of us rushed out, nearly trampling over each other, which is clearly what Monoluna wanted but as I looked back I saw that Applejack hadn't left, only staring down Monoluna. I decided to try and get her to eat but before I could even approach her she uttered words.

"Ah'm not hungry, Trixie, go get some food while yew maybe still can."

"But App-"
She got up and stamped her hoof down in front of me, almost cracking the floor.

"AH SAID GO!"

I scampered out of there but I saw Applejack being dragged by Monoluna into the Cafeteria faster than I could walk there and went in as Coriander and Gilda quickly made something. The quickest thing they thought of making was a crap load of pancakes, both savory and sweet. They piled high and within 30 minutes there was a table full of stacks of pancakes. The sweet ones had three topping options in maple syrup, chocolate chips, and assorted fruits. The savory ones came with artichokes, spinach, and a choice of cheese. We all gobbled till we were two full and begrudgingly Applejack ate as well who was held at knifepoint by Monoluna's magic and Monodence was there to assist; tho she looked very tired. Once everything was gone and Gilda and Coriander got their fair share, we were brought back to the Gym where we were given the lists.
Can
Trixie
Dusty
Splash
Coriander
Rich
Quibble
Cross
Vinyl
Can't
Applejack
Twilight
Derpy
Discord
Gilda
Sunny
Thorax

"This means that Applejack, Twilight, Derpy, Discord, Gilda, Sunny, and Thorax, you all can not eat or drink; or even have access to water until someone kills. As for the rest of you... Consider yourselves lucky~ But some of them may get jealous." Monoluna chuckled

"Actually I don't need to eat," Thorax said, rather nonchalantly

"Wait wh-" Monoluna uttered.

"Uh yeah, while I like eating as well, and it feels nice- I don't really need to" Discord stated.
Monolunas eyes contorted a bit before looking like a flashing rotating circle.**

"Well... You'll still need water and since you wanna be cocky little shits no people on the cant side can even ENTER the kitchen!"

Twilight, Derpy, Gilda, and Sunny shot the two of them glares as they all stormed away, presumably to their rooms. Monoluna had already disappeared somehow so we all slowly went back to our rooms. When I went into my room I thought about my time with Discord. I probably didn't help us grow any closer but we got to know each other more. I heard horrible retching sounds almost like someone was making themselves throw up, I realized what Applejack was doing... I don't know why and I'm not proud of it but I didn't go help her. If I've learned anything from myself it's that you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped.

Chapter 4: Starving Artists DaL 3/3

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 4: Starving Artists DeL

"Look what I found." She said bluntly, with almost no emotion.
Applejack stepped aside to reveal a horrible awful sight in the cold storage, A sight that made my hooves shoot to my mouth as Derpy let out a terrified and loud gasp because...

TW: GORE
Https://

Was the pale and sliced body of Coriander Cumin; The Ultimate Cook.

"I said what I said, that invokes a shout of fear, don't it?"
Wait- she was right, I realized Derpy and I were shouting as we screamed and some creatures rushed downstairs.

BING BONG BONG BING
"Joy of joys, what wonderous days. A second body has been discovered! Please head to the cold storage; extra time will be granted for your investigation.

Scurried hoofsteps were heard coming down the stairs and reacting to the body. The last to push through down the stairs was Gilda.

"Guys... who is it...? It's Applejack, right? Corianders..."

Slowly everyone stepped aside to reveal the horrid sight to Gilda who cried out and punched the wall.

"FUCK, FUCK IT ALL TO TARTARUS!"

"Gilda... Are you-" I started before she interrupted.

"No, I'm NOT "OK"!" She shouted before Applejack gripped her, hard and dragged her away.

"What the fuck, let me go Ap-!"

"No, shut up, neither of us will be investigating. We're not right in the head for it."

"CORRI! CORRI-WHAT THE TARTURUS, HOW ARE YOU SO STRONG?!" Gilda shouted as she was dragged away.

"On top of your remaining hour and two minutes, considered that doubled."

INVESTIGATION RESUME!

The Victim is Coriander Cumin, The Ultimate Cook
The time of death is 3-5am The victim was discovered at 10:01 AM by Applejack, and 10:02 AM by Trixie and Derpy
Victim was found in the Cold Storage, bloodied, pale, and with multiple lacerations on the legs and chest

Monofile #5 added to bullets

"Ready for another autopsy, Cross?" I ask with sarcastic excitement.

"Yeah, yeah, let's just get this over with." Cross groaned getting started as I looked around the body.

I looked around and noticed something I hadn't before.

"Wait... Are those Sunny's shirts?" I motioned as Derpy got a closer look at it.

"Uhh... yeah, but they're soaked in blood..."

Sunny's Shirts added to bullets

"Hey, Trixie!" Splash motioned.
I walked over to where Splash motioned as he showed me... a can?

"A can...?"

"Yeah, but look, there's an oddly specific shaped cut in the can- look!"
I did look, and it was odd, almost a very crooked 1 done at an angle.

Mystery Can added to bullets

Odd Symbol (Mystery Can) added to bullets

"Trixie, I've finished the autopsy."

I walked back over toward Cross and listened.

"Well obviously, there's the lacerations in each leg, most likely done so he couldn't escape." Cross motioned

Leg Lacerations added to bullets

"There's also blood splattering and a cut near his mouth, this is a very clear case of the culprit wanting him dead here."

Blood/Cut Near Mouth added to bullets

Cold Storage: Culprit Wanted Coriander Dead Here added to bullets

"Then the most obvious thing... The R-shaped laceration in his chest."

R-Shaped Laceration added to bullets

Prey Reference? added to bullets

"A smaller cut was near his backside as well," Cross started, "It's the deepest, almost as if they were after his cutie mark?"

Deeper Backside Cut added to bullets

"He seems to be holding a piece of paper that has some smudged letters on it but I believe one is an R"

Smudged Paper added to bullets

"Just need to do one last thing, Discord please help me lift his head."
Discord and Cross lifted his head and noticed a steak knife, stained with blood and it was wrapped in a cord.

"Welp, I think that must be our murder weapon." Vinyl nodded, watching from aside.

Cord added to bullets

Bloody Steak Knife added to bullets

BING BONG BONG BING
Your time to investigate is up, Please, head to the elevator and close your eyes!

As per usual we did as we were told and headed to the elevator before closing our eyes... Then, we were in the trial room... for the fourth time

This is it... We're here again... This time two of us died, and that's the scariest part... That one of us may have taken two lives... Sunny and Corriander I'll bring you to justice!

Before we started the trial I took a moment to go over in my head all the clues we found.
Monofile #4 - SD
Pool Of Blood
Broken Headphones
Sunny's Face
Unknown Cause of Death? - SD
Scorch Marks
Chafing
Mystery Plastic; Broken Off From Headphones
Busted Door
Monofile #5 - CC
Sunny's Shirts
Mystery Can
Leg Lacerations
Blood/Cut Near Mouth
Cold Storage: Culprit Wanted Coriander Dead Here
R-Shaped Laceration
Prey Reference?
Deeper Backside Cut
Smudged Paper
Cord
Bloody Steak Knife

Right... Let's do this.

TRIAL - START
Before we could start discussing Monoluna held up a hoof.

"Due to the chance, there may be two killers, you're looking for the killer of the body discovered first: aka Sunny. This does not mean I'm saying there are two killers. Begin."

"So... Where do we start here, we should start with Sunny's cause of death right, since it's his killer we're looking for?" Quibble said, scratching his chin.

"I mean we could, but it's so obvious," Discord said, matter-of-factly.

NON-STOP-DEBATE
"So... Where do we start here, we should start with Sunny's cause of death right, since it's his killer we're looking for?" Quibble uttered.
"I mean we could, but it's so obvious,"
"I mean he was burned pretty hard from his arm up..." Thorax sighed.
"Yes, but he was burned because he was electrocuted!"
"E-electrocuted?!" Derpy gasped out.
"Oh right, some of you were late... Vinyl, Quibble themselves, and I discovered the body and sparks were flying off of Sunny like fireworks!
"So that settles it, right? He died by being electrocuted!" Gilda slammed her claw on her podium.

Someone's wrong here... I have to show them we can't go down this road!
"So... Where do we start here, we should start with Sunny's cause of death right, since it's his killer we're looking for?"
"I mean we could, but it's so obvious," Discord groaned
"I mean he was burned pretty hard from his arm up..." Thorax sighed.
"Yes, but he was burned because he was electrocuted!" Gilda stated.
"E-electrocuted?!" Derpy gasped out.
"Oh right, some of you were late... Vinyl, Quibble themselves, and I discovered the body and sparks were flying off of Sunny like fireworks!
"So that settles it, right? He died by being electrocuted!" Gilda said, slamming her claws down valliantly.

"THAT'S ALL AN ILLUSION!"

"What do you mean, Trixie, he was electrocuted!"

"Yeah but, I don't think that's how he died."

"How else could he have died?" Derpy asked.

"THAT'S THE RIGHT REMEDY!" I look over at Cross who nodded at me.

"I have very little doubt that he was electrocuted, but I think how he died was strangulation."

"How could he have been strangled, I do not remember seeing anything he could've been strangled with," Twilight pondered with a twinge of holier than thou.

"Then, I think we have our next discussion." Splash nodded.

NON-STOP-DEBATE
"How could he have been strangled, I do not remember seeing anything he could've been strangled with."
"Fer once' ah agree with Princess Uperass' over there," Applejack agreed.
"Hey!"
"There wasn't much he coulda' been strangled with." Applejack finished.
"Maybe they did it with their hooves or claws?" Vinyl questioned.
"I still think he was electrocuted to death, we haven't even confirmed he's been strangled!" Gilda rolled her eyes.
"She does raise a fair point, I don't even think there's evidence of strangulation." Dusty nodded.

No... He had to have been strangled, there IS evidence for it.
"How could he have been strangled, I do not remember seeing anything he could've been strangled with."
"Fer once' ah agree with Princess Uperass' over there."
"Hey!"
"There wasn't much he coulda' been strangled with."
"Maybe they did it with their hooves or claws?" Vinyl questilned
"I still think he was electrocuted to death, we haven't even confirmed he's been strangled!" Gilda backtraced.
"She does raise a fair point, I don't even think there's evidence of strangulation." Dusty shrugged.

"THAT'S ALL AN ILLUSION!"
"Trixie doesn't- I mean... I don't like to say her- my friends are wrong... But there is evidence Sunny was strangled!"

And it's right... HERE!
Chafing

"The chafing in his neck, I say wouldn't that come from his shirt?" Rich pointed out.

"You would think," Cross started coming to my aide "But if you zoom in on the picture, the chafing is too deep and almost one line. I think there's one last piece of evidence that Trixie knows to prove it!"

One last piece of evidence...? Oh, she must mean-!
Sunny's Face

"Sunny's Face?" Vinyl cocked her head.

"Most of us have seen the state of the body, his face was pale, we originally assumed that was from shock of electrocution but what if it was because he lost air?"

"I say, you mean he was choked to that extent and then electrocuted?!" Rich gasped out. That got many reactions.

"That's awful..." Derpy cried out.

"What a monster..." Splash bellowed.

"I'm sure you'll do the right thing, Trix," Quibble said, with a glare that chilled my spine.

"That does seem awfully cruel, even ' 'by my standards.' '" Twilight also said, staring holes into me.

"So let's go over what we have so far... Sunny was choked by something until he couldn't breathe and then must've been electrocuted... how?"

Even if it's not how he died... It still happened... I know how...
Broken Headphones

"THIS IS HOW THE TRICK WAS DONE!"

"Sunny's headph- OH!" Twilight gasped out.
"That's right, after Sunny was choked, he must've slammed his head hard on the ground, thus the blood, and as he took his final breaths the culprit must've taken his headphones and broken them, causing his own blood to shock him!"

"So we have the how... but we need the who and the when... I assume most of us were asleep." Splash nodded.

"Well. I say, we may not need to know his killer but shouldn't we still discuss Corriander's death." Rich motioned

"YES," Gilda cried out, "PLEASE!"

"Why would we, if we don't need to know his killer?" Applejack asked nonchalantly.

The reason we need to know... Of course!
Sunny's Shirts

"THIS IS HOW THE TRICK WAS DONE!"

"Sunny's shirts were found at Coriander's crime scene, drenched in blood. These two cases are intertwined!"

"So what, Coriander caught our killer in the act and chased him to the Cold Storage?" Discord asked.

"That would seem to be the case." Rich nodded.

"So... what should we discuss first at Coriander's scene?" Thorax asked.

"The cause of death seems obvious here too but it wasn't for Sunny, so we should start there!" Cross nodded.

NON-STOP-DEBATE

"So... what should we discuss first at Coriander's scene?"

"The cause of death seems obvious here too but it wasn't for Sunny, so we should start there!"

"So, he had a large laceration in the shape of an R on his chest..." Splash stated.

"Four slashes on his legs and the deepest cut was on his backside." Dusty motioned, rubbing her chin with her hoof.

"There was a bloody knife under his head, wrapped in a cord," Cross reminded us.

"So the bloody knife has to be the murder weapon,right?" Twilight questioned.

"I think so...?" Derpy nodded.''
I want to believe they're right, Everything's there... but everything in me, my inner Starlight is shouting at me that they're wrong... What haven't we gone over... That's it!"

"So... what should we discuss first at Coriander's scene?"

"The cause of death seems obvious here too but it wasn't for Sunny, so we should start there!"

"So, he had a large laceration in the shape of an R on his chest..."

"Four slashes on his legs and the deepest cut was on his backside."

"There was a bloody knife under his head, wrapped in a cord," Cross reminded us.

"So the bloody knife has to be the murder weapon,right?" Twilight questioned.
"THAT'S ALL AN ILLUSION!"
Twilight and Quibble both gave me a doubtful glance.

"Really Trixie, what could we POSSIBLY be looking over?!" Quibble rolled his eyes.

"I'm all ears, Ms. Illusionist," Twilight said with a stain of sarcasm.
What you're looking for is right... HERE!
Blood/Cut Near Mouth

"Couldn't that have just been done by the knife though?" Discord motioned.

"I don't think so, look, near his mouth and even on his backside, it splattered, almost like he coughed it up." Trixie nodded.

"I do think in the end the slices may have killed him, but we can't ignore this!" I slammed my hoof on my podium.
Quibble was going to say something but Twilight beat him to it.

"All right, let's go down this line, we don't have a time limit and now I'm curious, there was NO open bottle of poison or anything there that may have made him cough it up, so what happened?"

"I assume we assumed Sunny's shirts were used to clean up blood but what if the culprit took them and put a substance in them and held it to Coriander's face!"

"What?!" Gilda gasped, appalled.

"This isn't chaotic, it's downright horrendous!" Discord gasped.

YOU'RE TRANSFORMING THE TRUTH!
Thorax slammed his... hoof... on his podium

"I'm sorry Trixie, but we can't prove that Sunny's shirt was used the timing makes no sense!"

"But the shirt is covered in blood!"

"If they killed Sunny in the hallway, and Coriander saw them, then they wouldn't have time to take their shirt!"

"But then that means, Thorax..."

"Sorry to call you out Trixie, but I had to show you what I saw, we've been going about this all wrong..."
It's as if we connected our minds, electricity jolting between us because we both said it out loud.

LINK: "CORIANDER WAS KILLED BEFORE SUNNY!
This caused many gasps of anger, surprise, and realization.

"I say!" Rich said, banging his head on his podium.

"I'LL RIP THEM TO SHREDS!" Gilda roared.

"That means we're back to square one!" Derpy cried.

"Not necessarily," Twilight responded surprisingly calmly, "Let's recap. So now that we know that Coriander was killed first, does this mean Sunny walked in on their killer?"

"No, because then they couldn't have used Sunny's shirts to have drugged Coriander..." Splash said, tapping his horn.

"Oh mah Cadence- Ah' know who killed Coriander, and Trix-... Trixie, you know it too don't you."
I do...? It doesn't feel like we've gone over much... Who could've... Oh...

Accuse

Applejack's right... The person who killed Coriander Cumin, the Ultimate Cook, was Sunny Delight himself!

"NO PALTER'N IN MY BUSINESS!"
I looked over at Rich who was slamming a hoof on his podium.

"I say, Trixie, pardon my Prench but that doesn't make a fuckin' lick of sense!"

"What do you mean?"

"I say, I think yer right about Coriander dying first, but we don't have any proof the shirt was covered in drugs, and what if it had been placed that after the fact, something else must've been used!"

"There's nothing else to be used, Rich!"

"Well what about the piece of paper in his hands, twas wet wasn't it?"

"Yes' but since the headphones were wet at the crime scene, we know it's water!"

"Blood can cause electrocution, it's conductible!"

"Correct. but due to the amount of water, it had to have come from a third party!"

"What third party?"

"Our culprit, They must've seen Sunny over Coriander's body after overhearing them while getting water from the kitchen!"

"Damn... Ah guess that makes sense, a third-party witness... That's who killed Sunny, all because they were getting some water, huh."

"So... let's recap what we have so far..." Splash said

"Mind if I do it, Trixie?"

"Be my guest."
PROTAG SWITCH - - -> Splash Refresh

"THESE LIES WILL NOW BE SMOOTHED OVER!"

This case started most likely after day one of the motive. Some of us couldn't eat, those being Gilda, Thorax, Discord, Derpy, Twilight, Applejack, and our first blackened of this case. Their plan started off with removing their shirt from their own body in the cold storage and dousing it with some kind of poison, whether liquid or solid, it just had to be ingested. They took their shirts, and chose a victim, whether Coriander was always a target, we can't know. Sunny must've been stronger than we realized because after most likely drugging him in his room by wrapping their shirts around his face, causing him to breathe it in and start coughing up a storm, soaking the weapon, their own shirts, in blood. After getting him to the cold storage, in case he somehow woke up, they sliced at his legs with a steak knife, weakening each of them. Put a cut under his mouth to mask the poison as we don't get a toxicology report. Then they cut an R in his chest for Celestia knows what reason and put a deep cut in his backside. What they didn't know is that a third party, currently unknown, was getting a glass of water, but they heard the noise, and I assume taking something from the kitchen and busting the door open by breaking off the padlock. They ran downstairs only to see the culprit standing over the Coriander's body. The third party ran upstairs, and the culprit gave chase and using...

The only thing that could've choked him...
Cord

the cord from their own headphones as they ran away began choking the former culprit now victim as the cord caused them to stop dead in their tracks until the victim most likely got them dead and slammed them against the floor causing blood. Presumably panicked, they took their glass of water from the kitchen and splashed the tip of the broken headphones, causing an electrical surge through our culprit.... the killer of Coriander Cumin the Ultimate Cook was none other than the one we're trying to find the blackened of... Sunny Delight, The Ultimate Radioshow Host!

"Now let's see if we can find the culprit we need to catch." Trixie nodded at me.

"I think our next course of action would be determining what the smudged paper says." Vinyl pointed out.

"Oh, that's easy." Monoluna shrugged before snatching the paper, and eating it. A robotic voice came out of her.

"CORRIANDER CUMIN, I AM PREY, LET'S TALK THINGS OUT at 2:45AM, FOR I AM SORRY - SUNNY DELIGHT"
This led to many gasps of shock and horror.

"WHAT?!" Trixie bellowed.

"AHHHH!" Quibble snapped.

"Ah'll be damned..." Applejack muttered.

"Why'd he write it out so weird..." Dusty mumbled.

"If I ever see Sunny in Tartarus when I die I'm gonna kill the shitstain!" Gilda slammed her claw on her podium, nearly cracking it.

"So if Sunny was Prey, why'd he do an R in the chest... and not P?" Derpy questioned.

"More than that," Discord started "Sunny's radio station was one of the leading reportings on his crimes... Yet it was Sunny this whole time?"

"Hiding in plain sight... Interesting..." Twilight said.

"But the real question is how are we going to know who got that glass of water, the only other two who might possibly know are dead, and it's not like they'll admit it." Rich nodded.

Rich is right... They're most likely scared shitless now that we know... But... they have to.

"I saw someone up at night." I raised my hoof.

"Well, get on with it bud, catch us this blackened!" Dusty smiled at me.

"I think it'll be best if I go over this case one last time..." I breathed in, and out...

"THESE LIES WILL NOW BE SMOOTHED OVER!"

This started most likely after day one of the motive. Some of us couldn't eat, those being Gilda, Thorax, Discord, Derpy, Twilight, Applejack, and Sunny. Sunny's plan started off with removing their shirt from their own body in the cold storage and dousing it with some kind of poison, whether liquid or solid, it just had to be ingested. They took their shirts, and chose a victim, with what we know now with the note was targeted. Sunny left Coriander a note claiming to be Prey, and they wanted to talk things out. Coriander, for whatever reason, trusted Sunny. After getting him to the cold storage, he wrapped his shirt covered in the toxic substance around his face, causing the coughing and splattered blood. Now in case Coriander somehow was alive and woke up, Sunny sliced at his legs with a steak knife, weakening each of them. Put a cut under his mouth to mask the poison as we don't get a toxicology report. Then they cut a P in his chest for they are Prey and put a deep cut in his backside, however, what they didn't know is that a third party was getting a glass of water, but they heard the noise. Taking something from the kitchen and busting the door open by breaking off the padlock. They ran downstairs only to see the culprit standing over the Coriander's body. The third party ran upstairs, and the culprit gave chase and using Sunny's headphone cord by stopping in front of them and grabbing it, they choked out Sunny until they were pale. Not intending to kill, the culprit now panicked, took their glass of water from the kitchen and aimed it at the wire bit which was close enough to the blood that when the water was thrown at it, it shocked Sunny, causing his body to send off sparks like crazy. Now calm from adrenaline, the unfortunate blackened put their tools away in the drawer: a tenderizer for their door and a glass in the dishwasher... How do I know that they used a tenderizer...? I was the one getting a glass of water...

https://www.deviantart.com/pandaisqued/art/Ponganronpa-Ch4-Culprit-Reveal-P1-952149646

https://www.deviantart.com/pandaisqued/art/Ponganronpa-Ch4-Culprit-Reveal-952149731

I'LL SHATTER THOSE LIES!

"SPLASH, WHAT THE TARTARUS ARE YOU DOING!?" Dusty roared.

I figured Dusty wouldn't take this well...

"Shit..." Trixie mumbled.

"Oh my..." Discord put his paw to his mouth.

"YOU DIDN'T DO THIS, I WON'T BELIEVE YOU!" Dusty slammed her hooves on her podium...
I need to show her the truth of this case!

Argument Amamnent...

"What the fuck?! She’s defending the killer?!" Gilda cried.

"Well they were rather close, Gilda…" Discord pointed out.

"Pathetic..." Applejack spat out.

"Uh, Applejack, you're sounding like Pris-"

"Shut the fuck up, Derpy." They both said, firm but calm.
START!

"Are you fucking stupid, Splash?!"

"You didn’t do this!'

"You don’t have to do this!"

"Dusty… I do, because I killed Sunny."

"NO!"

"You didn't kill Sunny!"

"Shut up... you idiot!"

"Sunny was trying to clean up after himself and caught a doorknob… on his cord...!"

"Dusty… he couldn’t have caught himself if he had the glass of water and headphones around his neck- and that doesn’t account for his actual cause of death."

"AGH...!"

"IDIOT... IDIOT... IDIOT!"

"Everyone’s manipulated you into this… You’re my friend…

"I HAVE TO PROTECT YOU!"

"I love that about you, Dusty… But my life isn’t worth killing everyone here including yourself… Think about Crem!"

"..."

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!"

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!"

"Crem is important but you’re one of the few I can TOLERATE!

"So don't do this..!"

"Please..."

"Sunny in himself is a troll- he had to have masterminded Coriander’s and his own death!"

"I have no idea if Sunny planned on doing that, but I caught him slicing into Coriander… I took action…"

I sighed... I'm gonna miss her...

"ARRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"Splash... No... is our whole friendship over... why...?"!

O ! N

NO!

"No- No no no… I promise when I’m with Mother of Celestia to watch over you and protect you. Live for me… Please… Dusty…"

". . ."

I walk away from my platform and pull Dusty in for one last hug

"Damn it all to Tirek..." she muttered under her breath.

PROTAG SWITCH - - -> TRIXIE

I watched in horror of everything that just went down... If Splash really wanted to, he could've gotten away with it... but he didn't... I don't know how to feel.

"Monoluna... we're ready to vote." Splash nodded, a tear streaming down his right eye. The buttons rose and I looked over at Dusty. She closed her eyes and hit Splash's button, tears streaming down her face. The board game spinner spun around and around before landing on Splash.

Guilty
TRIAL - END - ALL RISE!

"With 12 votes for Splash and one vote for Trixie; which won't be disclosed... even Splash and Dusty voting Splash! Damn; yeah he's guilty of killing Sunny."

"I say he's not guilty of anything bad, he killed Sunny: but Sunny killed Corri!" Gilda nodded

"Just one question," Discord said, scratching his goatee, "Why wasn't Splash listed as some who discovered Coriander's body?"

"I say, that is rather.... odd," Rich said.

"Well he would've been, but then he murdered Sunny and electrocuted his corpse... except why did he electrocute the corpse, what he didn't tell you is that he didn't want to die and electrocuting him, he thought it would jumpstart his heart... But it failed, too bad, so sad!"

"You... YOU!" Dusty said slamming her hoof down and stomping to Splash.

"Hey bestie~," Splash said.

"Don't-" Dusty choked.

"I'm gonna keep smiling to the end, you have to promise me: try to keep a smile for me okay?"

"I-"

"Cmooon~"

"I-"

"That's enough of that. It's punishment time~!"

"Dusty, cmon~ Smiles make the meal after all!"

"I promise... After this is over, I'll try to keep smiling."

"Thank you, Dusty."
The same purple and black screen popped up showing a pixel cartoon, yet again, saying GAME OVER. Those words once again plagued our eyes.

SPLASH REFRESH HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY; TIME FOR HIS OWN UNIQUELY DESIGNED PUNISHMENT!

Most of us cried out as somehow, Splash kept a smile before a panel under him opened up and he fell and he fell before bouncing off a large peach and onto a cutting board. Of which when he laid flat summoned a tight leather belt to cut off bloodflow to his limbs as he cried out, trying to keep smiling for us

Monoluna had a knife in her magics grasp and was cutting fruits up one by one. A blueberry bunch: chop chop chop; a strawberry: sliiiiiice; A peach: dicedice.
chopchopchop;sliiiiiice;dicedice. Each fruit getting cut up and put into the blender. The knife eventually got to Splash who kept smiling even as the knife was going to slam down inches from his face, a smile. chopchopchop;sliiiiiice;dicedice I looked over at Dusty. She was not smiling, didn't have her resting bitch face, she was just sad, scared, and mortified. The knife then swiftly chopped down and cut off Splash's horn in one fell swoop. He wanted to cry out, I could see the pain vibrate through his body but he wasn't going to let his friends see him die sad or scared even as the restraints tightened nearly severing his limbs before releasing. Splash tried to relax and go peacefully but was picked up and tossed with the blender with all the fruits after such Monoluna held up an umbrella over her head as she turned it on. Up until the blades started, Splash had a smile, but when all we could see was a colorful blur we heard screams of pain, and eventually, the blender stopped only having a little in the blender from the lack of a lid. She poured it out and gave the glass to Monodence, who sniffed it, pulled out his horn with her magic, and tosses it at Dusty before chugging the "smoothie."

Dusty looked at the mutilated but still intact yet bloody horn that was tossed in her. I could tell the gears in her head were telling her to scream, to shout, or even to cry but all she did was flash a smile. She picked up the horn, and shoved it in her shirt pocket.

"I'm tired, can we go to bed Monoluna?" Dusty asked, her pain showing through her smile.

"Sure, go ahead, I really don't care." Monoluna rolled her eyes.
Dusty trotted forward with a smile and all we could really do was follow her... We rode up the elevator and with a flash of light we were there. We all tiredly went to our rooms and I don't know about them I fell asleep immediately, hoping to wake up and that this nightmare would be over.

Chapter 5: Circle of Life; DaL 2

Somehow Dusty, Vinyl, and I made it all night and nobody died. Before anybody got up, we each got food one at a time and all went back down. As many creatures rose Vinyl stated

"We'll keep up the night guard act, but I'll be sleeping during the day. Whether Dusty and Trixie want to is up to them.
Everyone looked at Dusty who smiled and immediately collapsed and fell asleep.

"I think I'll get some sleep too... Gilda if you can just act as defense of sorts..."

"Whatever... It'll give me something to do I guess."

Protag Switch- - - - - Gilda
Honestly, with Corri gone, I don't have much to live for but seeing as Trixie caught his killer and his killer's killer I suppose.
I had nothing to do but keep an eagle's eye... er- Griffon's eye on everyone. I eyed Thorax slowly as he walked over and grabbed chocolate milk, an oat burger, and a knife.

"I'm sorry Cross, but I'm going to protect myself if it comes down to it." Cross scoffed and I nodded at Thorax. As much as I owe Trixie, not having something for self-defense is really fucking stupid. Cross seriously can't be mad at them for that...

BING BONG BONG BING
We all looked at the three sleeping, they didn't budge an inch before Monodence chuckled.

"Fuhuhuhuhuhu~ they don't need to be up for this anyways. I'm sure someone will tell them that if you murder someone right here right now within the next half hour - you get away scot-free. I heard this and went up to the weapons and grabbed a crossbow and I walked back.

"If any of you even grab your weapon, you fucking die," I said this as coldly and bluntly as possible.
Quibble, like the coward they are, moved his hooves away from his weapon but Twilight was side eyeing me and started to lift her gun with her magic. I put a bolt in my crossbow and fired it off near her, It broke the gun in half and I loaded another one and aimed at her.

"Next thing gone is your horn, Twilight Sparkler." She groaned, got up to get another gun, and laid down on her sleeping bag.

Eventually, Evening came, Trixie was just getting up and going over and waking up Vinyl and Dusty to eat before their nightguard shift. I kept my crossbow close to me as everyone got dinner. After we all ate, Monodence made the next motive announcement.

"You kill someone; no trial. You get away with it and go free."

"One move and that motive's mine." I coldly say this while loading my crossbow.
Twilight put down her gun and grumbled as she went to sleep, I was also up on night guard duty. I was a little tired but it's fine.

Another morning comes. Trixie, Vinyl, and Dusty collapse back into bed, I get a bagel for breakfast and keep my griffon's eye on everyone... I let out a yawn but that doesn't deter me because If I'm not up to protect every single one here, someone will die. I won't let Monodence win... I can not let that abomination win. This is for Corri.

"Good morning and Happy Slaughters~!" Monodence announced into a microphone on a stage in the gym.
I tiredly glanced at her... them... it... Who fuckin' cares? Everyone else seemed more attentive, I made sure nobody interrupted Monodence.

"Your next motive is simple. You get to revive someone and they get to leave; you however remain here."
Everyone looked at me, I did the watching-you claw gesture and held my crossbow up.

"Gilda" Thorax stuttered out.

"What..." I coldly say.

"Uh- y-yn'know if you're feeling tired Gilda I could take over for ya... Cross is also willing."

"No thanks. I got thi-"
I immediately see what Twilight is doing and fire a bolt at her and it just grazes her as she was about to stab Discord in the neck while he naps with a knife.

"What the fuck Twilight?!"

"He's been nothing but chaotic this whole time, nobody would even miss him!"

"I would!" Derpy retaliated. "He's been nothing but honest about him being chaotic this whole time, and to me, he's frankly been way nicer than you!"

"Get her ass, Derpy!" Cross cheered.

"Not like it would've worked anyway, because if I wanted to kill any of you... I would've done so already."
Discord laughed maniacally until Twilight cowered away. Nighttime fell, and everyone went to bed. Aside from Vinyl, Dusty, and Trixie who awoke.

"Trixie, Twilight attempted a murder on Discord around 3 pm. The next motive is on the screen above the podium like usual, I will remain diligent."

"Holy fuck you look awful," Dusty said much to both Vinyl and Trixie bonking her on the head.

"You do look rather tired though, Gilda..." Vinyl nodded.

"Trixie agrees, we're awake at night and you shouldn't burn yourself out!"
I'm tired... I'm tired... I'm tired... I'm tired... I'm tired... I'm tired... I'm tired... I'm tired... I'm tired... I'm tired... I'm tired... I'm not okay but... I have to keep going on.

"I'm fine, Griffons keep hours like this all the time..."
No, we do not...

"If yah say so Gilda..." Dusty said before all three went back to their positions.
I kept my eyes on everyone.... If i fall asleep someone will die... If... I fall asleep, I'm just as guilty. . .

Protag Switch - - - >

Eventually, morning came and we awoke to a horrible sight. Lying out cold in front of us was the body of Gilda Gruff the Ultimate Baker... I felt my head get bonked

"Trixie you idiot, stop looking at her like she's dead. she's ASLEEP." Cross sighed

"Can you BLAME Trixie?" I retorted "Excuse Trixie for worrying; because that makes SENSE!" I was tired and went to sleep after a guard shift.

Protag Switch - - - > Cross Heart

I sighed as Trixie went back to her sleeping bag, as I stretched and went to get my breakfast... It became evident to some like Twilight and Quibble that Gilda was down for the count. I have an oath to uphold... To never harm another creature... But you'd be boiling in Tartarus if you thought I was gonna let anyone do anything. I'm not just a nurse. I'm a veteran of the short-lived 13-day Griffon and Earth Pony War. These foals thought was gonna let anybody harm someone? Quibble and Twilight were conversing, so I picked up my crossbow and just aimed it at them. I wasn't going to let them do anything. Eventually, Quibble noticed; and pointed it out to Twilight and they scuttled away from each other. Everyone ate, went back to their areas, and just sat there, clutching their weapon close. It felt like days had passed in just an hour. It felt like days. Like waiting for the anesthesia to kick in. Time slowly ticks down.

"Great Afternoon and Jolly Slaughters~!" Monodence chimed in

"Fuhuhuhuhhu~" Monodence neck cracked at a 90-degree angle, their grin almost stretching off their face in an anatomical horror.

"Hold it," I stated.

"Yeeeeeees~?" Monodence blinked rapidly, her neck position not even shifting but her eyes, despite behind voids were focused right at me.

"Yesterday the motive said you can revive someone... is that... true or is it bullshit?"

"It's true. Whether you believe me or not - we can revive one fallen comrade! victim or killer!"
Murmurs shook through the gym... I thought about everyone who's fallen.

Petunia Paleo... the Ultimate Paleontologist. She was so young and her life was horrifically taken away from her. A truly bright and bubbly persona - snuffed out in an instant.

Octavia Melody... the Ultimate Cellist and the pony who set this killing game in motion. She retained her memories of Vinyl and their relationship which Vinyl didn't retain. She was going to die with Vinyl or bring her out of the game.

Zecora Sahara... the Ultimate Herbalist. A zebra wise among her years and peers. Unwillingly wrote the note that led to her own meeting with death... yet seemed eerily content.

Snap Allgood... the Ultimate Survivalist. A father is terrified for their child's safety to the point where they would murder someone for it and frame another.

Spike Apple-Sparkle... the Ultimate Ambassador. A husband and best friend to Applejack. A truly kind soul who loved Applejack and truly wanted peace for all; shown by the opposite of himself being a bigoted violent rageaholic.

Sidigrourgous Smith... the Ultimate Blacksmith. Also known as Sid. A quiet and meek soul, a fellow veteran, and a truly benevolent soul. Also proved by how when he was the opposite he was a war-torn, bigoted, and violent individual.

Coriander Cumin... the ultimate Cook. A generous and kindhearted figure of the essence known as the warmth of cooking... If only we discovered your body first...

Sunny Delight... the Ultimate Radio Show Host. A lively and boisterous individual who fell for the motive quickly last case. Unfortunately for him, he was caught and murdered in self-defense.

Splash Refresh... the Ultimate Smoothie Maker. A feminine male unicorn who was an extrovert to extrovert. He caught Sunny slashing into Corriander and decided to take action.

Could... one of them be brought back?

Chapter 5: Circle of Life; DaL 3

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 5: Circle of Life; DaL 1

Author's Note

TWs for this episode
Suicidic Themes, Typical danganronpa stuff

Chapter 5: Circle of Life; DaL 1

I woke up... This nightmare wasn't over... Sunny... who we found first, had killed Corriander - who we found later on, and the youngest of us alive had witnessed it... He ensured we could figure out a case... and was executed for "his crimes."
It's odd to think about it, the previous two "blackened" killed in self-defense. Sidirourgos, or Sid as everyone called him was hypnotized by the motive and had to defend himself from a fight gone too far, albeit a fight he started... Splash didn't kill maliciously either... However - Octavia... and Snap... Why am I even thinking about this... I just need to get up. I am great. I am powerful... I'm the Ultimate Illusionist...
**Knock Knock Knock**

"Trixie?"
Why can't I get up, why don't I want to...

"TRIXIE!"
I stumbled out of bed, hearing one meek voice and one boisterous voice outside. To my surprise, the meek voice was that of Dusty, who looked tired, hadn't put her makeup in, and just stared at the ground. The louder voice was that of Vinyl who normally didn't talk much.

"Breakfast is ready..." Dusty said in a quiet voice, her head not even bothering to look at me. Vinyl rushed into my room and pushed me out and into the kitchen only to hear bickering.

"PRINCESS GET OUT OF HIS KITCHEN!"

"I know how to cook - and I don't trust you on your own, you griffins are always so temperamental!" Twilight stamped her hoof.

"I don't care - not your kitchen - get out!" With a mighty roar, Gilda picked up Twilight and threw her out of the kitchen window and she slammed against a table, for a second everyone panicked thinking she might've just up and died - but to some's chagrin, Twilight grumbled, got herself up and limped out of the cafeteria, Cross, and Quibble squabbling close behind her.

"So... what's for breakfast?" Discord asked nonchalantly.
This got some glares but Gilda dusted herself off.

"Griffin scones, and curry with a sunny side egg on top, have complaints? Starve."
I took my plate without much complaints. I looked at the tables, nobody was sitting next to each other, save Vinyl Thorax and Discord. Everyone else looked sad and alone... It was a bold decision but I decided to sit next t-

"What in tarnation do you want, Trixie?" She asked, nonchalantly and bluntly at me.

"Can I not sit next to you?" I asked.

"Ya could, but ah'll probably leave if ya do," Applejack responded.

"Then Trixie shall stand and eat."

"... What. Do. Yew. Want?"

"Are you OK?"

"Wh-"

"Your husband got drawn and quartered, nobody ever asked you if you were ok... Trixie is - Trix - I'm sorry that I never did..."

"..." She paused after her silence. "Just stan' there eat and be quiet... Thank you very much."
That last part sounded blunt... I hope I'm not intruding too much... but it's nice to talk to Applejack again. I hope she feels the same... If I lost Starlight... would I'd be the same way? It's hard to feel Great and Powerful all the time, especially in a situation like this - but... I wouldn't know how it feels. I can't even imagine it...

"Applejack, after this-"

"Ah appreciate yer kindness, sugar, but it's best ya' just don't fer right now... I don't trust myself with any kind of future motive.. Ah just can't hurt anybody close to me... Stay away. Or else I'll make it an easy trial for everypony... Please..."
Applejack left the cafeteria after whipping me lightly with her tail.
If this is her way of protecting me... I also feel threatened... I don't - Trixie feels... like she wished she spent more time with her... Maybe it'd be different... maybe it'd be-
BING BONG BONG BING

"It's your favorite killing game host here... Monodence here to announce to come to your brand newly refurbished gymnasium... for the motive!"
A chill silence fell over those still in the cafeteria...

"Well, we must not waste any time, let's get this over with." Gilda nodded.

"But it seems so soon!" Thorax worriedly said.

"That must be part of the motive.... how chaotic." Discord chuckled, his nerves echoing through his laughs.

"Come on. Let's just get this stupid shit over with." Vinyl grunted.
We all walked somewhat single file line to the gymnasium Applejack was already inside and Cross, Quibble, and Twilight following close behind us. Once everyone was inside the doors suddenly slammed shut and locked.

"Celestia fucking damn it-" Twilight muttered.
Monodence appeared on the stage that's weirdly in most school gymnasiums and grinned as she pressed a button and three things slowly lowered. The replenishing fridge. A box of sleeping gear. A giant box of weapons.
WAIT WH-

"Your motive is simple. Kill someone in front of everyone else - for every day you don't kill the motive gets more tempting... Today's motive is such - you'll go to trial but everyone's memories aside from yours will be WIPED that this happened.

"Psh - not even I'd take that one. I could still die. No, thank you," Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Fer once, ah agree with Princess Pissyhooves over there." Applejack grunted.

"Hey, you should respect her, she keeps it real Ms Honesty!" Quibble retorted.

"YOU should stop sucking off her damn dick, Quibble." Applejack retorted back before we heard a gunshot.
We all jumped and looked around to see Dusty struggling to hold a gun with her magic. Nobody was dead but a bullet fell to the ground shortly after.

"I'm not letting Splash die in vain... This is WHAT they want. If I hear any more arguing I swear to god I'll shoot myself and make you all forget this.
This shut them up, Twilight began to speak but then Discord clonked her on the head. Finally, Monodence spoke up.

"Unicorns have regained enough magic to hold certain weapons, pegasai have enough flight to dodge certain weapons. Discord you still lack magic because... duh and obviously you still can't teleport... You must also all sit in a circle equidistant from each other until one goes to eat, grab their sleeping bags, or a weapon. If you grab a weapon you may use it for self-defense and don't have to use it immediately, but you may only go up to the boxes one at a time. Rule breakers will be punished with the loss of a limb of choice."

Twilight immediately dashed and grabbed a shotgun as soon as Dusty went back to "her spot." with her shotgun. Twilight went back to "her spot" and Dusty calmly went back, grabbed some food and a sleeping bag and sat on her sleeping bag, and glared a gare so cold around the room you would've thought her to be a Wendigo. By the nighttime announcement, I was horrified to find only Cross, myself, and Thorax hadn't gotten a weapon. Everyone else had a knife, or a type of gun, Discord had nunchucks somehow and Vinyl simply had a razor.

"Trixie is appalled at all of you."

"Don't act so high and mighty Trixie, we're trying to defend ourselves... What're you trying to do, look better in a situation like this? You're awfully and I'm surprised with how you've led some cases that you weren't murdered to make cases easier to get away with."

"Unlikeable pot can call the kettle unlikeable grey all they want, sugar, but Trixie has at least tried to be kind as she could while she's been here. What'd you do other than incite Snap to commit a murder." Applejack shot coldly.
Quibble shut right up mumbling something under his breath before finally the nighttime announcement hit and the lights shut off. Dusty, Vinyl, and I lit up our horns in case somecreature tried something in the middle of the night... We hoped nobody would be dead by morning.